Within a populated and well known roadside diner situated in the city, as well as being recognized as a popular hang out spot for many within the community, sat Izzy in one of the booths with a heavy mind.

He watched as people passed by his booth as well as the many friend groups hanging out with one another around the outside tables or their parked cars. The diner was usually this busy around night time which was understandable due to people having either clocked off from their jobs or teens and young adults having found a place to just chill.

The bell above the door to the diner rang, announcing another person entering the premises. Izzy perked up when he recognized the person to be RayRay, looking around the diner and nodding to him once he had spotted him.

He walked over to the booth and slid onto the other side, and Izzy stood up, dapping him up as a form of greeting.

"Ray, good to see you, man." Izzy said to him, patting him on the back.

"Likewise, big man. Likewise." RayRay replied, patting him on the back as well.

They separated and sat down, Izzy sitting down where he originally sat and RayRay sliding onto the other side now sitting at opposite ends with his brother.

"How you been?" Izzy asked as a waitress walked up to them and placed two menus down on their table.

"Can't complain about much. Just living life, the best I can." RayRay replied.

"Best we can manage." Izzy agreed and RayRay nodded in agreement.

"What about you?" RayRay asked, looking up from the menu he was reading.

"Fine enough, I guess. Do everything I can to maintain a broken body." Izzy replied.

"The injury?" RayRay asked, knowing what he was eluding to, and Izzy nodded, "You push yourself again?"

Izzy scoffed and shook his head, "Back then pushing myself made me better than I already was..."

"Now it be making you worse. Your body ain't what it used to be, Izz." RayRay told him.

"Nigga, don't I know it." Izzy said with a sigh, "Enough about me though. That ain't what I want to talk to you about."

"You said you might need my help with something." RayRay recalled and Izzy nodded, "What is it?"

"Rosalyn." Izzy stated and RayRay raised an eyebrow at him, "She came to me with a busted up lip and a bruised cheek. Told me her pimp was humbling her. Obviously that ain't sit right with me so I figure you use whatever connections you got to get me close to him so I can deal with him."

"Deal with him?" RayRay asked.

"Yeah." Izzy replied.

RayRay chuckled and shook his head, looking at Izzy as if he had grown two new heads, "Nigga, you think we in some type of movie or something?"

"What's so crazy about trying to protect our sister?" Izzy asked.

"I'm all for protecting our sisters. Damn near an advocate for that, but I can also be an advocate for my brothers and I can tell you right now that whatever plan you cooking up, ain't worth it." RayRay told him, "All you're going to do is get yourself killed."

"First Rosalyn, now you? Her I can understand, but you?" Izzy asked in confusion, "What the hell is so scary about this guy that it got two of the toughest people I know lowering their heads?"

"This ain't the type of nigga to be played with, Izz." RayRay told him, "Darius is the reason Rachel and I are small time. The reason why a lot of people like us are small time. West Atlanta is his kingdom. He's got the money, the resources, and the power to do whatever he wants whenever he wants. The best we can fucking do is keep our heads down and keep flying under his radar."

Izzy too the time to consider his words, surprised that RayRay, a man that seemed to have no fear, was this complacent at fearing one man.

"His name is Darius?" Izzy asked and RayRay nodded, "If we have to keep flying under his radar, then why is Rosalyn working under him?"

RayRay sighed, "That ain't my story to tell. You gon' have to ask someone else about that."

Izzy could tell that whatever the story was, it must've been a touchy subject and he knew RayRay wasn't the type to reveal anyone's secrets and problems. RayRay was the type to listen and keep quiet about it, he would act as a support system whenever one of them needed to vent and even if he couldn't solve their problems, being their silent listener was more than enough. So, Izzy wouldn't pry, and he would respect whoever's privacy RayRay was withholding.

"So, that's it then. We just let Rosalyn keeping suffering under this man and we just have to be okay with that?" Izzy asked in frustration.

"If you don't was a bullet between your eyes, yeah." RayRay tells him and Izzy leans back in his seat, letting out a frustrated sigh, "Look, I can probably guess you're thinking that shit's hopeless right now, I'm telling you it ain't."

"Why do you say that?" Izzy asked.

"I saw something today, man. Shit that made me hopeful for the first time in a long time." RayRay told him as he recalled the day's events and started to smirk with a spark in his eye, "You be hearing stories of folks seeing stars start to rise and shine, but when you see that shit yourself? It's fucking beautiful."

"What are you trying to say, Ray?" Izzy asked in confusion.

"I'm trying to say that Darius might be top dog right now, but if we keep moving the way we moving and play our cards right then she might do what she said she'd do and prove everyone that counted her out wrong." RayRay stated, his smirk turning into a proud smile, "There's hope out there, Izz. It's slim, it could get taken away at any time, but it is out there. All we have to do is place our bets on her."

"You don't mean...?" Izzy said, getting an idea on who he was referring to now.

RayRay smirked, "We gon' have to place our bets on Devina."

~

Music blasted through the walls of Keem's apartment and within the living space things were getting turnt up. It was a celebration of their get back, a celebration that Eli and Rachel were more than happy to take part in.

Eli and her danced, drank, and smoked with different dollar bills being thrown around the place. The two of them were going crazy and having fun, but not too much to draw any unwanted attention as per Devina's orders.

Speaking of which, whilst her elder brother and sister celebrated inside of Keem's place of living, right outside was Devina and Keem in a much quieter and calmer setting. She leaned on the railing of the balcony as Keem smoked near her.

"Y'know that shit's gon' kill you one day." Devina informed, not a fan of her brother's habit.

Keem shrugged, "Hasn't done me in yet."

"Still, it's a bad habit." Devina told him.

"Seems like everyone in the family had a knack for picking those up." Keem retorted as he snuffed out the cigarette on the railing and flicked away.

Devina couldn't argue with that statement, because he was technically correct. Almost all of them had picked up and stuck with a bad habit that pretty much defined them for the better parts of their lives, some more so than others.

"You doing okay?" Devina asked, having noticed that he seemed to have a lot on his mind.

Keem sighed, "Yeah, I'm aight. I just...ain't used to this type of shit is all. Cooking up shit, dealing it, fuckin' torturing niggas for money. I mean I'm with you, but...I don't think I can get used to being okay with the shit we be doing and the shit we gon' have to do."

"And you don't have to be." Devina told him, "This path we're on, the path I chose and the path you tagged along, it's a fucking long one with a lot of tough decisions that'll have to be made along the way. It ain't easy, but no road to success ever is. The reason I came to y'all, my family, not some random bum I could find off the street, no, y'all, is because I know that I would need people by my side. People that I love and trust with my life, Keem. People that will stick by me as I make those decisions for them, so they don't have to. I'm here for you, I'm here for Eli, I'm here for every Kenyatta I can call family. I'll be here to make the tough decisions on every one of y'all's paths to success and all you have to do is keep travelling along that path until you get there."

Keem considered her words and he could feel the guilt bubbling up within him. The guilt of an older brother having to watch the youngest out of all of them carry their burdens because of the unconditional love she still held for them even after they had done so much wrong in their lives.

"Why it gotta be you though? Why would you go so far for people like us?" Keem asked her.

"Because that's my path. Y'all's success is my success." Devina stated.

Keem gave her a surprised look and searched her for any lies, but her face said it all. She meant every word and she was determined to see whatever she had to do through not just for her sake, but for theirs as well.

Keem smirked and shook his head in amusement, "Fuckin' wild how the baby of the family somehow turned out to be the most mature outta all of us."

"This baby can still kick your black ass so watch yourself, Baby Keem." Devina said jokingly and they both shared a laugh.

They quiet down and enter a moment of silence that was just comfortable to their energies.

"When we finally got the cash, back at Lenny's...why didn't you take him out?" Keem asked.

"Because I'm not a murderer, Keem. Today was just business and I felt the damage done was necessary and enough to set the record straight." Devina explained, "Seeing the shit Lenny had done to Eli made me angrier than losing the money. That right there was the reason why I had to make sure he regretted ever touching one of us."

"And the cash?" Keem asked.

"We did it. In under one week we managed to make 14K." Devina stated as she dug into her pockets, pulling out a rolled up wad of cash and handing it to him, "This is your cut. Gong finna get his 10K, I already gave Eli his thousand, and I took my thousand. This one's yours."

Keem took the money and started to count it with an appreciative nod, "That's just 13K though, what about the leftover thousand?"

"500 went to RayRay and the other 500 I'mma keep for dire times." Devina explained.

"Rachel don't get paid?" Keem asked.

"She just wanted Stars as her payment so I supplied her with 3 packets to hold her over." Devina told him and he looked at her in surprise.

"You ain't worried about that? Rachel pretty much an addict to all types of drugs, you really want her to get hooked on Stars too?" Keem asked.

"If things get extreme I'll cut her off, but like you said, she an addict to all type of drugs. If anyone knows how to pace themselves, it's her." Devina said to him.

"You sure trying to cut off a loose cannon like her a good idea?" Keem asked unsurely.

"It ain't, but that's why we have RayRay." Devina replied.

"Yeah, you do have RayRay, question is, why y'all talking about him in the first place?" RayRay asked as he reached the top of the stairs and looked at them with an amused quirk of his brow, surprising them.

"Shit, nigga, you scared me." Keem said after having a slight jump from his sudden appearance.

"We were just waiting for you. Now that you here, I can finally talk to all y'all." Devina said, pushing off the railing and opening the door to Keem's apartment, with the two of them following behind her.

Upon entering, they weren't very much surprised to find the sight before them occurring. Rachel stood on the couch as she twerked to the music with Eli throwing his money at her and making it rain whilst they both laughed their asses off.

Rachel took notice of them and screeched in excitement, "Aw, shit! Gang's motherfuckin' here!"

She hopped off the couch and ran to hug all three of them with a grin.

"Aye, V! God fucking bless you, ya hear? This shit," Eli said, flexing all the money in his hands with a grin, "This all you, baby! Shooting for the fucking stars in this bitch!"

Devina chuckled in amusement, as Rachel pulled back from hugging them, "Aight, I hear y'all, but turn it down a bit, I got something to say."

"Y'all hear the boss, shut the fuck up!" Rachel shouted.

"Bitch, you the only one yelling." Keem told her as he turned the music down.

"Oh..." Rachel said as she realized, but then she flipped Keem off, "Nigga, fuck you!"

Devina picked up a bottle of vodka and lined up cups for all of them, pouring them all, besides herself, enough for shots.

"Take a cup. It's time to make a toast." Devina told them and they complied, taking a cup for each of them.

"You ain't gonna pour yourself a cup?" Keem asked, noticing she was the only one without a cup.

She places down the vodka bottle and opts to grab a water bottle on the counter, pouring herself some into an empty cup. She smirked at him and showed off the cup with a raised eyebrow and he relented with a laugh.

They gathered up in a circle and followed Devina in raising up her cup just as she began to speak.

"Today y'all showed me how serious you are about this entire thing. You showed dedication to all the work we put in and I couldn't be more thankful to have all y'all by my side through all of this. This shit is only the beginning. We gon' expand. We gon' succeed. We gon' fuckin' thrive, and the end of this, we finna rule this city as a family." Devina stated and they either smiled or smirked in agreement to her words, "We're a family. A family with money!"

They all cheered in unison and all of them downed their respective drinks, cementing the ever expanding success they have worked towards.

~

The next day, Devina and Crystal sat in the studio back to work on more songs although this time Devina was expecting someone to arrive and join them that day.

"It's fine, but it ain't good. Feel me?" Devina asked as she listened to another beat he had suggested to her.

"Shii, course I feel you. Been thinking the same thing and played around with it, even tried adding a reverb at the end." Crystal explained as he played her his edited version.

Devina bobbed her head to the beat as she listened, nodding to him once she heard the reverb, "That right there elevated it a little bit, I'mma need you to keep playing around with 'because it really has potential."

"Mane, I'm so glad you said that. This one took most of my time and I was scared you'd trash it like the rest." Crystal said in relief.

"The others were falling the same vibe as 'Alright', not bad, but the reason we're popping off is because we ain't fitting the standard with repetitive tracks. Each one gotta have its own merit." Devina told him.

Crystal nodded in understanding, "I feel you, Vengeance."

"Good, now get to cooking." Devina instructed and he started producing and reproducing beats to create newer and more creative ones whilst she started writing lyrics down for newer songs.

They had been working for a while and even though progress was being made, Crystal kept taking a glance at her as if he wanted to say something, but the fear of interrupting her during her lyric writing kept overcoming his desire to speak.

"If you have something to say then say it." Devina said, not looking at him and writing another line.

"Aight, check it." Crystal said, swiveling his chair to face her, "Yesterday I came to the studio to make the beats I been suggesting to you this morning, right? But on the way here some unbelievable shii happened, like outta this world, Vengeance."

"Wouldn't call it unbelievable if it happened." Devina denotes, crossing out some words.

"But it was, Vengeance. I'm telling you it was." Crystal said with a giddy smile, "Yesterday, on my way to the studio I met The motherfuckin' Ariana Grande, dawg! Best part is, she came up to me!"

"I'm happy for you, but why? What she want?" Devina asked, looking away from her book and at him with interest.

"Low-key though, I'm pretty sure she got a thing for me, not gonna lie." Crystal said with a smirk.

Devina raised an eyebrow at him, "Really?"

"Yeah. Why else would she personally come up to me and invite me and you to a party her friend is throwing?" Crystal asked with a smirk, "She feelin' me, Vengeance! I'm tellin' you she is!"

"She invited you and I to a party?" Devina asked, and Crystal nodded, "Why?"

"Cause we popping off, for real! She said it'd be good for us to get our name out there to other artists and meet them too." Crystal explained, "You ain't gotta worry, I already told her we'd be there. Just wanted to tell you before I get the location from her."

"I ain't going to no fuckin' party." Devina rejected, surprising him, "I don't know no one there and I'm too busy working."

"C'mon, Vengeance, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity though." Crystal tried to convince, desperately wanting to attend such an extravagant event.

"Going to a party is not a once in a lifetime opportunity. You're putting these people on a pedestal for no reason, Crystal. The best thing you gotta do is start giving more of a fuck about yourself rather than rubbing shoulders with people that wouldn't give you the time of day if you didn't already put in the work you put in to get under their radar." Devina told him and Crystal sighed.

"So you're saying I shouldn't go?" Crystal asked.

"You can still go and chat up that Grande woman if you want. I personally don't see this as worth my time so I won't be going with you." Devina told him, "Have fun though."

Before Crystal could bring up any more arguments in regards to the topic, the door to the studio opened and Hank burst in with a spastic and excited air around.

"Thought I'd find you guys in here!" Hank said as he took a deep sniff and rubbed his nose with his sleeve, "How are my two favorite stars doing?"

"What up, Hank?" Crystal said with a nod.

"What are you doing here?" Devina asked with a raised brow.

"Uh, what? You serious? I think a manager is allowed to join his superstars in the studio from time to time, right?" Hank asked with a chuckle, looking to see if they also laughed, but they just stared at him, Crystal with a confused look, and Devina still with a quirked brow, "What? Why are you two staring at me like that? Did I stain my jacket or something?"

"Manager?" Crystal asked, "Fukumean bruh?"

"What do you mean what do I mean? I called Vengeance like yesterday telling her that I'd be your manager. She didn't tell you?" Hank asked and Crystal looked at her as she shook her head at him, "Look, never mind that. I got papers ready, a sweet deal with a record company waiting and a lot of shit that we have to discuss moving forward. So c'mon, I'll take you both up to the board room."

"Yeah, Hank, sorry to tell you, but none of that is going to happen today." Devina told him.

"What? Why not?" Hank asked confusedly.

There was a knock on the studio door and it opened a second after to reveal Dame peeking through, and he started to smirk as he found Devina.

"Because my actual manager just arrived." Devina told him as she got up and dapped Dame up.

"Top of da morning, V. How's it cookin'?" Dame asked and she shrugged leading him to chuckle as he looked at Crystal, "You must be the young blood she told me about. Crystal, right?"

"This the dude?" Crystal asked as he looked at Devina and she nodded. He smiled as he stood up and dapped Dame up, "What's good, OG."

"Wait, wait, wait, what the hell is going on?" Hank asked.

"Hank, this is my new manager, Dame. Dame, this is Hank." Devina introduced.

"Ah, you must be the man that's been hooking 'em up. Appreciate the effort you put in, I'mma take the reins from here, bet?" Dame said as he held his hand out for Hank to shake.

"No, what? No! What the fuck, Vengeance!? Are you cutting me out?" Hank exclaimed angrily.

"I fulfilled my promise to you and paid you your share, Hank. With interest as well. Our relationship has run its course." Devina told him, "Nothing personal though. I just don't need you no more."

"And what? He's my replacement!?" Hank exclaimed, pointing at Dame, "C'mon, Vengeance! He's not me! He's not Hank! I have the contacts and experience to turn you into a superstar!"

"So does he. Difference is, he hasn't been extorting me of money for studio time. I kept coming to you because it was quicker to get studio time through you, but you charged me double whatever I was going to need to pay to get studio time." Devina told him and Hank widened his eyes, "Don't worry about it, I ain't gonna knock your hustle. I knew the entire time; I was just desperate enough to keep initiating until I had stability to my name. Something I do have now. So I'll let you off scot free this time. It ain't even a you type of thing; I just find my partnership with Dame to be more beneficial for my future."

Hank shook his head at her with an unbelieving glare and he turned to Crystal with desperate eyes, "Crystal!?"

"Nah, homie," Crystal said with a chuckle, "I'mma do my own thing."

"See you later, Hank." Devina told him as she opened the door for him.

"You'll regret this! Every single one of you have no idea who the fuck you're dealing with!" Hank shouted as he glared at all of them.

"Funny," Dame said as he pushed him out of the room, "I was going to say the same damn thing."

With that, Dame shut the door in his face.

"Mans was damn near at the brink of tears." Crystal commented.

"Fuck 'em." Dame said as he turned to face them, "V's in charge of this ship, I'm here to make sure it stays afloat, ya here?"

"Any reason why you were late on your first day?" Devina asked with a raised brow.

"I'm a manager now. I had to make a lot of calls for y'all." Dame explained, "Meet a lot of people too."

"What calls?" Crystal asked curiously.

"Lady Vengeance is a new artist that shot into the Billboard Top 10 in one night. That right there was dropping blood in the water and a lot of the sharks are trying to get to her." Dame explained, "I put at least 9 record companies on hold that want to sign her. A lot of radio shows and local podcasts are looking to be the first ones to interview her, and even more shit that would take me all day to explain."

"Summarize it." Devina told him.

"The baseline is, we got a lot of work to do to turn you into the star that you are. We see it, and it's time the world does as well." Dame stated, "We need to get your name out there, V."

"Like that party." Crystal said.

"Forget it." Devina told him.

"What party?" Dame asked.

"Ariana fucking Grande likes me and she invited us to a party her friend's throwing. There finna be a lot of artists and most likely more people in the industry that we could hang with, but Vengeance don't wanna do it." Crystal explained.

Dame turned to her with a smirk, "Oh, you goin'"

Devina rolled her eyes with an exasperated sigh as Crystal cheered in celebration.

~

Music blasted within a strip club as girls of all shapes and sizes that wore barely any form of clothing sensually danced on stage for the better entertainment of groups of men whistling and hollering for each girl that showed up on stage. Others that weren't supposed to be up on stage that day worked as waitresses and served drinks to all the customers that littered the place.

Luka entered the club and one of the bouncers escorted him throughout the place whilst he looked around every which way with wracked nerves. They led him upstairs to a private area and up there he found the man he had requested to see.

With a woman dancing on the table in front of him and two girls sitting by his side, one of which being Rosalyn, on a large couch, the head man in charge could immediately be identified.

The man in charge was large, not in weight, but in pure muscle and domineering height, even when he was sitting down. He was a dark skinned man with a bald head, and black eyes. His outfit consisted of a dark blue suit with a red handkerchief sticking out of the front pocket, a gold chain around his neck, an accessory of rings befitting his large hands, and brown leather shoes. This man was the king of the west, the domineering force to all gang activity within his area of the city, and frontrunner to multiple illegal activities, Darius Kincaid.

"Ah, there you are." Darius said in his booming voice as he took notice of Luka who looked at him like he'd seen a ghost as Darius smiled a mirth filled and dangerous smile, "You must be..."

"L-Luka. S-sir..." Luka told him nervously.

"Luka. You put in a request to see me, right?" Darius asked and Luka nodded, leading to Darius letting out a laugh, "Then what the fuck do you want?"

"I, uh, I came to ask for a favor, sir." Luka explained, "My brother is in the hospital right now, and I need someone with your kind of reach to help me get back on the motherfuckers that put him there."

"They put him in the hospital?" Darius asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Doctors said he ain't ever gon' walk the same again, sir." Luka informed, "They almost amputated his leg."

"Damn. Did the nigga piss off a bear?" Darius asked with a laugh and the people around him laughed nervously, "You know how costly my favors are, right Luka?"

"I'm aware, sir." Luka said with a rapid nod.

"And you're willing to go through with this, because there have been people that couldn't pay me before and I'm telling you right now, Luka, there are many ways to make street rats like you disappear." Darius warned.

"The people that got to him had cash. I can get to them, but I can't go in alone. Their money and my money should be enough to pay back the favor, sir." Luka explained.

"Well, shit, sounds like you planned it all out." Darius said with a chuckle, "And you said you know who they are?"

"Yeah, a nigga named Eli running with a crew and-" Luka was about to explain, but Darius held his hand up and silenced him.

Rosalyn widened her eyes at the mention of her little brother's name, worry filling her heart at the fact that he had unfortunately made it into Darius' radar, and she was willing to bet he wasn't the only family member apart of this as well.

"I don't care who they are. You can get that shit to the people I send to help you, I on the other hand don't concern myself with the opinions of sheep, understand?" Darius asked and Luka nodded, "Good."

Darius pulled out a revolver from inside his jacket and pointed it at Luka, shooting him in the stomach. A few girls screamed and some people that were around him were shocked and terrified as Darius laughed, watching Luka drop to his knees, holding the bleeding wound with blood leaking from his mouth.

"If you want my favor bad enough, Luka then you'd get the fuck up and stop staining my floors." Darius told him, "Get your ass outside and we'll provide you with the medical attention you need or else you die here. You choose how bad enough you want justice for your brother and how desperate enough you are to cling to your insignificant life, understand?"

Luka couldn't respond as his vision started to get delirious with more blood starting to leak out of his wound and mouth.

"LUKA!!!" Darius shouted, with a loud boom to his voice and he looked at him, choking on his blood, "Understand?"

Luka struggled, but nodded much to Darius' amusement.

"Good boy! Best get on now, you got a long way and that bullet don't give much of a fuck, don't it?" Darius asked with a smirk.

Luka started to crawl out of the private area, reaching the stairs and sliding down them. No one made an attempt to help him, and people from both upstairs and downstairs watched him crawl towards the front entrance, leaving a heavy trail of blood along the way.

Darius now stood at the second floor railing with Rosalyn and another girl by his side, all of them watching as Luke managed to make it out of the establishment.

"Rose." Darius stated and Rosalyn looked at him fearfully, "Call Santiago. Tell him that he's got some hunting to do."

Rosalyn slowly nodded, walking down the stairs and taking out her phone to go and make the call. She made an effort to avoid the trail of blood, her mind and heart growing heavier at the thought of issuing a hitman to hunt her own family.

~

Raydar