Damaged Petals.

[Soapy]

Ilyssa earning that check

do your job

Brice being so obsessed with this Jo'Ziah/Serena trope is nauseating

Shout out to Tom trying to show up for at least one of his children.

can't say i blame him



a nigga on your team cracking your shorty that you finally decide to claim would have me doing the bubble guts

yall better man than me

So Brice wasn't this torn up about dudes cracking his eventual baby mama but is about Serena getting cracked years ago? I think we know why Brice Colton, son of Liz "you're not in the NBA" and "Blacks" Colton, is upset about Jo'Ziah cracking Serena.

This man keep putting them little jabs at New Orleans in here.

You got power at the crib again?

[Soapy]

Season 8, Episode 10
"That’s like the dumbest shit I’ve ever heard."

"I’m just saying," Brice shrugged as he took another bite into his Biscoff biscuit, finishing it off, "There are worst ways to go out."

The room had been thinning out for the last few minutes, the small talk dying down near the coffee table near the back. Brice had brought a sleeve of Biscoff biscuits to share with the group although he practically ate most of them himself.

The day had clearly worn on them between Carlos’ wrinkled polo shirt, Elaine’s pompous scarf was practically undone and the bags under everyone’s eyes but yet, none of them that remained were ready to call it a day. Maybe this is what the group was really about.

"When’s your first game?" Mel asked, pulling out her phone.

"What?" Brice laughed, "You’re going?"

"I’m thinking about it," she tried to hide her smile, "They were talking about it at the mailroom today and I don’t know, I think I’d like to go at least one game before I leave this place. See what the hype is all about."

"It ain’t hype," Brice shook his head, hiding his smile as well, "Trust."

"Oh, brother," Mel rolled her eyes. A few more people began filtering out of the room. "The date?"

"September 2nd," he said with a low chuckle.

"Cool," she said, looking down at her phone and typing away. Then she put her phone away and looked at him directly. "Brice."

Something in her voice made him stand up straighter. It was that tone again. It hadn’t appeared in a while. It had slowly been replaced by that jovial, playful tone back when the world was right side up.

"I need to say something to you," she continued. "About the protest. About what happened."

He felt his jaw tighten. "Mel…"

"No, let me finish," she held up her hand. "I was wrong. With how I handled it. With you. I should have come to you first. I should have talked to you. You deserved that at least. As my friend."

He hadn't expected this, not here, not now, not ever really. Her acknowledging him again was enough. Her talking to him again was enough.

"You don't need to…" he started.

"Yes, I do," she continued. "I betrayed our friendship. I chose to believe what other people were saying about you instead of at least giving you the chance to tell me your side. That's not what friends do. That's not what I should have done."

Brice looked at his hands, at the empty Biscoff wrapper he'd been folding and unfolding.

"Thank you," he said finally. "But you didn't owe me that."

"I did," she cleared her throat. "I do."

He looked up at her then. The room was quiet now. Suddenly empty.

"I wasn't exactly making it easy for people to believe me," he said. "The text messages, the way I handled things with Skylar. That shit was real. I can't pretend it wasn't."

Mel was quiet, waiting.

"I treated her like shit," he continued, the words coming out slower than he'd planned. "I was selfish. I was dealing with my own stuff and I made her feel like she didn't matter. Like she was just some object orbiting around my world."

He took a deep breath, not trusting himself. Not here. Not in front of her.

"Those text messages everyone saw, that's who I was. It’s not all I am or was, but enough of it was."

The wrapper in his hands had torn along one edge. He set it down on the table.

"I keep talking to Jimmy about it," he said. "In my head, you know? Asking him what he thinks of me. Of who I really am. Sometimes I don’t like who I am."

Mel nodded slowly. "I think we all don’t sometimes."

"Yeah," he looked at her. "But you saying this, it means something. It means a lot."

She smiled then, just a little, and it reached her eyes in a way he'd forgotten about.

"So we're good?" she asked.

"We're good," he laughed.

They stood there for a moment in the quiet.

"September 2nd," Mel said again.

"September 2nd," he confirmed.

She nodded to herself. "I should probably learn the rules first, huh?"

"Nah," Brice grinned. "Just show up and yell loud when good shit happens and trust me, you’re going to be doing a lot of yelling."

…

The CO walked her down the same corridor as always, past the same checkpoints, through the same doors that buzzed and clicked behind them. Nia kept her hands loose at her sides and her eyes forward.

Dr. Ellison was already seated when she walked in. Nia took her usual chair and put her hands flat on the surface in front of her.

"How are you feeling today, Nia?"

"Fine," she said.

Dr. Ellison nodded along. "You had court last week. How did that go?"

Nia shrugged, looking down at the worn metal table in front of her. "It was fine."

"Just fine?"

"Yeah."

Dr. Ellison nodded again. "And how are you feeling about visiting day coming up? I know your parents are planning to come see you."

"Yeah, sure," Nia said, not looking up. "I guess."

The silence stretched between them.

"I want to talk about the time period after you left your parent’s house and before you moved back in," Dr. Ellison said finally. "Just to get a clearer picture of where you were, what your living situation was like."

Nia's hands went still on the table.

"Where were you staying at the time?" Dr. Ellison asked.

She pressed her thumbnail into her index finger. "I was crashing with some friends."

"Which friends?"

"Just some people from school."

Dr. Ellison looked down at her notepad. "Brian and Amber?"

Nia looked up sharply.

"It's in the case file," Dr. Ellison said gently. "You were staying with them for a few weeks before the incident, is that right?"

Nia looked back at the table. Her chest felt tight. "Yeah."

"What was that like?"

"It was fine," she said quickly. "They let me crash there."

Dr. Ellison nodded. "What made you decide to leave? Your parent’s home?"

Nia's jaw clenched as she searched for an answer. Equally for herself. "Things were just... hard. After Jimmy died. My parents didn't get it. They kept trying to make everything go back to normal and I couldn't do that."

"So you went to stay with Brian and Amber."

Nia nodded.

"What did they do?"

The question was simple but something about it made Nia's skin prickle. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, what was it like living there? Day to day. What did you do?"

"Normal stuff," Nia shrugged. "We hung out. Watched movies. Just... normal stuff. They both worked so I’d do my best to help around the house, look for a job."

Dr. Ellison was watching her carefully. "Did they help you with the substances you were using at the time?"

Nia's hands clenched into fists. "They didn't make me do anything I didn't want to do."

"I didn't suggest they did."

"They were my friends," Nia said, louder now. "They cared about me. They were there for me when nobody else was."

Dr. Ellison set her pen down. "Nia, I haven't said anything to suggest otherwise."

"But you're thinking it," Nia shot back. "You're sitting there thinking they took advantage of me or whatever, but that's not what happened. Nothing happened to me, okay? Nothing."

Dr. Ellison's expression didn't change.

"I believe you," Dr. Ellison said quietly.

Nia looked at her hands. They were shaking slightly. "Good."

"Nia," Dr. Ellison leaned forward just a little. "I need you to understand something. I'm not here to judge you or Brian or Amber or anyone else. I'm here to help build a complete picture of what was happening in your life during that time period. The context matters."

"Why?" Nia's voice cracked slightly. "What difference does it make now?"

Dr. Ellison was quiet for a moment. When she spoke again, her voice was softer, more careful. "Because context might be the only thing that saves your life."

The room stood still for a moment.

"The prosecution is going to paint a picture of you," Dr. Ellison continued. "They're going to say you made a series of deliberate choices that led to Skylar's death. They're going to make you look like someone who knew exactly what they were doing."

Nia's breathing had gotten shallow. "Maybe I was."

"Were you?"

The question was so direct, so simple, that it cut through everything else. Nia looked at Dr. Ellison's face, at the careful attention there, the way she was leaning forward like the answer actually mattered.

"I don't know," Nia whispered. "I don't remember it like that. I remember feeling like I was drowning and nothing I did made any sense and I couldn't... I couldn't get back to myself."

Dr. Ellison nodded slowly. "That's what I need to understand. What it felt like to be you during that time. Not what you did or didn't do. What it felt like."

Nia pressed her palms flat against the table. The room was too quiet, too small. She could feel the walls pressing in on her the way they did sometimes at night when she couldn't sleep.

"They were nice to me," she said finally, so quietly she wasn't sure Dr. Ellison could hear her. "Brian and Amber. At first. They made me feel like I belonged somewhere."

Dr. Ellison picked up her pen but didn't write anything yet. "And then?"

Nia closed her eyes. "And then I don't know what happened."

…

Eli spotted her before she saw him, which wasn't hard since he was practically bouncing on his toes near the baggage claim, scanning every face that came down the escalators. When Connie finally emerged, pulling her carry-on behind her, his whole face lit up in that way that used to make her stomach flip.

Now it just made her tired.

"Babe!" He was already moving toward her, arms open, that grin taking up half his face. She let him fold her into his chest, felt his arms wrap around her back, pulling her close. He smelled like the same cologne he'd been wearing somce she met him at that party.

"God, I missed you," he said into her hair, holding her longer than she expected. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too," she replied.

He pulled back to look at her, hands still on her shoulders.

"Bolivia looks good on you," he couldn’t contain his smile. "How was the flight? Got some sleep in? We could get a bite if you’re hungry. There’s a new spot…"

"I’m not really hungry," she shrugged as he reached for her carry-on, taking the handle from her hands.

They walked toward the baggage carousel and he kept talking, a steady stream of questions and observations and updates about everything that had happened while she was gone. His summer internship at the law firm. The new coffee shop that opened near campus.

Connie nodded and made the appropriate sounds and watched the black conveyor belt turn in its endless circle, spitting out suitcases and duffel bags and the detritus of other people's journeys. Her red suitcase appeared after ten minutes, looking smaller and more battered than she remembered.

Eli grabbed it before she could reach for it, hefting it off the belt with more effort than necessary. "Jesus, what'd you pack in here?"

"Just stuff," she said.

They walked through the automatic doors into the humid South Bend evening, the air thick and still after the recycled coolness of the airport. Eli's car was in the parking garage, and he kept up his steady chatter as they walked, asking about the food and the weather and the people she'd met, how good her Spanish had gotten, if the mission house had been what she’d expected.

She answered in short sentences, most of them rehashed conversations they’d had a million times on FaceTime over the last two months. He loaded her suitcase into the trunk while she got into the passenger seat, adjusting the air conditioning vents and buckling her seatbelt.

Eli slid into the driver's seat, still talking. "I knew you said you’re not hungry but you sure you don’t want to grab something? Even if you eat it later. Don’t want you to get hungry later. You know how early things shut down."

"Eli."

He stopped, key halfway to the ignition, and looked at her. "Yeah?"

She looked at her hands in her lap.

"I don't know if I can do this anymore."

[djp73]

"just stuff"

[Captain Canada]

Connie dumping Eli is comedic gold.

Nia, you about to get a cellmate, I promise.

[redsox907]

I stg if Soapy gets the girl to avoid serious repercussions because "she didn't make the choices"

Brice's facade crumbling in front of the cameras, you hate to see it

Eli waited the whole summer to get some poon only to get dumped the minute it showed up lmao

[Soapy]

"just stuff"

No Caesar, I wouldn't read too much into that lmao

she was just tired of his questions

Connie dumping Eli is comedic gold.

Nia, you about to get a cellmate, I promise.

That's the best outcome she can hope for at this rate tbh

I stg if Soapy gets the girl to avoid serious repercussions because "she didn't make the choices"

Brice's facade crumbling in front of the cameras, you hate to see it

Eli waited the whole summer to get some poon only to get dumped the minute it showed up lmao

There's no need for suspense lmao she's going to jail dawg that storyline isn't about that, it's about her coming to grips with the last two years of her life and trying to navigate forward (that is the through line for this season among the different characters, just shown differently)

vis-a-vis Brice and his facade in front of the camera, that is the other through line #nooticer

I know he sick lmao that's what happens when your bitch aint at least a little scared of you but y'all called Brice an abuser for it

[djp73]

"just stuff"

No Caesar, I wouldn't read too much into that lmao

she was just tired of his questions

that's exactly what someone would say if there was something to be read into that

you sure it's not the little girl from bolivia?

[Caesar]

No Caesar, I wouldn't read too much into that lmao

Fuck I gotta do with it? That was clearly a blow off comment.

Mel a whole ass bird. Fuck's wrong with her? Serena about to go to DEFCON 1 and get a keep a wigga baby from Brice.

Breaking up with your boyfriend who is picking you up from the airport AT the airport is diabolical. Put her ass back on that curb.

[Soapy]

"just stuff"

No Caesar, I wouldn't read too much into that lmao

she was just tired of his questions

that's exactly what someone would say if there was something to be read into that

you sure it's not the little girl from bolivia?

fairs

No Caesar, I wouldn't read too much into that lmao

Fuck I gotta do with it? That was clearly a blow off comment.

Mel a whole ass bird. Fuck's wrong with her? Serena about to go to DEFCON 1 and get a keep a wigga baby from Brice.

Breaking up with your boyfriend who is picking you up from the airport AT the airport is diabolical. Put her ass back on that curb.

How is she a bird lmao

Brice still going in raw would be foolish behavior at this point

Eli respects women bro

[Soapy]