Chapter 12
CHAPTER 12
CASSIE
“ G irl! This outfit is fire!”
I giggled as Maui scanned my outfit. I wore a pink and white houndstooth print jumper with strappy white heels. I believed in dressing. It was rare I was in public looking like I had just rolled out of bed. T-shirts were a rarity. If I wore them, they were tight and had some type of graphic on them. Plus, I dressed them up with heels.
I’d just met the ladies the night of Kendrall and Karima’s celebration dinner. They were so cool. Although they were much younger than me, they took me in as theirs. The twins were somewhat standoffish, but I knew they would eventually come around. Mya, Christian’s wife, had said they were the same way with her, but now they talked to her like they’d known her their entire lives.
As I sat, I noticed they were staring at me. It was making me uncomfortable. I didn’t want to have to tell them something and get everybody all riled up. I was the outsider, but I wasn’t shy or timid. Finally, one of them said, “I heard about you, girl. It sounds like you will fit in just fine around here.”
The other chimed in. “Mm hmm. Daddy Mayor said you a real one. If that nigga approves, then so do we.”
Maui rolled her eyes as she sat next to me. I chuckled slightly. “What exactly did you hear?” I asked.
One of them frowned. “Bali, what you frowning for?” Maui asked.
I memorized her features, or at least I tried to. She seemed slightly bigger than Noni, but they were identical. I didn’t know how I would get it right any time soon.
“I’m frowning because she knows good and got damn well what we heard. She took that charge for Jacob. I know he didn’t like that though.”
I gave her a slight smile. “No, he didn’t, but it was my bullshit that got him in that predicament.”
“Hey, y’all! I got away! Thank you, Jesus! Those Henderson babies are a handful, including mine!”
I chuckled at Angel as she hurried to our table. She was the sweetest. She talked to me almost the entire time I sat by them at the celebration. She hugged me and kissed my cheek, then proceeded to do the same to everyone at the table. Ashanni and Milana were in a deep conversation about some guy Milana had started talking to. I didn’t know what that was about, but I was sure I would eventually find out.
“What’s up, everybody?”
I knew that voice anywhere and could pick it out of that damn Kendrick Lamar Amazon concert. I stood from my seat and hugged my man. He scanned my body and licked his lips.
“KJ, sit yo’ horny ass down. Ain’t gon’ be none of that shit while we’re here,” Noni said.
I nearly screamed when Kendrall picked me up and set me on the table in front of them then stood between my legs. I felt my ass bounce, so I knew they saw that shit. “I think you just wanna see some hot shit you ain’t never seen before, girl. My baby so fucking fine, she got yo’ ass drooling, wishing you were attracted to women.”
I had to be red as hell. Noni turned her lip up and rolled her eyes. “She fine and all, but I ain’t flipping the damn script for nobody. You better talk to Nesha about that shit. I like dick too much, nigga.”
“Uh huh. Let yo’ daddy hear you talking like that,” Kendrall said as he helped me off the table. “I’m sorry, baby. She wanted to see something, so I gave her something to see.”
He kissed my lips, slipping a little tongue inside. Whew, shit! I was ready to strip out of my clothes in front of everyone. He pulled away then smacked my ass and sat at the table next to us with Jacob and Karima. I could tell Jacob was extremely bothered. I didn’t know what was going on with that either, but I would ask Kendrall later.
More of the family came in and got food then took seats. It must have been a family day for sure. It seemed everyone here was family. Mrs. Chrissy and Mrs. Tiffany brought our stuffed chicken to the table, and all talking ceased. “It’s good to see all of y’all here together. Usually, someone is missing,” Mrs. Chrissy said as Christian and Rylan sat at the table with Kendrall.
Rylan kissed her cheek before sitting. I could hear the door opening repeatedly, meaning more people were coming inside. I didn’t even bother to look, because my stuffed fried chicken had my undivided attention. I took my first bite, and that chicken stuffed with mac and cheese nearly catapulted me to glory. My eyes rolled as Ashanni laughed at me.
“It’s so good, huh?” she asked.
“Absolutely. I never tasted anything like it.”
“It tastes better than jailhouse food. Did you even stay long enough to get dinner?”
I frowned hard as everyone’s eyes went to the bitch standing behind me. I didn’t know how in the fuck she knew where I was, but I was prepared to throw her ass on top of this table. I stood from my seat, and everyone else did as well. I turned to see the huge smile on her face.
“How did you know how to find me, and why the hell are you here?”
“Is that any way to talk to your mother?”
I jerked my head back like someone had spit on me. That was what her words felt like. “Mother? You can’t be serious. Kendall Daniels is my mother. You were simply the incubator. You were hardly ever a mother to me. Now again, how did you know how to find me?”
She huffed and rolled her eyes then looked around the diner, like something was more interesting than the question at hand. The twins appeared on either side of me, and Kendrall was behind me, holding me at the waist. He could try to hold me all he wanted to. If this bitch said the wrong thing, there would be nothing he could do to stop me from getting at least one punch in.
“You having a problem with your hearing? She asked you a question, and if you don’t answer her, we will drag you out this bitch,” Bali said.
I looked around to see everyone was watching. While I was grateful for the support, I was also embarrassed about the ruckus she was causing. She huffed, displaying plenty of attitude like she thought they were playing with her ass.
“I sent this to your address, and it came back with a forwarding address,” she said, extending an envelope. “When I saw it said Nome, I had to come see what you were doing out here in the country. My cousin lives out here. On my way to the address, I saw you heading here. I sat in the parking lot, trying to decide if I would even come inside.”
“Well, clearly, yo’ ass made the wrong decision. You good, Martha?” Uncle Storm said, walking up behind her.
I practically snatched the envelope from her when she turned to look at Uncle Storm. There was no telling what kind of bullshit she was sending my way. When she did, her head dropped backwards. “Damn! I didn’t know they made them like this in Nome! Shit!”
Before she could say another word, Bali had grabbed her wig and snatched that shit off. “Watch yo’ fucking mouth,” Bali said as Jacob held her around the waist.
She looked from Bali to Storm, and I supposed she saw the resemblance. She smirked and said, “Please get your minion while I try to handle things with mine.”
She picked up her glueless wig, dusted it off, and put it back on her head. It looked like Uncle Storm wanted to snatch her ass, but surprisingly, he remained silent. I tore into the envelope to see there was information about my biological father and a check. I frowned as I read the information. It was basically saying that my biological father had left this to me in his will. He died three months ago. I never had a relationship with him, but he cared enough to leave something to me? Impossible.
“What did you do to get him to leave this? I ain’t never even met this man. Why would he even care enough to do this?”
“You’re right. He didn’t care, but I made the family care. It was hard trying to raise you. That was why I left you with someone who was strong enough to fight through the trenches with you without fucking up. Price is a good man, and I wanted you to have a good influence on your life. Kendall is a good woman as well. But I figured he at least owed you that much.”
I looked down at the check again to see that it was for twenty-eight thousand dollars. I didn’t know if he just had this money laying around or if it was from his life insurance. I didn’t even know his name, because I couldn’t care less until now. I looked down at the letter and scanned it until I found his name. “So his name was King?”
“Yeah. He was much older than me, but that was your father.”
“I know you fucking lying!” Uncle Jasper blurted. “King from Nome?”
She frowned as she turned to him. “Yeah, why?”
“Aww fuck,” Kendrall said. I turned to him, trying to figure out what was going on. He filled me in. “That was Uncle WJ’s biological father. He wasn’t in his life either.”
I frowned hard, trying to remember who that was when, suddenly, his face appeared in my head. My mouth opened slowly, and I covered it with my hand. “Kendrall… oh my God. Does that mean?—”
“Naw. I’m not related to King, baby. We ain’t related. But my uncle is your older brother. That shit sound bad as hell, but we ain’t related. I promise. At this point, though, ain’t it too late?”
I glanced at him, not finding any humor in this shit at all. I looked back at Shayla and asked, “So what’s in it for you? The only way I believe you would give this to me was if you would benefit in some sort of way. How much money did you get?”
She looked around as a slow smile appeared on her face. “I got one hundred grand, because I had a life insurance policy out on his old ass that he forgot about.”
I slowly shook my head and handed her the check back. “I don’t want this shit. If I keep it, you’ll find a way to continuously throw it in my face as to how you got this money for me. No thank you. Keep it.”
“See, you always thought you were better than me. You one ungrateful, bougie ass bitch.”
Before I could restrain myself, I punched her right across her face, knocking her to the floor. “A bitch is what you are. I have one misdemeanor, and it won’t mean shit to me to get another. Stay the fuck away from me.”
She stood and balled her fists up like she wanted some smoke, but Aunt Tiff hooked her around her neck. “Come on, bitch. Yo’ time is up.”
She dragged her ass right out of here as she screamed out obscenities.
“Damn! You definitely gotta be our cousin now! Shit!” Noni said.
“Hell yeah, sis. I was stunned,” Bali said.
Kendrall pulled me in his arms and held me close for a minute. I verbalized against his chest my disdain for the whole situation. “Why she wanna fuck with me? Like, what she get out of that shit?”
“I don’t even know, baby.”
I pulled away from him and took a deep breath. Karima approached us and said, “She’s jealous of how you turned out. I’m willing to bet she thought you would be just as miserable as she is.”
I slowly shook my head as I noticed Jacob coming back inside. I didn’t even realize he’d walked out with their aunt and uncles. “You know who you fucking related to?” he asked. “Well, let me rephrase. Do you know who yo’ mama cousin is?”
I shook my head. “No. Who?”
“That bitch that’s been fucking with me and her mama that was in the courtroom after you Friday. The whole fucking family need to be wiped the fuck out.”
So my biological mother was connected to the Hendersons in two ways. Neither of those ways were pleasant ones. What the fuck? I sat back at the table and brought my hands to my forehead. I was so fucking embarrassed. I felt an arm slide around my shoulders. “Don’t worry about that shit, boo. Shit like that happens around here all the time. People always hate what they don’t understand.”
I looked up to see Milana rubbing my back. I nodded and began playing over my food while Kendrall sat next to me, gently rubbing my thigh. My food was cold. “You want me to get you a box?”
“I’ll get it. I need to apologize to your aunts. What’s Jacob’s mother’s name again?”
“Aunt Jen.”
“Okay.”
I was really good with names since I was a teacher. I remembered most of their names, but there were so many of them it was damn near impossible to remember all of them after only one meeting. I remembered most of the aunts and uncles from when I was a kid, but Aunt Jen’s name had gotten by me since I only first met her and Aunt Chrissy at the celebration.
When I got to the counter, Aunt Chrissy smiled at me. “You okay, baby?”
“I’m so sorry for what happened in your place of business. I should have asked her if we could talk outside.”
“Baby, Storm is our brother. You’re fine,” Aunt Jen said when she walked toward us.
I chuckled a bit. “Can I get a box? The food was so good. I can already tell I’m going to gain weight living in Nome.”
“As much as KJ works out at Kenny’s house in that gym, you’ll be fine. He’ll drag you there with him.”
I laughed again as she got a box from the counter behind her. “Here you go, baby.”
I took it from her and thanked her. When I turned around, I almost ran into a man. When I looked up, I saw Uncle WJ. My face heated up as he said, “What’s up, sis?”
I fell into his open arms. It wasn’t that I didn’t love the family I had, but to be able to connect with someone who shared my blood was overwhelming, especially someone as put together as he was. When I pulled away, I smiled at him. He was old enough to be my father. What in the fuck was Shayla thinking, sleeping with a man as old as King? That man was in his eighties when he died. My mama was in her fifties. He was a good thirty years older than her.
“What you say we get this sister brother thing popping? My wife is gonna cook dinner, and I would love for you and KJ to come over.”
“I would love to. I always wanted an older sibling. I never knew I had one. Impossible dreams aren’t so impossible now. Thank you.”
“Welcome to the family.”
He pulled me close to him and kissed my forehead. “I have a daughter older than you. I’m gonna invite her and my other two daughters to come tonight to meet you as well.”
I nodded and made my way to my seat with him right behind me. Something good could come out of something bad. Uncle WJ was proof of that. I guess I probably shouldn’t call him uncle.