Chapter 3
CHAPTER 3
JACOB
“ S he gon’ be a handful. You sure you wanna pursue her ass? You don’t need another Jameka on your hands.”
I glanced at Uncle Storm. “I don’t think she’s like Jameka. Her demeanor shifted when I was talking about what got me here. I told her I killed somebody and why. Although she was trying to hide it, I saw a tear fall from one of her eyes. She wiped that shit with her shoulder and kept working, ceasing all communication. I think our conversation triggered something in her.”
He nodded. “Maybe so. I don’t know her, so I probably shouldn’t have fucked with her yet. As much as you talk about her, I feel like I know her ass.”
I chuckled. “She gon’ be mine, eventually. I’m gon’ end up being a whole ass stepdaddy. Watch.”
“Nigga, shut the fuck up,” he said then laughed. “That woman is about her business and her mental. Just by the way she said for you to call her if you want her to come back lets me know she ain’t finna deal with no bullshit for the sake of a job. I don’t know if I should be pissed or impressed.”
I laughed. She surely wasn’t intimidated by Uncle Storm. I liked that shit. It was tough not calling her Mekayla though. Ever since she introduced herself to me, I had been calling her that in my thoughts and whenever I talked about her to Uncle Storm, KJ, Rylan, or Christian. There was no way I would let her move on and not call her back. I needed her.
She was a damn good therapist, but it was something in her soul that I bonded with spiritually. Whatever hurt she had experienced in life was speaking loudly today, especially when I talked about Jameka. I wondered if me calling her a ho or a bitch had bothered her. It seemed that was when she retreated and stopped talking.
I heard the door open and close. Uncle Storm and I turned to see who would walk around the corner. When I saw KJ, I lowered my head. Although he didn’t say it, I felt like he blamed me for what happened to Kane. That was his little brother, so I understood. Uncle Storm stood and shook his hand, then he came to me and shook mine.
“Well, since KJ here, I’m gonna head out. We got shit to figure out with the people we actually give a fuck about.”
I slowly shook my head. Uncle WJ couldn’t just completely throw Big City Nome in the trash. He started talking about repairing the infrastructure, especially for the elderly people who were still living in the “city” part of town. When he walked out, KJ sat on the chair across from me. I hadn’t seen him since the other night at the hospital.
“What’s up, man? How you feeling?”
“I’m okay, I guess.”
His head tilted slightly. “You know Kane is fine. He’s going home tomorrow.”
I nodded. “I just feel like…” I stopped and slowly shook my head. “Never mind.”
“Naw. You feel like what?”
I looked back at him. “That this shit is all my fault. Despite the past issues the family had with them niggas, they weren’t fucking with the Hendersons until this bullshit with Jameka.”
“Man, chill out. I mean… honestly, I felt a way about the shit at first. I’m sorry. But I had time on the flight back to think things through. We have all fucked around. None of us expected shit to go sideways after sleeping with a female. It could have been any of us. The only reason they taking that shit out on the whole family is because of their history with us. From what I was told, this goes back to our great grandparents. They weren’t getting along way back then.”
I frowned. “Why they didn’t tell us that shit? Karima just told me about the shit with Aunt Tiff and Jameka’s mama the night it happened.”
“That’s a good question. I guess they thought the shit was an individual thing and not an entire family thing. Whatever the reason, that shit ain’t on you. A’ight? Everybody knows that. So carry yo’ ass to the diner and get to moving around instead of being cooped up in here, looking depressed as hell.”
I chuckled slightly. Having him here made me feel a lot better about that shit, but the ultimate test would come from Kane. If he didn’t see it that way, then I knew I wouldn’t be able to get over it. It took me forever to forgive myself for not doing shit about Joseph Monroe beating on my mama.
“If you say so, man,” I responded. “How are things with you and Cassie?”
“Good. We gon’ be leaving again in a couple of days. We’re headed to Dubai. Then when I come back, it’s back to work. I got the national competition in a couple of months.”
“Hell yeah. We gon’ all be in the stands, acting like fools and letting those people know who the Hendersons are.”
He chuckled. “Yep! They better get their minds right for that shit. You had therapy today?”
“Yeah. Mekayla left about thirty minutes before you got here.”
“So how did it go? You still tryna wear her down?”
“Hell yeah. I’m trying hard. I just feel like she’s everything I need. She got a lil in her feelings today when I was telling her about what happened and why I missed my last session. Then Uncle Storm had her fucked up. She called that nigga my guard dog and told him respect was earned. Nigga, I just knew the winds was about to howl.”
KJ laughed loudly. “What did Unc say?”
“That nigga said he didn’t know whether to be pissed or impressed. She walked off before he could even respond to her.”
“Aww yeah. She the one!” he said excitedly as he laughed.
I slowly shook my head as I stared at my phone. I typed her name in and sent her a text message. I didn’t know if she would read the card or not, but I needed her to. I really am sorry about today. I could see you got in your feelings a bit. If you wanna talk about it, I’m here.
Just as I was about to ask KJ about Cassie, the door opened again, and it didn’t take any time for me to know who it was.
“Nigga, where you at?” Jess yelled.
Her ass was always the loudest in the room. When she walked around the corner, she smiled big. “Where my girl at?”
I frowned. “What’chu talkin’ ’bout, Jess?”
“Mekayla AKA Miss Chatmon, nigga. You knew who I was talking about. Quit playing with me.”
“You missed her. She left about thirty minutes ago,” I said as I glanced at KJ.
She went to him, and he stood and hugged her. “What’s up, Jess?”
“Too much and not enough.” She turned her attention back to me. “How you feeling? You hungry?”
“Yeah, but I’m gonna go to the diner today,” I said as I glanced at KJ again.
He nodded with a smile on his face. “Hell yeah. Our nigga is back.”
“Hol’ on though. Jacob, you sure you can be on it like that?”
“Yeah, Jess. I can be on it as much as I can tolerate. Miss Chatmon encouraged it.”
“Okay. If you say so. So that means we ain’t gotta be here every day all in your space then.”
“Jess… why you gotta be dramatic? I told y’all from the beginning y’all didn’t have to do that shit.”
She rolled her eyes and pushed me in the head. It didn’t matter how old we got, she would always treat me like her little brother. She was always protective of me, but it got even worse with this shit.
“Oh! And why the fuck you in here with the door unlocked? Anybody can just walk the fuck in here and take yo’ ass out!” she said matter-of-factly.
I pulled my gun from the cushion of the sofa, pointing it at the ceiling. “Plus, your uncle left it unlocked after Miss Chatmon left.”
“Why you calling her Miss Chatmon?” KJ asked.
“I only call her Mekayla when I’m talking to y’all. She insists on being professional,” I said while rolling my eyes.
Mekayla knew I had her body on another level. I noticed every time she glanced at my dick. She wanted me as bad as I wanted her, but for some reason, she was fighting that shit. If she gave in to me, she would see just how I would take care of her body. My uncles taught me how to treat a woman. Those lessons surely got by Joseph. That nigga was beating my mama for breakfast, lunch, and supper. I didn’t understand how she was enduring that shit.
I stood from the couch, and KJ stood as well. “Can you drive?” he asked.
“Naw. I’m on pain killers, and it hurts to lock my leg and flex my foot.”
“A’ight. I got’chu.”
My phone chimed as KJ handed me my cane. I grabbed it from the couch to see it was from Mekayla. My eyebrows lifted slightly, because I almost didn’t expect her to respond. I opened the thread. I’m okay. Thank you.
That was it. I slid my phone in my pocket as Jess looped her arm around my waist, babying me like I couldn’t walk at all. It was a shame that she still treated me like a baby. I was almost thirty-three years old, and she was treating me like I was five. She babied me more than Mama did, and that was saying a lot. My brother, CJ, didn’t come along until I was eighteen. So I was her baby for a long time.
When we got outside, I waved at Christian as he drove by. After seeing us outside, he backed up in the street and put his window down. “Y’all going to the diner?”
“Yeah,” KJ said.
“A’ight. I’ll meet y’all up there.”
KJ nodded then opened the door to his truck. Before getting in, I asked, “Where’s Cassie? Why aren’t you with your new bride? Jess can take me to the diner.”
“She’s in Beaumont with her mama and sister. You’re fine.”
I nodded then allowed them to help me inside. KJ’s truck was a little high. Although only one leg had gotten hurt, the other was bruised as well. They said nothing was broken or torn in it, but I was thinking about heading to Houston for a second opinion. That shit hurt bad as hell some days. KJ got in and gave me a slight smile. I didn’t know what that shit meant, but I was sure I was about to find out in a minute.
When we got to the gate, he said, “I’m glad they finally got this fucking gate up.”
“Yeah. Nesha said the company they’d hired was fucking with their time. She said it just like that too. So you know she was pissed, because she doesn’t usually use language like that.”
“Shiiiid, she’s around family all day long. It was bound to rub off on her sooner or later. My dad doesn’t curse much at home, but around his family, he’s a different person.”
We chuckled. Uncle Kenny was usually in his own world, handling his business, but whenever he was around Uncle Jasper and Uncle Storm, the curse words flew out of his mouth like it was second nature. I winced as I tried to stretch out my leg then relaxed in the seat. I wanted to complain about this shit, but it wasn’t my style. Most people never knew when something was wrong with me, because I hid it well. However, KJ, Christian, and Rylan knew when shit wasn’t right in my world from one glance.
When he pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant, and I saw the BMW in the parking lot, my heart started beating faster. Mekayla was here? I glanced over at KJ, and he had a slight smile on his face.
“You knew she was here?”
“Uncle Storm texted me, saying he saw her headed this way and to tell you.”
“Fuck! Let’s get out.”
I opened the door and slid out of his truck on one leg. I felt the pain shoot up to my thigh, but I didn’t give a fuck. I stumbled slightly then grabbed my cane to make my way inside. KJ was laughing hard as hell. He got on my fucking nerves sometimes. Jess had a big smile on her face. She was in on this shit too.
When I got to the door, I opened it to see Mekayla seated at a table with her back to the door. She didn’t look to be eating, so I wasn’t sure what she was doing. I winked at my mama, and she chuckled. It was no secret to anybody that I was feeling Mekayla, especially if they were at my house during my therapy sessions. I made my way to her and saw she had a small bowl of peach cobbler and ice cream in front of her. “What’s up, Miss Chatmon? What’chu doing here?”
Her eyes met mine, and she looked to have been crying. The smile fell from my lips as she wiped her face and started gathering her things. “Whoa, what’s up? Why you leaving?”
“I just wanted to get something to eat and decided to be greedy and get dessert. I need to go and get my daughter.”
I grabbed her hand, and I felt the tremble in it. “Mekayla, please talk to me.”
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “I can’t.”
“Why not? We aren’t in a professional atmosphere right now.”
“But you are still my patient. Your mom and your aunt have the best food I’ve ever tasted and for some reason, my spirit feels at ease here.”
“This isn’t your first time here?” I asked with a slight frown.
“No. If your mom doesn’t bring food to me at your place, I come here and get it. I love cooking, and I’m pretty good at it, but this is just so good.”
She’d effectively steered the conversation where she wanted it to go, but I wasn’t the type of nigga to let her have her way. I pulled her from her seat and hugged her tightly. I felt her take a deep breath then she gently pulled away from me. “This isn’t appropriate, Mister Henderson.”
“It felt good though, didn’t it?”
I stared into her eyes and could see her begging me to let shit go. It touched me and caused me to back down. “Okay. I’ll let it go, but you may need to talk to someone, like you were encouraging me to do.”
“I have a counselor, Mister Henderson. I was just… triggered earlier. I really have to go. Are you going to want me to come back?”
“What kind of question is that? I’ll make sure Uncle Storm isn’t there whenever you come.”
She shook her head. “You don’t have to do that. I’m just extremely irritable today. See you in a couple of days.”
I nodded and watched her leave me standing here confused as hell.