“Yes baby, I promise.” His smile stretched from ear to ear as he helped me off the table. I barely had anything to cover myself, so he offered his blazer. “Get the food to go. We made a mess, and I don’t want to face her or any of her staff.”
“Aight. Aye, I love you. You know that right?”
Holding up my hand that held his ring, I said, “You better know it. I love you, too, baby.”
EPILOGUE
GENESIS
My eyes followed Brat from one side of the room to the other. If a muthafucka asked me where my happiness lied, all they had to do was find her pretty ass. Her and Maaz had me wrapped around they fingers at this point. Hurt them and catch a grave. It was that fuckin’ simple.
"Why the hell you staring at her like that? She ain’t going nowhere nigga damn.” Ever since me and Junior broke that barrier, he ain’t known what a boundary was. He was always over here in my damn face.
“Aye mane, why the fuck you always in my goddamn face, Junior? I can’t go a day without you being over here,” I ranted.
“I ain’t got no friends other than Striker and he chasing this shawty I don’t like so…”
“Go to work then, bitch!” I shouted.
“I don’t want to. Why you so hostile? Brat ain’t giving you none or something? You need me to talk to her for you?” He threw a few pieces of popcorn in his mouth wearing a sly grin.
“I don’t need you to talk to her ‘bout shit. Aye, stop talking to my wife period. You need to go sit on somebody couch and getsome counseling. Something wrong with you for real, and I ain’t even joking no more,” I chimed.
“I sit on my couch just fine.” The doorbell rang and he was on his feet. “I’ll get it,” he voiced.
“This ain’t yo’ shit to be getting shit nigga. Sit yo’ big ass down somewhere and learn how to be a fuckin’ guest bitch.”
“I’m bored, so I might as well do something. It ain’t nobody but the crew anyway. I invited everybody over for dinner. They all supposed to bring a dish. That’s cool?” He picked a fine time to run it by me.
“Muthafucka they here now. It ain’t shit I can do about it,” I said rolling my eyes.
They walked in one by one all carrying food. I shook my head realizing he’d been doing this all his life and wasn’t shit gon’ change. He had as much power as he did over the Springs because he took it and demanded it. This was his shit and was gon’ do whatever the fuck he wanted when he wanted.
Heidi, who I learned to be as Junior’s best friend, was first through the door. She was chocolate like Brat but suffered from vitiligo. That didn’t take away from her beauty though. Heidi was stunning and gave everything church girl.
My cousin Mercedees was next to step through carrying two dishes. She was just as spoiled as Royce. The only difference is, she was the only one that didn’t give a fuck ‘bout what everybody had going on. Either she made the event, or she didn’t. I fucked with that hard.
Toneshia showed up with her husband, Derrek, and they had two dishes as well. Last to step in was Yonnis and he was in full suit and tie. He had a few sweets but what the hell did you expect from a single man.
“He ain’t want y’all here by the way!” Junior shouted.
“You need to be medicated nigga, and I mean expeditiously. Yonnis, why you got all that with you if this a dinner?” I noticed he had his briefcase with him.
“I got some shit to run by you. You want everybody to hear this or what? We can be secluded, if need be,” he questioned.
“I ain’t got nothing to hide. Whatever you got for me, I wouldn’t know a thing ‘bout it if it wasn’t for Royce.”
“Cool. Aye y’all come in here for a minute. I got something to show y’all.” He handed his contribution over to Klarity and she took it to the kitchen. He removed his laptop from his briefcase, pecked on it a lil’ bit, then mirrored that shit to the tv.
“Mama Rose? What’s this about, Yonnis?” Mercedees inquired. I was curious as fuck now, too.
He walked to the front and spoke to us like we were his clients. I noted he hadn’t clocked out from business yet. Pocketing his hands, he looked at Junior and he gave him a nod to carry on. Should’ve known this nigga knew more than anyone. He was the head of the Atkins family for a reason.
“Aight, obviously Royce wanted y’all here for this and Genesis doesn’t mind y’all knowing. When Mama Rose passed away, she left a will and that will created chaos within the family. However, that wasn’t the only thing she left. She made this video for Genesis while she was lucid.” He hit play and the lady I missed my whole life started speaking directly to me.
“Oh, Genesis this is your Mama Rose. Unfortunately, I’m battling something that could take me at any time, so I don’t think I’ll be able to see you anytime soon, but I pray you make it in this world unscathed. I hate it but it’s God’s plan and who am I to question him. Anyway, Adele has whisked you away from us and there’s no telling where you are or how you’ll live. I was there for you as much as she allowed while she carried you. I was there for your birth as well before she cut all communication. I looked for you as best as I could before throwing the towelin. Please accept my apology. The only thing I can do is give you what I have. My life insurance policy is worth fifty-million dollars, and I have plenty of shares in Kinfolk Galleria. You should be set for life. I love you and I hate that you’ll never be able to hear me say it. Be proud to be an Atkins, grandson. We’re the heart of this place called Sage Springs.”
Her mentioning my mama and all the shady shit she was on solidified why I kept her at a distance now. I asked Junior to set her ass up with a mil and told her to make do. The only thing I could do for her was make sure her bills were paid. I needed her to always have a place to rest her head. Other than that, we’d lowkey became strangers. I let her meet Maaz, but she wasn’t really interested in him to begin with. She had bread in her pocket and that was where it lied.
