“I put in word yesterday,” Morning answered.
“You have Nine run his program?” I asked, and Morning shook his head. “Well, let’s start with that.” I turned to my computer, pulled up Nine’s information, and Facetimed him.
“Yeah?” Nine answered the phone. He was on the move and had the phone at his side, so all we could see was his moving background.
“If I send you a picture, can you run it through your program?” I asked him.
“Hello to you too, nigga. I’m good, thank you for asking. Cross had Love. She’s a pretty ass little girl, quiet and shit. I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing with a little ass baby though. Every time I hold her, I’m scared I’m gonna crush her. Thanks for asking.”
“My bad,” I chuckled and shook my head. Even though Nine was already a daddy, he wasn’t around for his son’s birth, so he was experiencing all the first-time fears with his daughter. “I’ll be around to see my lil niece soon.”
“Nah, you’ll be around to see her today,” Nine said. He got in his car and dropped the phone into the passenger seat.
“Nine--”
“My fucking wife asked about you three times this week. She knows you’re busy and trying to figure this shit out with tracking Quincy’s bitch ass down, but Cross fucking DeCorte-Strong told me, Amethyst, fucking told me to bring you home. You are a fucking grown ass man, a nigga with his own shit going on, and my fucking wife said bring you home. You know she doesn’t know you’re out there killing any and every nigga that doesn’t have the information you want?”
“Nine--”
“I’m not fucking done,” he cut me off. I looked up at Morning, who was chuckling and shaking his head. “My fucking wife, the murderer that we all know she is, is starting to get upset with the Stone brothers as a whole.”
“Why?”
“Because Pyrite kidnapped a fucking woman and had her locked in his basement!” Nine picked up the phone and mugged me. “Citrine is walking around with Uri’s ass knocking niggas out. And I don’t mean just a quick knock out, no, that nigga is dragging muthafuckas through the street and shit.” He pointed at me through the screen. “The Stones are supposed to be calm and collected, but you niggas are showing out, and it’s stressing everybody out.”
“Pyrite and Fable are basically in love,” I countered, and Nine kissed his teeth. “And Citrine running with Uri is the safest bet for a lot of niggas. Knocking niggas out is better than killing them.”
“That’s only because you’re out there killing niggas!” he yelled. “We’ve seen you like four times in the last few months. Pyrite said you good, but I don’t believe that nigga, and neither does my wife. So show your face at my house in the next hour, so she can see for herself that you’re good.”
“Alright,” I said, nodding. Nine disconnected the call, and I sat back in my seat. “That nigga is so fucking dramatic.”
“He ain’t lying though. Y’all three are just doing what the fuck ever y'all want. Pyrite is the calmest one right now, and that should say something about y’all’s situation,” Morning said, and I shrugged. I couldn’t control what my brothers were doing. “They committed Xoey after that shit with Ta’lon.”
“I heard,” I said, nodding. “How did she do?”
“She came out laughing and smiling,” he answered. “She acts like she’s okay, but we are keeping an eye on her. Pyrite lets her come and go at his house; she’s made friends with Fable in the process.”
“Yeah, he told me they are friends,” I chuckled as I stood. “I’ll go see her after I go see Cross.” I closed his laptop and handed it to him. “Come on, let's go.”
**
“She’s so little.” Looking down at Love, I realized how much time had passed and what I was missing. “Was Deuce little like this?”
“Yeah,” Cross answered, nodding. “Calm like her, too.” She handed me a small yellow blanket, then pointed to the empty spot next to her. I sat then Cross handed me Love. She made that little whimpering sound that babies make, then opened her eyes to look at me. Her eyes were gray, like her daddy’s and brother’s.“What’s good, lil mama? I’m your Uncle Am. I’m sorry it took me so long to get over here to meet you.”
“She’s like her mama, she doesn’t forgive easily,” Cross said as she picked up her laptop from the coffee table.
Chuckling, I shook my head and adjusted Love in my arms, “You can’t blame a nigga for leaving,” I said. Cross twisted her lips and rolled her eyes. “Boss lady,--”
“No, Amethyst Stone,” she said, rolling her eyes. “You will not hit me with that nickname, poke your bottom lip out and bat those long ass lashes at me and think that I’m going to forgive you.” She opened her computer and started typing. “You will not be forgiven.”
“Damn, it’s like that?” I sat back and laid Love against my chest. She made that grunting noise that babies make, and I looked down to make sure she was good. “You see how your mama treats me, Love? I’m just a young nigga.”
“Don’t lie to my daughter,” she laughed.
“Nah, never that,” I replied with a smirk. Cross talked a lot of shit, but sis was legit a blessing in my life when I needed it the most, which is why I knew I had to show my face when Nine said she was getting upset. There were very few people I hated to disappoint, and she was one of them.
“Where are the pictures you need ran?” She put her hand out. Morning had given me the pictures to have her look at because he couldn’t come and needed to handle some shit at his office.
