“She is,” Krude nodded. Even though Krude was usually the jokester, seeing him with a serious look made me pause. “Wednesday called me last night and said she’s not sleeping, which means we are all waiting for her to start showing out.” Krude turned to me and grilled me. “This shit you dragged her into is going to cause a lot of fucking damage to her mental.” He tapped the side of his head.
“Krude-”
“Nah, let me say this,” he interjected. “You haven’t been around when she gets like this. It’s worse than you can fucking imagine.”
“I know,” I nodded.
“No, you don’t,” Krude replied. “You think you know because you see her now, and you’ve seen Cross in action, but Psalms is different. She moves differently thaneverybodybut Judge, and you’ve never seen that nigga move. I’m telling you this now so that you won’t be surprised later.”
“If you think it’ll be that bad, then I’ll call Gift and let him know that he’s about to be putting in overtime,” I said.
“Nah, that shit is going straight to Kenbral,” Hood suggested. “Let him handle that shit. He wants in anyway.”
“Who the fuck is Kenbral?” Krude asked. Pyrite and Hood shared a look that made Krude sit up. “Who the fuck is that nigga?”
“I can’t answer that,” Pyrite said, shaking his head.
“Can’t or won’t?” Krude challenged him. “Because I don’t know who that nigga is and if he’s going to be around, then I need to run it by my people.”
“Do what you gotta do,” Pyrite said, sitting back. “I’m not getting more involved than I need to be.”
“Bet.” Krude pulled his phone from his pocket and started texting. More than likely, he was sending a message to Nine or Cross asking for information.
“You think they’re ready for that shit?” I asked, Pyrite shrugged, and Hood smirked.
“It won’t matter if they are or aren’t because it’s happening,” Pyrite answered, then sat back in his seat. “Now, back to you and Yale’s situation. How are you going to move this shit without her knowing?”
“Wait, you ain’t telling her?” Hood asked, and I shook my head. “Why not?”
“In case it goes left,” I truthfully answered. “Going after the Kilmores is going to take some fucking work, and the last thing I ever want to happen is her getting touched because of me. It’s the reason I’m in this fucking mess as it is. To protect her, so I gotta make sure I always do that.”
“So, what are you going to do with her?” Pyrite asked.
I sat back in my seat, stretched my legs out in front of me, and ran my hands over my hair. “Love the fuck on her,” I answered. “I let that nigga have years with her because I thought I was doing the right thing.” I sat forward and shook my head. “I was doing the stupid thing. Yale has been my fucking woman, ain’t no reason to pretend otherwise, and now I’m about to man the fuck up and take what’s always been mine.”
“You know I like you niggas,” Krude chuckled as he stood. He adjusted the collar of his shirt and smirked. “Y’all a little slow, but I legit fucks with y’all.”
“Did this nigga just call us slow?” Pyrite laughed as he looked between me and Hood.
“I did, and I meant it,” Krude said, nodding. “But as the spokesperson for the DeCortes, I’m throwing our name officially into this war.” He turned to me and smirked. “You already had Psalms on your team, but now you’re getting all seven of us.”
“Does your family know you’re the spokesperson?” I asked.
Krude shrugged, then said, “It doesn’t matter. I was here checking on a new recruit for the family, and Hood brought me along, so it’s officially my title.”
“New recruit?” I questioned, and Krude nodded. I turned to Pyrite with a twisted expression. “Who did you sign?”
“Nobody,” Pyrite answered.
I turned back to Krude, who was now on his phone. “Who is the new recruit for the Kings?”
“Who said it was for the Kings?” Krude replied without looking up from his phone. “This shit is personal. I needed to lay eyes on a nigga to make sure he was worth the time that is about to be invested in him.”
“Again, who, nigga?”
“Not your business,” Krude chuckled, then put his phone in his pocket and looked at us. “Call me when you need us to show up.” He threw us a salute and then left the room.
“I’m confused as to why that nigga is allowed to be in the world,” I said, shaking my head. I looked at my brother, who was laughing hard. “You know, when you meet people in the asylum, you should leave them there, right?”
