Boogie tried hard to keep his irritation at bay, but the shit was hard. Sweetie’s tears could fuel World War III as far as he was concerned. And her smile could induce world peace. She controlled everything in his world, and he didn’t think she even realized it.
Denzel glanced at Sweetie as Chloe sat next to him and put a hand on his thigh. He pulled his wife into him and nodded at his brother. “I do agree that this shit is stupid.”
“Been stupid,” Tandy mumbled. Zander tapped her thigh with a slight chuckle. Tandy shrugged. “Just sayin’.”
“It doesn’t matter. He’ll never agree to it,” Sweetie said as she wiped her tears.
“Call him,” Boogie said. Now that he had his family on board, he was ready to talk to the source and handle this shit.
Sweetie’s eyes grew wide. “And say what?”
“Nothin’. Let me talk,” Boogie responded.
“Maybe you should let me handle it,” Denzel offered.
Denzel was a lot more levelheaded, but Boogie felt like this was something he needed to handle. He ignored his brother and nodded at Sweetie. “Call him.”
She shook her head but in disbelief, but she pulled her phone out of her pocket and tapped on it for a second. She put in on speaker, and an automatic voice sounded, letting them know that Vernon had blocked his own damn daughter.
“Unbelievable,” she muttered. Boogie heard the pain in her tone, and it made him want to put Vernon Bishop’s head through a wall.
“Call your mom and see if she can get him on the phone,” Boogie said. He wasn’t about to give up. If he had to knock on Vernon’s front door unannounced, he would.
Sweetie sighed and tried her mom’s phone. It rang on speaker for a second before her mom answered.
“Hey, Sweetie. Nothing’s changed. He’s refusing to let you come say goodbye.” Valarie’s voice broke on the last word, and Boogie’s heart slightly softened toward her. As of right now, every one of her family members was on his shit list, but he reminded himself that Valarie was in the process of losing a parent. He couldn’t imagine what that felt like.
“I know, Mama. Do you think I could speak to him? Maybe let me try?” Sweetie asked with hope dancing in her voice.
“I don’t know, honey. Every time y’all talk, it ends in a screaming match. I don’t know how much more of that I can take.”
Sweetie closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. “Then stand up tohim, Mama. He’s always dictated every fuckin’ thing. She’s yourmother. I’m your daughter. Let you tell it, when his mama died, you were ten toes down for him. It’s his turn to return the favor.”
Silence filled the line before Valarie whispered, “Fine. I’ll go get him. He’s in a meeting with your sister.”
They waited with bated breath for a few minutes before Vernon’s gruff voice blared through the phone. “What the hell are you callin’ your mother and bothering her for?”
“Daddy—”
“No. You’ve done enough, Sweetie. You need to grow up and do right by your bloodline, or you need to cut ties. I sure have,” he said, his voice sounding like a growl.
“Vernon!” they heard Valarie hiss in the background.
Boogie grabbed the phone and did his best not to go off. “Mr. Bishop, this is Boog—Darren DeLuca. I’m here with Sweetie and my family, and we’re calling to see if we can sit down and come to some kind of understanding.”
Silence stretched before Vernon exploded. “How dare you speak to me! How dare you?—”
“Now hol’ up now.” Zander was up and by Boogie’s side in an instant. “You ain’t gon’ talk to my son any kind of way, nigga.”
“You! How dare you?—”
Vernon’s words were cut off by a voice through the phone. “Enough!”
Valarie had clearly taken Sweetie’s words to heart because she cursed that man out from hell to heaven.
Eventually, their voices faded to the background, and a feminine voice filled the line. “Sweetie?”
“Audra?” Sweetie sniffled. Boogie’s poor baby. Her tender heart couldn’t handle all this drama. He hated that she even had to be a part of it, but they needed to get their families onboard with their relationship. He wasn’t about to spend an entire lifetime like this.
