1 #3
Clover used to stay the night at their house a lot and she had mostly everything that she needed there already. She always used the same spare bedroom whenever she visited. If Tilly agreed to let her stay, the room would be hers permanently.
Diva’s heart broke as she drove towards her house.
Clover sat on the passenger’s side in a fetal position and cried softly.
She held her hand as she drove through the security gates of her house and parked in the driveway.
Clover broke down again, and Diva just sat there and hugged her for a while.
They stayed in the car so long that Hank’s friend had boarded up the door and had just pulled up to drop him off.
“I’m gonna help her get settled. Talk to the boys and let them know what’s up,” Diva said when her husband walked over to them.
He picked Clover up and held her in a fetal position while his wife opened the door for them to go inside.
It was dark, but Hank knew his house like the back of his hand.
He was the one who designed and built it with his team.
He carried Clover upstairs and laid her in the bed that she always slept in.
Diva kicked off her shoes and laid down with her.
Hank headed back downstairs to the huge game room where his sons usually hung out at. He opened the door and saw the three of them with remotes in their hands, playing a game on the huge, wall mounted tv.
“I need to rap with y’all for a minute,” he said as he looked at them one by one.
Fonzo was fourteen and considered to be the levelheaded peacemaker of the three.
He was the heart of the trio and the nicest one too.
He sat his controller down and gave his father his undivided attention.
Twelve-year-old Dash was the smart one and the only one who wanted to go to college.
He could be headstrong at times but he was the brains behind whatever his brothers wanted to do, good or bad.
Thirteen-year old Monty was the hotheaded wild child of the bunch and didn’t give a fuck about too many things.
He was the muscle of the bunch. He was fearless but always brutally honest.
The three of them were all different in their own way but they were closer than any siblings that Hank ever knew.
That’s how they were raised, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Is something wrong?” Dash asked while sitting his controller on the table next to him.
Monty, being defiant as always, was still engaged in the game until Hank grabbed the remote and turned the tv off.
“Seriously, Hank?” He glared at his father without a hint of fear in his eyes. He knew not to go too far, so he backed down when Hank gave him a stern look.
“I got some bad news. Shantel died of a drug overdose.” Hank shook his head to stop the tears that were threatening to spill from his eyes.
“What? When?” Fonzo’s eyes watered when he asked the question. Shantel and Corey were like family to them, and he couldn’t remember a time when they weren’t around. Clover was like his little sister and he treated her as such.
“I’m guessing sometime yesterday. I really don’t know too much, but we should know more soon. She had a needle in her arm, so a drug overdose is the only thing that makes sense. Clover was in the house with her body for hours and she’s not okay right now.”
“Aww man. Where she at? I know she’s really messed up about seeing her mama like that.”
Just like Fonzo, Monty looked at Clover like the sister that he never had.
She was young but she took it hard when her father died and he was sure that it was even worse with her mother, especially since she saw her.
“Yeah, it’s bad, but that’s what I wanted to talk to y’all about. Y’all know how Diva felt about Shantel and how she still feels about Clover. Tilly should be here sometime early in the morning and we’re hoping that she lets Clover stay here with us. If so,
things are gonna be a little different around here and I need everybody to do their part. This will be her home too, and I need her to always feel like it. Are we clear?”
Hank looked at his sons, awaiting their answers.
“No doubt. That’s always been lil sis and nothing will change.” Fonzo nodded, agreeing to what his father had just said.
“Same here. She’s always been family and the same rules apply. That’s baby sis and always will be,” Monty spoke up.
Hank looked over at Dash, already knowing that he was gonna be a problem.
Dash was spoiled rotten and he had himself to blame for that.
All of his boys were a favorite for someone in the family, and Dash was his baby.
Fonzo was the first born and Diva claimed him as her favorite the day she pushed him out.
Monty was the apple of his maternal grandmother’s eye the moment they let her name him after her deceased brother who she was closest with.
She swore that he had the same characteristics and she loved him like her own.
“Do we have a problem, Junior?” Hank asked, calling his son the nickname that only he called him.
He and his oldest sons looked in Dash’s direction, waiting for a reply.
Dash could be stubborn at times, but Hank knew how to handle the monster that he created.
His youngest was always nice to Clover but he didn’t do the lil sis thing with her like his brothers did.
Diva always wanted a daughter and Clover was as close as she came to having one of her own.
More than likely, he thought that he was gonna be replaced as the baby of the family if Clover was always around.
That would never happen but they had to show Clover the same kind of love that they showed their kids, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Nah, I heard everything you said. I be nice to her and stuff, but she ain’t my sister.”
“You for real right nah, bruh.” Fonzo looked at his baby brother and frowned.
“That nigga is selfish. You just heard Hank say the girl mama died. Corey been gone, so all she got here is us. Nobody ain’t trying to replace your spoiled ass.”
Monty was more vocal than his older brother and he didn’t cut no corners.
They could talk freely and express themselves with Hank.
Diva’s fist would have been down Dash’s throat had he not responded to her satisfaction.
“Y’all give me a minute. I need to holla at Junior right quick.” Hank waited patiently until he and Dash were alone.
“Man, it ain’t even gotta be all that. Y’all can’t make me say she’s my sister if I don’t want to. I don’t care about her living here, but she’s not family.” Dash shrugged like it was simple.
“This ain’t the time for you to fuck with me, lil nigga. I got enough on my plate as it is. You better fall in line and you better do that shit quick. Now, I don’t give a fuck if you consider her a sister or a cousin.
You better treat her like a muthafucking queen under this roof and everywhere else. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yeah, I hear you.” Dash sighed as he fell back on the sofa.
He didn’t have a problem with Clover being there and he never did.
He just didn’t feel the same about her as the rest of his family did.
He talked to her all the time when she was there and their relationship was cordial.
He didn’t know what else they wanted from him but that was all they were getting.
Dash didn’t even realize that he was in the room alone until he heard loud voices coming from one of the rooms up front. Hank and his crew designed and built their house, and it was huge.
After a while, he got up to see who all the voices belonged to.
Diva’s mother, Dorothy or Dot, was there along with her oldest son, Dennis, who they all called Denny.
He and Diva were the only two kids and they were very close.
Just like Diva, Dot became a mother at an early age and she was only fifteen years older than her son and seventeen years older than her daughter.
“I hope that girl had some insurance,” Dot said in her boisterous but scratchy voice.
She was a tiny little something with the attitude of a giant.
She looked older than her actual age but years of being in the streets could do that to you.
Dot was the only girl with seven older brothers, so she was harder than most women and could handle her own in any situation.