Chapter 6
“Minx! Slow down, and where the hell are you going!” Luna tried to keep up with her girl while she stomped through the crowd with attitude.
As the afternoon stretched on, the more people showed up.
Once they were in the parking lot, Minx searched high and low for Finn’s car.
She knew it had to be around here somewhere.
Right behind her, Luna tried to march at a steady pace in her sneakers.
Minx was clearly turned up. She located Finn’s whip and opened his driver’s door.
As she predicted when she pulled his ashtray out, it was half filled with blunts as big as her finger.
That nigga never disappointed. She grabbed a grasshopper-sized roach and one of his lighters from the cup holder and sat in his driver’s seat.
Sparking it up, she took a deep pull as Luna arrived out of breath beside her.
She leaned against the side of Finn’s car, winded.
“Damn, girl, I didn’t even know you could move that fucking fast,” Luna huffed, letting her breath catch up to her as she searched the parking lot.
People pulled up, but they got out and walked right over to the event. She and Minx were the only ones parking lot pimping.
“Where the fuck is Finn?” Minx demanded, taking another toke from the blunt.
“Girl, in there in the bumper cars fucking kids up,” Luna said, snickering a little as a smile tugged at her lips. “You want to talk about what the hell is wrong with you?” She cocked a brown and Minx passed her the weed.
“Just trying to figure out why I bother with some shit.”
“Or is it some people?” Luna hinted, holding the blunt between her fingers and taking a hit.
She drew her eyes down to Minx, who rolled hers back in her head.
“I don’t know what it is, and I’m starting not to even care,” she mumbled.
Luna took a few more puffs before she let her have at the rest of the blunt.
Finn headed their way with his phone to his ear.
From his facial expression, one could see that it wasn’t a pleasant conversation that he was having.
Not far behind him, Rose took long strides toward the car.
Nadia and Mille were also on his heels. Minx kept smoking and Finn approached her at his door.
“Minx, yo’ rude ass just take it upon yourself to get in my shit?” Finn observed, hanging his phone up. “We gotta roll. We got some shit to take care of,” he spoke with urgency.
Rose’s phone buzzed in his pocket.
“Well, I need a ride home since Gannon left.” Minx stuck her lip out like a big ass kid.
“Well, get ya ass in the back then.” Finn waved to the back seat, and Minx glared at him, not in the mood.
He got on her nerves with that arrogant shit, but he was Finn, so what could she really say to the nigga? She hopped out of his seat and continued to smoke his weed while he allowed her to get into the back seat.
“Thanks, sucka.” She stuck her tongue out.
Finn closed his door so fast, she almost lost her leg.
“Finn, fucking ass! You saw my foot still hanging out, nigga!”
“My bad, Minx, thought you was quicker than that,” he teased, cackling playfully.
He did the shit on purpose because he saw she was already in a foul ass mood. Minx reminded him of himself. She was always with the shit. Trouble found her ass nine times out of ten. Everything else was how she reacted to it.
“Max, yeah, we heading out now. Gotta make sure Mille and Minx get dropped off before we go handle this shit,” Rose spoke into his cell.
“Tell Minx I need her. She needs to get here ASAP.” Max hung up and Rose huffed.
In a matter of hours, some shit had gone down, and now the whole crew was about to react. Which in turn meant the town was more than likely about to feel the wrath that they could cause. Mille climbed into the back seat and settled in the middle while Luna got in on the other side.
“So I guess we aren’t having lunch today after all?” Nadia chimed in as Rose inched around to the passenger’s side of the car.
Her ego was bruised, but she was lowkey glad it was some street shit and not him running off because of Minx.
That was a change for sure. Maybe things between them would shift into the right direction this time.
Nadia never got over Rose. She knew he wasn’t the type of nigga you made do a damn thing.
She had to be patient and follow his lead, for now.
“I got some shit that needs my attention. I’ll hit you up later.” Rose opened the car door and got inside.
Finn sparked a fresh Newport before he started his car up.
Minx tossed the rest of the blunt out of the window, and Finn put the car in drive.
Silence and Finn’s playlist filled the ride until he wheeled his car up the driveway.
Minx noticed that her father’s truck was parked off to the side.
The back door opened, and the screen swung out.
Max stood there, no longer stylish in his suit and loafers.
Distressed jeans, a long-sleeved shirt, and his black leather biker vest replaced the look.
He was on a different type of time now. Finn opened the door, and Minx piled out with her brother right behind her.
Rose and Finn put their feet on the ground, and t met up with Max at the back door.
Mille ran past his sister, right up to his father and dapped him up.
Max pulled his son into a warm embrace and kissed the top of his head.
“What up, Pop?” he greeted him.
“Son, go on inside to your room for me.”
“A’ight.” He nodded and ambled inside as he was instructed.
Max wanted Mille to be a kid as long as possible. He didn’t lie to his son or sugarcoat anything, but he did shield him from the type of bullshit he’d seen and done in his own life. Had to break the cycle somewhere.
The softened expression for his son shifted when his daughter approached. Max was a brooding man. It wasn’t something she thought could ever change. Her mother said it was originally what drew to him. It meant that Max was always thinking, always plotting, wondering, waiting on something to happen.
Standing at least a foot or so taller than his daughter. He was a very lengthy man. Soaking in Minx’s beautiful face, he touched her chin before he kissed the top of her head.
“What’s going on?” Minx frowned while Finn and Rose hovered behind her.
“You know Carmichael’s daughter?” Max questioned.
“Yeah, Brenyn,” she answered, nodding. “What about her?”
“She’s inside. I put her in a guest room. She was attacked, raped, and beaten. I had a doctor come by already and check her out, but… she’s in pretty bad shape. I need you to sit with her, talk to her, keep her company while I handle some shit with Carmichael.”
“Oh my God… yeah, sure,” Minx quickly agreed.
She rushed inside and left her father alone with Finn and Rose.
“What the fuck happened?” Finn demanded, anger boiling in his chest.
Rapists and child molesters should eat dirt, and he would be glad to be the one to put ’em there. Some shit was intolerable, and that was two of them. Finn’s mother used to get beat on by his stepfather, and he hated both of them for imprinting that shit on his childhood.
“Some gang of little niggas over off Trenton Avenue caught her on some bullshit,” Max described.
His demeanor seemed calm, but inside, rage brewed.
The old him was ready to tear somebody’s head off, literally rip that motherfucker off the fucking spine.
Kids were off limits. That was the rule.
These little arrogant bastards these days couldn’t be told shit.
A moral compass was lacking, and he blamed their flaw ass parents.
Max pinched the bridge of his nose and blew hot air from it before shaking his head.
He prided himself on taking care of his town, proving a safe place to be productive and have a village.
The local grocery store was run by the oldest couple on the block. The little corner stores and liquor stores were all family-based businesses that could be passed on from generation to generation.
The hair store was held down by Mila and her crew.
His wife had the plug on the best weave and hair products and were making a killing.
She took a few girls that she knew had some skills and put them through cosmetology school.
When she opened up a shop, she hired each girl, gave them their own station, and started them off with a minimum booth fee.
That was years ago. Mila ran all the retail shit in town. She was a mogul all by herself.
As her husband, Max just gave her the muscle.
One would never assume their status or the figures brought in.
Based off where they lived and their basic cars, you would think they were simply a middle-class family.
Max liked it that way, which was why he moved the way he did.
He didn’t need everybody pocket watching him.
As long as he made sure those around him ate or had means to, he went to bed peacefully each night.
It seemed like ever since Mickey was killed, things only got worse in Kansas City.
A lot of blood was shed when his daughters were harmed, and Max would never be able to atone for that.
He did his best by helping when he could in situations like this.
Carmichael was a good man. He ran the barbershop in town, did free cuts for back to school, and sponsored a lot of the local sports teams for the schools.
His daughter attended the same high school that Minx went to years ago.
Max felt a responsibility to the people in his town, so when someone wronged them, he was first in line to make shit right.
“So what you got for us? Where do we start?” Rose piped up, blood boiling.
He had a hatred, much like Finn, for weak niggas that took advantage of young girls and children in general.
“Go over to Trenton, keep an eye out for these little niggas. Keep your ear to the streets. I want these little mothafuckas in my face by the end of the night,” Max ordered.