where she was.
As soon as I put my key in the condo door the door swung open, yanked my hand, and scared the holy shit out of me. I came face-to-face with Yancy.
âUm, Lauren.â Yancy gulped like it was a surprise that I was coming into my own place. Her face was scrawled into a disturbed expression that seemed to be a cross between anger and grief. She definitely wasnât too pleased to see me. Too bad though, because this was my fucking house and she was a guest as far as I saw it. And if it were up to me, sheâd be gone a long time ago. Lucky for her, Matt kept her onboard for . . . obvious reasons.
âYou scared me storming out of the door like that,â I huffed. I could immediately see in her face that she was upset. âWhere are you going? Donât we have this big score to discuss?â
I wondered if Matt cursed her out and told her to get the fuck out because she looked totally out of it. Her caramel skin was blotchy and red like sheâd been crying and her usual perfectly laid makeup was smudged and crazy-looking.
âAsk your man about it because I need some air,â Yancy said, sounding like she was using every fiber in her body to hold on to her composure. I had known her long enough to know when she was on the brink.
âTake your time,â I replied sarcastically. Truth be told, having her out of my hair was the best thing she could do right now. Iâve found it very hard to keep up a front in front of her and Matt. To see her anywhere near him made my skin crawl. I loved Matt. So to know that he was dicking Yancy down every time I turned my back felt like a dagger was constantly being thrown at me. So, I hoped sheâd find a balcony to jump off while she was out there. Fucking home wrecker!
Once I was inside, Matt came walking down the hallway from the back of our house.
âWhatâs up, bae?â he said, forcing himself to smile. His facial expression was strange-looking. Now that I think about it, it was the same look he wore the very first time I caught him in the act of cheating on me. âYou tell me whatâs up?â I cocked my head to the side and answered him. I knew something wasnât right. I knew Matt very well. He was an open book at the time. So whatever went on between him and Yancy before I got here, I wanted to hear about it. But I wanted to hear it come from his mouth. Iâve learned that when you start guessing shit, you end up putting words in the next personâs mouth.
âWhy you looking at me like that?â he asked me. I could tell that his mind was racing. He knew I knew something but what it was, he wasnât sure.
âWhatâs wrong with Yancy? What, yâall had a little fight or something?â I asked as casually as I could.
âNah, she just got an attitude because I told her to keep a tight lid on spending so much money right now.â
I knew he was lying. Matt never put a cap on how much money any of us could spend. His deception made my pulse quicken and my insides immediately started boiling. Iâd been having this feeling a lot lately. Itâs so far from the feelings I had around Matt when we first got together. I couldnât help but think back to that fateful day. . . .
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May 2005
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Matt was the biggest drug dealer in the Virginia Beach area. He was like a king in our neighborhood and everybody knew he had the entire Virginia Beach on lockdown with his premium heroin and the best weed in the South. Matt was that dude who made his reputation off having good product and a no-nonsense attitude. Matt was both the most feared and most admired dude in the entire city. Matt was that dude who drove a different car every week, never wore any of his designer clothes more than once, and lived it up every single night in the clubs and expensive restaurants. I think he was making something like two hundred thousand dollars a week off street sales alone. Matt was the boss