“Business,” he answered. “Conversations needed to happen, shit needed to be understood.”
“Which was?”
“Not your business, Am,” he answered.
“Nah, see that’s where you’re wrong, Pop,” I said, shaking my head. “This shit is my business because it involves Yale.” Ipointed to Tulane. “She might be his daughter, but she’s mine to protect.”
“You made a deal eight years ago that fucked up a lot of shit you knew nothing about, Am,” Pop said, grilling me. “I told you back then to let me do the talking. I wasn’t saying it because I wanted to run shit. I said it because other shit was already in motion that you knew nothing about. The second you agreed to work for Luther, you fucked shit up.”
“Like what?” I said, watching him closely. “Huh? Because not one of y’all can sit here and tell me y’all wouldn’t have done the same thing if it came to protecting the woman you love.” I sat forward and chuckled as I shook my head. “Pop, I’ve seen how you get down behind mama. Xayne, I’ve seen you move for Xia. Did y’all expect me to sit there like a fucking kid while y’all worked out a deal on my behalf for some shit I fucked up?” I shook my head. “That wasn’t going to happen.”
“I didn’t expect you to sit there and shut up. I expected you to stand there and fucking learn,” Pop replied. “I expected you to trust that I knew what the fuck I was doing. You were sitting in Luther’s pocket for almost eight years because you moved too fucking fast, Amethyst! I told you that then, and I’m still standing on it now. You moved too fast, and you fucked up shit to the point that we are just getting out of it.”
“What shit, Pop?” I stood, ready to get this fucking secret that they were trying to bury out in the fucking open so we could move on. “Huh? What is so damn important that it’s taking so fucking long to handle?”
“The truth behind the DeCortes’ deaths,” Tulane finally said, and I looked at him like he was crazy. The DeCortes he was referring to were Krude, Judge, Mercy, Corinthians, and Psalms’ parents. The situation with Ex’s parents had happened years prior, and Cross’s parents happened years after.
“What the hell are you talking about?” I reared back, confused as hell. “The DeCortes’ deaths? The DeCortes died in a car accident years ago. Shit was random as hell.”
“That’s what the reports say, but that’s not what happened,” Tulane said, shaking his head.
“Yes, it was,” I chuckled. “All of them died but Cross’s parents. It’s why their grandparents raised them.”
“It’s not,” Tulane replied. “It’s the story Mary and Gabriel came up with. We helped pull some strings and make the story be what it was, but that’s not what happened.”
“What happened then?”
“We don’t know for sure,” Pop spoke up. “We just know it has something to do with the Kilmores and Franklins. We had shit moving and were getting close, then the accident involving you and Yale happened, and shit got out of hand with you trying to protect Yale. We decided to step back, let them think we were focused on that while we worked in the background.”
“The DeCortes died years before the shit with Luther happened. Why wait so long?”
“Mary and Gabriel asked us to, but then shit started happening, and we couldn’t wait,” Pop answered. He chuckled, then rubbed his hands over his face.
“Madea and Granddaddy asked y’all to wait?” I looked at him, and he nodded. “How? You met them through us.”
“Amethyst, I’ve known Mary and Gabriel since I was a young nigga in the streets. Same with Tulane and Xayne. We have a history that surpasses y’all. We all ran in the same circle as Luther. We were boys, made money together, had each other’s back, or so we thought.”
“What happened?” I sat down and watched my Pop closely.
“We don’t know, that’s what we were trying to find out. But every time we get close, someone dies,” Pop answered.
“And how does this tie in with Robert Strong?”
“That’s what we’re trying to figure out, and then Xavier disappeared,” Xayne sighed. “She was--”
“Please don’t tell me you sent your niece to your enemy’s doorstep to find out what happened to your friends,” I cut him off.
“No,” Xayne denied, but there was a part of me that didn’t believe him, especially since I knew the shit Xoey had gone through. “She was already sneaking over there, and I didn’t stop her. Xavier did what she wanted, just like Xiera.”
“Sounds like you’re blaming Xavier for her death,” I chuckled and shook my head. “Xayne, I respect you too much to think that shit right now, so please tell me I’m wrong.”
“You’re wrong,” he said, and I nodded. “But I need to find out what happened to my niece and to what happened to the DeCortes.”
“And what about your sister? Xiera has been missing for some time, right? Is there a chance she had something to do with it?”
“No,” Xayne answered.
“How can you answer that with certainty?”
