Page 97 of The Coldest: Stay Dangerous Part 2

“Why?”

“‘Cause,” Red sighs, leaning forward. “Shit gon’ get me killed… you back for good?”

“Yup.” I hold his screen out to unlock his phone with his face. “And while, clearly, you’re only here because the guys missed me, that doesn’t mean you up and get yourself killed. I just got you, you know?” I lock in my number, then search GPE on his phone. It leads me to a car profile, with videos of takeovers, races, and Red himself hanging out of a window of a Lamborghini.

“It’s a car club?”

“I mean… I could tell you, but then I’d have to, you know.” Red pulls his thumb across his neck, then cackles when I push him.

He’s goofy like Sean, and my cheeks begin to burn from smiling.

“Me and ya twin gon’ have to have shared custody. Trinity would jump out the dirt to murk us both if I ever claimed another girl as my older sis.”

“I’ll allow it… if you lay down a whole song today. A good one, too; can’t be my twin if you fighting the beat.”

“That nigga fasho be fighting the beat,” Shad interjects. Trippy and I snort, but I hold in my giggle as Red hops up, taking his phone from me.

“Fuck all y’all niggas, cuz. Pull up the No Love sampled beat, so I can show my luh twin I be as smooth as waxed pussy.”

Red bends down to flick his tongue at his older brother, who pushes him away. I move to sit next to Tripp and Shad as Red enters the booth.

“Where’s PC?”

Shad and Trippy exchange a weird look, before Shad smirks and turns to me. “At his girlfriend’s house, most likely.”

“Girlfriend?!” Hell is freezing over.

“Shit won’t last, Trippy mutters.

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Shad sings, before a loop that samples his song begins to play.

We spend the next few hours constructing a song for Red. It’s surreal, the studio being clear of any smoke. But true to their word, no one does anything but drink water around me. Even when Tripp orders sandwiches from the local deli, they don’t take a smoke break to eat, and tell me to shut up when I tell them they don’t have to switch up their program for me.

Shad and Trippy go back and forth on the direction they wanna go with the track. Red’s eager to learn, taking all of their pointers and sharing his notes with us both so we can collab on the lyrics. While he and Tripp go back and forth on what he can and cannot rap about, Shad informs me that Red had four open cases when he first started living with Tripp; they’re waiting on the last charges to be dropped. I discreetly try to search what I think is his full name, but when nothing comes up, I give up.

Eventually, when the sun begins its descent, we take our leave after two completed verses. Red convinced me to hop on a bridge, only because for all his antics, he has some talent. Grimey and Coach think so, too, since they bob their heads at the snippet Tripp plays them.

I say my goodbyes after, before gesturing to Shad that it’s time to go. I have a show to plan, and even though I had fun today, I still have almost no time to make shit shake.

“You gotta get back to Macy? I was thinking of just hitting up the group chat, but it’s been a year, so maybe being face-to-face would be better.”

Shad helps me into his car before getting in and zooming out of the garage.

“Mace and Dal are on some bestie girls trip until after Nut’s New Year’s brunch. They took Anaïs and Sadé, too. Next time she emails me, I’ll let her know you’re back. If they weren’t on a cruise, I’m sure she’d come back early.”

“It’s so crazy. When I was gone, it was like I was in a bubble, you know? Not saying I didn’t miss y’all. I miss everyone, so much. But I didn’t feel it until this morning. Until I came back. Was it like that when you went to the padded room?”

Shad snorts. “Naw. I was back dipping into y’all phones as soon as I got access to a computer. But, I also was actually alone. You were kicking habits with a nigga who calls you by your middle name like he special.”

I cut my eyes to Shad, then go back to my phone. “Ha ha.”

“You texting him now, huh?”

“No, not even.” I exit out of my texts and lock my phone. “The First Lady of G$ is single as a dollar bill. If and when Cochise announces that he’s married and retired from rapping, all eyes will be on me. I’m all about music. Not boys who call me by my middle name.”

“Does Rico know that?” Shad chuckles.

I shrug. The debate to confide in Shad is brief; we tell each other everything, and have for years. “I told him what I wanted out of life, and he’s… supporting me in his Rico way. He gave me a year.”