Angel cut her off "Y'all have been telling me about myself for years now, Larissa. Or did you forget?" She furrowed her brows in agitation "I'm a drug addict, a pill popper, I have no guidance, I need therapy, I'm disrespectful, I'm selfish and only care about myself, I act out for attention, and now i'm a thief. Ok! I heard it all before so what else do you need to tell me about myself! Y'all aren't saints, and have been treating me as less than for years now for whatever reason! Yeah......y'all can go to hell." She argued, that last sentence setting the whole house off.

"Who the fuck are you talking to!" She heard her mother shout along with everyone else she was now trying to ignore. Only thing she caught was Zulu blowing the horn outside which she was gladly trying to make her way to.

"See! That's exactly what we talking about!" Micah yelled at the disrespect.

"Get out! You don't have to come back to this house tonight!" Larissa said, aggressively shoving her into the screen door from behind while her own mother was close to doing the unthinkable, and actually putting hands on her.

Angel instantly swung her arm back and didn't think twice about decking her big sister right in the face, shocking them all even more. She was just defending herself. Grabbing her by the hair, Larissa snatched Angel further into the house and began punching her in the head. Though she was wearing heels, Angel was keeping up with her and didn't need to pull hair as she sent blows straight to her face. Not even having a clear view while at it.

All the commotion going on had the kids watching with wide eyes, more than shook up at what they were witnessing.

"Stop!" Jeanie said as they all tried to break the two up.

"Hell no! This little bitch just hit me in the face!" Larissa screamed out and continued whacking Angel and fucking up her hair that was just neatly done. All the pulling and tugging while trying to separate the two, caused Angel to slip out of Larissa's grip and continued to reach over everyone and repeatedly jab her in the face. Angel was really giving it her all since Larissa was older than her, and didn't even care that they were fighting like two strangers on the street. While they all stumbled side ways, they knocked the lamp over but the chair caught it before it could shatter onto the floor.

"Enough! Stop it right now!" Sharon told her daughters as they all struggled to untangle them. Angel sent out one last punch against her chin before someone finally pulled her off.

Looking over her shoulder, it was Zulu holding her in a bear hug as he backed away from the scene with her. He saw the first swing from the car and knew Angel was inside here getting into some shit, yet he was still shocked that the two sisters were going at it like this.

"You aight?" He questioned her backing into the front door so they could leave, but noticed a scratch above her eyebrow.

"Now i'm warning you! Don't bring your ass back to this house!" Larissa shouted as they all held her back.

"I live here, you don't! Go back to your own house hoe!" Angel lastly got out before Zulu exited the house with her still in his grip.

"What the hell y'all got going on!?" Zulu asked, stunned at the fight but continued to walk Angel towards the car so they could remove themselves from in front of the house.

"A lot, but don't even be surprised. This happens every other day in that hell hole." Angel rolled her eyes but made it seem like all of this was normal. That fight really ruined not only her hair, but her entire night no matter how much she tried to keep it together. As always, Angel didn't think she was in the wrong and was only standing up to the band of savages who thought they could talk to her anyway. A fight was bound to happen with the way her sister was coming at her.

Zulu was aware of her being like the black sheep of the family, but he didn't know it was this bad.

At the party, Dominique eyes repeatedly glanced at the front door as more guest arrived, but still no sign of Angel. He stood like a statue between Hakim and Chauncey, trying to enjoy the night and ignoring half the women staring him down. His main focus was whether or not Angel was going to show up, and if not, what caused the change of plans. The real reason he popped up to this party was to see her. For now he'll be patient though, and actually enjoy what he had in his second cup.

"Where the real junkies at? Mary jane just ain't doing it for me tonight." Chauncey boldly said out loud, his eyes peering over the crowded house to try and spot folks using something a little more illegal than marijuana.

"Calm down nigga, the party just started not too long ago. It take a minute for them kind of folks to stroll through with the goodies." Hakim shook his head with a grin.

"The party don't start until we see somebody climbing the walls high out of their mind."

Dominique knitted his brows at his bizarre statements but couldn't help but to lower his head and cackle "You on some other shit already."

It's clear Chauncey was ready to get into some crazy shit tonight, but the last thing he needed was too many drugs in his system because anything could've happened. That goes for Dominique too, he was trying to remain a lil calm but there's no telling how he would start to act once he's black out drunk.

He heard a couple of stories about himself, and none of them were that pleasing to hear.

While tuning the two out for a second, he gulped down most of what was in his cup and felt the rush of the alcohol entering his system. He was starting to feel good. Focusing his attention towards the women strolling by, the guys looked them up and down as they walked around in revealing outfits, giving them lustful stares on purpose.

"Whew! These women turn into freaks hoes once that liquor get into em. I ain't complaining though." Chauncey called out.

"Shit, neither am I." Dominique uttered while staring one of the girls down like fresh meat. They had an intense stare down before she giggled and turned her head the other way. Dominique knew she would be the one coming up to grind on him in another twenty minutes. Give it some time.

"Look who finally showed up." He heard Hakim say and quickly glared towards the door to see Skai entering the house. Dominique was two seconds from turning his head since that didn't really excite him, even though she was considered a friend too. He was looking for one person and one person only though.

"It's good to see you the three musketeers still kicking it." She joked and came up to give the guys friendly hugs.

Dominique playfully mushed her head before hugging her "Yeah whatever."

"Where Angel at? I thought she was coming with you?" Chauncey asked before Dominique could, and he was glad he did. Being that he didn't wanna sound a lil desperate.

"Oh she should be coming in right behind me, with a friend." She told them and Dominique raised a brow, hoping it was another girl "Just to let y'all know though, her mood is a little ruined..."

"Why?" The guys asked in unison.

Skai slowly shrugged her shoulder "I don't know, I didn't wanna drag it out of her but I knew something was up with the vibe she pulled up with."

Dominique finally fixed his attention towards the door again and finally seen Angel arriving, with some dude hot on her heels. He noticed how Angel was leading him in while holding his hand as if the two were an item, looking mighty chummy with one another. She had a straight face as her eyes scanned the party, trying to figure out where the hell Skai just went that fast. Dominique would've flailed his hand up to get her attention, but he was still stuck on her showing up with this unknown man.

Why the hell were they so close together? Is he the reason why she wasn't in a good mood anymore? Can't be. Not by the way she was gripping his hand and allowing him to be all up on her.

Two weeks of them not seeing each other and she already found her a lil boy toy.

"Yo! Angel!" Hakim whistled and yelled over the music, catching their attention.

As they started to walk over, Dominique quickly looked down inside of his cup, as if he was trying to hide his face. Jealousy was written all over it but he didn't wanna jump to conclusions, because that wasn't like him at all. This might've been the first time he felt a little awkward while in the presence of Angel, only because she had someone else with her that she looked to be close with.

"Hey y'all." She greeted them a little low but loud enough for them to hear.

Now, Dominique knew what Skai was talking about when she said her vibe was a little off. She stood here like she was a newbie in the friend group and was clearly forcing a smile. She couldn't fool Dominique though. The closer she got, he noticed the scratch above her eyebrow and he furrowed his brows while looking between her and this...nigga.

Zulu noticed this, but he wasn't taking Dominique serious at all, no matter how intimidating he was trying to look "You look like you ready to beat my ass." Zulu chuckled.

"Zulu don't start, this is Dominique. My friend I was telling you about." Angel told him "Dominique, this is a close friend of mine, Zulu." She introduced the two.

"Wassup." Dominique gave a head nod which Zulu returned.

"Zulu? That's your real name?" Hakim asked in curiosity.

"Hell yeah that's my real fucking name." Zulu told him with a straight face and the group got silent and stared at him for a minute with appalled expressions. He suddenly burst out into laughter and held his hand up "Nah I'm joking with you man." He assured him and reached over to give Hakim a dap.

Angel hit him in the chest "He has weird sense of humor, but y'all will get use to it."

Use to it!? Was she planning to bring him around more often for some reason?

"What she said, but can one of y'all show me to kitchen, I need something on my stomach." He rubbed his belly, bout ready to fill it up with liquor and wings.

"I got you, my name Chauncey by the way. Though you didn't ask but whatever." He said and started to direct Zulu towards the kitchen, more than likely naming off the other two that were in the friend group since Angel only introduced a certain person.

"You gone keep acting like a stranger or come give me a hug? You know you want to." Dominique suddenly said to Angel and held his long arms open. Angel softly giggled before going right over to hug him, becoming trapped in his warm embrace. He rubbed her back before leaning down towards her ear "Let me talk to you real quick."

"Ok."

Grabbing her hand, he now leaded the two of them through the packed house, trying to find somewhere to talk in private. Going down the hall and entering someones bedroom like it was his house, he went inside with Angel and closed the door behind them. She looked around but refused to sit down, because there was no telling what could've already went down in this room.

"Aight, what's going on with you tonight?" He finally asked.

Angel sighed and shook her head "A lot, but that's why I came here to enjoy the party."

"You'll have time to enjoy the party, but you gotta talk to me first. Why you seem so down?" Before giving her time to answer, he hit her with another question, one that was bothering him the most "Who that dude you came in here with? Is he the reason you got that scratch above your eye?"

"What? No. Zulu would never." Angel shook her head.

"So what happened tonight before you showed up? Why Skai tell us that your mood was ruined?"

"Because it kind of is. I had an issue at home with my so called family and things got out of hand." She told him.

"Who put they hands on you?"

"My big sister, Larissa. I guess her and the others were trying to check me about the disrespect going on and me stealing from my mama. I really couldn't care less about how they felt and I let them know that, which they couldn't handle. They thought I was just going to stand there and let them give unwanted opinions when really they should be the last ones trying to school me on disrespect. They'll always see me as the villain so what can you do? I had it with them and gladly told them to go to hell, and that's when the fist fight started." She explained with a nonchalant shrug.

"What the fuck is they issue?" Dominique questioned with a slight mug, becoming fed up himself with how they would treat her.

"I've been wondering that half my life."

"I don't think you should go back there tonight."

"I planned to though, just to prove a point to my sister that she wasn't scaring me off. Now that I think about it though, it's better that I go elsewhere cause there's no telling how I would react the next time one of them starts with me again. I might do something crazy that'll make me end up in the slammer." She chuckled though Dominique knew she was serious.

For a minute, Dominique had to admit to himself that he didn't really know Angel that well. Besides seeing her slapping around a camper and cussing in agitation, he never really witnessed her go full berserk. There's no telling what she was capable of, especially when being pushed to the edge by her ain't shit family. Her emotions being all over the place could cause her to act out in the worst way possible, and he ain't talking about drugs. Hearing her talk like this made Dominique want to calm her down.

"Instead of going home, I could see if you could stay at my place with me and my aunt." Dominique suggested.

Angel pursed her lips with an uneasy expression. She appreciated the offer but knew the other person living there would have a problem with her presence in the house "Dominique, your aunt is not gonna allow for me to stay there. I just know that."

"Shit you never know.." Dominique trailed off, because even he knew it wouldn't be easy to get his aunt to agree with Angel staying there overnight. Though she was trying to be respectable for the sake of her nephew, she still viewed Angel the same as his other troubled friends "If we tell her what's going on at your crib, maybe she wouldn't be so cold hearted."

She shook her head anyway "I don't know.."

Dominique smacked his lips, becoming somewhat annoyed for whatever reason "If not where you gone go? To stay with that nigga you strolled up in here with? Hand in hand?"

Angel knitted her brows "His name is Zulu for your information, and if I had to stay with him for a night I would. He always welcome me with open arms and make sure I'm good.." She told him and Dominique couldn't help but to scoff "What's with this hostility you got going on towards him? You literally just met him."

"How do you even know him?" Dominique asked after ignoring her question.

"We used to date." She revealed "And though it didn't work out romantically, that didn't stop us from being friends and close with one another."

"Oh so y'all got history? That use to be your lil boyfriend?" Dominique rhetorically asked with a slight chuckle.

"Is there an issue with that?"

"I never said it was."

"Well you're acting like it."

"Y'all ain't together anymore so why would I have an issue? I don't have a problem with you being friends with a motherfucker thats the opposite sex, that would be silly as hell." He told her straight up and paused to gulp down some more of his liquor as she just watched him "I was just curious to know what the story was, being that y'all came in together, looking comfortable as hell with one another. Wouldn't you be the same with my girl Kendra?"

He purposely asked with a smirk, and Angel knew off back that he must've been tipsy.

"I'm not doing this right now.." Angel rolled her eyes and tried brushing past him to leave the room.

"Angel come on now, we ain't seen each other in two weeks and this how you treating me. Why? Where this attitude come from?"

"What attitude? I came in and greeted you with a hug. We shared a small conversation about why I was already upset and here you go trying to get under my skin about Zulu and your girl Kendra. You need to ask yourself why you're treating me like this, but I guess it's the alcohol that's making your behavior change."

"Really? You gone try to come at me like that?"

Angel shook her head and waved him off, continuing to leave the room "I'm not in the mood for this tonight."

"You think I am?" He asked while following her out of the room as if she's the one who started with him. If Dominique wasn't under the influence of alcohol, he could admit that he was doing a bit much for no reason at all. Why bring her somewhere to talk and then blow things out of proportion a minute later? He didn't have the answers right now and wasn't gong to flat out say he was in the wrong, so for now he just saw it as her having an attitude because he was checking up on her.

As the two exited the room, Dominique watched as Angel went in a complete different direction. Probably looking for that ex of hers to whine to. He rejoined the guys and Skai as he watched Angel disappear towards the kitchen, purposely keeping her distance now since he just worked her nerves.

"What you do to my girl?" Skai instantly asked, giving Dominique the side eye.

Upon entering the kitchen, Angel glanced over the various bottles of liquor but bypassed the entire section. She nervously scratched her arm as her eyes danced around the back area, trying to find out who here had exactly what she wanted. Alcohol just wasn't going to do it for her, it never does. Walking towards the back door, she noticed a crowd of women and men occupying the back porch and knew she was about to get her fix.

"We got another one." She heard one of them say, and everyone glared back at her like fresh meat, waiting for her to exit the house and join the rest of the pill poppers.

Little did they know, she wasn't new to this at all.

Looking over her shoulder to make sure Zulu wasn't anywhere in sight, she hurried out of the house and wanted to make this fast before she could get caught in the act. Usually she wouldn't give a damn, but Zulu still doesn't know about her partaking in these kind of drugs, and she'd like to keep it that way. With everyone acting funny with her tonight, she needed this more than anything.

𝟐:𝟓𝟗 𝐚.𝐦

"Don't throw up in my car man." Chauncey warned Dominique for the second time as he once again bent over in his seat, rubbing his temples as his head pounded.

He had way too much alcohol and the effects weren't showing him any mercy. The car ride didn't make it any better as he felt his head spinning, his blurred vision making him close his eyes every other second. He felt wide awake but at the same time he didn't. Things seemed to be going so fast but so slow, and all Dominique could think about was how hot it was. He should've stopped after the fourth cup, but nobody could tell him anything. He was gonna do what he wanted regardless.

Fluttering his eyes outside the window, he couldn't even make out the street signs since it was so dark, but he still knew where he was headed. Or suppose to be headed.

Suddenly sitting up straight, he reached for the door handle "Let me out." He ordered, slurring like no other.

Chauncey quickly stopped the car in the middle of the street, or else Dominique would've went flying out onto the concrete like the drunken mess he was "Hold up nigga, you good?" Chauncey asked as he watched Dominique get out.

"Yeah I got it