“What about Glimmer? I can’t have her caught up in the middle of a war. She’s out here alone, man. She ain’t gon’ survive this shit.” Juke looked helpless as he worried about his daughter.
Haze grinned. “I’m glad you asked. Gideon here came up with a plan for that. Tell him, G.”
Haze nudged Gideon with amusement dancing in his eyes. Since last night, Haze had been relentlessly teasing Gideon about going to the extreme of marrying Glimmer. Good thing for Gideon, he had thick skin. Not only that, when he had his mind made up about something, nothing could change it, especially not Haze’s teasing.
Gideon cleared his throat and looked Juke in the eye. “Glimmer agreed to marry me.”
At first, Juke’s thick eyebrows furrowed, and then he looked downright confused. “I didn’t even know y’all knew each other for real.”
Gideon shook his head. He could tell Juke wasn’t fully understanding. “Nah, we don’t. You know wives are off-limits in The Bay. Her safety would be secured through our marriage. After Haze, I’m the biggest nigga walkin’, and it’ll be good as law that she can’t be touched.”
“You is the biggest nigga walkin’, big ass,” Haze joked before he looked at Juke. “But nah, as crazy as the shit sounds, it would guarantee her safety.”
Juke stared Gideon down. He had transformed from a helpless man to an overbearing father in seconds. Gideon respected it.
“She said she’s okay with this?” he asked for clarification.
Gideon nodded. “She did.”
“I need to talk to her. Do what you have to do to guarantee her safety, but I need to talk to her,” Juke finally said after staring Gideon down.
“We can bring her here?—”
“Nah.” Juke shook his head. “I don’t want her to come here. I just want to talk to her.”
“You sure, OG? We can set y’all up with a room like this. I know the warden here. Y’all ain’t gotta do the visiting room or no shit like that,” Haze offered.
Juke shook his head. “Nah. Don’t bring her here. I can’t let her see me like this. A phone call. That’s all I need.”
“I’ll make it happen,” Gideon promised. “You sayin’ I have your blessing to marry your daughter?”
As unconventional as this was, he wanted to do right by Glimmer and make sure everyone was on the same page.
Reluctantly, Juke nodded his head before he patted Gideon’s broad shoulder. “I know you gon’ do right by my daughter. Keep her safe, Gideon. I’m trusting you to do something I couldn’t.”
Gideon nodded. No pressure or anything. He wasn’t worried about it though. He had always been good at keeping the people closest to him safe. He wouldn’t drop the ball with Glimmer.
Although there wasa TV in the large room Glimmer rested in, she hadn’t turned it on since she got there the day before. The racing thoughts in her mind were enough to keep her entertained and distracted. She didn’t need the TV adding to the silent noise and overstimulating her.
She stared at the white wall with the covers pulled up to her nose. Since it was just her in the room, she had no shame breathing in Gideon’s scent that lingered on the sheets and blanket. He smelled so damn good, and she was a sucker for a nigga that smelled the fuck good. Breathing him in like this made her miss her perfume collection. She hadn’t been able to take it with her to Trick’s house. Hell, she didn’t get to take anything. She only hoped her mom hadn’t gotten ahold of it andused all her shit up. Camille Delacroix would definitely do some shit like that.
The thought of her mom brought mixed emotions. She worried about her. They never agreed on anything, but Camille was still her mom. Trick would definitely harm Camille to get at Glimmer, but she had a feeling Trick knew her mother wasn’t her favorite person.
Glimmer’s heart pained as she thought about her father.Thatwas her favorite person, and he was who she worried about most.
What felt like the millionth tear she’d cried that day slipped out of her eye. She swiped it away just as there was a knock on the door, and then it opened slightly.
“Glimmer? It’s us,” Kyomi’s sweet voice called out into the darkened room. The only light spilling into the room came from a crack between the blacked-out curtains and the wall where the large windows rested.
Glimmer wiped her face and sat up, wincing slightly at the pain in her ankle. She still felt weak, but she thought that had more to do with months of stressing and not being able to rest properly than anything.
“Hey,” Glimmer croaked.
Kyomi and Deja shuffled into the room. Kyomi hopped onto the bed while Deja opened the curtains, revealing that Glimmer was still dressed in the same clothes as the day before.
“How you feelin’?” Deja asked as she perched on the edge of the bed.
Kyomi, on the other hand, was no stranger. She sat right next to Glimmer, leaned against the headboard, and then put her head on Glimmer’s shoulder.
