Chapter 18
I was fucking seething. Seeing my daughter run to that light-skinned nigga had me sick to my stomach.
The longer I thought about it, the harder it was to resist the urge to spin the block and wait for the nigga to leave.
He clearly thought I was a joke. Fuck whatever El said to him; I was going to make sure that nigga stayed away from my family.
When I saw his bitch ass Prius pull away from the house, I let him get down the block.
Then I crept out behind him. I trailed him all the way downtown, where he parked behind a building.
I smiled because he’d fucked up. Going into my middle console, I pulled out my ski.
I went under my seat next and grabbed my Glock. I double-checked that it was loaded.
Hopping out, I moved quickly down the block.
My adrenaline was rushing a mile a minute, and I was low key excited.
I hadn’t walked down on a nigga in a long fucking time, but I needed niggas to know that, about my family, it could get like that.
“Run me them pockets, nigga,” I said through clenched teeth.
I heard his scary ass gasp when the cold barrel touched the back of his neck. He held his hands up. “I don’t got nothing, man. Please.”
I chuckled. “Please, what?” When he shuddered instead of responding, I cocked back and knocked him across the head with my gun. He dropped to the ground like a dead body, groaning while he rolled from side to side. “Like I said, run me them pockets, bitch-ass nigga.”
“Okay, okay. Damn!” he screamed like a little schoolgirl.
I smiled underneath my mask, loving every second of this.
Ain’t no way in hell he thought he could lead and protect my family when he couldn’t even handle a little robbery.
He fumbled with his pockets, pulling out his wallet, phone, and some mints.
They were the hard kind that were my favorite, so I popped one.
“Aye, stop all that hollering and unlock this shit.”
When he didn’t move as fast as I wanted him to, I took the safety off my gun.
He unlocked his phone without another word.
He was hard down crying now, while I stood there with my gun trained on him, scrolling through his contacts.
When I found my woman, I deleted it. I went to the text messages to delete their text thread too.
Satisfied with my work, I smashed his shit on the concrete.
“What the fuck?” he yelled.
“Shut the fuck up!” I barked. I snatched him up by the front of his shirt and put my gun underneath his chin.
We were eye to eye, and while I felt no fear, this nigga was filled with it.
The air reeked with his scariness and got worse when I smelled urine.
“Did you just piss yourself, dawg?” That increased my anger ’cause he was too damn grown.
I hadn’t even done real damage to his ass.
I frowned and shook my head. “Aye, you see how easy it was for me to get to you. Ain’t nobody playin’ withchu, nigga. Stay the fuck away from my family.”
“P-perfect?” he stuttered.
I mocked him then chuckled. Instead of answering him, I reiterated my warning. “Stay away from my family unless you have a death wish. Understand?” He nodded, but that wasn’t good enough for me. “Nah, I need to hear you say it so I don’t flinch if you decide to test my gangsta again.”
“I’ma stay away from your family. You don’t have to worry.”
I smiled. “Oh, I was never worried, but you should be. I’m not new to murder.” I chuckled darkly then pushed him back on the ground.
I heard him yelling after me about having his wallet, but I kept going. I hopped in my truck, cranked up, then sped away without a backward glance. If he was smart, we’d never see that nigga again.
I pressed my weight into the door frame while I waited for El to let me into the house.
As soon as the door opened, I pressed play on my phone.
The beat to NBA Youngboy’s “You the One” began playing on cue.
El tried to hide her smile, but she couldn’t help it, so she buried her face in my chest instead.
“You’re not mad at me?”
I cupped her chin and tilted her head back so she had to look up at me.
I started rapping the lyrics, paying her question no mind.
“You the one that I want in my life. You the one that I want every night,” I sang off-key.
She had the goofiest smile on her face. “We playing this at our wedding,” I told her while wrapping my arms around her waist.
I backed her into the house, then kicked the door closed with my foot. “That is so ghetto.” She laughed, but then she said, “But you the one I want in my life too, so I’m cool with that.”
My phone continued to play similar music, so instead of letting her go, I wrapped her tighter in my arms. We stared lovingly into each other’s eyes. “Can I admit something?” I asked barely above a whisper.
She nodded. “Of course, baby.”
“I always wanted you,” I said without pause.
“But I thought you would never give a hoodlum like me a chance, so I went with the girl who I felt was more my speed.” A goofy grin appeared on her face.
“What?” I laughed, feeling giddy all of a sudden.
But when I was around my girls, I always felt lighthearted and playful. They brought that out of me.
“I always wanted you too. I would’ve went,” she blurted with a grin.
I shook my head, “Damn, . . . So you coulda been mine, huh?”
“Beeennn!”
We shared a laugh before I sighed. “Well, it doesn’t matter. We’re here now.”
She nodded. “We are. You’re perfect, and our daughter is precious. I couldn’t be more blessed.”
“I want to live together.” I blurted my thoughts.
“Like you move in here?”
I shook my head. “Nah, like we buy a house.”
She paused. Her mouth opened and closed like a fish before she finally found her words. I knew I caught her off guard, but it was on my mind heavily. “You sure, Perfect? There’s no rush.”
I nodded. “Yes, there is. I already missed the first two years of my baby’s life. I don’t want to ever miss anything again.” I tightened my grip on her and pulled her into my chest. “So, what do you say? Ready to start a life with me?”
Instead of replying, she lifted on her toes to kiss me with every fiber of love in her body. Somewhere during the kiss, I started to taste her salty tears spilling into our make-out session. I released her to wipe them away, then I leaned my forehead on hers.
“I’m ready,” she finally replied. And that was all I needed to hear as I hiked her around my waist and carried her to the bedroom so we could celebrate our love and what was next for us.