“You have my woman and my friend dem have yuh sister.” I give him a sinister smile.
He looks confused. “Doh put unuh hand pan har enuh,” he says and Gutta laughs.
“Hey bwoy shet up,” he chuckles and Rick joins.
“Dat him betta do,” Rick laughs.
I glare at Lennox, thinking of so many ways to kill him. I’m definitely gonna torture him, I don’t care about our history. “Let go mi woman and mek she leff right now,” I say again and he glares at me before he loosens his arm.
“Oh,” I tease. “And if you and yuh idiot friend dem try nothing unuh dead.”
“Gwaan like yah badman too much,” he says.
“Mi know unuh nuh know this but more than a dozen rifle a point pan unuh right now so do the right.” I warn in a calm tone.
He looks around before he looks back at me. He laughs even though he realizes that his plan is going south. Zara grabs the phone from him before she gets off the roof with Suzanne. I could have ordered the Outlaws to shoot them but I have to be smart because Mario isn’t far away and this would help him with his case and I don’t want that.
I know Lennox and he’s going to try to start a war because of this especially when I let him go. But I can’t start a war right now for several reasons. He’s gonna get ready to start a war with me so I have to be prepared for him to strike when I least expect it. I’m not worried though because I will be in Jamaica and I will have Zara and mi youth protected so I will be ready.
23
Pleasure
“Lawd God Almighty… Look how mi coulda deh yah and hear say man kidnap mi granddaughter, Jesus,” Mama cries out the minute I finish telling her the story. Well the PG version. The real details? Absolutely not.
Some things affi stay unsaid. If mi tell Mama everything, hospital woulda pick har up. She sinks deeper into the sofa with a heavy sigh, her brows tight with worry. The guilt grabs at my chest. This is exactly why mi did hesitate to tell har. Mi never wah mek she worry. But mi couldn’t hide it either. Not from Mama. She knew something went down the minute I stepped in the house, and she wouldn’t stop until mi talk.
Yuh never had a choice.
“Hard ears pickney nyam rock stone, enuh,” she mutters, shaking her head. “A God protect yuh… memba mi tell yuh dat. An yuh see why yuh fi listen when mi chat to yuh now? Look howmuch time mi warn yuh fi tan a yuh yaad.” She sighs again, and I nod slow. Because she’s right. I’m a little stubborn.
A little? Girl… yuh fully stubborn.
“I’m sorry, Mama. But mi nuh wah yuh worry bout it no more,” I say gently, handing her a small plate with sliced bun and cheese.
She said she felt “peckish,” and when a Jamaican parent says that, just know dem hungry. Real hungry. “Thanks,” she says, taking the plate.
I nod and slide in beside her on the couch. I break off a piece of the bun and cheese and start nibbling while we both zone in on the African soap opera playing on the TV.
“Wah this name again?” I ask, eyes glued to the screen.
She chews, then answers: “Generation.”
I nod, chuckling. “Yeh man, a true.”
I was never a fan of soap operas but growing up, every TV in Mama’s house had one playing. And somehow… today, it feel kinda comforting.Dem nuh bad.
I hear a car engine rumbling outside, and I look up just in time to spot a black Honda pulling up at the gate. Who dat? Mama glances up too, her brows folding the same way mine do. Clearly, we’re both thinking the same thing.
Then we see him. Our faces light up. “Nuh bother run and hide, it’s just me,” Gavin laughs, stepping up onto the porch.
We meet him halfway, grinning. “Mi have questions,” I say, eyeing him then the car with suspicion.
“Ask away, darling dear, cause mi ready fi answer every one,” he says in a joking tone, and Mama and I both laugh.
Gavin. Gavin. Gavin. “Weh yuh get car?” Mama asks first, tilting her head.
“Yeah, weh yuh get car from?” I echo. Because seriously, where?
