Chapter 1
CHAPTER 1
JACOB
“ J acob Monroe, you’re free to go.”
“I don’t know who Jacob Monroe is.”
The correctional officer looked back at the paper in his hand with a frown on his face. My name had officially changed to Henderson, and I refused to answer to the name Monroe any longer. I’d sit in this bitch all night until they called me by the right name. He flipped the page, and realization showed on his face. “My bad, man. Jacob Henderson, you’re free to go.”
I was shocked that he was cool about it. I expected him to come back with plenty of attitude. They must have made a note on my file that my name had officially changed and how I would get completely offended and worked up when I heard the last name Monroe. I nodded and stood as he opened the door. When I walked out, I saw Traylon’s homeboy in another cell, mean mugging me. Fuck them people.
They didn’t realize they were fucking with the wrong one. I would take all of them out of here one by one… pick their asses off like I was hunting rabbits. When I heard the arguing and yelling from inside my house, I immediately grabbed my gun. The police weren’t doing their fucking jobs, and I was pretty sure Uncle WJ, my mama, and all my aunts and uncles would be at Precinct 1 raising hell later.
I limped my way to the front to sign for my personal effects then walked out that bitch to see my mama and stepdad standing there with Sidney Taylor, one of our family attorneys. The minute my mama laid eyes on me, she ran to me, wrapping her arms around me.
“Baby, are you okay?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
I kissed her head and rubbed her back, coaxing her to let me go so we could get the fuck out of here. I nodded at my dad and Mrs. Taylor, then we walked out. Once outside, Mrs. Taylor said, “There are no charges being filed. You saved Kane’s life. He came out of surgery okay, but he lost quite a bit of blood. The main part, though, is that he’s alive, thanks to you.”
I nodded. I knew Traylon wasn’t alive, because I shot that muthafucka in his dome. I wasn’t about to take no chances with his ass. When I saw my cousin on the ground with a gun aimed at him, my adrenaline skyrocketed. I shot that nigga from my yard, nearly five houses down. Now, Traylon could go to hell and meet his sister. He wasn’t alone when he shot Kane. The nigga that was in a cell not far from me was with him, along with a couple of other people.
“Did Shayla get arrested?” I asked.
That bitch was with him too. I didn’t understand what stake she had in this shit since she didn’t even live in Nome or China. She was Cassie’s biological mom, and those people were her cousins, but I couldn’t understand why she would be with Traylon.
My mama frowned. “Shayla, as in Cassie’s mother?”
“Yes. She was there. When I fired, she ran. Only one person hung around, and he’s locked up. He didn’t hang around long, but he hung around too long to avoid getting caught.”
“Hmm. That’s interesting,” Mrs. Taylor said. “Do you know if anyone has cameras around their houses?”
“We all do. They were at Rylan’s house, so I know for a fact he does. You’ll even be able to pull the sound from his. Because of some bullshit that went down with his wife a couple of years or so ago, she felt safer with them being there.”
She nodded. “Okay. Can I come to you tomorrow? We have a lot to go over. Although they are releasing you, I need to be prepared in case they try to come back and say differently, especially since you have history with this family.”
I nodded then winced as I shifted my weight and nearly fell to the ground. My leg was killing me, mainly my knee and ankle. My dad reached out and steadied me while my mama wrapped her arm around mine.
“You okay?” Mama asked.
“Yes, ma’am. I just need to get off it.”
Everyone nodded in agreement and helped me to the car. Mrs. Taylor stood in front of me as I sat on the seat, preparing to scoot backward into the car. “See you about ten. Is that too early?”
“I wake up with the chickens, Mrs. Taylor. That’s fine.”
She chuckled. “Okay. See you tomorrow. Go ice that knee and ankle.”
I nodded and gave her a slight smile as I scooted back across the back seat, putting my back against the other door. Once my parents got inside, my mama said, “I’m surprised they even released him.”
“Jenahra, you know they don’t give a damn about black lives. Had Jacob killed a white man like SS, he would still be in there.”
“Carter, I just don’t feel good about this. I feel like they are going to try to go after my baby.”
I slowly shook my head at them talking about me like I wasn’t in the car with them.
“Don’t worry, Nahra. God got it under control.”
She nodded as he grabbed her hand and kissed it. “Can y’all take me to the hospital to see Kane?”
“You sure you don’t want to wait until tomorrow?” Mama asked as she turned to me.
I nodded as Dad handed me a bottle of Advil. They weren’t as strong as my pain pills, but they would help. “Thank you.”
Mama passed me her thermos of water that she always kept with her. She just didn’t know. I would have chewed this shit to get some relief. The phone rang through the Bluetooth, and Dad answered it. “Hello?”
“How’s my nigga doing?”
I already knew that was Uncle Storm. Besides my immediate family, Christian, KJ, and Rylan, that nigga cut for me… hard. Maybe even more than my crew of cousins. He believed in my abilities before I even did. My own father didn’t look out for me the way he did. There wasn’t an ounce of sadness in me when Uncle WJ killed his ass. Although I was only seventeen, I had had enough of that nigga and was on the verge of taking his ass out myself. All it would have taken was one more serious argument with him disrespecting my mama, and he and I would have been tussling.
“He seems okay. We are heading to the hospital. I think he needs to lay eyes on Kane.”
“That’s understandable, but that nigga alright. They went in and got the bullet and cleaned out joint debris. Most of the trauma of the situation was trying to keep Kenny and Keisha calm. All they could seem to think about was losing him.”
I closed my eyes. I never even thought about that. Losing Kendrick was tough on Uncle Kenny. I was only a kid when it happened, around nine or so, but I remembered it clearly. It was the first death within our close family members. That shit had nearly destroyed everyone. I could remember my mama crying and praying for them when she thought we were all asleep.
“I can understand that,” my mama said. “I hate this for Kenny. I’m just happy that Kane made it through. Thank God. We’ll be there soon, baby boy.”
“A’ight. Jacob, I’m proud of you, man. See you when you get here. I have your cane.”
“Thanks.”
The rest of the ride was quiet. I was in my head big time, and I felt like all this shit was going on simply because of me being involved with Jameka’s ass. None of the family would be suffering from this bullshit had it not been for that. I took a deep breath as my phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out to see a message from Karima.
Opening our thread, I read, Thank you for saving my brother. Had it not been for your quick thinking, he would be dead, and Nome would have been burnt to the ground. I just got to town, and I can’t wait to hug you.
I took a deep breath and exhaled, closing my eyes to soak in her words. I reopened them to respond to her. If I would have never been involved with Jameka, this shit wouldn’t be happening. They are out for Henderson blood because of me, Rima. How do I fix this shit? I mean, that’s the only thing I feel guilty about. I don’t care about Traylon or his soul, but my family… I’ll die to protect y’all.
A frown formed on my face as I thought about just how much my family meant to me. I wanted to ensure they were safe. I couldn’t do that for my mama because I was a kid, but as a grown ass man, there wasn’t shit I wouldn’t do to protect them. Kane shouldn’t have been a victim in this though. He was only twenty years old and didn’t have shit to do with anything going on between us and this family.
I texted KJ, although I knew he was on his honeymoon. I was pretty sure he’d already been called. I’m sorry, man. Kane is fine and I’m out, but this shit shouldn’t have happened. I feel like all this is on me, and I’m gonna do whatever I can to make it right. I love y’all.
I swallowed the lump in my throat as we pulled up to the front entrance of St. Elizabeth Hospital.
“Thanks, baby,” my mama said.
Dad had gotten out and opened her door then opened the door behind me. It was easier for him to pull me out than for him to open the other door and have me to scoot my way out. As he was pulling me out, I could see Uncle Storm walking toward us with my cane. When I got on my feet, I said, “Thanks, Pop.”
He gave me a slight smile then patted my back as Uncle Storm handed me my cane. After resting my weight on it, I breathed out a sigh of relief. Before I could walk away from the car, Uncle Storm wrapped his arm around my shoulders. “You good?”
I nodded. He stared at me a little longer, and I knew he didn’t believe me. Walking away from the car, I headed inside to see Kane. We went through the emergency room area, and the minute we took a right down the hallway, I could see my family. The twins ran straight to me, and both hugged me tight at the same time. I dropped my cane and rested my arms on the two of them. Because of how close I was to Uncle Storm, I was pretty close to his kids too.
Actually, I was close to everybody. I didn’t even know why, because I was pretty low-key. I didn’t get in other people’s business unless they involved me in it somehow. Having everybody’s back in my family, whether they were right or wrong, was probably why I felt close to everybody.
When they released me, Bali picked up my cane and held on to it as Maui and Ashanni hugged me next. It seemed there was a line of cousins waiting to hug me before I could get to where Uncle Kenny and Aunt Keisha were. Once I’d hugged the two of them, there was Angel and Milana. I slapped hands and gave half hugs to all my male cousins.
Kingsley stood in front of me and nodded then hugged me. Kane was his brother, and they were as thick as thieves since they were only a year apart. When he let me go and I saw Uncle Kenny standing there with his hair wild, I thought about lil Kendrick. I think we all did that whenever we saw his hair wild like that.
He hugged me. “Thank you, nephew. Thank you.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat as Aunt Keisha hugged me too. Karima came to my side and grabbed my hand. “No one’s in there right now. We cleared everyone out when we knew you were on your way.”
I nodded and allowed her to lead me to where he was. My aunts were crying, especially Aunt Chrissy. I assumed they were still emotional and seeing me brought their emotions out all over again. Aunt Chrissy was like a second mother to me, since I was at their house a lot, chilling with Rylan and Christian. So me being arrested and saving Kane’s life probably had her on overload.
As soon as we got down the hallway, Karima said, “No one is faulting you for this. So you need to stop faulting yourself. Had you known being involved with that girl would cause all of this, I’m pretty sure you would have left her where she was. Excuse my language, but she wasn’t the only woman out there with a fat ass and good snatch.”
“I knew she was ratchet, but I would have never thought she would have gone this fucking far… having her family thinking I was the father of her baby. Now them people think I’m responsible for her death. That’s bullshit, man. I still can’t help but feel responsible for how they are coming for my family, man. I will literally post up at Uncle Kenny’s store with my gun and start picking those muthafuckas off.”
Karima stopped walking and stepped in front of me, turning to face me. She brought her hands to my cheeks. “Listen to me. The only one responsible for what happened to Kane is Traylon. That nigga knew that Kane had nothing to do with that shit. If he wanted you, he could have gone to your house and caused a ruckus. That nigga knew exactly what he was doing. This is not on you, and it’s not the first time our family has had a run-in with their asses.”
My eyebrows lifted. “Who else? I mean, I know Christian had some issues with Courtney, but who else?”
“Aunt Tiff fucked up Jameka’s mama a couple of times. Once when they were in high school and another time when they were in their early twenties. She told me about it after Jess whupped Jameka’s ass that day. That family has been had it for us, and I wish these older Hendersons would have shared that with us. Then we would have known not to even befriend their shady, jealous asses.”
“That’s fucked up.”
“Yeah. So this ain’t on you, baby.”
She hugged me tightly, and I couldn’t help but hug her back. I swore it was like Karima was my damn counselor. Who needed a professional when we had Karima? She and I got close when the truth about what Joseph was doing to my mama came out… after Uncle WJ killed his ass. Ever since then, she was always checking on me. I knew it was because I was always so quiet. There was no guesswork with Jess. You knew her disdain with the shit.
Karima took my soul into her care and made sure I was okay, even though she was younger than me by three or four years. She had an old soul since she was always around her parents and Aunt Tiffany. I was surprised none of Aunt Tiff’s rowdiness rubbed off on her. She was mild mannered and low-key like Uncle Kenny and me.
When we got to where Kane was, Karima released my hand and opened the door. She gave me a soft smile as we entered. All those tubes hooked to Kane had my anxiety high. I supposed she could sense it, because she said, “Once he wakes up, he won’t need all that. He opened his eyes for a moment earlier, but I guess he hadn’t slept long enough, because he went right back out.”
She chuckled, but I couldn’t laugh with her. I approached his bed and stared at his shoulder, thanking God that it wasn’t worse. A couple of inches to the right and he would have probably hit him in the heart. I grabbed his hand, and when I did, he squeezed it. I looked up at him to see his eyes were open, and he was staring right at me.
He started trying to pull the tube out of his mouth, so we called the nurses to come and take care of him. They pushed us out of the room for a minute until they got him situated. Standing in the hallway, Karima grabbed my hand again. “See, he’s gonna be fine.”
I nodded, but I still wasn’t convinced. Kane was preparing to rodeo. He wanted to team rope with Kingsley, and he was talking about doing tie-down roping, following in Rylan’s footsteps. He could throw a rope with the best of them, but now that shit was gonna be on hold for a while, if not permanently. However, I would do whatever I had to do to make sure he could fulfill his potential, even if I died trying.