“Hunh?” Most of the time, I did and said shit on purpose to get under her skin, but this time, I didn’t know what Mahzeyah was talking about.
“I bought that outfit.”
“Yeah?” I nodded. “You did good, ZeyZey.”
My alarm went off on my phone in my pocket. Instead of removing it, I hit the side button to silence it. Mahzeyah could have her for now because it was time for me to do what I’d been assigned to do. When Big Cuz called me up, I was taken aback by his request. After I’d fucked up with Hobo, fucking around with Neltz, I didn’t think my cousins would ever trust me tohandle shit ever again until I proved myself. Getting that call and hearing the exhaustion in his voice, I knew I couldn’t say no.
Jogging down the stairs, I hit the light on the basement wall. I couldn’t believe Jisei had this spot deserted like this. She’d left everything in this bitch, down to designer clothes in her closets. It was girly as hell with all the pink, but the basement was more neutral. Staying here, even though I knew it was temporary, gave me a sense of how it would feel to live alone. My spot was going to be the hangout, for sure. I wouldn’t have it any other way, especially now that we’d set a standard with the townhouse.
Bending at the slot that was toward the bottom of the top half of the door, I slid it open so that I could see inside the room. I used the one at the bottom to slide her food and other items she needed in, but she’d been quiet today, so I wanted to make sure she was straight. A few days ago, I put a fan in there since she was sweating like a pig, even with the air being on sixty-eight. Yesterday, I threw in a heating pad for her cramps to help soothe her since it was recommended that she not take any medicine. We didn’t want her to swap out one drug for another, and I was learning by the day that this addiction shit was not for the weak.
Solana had been a trooper indeed. She was also a good listener, or at least, I was telling myself that since when I talked to her, she remained quiet most of the time. I knew it was because she was probably in pain, but being alone down here all day was not good. Even my ass knew that.
Seeing Solana was in her normal spot, balled up on the floor beside the bed, I sighed. The room was covered in clothes, and a few food bags were scattered about. I joked that she wasn’t the cleanest a few days ago, but I had no room to talk because, shit, I could do better in the cleaning department myself.
“Solana.”
Her lunch was still next to the slot, untouched. She was eating most days, so that was a good sign, but she’d been goingthrough it the last couple of days. Alexa had told us it was a mental battle. The body aches, plus her mind craving something she couldn’t have, was taking a toll on her. I was watching her deteriorate by the day, and I wanted to take her to a real rehab more days than not. Solana was pretty, and she was sweet. Watching her go through this was doing something to my own fucking mental.
The twins would hit me with product from time to time to get off so I could keep some money flowing in my pockets. I sold some of it to my niggas at a wholesale price and hustled the rest. I was making about fifteen hundred a week selling white, which was more than enough for a young nigga with no bills. Most of the product given was cooked down to crack. Crack sold for more in the hood and at a quicker pace too. When I made a sale, I looked at it as a dollar sign. It was new Js. It was a pair of designer shoes. It was gambling money. It was some expensive seafood boil. Not once did I think of whom I was affecting when I sold the drugs.
This side was the fucking ugly side, and I couldn’t help but feel like I’d had a hand in Solana’s addiction even though I knew I truly hadn’t.
“Solana…?”
She didn’t budge. Usually, she would wake up when I came to the door or shoo me away, at the very least.
“Aye, Solana? You good in there?”
Again, she said nothing in response. I tried focusing to see if I could see her breathing, but it was hard as hell looking through this slot with my long limbs. I wasn’t as tall as my cousins, but I was a little over six feet already. We tall niggas may have been nice to look at, but we had challenges, too, like bending and shit.
“Solana!”
I was met with silence, and my heart started sputtering.
I didn’t want to call Shio. I’d fucked up with Hobo, and he’d come through, fixing my mess with that. I wanted to prove to my Big Cuz that I could help Solana fight this shit. I’d read through every online article I could find and felt like I’d been doing a damn good job.
“Solana!”
Scanning her balled frame again, the sweatshirt that covered her body looked like it was wet on the sides. Getting completely on my knees so that I could get a better view, I shouted when I saw she wasn’t moving at all.
“Fuck!”
Hopping up, I retrieved the key from my pocket, which I had never used until now. It took me a few twists and turns to get the key to work, but when it did unlock the latch, I pulled the heavy-ass door open as fast as I could. It had to have weighed three-hundred pounds as it swung with a heavy, rusted sound before it banged against the wall.
“Fuck! Cuz tryna trap a gorilla in this bitch? Gotdamn!” I mumbled while stepping on top of a sweatshirt and an old thank you plastic bag after that.
“Solana!”
She hadn’t even flinched at the sound of my yelling. Looking down at her still body, sweat sprang along my hairline. Dropping to my knees, I hit the ground in a splat. She was lying on top of a pool of her own vomit. The smell was rancid, and I was doing everything I could not to add to the pile of vomit.
Lifting her head, the whole right side was soiled. “Hey! Hey! Solana!”
Tapping her chin, her eyes finally fluttered. Her mouth parted slightly, throw up dripping from the side of her face.
“Solana. Solana! Wake up. Wake up and tell me how you feelin’.”
I could feel myself shaking, but I was trying my hardest to put on a brave front. My fucking cousins and their damn women were going to be the cause of me catching gray hairs at fucking sixteen. First, I had to kidnap Discover’s fine ass, and when my niggas and me seen that ass naked, we all had to make like Shio and have a come-to-Jesus moment. I ain’t never took nothing from a female a day in my life, but that day was the day I was tempted like my motherfucking name was Diddy. However, I wasn’t no creep-ass nigga. Discover was a dangerous take, and Vello chose to take a risk that my ass would never.
