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Her eyes nearly bulged out of her head. “E-e-excuse me?” she sputtered.

“I didn’t mumble, Ma. You heard exactly what I said. The boundaries that I set with Pop don’t just apply to him. If you have a problem with who I choose to spend my time with and want to be nasty and evil-spirited, then you can go. We ain’t got nothing else to talk about.”

The walls felt as though they were closing in, suffocating me. A thin layer of sweat coated my forehead as all the work I’d done in the past few months unraveled like a thread. I had to have been living in some sort of fantasy world to think things were turning around for me.

It was the same old song. One step forward and two back. Leaving Jamie and his mother alone, I darted to his room to gather my things. To my surprise, he was right behind me.

“Nyx, what are you doing?’

“I can’t be here right now,” my reply was strained as I fought to keep from crying.

“Can you just stop for a second?”

“No.” I dodged his touch as he reached for me. “I can’t do this.”

“Listen to me.”

“I have to go, Jamie.”

Avoiding eye contact with him at all costs for fear that I’d completely break down, I brushed past him and out into the living room. His mother didn’t say a word as I stormed out, somehow managing to keep myself together until I made it to Raelynn’s.

“Nyx?” she pulled the door open, her expression a mixture of concern and surprise to see me. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

It was then and only then that I burst into tears. “Everything is all fucked up.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

JAMES

“Fuck!” I exclaimed, tossing the notebook I’d been writing in aside. Trying to finish the song I wanted to perform for the showcase was damn near impossible with the amount of bullshit I had on my mind. Nyx and I hadn’t spoken since my mother popped up at my house, and I hadn’t spoken to my mother either.

As much as I respected her, the way she’d gone off on Nyx and disrespected her was something I refused to let slide. I understood that she had a job to do, but protecting Nyx was my highest priority, and that was the end of it.

Rubbing my temples, I tried my hardest to clear my head so I could get my song done and at least get that off my plate since it was the only thing I had control over. Thankfully, my brother called, providing a much-needed distraction. At least for the moment.

“Nigga,” Jude huffed, the second I answered his call. “I don’t know what the hell you did to Ma, but her ass is on one.”

“I know. We got into it the other day when she stopped by my crib.”

“What happened?”

Nyx had been through too much for me to spread her business, so I tried to keep it as short as possible.

“She has a problem with Nyx.”

“How? She doesn’t even know her.”

“She does, but not really. Nyx has some shit going on, and she and Ma are tangled up legally.”

“Shit,” he whistled. “Mama’s pressing charges against your girl? The fuck did she do?”

“Nothing. Her ex had her wrapped up in some bullshit to save his own ass. Anyway, Ma saw her and started going off, but I nipped it in the bud. I guess she took that as me choosing Nyx over her.”

“Oh, ain’t no guessing. That’s exactly how she took it. She’s been on my line all morning crying about how you turned your back on family over a woman you don’t even know. How you turned your back on her.”

“She needs to chill with that dramatic shit. It wasn’t like that,” I exhaled deeply, rubbing my forehead. “I told her that if she couldn’t respect Nyx, then she had to go. It was as simple as that.”

“I feel you, bruh. I don’t know your girl like that, or what she has going on, but I do know you. If you say she’s solid, then that’s what I’m rocking with.”