“Please, Ling. I know I shouldn’t but I need to see this shit. If that crazy bitch tried to kill my daughter because I didn’t wantto be with her I gotta know. Because I wasn’t trying to hear what the fuck she had to say without proof? Who the fuck does that?”
I couldn’t knock anything he said because I felt the same way. Anyone who would hurt an innocent baby just to get back at someone was a special kind of evil. I was as pro-choice as they come when it was just some clumps of cells, but Ami’s mother had been thirty-seven weeks pregnant when she delivered her. I pulled out my phone but then I thought better of it.
“Move over.”
Aldrich shook his head gearing up to argue. “Ling—”
“If you’re going to watch this I am absolutely going to drive this car. We are not going to face the same fate because you are rightfully upset by what you just heard and what you might see, okay?”
His head was against the headrest and I could see him working his jaw back and forth as though he were thinking over what I was saying.
“Lift up.”
I did what he said and scooted over him as he slid underneath me to get to the passenger side. We almost got caught trying to make it over the middle console but I finally sat down in the driver’s seat. He wasted no time pulling out his phone and I moved the seat up so I could reach the pedal and started up the car.
He turned to his siblings not bothering to make the call. “I’m sorry about the park getting cut short y’all—”
“Richie, it’s fine. I’m fine. It was beautiful and we had fun. We are also going to get all of your money back and have someone from your team sue the fuck out of them because there’s no reason they should’ve allowed the press inside.” I looked in the rearview mirror and saw that Cassie had her arms folded like she meant business.Billy would love her.
“You've always looked out for me, Cass, but let’s just figure out what’s going on and then we can go from there. There’s nothing we can do about what’s in the past.” I knew he hated to feel how true those words were but it was the truth. He needed to have someone who was going to watch out for him no matter what. His father was his guardian angel, his mother there for him without question.
I pulled onto the main road making a mental note to have him speak to whoever was in charge of the park tonight. I hated for people to lose their jobs but whoever did it should’ve thought about that before they got tricked out of it by whoever that reporter was.
“We’ll figure it out, but the last thing y’all should ever do is let someone think they’ve made you sweat. Your brother did the right thing by not reacting, despite how we want to knock that man on his ass. Both of you know that people do things to get a reaction. Learn now because folks will come at you to knock you down. Pay them dust.” I glanced back at the twins in the rearview mirror and watched them nod at my words. “Cool, now let’s get home but let me do the talking. You know your mama's gone lose her shit.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Crossed
STERLING
“CAN I TALK to you for a second?”
I don’t know why I was nervous but I was. I hated to ask for things because too often my requests would be belittled or outright denied even after withstanding whatever inquisition I’d had to endure. I didn’t think that Aldrich would be like that, but there was no way for me to really be sure.
He looked up as though he could sense why I was hesitant. I rarely interrupted him when he was in his room so as I nervously stood in the doorway he gave me a once-over before waving me in.
Ami was down for a nap, and the house was unnaturally quiet since his family had left yesterday. After we talked about what happened with the reporter, Billy advised us that the information he’d been told was true. She’d gotten a hold of the insurance investigator’s report because they’d apparently been contacted by her family. Billy said they could give out details but it was obvious the girl’s parents thought to sue the insurance company for the damages and to pay for her burial and final expenses. Too many young people didn’t have life insurance on themselves because they didn’t think about death and I guess Ami’s mother was one of them. And it bit her in the ass.
As predicted Ms. Sonya wanted to fight because all of her children were harassed by that reporter but she stood down when Aldrich asked her to. As for him, he tried to ignore it while they were still here but I could tell when we dropped them off at the airport that he was retreating again. And I couldn’t say Iblamed him. To be hounded so relentlessly had to weigh heavily on your mind.
“What’s good? You're doing this whole cautious conversation thing and I honestly don’t like it. Puts me on edge when we had just moved past that shit, right?” He was relaxing on his bed and the only decor in the room was the massive television that hung on the wall. Aldrich was looking at something on his iPad and I knew it had something to do with camp since they were getting ready to head out in a few days. We’d run down the logistics of what was going to happen and his mother was kind enough to stock the freezer with meals I could eat so I didn’t have to think about cooking while he was gone. That lady was going to have me paying all her bills just so she could let me move in with her if this gig didn’t work out. Her spirit was so nurturing and I was probably as sad as Aldrich was when she left.
“Yeah. But I have a favor to ask and I’m not sure how you’re going to take it.”
His face perked up and when he shifted in the bed the muscles in his arms flexed effortlessly. We were still training together every other day but I was glad he was right and I hadn’t bulked up like I thought I would. “You need some money or sumn? A raise? I know you've been doing a lot—”
It took everything in me not to laugh at Aldrich, because his money was the last thing I needed. “No, it’s nothing like that. I would never ask you for money.”
“If you needed it, don’t hesitate, though. I know if you asked it was for something for real, not some bullshit.” Aldrich’s eyes were serious trained on me like he wanted to ensure I wasn’t lying about needing money.
I smiled because his desire to provide for everyone around him was admirable and his willingness to look out for me even in this gray space we operated in reaffirmed he was genuine. “I’ll remember that.”
“If it ain’t bread, then what is it?” His demeanor was softer than it had been since his family left and I wasn’t sure if it was because he was focused on work or that he was finally coming back from the pain of their absence. Aldrich and I still spoke and he was just as hands on if not more with Ami but something still felt different between the two of us. I needed something to focus on and it wasn’t until they spoke about the games and which they would be attending that I realized I had the perfect distraction for the tension in the house.
“I would like to have my sewing machine shipped down to me if that’s okay.”
“Your sewing machine?” He sounded so surprised that sewing machines still existed that I wanted to laugh.
