Chapter 15
CHAPTER 15
KARIMA
W hen I woke up, I smelled bacon. A smile made its way to my lips, and I couldn’t contain it if I tried. Being here with Rhodes had my soul at ease. There was no anger, hurt, sadness, or depression. This was where I was supposed to be. I was grateful for Watchful Eyes, and most importantly, my daddy, for seeing just how important Rhodes was to me… how much I loved him. My parents knew me best, and I was beyond grateful that they trusted me and my decisions.
I grabbed my phone and read my devotion then said a prayer, thanking God for bringing me to Rhodes. He knew if I couldn’t travel those Rhodes whenever I wanted to, I would be no earthly good. After my prayer, I got up and went to the bathroom to shower and handle my other hygiene. Once I wrapped my hair and put on my shower cap, I hopped in, soaking up the warm water. I could hear my phone ringing while I was washing, so I hurriedly finished.
It was probably my parents. I didn’t tell anyone I was leaving the house. I was so excited when Uncle Philly showed up at my house. I knew he could only be coming for one reason. He’d never visited my house, but for him to be there alone, I knew he was my transportation to my man.
Once I got out, dried off, and moisturized, I made my way to the bedroom to put on one of Rhodes’s T-shirts. I grabbed my phone from the nightstand to see I missed a call from my mama. It was just as I figured. I sat on the bed and called her back. As soon as she answered, I said, “Hey, Mama. Sorry, I forgot to tell y’all I was leaving last night. I’m at Rhodes’s house. Watchful Eyes had Uncle Philly bring me.”
“Okay. I was slightly worried since you weren’t answering your door.”
I frowned slightly. I could hear in her voice that something wasn’t right. “Mama, what’s going on?”
“Umm… your grandfather had to be rushed to the hospital.”
I closed my eyes. Grandpa had been on a steady decline ever since Grandma passed away. “What happened?”
She sighed. “Someone was trying to rob him. He was outside at Jenahra’s house and decided to drive to China to go to the Dollar General for some cookies without telling anyone he was leaving.”
“Oh my God, Mama. That’s not what I was expecting you to say. I thought it was his health. Jesus! What happened?”
She broke down. “Baby, they beat him bad. I think he had a heart attack during the attack. I’m so glad you aren’t here. Things are heated out here and in China. Someone saw and instead of calling the police, they called Storm. Of course, they stopped the attack, but Ace happened to get there and unknowingly walked up on it. They said Ace had his gun and killed the boys the customers had subdued. He got arrested, baby.”
I burst into tears. This was a lot. It took me a moment to contain my cries. “How many boys did he kill, Mama?”
“Three.”
“I need to be with the family.”
“No, baby. You don’t need to be here.”
I looked up and saw Rhodes staring at me. I didn’t even hear or see him walk into the room. He quickly made his way to the bed and pulled me into his arms. “What’s going on, baby?”
I didn’t answer his question. “Can my mama, aunts, and female cousins come here?”
He lifted his eyebrows. “Umm… yeah. I mean… shit. What’s going on?”
I put my mama on speaker so he could hear her cries. Right after, my text messages started blowing up. There were three or four threads going at once. “Mama, y’all come here. Please. I’ll get Rhodes to call Watchful Eyes to escort y’all.”
“They are already here, baby.”
“Tell them to bring y’all here.”
“I think they are taking us to Beaumont to Residence Inn. They’ve already secured several suites for us. Nome is like a war zone. I’m so worried. Your dad is at the hospital and has been since late last night, but your uncles, brothers, and cousins are on the rampage. It’s like… the police aren’t even fucking with them right now. I’m so scared. Tiff, Jess, and Milana are trying to be out there with them. Jericho literally had to pick Jess up and throw her in an SUV and take her home. It’s soooo bad.”
I closed my eyes and cried into Rhodes’s chest. There was too much going on. “Please tell Ali to bring you and Cassie here. I need y’all close to me. Please.”
“I will. I need to finish packing. I’ll call you in a little bit to let you know what’s going on.”
“Okay. I love you.”
“I love you too, baby.”
After I ended the call, Rhodes said, “Let me make some calls, baby.”
I pulled away from him and looked at my text messages. I was in a thread with the younger female cousins, one with the older female cousins, and a bigger group that looked to include all the women of the family. I clicked on that one to see Aunt Jen praying for Grandpa and the men of our family. Even Uncle Carter, Uncle LaKeith, and Uncle Ryder were out there. It had to be really bad if Uncle Carter and Uncle LaKeith were out there. Uncle Ryder was always gonna ride for my uncles. He’d been in the family the longest of the three of them.
I kept reading to see Uncle Philly was out there, along with Uncle Aston, Mal, and Uncle Shylou. It seemed every man that was a friend to the Hendersons was out there in the streets of Nome. I scrolled down to see our rodeo friends were there too. Mr. Legend never got involved in shit, but even he was out there and had brought Mr. Zayson and Mr. Red with him as well.
I stood and fell to my knees, praying loudly. I needed my family to be protected. Grandpa had to make it through this. If he didn’t, they would burn Nome and China down. I wondered if the boys were related to the Andersons. If they were, it would only make things ten times worse. As I prayed, I could feel Rhodes kneel next to me. He grabbed my hand as I cried out to God.
When I finally opened my eyes, I fell against him. “Your mama, Cassie, and your Aunt Cass are coming here, baby. I talked to Ali. More of them may come too, but I know those three are for sure coming. I need you to take deep breaths. You have to calm down for Roselynn.”
“I know. It’s like your issues aren’t even significant anymore compared to what’s going on out there.”
“Right. Rondo, Jungle, and Vegas from Watchful Eyes are still going to be out here with us. So we have protection. I think Rondo’s wife, Dinalee is gonna come inside and chill with us and make sure we’re good. We’re gonna get through this. I promise, baby.”
I nodded as I continued taking deep breaths. Pulling away from him, I texted my daddy. Hey, Daddy. I just got the news. How’s Grandpa?
Rhodes watched my phone, waiting for a response with me. He texted someone on his phone as my daddy’s response came through. He’s hanging in there, Rima. He has a couple of broken ribs, a broken nose, and they broke his arm. It was touch and go last night. They finally got him stabilized this morning. The heart attack wasn’t massive. Thank God.
I closed my eyes and released a sigh. At least he was still alive and stable. Okay, Daddy. I’m praying.
I know you are. I can feel it. Thank you, baby.
I stood from the floor, and Rhodes helped steady me. “I know you probably don’t feel like it, but I need you to come downstairs and try to eat something.”
I nodded and quietly followed him to the kitchen. When I got down there and saw his aunt Kimiko standing there with a plate of breakfast for me, I gave her a slight smile. “Thank you so much, Aunt Kimiko.”
I went to her as Rhodes took the plate from her and hugged her tightly. “I should have known Rhodes wasn’t the one that had it smelling this good down here.”
She chuckled. “Chile, you know that boy can barely boil water.”
I chuckled, doing my best to put what was going on with my family at the back of my mind. I’d already prayed and there was nothing more that I could do about it. While I wanted to scream and cry, I knew that wouldn’t help or solve anything. If anything, it would probably have me sick. I sat at the kitchen table where Rhodes had set my food and inhaled deeply. It looked and smelled so good… either that or I was extremely hungry.
The bacon was crunchy just how I liked it, and I practically inhaled the waffles and eggs. When Aunt Kimiko set that bowl of grits next to me, my smile widened, especially when I noticed how yellow they looked. That meant they were good and buttery. I could feel Rhodes staring at me, but I didn’t care. I didn’t realize just how hungry I was until I got down here and saw that food.
By the time I finished, the doorbell was ringing. I hopped up from my seat as Rhodes went to the door. When my mama, Cassie, and Aunt Cass walked through the door, I ran to them, hugging my mama tightly. After I released her, I went to Cassie and Aunt Cass.
I brought them to the kitchen and introduced them to Aunt Kimiko. After giving hugs, she had them sit to eat breakfast. She started cooking more food as I sat next to my mama. “How were things when y’all left?”
My mama took a deep breath. “Intense. They still haven’t found out if those boys were related to the Andersons or not. I’m truly hoping they aren’t.”
“Mama, you keep saying boys. Were they teenagers?”
“Yes, but not school-aged. Two were nineteen and one was eighteen. He graduated last year and was about to turn nineteen next month.”
“Any news about Ace?”
“Yes. He was remanded, baby. He doesn’t have a record, so I’m not sure why they didn’t set bail. What could possibly get him time is the fact that the attack was no longer in progress. I’m not sure if the police know that or not, since they weren’t called to the scene until after he shot them. Ali told your dad that he could make that footage disappear,” she said in a low voice.
My mama glanced toward the kitchen at Aunt Kimiko. She didn’t know her and couldn’t afford for her to hear something she shouldn’t. When Rhodes joined us, he had a woman with him that introduced to us as Dinalee. She went to the kitchen to help Aunt Kimiko.
“So who else was coming with y’all?”
“We were trying to get Tiff and Milana to come with us. Tiff is so hardheaded, and Milana is following in her footsteps. They don’t need to be out there, but I suppose I get it. That’s her dad. Jenahra and Chrissy got a two-bedroom suite. Mekayla and Jess are staying together with their daughters, and Mya and Angel are staying together with their kids.”
“Who’s Yendi staying with?”
“I’m not sure, baby. You know how everyone feels about JJ. Yendi may be staying alone. Tyeis is staying with Nesha and Olivia.”
“I hate for her to be alone. Let me text her and see if she wants to come here,” I said.
I cringed as I messaged her, because I was gonna hurt JJ’s bad ass if he didn’t act like he had sense. Before I could complete the message, my mama’s phone rang. I sat there and listened to her talk, and it sounded like she was talking to Aunt Chrissy. When she ended the call, she said, “Chrissy is staying with Yendi. Jenahra is staying with Jess and Mekayla.”
I nodded. “Good. I didn’t want her to be alone.”
I gently rubbed circles on my stomach as Cassie smiled at me. She was really quiet, but I knew it was because she was worried. I had faith that everything would be fine. God was going to keep my Grandpa and the rest of my family. If Ace was the only one arrested, then all was well. I knew Uncle Marcus was probably having a fit. Ace was hotheaded just like his father, Uncle Storm, and SS. I was pretty sure Mr. Berotte and Mrs. Taylor had already been called.
Rhodes pulled me from my seat as Aunt Kimiko began serving my family and brought me to the couch. He sat next to me and lifted my feet and began rubbing them. I gave him a slight smile. “Thank you, baby, for this and for taking my family in.”
“I love you, KD. I’ll do anything for you. In other news, there has been no movement concerning the guy that’s after me. Ali seems to think he’s regrouping. In the meantime, they are setting up meetings with a couple of guys they may have to recruit to help out. But right now, we’re safe and so is your family.”
He glanced over at them as Aunt Kimiko brought grits to them. I relaxed against the sofa cushions and closed my eyes, hoping and praying that the rest of my family remained safe as well.