FULL CIRCLE

17.

🎶 Now playing: Not You Too by Drake featuring Chris Brown.

Antonio took another pull from Roman's blunt, inhaling deeply as he closed his eyes. "This ain't like you man. Talk to me." Roman responded as he took it from his fingers, more so to stop him.

Antonio looked at him with low, reddish eyes, "Remember the two illegal weapons found at the store the day I got arrested? Justine Brook."

Roman shook his head in disbelief at what he'd just heard, sitting upright on the chair. "Yo, what? How does that even make any sense?"

Antonio shrugged plainly. No words could describe how discouraged he was. He was never the type to get angry, and patience could practically be his middle name, but this time around he was finding it difficult to compose himself internally. Baffled, to say the least. "As if that's not enough... she's selling all that shit for Morris," he let out a laugh of disbelief.

"My father and ex girlfriend are selling guns and who knows what else, and then laundering the money through my store for their own selfish gain."

"Hold on, let's start this story from scratch," Roman kept his gaze on the floor with his eyebrows scrunched. "Morris being this town's most successful businessman comes from illegal firearms? I mean, we all know he isn't exactly the most innocent..." he went on as Antonio stared blankly at him. "The question is why Justine would be involved, is she using working at the store as a front?"

"Before I got arrested, like moments before, Luna insisted on talking to me privately about the guns obviously... and now that I think about it, Justine was jumpy the whole time." Antonio spoke up as he ushered his posture upwards to face Roman fully. "She knew she'd slipped somehow."

Roman shook his head for the millionth time in disbelief, "This is probably what indirectly ended y'all relationship. This is a whole new level of dishonesty, bro." He blew out another cloud of smoke. "I'm sorry man..."

Antonio sighed, "It doesn't even end there. She wants me to cooperate and work with her."

"Continue laundering the money?"

"How am I supposed to do that without Ms Maya noticing?" Antonio stared into space. He knew that she'd be the first target if Morris and Justine didn't get their way, and losing a motherly figure again was something his heart wouldn't be able to handle this time. Not to mention his new girlfriend; there were just too many important people that would get hurt.

"You gotta outsmart her, beat her at her own game," Roman shrugged. "Otherwise you won't escape this cycle they got you trapped in. We got things to do..."

~

1 week later...

Antonio found himself succumbing to Justine's slightest requests. Firstly, he'd officially given her the job back, secondly, he'd been consciously accepting Morris' dirty cash and circulating it through the store and lastly, he'd been neglecting everything in between from Ms Maya's requests and suggestions to spending time with Reign. There was barely any communication between them, so much that Lee had been on Reign's case about agreeing to be his girlfriend.

Reign felt like she knew what was going on with him and how Antonio was "trying his best" to manage the whole situation, so she told Lee where to get off... respectfully.