Page 104 of The Coldest: Stay Dangerous Part 2

My grin only keys him up more.

“Rico–”

“Nah, Snow. Ay, let him through. You not Ty-Ty so please don’t think shit gon’ be sweet. I been waiting to light you up.”

“THAT’S YO FUCKIN’ PROBLEM!” Set roars, fighting with earnest. His tee rips when Reem grabs at him. “YOU BEEN WAITING! BEEN FOUL! BEEN ON BUNK! WE BROTHERS!”

“We ain’t shit, nigga! My brother is dead. Touch me and I’ll return the favor. Fuck Foe Dub, nigga.”

I wink at Shad, and hearing Set scuffle and curse louder fills me with glee.

“You’re dead to me,” Haze announces. Her eyes are wild as they go from me to Snow. “Both of you.”

I don’t hear what Snow says, because Set breaks free and hops over the couch. Nut tackles him to the ground, keeping him there as he promises that I’m gon’ see him.

When I look back, Haze is walking up on Snow, so I get in front of her.

“You need to back the fuck up, Haze.”

“No,” Wyn laughs, “let her come on. Anything to feel something huh? Sorry, Auty; even after you beat me up you’ll still hate yourself!”

“Back up, Haze,” I grit, keeping her from Snow. “You not doing shit.”

Turk pulls her out of the way to stand toe-to-toe with me. “Yo, you deadass?!”

“About my woman? Absolutely. You can get the fuck out my face, too.” I back up instead of pushing him like I really want. The niggas that wanted to get shit off they chest did that, and I’m over it.

Again, I reach out for Snow, and my chest expands when I feel her hand slide into mine.

“When you get out your feelings, you can bang my line to meet my nephew,” I announce, backing out of the room. Set and Haze are the loudest as we exit Nut’s house, but I couldn’t be bothered.

In fact, I can’t speak for Snow, but I myself feel way better than I did going in.

We’re almost to the sidewalk when I hear someone call out to us. When I turn around, it’s Nut. He jogs until he’s right in front of me, then stops, his pale face pulled into an ugly scowl.

“You wild as fuck for threatening my cousin and his brother.” He turns to Snow, and scoffs. “Even wilder for being hand-in-hand with–”

“Call me a tramp and I’ll knee you right here,” Snow hisses.

“You ain’t so fuckin’ tough just ‘cause you not high as giraffe ass. You fuck my ace over, and you gon’ see me.”

Snow fishes my keys out of my pocket and rolls her eyes at Nut. He mocks her, his face softening as he turns to me and lifts his hand.

I clasp it, our hands automatically shifting into the Birch handshake.

“You a wild muthafucka, Rico. But on Baby you know I’m stickin’ beside you.”

“I know, brodie,” I chuckle, pulling him into a hug.

“Don’t trip about them. I’ma hash it out with them and then I’ma hit yo line this week about meeting Mars. I’m glad you back, too. And I’m glad you clean, too, White Girl Wynter.”

Snow flips him off before walking away from us. After I say my goodbyes to Nut, I follow her to the car and get us out of here.

Snow’s leaning her head on the window, her eyes barely open. Pride fills me, thinking about her finally sticking up for herself. One regret I’ll have is letting a lot of false information fly, because everything that Snow said was true. Not even just Turk, but everyone handled Haze with the same gloves they handled Shad, when in Haze’s case, a lot of her reality was an illusion.

She says we’re dead to her, and with me, she’s probably being real. But not with Snow. Haze can never truly cut her sister off, no matter how much she proclaims she will. But maybe now, instead of smoothing over whatever shit Haze said to her, they can have an honest conversation about how they grew up, and how it affected them both in different ways, and how Haze’s alienation of Snow affected her, too.

Then maybe, I can finally kill their parents like I should have done the moment they both turned eighteen.