Page 103 of The Coldest: Stay Dangerous Part 2

“No, I’m your punching bag instead!” Snow thunders back. “Let her go, Shaddy! Auty has such big feelings the only way she can feel better about her fucked up life is to knock me down!”

“Fuck you, bitch!”

“No, fuck you! I don’t know why I am so surprised, you can’t even fake liking me for a day. You act like you’re doing me a favor, Auty. I have never needed shit from you; you have always needed me–ALWAYS!”

Haze freezes in Shad’s arms, shock coloring her face.

“Mars being in Belize has nothing to do with me! And yet, like everything else in your life that bothers you, it’s somehow become my fault! Everything wrong about you is my fault! I haven’t done anything–”

“Exactly! You never do anything, Wynter–”

“SHUT THE FUCK UP, AUTUMN!”

Everyone around us flinches as Snow’s voice raises octave after octave.

“Do you ever wonder why you get to sit around and cry about how you’ve been depressed since we were kids? Why you got to lollygag and go off with Turkey and Set and Pops?! You got to be sad about Mom and Dad because I was making shit shake! Me!” Wyn slaps her hand onto her chest.

“All those times you were sad about Mom and Dad ignoring you, you couldn’t get your own head out of your ass long enough to see THEY WEREN’T FUCKING THERE! WE WERE ALONE, AUTY. Mom left us a note and some fucking cash and gave us our ass to kiss. I was the one paying bills. I was the one putting clothes on your fucking back, and food in the house. We were alone at thirteen, and while you were next door, crying about how no one fucking loves you, I was the one making sure you had a fucking pot to piss in and a room to sneak out of. And I did it for years because someone had to. And you weren’t the only person in this fucking room I was taking care of, either. Who do you think got Shad and Sean in with G$? Who do you think gave Turkey money to renovate Paradise? Who do you think gave every nigga in this room a fucking alibi, more than once?! I’m a junkie because I’ve been taking care of your sad ass for twenty-fucking-years, Auty. Because up until now, I’ve let you dogpile on me because you’re too selfish to see we were both left behind.”

Haze sags in Shad’s arms and silently sobs.

Snow looks around the room. When she glances at me, I see tear marks on her cheeks.

“First, I wanna thank you all for coming to get me. Rico took me to Belize and I got sober there. Yes, I know Mars, but it was never going to be my place to speak on him. But that doesn’t mean I don’t agree with Rico, or what he felt like he needed to do when Fredo died.”

I reach over and bring Snow back to me. She licks the tears off her upper lip, and leans into me for strength.

“So you really hid Fredo’s son from us, and starting fucking on Wyn when she was tryna get clean?”

Turning to Set, I angle myself so that he can’t even see her. “Questioning me about my bitch in front of yours is a choice.”

He narrows his eyes. “You deadass right now?”

“Bro, you acting like the shit you pulling isn’t foul.”

“All around, foul. We deserve to know about Mars, and Wyn deserves to be in a stress-free environment. How is this fair? You had to have known–”

“I deserve for my fucking brother to be here, Shad,” I say, cutting him off. He sets Haze on her feet, before standing to his full height like that’s supposed to do something.

“Right?” I ask, looking around, before landing on Set once again. “I deserve for Fredo to be here. He deserves to be alive. You all talking about knowing Mars; Fredo deserves to know Mars. He deserves to know his son, way more than any of you. Way more than me.”

“You niggas, man,” I chuckle, eyes dancing around the room. “Maybe muthafuckas forget, but Fredo was my brother. My twin. My other half. We were supposed to go away together, but he decided to stay behind and watch over you. And doing that, got him offed on some sucka ass shit.”

My eyes shift back to Set. “Caught up in a war over dick and pussy shit. One to the dome, all alone in another city. Then you tryna act like I’m taking advantage of Snow. Talking about moving foul and being fair… you know what would be fair for real?”

I lick my lips before smiling. “How I be feeling nigga, you and yo brother only breathing because I allow that shit, ‘cause it would break Snow’s heart. So trust me, raising my nephew away from yo bullshit is about as fair as it can get, compared to how I wanna move.”

Brina grabs Set’s arm to keep him in place. I swing my gaze over to Shad. “And I’m not gonna tell you again; you ain’t ever gotta worry about Snow. We been locked in way longer than you think. She right where the fuck she wanna be.”

“Rico–”

“Is that right,” Set says, interrupting Snow. I ignore him to meet her gaze. She knows what I’m doing, but I try to tell her silently that I’ll chill, after these niggas acknowledge what the fuck I’m saying.

Snow isn’t some weak little girl, and I’m not preying on her. She’s as clear-headed as she’s ever been, and she did that on her own. And she did that, while being around me.

“Nah, B. The fuck he mean by that?! That nigga been talkin’ greasy all fuckin’ night like he like that! But be hiding in Belize with his tail tucked between his fuckin’ legs.”

I turn, and Reem and Nut are holding Set back as he tries to advance toward me.