“I have your favorite vodka, the really expensive brand,” she told him, “but beer is good, too. I’ll meet you in the den.”
“I don’t want to have to fuck up your man,” Mort said. “If that motherfucker get home—”
“One beer,” she coaxed. “For me?”
Shaking his head, Mortician snickered. “You saying you want that motherfucker fucked up on the down low, baby?”
“Absolutely not,” she said primly. “You and Johnnie know better than to fuck up my house with blood.”
“If I drag that motherfucker outside, you fine with that?”
She glared at him.
“One fucking beer, Kendall,” he said with irritation. “But I fucking swear if Johnnie target Bailey again because I’m your fucking friend, I’m cutting his fucking tongue out.”
“You came over, so you knew there was a chance you’d run into him.”
“He was with his motherfuckers at the club and he didn’t look interested in leaving.”
“Right,” Kendall said, calling herself a fool because she’d expected different from Johnnie after he said they’d work through everything together. “I don’t care.”
“One beer, Red,” Mort relented, gentling his tone.
A few minutes later, Kendall carried opened bottles of beer to the den, where Mortician already sat on the sofa, smoking a cigarette, and listening to music.
One of the things Kendall loved most about her friend was his love of music. She handed him his beer and sat next to him.
“Roni?” she asked, chugging half her beer.
“I used to play that for Bailey all the time,” he said, plumes of smoke rising around him. He gulped from his own bottle. “I didn’t come to talk about my fucking problems, though. I came to check on you.”
She drank again. “Was Christopher… Outlaw… him…really mad at me?”
The heat of Mortician’s gaze burned her, but she refused to look at him. “He levying a fine against Johnnie for all the damage. He understood, though. We all do. Me more thananybody. You and Potter already made peace. I think you wanted to use that bat on Johnnie.”
All Kendall heard was her daughter’s voice echoing in her head, telling her stories, sounding so alone. Johnnie hadn’t really entered her mind when she’d stormed to the club. He’d even comforted her when she needed him so bad.
She finished off the bottle, then sat it on the side table, regretting how quickly she’d downed her beer.
“No, I didn’t want to use it on Johnnie, no matter how he deserves it,” Kendall said, blinking back tears. “I was only thinking of Mattie and what she went through. Howyoungshe is. If she wanted weed, I could’ve gotten it for her.”
“Now we both know that’s not fucking true, baby. Don’t tell that blatant fucking lie. We all looked down on Prez and Meggie a little for allowing Rebel to smoke when she turned twelve or thirteen. Fuck, however old she was.”
“I didn’t!” Kendall said defensively, afraid if she admitted that everyone would take it the wrong way.
Mortician wrapped an arm around her shoulder and drew her closer. “It’s not a crime to disagree with Meggie girl.”
She settled against him and leaned her head against his chest. “I do. We’ve had many arguments over the years. You know that.”
“True that, Red,” he said, sighing. “Anyway, in hindsight, Meggie keep an open line of communication with her kids because she don’t shy away from shit with them or judge them when they talk to her.”
“Johnnie and I were working so well. I tried my best to follow his lead, even with the kids. He wantedus, our family, so I trusted him. It wasn’t until Rebel started acting up that I noticed how Johnnie treated Mattie. Is that bad?”
“Don’t beat yourself up. Boys hard enough to fucking raise, but being a girl parent takes special care. I try to teach my sonsto always respect women and to stand up for their beliefs. I try to show them that a motherfucker got as much responsibility in a marriage and raising children as a woman. With Harley, I wanted her to see how a man supposed to treat a woman. I tried to show her that I would always be there to pick her up when she fall and to fuck up any motherfucker who hurt her. I wanted to put the word out to any motherfucker who wanted a chance with her”
“Unfortunately, the motherfucker you told that to was the one she hurt the most,” Kendall said. “The one who is such a sweet kid.”
“I regret that so fucking much. I still blame myself and wonder if I’d shut the fuck up would CJ have been more willing to work things out with her.”
