He slid his hand down his face. I knew he was thinking about the baby they lost. It was imperative that he got back to Maui. Whenever she was stressed, her blood pressure went up. I turned to him, and said, “You should get home to Maui. I’ll stay until Epic gets here.”
“Yeah, you’re right. I’ll come back out here tomorrow. He said we aren’t turning up this weekend to celebrate y’all anymore, but I think we should dosomething,even if it’s at Mom and Pop’s house with just us. That’s a huge accomplishment, and a once in a lifetime offer for y’all.”
“I’m not worried about that. My baby would wanna come, and I wouldn’t feel right leaving her behind. Looking at her would be like looking at Bali.”
“Yeah, you probably right.”
I just prayed that they figured out something before we left for nationals next Wednesday. Bali and Noni were supposed to catch flights and meet us there on Friday next week. If they hadn’t made up by then, Bali wouldn’t show up. She was stubborn as fuck. She wasn’t sorry about what she did, so therewould be no apology. It was just whether Carter would be willing to get over that shit.
Mythic stood and slapped my hand. “Tell my brother to call me if he needs me before tomorrow.”
“A’ight, bruh.”
I sat here, watching Carter out in the pasture. He was working the fuck out of that horse. He had him wide open, galloping at full speed. Lowering my head, I prayed for my boy. That was all I knew to do. My dad was sure to teach me the importance of prayer.
“Everybody left?”
I looked up to see Uncle Legend. “Yes, sir.”
“Go ahead and get out of here. I got him.”
I stood from the hay just as Epic joined us. I slapped their hands and looked out at my boy once more. He’d stopped the horse from galloping and was just walking him. After taking a deep breath, I made my way out to my truck. Just like he was worried about me at the last rodeo, I felt the same worry for him. Actually, I believed I worried even more. That last rodeo was just to solidify our standings. This was the NFR . . . the championship. He had to do well. I didn’t know how this shit would affect him. I could only pray that he could separate his emotions from the job at hand.
When I got to Uncle Legend’s house, I took a deep breath. It had been four days, and Carter and Bali still hadn’t spoken to one another. Noni said Bali was going to work, but she hadn’t said a word to anyone, except her dad and her patients. Noni was about to lose it. I slept at her house this entire week. She was soworried about Bali. She wouldn’t even accept phone calls, and she wasn’t responding to text messages.
I brought Noni lunch Thursday because she was super busy and couldn’t leave. When I saw Bali, I just stared at her. She normally looked mad all the time. That was how she rolled. However, she didn’t look angry. She looked depressed. Her shoulders were slightly slumped. She wasn’t even frowning. I swore it looked like she wanted to cry. I did notice she wasn’t wearing her ring. Noni didn’t look much different from her.
I hated this shit. It was hurtingmyfucking heart. I tried to put myself in Carter’s shoes. That shit would have me on edge, too, but I didn’t think I would break up with Noni for that. We’d have to have a serious talk about that shit, though. He had to know that Bali wouldn’t do no shit like that to him. She loved his ass.
I got out of my truck to head inside and saw Treasure and Kingsley outside on the swing. They looked extremely comfortable. She was leaning against him, and she was laughing. I was truly happy that she was progressing. When they saw me approaching, Kingsley stood and slapped my hand, then Treasure hugged me.
I continued inside to see my parents were here. Aunt Harper was taking something out of the oven, and my mama was stirring something at the stove. Grandma Rose was in there cutting up, as usual. I wished I could have brought Noni with me. Because I didn’t, I knew I wouldn’t be here long. Despite my reasoning, the family still decided to cook dinner to celebrate our win. There was a shadow dulling the moment, though.
I wasn’t happy and Carter surely wasn’t. He’d thrown himself into work. He was practicing every day. He was also training some nigga to bull ride. For the past four days, I’d watched him. It was like he no longer had a soul. He seemed so cold andempty. The spark he possessed was no longer there. It was no different today when I looked at him.
He was on the couch watching basketball with his grandpa, Uncle Legend, Mythic, my dad, and Epic. After greeting my mama, Grandma Rose, and Aunt Harper, I came back and greeted the men. I sat next to Carter and slapped his hand.
“What’s up, man?”
“Shit. Wishing I was outside practicing.”
I chuckled, but he didn’t crack a smile. “Well, we can always go out there for a lil bit after dinner.”
“Naw. My mama said I’m chilling with them today. I swear, she must think I’m twelve.”
I chuckled again as he cracked a slight smile. Not knowing what else to say, I turned my attention to the game. Dad and Uncle Legend were talking, and Mythic was in his phone, probably texting Maui. Epic was watching the game as well, but Carter’s grandfather was sitting there dozing. I smiled slightly at him. That man was damn near eighty years old, looking like he was sixty. He and Grandma Rose were like grandparents to me as well, since I didn’t know any of mine. My dad’s mom was deceased, not that he was all that close to her anyway.
She was the source of most of his issues. He suffered a lot of abuse from her. She was a heavy drug user and fucked him up as a kid. He told me, a few years ago, some of the things she put him through, and just thinking about that shit made my stomach turn. I understood him a lot better as a man, though, and why he sometimes reacted to things the way he did.
Just to prove how wild and uncontained his mom was, he didn’t know his dad, and I believed she didn’t know who the fuck he was either. Thankfully, his mom had a bout with her conscience and told him about money his grandparents had set up for him. That was how he became a millionaire. Talk about double for your trouble.
I knew my mama’s mom, but since she wasn’t close to her, it was like she didn’t exist to me. I rarely saw her. Her dad ended up passing away in prison. I never got to know him, but I knew that he meant the world to her. I could remember her crying for weeks about it. I couldn’t have been more than eight years old.
Knowing that he was once a sheriff and had gone out that way was a hard pill to swallow. How do you fuck up like that? He lost everything, and that was probably what took him out. After nearly ten years behind bars, he met the reaper . . . not long before he was supposed to be getting released. I think that was what hurt my mom the most, because she was looking forward to reuniting with him and having him be a part of our lives.
“I think I’m calling off the engagement, man.”
I turned to Carter, my eyebrows slightly lifted. I didn’t know what to say. He didn’t say he was breaking up with her, but hell, he might as well. That was how she was going to take that shit. “Have you told her yet?”
