Chapter 5
“This bitch,” Nadia muttered, approaching Rose at the entrance to the carnival.
He said his little brother, but she didn’t expect Minx to be there with her man either. She knew she was dating Gannon, but there was a lot that Nadia heard in a day, and she didn’t always trust her sources. Putting on her fake smile, she walked up on the group.
“What’s up, gang? I didn’t know we were doing a group thing today.” Nadia cut her eyes at Rose.
He shook his head but didn’t say anything. Minx’s dislike was written all over her face. She was never one to hide behind how she felt.
“Nadia, feel free to distance yourself if you need to then.” Minx tilted her head at her, trying to be cute.
“Minx.” Rose cut in, jarred by her remark.
These two were starting with the shit early.
He knew Minx didn’t like any of the bitches he happened to bring around.
The problem was, she felt like Nadia had to still mean something since he was keeping her around.
Rose knew that Nadia was loyal. She was also a business major and fluent with washing his money.
The boxing gym he owned was a nice front for his other dealings, and Nadia kept all that shit afloat.
He broke her off a percentage and occasional dick when he was around.
The shit worked for him. Rose didn’t stick a label on them anymore, and she knew that.
If he wanted to fuck a bitch in front of her she couldn’t do anything about it, and the same was true for her.
Nadia’s mouth stretched into a satisfied grin.
She knew girls like Minx coming up—spoiled, entitled, and all because she was so beautiful.
Men always went out of their way for her, and other girls didn’t care for her.
Everyone assumed she was a hoe because of how sexy and confident she was.
When Minx walked into a room, she radiated everything around her.
The energy changed when her mouth curved into that sexy half smile.
A natural aura was competition to any woman.
“Nah, Rose, it’s all good. Nice to see you too, Minx,” she greeted her all sugary sweet.
“Yo, real niggas don’t go to fucking carnivals, bruh.” Finn’s voice pulled their attention from the confrontation going on.
He and Luna walked up looking very good together. Minx caught on to the extra swag her girl had today and simpered. It seemed they had a few things to discuss.
“Nigga, just bring ya ass. If I got to do this shit, you do too,” Rose argued.
Nadia snuck up beside him, clinging to him like she was his girl. Rose didn’t say anything as they walked up to pay for their entry. Luna and Minx hooked their arms together and walked in their own little world. There was a little nip in the morning air, so it kept them warm.
“So you walked up looking real boo’d up.” Minx mocked her friend, watching Nadia lean in and pull herself closer to Rose while they walked ahead of them.
She rolled her eyes and kept in stride with her.
“Pssh, bitch, please,” Luna chimed in with a nervous laugh.
Minx side-eyed her.
“Yeah, ‘bitch, please’ my ass. What happened? And don’t say nothing. I can see that fresh twinkle in your eye, hoe.” She teased before they cackled together.
“What you think happened? I was on my best behavior.” Luna lied.
Head down in his phone, Finn trailed them through the carnival. His munchies were kicking in so he didn’t like that they were passing all the little food stands and games so that they could get to the rides. The temp rose and so did the brightness from the sun.
“Yoni woke us up to load groceries in the house. She gave me fair warning about getting involved with Finn.”
“Your best hoe shit, I’m sure.” Minx reacted playfully. “And you know Yoni’s going to give it to you straight, no chaser,” Minx countered.
“Whether you want her to or not,” Luna chimed in.
“But… I don’t know. I’m not trying to get into nothing deep or serious.
This is Finn we are talking about here. The nigga can’t even commit to a brand of underwear.
He keeps bitches on deck. Last night was about us both having a need to fulfill. That was it,” Luna described.
“Hmm, OK.” Minx stared off, and her eyes landed on Gannon.
He was also in his phone. The nigga was so glued to it he barely paid attention to her walking beside him. She was curious as hell about what had him so engrossed, but she was never one to go looking for trouble.
“What’s going on with you?” Luna picked up on the vibe between her bestie and her man.
The fact that Rose was hugged up with Nadia didn’t rubbing her right either.
Minx didn’t like the person she turned into when that girl was around.
Just the fact that she meant enough for Rose to keep around bothered her.
The only woman she wanted room in his life for was herself, and yet he kept this bitch in his back pocket like a spare.
“Nothing. Gannon keeps pressing me about moving in, and Daddy is tripping about me coming in all hours of the night. Starting to wonder if I shouldn’t move in with this nigga and appease them both.” Minx stared off ahead.
“Is that what you want?” Luna probed, brows lifting in question.
“What if I don’t know what I want?” Minx squinted with her eyes ahead.
Luna scoffed and shook her head.
“Impossible. You, Minka Ward, doesn’t know what she wants? I find that hard to believe.” Luna took in how cozy Nadia and Rose seemed to be.
When she looked at Minx, she read how she couldn’t take her eyes off them walking with her little brother.
“Or are you suddenly torn about what it is that you want?” With a playful simper, she studied Minx.
She didn’t answer. Instead she groaned in annoyance and lowered her eyes to the ground when they neared the rides.
“Rose is Rose. Look at him.” She nodded ahead.
“Yeah, I see him.” Luna bobbed her head. “And you two do this little dance and don’t even realize it.”
“What are you talking about?” Minx looked at her absurdly and tugged away.
“Minx, the only reason you’re so bothered by Nadia is because Rose keeps her around for one reason or another. That’s his business. You’re so damn spoiled that you don’t want to share him with anybody, and you should probably start asking yourself why that is.”
Minx scoured her with scrutiny and turned her nose up.
The two were friends long enough to call one another out on their shit.
Luna knew better than anybody the dysfunctionalities of Minx and Rose.
Friends with this heavy, unspoken bond between them that nobody else could penetrate.
Somewhere along the way, they became dependent on one another.
It was borderline unhealthy. Even if Rose was miles away, he and Minx chatted regularly, except for this last time around.
When he left, their relationship shifted, and Minx didn’t want to talk about it.
Gannon overheard some of their conversation, and couldn’t help but notice Minx didn’t deny anything that Luna accused her of.
His mood changed after that, and he eyeballed her crazily while she damn near burned a hole in Rose and Nadia.
“Maybe because she’s a money-hungry, sack-chasing thot,” Minx muttered bitterly.
Luna cracked a smile and pouted her lips.
“Mm-hmm, yeah, OK.” She nodded to herself. “I was talking about you.” She lifted both brows.
It wasn’t the time or place for this conversation. If they were going to delve into the bricks that built her and Ambrose’s relationship, they were going to need drinks and lots of them. There was no way it could be dissected in a couple of rides and some junk food.
“I want a damn funnel cake.” Luna changed the subject.
“I want some of that damn popcorn chicken. I wonder if they still serve it.” Minx peered around.
The next few hours Minx found herself having a blast. Filling up on junk food and riding every ride.
When she looked up she found Mille having the best time with Rose.
Minx and Gannon linked up while Luna joined Finn on every ride.
Even more of a crowd gathered, so most of the town was out.
With her arms full of popcorn and a tropical slushie, Minx walked through the hay-paved walkways until she came across the Ferris wheel.
Slowly, she raised her head until she stared at the top.
It came to a stop a few feet away, unloading their current passengers.
“I’m getting on this,” she said aloud, but Gannon was on his phone.
Something had come up at the club, and he was going to have to leave early. Minx saw the look on his face before he could even say anything to her. Tucking his phone into his pocket, he faced her. She popped a few pieces of popcorn into her mouth and stared back at him.
“Let me guess, something came up.” She quickly turned away, not even wanting to look at him.
“I gotta go handle this shit with the liquor distributor. They fucking up orders, and I don’t have time for this, babe.”
“Whatever, Gannon.” Rolling her eyes, Minx sucked her teeth.
“Have a good day.” Just as she was turning to walk toward the gate so that she could load up on the Ferris wheel, he reached for her arm.
He didn’t want to walk away from her like this.
It seemed like lately, every time they interacted, it ended in a fight.
“Minx, come on. I’m doing this so that our future is secure—”
“Don’t put me in this shit. I’m gonna be fine with or without you,” she spat, and Gannon jerked like she’d slapped him.
She always had a slick mouth, but she was going for the jugular today, and he wasn’t feeling that shit. Rearing his head, his brows pinched together angrily, and he stood over her.
“That’s how you feeling right now?” He snapped, shoulders squared like he was ready for action. “After all the time I done put in with yo’ ass?”