Intercept My Heart

Chapter 18

Rage coursed through my veins, and my hands gripped the steering wheel so hard that they were beginning to throb. I could picture myself punching that bitch ass nigga in his shit for what he had done. The visual of Sunny crying and trembling with fear sent me spiraling. I’d always been the type that wouldn’t put anything past a soul, but I would never have expected something like that from Drake.

When he yelled out that shit about him sleeping with Sunny, it cut me deep because I loved those two like family. Never once did I consider the interaction between them wasn’t consensual. Drake pulled bitches without even trying, so the fact that he intentionally went out of his way to harm Sunny only made me want to kill his ass.

Not only did he take something that didn’t belong to him, but he also moved on with his life as if he hadn’t committed a crime against an innocent woman. That woman, being the love of my life, was the reason my Glock rested in my lap.

Drake lived three hours away, but in my mind, I believed that if I started driving now, I could make it to his house in two. From his Instagram, he was at a club hosting, which would give me time to get to his house before he did. The only reason I had his address was because he invited Dreis to his house for a get-together. Dreis wanted us to make up, so he invited me to be his plus one. At the time, I had no interest in reconciling with him, so I ended up not going.

I decided to enter the address into my business phone because it was a prepaid phone that very few people knew about. Just in case things went a little farther than I planned. At this point, I didn’t give a damn about any consequences that I could possibly face. Drake had to see me, and whatever happened, happened. Sunny’s voice played in my head, telling me that I needed to consider my sons in all of this, but they would want me to defend their mother.

The thought of all the pain Sunny endured had me seeing red as I merged onto the freeway. She called my phone over and over, but I couldn’t deal with her right now. In the beginning, I was pissed because she never told me she was pregnant, but I thought it was due to her betraying me. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine this would have been the reason for her going completely ghost on me.

Eventually, I would have to sit down and have a real talk with her, but I needed some time to sort out my feelings. During the first two hours of driving, there was a multitude of people on the road with me, but as time passed, the number grew smaller and smaller. The radio played in the background, but I wasn’t paying any attention to what was on. Murder was on my mind, and if I didn’t get my feelings under control, I would be going to jail tonight.

The sound of my tires rolling across the gravel on the back road to his house reminded me that I would have to find an inconspicuous place to park. I was sure Drake had cameras all around this bitch, and I wanted to avoid them at all costs. I had an advantage over him because Uncle Ro raised me. I could break into any house undetected with the right tools and a watchful eye.

As a young boy, I went on a few missions with Unc. He insisted that I develop skills both on the field and in the streets. We would break into the houses of dealers who owed him money. You would think working in such a dangerous profession would make those fools more aware, but instead, they would end up tied to a chair, begging for mercy. In Drake’s case, he’d better hope there was any mercy in me for him.

Drake was one of those niggas with new money who didn’t know what to do with it. He automatically assumed because he lived in a good neighborhood that he could slack on protection. That’s why I wasn’t surprised that his side door was unlocked. I wore a mask over my face with my hood pulled over my head to conceal my identity.

Truthfully, I didn’t give a fuck about being caught. Once I finished with Drake, he would probably want to press charges on me, and I would gladly sit in that cell for Sunny’s honor.

Once inside, I got settled and waited for him to come home. Dreis, Sunny, and now Tootie were blowing my phone up. I planned to stop by the house to see Tootie before I headed back home. However, they would all have to wait. The front doors opened, and I heard the sound of voices in the foyer.

“Damn, girl. That ass is fat as hell. I’m about to show you what I can do with it,” Drake slurred drunkenly, alerting me to the fact that he wasn’t alone. It didn’t matter to me because I only came for him.

“Lead the way, papi,” the stranger purred. Both of them sounded as if they were sloppy drunk as they stumbled and laughed together. Once Drake turned the lights on in the living room, his eyes ballooned as he took in my appearance.

“Ahh!”

“Whoa, what the fuck is going on? Who are you, and how did you get in my house!” he roared with fear laced in his voice. I sat there, unmoving, with my gun resting in my glove-covered hand.

“You might want to tell your company to leave,” I warned in a low voice. The liquor must have been strong, because Drake hadn’t seemed to recognize me by my voice yet.

“Oh, but before you go, I would suggest you forget about what you saw here tonight and continue on with your life. If I even get an inkling that you spoke to the police, I’m gonna make sure it’s the last time you ever speak again. Understood?”

“Y-yes, sir. I understand. I wasn’t even here.” She raised her hands in surrender as she backed away. Little mama wasted no time hightailing it out of the front door.

“Look, I don’t know what you want, but if it’s money, I’ve got plenty of it.” I scoffed at his lame ass.

“Naw, I don’t want no fucking money, bitch. There’s only one thing you can do for me.” I stood with my gun at my side. His eyes shifted down as he noticed I was armed.

“W-what is that?” Drake took two steps backward.

“Tell me why you raped my girl?” His brows dipped, and I knew he was confused.

“Don’t tell me you’ve raped that many women, you don’t know who I’m talking about.” I was fuming as I stepped closer to him.

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about. Every bitch I’ve ever fucked wanted to fuck me. Your girl must have lied because she ain’t want you to know we fucked around or something,” Drake surmised.

“Oh yeah?” This time, I removed my mask so he could see my face.

“M-Money? What the hell are you doing here?”

“I already told you why I’m here, mothafucka. Did I stutter?” I drew back and bashed him in the face with the butt of my gun.

“Ahh, shit! What the fuck, yo! I don’t know what that uppity bitch told you, but she lied. I’ve never touched your bitch.” Blood leaked from his face as he swiped his hand under his nose. Crouching down, I got eye level with him so he could see I meant business.

“I’m not talking about her. I’m talking about Sunny.” The wheels began to spin in his mind, and they played out on his face. A sadistic grin spread across his face as he glared back at me.

“Oh, yeah. Your precious Sunshine. Hmm, I still remember the way she felt. She might have put up a little bit of a fight, but I know she liked it. Besides, she deserved that shit. My parents are rotting in prison because of that lying bitch!” he hissed, spitting blood in my direction. Instead of responding, I allowed my fists to do the talking for me. The liquor caused his reactions to be delayed, which was a benefit to me. He could barely hold himself up, but I continued to beat his ass. I showed him the same mercy he showed Sunny. None.

“Money, please! I just had surgery on my shoulder. Fuck!”

“Do you think I give a damn about your health? Huh?” I kicked him in the gut with my steel-toe boots. “As far as I’m concerned, your career can end tonight. You’re the worst kind of man. You can’t fight people your own size, but you don’t mind targeting someone weaker than you.”

Drake began coughing up blood, but I paid him no mind. Taking my gun out, I placed it under his chin.

“You’re gonna kill me behind a bitch? Your best friend?” Drake croaked with tremors in his voice.

“We stopped being friends a long time ago, and it’s deeper than that. You violated someone I love and took something that didn’t belong to you. Killing you wouldn’t even be enough to make up for the pain you’ve caused.”

“Come on, man! She lied! She got on that stand and told all those people about how my parents starved and beat her. All those bitches lied about my father raping them. He wouldn’t do that. He loved us, and he loved my mama. We lost everything! Meanwhile, you ran off into the sunset with a bitch who turned my whole world upside down,” he ranted.

“Are you hearing yourself right now? You’re over here trying to justify the fact that you violated someone. Get the fuck outta here! I don’t even want to hear your excuses or none of that shit. It won’t change the fact that you’re a pussy ass nigga. Now, where is the safe?”

“Huh?”

“If you can huh, you can hear. Where the fuck is the safe?” Drake was the flashy type. He loved to post pictures of himself with money and flaunt it for the world to see. While I might not have needed his money, this wasn’t about me.

“Aww, come on, bro. Are you really gonna rob me? After everything we’ve been through?”

“Hell yeah. The alternative would be me ending your sorry existence. To be honest, that option is still on the table. For right now, take me to the safe, and don’t even try no funny shit. I’ll have my people come through here and make the shit look like a suicide. Play with something safe,” I warned. My intentions were not to kill Drake. As tempting as it might be, it wasn’t the right time.

“Man, this is some bullshit.” He mumbled under his breath, leading me into his bedroom and then his closet. I chuckled under my breath when I saw him put his birthday in as the code. Bro didn’t even try to come up with something secure. Once he opened it, I searched around until I found a duffel bag. Dumping all his clothes out of it, I placed the gun to his temple and instructed him to fill the bag.

“Money, you don’t have to do this. Listen, I know you’re mad, but that shit was so long ago. I mean, be foreal. The two of you needed to break up anyway. She wasn’t built for the type of lifestyle we live. More than likely, her naive ass would have fell victim to the flashing lights and all of the fame. If you think about it, I did you a favor by showing you how flawed she was. Instead of telling you the truth, she fled town. She was a weak b?—”

“Choose your next words carefully. Your life depends on it.” This was the last warning he would get from me. If he said one more thing that was out of pocket, his brain matter would be soaked into the carpet. I noticed him trying to close the bag, but there were still stacks of money in the safe.

“Put it all in there. Don’t play with me, Drake. I want every dollar in that bitch.”

“That’s a quarter of an M. Why do you need this money? You’ve got more money than me! What the fuck, bro? Can’t we work something out?” Drake attempted to reason.

“This isn’t up for negotiation. Either you empty the safe, or I’m gonna empty these bullets into ya dome, then hug your sisters while they weep over your cold ass corpse. Hurry up, pussy ass nigga!”

Wham! I clocked him upside his head with the butt of my gun. A gash formed on the side of his forehead.

“Argh! Fuck you! You better kill me because if not, I’m pressing charges on your bitch ass,” Drake threatened. I burst out laughing at his stupidity. Why would he say some dumb ass shit while my gun is being pointed at his head?

“I’m not worried. The moment you take your ass to the police, they’ll be waiting to arrest your ass. Sunny has medical records, DNA from her old clothes, and a witness. You’ll be all over every news station across the country, and everyone will be calling you a rapist like your bitch ass daddy. The statute of limitations isn’t up yet, which means you’ll be in a nice cell with a bunch of felons who hate niggas like you. Are you ready to be somebody’s bitch? Huh?” I made all that shit up to scare him, but I wasn’t worried. Drake cared more about his image than anything else. This money might be a small loss to him, but I didn’t give a fuck. If I could take all the money out of his account and give it to Sunny, I would. He should have been glad to still have breath in his body because my thoughts were telling me to end his ass tonight.

“I’m sorry. I-I was trying to get revenge for my parents. You don’t know what it’s like to have to figure shit out because your family has been torn apart. She could have walked away, but she had to destroy us in the process.” Drake placed the last dollar into the bag before turning to me.

“I think it’s time for you to rest. It’s obvious that liquor has you talking crazy.” Lifting my foot, I kicked him in the the head. He passed out on the floor, so I dragged his body into the room. Once I got him into bed, I checked for a pulse. I really didn’t care whether he lived or died, but if he was dying, I would need my people to be on standby.

After I took care of business, I closed the duffel bag, tossed it over my shoulder, then headed out the same way I came in. The bag was placed in my truck as I hopped in my ride, off to my next destination.

I decided to go see Tootie to get her opinion on everything. She was usually the person I went to for advice, especially concerning women. I rarely came to back home because the only semblance of a family I had was Tootie and her family. Her daughters often made it a point to stay with me during the holiday season, so I had no real reason to come. Her daughters were like little sisters to me, but Rhyann was a senior in high school, and Raven was a sophomore in college now, so they didn’t have as much time to visit either.

All of this was a lot on me, and I needed to make sure I made the right decisions. I didn’t bother to call first because Tootie never went to bed before two in the morning, and then she would be back up at seven. Her energy was unmatched, but I never complained because she kept my house smelling good with food whenever she came to stay. When I parked on the curb, all the lights were on in her house, but only one car was in the driveway. Sometimes, she liked to host parties, so I was grateful that wasn’t the case for the night.

Getting out of the car, I jogged to the back door. Tootie was one of those old-school mamas who made everyone come in through the side door to avoid any mud or dirt getting in her front room. She rarely ever locked the door, and I’d gotten on her about it multiple times because the neighborhood wasn’t the best. She shooed me off, telling me that she had lived in the same neighborhood for over forty years, and she wasn’t worried about anyone causing her harm.

I offered to have cameras installed, but they were mainly for my peace of mind than hers because she never checked them. Even now, she probably had no idea I was here outside of her door. I turned the knob, making my way inside of the house. It smelled like those linen scented plug-ins that she loved so much and fried fish. I planned to make a plate before I went back home. Once I got up the steps, I heard two voices that appeared to be in a heated argument, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying at first.

One of the voices sounded like it belonged to a man, but I hadn’t been made aware that Tootie was dating. In fact, I thought I would never see the day she moved on from my uncle. She never brought another man around me. Not even the father of her daughters. Back then, I thought it was because she didn’t want me to tell Uncle Ro what she was doing. They always seemed to have this toxic relationship with one another. Neither of them openly dated other people, but they weren’t with each other, either.

As I headed down the hallway, I got ready to make my presence known. I didn’t want anyone to think I was trying to eavesdrop on their conversation.

“Roman, you promised.” Tootie sniffled as her voice cracked. My ears perked when I heard a familiar name being called out.

“It’s complicated, and what does it really solve at this point? He’s a grown man now. Why dig up old wounds when we don’t have to?” I stood frozen in the hall as they argued.

“Because you promised! The only reason I agreed to keep this secret was because you insisted that it was for the best. You told me we would tell him after his high school graduation; then you said we needed to wait until after his college graduation because you didn’t want to mess up his chances to get into the NFL. I followed your lead and kept my mouth shut. Now he’s retired, Ro. I mean, come on now. He’s gonna be married soon, and he’s going to have more children one day. Am I supposed to continue sitting on the sidelines while the next generation is raised right in front of my face? I’m tired, Roman,” Tootie spazzed.

“I don’t see the big deal. He already loves you, and the two of you have a good relationship. Why would you want to go fucking things up?”

“He loves me as his auntie, but that’s not who I am,” she proclaimed. My palms grew sweaty because, in my heart, I knew they could only be talking about one person—me.

“See, this is why I don’t like having these conversations. You don’t know how to separate your emotions from all of this. At the end of the day, we made our bed, so we had to lie in it. Like you said, the man is grown. What are you expecting to happen from all of this? Huh? Do you think he’s gonna open up and welcome you with open arms as his mama when you’ve been pretending to be a family friend all of these years?

“You’re crazy as hell if you think this will go over well with him. You’re gonna get your feelings hurt, and then he will cut you off from any access to him. Is that what you want? He’s a Sutton, and we don’t take kindly to betrayal. All you’re gonna do is put a wedge between the two of you. Hell, me too. Then what? The truth comes with too many costs, and I’m not willing to risk it.” Uncle Ro was fuming. My chest heaved up and down as I stepped closer to the door. There was no way this was happening right now. I must have heard them incorrectly. Or maybe they really were talking about someone else who happened to live the same life as me. Anything would have been better than the alternative. None of this even made any sense because I knew who my parents were.

“You d-don’t know that. He loves me and his sisters, so he might not be as upset as you think. Even so, he has a right to know, Roman. We’ve held this secret from him much too long. Don’t you think we owe him the truth?”

“What I owed him was a good life, which is exactly what I provided. The man is successful and doesn’t want or need a single thing. Why would I want to fuck up his happy life with something that has the potential to destroy him? Let it go, Toots.” His voice remained calm, but the frustration was evident in his tone. “If you love him so much, why are you so hell-bent on telling him the truth now? What purpose does this solve but to ease your guilt,” Uncle Ro hissed in a low tone.

“My guilt! You’ve got a lot of fucking nerve, Roman.” I had heard enough, so I decided to make my presence known. Clearly, I ended up here for a reason, so I decided to get the answers that Uncle Ro didn’t want me to have. I walked back toward the kitchen, so I wasn’t so close to the door. I wanted it to seem like I had just arrived.

“Tootie!” I yelled out. I slammed the door for good measure. Their conversation completely ceased as I headed down the hall. This time, she popped out of her room, wiping her tears as she fixed her hair nervously.

“Hey, baby. I didn’t know you were gonna be here. What’s up?” She reached for a hug, but I pulled back. It was next to impossible to pretend that I hadn’t heard what I did.

“What’s going on? It sounded like you were arguing with someone. Who’s in here with you?” I didn’t want her to have the chance to lie nor for him to sit in the room until I left. Today would be the last day I allowed the people in my life to play with me.

“Umm, yeah. Y-your uncle popped in for a visit.” Tootie glanced toward her room door as Uncle Ro walked out smoothly.

“Hey, what’s up, youngin? How has life been treating you?” In all the years I’d been around Uncle Ro, I couldn’t name a single time when he was lost for words or nervous. However, he seemed on edge, which further pissed me off.

“I don’t know. You tell me.” His eyes widened, but like a true Sutton, he fixed his face quickly.

“What are you talking about, son?” He used the term “son” often, but I never took it as anything besides a term of endearment. Now I felt like he was playing in my face this whole time.

“Dinero, you have dried up tears on your face, baby. What happened? What has gotten you so upset?” The sincerity in her tone tore me apart. All these years, I held so much love and respect for her because she was one of the only adults who checked on me growing up. She would come over, stock the fridge and pantry for me, and then cook enough food to last for the week. I thought she was a kindhearted person for looking out for a child she wasn’t biologically connected to, but it turns out she was a coward who did the bare fucking minimum.

I came here to vent to her about what happened between Charae and me, but now another can of worms had been opened, and I wasn’t sure what to do. My head and my heart held so much confusion and hurt that I had no idea where to even start. Since I wasn’t sure how the rest of this conversation would go, I went ahead and got the original news off my chest. It seemed like a much easier pill to swallow after the news I just walked in on.

“I found out that I have kids.” Both of them were stunned by the news, but their reactions were completely different.

“What does that mean? Did you take a DNA test? I thought I told you that you needed to strap up. Retired or not, you still have deals and a net worth that makes you a target in this industry. You can’t be out here moving recklessly. Give me her name and information so I can have Ralo run a full background check on her,” Uncle Ro rushed out. It was crazy that he mentioned being reckless when he obviously hadn’t taken his own advice.

“Oh my goodness, baby. How are you feeling? How old are the kids? Do you have pictures of them?” Tootie’s hands rested on her cheeks.

“Yeah, I do.” Retrieving my phone, I passed her it to her. Her eyes widened when she laid eyes on them.

“Oh my goodness. They are so big. When did you find out about them?” She passed the phone to Uncle Ro, who remained silent.

“They are twelve. My ex-girlfriend Charae is their mother.”

“How did this happen? Why would she wait so long to tell you about them? That’s so selfish,” Tootie rambled. I released an angry chuckle as everything began to hit me all at once.

“Yeah, it was. I guess the two of you have a lot of that in common, though, right?” This time when she looked at me, all the color drained from her face.

“W-what do you mean?” she stuttered, staring up at me with sad eyes. I decided to put it all on the table because once I finished saying what I had to say, it would be a while before they heard from me again.

“You’re sitting here talking about how selfish it was for her to keep a secret like this from me, but aren’t you keeping a secret from me, Tootie? Or should I call you mom?” She looked over to Uncle Ro as if she needed assistance. Of course, he put on a front as if he was unmoved by the conversation.

“Dinero, I don’t know what you think you heard, but?—”

“If you are going to sit in my face and lie, you might as well save it. Either tell me the truth, or you don’t ever have to worry about me again,” I warned. Her shoulders dropped, and tears pooled in her eyes. Why did people like to cry when they realized they’d been caught?

“You can save the tears because they don’t mean shit to me. Tell me the truth. You owe me that much,” I hissed.

“Aye, I don’t give a fuck how mad you are. You are going to talk to her with respect. At the end of the day?—”

“Don’t you dare sit in my fucking face trying to give me a pep talk. You lied to me! You knew that you two were the only family I had in this world, and you chose to lie to me! I don’t have to give you respect because that shit is supposed to be earned. Ain’t that what you taught me, Unc? Huh?” I was fuming. His words set me off because everyone wanted me to be understanding of the bullshit they put me in.

“I wanted to tell you, Nero, so many times, but as time passed, it grew harder and harder to come clean. You were grieving, and I didn’t think it was best to add insult to injury. I know I messed up, but please, I’m begging you to give me a chance to explain what happened. I know you are upset, and you have every right, but let me get it all out before you make any decisions.” A part of me wanted to walk out of the door and never look back, but I deserved the truth.

“Come on. Let’s go into the living room so we can talk.” Tootie held her hand out, but I stared at it. We headed to the family room in silence. I took a seat on the couch opposite of them. Uncle Ro served as Tootie’s support system, which I found to be funny when he was just yelling at her a few moments ago.

“Look, Son.”

“Don’t call me your son, mothafucka.” I tried to hold it in, but I was pissed off. He had a lot of nerve calling me his son after all the shit I’d been through.

“I’m gonna allow you to slide with the disrespect because you’re in your feelings, and you still have a lot of growing to do.”

“Fuck you. If anyone needs to grow up, it’s you. How could you look me in the face and then betray me like that?”

“It wasn’t as simple as you’re making it seem. Tootie and I were young as fuck when she got pregnant with you. Neither of us was ready for a baby, and to be honest, I was too deep in the streets to be a father. Hell, I wasn’t even a good boyfriend, if we’re being honest. I suggested that she get an abortion, but she was raised in a Christian home, and they were against it.

“There were a lot of things that happened between us, and neither of us was fit to raise you. When things got too difficult for us to balance, I reached out for help. Your father was my older brother, and he did what older brothers do. Save the day. He and your mom were older, and they were having trouble having kids of their own, so they offered to take care of you until we were stable enough to provide you with the life you deserved.” Tootie sat there with tears streaming down her face.

“What happened after that, because neither of you ever got your shit together enough to come back for me?”

“My life grew more dangerous. As I moved up in the ranks, I spent less and less time in the city. After a while, I would be lucky if I could come home a few times a year, and it’s not like I could turn the jobs down. Once you’re in the mafia, that’s it.” His excuses were expected, so I brushed him off. Ro always had an excuse for why he wasn’t around, and I never cared to hear them.

“And what about you? All of these years, you’ve gone out of your way to make sure I was taken care of, yet you never actually stepped up as a parent. Why would you allow me to live in that big ass house by myself when you knew I had nobody! I mean, do y’all understand how bad you fucked me up? I basically grew up with no parents and no family after my parents were killed, and neither of you stepped in to make sure I was okay.”

“That’s not true! I took care of you. You never had to worry about bills or anything else because I made sure you were straight. You had more money and cars than any other kid your age. I kept you in the big house so you could be away from the hood and so I could keep an eye on you. I kept your pockets laced, making sure you never had to depend on a soul for anything.” My head was planted in my hands as my elbows rested on my thighs. Taking a deep breath, I willed myself to calm down.

“Do you hear yourself? You gave me money and paid the bills, as if you were doing me some sort of favor! I was a fucking kid, nigga! You left me in that house by myself with nobody. You waited five months while I grieved the death of my parents, and then you went right back to your regular life. As if I hadn’t lost my parents and needed someone to lean on. You rarely called, and when you did, the shit was short. You never asked how I was feeling because you didn’t fucking care! Everyone got to go on and live their lives the way they wanted to, while I’m the one who grew up alone.”

“We didn’t mean for it to be that way. I wanted to move you in with me, but we figured that you would be happier in the house that your parents raised you in. I thought that if I came to see you and made sure you had food to eat, you wouldn’t feel like you were alone. I brought you to stay with us for the summers to keep an eye on you, but I knew you missed your home, so I didn’t want to push you too much.” I laughed, and it reverberated around the room. These people were really sitting here trying to make me understand how they ended up being the shittiest parents I’d ever heard of.

“Unbelievable. I don’t even have too much else to say.” I shrugged, sitting up in my seat. “I see why you gave me up because the two of you are by far the worst human beings to ever become parents. You should have gone ahead and got the abortion because I promise your decision wasn’t any better. I’m fucked up in the head, and now I understand why. You really could have kept this truth to yourself, because it makes the two of you look even worse than I originally thought. What you did was child neglect, and you could have gone to jail for it. Now you’re sitting in my face trying to justify the fuck shit you’ve done.”

“Baby, I know?—”

“You don’t know shit! I have been in therapy for years, trying to process why everything in my professional life seemed to fall in line, but my personal life was so fucked up. Y’all really ain’t shit, but at least I finally have the answers I need.” I stood up from my seat to leave.

“Please don’t leave like this. I know you’re upset, so maybe you need to take some time to process everything. It would tear me apart if you rushed out of here and ended up in an accident or worse. Please,” Tootie begged.

“Naw, I can’t stay here. The way I’m feeling inside, I’ll fuck around and do some shit none of us can come back from, so it’s best if I leave. Do me a favor, though.”

“Anything. You name it, and it’s done.”

“Forget that I ever existed. I really hope the shit was worth it. You never wanted a son, and now you don’t have one.” With that, I walked out of the house so I could get as far away from it as possible. Uncle Ro yelled my name, but I never bothered to turn around. When a large hand grabbed my shoulder, I lost all control.

“Don’t fucking touch me!”

“You can’t leave out of here like this. I get that you’re upset, but there are a lot of things you don’t understand.”

“You can save all that shit for someone who cares. You had plenty of time to tell me the truth, but you chose not to, and now you think I owe you something for being caught in your own lies? Nigga, fuck you. You ain’t shit to me,” I spat. The veins in his forehead protruded, but I didn’t give a fuck. He never cared about me, so why should I give a fuck about his feelings.

“I’ve let you get away with that slick talk, but you got me fucked up. I could have let them put you in foster care, but I didn’t. Instead, I provided you with a better life than the one I had, and I made sure you were safe. There was never a time when someone didn’t have eyes on you,” he explained.

“Do you want a cookie or something? What the hell do you want me to say? Thank you for not completely abandoning me? Man, get the fuck outta here.”

“Dinero.”

“Didn’t I tell you to keep your fucking hands off me!” I shoved him back as both of our chests heaved up and down.

“Have you lost your damn mind?” he roared, lunging toward me, but I moved before he could grab me. Growing up, I used to hold Uncle Ro in high regard; he was a deadly force to be reckoned with. Now I saw nothing more than a coward and a liar.

“I haven’t lost shit, but you must have a hearing problem. Stay away from me before I forget that we share DNA. I promise you don’t want this.” I gritted my teeth as we stared at one another.

“Yeah, you’re definitely my son. You’re arrogant and overly confident, but the difference is that life humbled me in a way you’ll never understand. I don’t talk too much, so you know better than that. I’m a killer, Nero. There are no such things as beef in my world because any problem I have, I eliminate it. Do you understand me?”

“Is that supposed to be some type of threat? I see accountability isn’t a strong suit for you, but your threat doesn’t move me. Your words don’t mean a fucking thing to me. Do what you gotta do.”

“Son, I—” I drew back and punched him square in the nose, causing it to leak with blood. Clearly, he took my warning as a joke, and it was far from it.

Before I could even process what was happening, we started fighting in the middle of the yard. He should have left me alone when I asked because now, I was taking all my anger out on him. It was like I had tunnel vision as I rained blow after blow on him. He gave me a run for my money, but I never gave up. Even the sounds of Tootie’s piercing screams weren’t enough for me to stop. Since I couldn’t put my hands on her, he would have to pay the price for both of them.

“Nero, please!” She tugged on my shirt, but I pushed her off. I must have used too much force because she tumbled, hitting the ground. That must have woken the beast in Uncle Ro because he used that moment of distraction to flip me over. He punched me in the jaw and then proceeded to choke me. I fought to get him off me, but his hold only grew tighter. For the first time ever, I saw him as an enemy instead of my uncle. I gritted my teeth before regaining the advantage over him.

“The neighbors are going to call the police if the two of you don’t stop this mess. Come on now. Neither of you can afford to make these reckless decisions. Stop it!” I paid her no mind as we continued to fight. I gained the advantage one last time before we finally broke it up. By the time I stopped, the two of us were leaking blood everywhere, but I won. Not that it would amount to shit because now I had lost the only piece of family I’d ever known.

“Stay the fuck away from me,” I demanded, leaving Uncle Ro on the ground, holding his rib.

“Nero, baby, please.”

“Get off me,” I warned as she pulled on my shirt. Taking heed, she stepped back as I got in my car. My chest heaved as I sat in my car, replaying everything in my mind. Someone had to really have it out for me in order for me to be sitting here right now. After gathering my bearings, I drove off from the house. I stopped by the local liquor store so I could grab a bottle. I rarely drank unless we were out at a club, but I needed something strong to help me get through the night. Once I secured the items I needed, I checked into a hotel so I could drink in peace. Besides, I wasn’t in any condition to drive all the way back home, and Tootie’s house was no longer an option for me.

I didn’t feel comfortable staying at my childhood home right now with everything going on, so I booked a hotel room for a week because I had no idea when I would be ready to return home. Harper would be looking for me on top of everyone else, and I wasn’t ready to face anyone right now.

My phone rang back to back until I finally decided to turn it off. After grabbing some food from a local Chinese spot, I headed up to my room. Since I traveled so much, I always had extra clothes in my car, so I tossed my duffel bag inside and headed up the elevator. The cap I wore hung low, along with the black shades on my face. My face throbbed, letting me know my adrenaline must have finally started to wear off.

The moment I opened the door and stepped into the room, I dropped everything on the floor. I couldn’t believe this was how my night went. After I stripped down to my boxers, I retrieved my bottle, took off the top, and drank straight from the bottle. Fuck it. The brown liquor burned as it went down, but I welcomed the discomfort. Eventually, it would numb everything, and that was what I needed.

An hour passed, and almost half of the bottle was gone. I needed to take a shower, but I wasn’t confident I would even make it that far, so I decided to wait until morning. The liquor did its job, and I could barely feel my face, let alone the pain in my heart. In a few days, I would have to face all my problems, but for now, it was fuck everything and everybody.