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“Justice! No!” she cut me off. “It’s not worth it. It’s been six months since you’ve seen that man. Let that shit go,” she said firmly, one hand on her hip.

“Technically, almost eight months. Remember, I was released in October, and I last saw him in late August,” I corrected her.

“Justice. I don’t give a damn about the timeline. Fuck him. You don’t need to put yourself back in a situation that could send you back to jail,” she warned me, and I rolled my eyes.

I was never able to show her how fine he was because, well, prison, and then he dropped me like a bad habit right before my release. If she had seen him, she would understand my dilemma. Chance was fine as fuck.

“Jamie, please. You have no idea what it feels like to have been in a relationship with someone for years, only to suddenly have no contact at all. I just want him to be a man and tell me that he lied and had no intention of keeping his word.”

“Okay, Love After Lockup.” She laughed at her own joke. “Don’t say I ain’t warned you. And don’t think I’m trying to be hard on you. I’m not. I understand the why, but I don’t understand why it matters now. You’ve been home this long, and he still hasn’t reached out to you.”

“Because I’m tired of people using me. That goes for Daddy, too. I don’t know how yet, but I want him to explain what I did to him to make him abandon me when I needed him most. I want them both to answer for leaving me high and dry.” I paused. “It’s not fair. I didn’t deserve any of this.”

“I hear you, Justice. I do. But not everyone deserves a reaction from you every time. Sometimes, leaving people where they are is the best thing you can do for yourself, especially in your case.”

“Yeah, maybe. Maybe one day, I’ll be as mature as you are. For now, I’m about to confront Chance and make him eat his fucking words.”

“Girl.” She laughed, shaking her head. “Jail really made your ass crazy. Please be careful. I just got you back, and I don’t want you to do anything that will land you back in front of a judge.”

“Trust me, I have no intention of going back there. I learned my lesson, sis. I’ll be careful, pinky promise.”

She walked toward me and kissed my cheek. “Take the car. I don’t need it today. I’ll order takeout and find something to binge-watch.”

“Thank you. I always appreciate you. When I get my shit together, I’m going to pay you back tenfold.”

She waved me off and headed to her room.

I was lucky to have Jamie, my older half-sister, to depend on because she and her mother, Diane, were so supportive, especially after Jamie visited me and I told her how I ended up behind bars. They were beyond disgusted with my dad. Unlike me, she had her life together. She refused to be associated with our dad, and now I knew why. Well, not the full story, but enough to know he was a snake-ass nigga. I went to jail, and he didn’t even try to help me out. I was forgotten, as if I were a rando on the streets.

Jamie and I had different mamas, but we had a strong bond that grew even more when I was sentenced. It wasn’t until I got locked up that I started talking to Jamie’s mother. She knew the type of person my dad was and felt guilty for not being in my life to help me when my mother passed away.

They answered every call and text while I was incarcerated. Jamie made sure I had money on my tablet. That was more for her benefit than mine because of her work schedule. She couldn’t always answer my calls, and she wanted to make sure I had another way to reach her if I needed her.

After getting myself together, I got dressed. I pulled a shoebox from my closet that contained the one and only letter Chance had sent me. I never thought I would have to use it to find him, but here I was.

I considered every possible scenario. Maybe he died in a tragic jail fight he was trying to break up, or maybe someone found out about us, and he was transferred after I was released. Nothing felt real until I confirmed what could have happened to him and to us. I needed answers, and maybe a punch in his face, depending on his attitude. One wrong move, and I was going to make him regret ever fuckin’ with me.

With a quick prayer, I hoped this wasn’t a mistake. I grabbed Jamie’s car keys and headed out the door. Once in the driver’s seat, I entered Chance’s address into the GPS, then opened my Everand app and played 'There’s Still Beauty in This Street Love' by Elle Kayson. Ángel Cruz was my type of nigga. The GPS indicated I wouldn’t arrive until a little past one o’clock.

About an hour later, I reached this enormous house. Although I knew I was in the wrong place, my GPS showed I had arrived. It was huge—just the iron gate alone left me speechless.

I couldn’t lie. I was a little confused. Since when did correctional officers make enough money to afford to live in something like this? Maybe he was a trust-fund nigga or something. He did mention that his father was a Warden at another prison.

When I reached the gate, I immediately assessed it. Having lifted weights while incarcerated, I was confident I could climb it, especially since it didn’t open automatically.

You know what? Hell yeah!

I wasn’t about to knock respectfully. He had lost my respect when he ghosted me. If I had a gun on me, I would’ve entered this hoe, guns blazing, on god, cuz’ he definitely had me fucked up.

After shutting down the car’s engine, I jumped out. I was now on a mission.

“Okay, let’s see.” I examined the gate, searching for my entry point. Stepping back, I created about four feet of distance from the gate.

Once I had a good footing and felt good about the distance to the gate, I sprinted at full speed to jump and reach for the top. However, my grip was short-lived as my hands slipped.

“Fuck!” I yelled as my ass hit the dirt.

I refused to give up. I stood, brushed dirt off my pants, and glanced around, half-expecting someone to catch me playing ninja warrior with the gate. When I saw no one, I repeated the same actions: stepping back about four feet and then sprinting as fast as my thick thighs could carry me.