Dominic Royal
Dinner carried on the way it always did when Ma was in her element all loud, and full of stories.
Amour sat between her grandma and daddy, trying everything on her plate while ma doted on her like she was a doll she’d been waiting years to meet.
Keondra relaxed some too, laughing with Dique about bullshit since all they did was talk shit to each other.
For a second, it felt normal. For a second.
But Ma didn’t let much slide. That woman noticed everything. Her eyes caught more than any security camera ever could. She ate another bite of greens, looked out the big window, then back at me and Dique.
“Are ya’ll ready to talk? Y’all just gon’ act like I don’t see all them extra bodies outside?” she finally said, with her voice cutting through the laughter. “I counted four trucks, two sitting across the street, and another one at the corner. That ain’t our regular rotation, Dom.”
I set my fork down slow. “Just bein’ careful, Ma.”
“Careful?” she repeated, dropping her eyes into tiny slits. “Boy, careful is one truck, maybe two. That out there?” she pointed toward the window, “that’s lockdown.”
“Ma…”
“No, don’t ‘Ma’ me.” She leaned forward, with her diamond bangles clinking against the table. “Every time it get like this, it means y’all are knee deep in some mess you aren’t telling me about and every time, I find out after the bullets already done flew. I’m too old for surprises.”
Pops’ chair slid back slowly. He’d been quiet the whole time, letting her talk, but when he stood, up the room adjusted.
Pops didn’t have to raise his voice… he just had that presence that hushed everything down.
“Dee, let the boys breathe,” he said calmly.
His tone was smooth and deep. “They’ll tell us when we need to know. ”
She stared at him for a second, then exhaled hard. “Alright, but I swear, if I hear one siren near my driveway, I’m beating somebody’s grown ass.”
That broke the tension enough for a few chuckles to sneak around the table. Even from me. Ma muttered under her breath and went back to fixing Amour’s dessert like she hadn’t just threatened her own sons in front of company.
Pops turned his gaze to me and Dique. “After dinner,” he said, quiet but firm. “My office…now.”
That was all he had to say. He meant business and when the plates were cleared, me and Dique followed Pops down the hall to his office.
He kept it simple with dark wood walls, and old leather chairs, with the smell of cigar smoke and pine oil lingering.
His framed photos told the whole story of who he was throughout life.
A man that had done dirt, survived it, and built his empire quietly.
He closed the door behind us and leaned against the desk, crossing his arms. His gold watch caught the lamp light.
“I see the extra security,” he started. “I see the tension in this house. I don’t need the news to tell me when my sons at war.”
Neither of us said anything. Dique looked down at his sneakers, chewing on his toothpick now, while I stared at the rug. Pops didn’t like explanations anyway. He liked truth, plain and simple, which I didn’t mind giving, when the time was right.
“I ain’t gon’ ask for every detail,” he continued.
“But I’m gon’ say this once. I done buried enough brothers, cousins, and friends.
I ain’t buryin’ none of my kids.” He looked straight at me first. “You runnin’ things now, Dom.
You got power, I respect that. But power without caution is suicide. You understand?”
“Yes, sir.” I was strategic and powerful. Pops knew this, but it was his job to keep me humble enough to remember that I wasn’t immortal.
He turned to Dique next. “And you keep your head on. I know you love your jokes, but this ain’t playtime no more. You got that little girl to think about now.”
Dique nodded, with his expression turning serious. “I know, Pops.”
Pops nodded slowly with his eyes softening just a little.
“Good, ’cause y’all mama might bark the loudest, but I see the whole picture.
Every move y’all make echoes through this family.
You protect what’s yours, but don’t die tryin’ to prove you invincible.
Kings die too.” That line hit hard between us. His honesty was appreciated.
I finally lifted my head. “We got it handled, Pops. You don’t gotta worry.”
He looked at me a long time before speaking again. “You know that’s exactly what your uncle said before he got caught slippin’. I don’t need brave men in caskets. I need my sons alive.”
The silence that followed was inevitable.
Dique nodded first, with his jaw tight. I took a steady breath, feeling the truth in every word.
Pops finally walked over, placing a hand on each of our shoulders in a firm, fatherly way.
“You boys got the streets. I got this house. Just don’t make your mama have to pick out black suits for you all. ”
We both nodded, with no words left to add. He patted my shoulder again, then turned back toward his desk, dismissing us with a nod. When we stepped back into the hallway, the sound of laughter floated from the living room. Ma was getting to know Keondra a little more while Amour ate her pound cake.
Dique blew out a breath and rubbed the back of his neck. “Man,” he muttered, half to himself. “Pops don’t ever miss with them speeches.”
“’Cause he ain’t talking for fun,” I said, walking toward the noise. “He talking from the heart.”
My phone vibrated in my pocket while Dique was still talking Pops’ speech out loud, joking about how he sounded like a pastor with a Glock.
I shook my head, stepped out of the office, and slid down the hall till I hit the back porch.
The night air was humid, carrying that faint mix of pine, fried food, and money.
I pulled the phone out and answered without checking the screen.
“Yeah.”
“Hey, don’t ‘yeah’ me,” Carmen said, in a soft, yet stern voice. “You remember my appointment tomorrow?”
I leaned against the porch rail, smirking. “Yeah, I remember. I don’t forget nothing when it come to you or mine.”
She laughed. “Mmhmm, we’ll see. I was just reminding you before I finish up here.”
I could hear music in the background full of heavy bass, and crowd noise, with glasses clinking. “Where you at?” I asked.
“The club,” she told me. “O’Shynn dragged me out here while she checks some paperwork for the girls. I’m at the bar going through contracts and emails. She’s over there arguing with some promoter about a deposit.”
I could picture Carmen in her tailored suit, with her curls tucked behind her ear and laptop open while everybody else was two shots deep with O’Shynn somewhere nearby, loud enough to make the DJ stop the music if somebody tried her.
“You workin’ in the club?” I asked.
“Please,” she said. “You think court drained me? Try negotiating with these bottle girls and DJs. I’d rather argue with a judge.”
O’Shynn’s voice came through the background. “Tell Dom I said his mama better have mac and cheese if we comin’!”
“Tell her she always think with her stomach.”
Carmen laughed again and I realized something. Me showing her genuine love had her happy. This was the most I ever heard her laugh. “So, you callin’ me just to flirt or you actually needed something?”
“I was gon’ call you,” I said. “But you beat me to it. I want you to come through to my parents’ house. Only thing missing is my wife and my sister. Get here.”
“Ohh, so I’m wife now?” she teased.
“You always been that.” I replied. “They miss you. Plus, Keondra and Amour here too. Might as well make it a full house.”
She paused a second, and she stopped clacking the keyboards. “You sure that’s a good idea? You know your mama don’t filter.”
“I know,” I told her, glancing through the window where Ma was wiping Amour’s face and talking to her like she had known her since birth. “But it’s time. I want you here.”
Carmen got quiet long enough for the bass from the club to fill the silence again. Then her voice came back louder. “Alright… we’ll come through. O’Shynn’s already ready for an excuse to leave anyway.”
“You driving or you want me to send somebody?”
“The drivers are taking us,” she said. “O’Shynn already told him to gas up the Maybach, and she said don’t have your mama start dinner without us.”
I shook my head. “Man, y’all talk to Ma, like she the damn cookout committee. We ate already. Too late.”
“She basically is,” Carmen said. “You know that nobody is saying no to Ma’s cooking. Now go back in the house before she thinks you’re running a cartel meeting on her porch.”
“I am running one.” I muttered. “Ain’t no secret.”
She chuckled again, then her tone softened up. “You some rest, Dom. You been moving nonstop for a long time and I can hear it in your voice.”
“I’m good, baby,” I told her. “Long as you and that baby straight.” It was crazy how that shit just eased off of my tongue, that’s how I knew it was real.
“We are,” she cooed. “The doctor will confirm that too.”
“Yeah,” I said, looking back through the window at my family gathered in the dining room. “Yeah, tomorrow.”
When she ended the call, I slid the phone back in my pocket and headed inside where the noise swallowed me back up.