“You’re about to piss me off,” Pyrite said, mugging me. “What did Pop tell you back then, huh?”
I turned my seat to look out the window at the backyard and shook my head. The sight of lightning bugs made me smirk. Yale was so damn corny with certain shit, but it’s one of the things that made me love her. She lived in her own little world and looked for something that would make her smile, despite the bullshit she had to deal with.
“He said move on one accord,” I finally answered as I swayed. “But this ain’t y’all fight. This is between me and the Kilmores.”
“You’re one dumb ass nigga,” Pyrite chuckled. “All that time you spent in college, med school, and even your residency, and you’re still dumb as fuck.”
“Pyrite-”
“Shut the fuck up, Amethyst,” Pyrite interrupted me before I could start up. I turned my attention back to him and Citrine, who’d been quiet the entire time. He was staring out the same window I was, with a blank expression on his face. Big bro was calculated as fuck, at all times, which is why he was a great boxer and businessman. I wanted to pick his mind, but I knew he wouldn’t say shit until he was ready. “Call them niggas and set up a meeting.”
“Nah,” I said, shaking my head. “I don’t want to meet about shit.”
“No?” he questioned me with an attitude. “Then what do you have in mind? Kill them all and live your life with Yale? Marry her, have a few babies, and then what? Live in peace?” he snorted and shook his head. “You know that ain’t how this works. Move fucking smart.”
“I am,” I laughed, even though it wasn’t that funny. “I fucking am, which is why I’m telling you I don’t want a fucking meeting with them.”
“Then who are you trying to meet with if not them?”
“Uri,” I answered. “Call him and tell him he can have the Kilmores.”
“What?” Pyrite gawked. “You fucking said what?” He stood and shook his head. “Do you realize what the fuck you just said?”
“I do.” I nodded. “Which is why I said it.” I crossed my arms. “He’s wanted to get his hands on one of them for months. Let that nigga loose.”
“He ain’t an attack dog,” Pyrite said, reclaiming his seat. “If you give that nigga the go, he’s not going to stop.”
“That’s the point!” I slammed my hand on my desk and grilled my brother. “Pyrite, you’re not fucking listening. I’ve been sitting for years, fucking years, my nigga. I’m not sitting no fucking more, and if I’m going to move, I’m moving with the one nigga that has just as much to lose as me!”
Pyrite sat back in his seat, crossed his arms, and shook his head. I respected my brother and loved him, but I was tired of fucking waiting. I wanted answers, and I wanted them now. If I had to let Uri’s ass loose to get them, so be it. “His woman will rein him back in.”
“No, she won’t,” Citrine finally spoke up. Pyrite and I turned our attention to him. Citrine pulled his phone from his pocket, swiped the screen, pressed a few buttons, and then set it on my desk. At first, I was confused about what I was seeing. It was an old video, but I could make out a little girl with two large puffballs on her head, standing in the middle of a room, holding a straight-edged knife. Her eyes were wild, and her clothes were covered in blood. Next to her stood a man. He looked familiar, but not enough for me to place him. He smiled at her, then lovingly ran his hand over her face before stepping back.
“You did well,” he said as he watched her. He stood there like a proud parent, and my stomach flipped. I knew where I knew him from now. “You did real good, baby.”
“I want to go home,” the girl said. Her voice was soft and innocent despite the disconnect in her eyes. “I want to go home.”
“Not until you do what you’re supposed to do,” The man said, shaking his head. “That was the deal, remember? You and that knife.” He tapped the knife in her hand. “It’s your way out of this. If you don’t do it, what happens?”
“I won’t get to go home and play,” she said, and he nodded.
“That’s right, God said to obey your mother and father,” he said as he put his hand on the back of her neck and squeezed. The only hint that he was hurting her was that she squeezed the knife in her hand. “If you don’t do this, then I’ll have to go back on my word and show you God’s wrath.”
“Yes, sir,” the girl said, nodding. She took a deep breath, dropped her head, and slowly lifted it. The camera panned back, and that’s when I realized they weren’t alone; they were in a room full of other adults. A woman stood in the back, holding another little girl, about 5 years old, in her arms.
Citrine picked his phone up, turned it off, and sat back in his seat.
“She’s not going to be able to stop him because once she finds out about that video and what really happened that night, she’s going to crash out,” Citrine said, shaking his head. “You giving them to Uri is going to start a war.”
I smiled, knowing that it didn’t reach my eyes, and gave my brother my full attention because I needed him to hear me loud and clear. “Citrine, the war started the moment the Kilmores decided to drag Yale into some bullshit,” I said and shrugged.
“What’s your plan, Amethyst?” Pyrite sighed. He knew no matter what they said to me, I wasn’t going to change my mind. “Because you have to have a plan if you’re going to do this.”
“I do,” I nodded. “Kill every single one of them niggas.”
Chapter ten
Yale
