"She's just better"

Jaylen POV

  "Sorry about him. He gets defensive around people he doesn't know." Bobby said walking back into the kitchen. I ignored him and continued to text Dion and Malika. "Looks like we're back at square one." He said as he leaned on the counter and started to eat his semi warm. For about 5 minutes, it was dead silent. Besides the vibrations for my phone and some nearby air travel, neither one of us said anything. I decided to break the ice since he did offer me a place to sleep. "The food is good." I simply said. "Thanks." He responded. Once I was finished, I got up from the table to look for the trash can.

  "Turn around." He said as I looked at him confused, only to find him pointing right across from where he was standing. How did I not see that? Chuckling to myself, I discarded the trash and put the plate in the sink. "I got the dishes. You don't have to worry about that." He said as I shook my head. "I insist. Especially since you cooked. It's the least I can do." I responded as he just shrugged. Lemme see if I remember how to do this. I lathered the dishcloth with soap before wiping the plate. Still got it. Once I was done, I smelled the plate. "What are you doing?" He asked laughing.

  "My momma always said that if you can still smell the food on the plate, that means you ain't clean it right." I said returning my attention to the plate, which by the way smelled like soap. Wiping my hands off, I grabbed my phone and just stood there. A part of me wanted to just grab my shit and leave but I literally have no clue where I am. "You can go watch TV if you want. I have cable." He said as I nodded my head and made my way to said destination. Not gonna lie, the kid was struggling with how to use the remote. "Awww man. You don't know how to work a TV? Here." He said with his hand out as I handed him the remote back.

  If he only knew why.....

  He went over how to do everything but my forgetful ass forgot. We were now sitting here watching TV. Well I was doing that and texting, had to thank Roman for that generous donation. "You haven't put that thing down yet. Surprised the battery hasn't died." Bobby laughed. I paused from texting and just looked at him.  Back to texting I go. Once I was finished, I turned my attention back to him. "So a friend from out of town huh? Nice lie." "I mean I couldn't exactly tell him 'nah just some kid I picked up off the street and gave him a place to stay' that doesn't sound logical nor smart." Heh, he has a point.

  "Is he always so angry?" I asked. "Nah only when it's new people coming around. The last person he tried to befriend- lets just say that he just isn't trusting of people." he said catching himself before continuing. "Every since that day, he's had a hard time trusting and accepting new people." He said as I looked at him confused. "What day?" I asked as he just laughed. "Now you wanna have a conversation. I'll tell you at another time. That's if you prove to be good peoples. Don't really know you like that." He said as I shrugged. "Same here. At least I ain't lie to my friend tho." I said now turning my attention back to my device.  "You have a point there." He said as silence fell over us again. 

  "So, what is 'P's actual name?" "Prince." "It should be peasant." "Ayo." he said as he laughed. "You really meant it when you said I could stay here until I get on my feet?" I now put my phone down and gave him my undivided attention. "Yeah. You definitely aren't from around here and I already told Prince you was staying here so can't go back on the word." he said as I smiled. "Aww man thank you so much! I really appreciate it." I said smiling. "Not a problem. I definitely have more questions for you though. Gotta know who I'm dealing with." he said as I nodded in understanding. Just as he was about to start talking again, both of our phones rang. "Yeah?" he said answering his. "Wassup?" I answered mine. "I'm 5 minutes away. You read to go?" Benji said. I was actually texting him the whole time we were talking. "I'm coming P damn! You act like we bout to rob a bank or some shit." Bobby answered as I laughed. Clearly he was annoyed. 

  "Who was that? You OK?" Benji asked concerned. "Yeah I'm good. That was my friend. He's on the phone." I heard him breathe a sigh of relief. "Oh OK. Well I'm here now." he said as I started to get up from the couch. "OK let me put on my sneakers. I'll be down in a minute." I said before ending the call. If you're wondering how he knew where I was, I found a piece of Bobby's mail on the kitchen table. Hell I need somebody to come save me if this nigga turns out to be crazy. "Looks like we both gotta head out huh?" he said as I turned around. "Yeah, it looks like it." "You need a ride?" "Nah I'm, good. Thanks though. I gotta get something though." I said as I walked in my new room. I grabbed about $150 from my bag. This should cover everything I need. I quickly zipped it back up and tucked it in the corner. "OK, now I'm ready." I said as he nodded his head and followed behind me. 

  "Let me see your phone." he said as I handed it to him. "I'm putting my number in so you can text me to see if I'm back from the game or not." he said as I nodded my head. We made small talk as we walked towards the elevator. "I mean that's a tough one. I would say Charizard is my favorite since he has longevity over the other two." he said as I nodded my head. "Eh, you have a point but I like Blastoise. Though Venusaur isn't bad either. You know what, I'm torn between all three so I can't answer that myself. How I ask a question that I can't even answer." I said as he laughed. "See. Now you see why I was struggling." Once we walked outside I saw Benji by his car. I must say, it was a little weird not seeing him in the cab. "You know him?" Bobby asked me. "Yeah, he's cool peoples. Come on, imma introduce you." I said as he gave me a curious look before shrugging and following me. 

  "Benji, this is my friend Bobby. Bobby, this is my friend Benji." I said as I introduced them to each other. "Sup bro." "Nothing much. Nice to meet you." the responded as the dapped each other up. I was over here looking like a proud parent and shit. "I figured to introduce you two now so there won't be any problems in the future." he simply nodded. "I can respect that." he was going to say something else but he remember that he had to get to the game. "See you later. Text me when you're done." he said waving as he walked away. "You ready to go?" "Yeah." I said as we got in the car. 

Mario POV      

  "I really lost 8 people. Are you fucking kidding me right now?! That's roughly 70% percent of my revenue right there." Bryheem said as he paced around the room. Since Jaylen's escape, he's been scrambling to find replacements as well as him. "This place is a fucking mess. Why haven't Raul cleaned this shit up yet?" "You have him cleaning up the basement b. You forgot." I chuckled. "You find this shit funny?" he said as I stopped. "No." I said with a straight face. "Have you found anybody yet?" "None of these escapees but Raul have found some prospective ones." I said as his face perked up. "How's the new recruits?" "They're generating some money but nothing to be proud of as of yet." "What about that nigga Roman?" "No trace." I said as his face dropped again. "I bet he had something to do with this shit. Imma kill that nigga when I see him." he mumbled. I'm sure he can say the same about you. 

  I must say though, Jay and his crew really did a number on Heem. They killed about 6 of his boys. Of course he was more pissed about Maleek, he doesn't know that it was Jay that did it and I'm not telling em. Of course of the 12 escapees, 8 made it out. The other 4 was killed by Heem's boys. It took Raul and his crew literally 3 days to get rid of all the bodies. Way longer then usual. "Yo?" he said snapping me out of my thoughts. "Wassup?" "You good. I was talking to you this whole time." "Yeah I'm ight. I was just thinking of something." "You wanna talk about it?" "Nah. It's cool. What were you saying?" I said now looking at him. "I was asking how long you think the newbies are gonna start turning a profit?" "Honestly, a month. A few of them are still shook up about being here. Those 4 aren't gonna make enough profit to cover those 12 people so even if they did, I wouldn't get your  hopes that everything would go back to being normal." I said as he sat down on a nearby chair. 

  "You have a point. I have to get at least 6 more people. Two of then being exotic types. They go for a high price around here. People love forbidden fruits." he said laughing as I just stared at him. "Break them down some more, they'll come around." he said as I shook my head. "Or that'll make them repeat what just happened. I think we should just take things slow until we get the house and everything back in order." I said looking around at the glass particles on the floor. "Yeah you're right. Especially with the way things look. They'll definitely have ammunition to fight with. This is why you're my right hand. You think logically." he said as he got up to put his jacket on. "When I catch Jaylen and Allure, I'll make sure they regret leaving here. Make sure Raul cleans this place up. I'm going on the hunt." he said heading out the door. Jaylen, I hope you're far away from here and safe. Be prepared, if you aren't.

Jaylen POV          

  "You good? You've been quiet every since I started driving." Benji said snapping me out of my thoughts. "Yeah. I just had a weird feeling that's all." "Was it something I did?" "No Ben. It just came out of nowhere." "Ben?" "Yeah. That's my nickname for you or do you like Ji?" I asked him. "Ji sounds cooler so we'll go with that. Back to the topic at hand, I'm hope you're feeling better now though." he said as I smiled. "Yea I'm good. Where are going anyway?" I asked. "The botanic gardens. Its a really nice place." he said as I nodded my head. He turned on some music as I just nodded my head to it. "Look up Marlon, we here." he said snapping me out of mt musical trance. I looked up to see a huge pyramid surrounded by nothing but greenery. Elegant, I likes. He paid for our tickets as we made our way in. 

  "What you wanna see first?" "Let's go this way first." I said walking to the west of where we standing. It honestly felt like I was in and enchanted forest or something. "Oooo. What are these?" I said pointing at these red ball shaped flowers. "Those are called red powder puffs." Ji, answered. I was tempted to ask how he knew that but I saw him pointing to the sign. Laughing, I went back to the flowers. "Ooooo they have white ones too. The look so soft." "According, to this, they're a favorite among butterflies, hummingbirds and bees." he said. "Three's a crowd huh." I said dusting myself off as we continued to walk. "Yup. You like those?" he said pointing at a group of white flowers. "Yes!" I said as I walked towards them. "Peace lilies huh? I'm definitely feeling a little peaceful after looking at them." I said as he laughed. "They're most effective at filtering indoor pollution." Now that I like the sound of. Might have to get one these. They're so pretty." I said smiling at the plant. 

  "They require constant watering so I hope you'll remember to water them." I'm barely good at remembering the days of the week. "You know what? Never mind. That's gonna become a chore and I don't like that." I said as he laughed. We continued to look at more plants, with my dumb ass 'oooo-ing and ahhhh-ing' at almost each and every one of them. Who know that nature could be so beautiful? "You hungry?" he asked as we walked out of the building. "Yes. What's good around here?" I asked him. "I got just the spot in mind. Let's go." he said as we hopped in the car. "So Ji, do you have any friends around here? I know we talked about family but I never got a chance to ask." I said as he nodded. "Yeah I have a few people that I'm cool with. I can introduce them to you the next time we hang out. Some of them work the weekdays so we only really do things on the weekends." he said as I nodded. "Well I'm almost always free so I guess we can kick it then."

  "Are you planning to look for work once you get settled here?" he asked. "Oh most definitely. It'll get boring just sitting around all day. I don't see how some people can do that." I laughed. They only thing is, how the hell I'm going to get a job with no type of credentials? "Buzz light year, we're here." he said as I looked up. "Venus VS Mars eh? Sounds like some intergalactic ish." I said as he laughed. "You'll love it. Promise." he said as I shrugged and got out the car. "You know you shrug a lot?" "Force of habit. Can't help it." I said as I shrugged once more. I intentionally did that. "I see." he laughed. We shared some small talk as we were seated. "Now how the hell did you walk into a wall?" I laughed. "Listen. I was so busy in conversation that I ain't even look up. Dawg I had coffee all over me. Was walking around smelling a caramel frappe. Good thing it was all over my shirt and not my pants." "Depending on the color pants you wore, it would've either looked liked you pissed yourself or had some bad b.o." I said as we both laughed. 

  "Man. I was was hot as hell because I had my jacket buttoned all the way to cover that huge ass stain. Talk about embarrassing." he said as we laughed. "Are you two gentleman ready to order?" our waitress asked as she approached us. "Uh yes. I would like a water with lemon and the link up." I answered, wiping the tears from my eyes as she nodded her head. "I take a water too and I'd like the stormy weather." he said as she smiled. "Alright gentleman. I'll be right back with your orders." she said as she collected our menus before leaving. "How did you know what you wanted to order that fast?" he asked me. "I didn't I just took a quick look at the menu and picked something." I shrugged. "Yo." he burst out laughing. "I ain't know she was gonna put us on blast like that." I laughed. We talked some more before she came back with our food. "Oooooo I like that." I said as I looked at my plate. We said our grace before we dug into our respective foods.

  "These potatoes are heaven. Tastes even better when you eat the honey glazed fried chicken first. Sweet and savory." I said as I kept eating. "See I told you that you'd like it." he laughed as he ate. The food was so damn good that I was mad when I finished it. "We'll come back. I promise." he said as I got up to stretch. He flagged the waiter down and asked for the check. "My treat." he said as he put the money in the book and got up. "I'm going to pay you back." "You did when already when you gave me the tip." he said as I laughed. Didn't know he remembered that. We continued to walk around the block as he showed me a few of his favorite spots. "This is where you come to get a deal on your sneakers. My plug always comes through. Sneaks that cost $200, i get for $140." he said as I raised my eyebrows impressed.  "Next time we'll go bowling there. They even have karoke there too." he said pointing to a nearby bowling alley. 

  "Yeah because I want to see if you got vocals." I laughed. "Deangelo who? He ain't got shit on me" he said as I laughed. "That right there is of course the bus stop. Regular fare is $2. Of course I don't think you'll be catching that just yet." he said as I laughed. "Yeah because I don't have a job Tommy." we laughed. "Can you take me to the Walmart or whatever store you guys have around here?" I asked. "Sure. Let's go." he said as we walked back to the car. Their Walmart is huge. Of course I haven't been in on in so long but still. As soon as we walked in, I went to search for some personal products. I grabbed 2 twin packs of deodorant, 1 huge bottle of lotion, shampoo and a few acne products. "Well damn. Buy the whole isle why don't you." he jokes as I laughed. "Shut up." After I paid for that, I went for to search for some underwear. I'll be damn if I continue to borrow Bobby's. "Hold this please." I said handing him my bag. "Now I'm a walking shopping cart." "Exactly." I said as I continued to shop. 

 "Sheesh, I thought you was only getting a few things. Next time we're getting a cart." he said as I laughed. "Sorry. Didn't know I needed so much." "It's cool. You ready to go?" he asked as I begin to text Bobby. "Yeah." he responded say he was still on the courts. Y'all been playing ball for 5 hours?! Damn. "You can drop me off at cedar courts." I said as he nodded. We stopped by Wendy's along the way. "That's game niggas!" I heard a random dude yell as we pulled up. "You gonna be OK?" he asked as I nodded my head. "Thanks so much for showing me around and getting me adjusted to the city. I really appreciate it." "No problem b. Next time we're going to karaoke." "Bet. I'll text you when I get in." I said waving as I walked towards the courts. "He's my people." I heard Bobby say but I didn't see him anywhere.  A couple of them came up to me as they dapped me up.                         
  
  "You got me Wendy's. Thanks." he said as he walked towards me. I instantly covered my nose as I backed up. "My nigga this ain't yours and you stink." I said grabbed my degree spray on deodorant and sprayed him. "Nigga that's not body spray." he laughed. He unlocked the car as I quickly made me way to it. These bags were heavy as hell. I saw 'P' but made no acknowledgement. I watched as he dapped everyone up as 'P' sent me a glare. Fuck him. "Ball is life." he said as he got in the car. "That don't mean you have to smell like one." I said as he laughed. "Damn, that hurt my feelings." "You want some fries?" "There we go." he said wasting no time taking some. Niggas love food. "Did you enjoy yourself?" he asked as he drove. "Yeah. I got to know the city a bit. I'm gonna like it here." I said smiling. "That's what's up." "Now garcon hurry up and get us home beofre I die from your odor." I said as he scrunched his face. "It's not even that bad." he said doing a quick pit test at the light. "On second thought maybe you're right."

   "Yeah I know." I laughed. 

Another chapter down.

Thoughts?

Bobby?

Benji?

Mario?

Jaylen?

Bryheem?   

Here's Benji:

I forgot to introduce you guys to Mario: