Chapter 61: Unconscious Reality

 Drake

I knocked on Nae’s door and waited. She called me and told me when I was able to come over. She opened it and let me in. “He’s out back with Kyle and Derrick,” she pointed to her backyard. I nodded and walked out there. He was turned away from me but Kyle and Derrick saw me.

“So you think you got a right to put your hands on a woman?” I said from behind him. He turned around and laughed.

“I’on have any idea what you’re talking about,” he had an amused smile.

“You don’t know what I’m talking about. Alright,” I nodded my head and walked up to him. I hit him with a right hook and he fell to the ground. I moved and kicked his stomach and his face. “You got an idea now!?” I yelled while I saw blood dripping down his face. I went in punch after punch.

“Drake!” Derrick and Kyle tried to grab me but I was gonna kill this nigga. I felt like it was eight years ago and this nigga was Antonio.

“Aubrey!” I heard her voice and immediately stopped. I turned and looked at Mere in shock.

“What the hell are you doing here?” I asked her. I ain’t want her around this nigga. It might trigger some memories from her past.

“Jaznae called me because she had a feeling that you would take it too far,” she narrowed her eyes at me while Channing started coughing up blood. I was about to hit him again but Mere grabbed my arm. “He’s not Antonio and you do not want to have charges pressed against you again,” she reminded me. I sighed because she was right. I didn’t need to go through that shit again. I turned to him and looked at him in disgust.

“If you put your hands on her again, I promise that I will kill you,” I threatened before Mere led me to the kitchen.

“Here,” Nae passed her a first aid kit before checking up on the guys outside.

“What were you thinking Aubrey!?” Mere snapped at me as she helped clean up my hands.

“I was gonna kill him but you showed up. Why the fuck would Nae call you? Y’all don’t even like each other,” I looked at her confused.

“We put aside our differences for this. She knew that I could stop you from going too far,” she shrugged.

“That’s still weird as fuck with the whole Blake thing,” I just couldn’t imagine it.

“Blake and I have an understanding,” was all she said.

“You still won’t tell me what that means,” she’s been saying this for months.

“And I told you not to worry about it,” she sprayed my hand and I hissed.

 “Damn warn a nigga!” I pushed her as she laughed.

“You’re such a baby Aubrey,” she chuckled.

“That shit stung,” I looked at her but she had an amused expression on her face.

“You know that Nicki is gonna snap at you for hurting him,” she wrapped my hand before putting the stuff up.

“I don’t give a fuck if she’s mad at me for beating his ass. She’s lucky that I ain’t kill him and she has you to thank for that,” I shook my head.

“Promise me that you won’t do something to have charges pressed against you. I might have made Antonio change his mind but I doubt Channing would,” she pleaded.

“I promise,” I gave up. I've proven my point and I won’t do anything else unless he provokes me. I heard her phone ring and she looked down at it before pressing ignore. "Who was it?" I scrunched my face up because she rarely ignores a call.

            "Don't worry about it," she forced a smile.

            "Chimere," I warned her.

            "I gotta go but I'll talk to you later," she pecked my cheek before leaving.

~

 I was laying on the couch with Mylan as we watched some movie that she picked out. “Jessi’s flight lands tomorrow morning,” she informed me.

“Alright, let’s just get her before your mom wakes up,” I nodded. The door opened and Nicki stood there looking pissed as hell.

“Mylan, go to your room,” she said.

“But we’re in the middle of a movie,” she pointed to the screen. Nicki shot her a look and she sighed. “Fine,” she walked upstairs.

“Why’d you make her leave?” I stood up to grab something to eat. She walked up to me and pushed me.

“I can’t believe you! Why the fuck would you beat up my fiancé!?” She kept pushing me. I grabbed her hands and pinned them behind her back.

“The same reason that he puts his hands on you,” I spoke simply.

“Let go of me,” she snapped.

“Are you gonna stop hitting me?” I eyed her and she nodded.

“Ugh,” she pushed away from me once I released her hands.  “Stay out of my fucking life! The only thing that connects us is our daughter! She’s the only damn reason why I’m stuck staying with you for another week,” she cut her eyes at me.

“You gonna defend that nigga when he finally got what he deserved?” I looked at her in disbelief.

“He’s my fiancé,” she kept reminding me.

“I was gonna kill that nigga,” I dropped my voice low. She looked at me a little scared. “The only reason why he’s still breathing is Mere. You’re lucky she came when she did because I was not gonna stop. You’re obviously delusional and stupid enough to stay with him. I’ll stay out of your way and see to you at your funeral because that’s exactly where your ass is gonna be by the end of your relationship,” I snapped and walked out of the kitchen.

Jessi

This bitch gotta be crazy if she staying with that nigga after he hit her. I don’t know what got into my cousin but I damn sure will knock it out of her. I looked around the airport and spotted My with Drake. I never met him but he’s all Mylan talks about and Nicki used to talk about.

“Jessi!” She hugged me.

“You’ve gotten so big,” I was shocked to see that she actually grew into a teenager. It’s been a while since I’ve seen her and Nicki but I always talk to Nicki on the phone.

“Hi I’m Drake,” he held out his hand.

“I’m Jessi,” I shook it before grabbing my bag. “So where is Nicki right now?” I asked while Drake helped put my bag in the trunk.

“She’s at my house,” he said as we started driving.

 “I can fill you in on everything that’s happened,” Mylan smirked. She told me a lot more than I thought she would. She knows a lot of things and it’s not just about Nicki. They might wanna watch it because Mylan just spilled all the tea. Once we got there, I made my way to the room where Nicki was staying. I heard the shower and just sat back on her bed waiting. She was changing in there so I knew she would be a while. Finally she opened the door but she didn’t notice me at first.

“Hi Onika,” I scared the life out of her.

“Jessica what are you doing here?” She hugged me.

“I’ll explain at lunch. Let’s go out and invite Blakelynn, I got a few things to say to her ass too. While we’re at it, invite Cassie and Nae,” I grabbed my purse and we were off. I was close with all four of them and Mylan filled me in on some things; she knows more than they think. Oh this will be fun.

Nicki

I’m nervous because Jessi doesn’t just come out for any reason, so I wonder what exactly she knows. Blake, Jessi, Nae, Cassie, and I were sitting in the food court at the mall just talking. “Alright so I got a few things to say to all of you because your little daughter filled me in on some things,” she pointed to me. Mylan filled her in on some things? What exactly did she tell Jessi?

“What did she tell you?” I asked cautiously. Mylan doesn’t know a lot so I don’t know why she would tell Jessi anything. Is she the reason that Jessi’s here?

“I’ll talk to you last. First I’m starting with Cassie. You hid your damn child from Shad? I always had a feeling that Alexis was Shad’s kid but I guess skeleton just wanted to take on the father role so bad,” she sat back and crossed her arms.

“His name is Kyle and I’m married to him Jessi, he was there for me when I need someone. He does stuff that Shad wouldn’t dare to do. He’s everything that Shad’s not and that’s exactly what I need,” She pointed out.

“You didn’t even give Shad a chance to prove himself. I guess you just decided for him so imagine how he must feel. He didn’t know about his daughter for five years just to find out that she calls another nigga her Dad. Skeleton can try all he wants but he’ll never be Shad,” she looked at Cassie and she went silent. That’s an automatic sign that Jessi won this battle.

“Now you,” she pointed at Nae. “Why are you with dark chocolate? I didn’t even know you played for that side,” she raised an eyebrow.

“I’m bisexual Jess, meaning that I like both genders. I’ve been with Derrick for a year and that’s the longest relationship I’ve ever been in,” she shrugged.

“How long did y’all last?” She looked between Nae and Blake. Way to make things awkward but that’s what she’s known for. I knew that she would actually get some information out of these two.

“Does it matter?” Blake hissed.

“Fine, but why are you with the shawty with the big butt?” That made all of us laugh but Blake shot us a look. Hey, Mere does have a big ass but so do I.

“Because I’ve been dating her for six years,” she said but she looked a little tensed when she said that. I eyed her a little because she was starting to confuse me. 

“I know about your little understanding Blake," she saw Blake tense up and she smirked. "Since I'm feeling nice, I won’t put your business out like that. So I heard that y’all kissed at Nae’s house,” all of our mouths dropped in shock. How much does Mylan know!? I don’t even know how she would find out about all of this.

“Who told you that?” Blake snapped. That was still a touchy topic to talk about. I guess it’s because she still doesn’t know why she did it.

“Mylan knows more than y’all think and I don’t believe that whole prove a point bullshit. You did it because you’re still in love with her and that’s the exact reason why she kissed you back,” Jessi smirked while putting a spoonful of ice cream in her mouth. The table grew dead silent as Blake and Nae locked eyes for a second before Blake glared at Jessi but she didn’t deny it and we all noticed that.

“Go ahead and try to deny that shit Blakelynn, I dare your ass to try,” she kicked her feet up on an empty seat and looked at her. “How about you Nae? Are you gonna try to deny it too? Just look at the way y’all looked at each other when I said that,” she kept eating that damn ice cream. The table was still quiet that confirmed all of our thoughts. Jessi wins yet another battle.

“Before I start on what I want to say to you, I think Nae has something to tell you,” Jessi looked at her and she sighed.

“What is it?” I didn’t know what it could be.

“Okay I knew you would find out eventually so I’d rather tell you than have someone else tell you. I called Drake over to my house knowing that he was gonna hurt Channing,” she winced.

“You did what!?” I looked at her in anger. “Why the fuck would you do that Jaznae!?” I couldn’t believe her.

“I knew that he wanted to and he deserved it. You’re lucky that I called Chimere because he was gonna kill him,” she glared at me.

“Wait, hold up! You called Mere?” Blake looked at her confused.

“It’s complicated,” she brushed her off.

“It’s pretty simple. Why the fuck would you be calling her?” She snapped.

“I knew that she could calm Drake down and that’s exactly what she did; that’s it,” Nae snapped back before looking at me. I shook my head at her and looked towards Jessi.

“So Nic how’s that jackass?” I rolled my eyes at her nickname for him. She never called any of the people that we were with by the right names. She said she’ll call them the right name when we’re with the people we’re supposed to be with.

“Channing is fine Jessica,” I called her by her full name to warn her not to say something that I wouldn’t want her to say. I not sure exactly what Mylan knows but Jessi wouldn’t come all the way to New York for no reason and that makes me worried.

“Do you love him?” She asked and I looked at her for a second trying to figure out where she was going with this question.

“Yes I do. I wouldn’t be marrying him if I didn’t love him,” I thought that was kind of obvious. I do love Channing so why is she asking me this?

“You must really love him huh? I mean I couldn’t imagine being so in love with a guy to the point where I would let him do anything to me,” she pushed her sunglasses to the top of her head so she could lock her eyes with me. I think I know where this is leading to and it makes me question how does she know this shit?

“What is she talking about?” Cassie looked at me as Blake agreed. I didn’t want the others all up in my business because they’ll just tell me to leave him too. I snapped my head towards Nae because she was the only other person who knew besides Aubrey.

“I didn’t tell her anything,” she shook her head.

“If you know what I think you know then you better not say shit,” I cut my eyes at Jessi. She grinned before putting another spoonful in her mouth.

“Okay, I won’t say how he’s putting his hands on you,” she shrugged. I am going to kill her and I mean literally kill her. I hopped to my feet but Nae was faster than me and held me back.

“How do you know that!?” She walked up to me and if it wasn’t for Nae then I probably would have tackled my favorite cousin.

“Your own daughter knows that Nic. How could you let him put his hands on you!? You’re stronger than that and you used to be one of the strongest women I knew but now you’re just his little bitch,” she hit a trigger point and I broke out of Nae’s hold to get in her face.

“You don’t know shit about our relationship and I don’t want your opinion. I’m nobodies little bitch so you better check yourself. You might be family but I’m not afraid to hurt you right now,” I snapped.

“Go ahead and hit me Nic. Hit me because I told you the damn truth. Hit me because I’m the only one who will always tell you the truth! After your ex who beat the living life out of Cassie and probably put his hands on you a couple of times, I thought you would’ve learned. You should never allow a man to put his hands on you. I don’t give a damn what his excuse is because it will happen again and I promise you that. You know that just as well as I do. You are just scared to leave him and having to start all over. If Channing truly loved you as much as you think he does, he wouldn’t be putting his hands on you.

He would be treating you like a queen. He wouldn’t be this jealous asshole when you just talk to another guy. Just admit it; you went to Paris to find someone who could replace Drake. You wanted to find the exact opposite version of him so you wouldn’t be reminded of him. You wanted to prove to him that you could do better and that you were happy. You wanted all of us to believe that bullshit but I’m not buying it.

You’re anything but happy and I bet you cry when no one is around because you never thought that your life would turn out like this. I’m sorry to break it to you but you made your life turn out like this. You should have left him the first time he laid his hands on you but you didn’t. So hit me Nic but you can’t be mad at me for speaking the damn truth,” she never backed up. I sighed and sat back down putting my head in my hands. She was right and it hurt to hear that. Tears came down before I could stop them and Jessi was right by my side wiping them away.

“You’re right,” I cried. She pulled me to her and let me cry. She was right about every single thing that she said. I never wanted to admit that but just hearing someone say the things that I forced myself to not think about hurts so much. I’ve screwed up my life by trying to get over Aubrey. I had Mylan knowing that I was getting hit by him. My own daughter knows and called her out here to knock some sense into me. That makes me feel embarrassed that I let this go on this long. I didn’t want her thinking that it was acceptable for a man to put his hands on a woman.

“You gotta leave him Nic,” she whispered and I nodded. It’s gone on too long already and I have to end it while I still can.