Chapter 10 Bishop
BISHOP
“Yo, yo, yo,” Rook closed in on me and I dapped him up. “What’s up?”
“Shit. Making sure everything is good for tonight.” I gestured to the cameras in front of me.
We were hours away from Rook and Winnie’s second engagement party and it was being hosted at the Barron estate.
I’d pulled files on her and her sister, Flora but there was no way to get information on all of their guests before the gathering so I was doing what I needed to do on the security side of things.
I’d pretty much doubled the amount of hired guns we’d have and I’d made it clear to my family and Asante to make sure they had weapons on them.
I didn’t want shit to hit the fan, but if it did I wasn’t going to be the reason they were caught lacking.
“Yeah, well you look like shit,” Rook said.
“Fuck you, alright?” I chuckled and turned around to face the screens again.
A yawn escaped my mouth as if on queue and Rook snickered.
I’d gotten to sleep beside Asante just fine, but staying asleep had been another issue. My body had wanted to shut down but my brain on the other hand, had not.
“All jokes aside.You good?” Rook asked.
“You’re the one that just got married. I should be asking you that.”
“I’m chilling,” he shrugged. “Shit. It is what it is. I mean, Winnie came over earlier and caught Sydney over so that was some bullshit but,” he shrugged.
“I don’t know what she expected. We were thrown into this marriage and it ain’t for love.
Shit. It’s barely for honor. We don’t owe each other shit for real. ”
“Rook,” I said his name carefully. “You can’t walk into a marriage saying you don’t owe each other shit whether it’s arranged or not.”
“That’s a lot coming from Mr. I’m Going To Cheat On My Wife The First Night I’m Married.” He snickered.
“The difference is my wife will walk in knowing what she’s getting. Winnie didn’t have a clue.”
“Yeah, well it’s not like I was fucking Syd and she walked in or caught us or some shit. I have a lil decency. I’m not going to fuck ole girl in the house we share or no shit like that, but thinking I’m about to just be faithful in this contract ass short term marriage is stupid as fuck.”
“Y’all need to sit down and lock in the rules of y’alls marriage then.”
“Yeah, okay. She was mad that Sydney was helping me get her room together for the weekend. That’s petty shit.”
“Nah. Yo’ ass is being obtuse on purpose.”
“If she waited around for me to put flowers and shit out in her room, she would have been waiting forever.”
“You’re fucking ridiculous,” I chuckled and shook my head. “You gon’ have to tighten up if you plan on making it married for two years though.”
“She needs this marriage, not me.” Rook said simply. “Whether we make it or not don’t really affect me.”
“Tell that shit to King then.” I pressed a few buttons on my monitor and watched as they all started to flip between cameras, recalibrating quickly.
“You committed to making shit work with this woman so that’s what you need to do.
To my knowledge, King ain’t put a gun to your head when it was just the two of y’all alone. Or did he?”
“Fuck no.”
“Then take responsibility and adjust.”
“Easier said than done.”
“If nobody know how true that shit is, I do.”
“Yeah, I know.” He exhaled. “Shit gon’ be good for you though. For real.” He hit me on the shoulder and leaned in over me, his eyes focused on the top screen.
“Can you shift this one?”
“Yeah. Which way?”
“Lil bit to the left.”
“Got it.” I tapped into the specific camera he was talking about and moved it a little bit.
“Right there,” he instructed.
I stopped the camera then recalibrated it one more time. “Good?”
“Good.”
Knocking sounded through the room and Rook and I both looked back briefly before I flipped through to the camera outside of the main door.
I lifted an eyebrow but buzzed King in. We watched on the screen as he made his trek down to the room and typed his own code into the second door to get it open.
We both turned around to greet him.
“What’s up?”
“What’s up?” King walked over to me and dapped us both up. “Y’all busy?”
“Nah. Not really.” I locked my computer screen and turned around fully in my chair. “What’s up?”
“Let’s talk while I have y’all both here.”
King walked further inside, pulling the door in place behind him. He yanked a chair over to him and sat across from us and Rook took a seat of his own.
I pushed my glasses up and gestured to King.
“The floor is yours.”
“Alright, well look you know I’m not the type of man to beat around the bush so I’m going to look you in your face while I ask you this question and I’m going to do it in front of our brother. You seeing Asante or what, Bishop?”
“Does it matter?” I countered.
“If it didn’t matter I wouldn’t be asking you about it. Be real with me.”
“You asking as my brother or the head of my family?”
“Does it matter?”
“Yeah.” I didn’t hesitate. “It does.”
“I’m asking as your brother.”
I leaned back in my seat and my eyes tried to read my brother’s body language.
“Then, yeah. Asante and I have been seeing each other.”
Rook adjusted how he was sitting but my eyes were focused on our oldest brother right now.
“Okay.” King swallowed and nodded slowly. He exhaled and leaned forward, resting his arms on his legs. “Is it serious?” He asked after a moment.
“Serious enough for it to be exclusive to just the two of us, but not serious enough for you to be worried about my matches and shit. Asante knew what it was when we got involved with each other. We both did. I can do my duty when the time comes.”
“You never thought to tell me you had a boyfriend?”
“You never asked.”
King opened his mouth then closed it. “Did Rook have to ask?” He gestured to him.
I scoffed.
“Rook and I are two halves of the same soul. He didn’t have to ask because there was never a need to. He took one look at me in the club talking to Asante and he didn’t need me to confirm or validate anything he thought he saw between us.”
King nodded at that. “Take away the family and honor stuff and just be honest and real with me, B. Are you in love with Asante and is Asante in love with you?”
I sighed and let my head fall back against my seat. I groaned. I pinched the bridge of my nose and collected myself. I sat up fully after my next exhale and really took in my brother.
King looked both stressed and anxious, two things he didn’t wear often.
I didn’t know where this certain interest in my personal life had come from but I didn’t like it.
I didn’t have the heart to look him in his face and lie to him though.
“Yeah.” I answered King quietly. “There’s love there.”
“Real love?”
“Yeah. It’s real.”
“What do you like about him?”
“Do you really want to hear that shit?”
“I asked.” King sat up in his seat and I looked off as I thought about Asante.
A smile crept across my face before I could stop it.
“He’s good for me.” I said finally. “He uh, he looks out for me the way that I feel like I look out for the family. I don’t have to have my head on a swivel when I’m with him.
When I’m home I’m worried about security and cameras and being aware of any potential threat to our family but when I’m with Asante, I know I’m good.
I don’t have to do shit but exist and I know he got me.
He’s cultivated a space where I feel comfortable doing that.
“He gives me space to just be me. He doesn’t give a fuck about my last name or none of that shit.
He’s funny. He makes me laugh when I feel like the world is crashing down around me.
He supports me and pushes me and he’s ambitious and smart and so fucking emotionally intelligent it’s kind of crazy.
He makes me feel even luckier to live the life I live with the way he looks at everything in our world with a wonder that I’ve never experienced.
“He’s my partner for real. He’s always there whether it’s to help me troubleshoot computers and shit or just sitting up with me while I get work done and make passports.
He’s a man of few words but I talk enough for the both of us.
” I chuckled. “He never tries to make me feel bad about our family business and stolen moments. Honestly, I feel like he gives way more than he takes and while I hate that shit he always reassures me shit is just the way it’s supposed to be.
” I shrugged. “Loving and being loved by Asante is a…” I paused while I thought about my next words carefully, “spiritual experience.”
King nodded. “I’m glad you’ve found someone that makes you feel that way, Bishop.” He cleared his throat. “Look, if you want to hold on to that feeling and to Asante, you have my blessing.”
“Thanks.” I smiled softly.
I didn’t realize how much my family’s opinion on Asante mattered to me. I hadn’t thought about it since I hadn’t expected to tell anyone about him but now that King and I were having this conversation it was impossible to downplay it. I was happy he approved.
“I think Asante is a nice man. He’s driven and goal oriented and if he’s even half the person you said he was, he’s an amazing person for you.”
“Yeah. He is.”
“That’s why I want to make it clear that when I said that you had my blessing I meant to get married.”
“What?” I looked from King to Rook and back.
“You heard me. You have to be married by your birthday and uh, there’s nothing really in the rules that says it has to be to a woman.
That’s just the way shit has always been done, but uhm, I’m making the matches now and it’s been decided that if you want to marry Asante, or any other man, you can do that.
I mean, we can add some to your binder or some shit if you want and you don’t lock in with Asante. ”
“King,” I locked eyes with my brother as I asked. “Are you sure about this?”
“It’s already decided and the only approval it needed to go through is mine.”
“Mom and Dad—”
“Don’t necessarily get a vote, but if it makes you feel better, they’re on board.”