“That may not even have shit to do with shit, Daddy. You know those people don’t give a damn who they harass. Uncle Marcus looks somewhat Latino. He has some of their features.They could have seen him and tried to hem him up based on his looks alone. It became personal because he got away from them.”
“That’s true. I never thought about it that way. All that long hair and tattoos don’t help. He look like he in a fucking Mexican gang.”
I rolled my eyes. “Whatever. How’s Mama?”
It was his turn to roll his eyes. “Yo’ mama is on my last fucking nerve, but I know she can’t help it. Menopause wearing her ass out. I wonder if Jenahra went through all this shit happening to Aspen. Her fuse is always lit. All I have to do is barely blow on that muthafucka and she exploding on a nigga. The thermostat is set on Antarctica. That light bill gon’ tear a new hole in my ass.”
I chuckled. “I swear you so over the top. Every woman is different and can experience different symptoms. Hot flashes are common, though. I’m gonna have to call her and tell her to come in. I don’t know why she doesn’t say anything about her symptoms. This ain’t the old days. She don’t have to suffer in silence.”
“Put her down for first thing Tuesday morning. I’m making that appointmentforher. She has a dentist appointment Monday. I’ll let her know I made it.”
“Na, didn’t you just say her fuse is always lit? Let her make her own appointment. I’ll call her, because I know she probably has some degree of brain fog.”
“You have no idea. She’ll sit there with her shoe in her hand, trying to remember what she was about to do. It’s a fucking shoe! Put it on!”
I slowly shook my head. This nigga was probably going through a mid-life crisis him-damn-self. Those attitudes were probably clashing in that house big time. I wondered how SS and Remy were making it in there.
“Where’s Seven?”
“He’s mowing the hay field. That nigga stays out the way. He comes home to sleep. That’s it. I don’t even know where he’s eating and shitting at. Remy goes to hang with CJ quite a bit.”
“You probably having your lil crisis, too, so you can’t talk about Mama.”
He shot me the finger, causing me to laugh loudly. “Oh, it’s like that?”
“Just like that. How’s Noni? I heard about what happened with Red Squared.”
“She’s good, Daddy. She went to meet him last night and didn’t come home. I want to assume they’ve gotten back together.”
He nodded. “He seems to have his shit together for the time being. For his sake, he better stay on the straight and narrow, so I don’t have to fuck him up. Mythic was treating my baby right, despite his lifestyle. That was what kept him safe.”
“I think he is. He loves her so much. I could see that in Mississippi. She pushed him, but I told you all that.”
“It don’t matter. He could have restrained her without grabbing her by the neck. He could’ve wrapped his arms around her to restrain her. Believe me, I got on Noni’s ass about that shit, but again, he could have chosen a different way to restrain her.”
“Yeah, I guess. I bet she won’t put her hands on that nigga again, though.”
I chuckled, and he did too. “She better not. I don’t want to have someone’s death on my hands.”
His admission made me think about what I’d just set in motion. I supposed I’d gotten too quiet, because he nudged me. I looked at him and saw the frown on his face. “What’s wrong with you?”
I slid my hands down my legs. “I uhh . . . had Ali look into that pharmacy Mythic’s baby mama worked at. That pharmacist had to have signed off on that prescription, so he knew it was wrong. Turns out, he’s her uncle.”
His eyebrows lifted. “So what can be done about it, since there’s no evidence of what she claimed she did?”
I was damn near trembling. I remained quiet until my daddy grabbed me by the shoulders, turning me to him. “Bali . . .”
“Ali asked me the same thing, and I only stared at him. He took that to mean I wanted him to take him out.”
“He took it that way because that was what the fuck you were saying in your silence!” He released my shoulders and took a deep breath. “I raised some fucking thugs.”
When I saw the smirk appear on his lips, I exhaled. “Ain’t nobody finna fuck with my family and get away with that shit. They could have killed my lil sister. I take my role of being the oldest seriously.”
“Bali . . . you the oldest by like four minutes.”
“Time means nothing. I saw this pitiful Earth first.”
He chuckled, then pulled me in his arms. “I know Ali will be efficient, so I’m not worried about you being implicated. Just make sure you willing to face the consequences of that decision, though. It could come in the form of bullshit coming to your doorstep. We pay for the decisions we make, whether it’s by the law or personally. God don’t sleep.”
