51. Four #2
“Yeah,” he nodded. “From the moment I saw you. You don’t look like the nigga, but y’all exactly alike.
Mean, calculated, obsessed with the same bitch.
” He rested his head against the pole and smiled.
Half his teeth were missing. “I seen her, heard her cry and shit, so I get it, but she ain’t my type.
” He shook his head. “Robert though?” he looked over at me. “That nigga loves her.”
“It ain’t love,” I corrected him.
“Yeah, it is,” Javion nodded. “That nigga loves her.” He coughed, then spit a glob of blood onto the floor. “Just kill me so I can sleep.” He stretched his long legs out in front of him. “I ain’t the nigga you after anyway. I wasn’t in the room that night.”
“But you know about it?” I asked, and he nodded.
“Even seen the video of it,” he smiled again.
“There’s a video?”
“Isaac got it. Robert doesn’t know he has it, though.
” He closed his eyes. “He played it a few times for me. Hearing her cry and shit.” He nodded.
“It’s nice. Made me step my game up on my videos.
The video of my baby mama and me is the only one that tops it in my opinion.
That’s a masterpiece, and my jit is the evidence of it. ”
“Thank you,” I said, standing.
Javien Jr. opened his eyes. “Wait, you ain’t gonna kill me?” he asked, and I shook my head. “Why not? Didn’t Robert send you to do it?”
“Nah,” I answered with a chuckle. “I just came for information. You gave me enough.”
“I ain’t tell you shit you didn’t already know,” he said, and I shrugged.
He was wrong, but I didn’t need to tell him that.
The only thing I didn’t know about was the video.
Isaac was the next on my list to kill. “You just gonna leave me here?” he shook his head.
“Nah, ain’t no way. Robert said when he sent his son I would die.
I made peace with that shit. I got my son; my legacy is good. ”
“Robert didn’t send me,” I finally told him.
“And your son? I hope the man that ends up raising him shows him the love you never experienced. He ain’t gonna know you, remember you, nor idolize you.
You’re just a sperm donor. The man that raises him will be his daddy, his hero.
You ain’t gonna be a thought in nobody's mind.”
I left the room, making sure to close the door behind me. Xoey sat at a table, her attention on her laptop. She looked up at me, her brow going up.
“Find out anything useful?”
“I need to talk to my brother,” I told her. Xoey was one of the few people who knew about Trey and Gentle. She was also aware that I spoke to him regularly.
She sat back in her chair, crossed her arms, and tilted her head to the side. “Why do you look like that?”
Sighing, I wiped my hand over my mouth. “Javien Jr. thought…” I stopped talking and shook my head. “I need to talk to your pop. Is he available?”
She uncrossed her arms and looked at her watch. “Maybe, he’s at the office today.”
“Alright, I’m heading that way.”
“You want me to come?”
“Nah, not this time. I appreciate the support though.”
“Any time.”
***
Instead of going to see Xayne, I went to Cori’s shop to talk to her.
I had her scheduling app on my phone, so I knew she was free for the rest of the day.
I wasn’t going to keep making moves without her.
She deserved to know everything that was going on.
I parked my truck next to her car, got out, making sure to check my surroundings before walking into her shop.
“Hey,” she greeted me from her station. She was cleaning up. Her posture was relaxed, but I could see the hesitation in her eyes. She watched me through the mirror as I approached her. When I was close enough, I wrapped my arms around her waist, and she willingly relaxed into my embrace.
“Hey,” I replied, looking down at her. She rested her chin in my chest and looked up at me.
Her eyes bounced from my lips to my eyes, and I knew she wanted me to kiss her.
Cori initiated kissing a few times. I wasn’t complaining about it.
I knew she would get there eventually, and until she did, I had no problem taking the lead.
I lowered my face, kissing her softly, then nibbled on her bottom lip until I heard her whimper.
Once I did, I deepened the kiss, pushing my tongue into her mouth and controlling the urgency.
Her arms went around my neck, pulling me closer to her.
My dick hardened, and even though I wanted nothing more than to take her into her office and fuck her until we didn’t have any more strength left, I knew I couldn’t do that.
I pulled back, resting my forehead against hers.
Her nails raked against the base of my neck, making chills run down my spine. “I didn’t think I would see you until tonight,” she breathlessly said with a light laugh.
“I came here instead of going to my next meeting.” I lifted my head, kissed her forehead, then stepped back until I was sitting in her chair, bringing her with me. “I wanted to run something by you.”
“Okay.”
“The next name on my list,” I said, and she nodded. “It’s Melissa.” When she stiffened, I pulled her closer to me, then kissed her shoulder. “I planned to kill her.”
“Planned?” Her voice was tight.
“She’s already dead,” I told her. “Mercy killed her.”
“You told Mercy?” she asked.
“No,” I quickly said. “She doesn’t know. I didn’t say anything.” I quickly told her everything Pyrite told me about Melissa spiking Givens drink and setting him up.
“Mercy doesn’t know,” she said, nodding. “Okay.” She was talking to herself, trying to calm herself down. Seeing her reaction to her cousin possibly finding out what she’d gone through from anyone else besides her wasn’t something she could handle. She needed to be the one who told them, not me.
“I did talk to Javien Jr. though,” I said once she’d calmed down. “He said Robert told him that he would send his son to kill him.” I took a deep breath. “He thought Trey was coming.”
“Your relationship with your brother…”
“I trust Trey,” I said, shaking my head. “After all the shit we’ve been through. My trust in him has never wavered.”
She tapped my arm. “Let me up.”
“If you’re going to run-“
“I’m not,” she said, shaking her head. “I just want to look at you while we talk.” Reluctantly, I let her go, and she got up, leaned against her workstation, and put her hands in her pockets.
“If you were in my situation, would you trust Psalms?” I asked her.
Cori shook her head. “You can't compare the two situations,” she said. “We were victims.”
“And what was Kenbral and me? Willing accomplices?” I asked. I could feel my temper rising. “Is that how you see us? Like we wanted to do that shit?”
“You? No,” she said, shaking her head. “But Kenbral? He went back, right? You said he went back.”
“To protect me!” I told her, standing. “He went back so I wouldn’t have to, just like you would’ve done for Psalms. Like you did for Psalms as a kid? How many times did you fight so Psalms was protected?”
“That was different.”
“The only difference was our ages,” I told her. “You did it as a kid. Kenbral did as an adult.”
She stared at me for a few seconds. Our silence was heavy with anger and fear of what the other person would say.
We’d never fought before. At times, we disagreed, but for the most part, there was never a fight.
We didn’t do anger. Not that we didn’t get mad, because we did; we just never let it lead our conversations. This was different.
“Okay, Uri,” Cori finally said, nodding. She licked her lips and looked away.
“Cori, Kenbral is-“
“Let it go,” she quickly said, shaking her head. “If you think your brother is a good person, then leave it at that. There is no reason to talk about it further.”
“You’re upset.”
“I’m not,” she said, turning to look at me. Her eyes were guarded. There was no anger in her gaze. Just hesitation. Like she had a secret that she didn’t want me to know. “Tell me what else happened.”
I sat back, wiped my hand over my mouth, then nodded. “Javien Jr. said there’s a video from that night,” I told her. Her left hand started moving in her pocket. She tapped when she was nervous or frustrated. “I plan to go see my brother.”
“You know where he’s at?” she asked.
“Something like that,” I said, nodding. “I’ll be gone for a few days though.”
“That’s fine.”
“I want to talk to the older generation. I was on my way to see Xayne. Please go with me to talk to them. Nine gave me some information that I want to run by you first.”
“Okay.”
“Unc told us that everybody basically knew each other, but what he didn’t say was why they all stopped talking. From what Nine could find, they cut ties with Robert after your parents’ death. I want to know why. I set up the meeting for when I come back.”