CHAPTER TWELVE #2
"Nah, he can play in Sosa's living room. He got toys there for him." Zurie unbuckled her seatbelt. "Let's just get this over with."
We got out and headed to the front door. Zurie had a key so she let us in.
"Sosa!" she called out.
"Kitchen, Zu!" his voice came back.
We walked through the living room, and when we turned into the kitchen, I stopped dead in my tracks.
My little sister was standing at the counter in a pair of boy shorts and an oversized t-shirt that clearly wasn't hers, holding a coffee mug in both hands. Her weave was pulled up in a messy ponytail and when she saw me, her eyes went wide as hell. She looked scared.
"Yatta—" she started.
"Yo, what the fuck?" I looked from her to Sosa, who was leaning against the counter in nothing but basketball shorts and a wife beater, his locs pulled back. He didn't look shook though. If anything, he looked... ready.
"Aye, real shit, I'm glad you came through bruh," Sosa said, straightening up. "I been tryna get at you anyway."
I felt my jaw tighten. "Is that right?"
Zurie put a hand on my arm. "Yatta, we came here to talk about me. Remember?"
I took a breath, trying to keep my cool. She was right. We had bigger shit to handle. But I was definitely circling back to this.
Sosa looked at his sister, his face shifting. "Yo, what's good? Why you here this early with this nigga anyways?"
Zurie glanced at me, then back at her brother. She was hesitating.
"Tell him," I said.
She swallowed hard. "Sosa... Jamie been putting his hands on me."
The room went dead silent. Sosa's whole demeanor changed in an instant. his face went stone cold, and I could see his mind already working through something.
"Word?" He said it quietly, but I could tell he was thinking about the words she just spewed.
"For a few months now. It got bad last night. Yatta... he kicked the door in and stopped it. He got me and JJ out." Zurie's voice was shaking but she kept going. "I ain't tell you 'cause I knew what you'd do. But Yatta's right. You needed to know."
Sosa nodded slowly, his jaw clenched tight. He pulled out his phone. "Where that nigga at right now?"
"Bro, please—" Zurie started.
"Nah, Z. Real shit." He looked at her, his eyes hard but his voice softer when he spoke to her. "You think I'ma let that slide?" He looked at me. "Where he at?"
"Still at the crib, I'm assuming. I left his ass on the floor last night."
Sosa nodded, scrolling through his phone. "Aight. I got some lil' niggas that'll handle that. Make that problem disappear, feel me?"
"Yea, I'm wit' that," I said.
"Say less. These young niggas hungry and they don't ask questions." Sosa tapped on a name in his phone. "They'll make sure that nigga don't never put his hands on nobody else again."
Zurie looked between us, tears starting to fall. "Y'all don't have to—"
"Yeah, we do," Sosa and I said at the same time.
Sosa set his phone down and pulled his sister into a hug. She broke down crying against his chest. He held her tight, looking at me over her shoulder with murder still in his eyes but control in his movements. That's what made Sosa dangerous, he never moved on emotion. He moved on strategy.
"We gon' handle this shit the right way," he said. "That nigga ain’t gon' ever touch you again. That's on everything."
The tension in the room shifted slightly, and then I turned my attention back to Yah-Yah, who'd been standing there quietly the whole time looking like she wanted to disappear.
"Now," I said, crossing my arms. "Somebody wanna tell me what the fuck goin' on here?"
Yah-Yah opened her mouth but nothing came out.
Sosa stepped up, putting a hand on her lower back with no hesitation.
"Aight look bruh, me and Yah-Yah been fuckin' with each other."
I stared at him. "You for real right now?"
"Dead ass."
"Bae…" Yah-Yah tried to interject.
Bae
"Nah, you said when the time right, tell him. Shit, time's right as it's gon' get." Sosa looked at me dead in my eyes. "I fuck with your sister heavy, bruh. Real shit. I ain't playin’ no games."
I looked at Yah-Yah. "When was you gon' tell me?"
"I was tryna figure out how," she said quietly. "I just didn’t want you to flip the fuck out."
"Flip out? Yah-Yah, you know what we been through."
Her face shifted and I could see the pain flashing across it.
We didn't talk about our parents much. The shit was too heavy.
I raised Yah-Yah and Mya, I did what I had to do in these streets so she could have a life.
They were the only family I had left, and the thought of losing her, to anything, or to anyone made my chest tight.
"That's why I ain't say nothin'," Yah-Yah said, her voice stronger now. "Because you can't let me breathe. I'm twenty-seven years old, Yatta. Not seven. I can make my own choices."
"I know that—"
"Do you?" She stepped forward. "'Cause ever since mama... ever since that day, you been tryna protect us from every damn thing. And I love you for it. I do. But I need you to trust me. And trust that you raised me right."
That hit me different. I felt my jaw working, trying to find words that wouldn't come.
Sosa cleared his throat. "Look, my nigga. I respect you. I respect what you been through, what you did for your sisters. That's why I wanted to be straight up wit' you. I ain't on no snake shit. Yah-Yah mean somethin' to me."
I looked between them, the way he had his hand on her back, protective. The way she was looking at him.
"How long this been goin' on?" I asked.
"'Bout a week," Sosa said. "We’ve been vibing with each other for a minute though. She been comin' through the club, we been choppin' it up. This just... happened."
"Happened, huh?" I repeated.
"Yeah. And look, I know how this look, especially wit' the timin' and all that. But I ain't out here playin' wit' her. I ain't that type of nigga, you know that."
I did know that. Sosa ran his business tight, kept his word, moved with respect. That's why we'd been able to do business. He was solid.
I let out a long breath, rubbing my hand over my face.
"Man..."
"You gon' shoot me or we good?" Sosa asked, and there was the slightest hint of humor in his voice. I shot him a look.
"Aye bruh, don't play wit' me right now."
"I'm just sayin'. I know you stay strapped, so I figured I should know if I need to duck or not."
Despite everything, I felt the corner of my mouth twitch. This nigga had balls, I'd give him that.
"You hurt her," I said, my voice dead serious, "and we gon' have a problem. I don't give a fuck how much bread we done made together."
"On my mama, I would never," Sosa said, his tone matching mine.
I held his gaze for a long moment, then nodded slowly.
"Aight. We good then."
Yah-Yah's eyes got a little watery. "Yatta—"
"I ain't happy you hid this from me," I said, looking at her. "But I get it. And..." I paused, the words feeling heavy. "You deserve to be happy. After everything you been through. You deserve that." She crossed the room and hugged me tight. I wrapped my arms around her.
"I love you," she whispered.
"I love you too. Always."
When she pulled back, she was smiling through tears. Sosa came over and gave me a pound, then pulled me in for a brief hug.
"I appreciate you, my nigga," he said.
"Yeah, yeah." But I couldn't help the small smile. "Just don't make me regret this shit."
"Never that, bruh."
I then looked over at Zurie. "You stayin' here?"
"Yeah. For now. ‘til I figure shit out."
"Aight. They can post up here long as they need," Sosa said, looking at his sister. "You already know that."
She nodded, wiping her eyes. "Thank you."
I checked my watch. "Aight. I got moves to make. I'll wait for your call."
"Say less."
I looked at Yah-Yah and Sosa together. "Y'all... do y'all thing. But I'm watchin'."
Yah-Yah laughed softly. "I know you are."
I gave them both a nod, then headed for the door. Zurie followed me out to the driveway.
"Thank you," she said. "For making me tell him."
"He deserved to know. And he love you. You seen how he handled it." I looked down at her. "You good?"
"Yeah. I'm good."
There was a pause, both of us just standing there. Then she stepped forward and hugged me. It was a tight, genuine, warm hug. I wrapped my arms around her and held her for a moment.
"You safe now," I said into her hair. "Remember that."
"I know."
She pulled back and looked up at me, and for a second I wanted to kiss her. But I didn’t wanna overstep my boundaries.
So I just nodded, got in my truck, and pulled out the driveway.