Chapter 24
Chapter twenty-four
Yale
“Time to go!” Xoey announced as she walked into the house. She dropped her purse on the table and looked around the living room. “What the hell happened here?”
“I got bored,” I laughed as I sat on the couch. Amethyst was going to be pissed when he got home, but I didn’t care. I ended up rearranging his living room on a whim and loved the results.
“Does Am know?” she asked, and I shook my head. “Oh, can I be here when he sees it for the first time?”
“Probably not,” I laughed and stood. “I’m ready.” I picked up my purse and phone from the table behind the couch as I passed it. “Now explain to me exactly what this is we are going to.”
“A professional flag football game,” Xoey explained as we walked out of the house.
I slowed my steps to try to grasp what she was telling me, but it was hard.
What the hell was a professional flag football game, and why were we going to it?
Xoey always had a way of getting her ass into shit nobody else did and dragging us along. “You’ve never been to one?”
“The only time I have any interest in sports is when we go see Mercy or Legacy play,” I answered with a shake of my head. “Besides that, I couldn’t care less about anything revolving around a ball, hoop, goal, or whatever.”
“Well, add this to your list,” she laughed. “KO is the captain, and I’ve been supporting my girl for years. Now that she plays for Pyrite’s team, she’s closer, and we can cheer her on.”
She unlocked the car, and we got inside. “Xoey, how the hell do you know so many people?” I asked once I was settled in my seat and put my seatbelt on.
Xoey put on her seatbelt and then started the car.
She looked over at me and smirked. “If you want to be honest, I have no idea how we became friends. One day, she was just there, and we were kicking it. I found out she played football and wanted to see if she was any good. You’ll understand why when you see her. ”
“Is she deformed or something?” I asked.
“No,” Xoey laughed and shook her head. She pulled out of the driveway, and we headed to Stone Arena. “Anyway, she’s good. Like, really good. Despite her punk ass baby daddy being a pro quarterback.”
“So her and her baby daddy play professional football?”
“Yep, he’s a bitch, though. We don’t fuck with him at all.
” She got off the highway and drove to the employee parking garage.
Pyrite allowed us to use it whenever we were at the arena.
Xoey parked her car in her assigned parking spot and turned off the car.
“Mercy and Legacy are here already,” Xoey pointed to Mercy’s car and Legacy’s.
They were parked across from us. “What’s that on Legacy’s car? ”
We got out of the car. A bouquet of lilies sat on the hood of Legacy’s car. “Let me find out Legacy got a man and hasn’t told us.”
“Right,” I agreed. I approached Legacy’s car to look at the flowers. I picked them up to get a closer look. They were pretty. “These are nice.”
Xoey took the flowers from my hand and looked them over. Her face twisted, then she set them back on Legacy’s car. “They aren’t from Psalms’ shop, so whoever they are from lost a few points.”
“So judgmental,” I laughed as I pulled her from Legacy’s car.
“I bet they weren’t from Hood,” Xoey grunted. “I’m going to have to tell my boy to step his shit up. He can’t let another nigga come in and stake claim on the Point Guard.”
“Hood likes Legacy?” I asked, slightly surprised, and she nodded. “How didn’t I know that?”
“No clue, but I bet you by the start of the season you’ll be designing a ring for her,” she smiled, and I playfully rolled my eyes.
Xoey was a lover of all things Hallmark, worthy of movies when it came to love.
She swore that all of our friends were going to end up with the loves of their lives by the turn of a new season.
She and Krude had a running bet with dates and partners.
I never asked where I was on that list because I didn’t want to know. “You don’t believe me?”
“I don’t know enough about what they are or aren’t doing to have an opinion. I mean, you said the same thing about Givens and Mercy, and my phone hasn’t rang yet,” I shrugged. Mercy and Legacy had recently signed with the Queens.
“It will,” she laughed. “I haven’t been wrong yet.” She looped her arm around mine and nodded. “As a matter of fact, I’m going to talk to Diara today and see if they’ve been talking to each other.”
“Oh, this is a real girls’ night, huh?” I laughed, and Xoey nodded. Diara was usually a homebody because of her son, so I was excited to see her —it’d been a while. “Who did you get to watch Destyn?”
“My mama, of course,” Xoey answered. “The second I told mama about it, she said she would watch Destyn and Ki, and I knew we were all coming out to support KO.”
“You are such a girl’s girl,” I said, and Xoey smiled. Out of everyone I knew, I could say that Xoey was always the loudest supporter. She showed up, no matter what. “So, tell me what you have been up to?”
“Nothing out of the ordinary,” Xoey answered as we approached the elevator. “Just a little of this, a little of that.” She pressed the up button, and we waited. “I helped Fire with something a few days ago, and that’s about it.”
“You helped him?” I said slowly, and Xoey nodded. “Helped him exactly how?”
“I got to be the chef,” she proudly answered with a smile. “I can’t cook for shit, but that doesn’t stop my creative juices from flowing.”
The elevator door opened, and we stepped inside. Xoey pressed the button for our floor, and we rode up in silence.
“If I asked you to do something for me, would you?” I asked softly.
Xoey looked over at me, but I kept my eyes facing the door.
There was very little Xoey would tell me no to, but I had never stepped into a space like this before.
I knew my friend was a killer; she’d never hidden that, but I wasn’t her friend because of it.
I was friends with Xoey because she was a good person —funny, intelligent, and kept a smile even when shit was going bad.
“Like?” she asked, and I sighed. “I can’t do what you need done unless you tell me what it is.”
“I-” I started to speak, but the elevator doors opened. On the other side of the doors were Legacy, Glover, Mercy DeCorte, and Diara LaBlanc. They started talking excitedly, but Xoey held up her hand.
“Give us two seconds,” Xoey said, then pressed the button to close the elevator. She kept her finger on the button and turned to look at me. Her dark eyes narrowed, and she tilted her head to the side. “What do you need me to do?”
“It’s nothing,” I said, shaking my head. “Don’t even worry about it. Forget I brought it up.”
“You technically didn’t bring anything up, which is why I’m asking for more detail.”
“Xoey-”
“No,” she said, cutting me off. “Tell me what you need me to do.”
“It’s nothing, just forget about it, please,” I pleaded with her.
It was a spur-of-the-moment thought. Even though I told Mama Diamond that I was going to divorce Grant, I knew it wouldn’t be that simple.
His family, mainly his brother Quincy, wasn’t going to let me go that easily.
They wanted to control Amethyst, and I was the only way they had to do it.
Plus, Luther had already threatened to kill everyone.
He wasn’t blowing smoke up my ass with his threat either.
Now that I’m thinking about it, I didn’t want to involve my friend.
I said I trusted Amethyst, and I had to follow through.
He may not have told me what he had planned, but I knew he had one, especially since he’d set their family church on fire.
“I was just having a moment and had a thought. It’s over. ”
A slow smile spread across her face before she nodded and moved from standing in front of me. She moved her finger off the button, and the doors immediately opened.
“Damn, what kind of secret conversation were y’all having?” Mercy asked as she stepped onto the elevator.
“Yale wants me to kill someone,” Xoey answered, and I looked up at her, shocked that she knew what I wanted without me having to ask. It was also a little scary. She shrugged, then smiled. “I’m going to do it too.”
The elevator grew quiet, and they all turned to look at me, surprised.
“I didn’t say that,” I said, shaking my head.
“You didn’t deny it, though,” Mercy smirked. “Friend, are you trying to get one of the twelve to come out and play?”
“Nah, this wouldn’t be a Twelve type of thing,” Xoey said, shaking her head. “It’d just be Xoey.”
“Oh hell,” Diara sighed and shook her head. “That’s the worst.”
“I know,” Xoey laughed. “It’s great, right?” She put her hands in her pockets and smiled. “I have all kinds of ideas in mind. I may even ask Mommy to join me, and we all know how Xia St. Thomas gets down.”
The elevator doors opened, and she got off. We followed her, but my attention went to Legacy, who was quieter than usual.
“You okay?” I asked Legacy as I looped my arm with hers. Even though she was taller than me, I kept up with her with no issues. “You’re quiet.”
“I’m good,” she replied with a shy smile. I didn’t believe her; something was bothering her. “Just a lot on my mind.”
“You sure?” I asked, and she nodded. “Oh, do you have a secret boyfriend or something?” The thought of the flowers on her car popped into my mind.
“No, why?”
“Flowers were sitting on the hood of your car,” I replied, and I felt her stiffen. “You didn’t know?”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “Maybe someone left them there by accident?” she laughed, and her smile seemed forced. “More than likely that’s what happened.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah,” she nodded. “I’m sure of it.”
**
Four hours later, I was getting into Legacy’s car so she could take me home. Xoey’s daddy called while we were watching the game, and she had to leave. Instead of me having to leave early, Legacy offered to take me home, and Xoey left without looking back.
“That was so much fun,” I said as she started her car. “Is it always like that?”
“Yeah,” Legacy answered. She put her purse in the back seat and looked around a few times before turning back around. “Especially if they win.”
“I can see why y’all go to games.” I put my seatbelt on and relaxed in my seat.
“So, you’re going to come again?” She backed out of her spot and followed behind Mercy’s car out of the garage.
“Yep,” I nodded. My phone vibrated, and I looked down to see a text from Amethyst.
Mr. Stone: You good?
Me: Yes, sir, just leaving the game. You okay?
Mr. Stone: Yeah, baby, I’m good.
Me: Did you get a chance to stop by my house and grab my pictures?
Mr. Stone: Nah, I forgot, sorry. I’ll do it, though.
Me: Okay.
“You’re going to Am’s house, right?” Legacy asked.
“Yeah,” I answered, then locked my phone. “Thank you again for taking me.”
“It’s no problem, it’s on my way home.”
For the rest of the car ride, Legacy and I caught up on each other’s lives. She was officially a part of the Queens and was finding her footing. She was excited about the new opportunity, and it showed in her tone. I was happy for my friend because I knew she loved playing basketball.
“Thank you for the ride,” I said as she parked in Am’s driveway. “I’ll see you next week for dinner?”
“Yep,” she said, nodding. “Mercy is in charge of planning, so more than likely she’ll be sending out a text in the next few days.”
“Okay, later,” I said as I got out of the car.
I quickly walked to the door, unlocked it with my thumbprint, and let myself in.
Legacy honked twice and then pulled off.
Toddles greeted me at the door, and I let her outside.
Once Toddles finished, I showered and climbed into bed.
I was asleep seconds after my head hit the pillow.