Chapter 13 Jaseon Jr #2
Eyeing her, I said nothing as I continued to eat.
While my sister didn’t know the shit I was into outside of working as a medical examiner, she knew that her brother wasn’t wrapped too tightly.
There had been a time or two when I had to get some straightening with her and her old boyfriend, so she knew what I was capable of.
“Angel of death, huh?” I finally responded, drinking from my water bottle.
“You know all of that but had the nerve to look long faced when I came in here. Don’t act like your brother won’t fuck up the world behind you, Karlie McKnight.
You don’t have to tell me what’s going on, but I want you to promise me that if you ever feel like you need me, you won't hesitate to call. I will drop everything and come to you.”
She eyed me with suspicion. “What if you’re in the middle of conducting an autopsy?”
“That muthafucka is dead; he can wait.”
“Oh my gosh!” Her eyes went wide before her hand covered her face. “You don’t know what to say out of your mouth at times but thank you. I promise you, I’m fine. Just one of those days. Percy is getting on my nerves, and I think it’s time for us to go our separate ways.”
“I don’t know why you thought you could make it work with a nigga named Percy anyway.” I mugged her. “Nigga sounds like he wears pink panties and shit.”
Laughing uncontrollably, she cradled her stomach as I smirked at seeing her carefree.
I knew my sister got stressed and emotional sometimes about the state of her life.
She was successful and in good health, but at the age of thirty-three, she wanted to be married and have children.
She felt as if her window of happiness was closing, but I kept telling her that everything would happen in God’s timing.
“You’re ridiculous!” she coughed out through a few more chuckles while wiping her eyes. “I needed that laugh.”
“How about we plan a vacation?” I told her as I wiped my hands on the napkin.
My phone was vibrating in my pocket, and when I pulled it out, I saw it was Jamir.
He’d been handling some personal business for me, so I needed to call him back soon.
Shifting my eyes back to Karlie, I watched her hum while eating her salad.
Since she hadn’t replied, I continued telling her about my thoughts on a possible vacation.
“I was thinking we could do a quick flight somewhere; whoever can free up their schedule. I know a lot of y’all have businesses you don’t want to stay away from, and that’s cool, but we need to get together and do something.
We can do some weekend shit or on a holiday coming up. I think it’ll be dope.”
“That actually sounds—”
“You know… When the girls began to whisper that Miss Karlie was having lunch with a fine man, I got excited because I just knew it wasn’t with Princess P.”
Looking up, I locked eyes with Jaycee. Still referred to as “Baby” by our family, she was just as much of a sister to me as Karlie.
Not only because of how much I loved her, but also because of how much she looked like my father and Uncle Amir.
Baby had her mother’s genes, too, making her all-around gorgeous, and I’d been whooping ass on every nigga that had sniffed her and Karlie’s way since Jaseon taught me how to fight.
The same way I didn’t play about Karlie was the same way I didn’t play about Jaycee.
“Hey, Baby.” I slid out of the booth and pulled her into my arms. Looking behind her, my eyes landed on my other little cousin, Malaya. Pulling her into my arms, I hugged and kissed her cheek too. “How you doing, Lay?”
“Hey, JJ!” She beamed at me, a smile perfectly situated on her face. She followed Jaycee and slid into the booth with us. “I was on the phone with Daddy when Baby said we had to come down here and be nosy. What y’all talking about?”
Lay was Uncle Mitch’s daughter and was probably the biggest troublemaker of the three.
Even though she and her brother, Max, weren’t blood-related to us, we didn’t treat them any differently.
Whenever one of them found themselves needing a helping hand in any way, we were right there rolling with them.
Lay was in need more than Max because she was quick to call us when one of her so-called niggas went wrong.
We’d gotten on her ass about gaslighting these niggas, but her behavior didn’t stop us from fucking them up for treating her poorly.
“I just wanted to stop by and check in, is all. I thought I was going to get rid of y’all when I left Willow Springs, but here we are.”
Listening to the girls speak about what was going on in their lives, I couldn’t help but zone in and out of the conversation.
Thinking about Blossom and TJ, my mind was plagued with tasting her and killing him.
When I shifted my eyes back to my sister, she was telling our cousins about the possible vacation.
Of course, they wanted to go to South Beach.
These damn girls loved Miami so much, I was shocked they hadn’t relocated there yet.
I stayed with them a few more minutes before telling them I had business to attend to.
Since the girls were going to plan the trip, we all agreed to have a group call later in the week to discuss.
I handed over my credit card and told Karlie to book everything on it when the time came, and somehow that exchange equated to a shopping spree for the girls too.
I would never tell them no, so I walked away from the booth smirking as I shook my head.
Making it to the lobby, I left the building, and so did my light-heartedness from spending time with my family.
The gloominess of the dark clouds that were rolling in over Milly Grove was symbolic of the way I was feeling inside.
Playtime for JJ was over. It was now time for Slash to come out to play.
Pulling onto the block of the empty neighborhood, I cut the engine of my truck as I finished my blunt. Usually, I would do my lurking in the quiet of the night, but today, I was anxious. It was time for me to get a hands-on assessment of all things Blossom Reid.
Exiting my truck, I pulled my ball cap over my head to not only block the beaming sun but also my face.
No one was outside, but I didn’t have my normal hooded attire, so I was trying not to draw any attention to myself.
After walking half the block, I looked up and noticed I was approaching her brick townhome.
It looked small compared to my house near Mills Manor, but from the layout, I knew it was cozy enough for her.
Ascending the porch stairs, I reached into my pocket and removed the key that my brother made for me.
He was a fucking genius and could get his hands on anything I asked for.
Jamir, being Jamir, asked a million questions that I refused to answer.
I’d initially asked for intel on Blossom because of the night at John’s, but her being Rowan’s sister was just another reason to spy and pry.
I’d made it clear to Jamir that for me to get ahold of Rowan, I needed to know who mattered to him the most, and at the time, I figured that person would be Blossom.
I asked him to bug her home and office with cameras that would pick up video and audio.
He was able to infiltrate the businesses that cleaned her office and home to place the devices everywhere and get keys to her townhouse made.
My baby brother was really like that, and I was very appreciative because I’d been watching live feeds from her job and house for days.
Once inside the house, I quietly closed the door behind me.
Closing my eyes, I took in the sugary, lemon-smelling candles mixed with the freshly cleaned linen scent.
Blossom was a neat freak and didn’t play about cleanliness.
It had taken me a couple of days to find the time to make this unwelcome visit, but I wanted to study her and learn her routine before I invited myself into her space.
Today was Wednesday, and I knew she usually worked until six and then went to the gym until eight-thirty.
I had about three hours to look around and leave before she returned for the night.
Walking further into the townhouse, the tips of my fingers ran along the back of her charcoal gray couch, grazing the throw blanket that she would use when she curled up and watched that ghetto shit she loved.
Plants and photos were strategically placed in the corners of the room on the walls, mantels, and side tables.
Walking along the fireplace, I took in various pictures of her from over the years: her graduation with her parents, birthday dinners with Rowan, lounging and vacations with Stacy, and last but not least, date nights with her man.
“Well, what do we have here?” I asked myself as I removed the frame with my gloved fingers. “I knew she didn’t have a nigga fucking her right when I met her.”
When I discovered that TJ was Blossom’s bitch, I found it comical.
My brief run-in with Blossom told me she was soft and naturally submissive.
I didn’t want to assume she was a pushover, but I could tell she was used to someone else taking the lead for her.
If that was the case, she had no business being engaged to Detective Tyreek Hines, Jr.
The night of the gala, I watched them together.
They were meant to be just as much as oil and water.
Blossom was the prettiest woman I’d ever seen, and she had no business being with a hoe-ass nigga like TJ.
Rowan wouldn’t have been able to say two words to her before his tongue was withering away on the floor.
I could have very well snatched him the night he crashed the gala in his drunken state, but my sights were set on Blossom.
His time was coming, and when it got here, I wanted him to be sober and aware of his demise.