Chapter 5 #2
Which meant I had minutes to make some shit shake. I needed to know what the fuck Mallory wanted first. For her to pop up at my crib, trying anything to enter, she had to want something important.
I called Sam immediately. He picked up on the second ring.
"Where are you?" I asked.
"I’m on the compound, at Zaire’s house now. Setting up for his arrival like you asked," Sam said. "Why? What's up?"
"Mallory is trying to breach the property," I said, my voice low and controlled even though rage was burning through my veins. "Go to the main entrance. Get her. Take her to the pool house and tie her up. Don't let Tatti see her or get to her. Make sure that Mallory is secure and don’t go nowhere. You understand me? Don’t make the same mistake as last time because I won’t be so understanding tonight!”
"Understood," Sam said, and the call ended.
I stood there for a moment, processing everything that was happening at once.
My brother was about to be released.
My lying ass wife was ready to commit murder like I didn’t want to damn near kill her ass right now myself.
My ex sneaky-link was trying to break into my property for reasons I don’t fuckin know.
And I was standing at a prison gate trying to hold it together while my mother watched me like a hawk trying to read my mind with her nosey, overbearing ass self.
I turned back to my family. Forced myself to breathe. Forced myself to be present for this moment because Zaire deserved to see his family happy when he walked out, not stressed and torn in a thousand directions.
My father put his hand on my shoulder when I walked back over. "You good?" he asked.
"Yeah," I said. "I'm good, just nervous and excited for this moment. This is what we’ve been waiting on,”
I wasn't good at all, but as a man, and as the man taking over, I couldn’t show signs of stress or weakness. And Zaire didn't need to see that right now.
Then the gates opened. I held a long breath.
It was really time. Our lives could finally go back to normal.
My brother walked out with two guards escorting him, and for a second, everything else disappeared.
All the shit that was eating me alive just vanished.
Tatti, Mallory, the lies, the secrets, the rage burning in my chest—all of it disappeared.
My brother had just beat a case that most niggas never would have seen the light of day from again.
Zaire was walking toward us in prison clothes, moving slow, taking it all in like he couldn't believe it was real, like he was waiting for someone to tell him this was a setup, that he had to go back inside.
But he kept walking toward his family. That outside air felt different to this nigga, and I could tell by the way he took those deep breaths before exhaling.
My mother took off running. Literally sprinted toward him like she was a young woman again, like she didn't have years of carrying the weight of life on her shoulders.
She hit him full force and wrapped her arms around him and I watched my little brother hold my mother while she cried into his shoulder, real tears, powerful tears, the kind that come from knowing your child survived something that was supposed to destroy him.
Watching them hug like that, it had a nigga damn near emotional.
My father walked up steady, pulled Zaire into his embrace, and I could see something shift in my father's face like he was just now believing it was real, like his son was actually home and he could finally exhale after a year of holding his breath.
Namier was already moving toward him with his arms open and a smile on his face that was real in a way I hadn't seen from him in months.
The bond we had, the bond we all had, it was some shit that couldn't be put into words.
It was real, it was raw, and there was no limit to what we'd do for one another.
The love was spoken in volumes between us, in action and as well as words.
We were raised to feel every emotion that brothers felt, to protect one another, and to stand on business when it came to our family.
Then, I walked up to where they stood, slow.
I took my time getting to my brother because I needed to feel this moment, needed to absorb it, needed to remember what this felt like—the moment I'd worked for, the moment I'd sacrificed sleep and peace for, the moment that proved everything I'd done was worth it. Had I’d given up on my brother, and honestly believed he couldn’t get out of that situation, then we wouldn’t be here right now.
Zaire looked at me as I approached and our eyes locked and held without breaking, no words needed because everything was in that look.
He understood that his big brother had just moved mountains for him, that I'd gone up against judges, feds, dirty cops and snitches, and I'd won.
That when I said I had him covered and I was gonna bring him home, I meant it with everything in me.
Everyone stepped back and gave us space.
I pulled my little brother into an embrace and held him like I was trying to make up for every single day he'd spent in that cell, like I was trying to protect him from everything the world was about to throw at him.
"When I said I got you," I said quietly in his ear, "that meant forever. You know that?"
Zaire held me tighter and his voice came out rough with emotion.
"I never doubted you from the day I stepped foot in that bitch. And that's why I'll always be my brother's keeper! From the womb to the tomb," he said.
We stood there like that for a moment, two brothers holding onto each other, and for the first time in months, I felt like I could actually be at peace. Somewhat.
My mother was crying. My father had his hand on both our shoulders. Namier was wiping his face.
This was the moment. This was what it was all about. Zaire was free and right now in this moment, nothing else mattered except that my little brother was home and my family was whole again. The feeling in my chest was heavy and I was beyond grateful right now.
I enjoyed this feeling because I knew when I got home, it was about to be some shit.