Rah's face shifted, sympathy replacing the playfulness. "How she doing? I heard about what happened with Rylo."
"She's..." I trailed off, trying to find the right words. "She's not okay, but she's acting like she is. You know when my big sis is going through some shit, she locks everything down and tries to act like nothing bothers her."
It had been three weeks since Yasani came home from the hospital with a swollen face and a broken heart. Three weeks of watching my big sister pretend like she wasn't falling apart inside.
She barely left the house. She wasn't answering her friends' calls.
She'd even stopped doing runs for Yatta, which was crazy because Yasani loved that shit. She just stayed in her room,scrolling through her phone or staring at the TV without really watching it.
Yatta and I had been taking turns checking on her, but there was only so much we could do. She was hurting in a way that neither of us could fix, and it killed me to watch.
"She need to get out the house," I said, more to myself than to Rah. "She been cooped up for weeks, and that ain't healthy. Maybe if she come out tonight, be around people, have some drinks, it'll help."
"You think she'll come though?" Rah asked. "No disrespect, but your sister seem like the type to say she good and stay home."
"Oh, she's definitely gonna try that shit," I said, already planning my approach in my head. "But I ain't taking no for an answer. She need this. She need to remember what it feel like to be outside, to feel good, to have fun. All this sitting in the house thinking about that fuck nigga ain't doing nothing but making it worse."
Rah nodded, reaching out to pull me closer. "Aight, bring her. The more the merrier. Plus, GMB got plenty of niggas in our crew, maybe she'll meet somebody new, and forget all about Rylo's bitch ass."
I doubt it would be that easy. Yah-Yah had really loved Rylo, and finding out he was fucking Morgan behind her back for months had broken something in her. But Rah had a point. Being around new people, and some new energy could help. At the very least, it would get her out of her own head for a few hours.
"What time we leaving?" I asked.
"Shit start at ten, but you know how these things go. We can pull up around eleven, that's when it'll really be poppin'." He kissed my shoulder, then my neck, then my jaw. "That give usa few hours to chill. Maybe take a shower together. Conserve water and all that."
I laughed, pushing him back playfully. "Nigga, you just tryna get some more."
"And?" He grinned, "You acting like you don't want it too."
He wasn't wrong. But if I was gonna convince Yasani to come out tonight, I needed to get home and start working on her early. She was stubborn as hell, and the longer I waited, the more excuses she'd come up with.
"Later," I promised, kissing him quick before sliding out of bed. "I need to go home and check on my sister. I gotta get her hyped for tonight."
"Aight, aight." Rah watched me get dressed, his eyes tracking every movement. "You lucky you fine, 'cause I don't let just anybody leave me hanging like this."
"Please," I said, pulling my jeans up. "You lucky I let you hit in the first place."
"Damn, it's like that?"
"It's exactly like that." I grabbed my phone off the nightstand and checked the time. Four in the afternoon. That gave me plenty of time to go home, talk to Yah, help her pick out an outfit, do her hair and makeup if she needed it.
"Text me when you ready," Rah said, getting out of bed naked as the day he was born to walk me to the door. "I'll scoop you and your sister around 10:30."
"Bet." I kissed him one more time, deeper this time, then pulled away before we ended up back in bed. "See you tonight."
* * *
The drive home was quick, Rah stayed in Englewood, just fifteen minutes from our spot. I spent the whole drive thinking about how I was gonna approach Yah-yah. I couldn't come at her tooaggressive or she'd shut down. But I couldn't be too soft either or she'd just brush me off.
When I got home, the house was quiet. Yatta's car wasn't in the driveway, so he was probably out handling business. That was good, it meant I could focus all my energy on Yasani without him butting in with his overprotective big brother bullshit.
I found her exactly where I expected to, she was curled up on the couch in sweats and a hoodie, her braids I just did on her were in a messy bun, and she was watching some crime show on TV. She looked up when I walked in but didn't say anything.
"Hey," I said, dropping my purse on the counter and heading to the kitchen to grab some water.
"Hey," she replied, her voice flat.
I studied her for a second. The swelling in her face had gone down. She didn't look like she'd just been in a fight anymore. But there were dark circles under her eyes, and she'd lost weight. Not a lot, but enough that I noticed.