Page 119 of Mia

“You must have taken pity on him like your son,” Smoke muttered.

My mother in-law squinted at him. “I’m sensing some overcompensation here, Devin.”

“Nah,” Quaid said. “It’s a defense mechanism. He really loves me and can’t express that shit. Nigga don’t know what to do with himself if he can’t be on my ass. He’s obsessed.”

Smoke frowned. “I ain’t my sister.”

Quaid smirked. “Well, I know why she’s obsessed.”

“Don’t start your shit,” Deuce warned, throwing a biscuit at him. “Pop, get your damn son.”

My father rubbed his temples. “I swear y’all get on my fucking nerves. Always arguing and shit. I’m about to take off my belt and go around this table whipping ass.”

Maceo raised his hands in defense. “I ain’t even do nothing, Daddy!”

“I’ll whip your ass before you get started.”

“Ain’t that about a bitch?”

Booker laughed, and my mama shot him a look.

“You can get that belt too,” she said.

“Baby, I ain’t even said nothing!”

I mushed his head hard. “Call my mama baby one more time,” I warned him.

“I don’t know why I sat next to your abusive ass. You’ve always hated our love.”

“Booker, you shut the fuck up too,” Senior snapped.

“Now, Mr. Dillinger, I know we ain’t beefing over Ms. Maddie.”

My mother scoffed. “Please. He’d never beef over me. I’m not that baby mama.”

My father signed. “I thought we were past this.”

“Oh, I’m past it.” She took a sip of her coffee. “I’m just stating facts. Besides, I’ve moved on to better. Someone that’s only about me.”

A couple of “Whews” went up around the room and all eyes fell on Senior.

“Do we need to step outside?” he asked.

“Nope.”

“How about we change the subject?” I suggested. “We’re ending this tonight. Personally, I’m ready to do this man in so I can get home and back to my life.”

Quaid cleared his throat. “About that. Currently, he’s held up in a warehouse on the east side. Coward ran after we left last night. A neighbor called the police when the bodies were discovered this morning. Right now, he’s a person of interest, and they think he’s in the wind.”

“Good,” Titan said. “That works in our favor, so when he goes missing, they’ll just think he skipped town.”

“So when are we pulling up on this nigga?” DaVinchi asked.

“Me and Nolan are gonna get surveillance of the place first,” Quaid answered. “I wanna know what you’re up against. Unfortunately, the building is abandoned. There’s no electricity and no cameras, so we have to get creative. I already have the blueprints to the building. I just need to see what’s going on inside.”

“And how are you gonna do that?” Deuce asked. “You can’t just knock on the door and walk in there.”

Quaid chuckled. “I don’t have to.”