“Damn. You gon’ make a nigga breakdown in here Ma. You got to stop with that,” I voiced trying not to match her energy. Daisy was my heart and seeing her cry damn near brought out a different menace.
She did a rough nod against my chest before backing away. One of the guards stepped up with some tissues and I threw him a nod out of respect. Seemed like these days everybody ‘round these parts was playing nice.
Wiping her nose, she said, “This is why I don’t come up here. Look at you Bentley. You look so rough!”
“I’m in prison Ma. What you expect? Stop fussing and sit down for me.” Surprisingly, she did like I asked without back talk. “Firstly, I don’t want you thinking a nigga ain’t straight, aight? I’m forever good no matter where I go. Second, I called you here today ‘cause I need you to look into some attorneys for me. Kong ‘bout to be busy.”
“Well, what the hell is Windale doing? As much money as you pay him, you should’ve been out. I told you not to trust them palm colored folk. Even though he ain’t one a hunnid percent, that half of him damn sho don’t look out for us,” she snapped.
I didn’t update Daisy on everything cause it was stressful as it was for me. I knew if I told her what was going on, she probably would’ve ended up in the hospital somewhere. A nigga was confined to the same four walls. I wasn’t putting her through that no matter how bad she asked for updates.
“I’m learning. Kong, what you got for me?” I inquired switching up the vibe.
“Oh, you ain’t gon’ believe this. Enzo is a goddamn narc. How I find that shit out? Glad you asked. He got a family put up on the outskirts of Miami. His lady got everything they own in hername. Her brother Rafael been in the hood running his mouth ‘bout how he ain’t fuckin’ with Enzo and one of the runner boys overheard him. They hit me, and I gave them the green light to follow him. He went straight to Enzo crib. They hit me with an address, I pop up, go through the mail and see some wild shit. His government is Damarius Evans.”
“Hold it right there,” Daisy said throwing up her hand. She released a small chuckle while her face displayed pure confusion. “I only know of one Damarius Evans and that’s Bentayga’s oldest boy.”
Now she had me matching her expressions. My lip was turned up, and my brows were dipped hard. What she revealed wasn’t registering with a nigga. “What you mean by that Ma?”
“You’re not Bentayga’s only child Bentley. Before he got with Rhema, he was with Damarius’s mother Corrin. They were together for three years before he pursued your mother. All I do know is when he locked in with Rhema, that was it. He didn’t pay Corrin or Damarius a lick of attention. When my niece made her way down here to Florida, everybody recognized her as Bentayga’s wife, not Corrin. To be honest, that was the last I heard about him and Corrin. Rhema was carrying you and you became the only son folk recognized as Bentayga’s child,” Daisy explained.
I ain’t know what I thought Daisy was ‘bout to say but it fa damn sho wasn’t that shit. I always wondered why the hell me and that nigga looked so much alike. It wasn’t a coincidence that was my daddy genes popping out. Looks was the only thing he seemed to inherit from my daddy cause that hustle mentality ain’t hit him in no shape, form, or fashion.
When he showed up to work for me out the blue, it took me damn near a year to look his way again. He had a lot of shit to prove before I even let the nigga run to the store for a bag of potato chips for me. He was ripping and running so goddamnmuch, I just knew he was gon’ call it quits. I should’ve known something was up when he didn’t and kept asking for bigger tasks.
He finally got the opportunity and turned that bitch up several notches. He started making so much money for me on the corners, I gave him a certain hood. When he dominated that shit without hesitation, I upped it again and gave him a zone. The nigga ain’t drop the ball once. I guess he was just stacking up everything he could before turning me the fuck in.
“You telling me the pussy nigga I got a million-dollar bounty on is my older brotha? The nigga that got me hemmed the fuck up is my blood? The incompetent muthafucka that begged me to put him on knowing he was a fuckin’ cop share the same DNA as me? Yeah, miss me with that bullshit,” I said in disbelief.
“I know it’s hard to believe baby boy. Trust me, my flabber is gasted as well now that everything is coming to the light. I don’t know no Enzo, but I know Damarius, and he is in fact Bentayga’s son. If that’s who put you in here, he’s not out for anything but revenge. Your father left them with absolutely nothing. Corrin harassed Rhema her entire pregnancy for some of Bentayga’s insurance money,” Daisy claimed.
Sitting back, I nodded while a devilish laugh escaped. Thinking on the video, I remembered he stole the letters from my car as well. I had an inheritance to claim. The wheels started turning faster and faster the longer I sat on it.
“He in Sage Springs,” I mumbled still laughing. Enzo wasn’t as dumb as I thought he was.
“He’s where?” Daisy questioned.
“He’s going to claim what my mama left. Get me the fuck out of here Ma!” I shouted banging my fist on the table. “Kong, use his bitch to make some fuckin’ noise. Don’t spare a soul.”
“Bet.”
A family reunion it is big bro.
12
ENZO
The Atkins were making it hard for me to live in this city, and I’d only been here a few months. I wasn’t welcomed on the compound and none of them wanted to hold a conversation. They were making me the outcast and rightfully so. I wasn’t here to befamilyto a soul. What was owed wasn’t nearly enough, but I was gon’ damn sho make do.
“Papi, can you watch her while I shower? She’s clingy today.”
Releasing a deep sigh, I looked up from my phone with an irritable expression. I was in the middle of getting information ‘bout their traditional football game. Nobody was fuckin’ with me, but I was still anAtkinsat the end of the day. At least to them I was anyway. Royce’s mother Iris was the only one keeping me in the loop. I knew where to go, what time to be there, and where to pick up my ticket thanks to her. After all, she genuinely thought I was her nephew.
“Yeah, put her down in her playpen,” I replied.
“Did you not hear what I just said? She’s clingy right now. Hold your daughter for a change. For these past two weeks you’ve been on that phone doing God knows what and talking to God knows who. What’s really going on?”
The only reason Angel and Amada was in Sage Springs to begin with was because she kept begging to come up. In her mind, I was up here frolicking and making memories with a new bitch. She needed to lay eyes on me and my space to make sure she wasn’t tripping. I knew what I had and despite what she believed, I loved my family. I put her and my daughter above a lot of shit in my life.
