“Y’all were great parents, Dad. That’s not your burden to bear. I’m a grown ass man, almost twenty-nine years old. I am the only person responsible for my actions at this point. I’ve known for a while that I needed to work on me, and it took Noni breaking up with me to do something about it. I may have lost her. Although she was receptive today, I know it’s because she’s feeling sensitive about Bali and Carter’s engagement. She could be totally different tomorrow.”
“I’m proud of you, Squared. Beyond proud. I think she will come around if you continue to do the work. Your mama and I had a tough time. She was closed off just like Noni. I was telling her I loved her for months before she finally said it back. Plus, when we first got together, it took her a while to even say I was her boyfriend. She would introduce me to people as her friend. We would bump heads all the time until I took time to understand her. It didn’t help when Lacey told me about Asad. Things got worse before they got better. I had to take responsibility for not communicating the way I should have. She even pointed her gun at me.”
My eyebrows lifted. “She was gonna shoot you?”
He chuckled. “I didn’t think she would, but she was so angry, I couldn’t be sure. She thought I had a side family because she saw me with Asad and Lacey before I could tell her about him. When Asad was little, he looked exactly like me. So it wasobvious he was my son. I tried to explain, and she didn’t want to hear it. I was trying not to let her keep me from explaining and that was when she pulled her weapon.”
“Damn.”
“Right. So if we made it, I certainly have faith in you and Noni. I didn’t give a fuck that she’d pointed a gun at me. I knew that was a direct response to something I caused by not communicating. I started praying more and reading my bible more . . . not just to memorize scriptures for Legend but to make me better.”
I nodded, then opened the door and got out of the truck. Dad got out, too. A blacked-out vehicle turned in the driveway as we were making our way to the house. I quickly went back to the truck and got my gun. Dad pulled his weapon from his waistband as well. We stepped out of the shadows where we could be clearly seen. I looked to my right to see my ‘no-trespassing’ sign was in place and visible.
When their doors opened, I lifted my weapon as did my dad. My frown deepened when I noticed they were ICE agents. We were light complexioned and shit and low-key looked Hispanic, but they was gon’ catch all these Black-ass bullets if they tried to bogart their way onto my property. They lifted their hands, and one of them said, “We’re looking for Marcus Wingate.”
I frowned hard. “Well, he don’t live here. I don’t know a Marcus Wingate. Gone head and get the fuck on.”
The white guy frowned hard and acted like he was reaching for his weapon. My dad fired off a warning shot. “I suggest you do what you’re told. You’re trespassing. I don’t give a fuck who you are.”
They quickly got into their vehicle and pulled off.Fuckers.I looked at my dad and said, “Let’s get inside. Who is Marcus Wingate anyway?”
“Marcus Henderson. His last name used to be Wingate. That was his mama’s maiden name.”
“I thought she was Mexican.”
“She was biracial. Her dad was Black.”
I nodded as I entered the code to unlock the door. “Well, they better be careful around Big City Nome before they catch a hot one in their asses. We don’t play that shit.”
My dad chuckled. “Hell naw.”
After flopping on the couch, I pulled off my boots and put my feet up on the ottoman. My phone chimed, indicating I had a text. Before I could grab it, I heard my dad on the phone with Uncle Legend, telling him to warn everybody over there what had just happened. I doubt they would stop at Mr. Storm’s house with all the cars there. They surely didn’t wantthatsmoke.
I unlocked the screen of my phone to see there was a text from Noni. My eyebrows lifted slightly. I opened it to see,I’m sorry about my dad.
I smiled slightly.It’s cool. I took that shit like a G.
She sent back the eyeroll emoji, and I chuckled. We would be together again. I had to convince myself of that. I got on Pro-Flowers and ordered a bouquet to be delivered to her tomorrow, and I would order a more extravagant one when I went to Beaumont tomorrow to be delivered next week. Operation ‘get my woman back’ was now in motion.
CHAPTER 15
CARTER
“So what’s up with you and Kingsley?” I asked my sister.
“Nothing. He’s just sweet.”
I stared at her until she blushed. She was feeling him. Treasure used to be a straight shooter. Ever since her attack, she was always unsure of herself and everyone else around her. I hated witnessing that change in her, but I knew that she would be that way mentally for a long time. The way they tortured her wasn’t something that she could just get over quickly, if at all.
I noticed he talked to her a lot at Mr. Storm’s house. He arrived a little later, after my boy had left. Almost the entire time he spoke to her, she was smiling.
“He’s a really nice guy. He’s about three or four years younger than me, but . . .” She turned her head and focused on the horses that were whinnying in the pasture. She turned back to me. “He’s mature for his age.”
I nodded. “He seems to be a good guy. A lil on the crazy side but good.”
She smiled. “He asked to take me out this weekend, but I told him I wasn’t ready for something like that. He seemed extremelyunderstanding. I may invite him to Sunday dinner over here if Mama cooks.”
I smiled slightly and put my arm around her and kissed her head. We were sitting on the back porch at our parents’ house. just chilling. We all took time out of our schedules to spend time with Treasure. She ended up resigning from her job, because she couldn’t stand to be away from the house without family being close to her. Strangers were extreme triggers for her. Had it not been for us taking her out and about, she would have easily become a recluse.
