Noah scoffed, still heated. “Leon gets the same treatment. He the one begged Stormi to save Dre’s life, but I’m the one gettin’treated like the enemy. I want that nigga to pay for what he did to my sister. But nah I get the cold shoulder.”
“Noah,” I said softly, trying to bring him back down. “We’re not blaming you. I don’t blame you. And right now, that’s all that should matter.”
He shook his head. “Yeah, but your husband and his boys do.”
Southside didn’t say a word just smirked and walked off, heading straight for the stairs like he couldn’t even deal.
Noah’s mouth twisted into a bitter smile. “See? That right there.”
“Noah, drop it,” I said, stepping closer. “I know you had nothing to do with the shooting. None of us knew what Dre was on. Not even Seth.”
Noah looked at me, a long pause before his voice got quiet. “Not even your daddy?”
I exhaled slowly, my chest tightening. “I don’t know, Noah. I don’t know that man. And honestly? I don’t want to.”
Jo had told me enough. And the way he acted in the hospital that day. He was never a father to me. Just a ghost with too many shadows behind him.
“Maybe I should pay Leon a visit,” Noah muttered. “Mr. Super Save a Nigga might know where his lil’ nephew at.”
“Noah, leave it alone. Let Seth handle it.”
He turned on me now. “Why Seth always gotta handle everything? He ain’t the only man in the family, Stormi! I been protectin’ y’all for years. Especially Jo. Or you forget them nights? You forget how many niggas I stopped from goin’ upside her head?”
He looked like he was staring into a memory. One I spent years burying. Nights filled with yelling, fists, and broken glass.
I didn’t speak right away. He needed to sit in that moment. Feel it. Heal from it. Me I’d already done the work. I didn’t let those memories live rent free in my mind anymore. I replaced them with joy Jo’s laugh, S3’s adventures, Shiloh’s sleepy smile. But I knew how much that pain shaped him. So, I didn’t deny him his emotions.
Jo reached for him gently. “And I thank you, Noah. For every night you stepped up. For every time you shield me when I couldn’t shield myself. But I don’t want you to worry about that again. I’m doing everything I can to make sure you never have to.”
He looked at me, the weight in his eyes damn near crushed me. “Yeah, whatever. I see how y’all changed. I handle my shit on my own now.”
And just like that, he turned and walked out the front door.
Jo sighed behind me. “I’ll handle him, Stormi,” she said, already heading after him. “But tonight? We watchin’ Love & Hip Hop. This season too messy to miss.”
I walked upstairs wishing my husband was home. I just needed a moment with him. I glanced in at S3 who was locked in playing video games with Josh. Shiloh was sleeping in his crib. I assured the baby monitor was on before I walked back downstairs. I could hear Rich and Southside talking in Seth’s office. Tension thick enough to slice with a knife. So, I didn’t bother knocking.
I turned around quietly and went back downstairs, my chest already tight. I didn’t even know if I was mad or just numb. It all blended together these days.
I made my way into the kitchen. My safe space. Or maybe just the only place I still felt needed.
I pulled the chicken out of the fridge, seasoned it on autopilot, and fired up the deep fryer. I was going through the motions, but my mind was spinning.
“Fucking Imani. I want to beat her ass even more now than I did before. I tried keeping the peace for S3, but that bitch was slimy ass fuck. And here I was defending her when Seth used to snap on her ass for the dumb shit she stayed doing.”
Imani.
Her name landed in the middle of my kitchen like a bomb. I froze. My hand hovering over the oil. My breath caught in my throat.
Every time I thought her part in our lives were getting better, she came creeping back like mold in a dark room. I’d scrubbed and scrubbed, but no matter what I did, she left her stains. And now she was back again. Hanging with the enemy.
I dropped another piece of chicken into the fryer, and with each sizzle, my anger bubbled higher.
Images of her flashed through my mind like bad memories on repeat. The time she “accidentally” called Seth at 3 a.m. Her conveniently hugged up with Dre today. The way she laughed a little too loud as if she thought all her slimy ways, were a joke.
My stomach turned. I gripped the knife on the cutting board, dicing potatoes harder than I needed to. My hand shook. My eyes burned.
I hated that I still gave her this much power. I hated that I even had a reason to.
