Jordyn’s return to Miami isn’t a choice—it’s a duty. With her past pulling her back and her mother behind bars, the weight of old memories, betrayals, and dangerous ties to Mega loom over her. But her reunion with Kaylani brings more than nostalgia—secrets, abuse, and unresolved pain surface as she fights to control the disaster waiting to unfold. Will Jordyn manage to keep the peace, or will her return ignite the very chaos she’s been running from?
Jordyn felt the wave of Miami’s dry heat the minute she stepped off the plane. Her gut wrenched with disgust and anxiety as she made her way toward the exit to meet Kaylani. She was excited to see her girl after four years of no contact but nowhere near excited to be back in the city that ate her heart out.
The smell, the busyness of the people and the memories of Mega that haunted her made her want to turn around and book a flight right back to Chicago. But duty called, and for the sake of her own sanity, she knew she had to put it all to rest once and for all.
“Hey, you here?” She called Kaylani as she headed to grab her luggage.
“I know how to be on time,” Kaylani replied. “But fucking with Layton, I was almost late.”
“Ok,” Jordyn laughed. “I’m grabbing my bags and heading out now.”
Kaylani wasn’t in the best of moods that afternoon, but she was excited to see Jordyn. She had hopes that when Jordyn left to go back to Chicago, she would take her with her because Layton’s abuse and accusations became too much to handle.
Every day it was something or someone new. She didn’t iron Layton’s clothes the way she liked. She wasn’t fast enough in the kitchen or slutty enough in the bedroom. When the shift in their relationship first occurred, Kaylani put it off on Layton going through the motions after finding out Pauline was her real mother. But when bad turned to worse and Kaylani ended up in the hospital a few times, making excuses for Layton’s behavior didn’t cut it anymore.
“Heyyy! There go my giiirl!” Jordyn sang as she rushed to hug Kaylani. “Oh my God! I can’t believe I haven’t seen you in so long.”
“I know, right?” Kaylani wrapped her in a tight, loving hug, but her day was anything but lovely.
“Ew. Why you sound so dry?”
Jordyn broke their hug to take a good look at her friend and when she did, she saw sadness and sorrow behind the large sunglasses Kaylani wore to cover a black eye and the oversized sweatshirt she wore to cover her bruised arms and neck.
Concern, disgust, and anger took over Jordyn’s expression as she examined Kaylani like a doctor. She wanted to scold her and hurt Layton for putting her hands where they didn’t belong, but Layton was in tow and Kaylani didn’t want to start another argument. She’d had enough.
“Kaylani,” Jordyn gave her a motherly look. “What the fuck is going on?”
“Don’t say anything. Please.” Kaylani spoke shamefully. “She’s in the car and I’m already sick of her shit today.”
“You didn’t say she was putting her hands on you, and you definitely didn’t tell me she was bringing you to get me. I could have Ubered where I had to go if that was the case. You know how I feel about that abuse shit.”
Kaylani lowered her head to hide her tears. She was angry with herself for letting the abuse go on for so long. It wasn’t in her nature to be controlled and abused by anyone, but Layton had a hold on her and she wouldn’t let go. No matter how hard Kaylani tried to push away.
“Let’s go before she starts tripping again,” Kaylani said. “We can do lunch or something and I’ll give you the scoop. I just wanna have a peaceful ride back because all we did was argue the whole way here.”
Being that Kaylani was more like a sister to Jordyn than a best friend, pretending to be clueless was hard to do. She didn’t care that Layton was her sister; an abuser was an abuser and when it came to Kaylani, Jordyn swore to protect her by any means.
“Daaaamn, what up, sis!? Finally back in Miami.” Layton greeted Jordyn like everything was all good.
“Yeah,” Jordyn scoffed. “Hopefully not for long.”
Kaylani felt the tension ripping through Jordyn’s aura. She wasn’t happy with Layton and she didn’t pretend like she was.
“Well, shit! You don’t fuck with Miami at all no more, huh?” Layton chuckled.
Jordyn didn’t reply. She tossed her bags into the backseat, buckled in and turned her focus out the window.
“I guess you don’t fuck with me either then,” Layton shrugged as she started the engine. “That’s alright. It’s been a minute. Good things take time to get back right.”
Instead of getting a hotel or an Airbnb, Jordyn decided to stay with Kaylani until it was time to go back to Chicago. Layton hated that she and Kaylani lived in separate spaces, but Kaylani refused to give up her apartment because of a bad experience she’d had in the past, and she was glad she didn’t. Because whenever Layton got too out of control or she needed a break to be alone for a while, her apartment was her safe space to run to.
“Kaylani say you staying with her while you here. What ya’ll getting into?”
Layton glanced at Jordyn through the rearview mirror while she drove. They hadn’t spoken since Jordyn’s move to Chicago, but Layton thought since they were sisters that everything was cool.
“Girl stuff,” Jordyn replied while keeping her gaze out the window.
Layton looked over at Kaylani, who also had her gaze out the window. She seemed distant and deep in her thoughts—the one place Layton hated for her to be more than anything.
Before either of them got another word in, Jordyn’s phone rang and shattered the silence in the car. It was a good thing too, because she couldn’t stand to hear another word from Layton after knowing what she had done to Kaylani. If it weren’t for Kaylani asking her not to say anything about her black eye and bruised body, Jordyn would have fought Layton and left her at the airport.
“This is a prepaid call from a Dade County correctional facility. If you would like to accept this call, press 1. If you do not wish to accept this call, hang up.”
Jordyn quickly pressed 1 and waited for Pauline to speak. When she heard the chatter of the pod in the background, her heart skipped a beat because she knew it meant Pauline was in population and most likely wouldn’t be set free.
“Jordyn? You there?” Pauline’s voice was brittle and depressing.
“Yeah. I’m here, Ma. Are you okay? What are they saying?”
Jordyn’s worst fears haunted her thoughts the entire flight to Miami, and she knew it was only a matter of time before they were confirmed. She dreaded hearing Pauline tell her what she already knew would come, but she had to face the facts and get in front of the disaster before it somehow trampled her too.
“It’s not good,” Pauline sighed. “They want me to work with them—tell them everything I know.”
Jordyn’s heart pounded in her chest. Growing up with the Queen of Philly as her mother, she knew firsthand what happened to people who worked with the law. They were either killed on the streets or killed behind bars, but either way, they paid the price.
“Have you talked to anyone other than me?” Jordyn asked.
“No. Not yet,” Pauline replied.
“Good. Don’t. At least not until we know more. I just got here, so give me some time to figure something out before you talk to anyone.”
Jordyn glanced at Layton, who was already looking at her through the rearview mirror. No one knew why she was back in Miami, and she dreaded telling them, but she knew at some point she had to.
“Did you come alone?” Pauline asked, “Or is your friend here with you? What’s his name? Roman?”
Jordyn smiled when her mother mentioned Roman. She thought about his gorgeous smile and killer physique and wished he was there with her. But it was a thought she reeled in before temptation drove her too far.
“Not this time,” she said. “Maybe once this is over you’ll get a chance to meet him. You should really think about leaving this place for good, Ma. You’re getting too old for this shit.”
Pauline thought about leaving Miami a few times after Jordyn left. She was lonely and wanted someone to share her wealth with, other than her friends at bingo and the clientele. But she didn’t know what she wanted to do with the rest of her life, and it scared her to think of moving to a new place to start over when she already had a good thing going where she was.
“Maybe I will someday,” Pauline said. “I’m proud of you for leaving—going after what it was you truly wanted. I know you’re about sick of me and my shit interrupting your life all the time. I’m sorry.”
A tear formed in Jordyn’s eye, but she was tired of hearing sorry. She wanted change. She wanted compassion and consideration. She wanted Pauline to act her age—settle down and maybe be a grandmother someday. But at the rate she was going, Jordyn didn’t see that happening anytime soon.
“It’s alright, Ma. Just keep your head up. I’ll do what I have to do out here.”
“Alright, baby girl. I love you, and I’ll try to call you back a little later. The girls in here are rough and waiting for the phone, and I’m not really trying to get in no scuffle. If this was back in the day, I would’ve gladly run amok with one of them, but I’m too old to rumble now.”
Jordyn knew how rough Miami bitches were. She’d had run-ins with a few of them herself, so it broke her heart to think about her mother getting into a fight while in jail.
“Yes, please stay out of trouble,” she said. “I can’t take nothing else happening right about now.”
Before the operator informed them of their last minute remaining, Jordyn and Pauline said their goodbyes and promised to talk soon. She could tell Layton and Kaylani knew something was up, but neither of them asked. They just kind of sat quietly and waited for her to break the news.
“Well,” she said as she placed her phone back into her purse. “Ain’t no sense in delaying what’s happening. My mother’s in jail, and the feds want her to tell them everything she knows about Mega.”
WHAT!?” Layton’s eyes darted from the road back to Jordyn. Kaylani’s too. “The fuck you mean the feds!?”
“You heard me,” Jordyn replied dryly.
“Why the fuck didn’t she call Mega and let him know?”
“How smart would it be for her to call him if he’s the one they want?”
Jordyn was already upset with Layton about Kaylani, so she didn’t care how harsh her tone was or how sarcastic she sounded. As long as she did her part by letting her know what was going on, she didn’t give a fuck how Layton felt.
“So that’s why you came back,” Kaylani said. “Fuck. This is bad news, J.”
“Yeah. Tell me about it,” Jordyn scoffed. “If it wasn’t for this shit, I would’ve never came back.”
“Fuck all that,” Layton said. “You need to get on the phone with Mega and let him know before I do. Cause if Pauline in there thinking about running her mouth, shit gon blow up. For all of us.”
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