“Hey,” she greeted.
“What’s up, sis? I don’t think you two have met. Mina, this is my beautiful lady, Yumi Clark, soon-to-be Aldana. Baby, this is my beautiful sister-in-law, Mina King-Aldana.”
Mina put her hand over her heart and smiled in awe. “Finally! I thought he would never bring anyone to meet us. And he’s talking about marriage? Please, tell me what you did to him!” She laughed.
Yumi tittered. “I guess I walked down the hall of Cody High. He’s been in love ever since.”
I pinched her ass cheek as she yelped and laughed. “Even though you’re right, don’t tell our business.”
“Oh, whatever, Emery.” Mina waved me off. “The guys are waiting in the study. Yumi, I hope to see you again.”
“I’ll be at your birthday party this weekend.”
“Oh, even better!” she exclaimed, then bid us adieu. I led Yumi down to my brother’s study, where he and Mook were inside, talking and having a drink.
“Please tell me this shit is over, sis,” Mill said as soon as we walked in.
I shook my head at his ass. “Damn, can you at least greet her first?”
“How you doing, sis? Please tell me this shit is over.”
Yumi sighed and sat in the chair across from him, and I took my place next to her. I grabbed the bottle of White Hennessy from the center of the table and filled my glass with a tumbler.
“Unfortunately, it’s not.”
“What now?” Mook asked.
“The prosecution has found yet another witness who claims they know everything about you all. The witness wishes to remain anonymous, so the judge has postponed the trial until further notice.”
“Bro, this shit is getting beyond fucking ridiculous. At this point, I feel like all these motherfuckas that’s coming forth about us are fucking lying, and somebody is paying their ass to do it,” Mill surmised.
I nodded. “That doesn’t sound far off. One of you niggas done pissed somebody off, and now they’re targeting y’all.”
Mook shook his head. “That’s just it. We don’t fuck with nobody, so who the fuck would want to target us?”
“That, I don’t know. All I know is, I’m tired of having to make sure you niggas stay free. I’m at my wits’ end with all of this, honestly.”
“And what does that mean exactly?” Mill asked, looking at me and waiting for an answer.
I shrugged. “Just what it sounds like.” We stared at each other for a while, not speaking. He knew what the fuck I meant,and I could slowly see him putting the pieces together, but Yumi’s voice interrupted what I knew he was about to say.
“I’m not sure who this high-profile witness is, but I am going to find out who they are or what they know. By law, they have to allow the defense to read over her written testimony, so we’ll know what we’re up against.”
“Her?” Mook queried.
“Yes, it’s another female.”
I shook my head. “Mill, you sure this ain’t a scorned jump-off, bruh?”
“Man, fuck you. Them bitches barely knew my name, and they for damn sure didn’t know what I do for a living, so go to hell.”
“I don’t know, Mill. You have been around a block or two,” Mook stated facts.
“Fuck both of y’all. I’ve been faithful for the past two months.”
“And we’ve been going through this bullshit about that long, my nigga,” Mook countered.
“It ain’t on me, Cuz, so like I said, fuck both of y’all.”
