I took a deep breath and kicked in the door. I really didn't want to do this. Tiana gasped when I charged in. She dropped the pipe that she was about to light up.

Damn.

My heart sank. Somewhere deep inside I was hoping that Charity was wrong. I was hoping that Tiana needed the straight drop for Carole, so that she wouldn't keep owing us money. Not for herself. I would have understood if she took it for Carole. I gave Jazz rocks all the time, because it is hard to see them like that. I would have given Jazz whatever the hell she wanted to keep her off the street, to keep her from doing whatever it took to stay high. I was scarred for life after seeing what she would sink to, and I knew that Tiana was, too, after seeing what her mama was willing to do...and put her through.

But this.

This was something different.

Tiana, my Tiana was a thief now, and I couldn't trust her anymore. A thief would get you both killed in this business. Tiana was no longer just a threat to herself. She was now also a threat to me and my whole family. I couldn't have her around me anymore. And we both knew that.

"Tiana, where the fuck is my shit?" I ran up on her and shoved my Glock in her mouth.

She looked startled. And hurt.

And sorry.

I glared down at her and she stared back up at me. Her eyes were huge. I could tell that she wanted to cry, but was too scared. I had never treated her like this before, and she probably never thought in a million years that I would.

I shoved the gun further down her throat.

"Where's my shit Tiana? I'm not fucking playing with you."

She knew I wasn't. I could see it in her eyes. Our whole history flashed between us. From her eyes to mine. The time that I tried to kiss her when I was eight. The same night that she told me Sammy was gone. She had cried with me. Because Sammy was her sister, too. Tiana was our family. And I was supposed to protect her, not hurt her.

But instead, this is what we had come to.

This game didn't love any fucking body. There was no room for love in this life.

At all.

Rico tried to tell me.

I knew it hurt Jazz to her heart to leave Tiana in there with Rico. I knew it did. But she wouldn't have been able to stomach seeing Tiana give herself to him like that. And Jazz's high ass couldn't have done shit about it, anyway. Tiana was dead set on saving her mama's dumb, trifling ass from the minute she walked into Jazz and Rico's house, and Tiana and Jazz both knew that was the only way she could do it. Tiana wasn't leaving there without a promise that Carole wouldn't go up in flames with the rest of the bodies that night.

Jazz knew it, too. So she just...left.

I knew, as soon as Tiana told me that Jazz was gone but the baby was still there, that's what had happened.

Tiana's eyes were still searching mine. Looking for some kind of way to fix this. But this was not fixable. Not in our world. We were officially on opposite sides of the game now. She had just lost me, just like she lost Charity. Honestly, Jazz and mama were probably the only two people she had left in the world.

And she couldn't get past Rico to Jazz, and she couldn't get past Charity to mama.

Tiana's eyes were drowning me. I wanted to look away from her, to just walk right back out of the door and hope that she forgave me for scaring her and hurting her like that. But I couldn't. Charity was right. If I didn't do this, Rico was gonna fuck her up. Bad. Even if I gave Rico the money, you couldn't hide that kind of shit from him. Tiana's mama couldn't all of a sudden not need to buy from us for a few days, and definitely not for a whole week. There was just...no way. Either Rico would think that he had new competition and would get crazy, going around and starting random wars like before, or someone had already seen Tiana with the straight drop by now and Rico already knew that she had it. The second one would mean her life. I couldn't let this one slide.

There was just...no way around it.

I had to do this.

Or Tiana would be the next one to go up in flames.

"Tiana..." My voice came out exactly how I felt. I sounded like I wanted to hold her, not hurt her. I took the gun out of her mouth, cocked it, and shoved it back down her throat. Blood started gushing from her lips. I think the barrel knocked some of her teeth loose. It was an accident. I didn't mean to do that to her. "I won't ask you again."

She started crying and looked away from me, then pointed to the kitchen. The drop was sitting on the counter. The whole thing. It was still in one piece. She didn't even know how to break it up. I wondered for a split second where she had gotten the rock from that she was about to light up when I walked through the door. Probably Carole. That bitch never did take good care of her daughter. My mama took better care of Tiana than her own mama did.

I just shook my head and kept it moving. I had a lot more shit to do that night before I finally got to sleep. I stuffed the straight drop down my pants and walked past her like I didn't even see her.

This shit...this whole life...was wearing me down. I was tired.

Real tired.

The sun was coming up by the time I got home. I nodded to my uncles outside guarding the house and unlocked the door. When I walked in and saw the nine youngins and two lookouts sitting around the living room, leaned in toward Rico like plans were being made, I stopped dead in my tracks. Most of their foreheads were creased in concentration. Some of them were grinning at a joke that Rico had just made. Rico was leaned back easily, talking to them and grinning like he always was.

The fuck did I just walk in on?

I looked toward the back hallway and wondered if Jazz was in the house.

Thank God I left the baby with mama and Charity for another day, I thought to myself as I looked slowly around the room. Then I looked back at Rico and waited for my orders.

Rico stopped talking once he had my undivided attention, and sat back and observed me. He was reading all of the questions on my face, and was loving every one of them.

The fuck were Chauncey and Remmey? Rico never made a move without Remmey.

Ever.

"Nephew, there's a roundup. This morning. I want it done in daylight, where everyone can see."

He stared at me. I stared back. I didn't let my face show that I was sick of this shit. There were too many youngins watching my every move. Rico was watching my every move. He grinned wider and the ceiling fan light glinted off his grill.

"Tiana."

He waited for my reaction.

My heart stopped.

He watched me.

They all watched me.

When I didn't react or respond, he continued. "You know what to do, son."

I just stared at him and forced myself to breathe normally. Then I took the straight drop out of my pants, walked straight to him, and put it down on the table in front of him.

I never took my eyes off of his eyes.

He never took his eyes off of mine.

Rico grinned again and looked down at the table. The whole thing was there. The whole thing.

Then he laughed.

"The ma' fuggin Prince." He grinned at me like he was proud of me and then looked around at the other boys, most of them thirteen to fifteen years old, the two lookouts were nine and twelve, all too young to still be out with the sun almost up. He looked each one of them in the eye like they had more learning to do, and then he looked back at me and grinned again. "Tha ma' fuggin' Prince!" To the lil niggas he said, "Post up," like he was already tired of whatever conversation they had been having before I walked through the door.

They all stood up, not one question asked, and started filing slowly out the door. With those two words, they knew that the roundup was off. With those two words, a life had been spared. That human life wasn't anything more than a dice game to Rico. Most of the youngins looked disappointed that the roundup was off.

I knew what they wanted to do to Tiana, what they all wanted to do to her, and it made me sick.

Of all this.

The only one who looked me in my eye on the way out was Chance. He gave me a gangsta nod. I gave him one back and watched him walk away. That one was a soldier, no doubt about it.

The others were just...dangerous.

I looked at Rico and waited for my orders. When he didn't say shit else to me, I went to the back to check on Jazz.