"Nijhea, stop fucking cheating bruh," Rashir irritatingly snatched the Uno cards out of her hand. "I'm not playing wit' you no more."

"You're so dramatic," His sister, Nijhea rolled her eyes at her older brother's dramatics. "Hurry up and shuffle the cards so we can play again."

"No, where Mama at? She's the one that told me to come home for the weekend."

"She's out with Patience, they'll be home soon,"

"Oh shit Patience here?" He was curious now, Patience didn't come home unless it was something important, she hated being around their father.

"Yeah, she got here this morning,"

"Where's Janiya?"

"I don't know, can you relax bruh why do you wanna leave so bad?"

Rashir stood up from their position on the couch, going to the kitchen to get a glass of water. "I don't want to leave, I'm just a lil' curious. Is dad at work?"

"Yeah, he won't be home till late."

"Thank god," Rashir jokingly put his hands together in a praying motion.

"Why do you hate daddy so much?" Nijhea spoke accusingly, "He's done so much for you and he just wants you to be great."

Rashir shook his head and sighed, annoyed they were having this conversation again, "I'm not finna talk about this wit' you Nijhea, call me when mom is home." He walked to his childhood bedroom and slammed the door shut, irritated.

Nijhea was a daddy's girl, and his number 1 supporter. She was too young to understand the extent of what he had done to his other children, and she refused to hear anyone insult him, or his parenting.

Flopping on his bed, Rashir went on his phone for a while until he got bored and came up with an idea. He went to Lourdes's contact and hesitated for a second before hitting the Facetime button, waiting to see if she would answer. After ringing a couple of times, he saw the words change to 'Connecting' and Lourdes's face filled his screen.

"Rashir why the hell are you calling me?" She asked, setting her phone down so he was looking at her ceiling instead of her face. He was disappointed and ignored her question, wanting to see her again.

"Lemme see yo' face,"

"Boy, absolutely not! I look a mess right now," She exclaimed.

"Lourdes." He straight-faced her through the phone and he heard her huff. The camera moved around for a moment before it stopped and she propped her phone up on something so he could see her. She was sitting on her bed with her knee pulled to her chin, a messy bun, and a bare face. Rashir stared at her, admiring her natural beauty. He could see a small beauty mark above her lip that he had never noticed before, she must cover it up. She was wearing flannel pajama pants and a UMD sweatshirt that looked like it was a couple of sizes too big. He wondered for a moment if a guy had given it to her but decided to not ask her.

"Now why did you call me?" She asked for the second time, shifting to sit criss-cross applesauce on her bed.

"I'm bored," He shrugged and she just blinked at him.

"Well, what do you want me to do about that stink?" She said, suppressing the grin on her face when she called him the nickname he hated.

"I told you to stop calling me that shit- man whatever. Tell me about yo' day," He looked at her expectantly.

"Well, nothing interesting happened. I went to the gym with Gianna, Whole Foods, and cleaned my apartment." She shrugged, "Hey, I have a question," She said, beginning to fidget.

"Shoot,"

"Are you friends with a girl named Thara Le?" She asked him and he stopped moving completely.

"Uh, I know her, why?"

"No reason, but anyway, enough about me. How was your day?" She deflected the question and he chose not to press her about why she was asking about Thara. He hadn't spoken to her since the party, even though she had dm'ed him a couple of times. He blocked her, finding her annoying, and had forgotten she existed up until now.

They talked for about an hour before he heard a knock on his door, "Hold up, Imma talk to you later, aight?"

"Okay, bye stinka." Lourdes waved and hung up the phone.

Rashir stood up from his bed, walking to his door, and opened it, surprised to find his older sister Patience staring at him with anticipation. "Surprise!" She opened her arms for a hug and he happily took her in his arms.

"I haven't seen you inna a brick, where you been?" Rashir let her go after a couple of seconds and she punched him in the arm.

"I have a kid remember? You should come visit Grayson and I! You haven't seen him since Carter was born."

"Don't nobody wanna see white ass," Rashir laughed, "Can't believe you got with a whiteboy," He teased her and she punched him in the arm again. "Aye! I was joking!" He rubbed his now sore arm and she narrowed her eyes at him playfully.

Patience was engaged to her boyfriend of 6 years, Grayson Macey. They were college sweethearts and they had their son, Carter a year ago. Rashir's parents weren't thrilled when she got engaged to a white man and it caused an even bigger rift in their already strained relationship. When they found out she was pregnant, their dad threw a fit and refused to be involved in Carter's life. Their mom was a lot more accepting though and she happily spent time with her first grandson. Rashir adored Carter the moment he met him in the hospital and insisted he was gonna be a hooper like his Uncle.

"Not too much on my baby daddy," She motioned for him to follow her. "Mom's home and she's looking for you,"

"Did she say why she told us home yet?"

"Nope, I'm just as confused as you," Patience shrugged. They walked to the kitchen where Rashir's mom, Shade was stirring something on the stove with her back turned to them.

Shade Arya-Martin was 46 but didn't look a day over 30. Coming from a family of an Indian mother and African American father, she was beautiful with full lips, voluminous curly hair, and smooth skin. Rashir liked to think he got his looks from her.

"Mama," Rashir tapped her shoulder and she turned around, letting out a yelp.

"My baby! I've missed you!" She forced him to bend down so she could kiss his cheeks. "Why don't you come home more often? I want to see you more!" She scolded him.

"I'm a busy man Ma," Rashir scratched the back of his neck, sheepishly.

"Lies!" She dismissively waved him off, putting something in the freezer. "You don't love me no more huh? You're too busy for your mother?"

"That's not true Ma. I'm here now right?"

"Mhm, come help me with dinner, I'm making your favorite. I started it before you came." She beckoned him over to the stove. He smiled, breathing in the scent of his favorite dish, butter chicken. His mom only made it on special occasions and he had loved it ever since he was a child.

"Hey! I'm here too!" Patience interjected, "Why don't you make my favorite food?"

"Oh hush, go tell Nia that we're eating soon." She shooed her out of the kitchen, going back to cutting up cilantro. "Now, I need to add some more spices to the sauce. Get the paprika from the cabinet for me."

She continued making the food while they talked, catching up a little bit. She asked him about school and the topic of a girlfriend eventually came up, making him groan. "When are you going to bring home a girlfriend? You're starting to make me think you swing the other way." His mom questioned.

"I told you, Ion have time for a girlfriend Ma," He replied, choosing to ignore the other part of her sentence.

"Why do you say that?"

"It doesn't matter, the point is Ion wanna date anyone right now," He shrugged. "When you gon' tell me why you told me to come home?" He felt his mom stiffen and he looked at her with concern. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'll tell you when we eat, go get your sisters and tell them it's time to eat." She rushed out, making him even more suspicious. "Where is Janiya? I told that girl to be back here by 7! She never listens to me." She threw her hands up and grabbed her phone to call her.

Rashir went to the bedrooms to get the girls as his mom had asked. The family had lived in these apartments for years, and it only had 3 bedrooms. He and Patience had their own rooms, up until Nijhea and Janiya were born so they were forced to share a room. Patience moved out when he was in high school, so he was able to have room to himself for a couple of years until he went to college. Whenever Patience came home she slept on the couch, even though she complained about it bitterly.

He knocked on the Nijhea's door and both of the girls answered, yelling they would be back out in a minute. He ventured back to into the living room, collapsing on the couch when the front door swung open and Janiya entered the apartment, looking dazed as hell.

"Oh hey Rashir," She waved at him and he narrowed his eyes at her. He stood up from the couch and walked over to her, stopping close enough so he was able to see her eyes which were dilated and red. She reeked of weed and pinched the bridge of his nose, wondering where his parents went wrong when it came to raising her.

"You fucking stink Janiya," He scrunched up his nose, "What the fuck are you smoking fo'?"

"To get rid of stress," She giggled but sobered up when she realized he was glaring at her.

"What stress? Dawg you is 15 years old," He shook his head and grabbed her arm, dragging her back to her bedroom. He pushed open the door and shoved her inside, ignoring the look of confusion he got from Patience and Nijhea who were sitting on the bed talking. "She's smacked," Was all he said and they both let out a collective sigh.

"Again?" Nijhea rolled her eyes at Janiya who was leaning all over the place next to Rashir. He reached out to steady her and placed her on the bed, laying her down under her covers.

"Whatchu mean again? The fuck is wrong wit' her?" Rashir glanced at Janiya who was now sleeping soundly.

Janiya was the delinquent child of the four. She was the youngest, but the biggest troublemaker that had their mother constantly stressing about her. At only 15 years old, she was continuously getting in trouble at school and according to Nijhea, she was already having sex with some fast-ass boys from their school. Nijhea was a senior at the high school they both went to and Janiya was a sophomore. Their mother had tried to get her under control numerous times, but she was slowly starting to give up and their father wasn't around enough to do anything about it. He was a construction worker with long hours that had him leaving early in the morning, and coming home late at night.

"She can't eat dinner with us, just tell mom she didn't feel well," Patience looked at her as she slept, "It'll ware off in a couple of hours," They left Janiya alone in her bed and went to the dining table, where their mom was setting the table.

"Mom?" Nijhea looked at her with confusion, "Why are eating now? Don't we have to wait for dad?" She asked.

"He's coming home late baby, don't worry about him," Shade dismissed her and gestured for them to have a seat.

Rashir frowned, his mom never wanted to eat without their dad. He suspiciously took a seat next to Patience who seemed to be confused as well, "Why isn't Janiya here?" Shade looked around for her daughter.

"She told me that she's not feeling well, she's taking a nap," Nijhea rushed out and immediately looked away, causing Rashir and Patience to roll their eyes. The girl couldn't lie even if her life depended on it.

Her mom nodded hesitantly and told them to grab their food, making sure to say a prayer before they ate. They ate in silence, the only sound that was heard was the sound of their forks clinking their plates. Patience was the first one to break the silence, fed up with their mother's weird behavior.

"Why are we here Ma?" She turned to Shade who deeply sighed, setting her fork down and pushing her plate away.

"Alright, I guess I'll tell you all now." She began, making Rashir stop eating as well, "Your father and I, we've been having some problems lately. We haven't been seeing eye-to-eye on things and it's taken a toll on our relationship." She paused, wiping at the tears that were forming, "I've given up so much for your father and-" She choked out, unable to complete her sentence.

Shade's parents were very strict and traditional, wanting their daughter to go to college and become a doctor, just like her mother. When she fell pregnant at only 21, her parents were furious and refused to support her. They were enraged that her only daughter had a child out of wedlock, claiming she was an embarrassment to the family and cut her and her child out of their lives. She chose to have a child with their father, who had graduated from college at the time, and Patience was then born.

"I just don't think I can stay with him any longer," Their mom finally sobbed, full-on crying now. Rashir's eyes widened at her announcement, completely taken aback that she was basically saying she was leaving their father. Although he disliked his dad, he thought that his mother loved him and would have never thought she was going to divorce him and he honestly didn't know what to think. "Your father doesn't know this yet, I wanted to tell you all first." She sniffled, grabbing a tissue to blow her nose.

"Are you being serious?" Nijhea suddenly yelled jumping out of her seat, "You're going to split us up?"

"Nijhea!" Patience snapped at her, "Have some damn respect!"

"Respect? She's splitting up this family! You wouldn't understand, you already ditched us for your pasty ass boyfriend," Nijhea snarled at her.

"Watch yourself Nijhea," Patience said through clenched teeth.

"Man sit down somewhere Nijhea, you doing way too much," Rashir was tired of her antics. It was not the time to start an argument, their mother had just announced she was leaving their father, clearly distressed and Nijhea was defending their father like it was her full-time job.

"I wasn't talking to you,"

"He's right, just sit down. You sound fucking stupid." Patience rolled her eyes in annoyance, turning to their mother who had her head in her hands. "It's okay Ma, we're here for you and support you no matter what." She rubbed Shade's back, trying to comfort her.

"Speak for your damn self, I'm staying with Daddy, I don't care," Nijhea sneered, glaring at their mother with anger.

Rashir stood up, tired of the back and forth, and silently turned around to go to his room. He closed the door behind him and sat on his bed, frozen in shock. He faintly heard the yelling continue from the living room and after a couple of minutes, he heard the front door slam, indicating someone had left.

He figured Patience went home, not wanting to be around Nijhea and he completely understood, contemplating doing the same. He stayed on his bed for a while, staring at the wall and thinking before he heard a knock on his door and let out a "Come in,".

"Hey baby," His mother poked her head in his room with puffy eyes. He could tell she was upset and immediately made his way to her, taking her in his arms.

"I'm sorry Ma, it's gon' be okay." He shushed her crying as he hugged her.

***
hello everyone! i'm going to try and update every other day but don't hold me to it 😭 hope you enjoyed this chapter and don't forget to vote and comment!