Ashley's Story: THE LAST CHAPTER by Cherie Briggins Page B

conversation with each other? It’s hard to find niggas that
got your back. Don’t take that shit for granted, B.”
    Supreme took his eyes off Mark and looked at his mentor and
friend. Rio was speaking the truth. He often thought about Mark and wondered
where the wind ended up blowing him. He was happy that he went back home to New
York.
    Supreme sighed. “I’ll talk to him. Send him outside.”
    Rio grinned with relief and walked into the VIP section.
Mark was sitting next to Ashley. Rio ice-grilled him for a second. “What you
take my seat for?
    Mark chuckled. “You got up so it was no longer your seat,
homie. Besides, she whispered in my ear that she didn’t want to sit next to you
anyway.”
    Ashley giggled. “You a damn lie!”
    “Yo, Mark,” Rio said, “Supreme wants to holler at you
outside.”
    When Mark got up to leave, Rio took his seat back.
    ***
    Supreme was sitting inside of the charcoal gray Land Rover
he leased at the airport when he, Choice, and Legend got off the plane. He
truly had no idea what he was going to say to his longtime friend. So much had
changed since they last spoke.
    A few minutes later, Mark tapped on the window so Supreme
could unlock the door to let him in.
    “What up?” Mark greeted Supreme when he got in the truck.
    Supreme was quiet for a few seconds before he responded
dryly. “Ain’t shit.
    Mark missed his friend. He asked Rio about him throughout
the years and now the time had finally come for them to speak face-to-face.
    “Real talk, ‘Preme, I’ve wanted to talk to you for years but
if you’re not up for it, let me know.”
    “What do you want to talk about?” Supreme asked shortly.
    Mark glanced at his old friend before focusing back on the
road. “I missed shorty’s birth and your wedding. We’re family, right? Fuck all
of this! You and I have known each other before all this shit,” he waved his
hand around. “I fucked up. Good pussy can be a man’s weakness sometimes. When I
was fucking with Blue, I wasn’t thinking about betraying you. I was just
thinking about fucking. That’s it and that’s all. You know that I would never
cross you over a broad. We’ve missed years, years we can never get back and for
what?”
    Supreme sighed. “I hear you, Mark. I hear everything you’re
saying and you’re right. I had so much on my plate back then. I had shit coming
at me from every direction. When I found out that you were fucking with Blue, I
jumped to conclusions. To be honest, I didn’t think about your past loyalty to
me. I was just focused on what happened at that moment. I’m not a mushy nigga
and I know you’re not either. The past is the past. Let’s leave it there.”
Supreme chuckled. “Mark, we’ve always been family even when we weren’t on
speaking terms, we’re family. We’re just one dysfunctional ass family. When I
got out of prison and reached out to you on that ‘let’s take over Miami’ shit,
you never even questoned it. You just moved to Miami. Then it went from me and
you hanging out all the time to me, you, and Petey. You may have felt some type
of way when Petey jumped on board but you never spoke on it.”
    Mark thought about Petey. He missed him too. He missed
hanging out with him. There were a few times that he’d been jealous of Petey
and Supreme’s relationship but it was always love.
    Supreme smiled. “Let’s get back to this party.”
    He and Mark got out of the car and slapped hands twice
before giving each other a hug.
    “You gotta meet your nephew,” Supreme mentioned.
    “Hold up, he’s here?” Mark asked with surprise in his voice
and a crooked smile on his face.
    “Yup. Choice and Ashley planned something so you’ll get to
meet him tomorrow. Nana's here too. She’ll be happy to see you. Trust will be
touching down tomorrow. He should be at the gathering too.”
    “Yeah, Rio said something about the lil nigga coming to the
M.I.A. I haven’t seen homie since he was twelve,” Mark said.
    “Brief