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“Auntie Luna, if she's telling you I put hands on her then she’s a damn lie! If I did I wouldn’t have gone as hard to break her ribs! I’m not the Incredible Hulk!”

“Wait, I’m weak,” Aneesah tittered while throwing her head back. Her reaction made me laugh, too.

“Lo-Lo, she didn’t say anything like that. She was jumped by Kayla’s people, but she said you were there and watching the whole thing go down. We didn’t raise y’all like that!”

“We didn’t raise ‘em to hunch on the same men either, but that didn’t stop Lyss from doing what she did. I don’t know why you or her expect Lourdes to stick her neck out for somebody who obviously hates her,” Lucia replied heatedly. Shit, I couldn’t have said it better myself.

“Evidently that hate is a two way street! Lyss said she had hope for their relationship when they apologized to each other and hugged it out. So for Lourdes to watch her get beat up in the way she did is crazy. I’m going to send y’all a picture of my baby’s face cause this is ridiculous!”

Luna sounded stupid as fuck going to bat for somebody to defend her triffling daughter. I would have been mad as fuck if Lourdes was outside fighting over somebody who wouldn’t spit on her if she was on fire. But Luna pouring out her heart on the phone had offered me some clarity and relief. Learning to trust Lourdes again was a process and so was not holding the past against her. I was a nigga who didn’t give second chances, but I allowed my heart to guide me with Lourdes because I loved her. Love didn’t mean that I’d abruptly forget everything and not question if she was being honest at times like this. Her Auntie revealing that Lyss had relayed that they had an amicable conversation was confirmation that the version of the story that Lourdes gave me was true. That shit made me feel good because it proved that she was over her ex. She didn’t even care to bat Nalyssa off the principle she claimed to care so much about initially. That nigga Kenny was definitely a distant memory for her. She urged me that I’d see that through her actions overtime and that time had arrived.

“And Lourdes didn’t do that to her face, so you need to be calling Kayla’s mammy! My daughter wasn’t obligated to do sh-”

“Mama, give me the phone,” Lourdes smoothly grabbed Lucia’s iPhone from her hand, but she didn’t take it off speaker.

“Auntie, I had no idea that Nalyssa got jumped. I was in a section celebrating my friend's birthday. It was my first girls night out since having Louri, so I was having a good time with the people I stepped out with. I wouldn’t have even noticed Lyss was there if she didn’t go out of her way to make her presence known to me. Then we had a conversation because she walked over to my section like she had smoke. My friends thought she wanted to fight or something, but it was me who assured them that it would be none of that. The only reason we had a level headed conversation was because of me, and I didn’t apologize for anything because I have nothing to be sorry for. She damn sure didn’t apologize. There was no making up for us. I straight up let her know that I love her, but I can’t deal with her. I wished her well and we parted ways. I couldn’t even tell you which direction she walked in after that, so I don’t know why she’s telling you that I watched her get jumped. That’s a blatant lie, but I expect nothing less from that girl.”

“That girl? Really, Lo-Lo? You talking about your cousin like she’s a stranger.”

“With the way she’s been doing me she might as well be a stranger. I don’t know this Nalyssa at all.”

“Baby, I understand that she did something wrong. Ain’t no excuse for her getting with your ex, but Kash is here now. We need to stop all this and let bygon-”

“Like I told Lyss last night, there’s no beef! You can bring Kash over here right now and I’d show him so much love. But his maw ain’t allowed in my house and I don’t fuck with her. That’s what it is and it ain’t gon’ change.”

“We better than that, Lou-”

“Auntie Luna, why are you preaching to me like I beat up Nalyssa? Call Kayla and have this talk with her. She’s the one who got your daughter attacked, not me!”

“No, you didn’t fight her, but you also don’t care about her wellbeing and that’s not right.”

“I care about her wellbeing, but I damn sure wouldn’t have helped her fight last night. The most I would’ve done was call security to break it up or call her an ambulance if she’s as messed up as you claim. Beyond that, I’m not sure what you expected, but it’s giving delusional like your child.”

“What?! Girl, I know you not disrespecting me!”

“Man, hang up,” I snarled. They were going back and forth, but it wasn’t going anywhere. If she didn’t end up cursing her Auntie out then I probably would, and I wasn’t trying to take it there with her people.

“No, give me the phone,” Lucia stood up and snatched her phone back. “Sister, this conversation is over. I feel bad that Lyss got beat up and that you had to take her to the hospital, but you have misplaced anger. My daughter did absolutely nothing wrong and if you can’t see that then we have nothing else to discuss.”

“Mic drop!” Aneesah chanted.

I agreed with my lil sis. There wasn’t nothing else to say, and today was going to be the last day Lourdes entertained that bullshit with her cousin and her ex in any capacity.

Chapter 28

February 14, 2026

Lourdes

“Baby, Aspen’s body is teaaaa!” Fendi screamed as we rewatched the video I’d just recorded of her. It was officially the weekend before Mardi Gras and we were at the Endymion parade deep as fuck. I’d heard great things about the way the Pierre’s did parade season, but experiencing it first hand had surpassed the hype. Armias’ Auntie Martha's house was the headquarters for all the uptown parades because she lived in the 10th Ward. Endymion was a Mid-City parade though, so they had to set up a headquarters on the route. They had three extra large Mardi Gras themed tents, countless parade ladders for the kids, and they had an insane amount of food and alcohol. They were barbecuing, boiling crawfish, and they had all the standard party food like meatballs, fried chicken wings, deviled eggs, and everything else that was bad for a bitch like me who wanted to lose weight. I promised myself that I’d lock in with dieting and the gym after Mardi Gras. Until then, I was going to enjoy one of my favorite times of the year without holding back.

“Too tea! I know them niggas be on her body at UBR,” I praised as we continued to watch Aspen do back to back bucking counts. UBR had just passed and they conveniently stopped right in front of us to give a show. For the previous two parades, they marched right past us so we only got a quick glimpse of Aspen strutting. That was more than enough for me because her strut was phenomenal and she looked beautiful each time. But getting to see her actually dance today was a real treat!

“Man, chill, I’m not tryna hear allat,” Armias grumbled.

I was good and tipsy because I was running my mouth like I wasn’t sitting in his lap. All of us adults had to bring our own chairs if we wanted guaranteed seats, so Armias and I ordered chairs online last week. My pink chair with the attached umbrella was occupied by Zee who sat criss-cross apple sauce watching all the floats pass by with bright eyes. He refused to get up close with the rest of the kids and a parade ladder was out of the question for him. He had a fit when Armias merely mentioned it. I didn’t blame him because beads and everything else they threw off the float could be dangerous. Most New Orleanians joked that being smacked in the face with a pack of beads was a right of passage.

“My bad, daddy,” I grabbed his face by his jaw and kissed him sensually.