Becoming Us (COMPLETE)

*Sixteen*

I woke and reached over to the nightstand grabbing my cell. After sucking my arm back under the warm covers, I poked the phone out to check my texts. Tre's was from two hours earlier, and Carey had texted several times already too. That was odd.

Tre: Morning, baby.

Every day the same words greeted me, and every day they made me smile.

Gemma: Good morning! You're up extra early today.

Then I pulled up Carey's messages, realizing they'd started in the middle of the night.

Carey: Tracy's never here. She said she's working out of town, but I think I drove past her today on the highway. She wouldn't answer her phone.

Carey: Neither of us is happy, but you can't break up if you don't talk. I want to move on.

Carey: She's cheating, right? We haven't done shit for months. I know that bitch is getting dick somewhere.

Carey: Sry

Carey: 18 mths with her. Hpw she gonna ghost me? We fuckin live here

Carey: She gettin other dick wgile I lost my shot againlike afuckling idiot

Carey: tomorrrowwe talk Imdone fuk ththis

My heart ached. Carey was clearly hurt and judging by the way his texts deteriorated, he was getting messed up with more than his usual weed. I wished I'd heard my phone, but he'd sent the messages between two and four, and I was exhausted after getting home from work so late.

Now, it was nine in the morning. Hopefully, he'd be sleeping off whatever he'd put in his system, but I'd respond anyway, just in case.

Gemma: I'm sorry she might be lying. You two definitely need to talk. I'm sure you didn't lose your shot with anyone. You're funny and sweet and anyone you're interested in is lucky. I'm here if you need me.

As I lay there soaking up the last of my allotted lazy time for the day, I felt myself getting pissed at Tracy. What was wrong with her? Carey's amazing and apparently even though they haven't been having sex and he seems ready to break up, he's waiting on her instead of pressuring her or cheating. Not every guy would do that.

The front door slammed, making the door to my room rattle. A deep voice I didn't recognize rumbled down the hall, but I couldn't make out the words. Who'd be here so early?

With a sigh, I untangled my legs from the sheet and stood to peek out the window. A police car was parked in the street, blocking our driveway. My pulse raced. The voices at the opposite end of the trailer rose and Mama's stood out from the men's.

Mama! What happened? Had Gary done something?

I tripped over my feet as I yanked a pair of cotton shorts over my panties and exited my room. Rushing down the hall, my heart thudded against my chest.

In the kitchen, Gary leaned against the counter with one arm around Mama while they chatted with the officer seated at the table. They all had coffee. Mama was fine. Relief rushed through me so quickly, for a second, my knees went weak.

"Sugar? You alright?" Mama crossed the room and squeezed my shoulder. "You look like you seen a ghost."

I peeked at the men who were staring at me and realized in my hurry, I'd run out in tiny shorts that barely covered my ass and a crop top with no bra. I crossed my arms. "Yeah, Mama, I'm fine. I just saw the police car outside and thought something happened."

"This is Joe." Mama smiled.

The cop at the table chuckled. "I stopped by to see my brother and his new woman on my way to work. Didn't mean to scare you." He winked, but it wasn't cute like when Tre did it. There was something off in the way he studied me, and now that it'd been pointed out, I could see his resemblance to Gary. It made my skin crawl.