“And that’s our brother. Even if he fucked up apples for me for the rest of my life,” Jahlil joked.
When the pair pulled up to the house Emani once called home, Carson led the charge up the stairs to the front door. The moving truck was backing in and Carson was flipping through some papers.
Janet yanked the door open, a frown on her face. “What do you want?”
“A few things,” Carson started with a coy tone as Jahlil leaned on the stone wall adjacent to the front door. “First, your eviction notice. Being that person who is leasing the residence isn’t allowed back-”
“My son is the owner of this house,” Janet confidently stated. “And your whore’s things are in a pile in the back. He’s moving his family in. I’ll put them on the curb.”
Janet went to close the door and Jahlil put his foot in the door and shot her a warning look.
“Your son isn’t on the lease. See right there,” Carson pointed to the lease agreement he’d advised Emani to sign from their agency over buying a house with Malik when he floated the idea months after dating. He didn’t trust Malik, and with good reason. “Emani Rose Wheaton, leasee. C&E Properties, leaser. The person who leased the property no longer wants to, so you, your son, and the lady with the boy need to be out of here in twenty-four hours.”
“Boy, fuck you, I’m not going nowhere until my son comes home and tells me – hey!” Janet shouted, as Carson stepped in. “I didn’t say you could come in.”
“It’s my property. You don’t have to say shit. If I were you, I’d get to packing. Or I could have the cops show back up and throw your shit out. I’ll be sure that shit hits the blogs as fast as her arrest did. It’s up to you, momma.”
Janet glowered and whisked to get her phone. “This is unbelievable. She cheats on him with the likes of you two and we have to leave. I don’t think so.”
“The likes of us?” Jahlil questioned, rumbling in laughter. “Ion share. She’s mine. You might want to be grateful that this nigga is as stand up as he is. He’s the type to fuck a nigga’s bitch in the nigga’s bed.”
Janet huffed. “You’re disgusting.”
“I’m pretty sure E bought a house for that boy’s momma. What’s that, like a three bedroom? Y’all can fit in that right?” Jahlil asked, following Carson up the stairs. The movers came in behind them and all Janet could do was gripe, groan, moan, and fuss about the life she thought her son was providing. Emani had been the veil for Malik far too long and now that the house of cards was falling, she had no one to blame but Malik.
“Malik, boy, if you don’t answer this damn phone! Your bitch and her bitch ass friends are putting us out! Something about this house is in her name and it’s leased. You’ve been gone since last night, you need to come home and fix this!” Janet shouted into the phone while the movers moved around her to get everything Carson designated as Emani’s.
The saving grace for her was that everything she purchased went through an account Ashton handled and everything was labeled and kept track of. Jahlil grabbed her furs, jewels, and bags knowing Mailk was too cheap to even look at the tag. As far as clothes were concerned, he had Derrick working with a buyer to replenish her closet.
By the time the two were done, there was nothing left but Malik’s clothes, some hangers, and a few plates. When Jahlil returned home, the trio was knocked out on the couch under the blanket while the TV played a Halloween classic. Aunt Violet was in the kitchen unpacking groceries and quietly humming to herself.
“You staying for tacos?” Aunt Violet quizzed after the two finished putting everything away.
“Nah, the house is the quietest it’s ever been. I’m going to let them have some much overdue family time,” Carson stated.
Aunt Violet smirked. “The queen is home and the house got in line immediately. The kids aren’t fighting. The little one ain’t cussing. Looks like I can go get my groove back.”
“Don’t get carried away, Auntie,” Jahlil sounded off. “You don’t know how to come back after being in the streets.”
“Sure don’t. Remember the nigga she was talking to? Nigga looked like a teenior citizen,” Carson said with a shudder. “Shiny ass skinny jeans and shit.”
“It was one time and I was drunk,” Aunt Violet defended. “We were on vacation.”
“You was on something,” Jahlil grunted. “Nigga tellin’ me he was about to drop a mixtape and needed a few dollars to get his shit mastered. What Sanaa call him?”
“An alphabet rapper,” Carson quietly laughed. “Talkin’ about he raps like ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ, yeah, yeah, 1234567.”
Jahlil doubled over in silent laughter. “Baby girl called that nigga Count Rapula.”
Aunt Violet waved them off. “I can’t stand you niggas. Don’t let me get started on the women you two bought around.”
“Aight, aight,” Carson said, holding up his hands. “I’m cooling out. I’ll hit y’all up. Enjoy family time.”
“Thanks, bro,” Jahlil said, dapping him up.
“Any time. You know I like shit like that,” Carson said with a smirk. He saw himself out, leaving Jahlil to take in the peacefulness of the house. They hadn’t had this in years and he welcomed it. “When did you sneak out of here?”
“I figured since Emani was back, I could sneak out and get my maintenance.”
