Chapter 6

"I wish I could J but with Elijah on my ass, I can't be seen around the gang for a while", Nova sighed and massaged her temple, not that it helped the migraine that held painful promises.

Sky Lord, the gang's archenemy had made a comeback after a year of silence and her gang was taking the brunt of the said comeback and while Jase was filling her in on the activities, she wished more than anything to be there for the gang but she was scared. She didn't know how Elijah knew that she belonged in the gang though his knowledge was little. She was not about to give him the dirt on her and engaging in an expected shootout with sky Lord and his goons was going to put the last nail in the coffin, Elijah didn't know her exact position in the gang and she sought to keep it that way, at least until court grants her full custody.

"It's okay Nova, we all understand and if you need us just holla at us and we'll be there. Hopefully Drew will not shoot my balls this time", Jase chuckled while reminding Nova of a time when Drew was still new and was being taught how to use a gun, long story short, she shot Jase in the buttocks, luckily the bullet just tore up his butt cheek instead of lodging inside his flesh.

"That was eight years ago man, I'm definitely good now", Nova could hear Drew grumble in the background.

"Yeah, I still have the scar to show your firstborn son", Jase cackled.

"Fuck you asshole", Drew's grumbly voice could be heard in Nova's side and Nova cackled at the banter going on between the two.

"Alright J, thanks a lot. Tell Drew to send my love to Caroline, bye", she hung up but not before heading Drew's complain about how everyone cares more about her girlfriend than her.

"Mama have you seen my socks?", Jasmine screamed to her and she sighed, her baby was an angel but a messy one.

"Check the left drawer, the last one", she yelled back and pulled a cardigan over her crop top and packed her dark hair in a ponytail before stepping out of the room to Jasmine's

"You seen it champ?", She asked from the doorstep, refusing to walk into the mighty mess her child had managed to make.

"Yeah, I thought I kept my shin guards on my shoe rack though", Jasmine furiously pulled at her long dark hair.

"Well if you stop being messy for about one second you will know where you left it", Nova chuckled and started walking to the kitchen to make a sandwich.

"Please where are they?", Jasmine whined and Nova chuckled.

"Under your bed"

"Found it!", The girl yelled and started coming out with her duffel bag containing her sports gear.

"You've got your band?", Nova asked knowing that Jasmine will totally forget it and as predicted the girl did forget it.

"At this rate I might as well be the captain", she mumbled loudly while she wrapped the sandwiches up. She checked her purse and made sure Jasmine's inhaler was inside there before swiping her keys from the hook at the door.

"You know it will be wrong for the team captain to come thirty minutes into the game", she said loudly before walking out of the door with the keys and sandwiches in her hand but she ran into Christan.

"Hey Nov", he smiled nervously but was ignored by the woman who just rolled her eyes and walked around him to her car.

"C'mon Nov, don't be like this today of all days", he whined and followed her.

"What are you doing here Christan?"

"I want to be at my niece's game", he supplied and Nova scoffed, making him sigh heavily.

"I know you think I don't care but I really do and I am very sorry I fucked up. Just let me apologise and explain before you decide to end our friendship but even at that, it doesn't change the fact that I love your little girl and will always try to be the uncle I couldn't be to her all these years", he stated firmly and Nova couldn't help how proud she was of him at that moment but she still had a strong front to hold.

"Yeah, whatever", she slammed the car door shut and blared the horn while glaring at the house.

Jasmine's tardiness always left her shocked, one would think that after being named the captain of junior soccer team in her school, she would buckle up and try to be punctual for practices and games but two years and still counting and Jasmine was still as tardy as she could afford, if not even more tardier. The child dragged herself out of the door while complaining about how she couldn't find anything she kept in place, her eyes lit up when she saw Christan.

"You came!", She bounced on the heel of her feet and he chuckled at her childish excitement.

"Of course buddy. Now get in before your mama murders me for delaying you the more", he ruffled her hair and pushed her towards Nova's car passenger side.

"She'll probably do it anyway, those flowers are not doing much anyway", she cackled as he rolled his eyes and went into his own car, tailing behind them towards the opponent school Jasmine's team was playing against.

~

Rachel ground her jaws furiously, they almost worked her teeth to powder as she tried to ignore the feeling of the crowd beside her. If they could maintain some distance and respect her personal space she will be in a better mood but if she actually expected that from a crowded field at a soccer game then she had to reevaluate her expectations. Her dark aura was enough to keep people away from her but that didn't mean that she didn't get to smell their body odors or even hear their shouts but it was for good cause and that thought tried to pacify her, to no avail. All these things were grating on her nerves but just one person was really pushing her beyond her elastic limit, Cameron. Chuck, snicker, oops.

"I swear you're a child. Stop that will you?", Sarah chided her girlfriend who Rachel seriously rethought her relationship with the artist, maybe she should have really left her to rot in jail two years ago but the fact that the woman was innocent and the fact that the small woman that was her girlfriend scared her. The shorter they were, the closer they were to hell, she believed.

"What! She's not complaining", Cameron whined and aimed the popcorn at her again, ready to lunch it at Rachel, having her neighbors in shock at the fact that she seemed to be spooking the bear that was Rachel.

"Cameron", Sarah's voice was stern, leaving no room for argument making Cameron whine and put the popcorn in her mouth.

"Whipped", Drew snickered until Caroline pinned her with a deadly glare, making her sweat in her seat.

"She's so sleeping in the dog house", Dexter chuckled and nudged Chucky who was already laughing his ass off.

"So tell me, did you just feel bored that you came to watch a kid's soccer game or does it have something to do with a certain raven haired hottie?", Jase asked, masking his face with all the seriousness he could afford and Rachel scoffed.

"Mind your business Jase", she retorted, actually thinking about what he said. Sure the kid had invited her the time she went to the inn but she couldn't deny the fact that the a big part of her wanted to see Nova though after their last encounter she didn't know how the young mother would act around her.

"I take it, it's the latter", Jase mused, eyeing the young mother who had her nail between her teeth while she stared at her child. Rachel followed his line of sight and felt her heart stop for just a millisecond as she stared at the anxious mother. It was very obvious that she loved her little girl to bits, something Rachel was not blessed with as a child. Besides the fact that she was a beauty to behold, one thing that drew Rachel close to her was the motherly radiance she had about her and the woman oozed warmth and it was not just in her body, her personality was very warm despite the many walls.

"As much as it is good to have you back, I'll end you if you hurt them", Jase spoke in a menacingly low voice that only Rachel heard and the threat shocked her.

"You make a lot of assumptions Jase, for a gang leader, that is poor", she retorted, keeping her shock out if her features.

"I see the way you look at her, just don't hurt her. She's been through enough already", he sighed and stared at Jasmine who was in her element and really doing a good job on the pitch.

"Suit yourself, see all you want but it's not happening", she bit back, actually afraid that her long lost friend and brother though not biologically was getting to her.

"Drop the act Rach, I know you like the back of my palm and nothing's changed all these years. You're still the same kid from fourteen years ago, just grown and stupid. If that woman can give you the love you deserve then don't be stupid to reject it"

The crowd was full on cheering as the opposing team scored a goal though their own side of the field was quiet but the noise made it impossible for others to listen to their discussion. Rachel sighed, this man knew her too well and she still loved the man she always called her big brother and though things have happened in the years they have been apart, he was her safe place.

"I'm not doing this........ Love.... Relationship", she sighed and watched Jasmine guarding the player who had the ball.

"You don't have a choice you know. It comes for you and you won't know what hits you", Jase chuckled and stared at his own girlfriend, Rebecca. He remembered how he had met the teacher at one of Jasmine's games and was whipped ever since then.

"She has a boyfriend or whatever", Rachel huffed like a kid and her lips curled up in disgust when she thought of the flowers she witnessed her receive that day at the inn.

"Are we still talking about the same Nova?", Jase looked so confused while Rachel stared at him with a bored expression.

"That woman is so single and probably will be for a long time unless you get your head outta your ass", Jase chuckled and glanced at Nova who had Christan glaring at her head with a pout on his lips.

"If you're referring to that idiot behind her who has been sending her flowers since he came into town, he is her best friend. She wants him dead though. Go for it", he winked at a bewildered Rachel before cheers erupted in the crowd. Jasmine had led her team to win, a close one according to the game commentators.

Rachel stared open mouthed at the mother who she had thought all these days that she had no chance at and when she pondered over what Jase told her, she decided to try her luck with the siren of a woman.