"Xstacey Jones" Part 3

[CarolinaCutie]

[glow=red,2,300]”Baby check yourself/Brace yourself/Protect yourself/Face yourself”
—Erykah Badu: Child With the Blues[/glow]

“Man it’s been anotha whole month and you still ain’t got none of that, yet?!”, Demetrius chuckled as he and Scola sat in the back of the tour bus while the rest of the guys sat up near the front. They were heading out on a promo tour for a few weeks.

“Hell nah, na! I even went as far as to kinda lay a guilt trip on her by sayin’ that I’d be gone for a couple of weeks. And ya know what I got out of the deal?! Some dn cuddle time! I’m through with her and YOUR lyin’ @$$!”, Scola snapped with a shake of his head.

“I done told you more than one time that I’m not lyin’ about that girl, foo’!”, Demetrius huffed as he glared at Scola. By this time, Sisqo had made his way to the back of the bus to get something to drink out of the fridge.

“What’s goin’ on?”, he asked as he glanced around inside the fridge.

“Nothin’ as far as Scola is concerned!”, Demetrius laughed with a shake of his head.

“Not for long! I’m gonna have to seek some action elsewhere! Stace has been one big waste of time for me! But that’s what I get for bein’ so dn gullible!”, Scola replied as he glared at Demetrius.

“Have yall ever heard of people changin’?!”, Sisqo snapped after grabbing a soda. He proceeded to glare at the both of them.

“Na, shut up! You know that the majority of females wanna play that innocent role so they can try to change us! Maybe that’s what she’s tryna do to my man, here!”, Demetrius stated while pointing his thumb at Scola.

“Whether she is or not, I’m not sittin’ around waitin’ on her @$$ no more!”, Scola replied as he turned his attention to the window to look at the passing traffic.

“That’s a cufked up thing to say about her!”, Sisqo huffed with a shake of his head. However, he almost gave himself away when he was about to say that any guy would be lucky to have Stacie as their girl. But then he felt that his feelings about her would really show through if he had made that particular remark.

“Like we give a dn what’chu think!”, Demetrius stated.

“Cufk you, na.”, Sisqo calmly replied as he headed back to the front of the bus.

Later on that night, after their show, all Sisqo could do was shake his head when he witnessed Scola escorting a groupie up to his hotel room. When he brought up Stacie’s name to him, Scola nonchalantly replied that she was as good as gone.

“Dn! Stacie deserves so much betta!”, Sisqo told Woody as they headed for the after party in the ballroom.

“I know. I hate it for her.”, Woody replied with a shake of his head.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In between takes of working on her latest song to submit to Latrell’s DJ friend, Stacie, Latrell and his boy, Lamont were all fooling around in the recording studio.

Stacie was loudly and jokingly singing Amerie’s “Show Me” off-key into the mic while standing in the recording booth.

“Don’t quit your day job, cuz!”, Latrell joked as he proceeded to cover his ears while pretending that he was about to fall out from the noise.

“Man…what’chu talkin’ about? I would blow the audience away if I was on the Apollo!”, she laughed before sticking her tongue out at him.

“There is such a thing as overconfidence, boo!”, Lamont joked as he fiddled with some of the knobs on the mixing board. “Singin’ isn’t your strong suit. Stick to bein’ a lyricist and you’ll be aight!”

“Lata for you!”, she laughed as she threw her finger up at him. Just then her phone began to ring.

“Hello? Yes this is. Oh…aight. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Th-Thank you.”, she stammered before ending her call. She proceeded to cry as she came walking out of the recording booth.

“What’s wrong?”, Latrell asked as he jumped up and ran over to her.

“Gayle…she’s dead!”, she sobbed as she collapsed in his arms.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nita, Latrell, and Lamont accompanied Stacie on the two-hour ride up to the prison a few hours later so she could identify Gayle’s body. Neicy had agreed to keep Javon overnight for her.

At first when she entered the cold morgue with a guard and the doctor who was on duty, Stacie couldn’t move. Her feet felt like they were glued to the floor when she saw a lifeless body lying beneath some white sheets on a table.

When the doctor tried coaxing her over to the table, she shook her head.

“I can’t.”, she whispered as tears began to fall from her eyes.

“I know this is hard…but we need you to identify her so we can release her over to you and your family.”, the doctor solemnly replied while standing next to Gayle’s body.

Stacie proceeded to take small steps as she approached the table. Before the doctor removed the top portion of the sheets, he looked at Stacie to make sure that it was okay for him to do so. Stacie slowly nodded her head yes for him to proceed with it. When he pulled the sheets back, Stacie put her hands up to her mouth and began to quietly sob. She didn’t know if she was crying because Gayle looked as if she was sleeping peacefully or if it was because she thought about how she had to identify Markeith’s body over 5 years ago.

“It’s her.”, Stacie cried as she walked up to Gayle. She began to run her fingers through Gayle’s hair that was combed back away from her face. “But I’m glad she didn’t have to suffer too long.”

The doctor gently patted her on the back before pulling the sheets back up over Gayle’s face.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Once Stacie was back at home, Nita decided to stay the night with her.

“How am I gonna tell my baby that his momma is gone?!”, Stacie was still crying when they walked inside. However, Nita didn’t have an answer for her. She just continued to hold her as they headed for her bedroom.

“You lie down and get some rest. I’ll call Scola for you.”, she stated after helping Stacie into bed. However, Stacie decided to lie down in her clothes because she was too tired and upset to do much of anything else at the moment. Nita stayed in the room with her until she was sure that she was asleep. Then she quietly crept back into the living room to make a call to Scola.

“Hello?”, he huffed into his phone after the third ring. He had just fallen asleep.

“Scola? It’s Nita. Listen, Stacie wanted me to call you because her cousin died earlier tonight. We juss came back from takin’ her to identify the body.”, Nita sadly replied.

“Oh isht! Well how is she?”, he whispered as he glanced over at the girl asleep next to him.

“Not good. I think she’s more worried with how she’s gonna explain what happened to Javon.”, Nita stated with a shake of her head. She felt her eyes watering up by this time. It suddenly hit her that she had lost a close friend.

She and Scola talked for a few more minutes before he ended the call. He told her that he would let the rest of the guys know what happened.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[CarolinaCutie]

“Ma! If he doesn’t want to go, I’m not gonna force him and neither should you! It’s already confusin’ enough that he has to deal with what’s goin’ on! ”, Stacie snapped at her overbearing mother, Patrice, who had come up for Gayle’s funeral at the end of the week along with Stacie’s father and sister.

Earlier that morning, Javon told his father that he didn’t want to see Gayle because he was scared. When his father brought it to Stacie’s attention, she told him that if that was Javon’s decision they would have to respect it.

“It juss ain’t right to have that boy walk all over you like that; especially at his age! Or maybe you aren’t doin’ as good a job as you thought you would in raisin’ him!”, her mother snapped back.

“Patrice shut the hell up! She’s doin’ what’s in the best interest of the child!”, Stacie’s father, Percy, shouted at her mother. In the meantime, her sister, Marla, sat shaking her head in pity at everything that was going on.

“Don’t tell me to shut up! Maybe if we had put our foot down with Stacie when she was younger, she wouldn’t have made such stupid decisions with her life!”, her mother yelled while glaring at her.

Stacie gasped and looked at her mother in disbelief before storming out of the house. She began to pace back and forth on her porch while silent tears streamed down her face. It pained her to know that her mother had always put her and her father, a recovering alcoholic, down. The only one her mother saw as the apple of her eye was her sister who NEVER did anything wrong. But then, Stacie had never told her mother some of the most dark and desolate secrets of her life since she felt like her mother would only throw them back in her face.

“I’m sorry for how your mother’s actin’, Creep.”, her father whispered as he came outside to join her. Stacie began to chuckle at her strange pet name that he had given to her when she was little. “I swear that woman makes me wanna go back to suckin’ on a bottle of Ripple at times.” This time, both he and Stacie laughed.

“Daddy, why is it that nothin’ I’ve ever done has pleased her?”, she asked as she wrapped her arms around him and laid her head on his chest.

“I’ono, baby…I’ono.”, he whispered while patting her back. “Well, I guess we’d betta head over to the funeral. The family car just turned the corner.

The ride over to the funeral home was silent as Stacie was still upset with her mother and her mother in turn was upset with everybody and everything.

During the early part of Gayle’s closed-casket funeral, Stacie was surprised that she had been holding up well in spite of losing her dearest and closest family member and best friend. However, things soon changed for the worse when she stood up to say a few words on Gayle’s behalf as well as perform a solo with some help from Cookie and Nita who joined her in front of the congregation.

“Today I come before you all to say that neva again in life will I have someone who has loved and believed in me like my cousin, Gayle, has. If it wasn’t for her, I would have given up on myself as well as my dreams a long time ago.”, Stacie started as she began to choke up. She proceeded to lightly chuckle as she looked upward.

“I rememba how we used to pretend that she was Janet Jackson and I was Lisa Lisa wheneva we saw each otha. We would take our jump ropes and sing along to their tapes and act like we were on Soul Train and stuff. But then Gayle discovered that she was a betta dancer and she left the singin' and rappin’ up to me. And she would always tell me that when I made it big and had a CD, she expected to see her name listed as the first one under the Lord’s in my thank you notes.”

Although Stacie began to cry, she smiled as the congregation lightly chuckled. However, she paused for a brief moment when she saw a familiar face sitting near the back of the chapel. Cookie reached out and gently squeezed her hand as her way of making sure that Stacie was okay. Stacie nodded her head that she was fine before she began to speak again.

“But along with the best of times, we also shared the worst of times togetha. When I would go through my trials and tribulations, she was there for me and I did the same for her. It was neva the case of pointing fingas at one anotha when we made bad decisions in our lives as many of us will do. It was always the case of ‘I love you in spite of what you’re doin’ or have done and how can I help to make things betta’.” Stacie then turned her back to the chapel while looking at Gayle’s pastel pink coffin. She reached out and began to lightly rub her hand back and forth across the smooth surface.

“So as I say farewell to my beautiful cousin, both inside and out, I would like to sing one of our favorite songs that we always played when we needed to be reassured that things would be okay.”

Nita felt the tears rolling down her cheeks as she and Cookie held hands when they began to sing the chorus of Mary J’s “My Life”. In the meantime, Stacie, who continued to watch and rub Gayle’s coffin, closed her eyes while waiting to sing the first verse. However, as soon as she opened her mouth to sing it, she began to repeatedly scream and cry Gayle’s name out hysterically while leaning over her casket. She didn’t even notice when her father and Javon’s father came up to help her out of the chapel as she continued to cry.

For the rest of the service, her father sat with her in the family car as she cried non-stop. However, on their way to the cemetery Stacie shared some devastating news with her family.

“I’ma kill that son-of-a-itchb!”, her father roared as he jumped out of the car to confront Gayle’s mother and his sister’s former boyfriend, Bernard. Stacie was shocked when she saw him at the funeral and now the burial.

“No, Percy!”, her mother begged as she jumped out behind him. She grabbed up to his arm as well as Stacie and Marla who blocked his path.

“Daddy, I’m sorry I waited so long to tell yall this, but…I’m sorry!”, Stacie sobbed.

“It’s okay. But the minute I hear ‘ashes-to-ashes’ that’s it for his @$$!”, he yelled as they led him on a long route to Gayle’s burial site so he wouldn’t cause a scene in case they happened to pass by Bernard.

As soon as the minister gave the benediction for Gayle's burial, Stacie quickly grabbed up to her father's hand so she could walk him back to the car. She saw the enraged look that began to form on his face as he stood up. However, with him being twice her size, he dragged her along with him as he went to confront Bernard.

"Percy, stop!!!!!", her mother shouted. But it was too late; before Bernard could utter one word, Percy reached out and began to repeatedly punch him in the face. Even when Bernard fell back on the ground, Stacie’s father proceeded to jump on him and continue his assault.

"You son-of-a-itchb!!! How dare you touch my daughter and niece!!!", he screamed and cried while Latrell, the minister, and Javon's father and his brother tried to pull him off of Bernard.

"Stop it!!!", Stacie shrieked as she stood next to them.

"What's goin' on here?!!!", the funeral directors yelled as they came over to help. By this time, Latrell was able to pull Percy away from Bernard.

"This sorry piece of isht raped my daughter!!!!", Percy yelled out before falling to his knees and sobbing uncontrollably.

Everyone turned around and looked at Stacie in shock. She proceeded to run back to the car while crying. She was embarrassed beyond belief. Her mother, sister, Neicy, Cookie and Nita proceeded to run behind her. However, before she could open the door to get back in the family car, she felt Nita pull her into her arms.

"That's why I wouldn't tell!", Stacie cried. "He said that no one would believe us, ma!!!"

"Us, Stace?", Nita asked while gently rubbing her back.

"Yeah...Gayle finally told me when I moved in with her a few years ago. She said that he did it to her all the time when Aunt Helen wouldn’t be home. But the summer I came up here to stay with them when I was 14, he did it to me. I’ono…Gayle didn't come right out and tell me what was happenin’ with her back then, but she always told me not to cross his path if I could help it. And every time I asked her why she would put the chair behind her door when we went to bed, she always brushed my question off.”, Stacie cried hysterically before going on.

“But then one night while Aunt Helen was out with some friends, I thought it was okay to go to the bathroom since it was kinda late…” She slowly lifted her head up from Nita’s shoulder to look at her mother. “But he was waiting for me when I came out. And he took me in their room and did it while threatening to kill me if I screamed for help. Ma! What was I supposed to do?! He said that he would kill Gayle and Aunt Helen if I said anything after it was over!!! So it wasn't my fault! It wasn't my fault!!! It WAS NOT MY FAULT!!!!", she screamed.

Patrice quickly grabbed Stacie up in her arms. "No, it's not. I'm sorry! I guess that’s why you neva wanted to spend anotha summer with them.”

Marla thought about what she had just heard for a brief moment before speaking. “Ma? Maybe that’s why Gayle would cry so bad when she spent those few summers afterwards with us. I guess she didn’t want to go back home.” Marla felt herself beginning to fill up as she walked up to Stacie to hug her. “You’ll be okay.”

“Thank you.”, Stacie sniffed as they held each other in silence for a while.

Several minutes later, Latrell walked Percy back to the family car after he had calmed him down. However, Percy told Bernard that he would be pressing charges against him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[CarolinaCutie]

"Hey, boo!", Nokio grinned when Nita answered her phone. She decided to join Stacie and Javon at the park a few weeks later. Stacie was sitting next to her watching Javon play on the playground.

"Hey!!!", she smiled into her receiver. "Are you on the way home?" She had been keeping up with their tour schedule religiously.

"We already home, girl!", he chuckled. "That's why I was callin' to see if we could hook up after your shift tomorrow night."

"Oh, aight...that's coo'!", she replied with a nod of her head.

"Von! Don't do that!", Stacie shouted as she proceeded to jump up from the bench. She witnessed Javon standing up in a swing while swinging high in the air.

"Where yall at?", Nokio chuckled when he heard Stacie's outburst.

"We're hangin' out at the park. I've been tryna get Stace's mind off of Gayle's funeral.", Nita sadly replied as she watched Stacie proceed to kiss and hold Javon tightly in her arms after grabbing him off of the swing. Nita noticed how Stacie had become extremely overprotective of him since Gayle's death.

"Funeral? What funeral?!!", he thought to himself before replying to Nita's statement.

"Oh yeah...I'm sorry we couldn't make it.", he lied.

Scola hadn't told the guys anything about Gayle's death even though they knew he had been calling Stacie on a daily basis. But they just assumed that he and Stacie were working on their relationship. And when Nokio would speak with Nita during that particular time, she never mentioned anything about the funeral. But the fact of the matter was that she had been under the impression that they couldn’t make it after thinking that Scola had told them about it like he promised her that he would.

"Well lemme let you go. I'll call ya lata.", Nokio half-smiled into his receiver. "Love you."

"Love you more.", Nita blushed before they ended their call.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Later on that night, the guys decided to hang out at Jazz's house. However, Scola was the last one to show up. And when he did, Nokio wasted no time in calling him out about not telling them about Gayle.

"Na! What was your reason for not tellin' us about Stacie's cousin?!", he shouted as Scola sat down in an armchair across from him.

"What about her cousin?!", Woody asked in surprise.

"She died the same night we went out on tour and her funeral was a week later, and this foo' didn't have the cufkin’ decency to mention it to us!", Nokio snapped.

"Man, what the cufk?", Jazz asked with a puzzled look.

"Can I talk now?!", Scola shouted as he glared at them. "I didn't feel the need in sayin' anything because it wasn't like Stacie and I were coo' at the moment anyway!"

"Whether yall were or not, we would've liked to been there to show our support or at least send her a card or flower or somethin'!!! Stacie at least deserved that!!!", Sisqo shouted out of anger.

Nokio noticed how more pissed off Sisqo became when he said Stacie's name.

"Look! You asked for my reason why and that was it! Dn!!! Besides, we broke up during the same week anyway so it didn't even matta to me!", Scola lied. In actuality, after knowing that he was wrong for cheating on Stacie with his ex and a few groupies while they were on the road, he felt like he didn't deserve to see her anymore.

"Man...I don't care what you say, yo' @$$ was dead wrong!", Jazz huffed with a shake of his head.

"Whateva, n****!", Scola huffed. He then turned his attention to the tv although he wasn’t able to concentrate on watching it. The room was overcome with a deadly silence until Sisqo jumped up and went out on the front porch to cool off. Nokio went after him to see what was really up with him.

"What's wrong, man?", Nokio asked as he leaned up against the wall of the porch while watching Sisqo.

"I'ono, Noke. I guess I have feelin's for Stacie. But I hadn't said anything to her or nobody else until now. Am I bein' selfish since I'm glad that she's not with Sco' anymore?", he asked as he lifted his head up from his hands to glance over at Nokio.

"Nah...actually, I thought you two woulda been more made for each otha in the beginnin' anyway.", Nokio chuckled as he came to sit down beside him. "While D and Sco' were busy thinkin' about what she had to offer, I noticed how you treated her with respect in spite of what had been spread around about her."

"But still…I wonda how Sco' will feel when he finds out about my feelin's for her.", Sisqo replied with a shake of his head.

"What can the na say? He was wrong and lost out on a good thing so no need for him to be salty if someone else comes into her life. He had his chance. Besides, rememba how we all agreed that no female would come in between any of us? So oh well...he'll juss have to deal with it.", Nokio stated with a shrug of his shoulders.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Welcome back, babygirl!", Jacob smiled as he stood with open arms to greet Stacie. She had just returned to work the next night after taking a few weeks off.

"Thanks.", she smiled as she went into his arms to hug him.

"You lookin' good. But I still want you to take an easy. Are you sure you're up to bein' back?", he asked with a look of concern as he stood back to take a look at her. He had attended the funeral and burial and knew about her hidden secret.

"Yeah...I felt like the walls were closin' in on me.", she stated with a nod of her head.

"Aight. Well your customers await this face.", he chuckled as he reached out and pinched her cheek.

"Ok.", she giggled with a shake of her head. She proceeded to go into the back to get ready for work. She was met by Nita and Cookie who were waiting for her.

"Welcome back!", they both grinned as they took turns hugging her.

"Awwwwwww...thanks, guys.", she sighed with a big smile.

"This is a lil' somethin' for you.", Cookie grinned as she took a small gift box from Nita who had a sly grin on her face.

"Ohhhhhh...this is tight! But yall didn't have to do this!", Stacie exclaimed when she pulled a 14k gold musical note charm from the box to add to her bracelet.

"Yes we did! You're our girl and don't you forget it!", Nita smiled as she hugged Stacie once more followed by Cookie.

"I won't!", Stacie grinned as they headed back out to the front to start work.

Since it was Friday night, the club was packed to capacity which made for a busy night. However, Stacie noticed that all of the guys were there except Scola. But then when she glanced around the club a while later, she saw him sitting at a table near the back with Lexxxus on his lap.

"Good riddance!", she thought to herself when their eyes met.

[CarolinaCutie]

"Girl, did you see who's hangin' out with Lexxxus?!", Nita exclaimed when Stacie walked to the bar a few minutes later to gather some orders for her customers.

"Yeah, but I'm wayyyyyyyyy beyond that now!", Stacie sighed. "Like my girl, Eve, said...'I'ma go back to square one and wait for somethin' real'!"

"Okayyyyyyyyy!!! He ain't worth it no way!", Nita laughed with a shake of her head.

"Ya know!", Stacie laughed back.

"W'sup, Stace?", Scola asked when she went back over to the guys' table to give them their orders several minutes later. He had decided to come over there since he knew she would be back.

"Nothin' much. W'sup with you?", she pleasantly asked with a small smile. For some reason she felt relieved in knowing that they no longer had anything going on between them.

"I'm aight.", he half-smiled. However, he gave the guys a puzzled look since it appeared that Stacie wasn't reacting the way he thought she would have since their nasty break up. But he did notice how she coldly treated Demetrius, as always, when he tried speaking to her for a second time.

"That's good. So were you gettin' anything?", she asked as she pulled her pencil from her new set of blonde-streaked microbraids that were pulled back into a tight bun and held in place with a pair of chopsticks.

"Ummmmm...nah, I'm straight right now, but thanks.", he smiled with a nod of his head.

Nokio began to nudge Sisqo who was staring at her in awe. He quickly cut his eyes to Nokio before speaking.

"I didn't get a chance to tell ya earlier, but it's good to have you back, ma.", Sisqo grinned as he stared into her eyes.

"Awwwww...thanks!", she smiled before her eyes glanced over to Deacon Johnson's table. She saw him staring at her with an empty shot glass in his hand. "Uh oh...lemme get ova here before gran'pa catches a fit. I'll catch up with yall lata."

"Aight.", Sisqo smiled as he watched her walking away.

"You starin' a lil' too hard ain't'cha?", Scola joked when he noticed Sisqo's reaction to her.

"What if I am? She's free again ain't she?", he snapped.

"Dn!!!", Jazz laughed with a shake of his head. The others began to laugh too.

"Good luck with her, na!", Demetrius huffed and chuckled with a shake of his head.

"Whateva!", Sisqo sighed as he turned his attention back to the stage to watch Cookie perform to Ja Rule's "Clap Back".

Scola continued to sit with a stunned look on his face, but then he shook it off. It was his own fault that he had messed up with Stacie. He proceeded to wish Sisqo good luck but for a different reason besides the one that Demetrius had in mind when he wished him luck.

"Oh, so we coo', then?", Sisqo asked as he turned for a brief moment to look at Scola.

"Yeah, man...we coo'.", he smiled as he and Sisqo exchanged pounds. "Juss don't mess up with her like I did."

"Man, I haven't even said nothin' to her yet!", Sisqo laughed.

"But you will soon enough!", Woody joked.

"You got that right!", Sisqo laughed as he proceeded to watch the rest of Cookie's performance.

Demetrius sucked his teeth while shaking his head.
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"So what's been goin' on with yall lately?", Nita asked when she and Nokio arrived at her place later on that night.

"Nothin' much...same ol' same ol' as usual.", he replied. "Listen, I know I've already apologized to both you and Stace, but I wanna say I'm sorry again for us not bein' there for yall at the funeral."

"We undastand that yall couldn't make it, so it's coo'.", she replied as she snuggled up next to him on the sofa.

"Nah...we could've if Scola hadn't...!", he started before he realized that he came forth with some info that he didn't want to get out.

"If he hadn't what, Noke?", Nita asked as she lifted her head up from his shoulder to look at him.

"Nothin'.", he replied with a shake of his head.

"No...you were sayin' somethin', so finish it! What hadn't he done?!", she demanded to know as she stood up to stand in front of him. She decided to block his view of the tv.

Nokio took a deep sigh before speaking. "He didn't let any of us know about your friend's death. That's the real reason why we didn't come. But we would've under normal circumstances or even if we couldn't have come, we could've sent yall somethin' to let you know that we were thinkin' of you."

"I can't believe that stupid @$$! No wonda Stacie didn't want to be bothered with him anymore! Mannnnnn...he BET not come down to the club tomorrow night! I'll pick up on him where I left off with Demetrius!", she shouted as she paced the floor.

"Get ova here! I see right now I'ma have to tame you!", Nokio laughed as he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her down onto his lap. However, she lost her balance and fell over onto the sofa while giggling.

"I'ma still get him!", she laughed.

"No you won't!", he chuckled as he playfully kissed her.

"What makes you think that I won't?", she asked while trying to get away from him.

"Because if you do, then I won't give it up anymore.", he grinned with a wink.

"Oh...well in that case, neva mind!", she laughed as they got up and headed for her bedroom.
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"Hey, Stace.", Neicy smiled when she opened the door for her.

"Hey, Neicy. Listen, I need a big favor.", Stacie began with a sad look.

"What'cha need?", Neicy asked while pulling Stacie by the hand inside her apartment.

"Could Von stay the night with you? I need some alone time to get myself together and I would hate for him to see me in this state.", Stacie replied with a weary look.

"Of course he can, girl! He is neva any trouble. You go home and take it easy. And call me if you need to talk. I'm right here.", Neicy grinned as she walked with Stacie back to the door.

"Thanks.", Stacie sighed as she and Neicy shared a big hug.

"Anytime. Buh bye.", Neicy replied.

"Buh bye.", Stacie stated before heading next door to her own place.

After taking a shower and changing into a pair of old sweatpants and t-shirt, she went into the living room to look through some old photo albums. She also put the radio on so the place wouldn't be so quiet.

"Girl, we were somethin' else back in the day weren't we?", she chuckled while looking at pictures of her and Gayle during their childhood and teen years. Every now and then, she would burst out laughing at some pictures, but her laughter soon turned into quiet sobs when Janet Jackson's "Nasty" came on. She immediately remembered how excited Gayle became when she jumped up and performed the entire dance routine to the video when it came on while they were watching tv one afternoon during the unforgettable summer Stacie spent with her. And then she remembered how much fun they had when Gayle taught her the dance routine. Stacie finally learned it after about two hours while they listened to Janet’s tape up in Gayle’s bedroom.

"Oh, Gayle!", she sobbed as she grabbed the remote to shut the stereo off. She then proceeded to throw it across the living room smashing it upside the wall. Before she knew it, she was on the floor crying and screaming while doubling over in pain and sorrow.

After a few minutes, she pulled herself together and was about to call Nita to talk but then she remembered that Nokio was over there with her and she didn't want to disturb them. Then she thought about calling Neicy back, but there was no need to risk the chance of waking Javon up with the ringing phone.

"Oh...!", she thought to herself as she wiped her tears away with the back of her hand. She proceeded to call Sisqo up after remembering that she had his number.

"Hello?", he groggily answered after the second ring.

"Sisqo...", she began before she began to quietly sob again.

He sat upright in the bed after recognizing Stacie’s voice. "I'm comin' ova!" He quickly put some clothes on and hopped in his ride to go see her.

About an hour later, while Stacie was still glued to the sofa thinking about Gayle, she heard her doorbell ringing.

"Hey, Stace. I came as fast as I could.", Sisqo replied as he stepped inside. He noticed her red and swollen eyes that were still crying tears of sadness. Without saying a word, he pulled her into his arms while she fell apart for a few more minutes.

"I'm so embarrassed...I'm sorry.", she sniffed as she walked out of his embrace after letting out a good cry. She proceeded to go sit down on the sofa. He proceeded to sit down next to her.

"No, don't be.", he smiled as he pulled her into his arms. They continued to talk through the rest of the night and became closer after revealing their innermost thoughts and feelings about life and each other.

[glow=red,2,300]“Girl your heart will heal/From all the pain you feel/Let me show you the real love you've been waiting for”
—Mint Condition: You Don’t Have to Hurt No More[/glow]

[glow=blue,2,300]*Conclusion Comin'...[/glow]

[sexysmile]

Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie!!

[VirgosAngel19]

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! It's about time Sisqo admitted how he felt about her.

And I bout cried buckets when I read about Gayle and what happened with her and Stacie.

Good Job!!!! ;D

[aDRUfan4LiFe]

Awwwwww....why did my babydaddy(lol) have to be such a whoooooooore up in this story!!!!

But I'm glad about Sisqo and Stacie...she definitely had to let that out! So sad! Can't wait to read more!

[Jewlnmbr1]

Aww this was such an emotional chapter. *listening to "Emotional Rollercoaster"* Dagg...the timing! LoL