Chapter 5
“I can’t believe he forced his way in here and made himself comfortable. He must be crazy,” I muttered to my sisters.
My sisters and I were gathered in the kitchen discussing my uninvited guest. I seemed to be the only one who had a problem with him popping up.
“I wouldn’t say he used force, but you must not think he’s too crazy because he’s currently playing video games with Briar,” Rosemary said.
“And we know you don’t play about your son, so what’s really going on here?” Daisy questioned.
“What was I supposed to do? Briar was so excited when he saw him. He almost tackled the man.”
“You were supposed to do exactly what you did. We all know Rocky is not a threat and won’t harm a hair on Briar’s head,” Rosemary reasoned. “However, if you had the good sense the Lord gave you, you’d let him beat that pussy up.”
“Rose, why are you like this? Every other time you open your mouth, you say something nasty or inappropriate. Now is not the time for that. I need help figuring out how to get?—”
“Pizza’s here!” Rocky announced when he entered the kitchen. “Oh, my brother is about to bring RJ over to hang out with us. I hope y’all don’t mind.”
“Who is your brother and RJ?” Sage asked.
“And are they as fine as you?” Rosemary questioned.
Rocky chuckled. “Russell is my brother, and RJ is our seven-year-old nephew. I think we have pretty strong genes, so you might notice a resemblance.”
“RJ is too young for me…Tell me more about Russell,” she said with a flirtatious smile.
“You can ask him whatever you want to know when he gets here. Where should I put the pizzas?”
I watched as my five sisters led him to the dining room. It was crazy how comfortable they were with this stranger in our house. The doorbell rang, and since everyone was occupied, I answered it.
“How can I help you?” I asked as I stood behind the screen door.
“Hey, umm, I’m looking for Rocky.”
“Are you Russell?”
“Yeah, and this is RJ, our nephew.”
“You’re Briar’s mom. I’ve seen you in my class,” RJ said.
“You sure have.”
“Can we come in?” he asked, trying to peek inside.
“Of course.” I stepped aside, and Russell opened the screen door, allowing RJ to enter first.
They took off their shoes and followed me to the family room.
“Briar, look who’s here.”
He was engrossed in the video game and didn’t turn around right away. When he did, he dropped the controller and ran toward us.
“RJ, you’re here!” He took his hand, pulled him to the spot he’d just left in front of the TV, and gave him the other game controller.
“We probably won’t hear from them for a while,” Russell commented.
“Your brother ordered pizza. Do you think we should make them eat first?”
He thought about it briefly before saying, “Nah. They’ll let us know when they’re hungry.”
“Okay. Well, follow me. I’ll take you to your brother.”
Russell followed me to the dining room, and when he entered, Rosemary stopped midsentence and focused all her attention on him.
“Damn, I hope you’re Russell.” She walked around the table and extended her hand.
“I am, and you are?” He took her hand and held on to it.
“Rosemary, and these are my sisters, Daisy, Blossom, Sage, and Violet. You’ve met Rue.”
“I have, and it’s nice to meet you ladies. Is there a reason y’all are named after flowers?”
“There is, and I’ll tell you all about it,” Rosemary said as she gently guided him out of the dining room.
“This isn’t how I expected my Friday to go,” I mumbled.
“What would you rather be doing?” Rocky asked.
His sparkling eyes connected with mine, and it felt as if he could see into my soul. Rocky was beyond handsome with strong, masculine features. Based on his build, I would assume he spent time in the gym or at least lifting heavy shit.
His brown skin was covered in tattoos, and I could see his veins protruding underneath. His hair was shaved and perfectly lined on the sides with locs that hung well past his shoulders. His beard and mustache framed his smooth lips with just enough hair to tickle between my thighs.
“Rue, did you hear him?” Daisy asked, pulling me from my thoughts.
“Huh? Oh, yeah…umm…I like to unwind on Friday nights.”
“How do you unwind?” he asked.
“A nice hot bath, a glass of wine, and my favorite pajamas, curled up in my bed watching my favorite shows.”
“So, you’re a homebody?”
“She’s more than a homebody if you ask me. She goes to work, picks up Briar from the center, and comes home. On the days she doesn’t have to work, she does errands, but that’s about it,” Violet said. “I’m fifteen, and Sage is sixteen, and we have more of a social life than Rue.”
“He was talking to me, Violet. Mind your business.”
“You probably weren’t going to tell the truth, so I decided to help you out.” She stuck her tongue out at me.
“Whatever. Umm…It seems my sisters want you here more than I do, so I’ll be upstairs in my room. Can y’all make sure Briar eats before it gets too late?”
“Hold up,” he said. “Can you ladies excuse us for a minute?”
Daisy, Blossom, Sage, and Violet’s eyes widened as they took one of the pizza boxes and scurried out of the dining room.
“Make this quick. I have to open the shop in the morning,” I told him with my hand on my hip.
“You’re rude as shit. All a nigga wanna do is express my apology, and your evil ass won’t let me.”
“I accepted your apology. Nothing else was necessary. Feel free to see your way out.” I turned to leave, and he grabbed my wrist, pulling me onto his lap. “Let me?—”
His lips covered mine before I could finish my sentence. When he forced his tongue between my lips, I wanted to deny him, but my mouth opened to receive his tongue without my permission. I gave in, enjoying every savory second of the kiss and was angry when he pulled away.
However, it didn’t take me long to come to my senses. I jumped from his lap, and my hand landed on his cheek before I could stop it.
“Don’t you ever do that again!” I spat before running to my room.
When I was safely on the other side of my locked bedroom door, I pressed my back against it and released a deep breath. A simple kiss shouldn’t have me as worked up as I was, but it had been three years since a man had touched me.
A knock on my door startled the hell out of me. I wanted to ignore it, but when I heard my sister’s voice on the other side, I felt a sense of relief.
“You can come out now, they’re gone,” Blossom said.
I’d only been in my room for a minute and didn’t believe Rocky and his brother had left so quickly. “Blossom, don’t play with me. I’m not in the mood.”
“I’m not playing. Rocky got a phone call, and they rushed out. It must have been an emergency because they asked if RJ could stay for a few hours.”
I opened the door and asked, “They left RJ?”
“Yeah, but they’ll be back to pick him up.”
“They don’t know us well enough to leave him with us. How irresponsible!”
“It’s a good thing we aren’t crazy. You don’t have to hide in your room anymore. The boys are in the kitchen eating pizza, and Violet and Sage promised to let them watch a movie when they finish.”
She walked away, and I followed her. My other sisters were in the family room, and when I entered, they looked at me almost sympathetically.
“You should consider going to therapy, sis,” Rosemary told me.
“Why? I’m fine.”
“You aren’t fine. Deacon fucked you up physically and mentally,” she continued.
“And even though you’re not together anymore, you’re letting his past actions affect your future,” Daisy added.
“How?” I folded my arms across my chest defensively.
“Y’all broke up three years ago, and you haven’t looked at another man since,” Daisy said.
“You’re twenty-five years old but act like you're sixty-five. There’s more to life than working and caring for us,” Blossom commented.
“Seriously, because we’re basically grown,” Sage said, referring to her and Violet because the others were over eighteen.
“You’re not grown until you’re eighteen, so technically, you’re still my responsibility.”
“True, but it’s not like you’re changing our diapers,” Violet added. “It’s time for you to live a little. We’re here to watch Briar whenever you need. You’ve sacrificed enough of your life to make sure we’re good.”
“Y’all might be right, but I need to stay away from men like Rocky. He’s probably no different from Deacon.”
“Every man in a bike club ain’t the same. I heard the Mayhem members are nothing like the Riders,” Rosemary said.
“Who’d you hear that from?” I questioned.
“Different people. It doesn’t matter. You can tell they’re different by the things they do in the community. When was the last time the Westside Riders had a fundraiser?” she asked.
I didn’t have to think about it long because they’d never had a fundraiser.
“Everyone knows the Riders ain’t that kind of club. Those idiots do more harm than they’ll ever do good.”
“Exactly. Mayhem has a history of doing good in the hood,” Daisy said.
“That might be true, but I’m over bikers. Regardless of what Mayhem is doing for the community, there’s probably a dark side we don’t know about. When I start dating again, I want a regular man with a regular job and regular extracurricular activities.”
“Ugh, I sure as hell don’t. I want a nigga who can break another nigga’s neck for looking at me too hard,” Rosemary shared.
“Say it again, sis!” Daisy cheered, giving Rosemary a high five.
“Something is truly wrong with y’all. I’m going back to my room. Make sure your nephew goes to bed at a reasonable time.”
My life was exhausting, and I always put others’ needs before mine. It would be nice to have a man to love me, someone to cuddle up with every night and take some of the weight from my shoulders. However, I wasn’t willing to take the risk and give my heart to another man.