Chapter 18
EIGHTEEN
ASAD
I was so glad I didn’t have to lift any of this heavy ass furniture.
Ashanni had bought furniture from Howell’s Furniture, so their people delivered it, put it together, and placed shit where she wanted it to go.
The only things we had to move were clothes, bathroom and kitchen shit, and personal shit.
I’d gotten movers to box up stuff in my house and bring it here.
I had nice bedroom furniture that we put in a couple of the bedrooms, and Jayceon’s bedroom things went into his room.
Ashanni had built a huge house, and I wasn’t sure why.
This house had five bedrooms, a huge kitchen and family living area, five bathrooms, a game room, and a huge outside patio area with a bar and barbeque pit.
This shit was set, for real. She also had a four-car garage and a barn.
As I thought about it, I realized she invested a lot into her home, because she didn’t have any expensive hobbies.
The twins had nice-sized houses as well.
Karima, KJ, and Rylan’s houses weren’t as big, but they also had careers they invested in.
Horses and training for those horses weren’t cheap.
The three of them all had huge trailers that they lived in when they were on the road.
Rylan had joined the professional league, but he still wasn’t as active as Karima, Milana, or KJ.
He still worked for the family, so he couldn’t take off as much as they did.
Ashanni’s only hobbies were shopping and reading.
The closet near the bedroom was two fucking stories.
I’d never seen no shit like that. She even had a library that was built the same way as her closet on the opposite side of the second floor.
I learned that she loved to read even more than she loved to shop.
Every night at her parents’ house, she read until she fell asleep.
Most times, when I fell asleep, she was still reading.
Most of the books she read were fiction by black women.
Every now and then, I would see a black male author.
The names Quardeay, Author Kold, Norian Love, and R.
Coxton stuck out to me. She said black male indie authors didn’t get enough love, so she made it her business to read at least one a month.
She was checking out a guy by the name of Nate McGuire next month.
One day, I told her we could read together.
I saw a cover that completely got my interest when we were putting things away.
It was called The Filth Kings by Masterpiece.
A lot of the books Ashanni owned had fire covers.
Between that and riding horses, we would be a team.
She was even talking about starting a podcast to interview authors, starting with Mya.
She said it was a dream of hers and Maui’s to do that.
Although Maui was alienating herself from the family, she still had to pursue it.
As I relaxed on the huge sectional she’d purchased and watched the TV above the mantle, I heard a commotion outside.
Shit could never be quiet for too long. I was sick of always having drama around this bitch.
It was only our first week here in the new house.
Jayceon was taking a nap. We’d run around outside earlier, throwing a football, and that shit wore that lil nigga out.
After eating lunch and taking a bath, he passed out.
I made my way to the door to see Ashanni standing there and Mila behind her with a gun aimed at her head.
My heart dropped to my feet. I expected Ashanni to have fear in her eyes, but I only saw anger.
I peeked outside and saw Ali and Seneca with their guns drawn.
I didn’t know how she got close enough to Ashanni to have her in this position, but here we were.
As I swung the door open, I said, “What the fuck are you doing, Mila?”
She smiled at me. “Getting my family back from this ho!”
“Keep your fucking voice down. Jayceon is asleep, and the last thing I want him to see is his mother holding a gun to his mommy’s head.”
What the fuck did I say that shit for? She fired her weapon in the house, taking out a huge window at the back of the house. Ashanni’s top lip twitched. This house was her pride and joy, and Mila was fucking it up.
“I’m his mother!”
“Ashanni, you okay?”
“Yeah. I didn’t think I would need a bodyguard in fucking Walgreens. When I got there, guess who was in the fucking store? She caught me from behind and forced me back to my car.”
I slid my hand down my face as Mila pushed Ashanni further inside. “Close the fucking door!” she yelled.
I closed my eyes and did as she said. I wanted to tackle her ass, but if Ashanni got shot in the process, she would have to kill me.
I would fucking lose it on her ass. My eyes met Ali’s, and I could see the danger in them.
I gave him a slight nod, giving them the go ahead to do whatever the fuck they had to do to take her ass out of here.
Ashanni didn’t want them to kill her. She said if they could subdue her, to do it that way.
They traced her call last time, but by the time they’d gotten there, her ass was in the wind and had left the phone there.
She was a lot smarter than she was portraying she was in that instance.
She couldn’t have been that smart, though, to try to do this shit today by herself.
I wanted to believe that it caught her off guard that Ashanni was in Walgreen’s, and she couldn’t let the moment pass her by. She didn’t fully think this through.
I didn’t know where she’d gotten a gun from. I could guarantee Ashanni didn’t feel the same way now. She looked like she wanted to do the honors. The way her lip continuously twitched and the scowl on her face deepened, I was hoping she didn’t try to do anything reckless and get herself killed.
We went to the couch as Mila watched us. “Now what?” Ashanni asked.
“I’m going to kill you and make Asad watch,” she said as her gaze shifted somewhat.
She cocked her gun, causing a bullet to slide into the chamber, but before she could pull the trigger, there was a noise outside that distracted her.
She turned that way to see someone out there.
They shot her right in the arm, causing her to drop the gun she was holding.
Ashanni quickly stood and went picked up the gun.
“You stupid bitch!” she yelled, then kicked Mila in the ribs.
I went to her and slid my arms around her waist as Seneca walked in through the back. “I ain’t had to shoot with that much precision in a long time. Y’all good?”
I nodded as my son said, “Daddy!”
Seneca quickly snatched the gun from Ashanni so Jayceon wouldn’t see it. Mila was on the floor moaning and cussing until Jay screamed, “Mommy!”
He came running down the stairs. I met him at the bottom and scooped him up.
I didn’t want him to see her this way. Seneca had practically blown her damn arm off with the gun he used.
I could hear sirens in the distance as Ali walked through the front door with Mr. Jasper and Mrs. Chasity.
Her Uncle Kenny wasn’t far behind. I noticed the twins were with him.
Jayceon was fighting against me to get down, so I lowered him to his feet and said, “I don’t want you to see her like this. Let them get her situated. Okay?”
“But Mommy is standing right there.”
I closed my eyes briefly. I thought he was talking about Mila. He was trying to get to Ashanni. He didn’t even realize that Mila was on the floor. I released him, and he ran straight to Ashanni. “Mommy, are you okay?” he asked. “Why did my other mommy want to shoot you?”
He’d seen everything. That was probably why Mila’s gaze shifted earlier when she was about to shoot Ashanni.
He was watching. She was still going to do that shit with him watching.
That realization made my heart even harder toward her.
It was like she wanted to traumatize him. Seneca should have killed her.
“I’m okay, suga,” Ashanni said as she hugged him tightly and kissed his cheek.
I walked over to them and put my arms around them as her uncle and the twins got Mila situated on the gurney to rush her to Beaumont.
The clinic wasn’t set to open just yet, otherwise, they probably could have taken her there.
I kissed Ashanni’s head repeatedly as her parents hugged all of us.
They hadn’t even had a chance to get to her, since Jayceon ran to her first.
“Miss Ashanni, no offense, but I shouldn’t have listen to yo’ ass. This shit is on me, since I was supposed to be protecting you. Had something happened to you under my watch, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself,” Seneca said as he glanced at Ali.
I could tell Ali was pissed about the whole ordeal. Ashanni went to him and hugged him. “I’m sorry I put you in a situation with your boss. Mister Ali, I’m sorry.”
He nodded, and Seneca nodded as well. I was just glad that she was okay, and Mila was out of our fucking hair. As Mr. Kenny and the twins pushed Mila out, Jayceon said, “She’s not my mommy no more.”
Mila heard him. She turned her head slightly and said, “I’m sorry, Jay. I will always be your mother. I love you, baby.”
She was saying more, but Mr. Kenny kept pushing her ass right on out the door.
“I believed she was the last one. She was only working with Nita. She tried to solicit more people, but I think word may be getting around that y’all ain’t to be fucked with.
I apologize for Seneca’s lapse in judgment.
That falls on Watchful Eyes as a whole.”
Mr. Jasper walked over to him and shook his hand. “My baby is safe, and this shit is over. Job well done.”
Ali nodded. “We’ll get someone here to clean all this shit up. The window will be replaced by tomorrow.”
My eyebrows lifted. That was a big ass glass. Ali definitely had connections if that shit was going to be done tomorrow. Ashanni nodded, then said, “I guess we’ll be back to y’all’s house for one more night.”
Mrs. Chasity grinned, then took Jayceon from her. He smiled and yelled, “Yay! Nana Chas, can we bake cookies?”
“Absolutely! PaPa Jasper wants cookies too.”
Ashanni rolled her eyes as her dad licked his lips while scanning his wife’s curves.
I swore those two were the nastiest older couple I had ever met, and they weren’t ashamed of it in the least. If Ashanni was anything like them, I knew what we had to look forward to.
I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her head.
I took a deep breath, thanking God this wasn’t worse.
I was prepared to take that bullet for her.
My son was in good hands, and I was at peace with that.
Mila had lost a lot of blood. I had to chastise myself for hoping he would have just killed her.
My mama always taught me that what I wished for someone else, could very well happen to me, no matter how much I thought they deserved it.
She told me to pray for my enemies, because they would surely need it when they came after one of God’s children.
It was crazy how her words entered my mind so clearly, like she’d said it yesterday. That also caused me to remember the scripture, Train up a child in the way he should go. When he is old, he won’t depart from it. While I knew I was paraphrasing it, that was the gist. It rang true in this moment.
When I released Ashanni, she turned to me and kissed my lips.
After her parents left out of the house with Jayceon, she said, “I have never felt so scared and angry all at the same time. I didn’t care that she was mentally ill.
I wanted to fuck her up. I’m glad I didn’t.
Had Jayceon pulled away from me because of what he’d seen, it would have broken my heart.
I love you so much, Asad, and I love that little boy with all of me. ”
The tears flowed down her cheeks. Her anger was dissipating as she stared at the blood on the polished cement floors.
I lifted her head by placing my fingers under her chin and stared into her eyes.
The growth I’d seen in her over the past month or so was beyond remarkable.
It testified to how much she loved me. She was willing to make changes to be who and what I needed.
I would do the same for her in a heartbeat.
“I love you, baby. I wouldn’t have faulted you had you blown her head off. I’m glad you didn’t. Not for Jayceon, but for you. You’ve never killed anyone, and the image of her would have bothered you for a long time. Seeing someone be killed is far different from being the killer.”
She frowned at me, and I took a moment to look away. She placed her hands on my either side of my face. “You’ve killed before, Asad?”
“A long time ago. I was a teenager. A man was tryna rob us. We started tussling, and he dropped his gun. I ended up getting to it first because my mama kicked him in the balls. When I thought about his hands groping her as he took her purse, anger flooded my being, and I lit his ass up. All I could think about was him raping and killing my mama. When it was all said and done, I had nightmares about it for years. This is only my second time talking about it since it happened, nearly twenty years ago.”
She hugged me tightly and took a deep ass breath. “I’m sorry you had to go through that, baby.” After pulling away from me, she said, “Let’s get out of here, so Ali’s people can do what they need to do.”
I nodded and grabbed her hand, leading her outside.
He was still out there, and he and Seneca were talking.
He didn’t look angry anymore, so I was glad about that.
I gave them a head nod and Ashanni waved.
While she seemed fine now, I knew she might have problems later, especially when she tried to sleep.
However long it took to help her get back to herself, I would be there for her.
She risked her peace, and now her life to be with me, and I would never take her for granted because of that.