Tulane stared at Clarke, but she put on her headphones that were around her neck and went back to carving her piece of wood, ignoring him. He turned back to Mama Diamond, pinched the bridge of his nose, and took a deep breath. “We don’t have time to wait; we need to set up a meeting ASAP. We need a story, a game plan, and to see what everyone knows. The fact that Purpose was shot means that the FBI is going towant answers. Everyone at that party needs to be on one accord; otherwise, we will all end up in jail.”
“We?” I laughed. “Tulane, you weren’t even at the party. Why are you saying we?”
“Because the past has a way of rearing its ugly head at the worst moments,” he answered.
The sound of the front door opening pulled my attention from the group of people talking, and I turned around just in time to see Amethyst step into the kitchen. His dark eyes went straight to my belly, and instinctively, my hands went to it as if I was protecting my unborn child.
“Sunshine, play with someone else, not me.” He licked his plump lips, then locked eyes with me. “We need to talk.”
“No, we don’t,” I said, shaking my head. “You made that decision six months ago when you sent me away.” I squared my shoulders and made sure I didn’t break eye contact with him. “You decided to ignore what I needed because of whatever reason.”
“I was trying to protect you--”
“You did what the fuck you wanted to do!” I yelled. Spelman put her hand on my arm to stop me from moving, but I didn’t care. I was going to say what I needed to say to him. “You have been making decisions for us since the beginning of our friendship. From the moment I told you my name, it’s always been about what you wanted and how you wanted it. You never listened to me.”
“I’ve heard every fucking word you ever said to me,” he replied. The vein on the right side of his neck started to bulge, but I didn’t care. He was going to hear what I had to say, even if he didn’t like it. “Every single word!”
“But you never listened.” I pulled my arm from Spelman’s grip and stepped into his space. “You weren’t protecting me by sending me away. You weren’t protecting me when you decidedto work for the Kilmores. You weren’t protecting me when you tried to negotiate the terms of the race. You were worried about you!”
“What?” His face twisted in confusion. “I haven’t worried about my fucking self in all the years we’ve known each other. Everything I did was to make sure you were okay. Yeah, I was stealing cars before I knew you, but I was about to walk away when I found out that you were working for the Kilmores. I stayed to make sure you were good. Every time you raced, I was there to make sure you came out alive and untouched. I made less money so you could make more. I stepped back into that shit for you! I dealt with them because of you. That last race was supposed to be your last one, remember? I was staying so you could go. That night, everything changed. I didn’t know it then, but that shit was a complete setup. That car? It was put there, the woman who died. She--”
“She was my sister!” I yelled. “Her name was Xavier, and I killed her.”
“She was already dead!” He cut me off, and instantly, my mouth shut. “That’s right! She was already dead! You were set the fuck up from the beginning! Quincy locked you in just like he locked me in! We were played!”
“Wait, what?” I questioned him. “What do you mean she was already dead?”
“Exactly what I said, Sunshine,” he said, shaking his head. “She was already dead. All this shit with Quincy, you marrying Grant, and me working for them? We were set the fuck up. From the beginning, all this shit was planned.”
“Why?” I stepped back and rubbed my stomach. “What the fuck did they get out of all this? Setting us up, killing Xavier, blaming me? What the fuck started all this?”
“That’s what I want to know,” Amethyst said, turning to face his parents and Tulane. “What the fuck happened to make theseniggas hate us that much to want to watch us suffer before destroying us?”
The doorbell rang, but my attention was on Tulane. He wouldn’t look at me, which told me he knew something. He may not have been around, but he knew something. The fact that he already had a pass with not only the Stones, but DeCortes, wasn’t missed by me.
“Tulane?” I called out, and he reluctantly looked at me. “You said that Xavier was with Quincy back in the day. What happened to their relationship?”
“It wasn’t Quincy she was with,” he said, shaking his head.
“You said she was with a Kilmore,” I replied. “I know you did because it was the night you told me about Xavier. You said I was married to one of them, and Xavier was with one of them.”
“Exactly, I said, she was with one of them. I never said which one,” Tulane replied. He took his phone from his pocket, and I reached across the island and snatched it from his hands.
“This isn’t the time for your secrets,” I said, handing the phone to Amethyst, who had come to stand next to me. We weren’t on good terms, but right now we're dealing with each other. “Start talking. And start from the beginning.”
“Xavier fucking around with the Kilmores was straight revenge,” he sighed. “You remember I told y’all that Xierra was messing around with a nigga and I killed his wife?” He looked between my sisters and me. “Well, I didn’t tell y’all who it was.”
“Who was it, Tulane?” I asked even though everything in me was screaming not to.
“Jeremiah DeCorte,” he answered.
“Wait, wait, wait, Jeremiah DeCorte as in Exodus daddy? Xierra dated Jeremiah?” Amethyst stepped back and then started laughing. “Ain’t no fucking way you’re telling me this. Ex said his parents were in a crash, that it was his daddy’s fault. It’s why he never forgave him. He said that his daddy deserved todie, not his mama, and now you’re sitting here telling us that it was you? That you killed that nigga mama because your woman moved on and you couldn’t handle it?” The look of disgust that Amethyst gave Tulane was killer. “You took my nigga’s mama, over your fucking pride?”
“It was an accident,” Tulane replied.
“Tell that nigga Ex that shit,” Amethyst said, his face twisted in anger. “As a matter of fact, tell Madea and Granddaddy that shit and see how they react.”
“They already know,” Tulane said. “I told them a few years ago.”
