1. Royal
Royal
TWO MONTHS LATER . . .
Iwas mad as fuck. There was no way she did this shit.
Ryder J wouldn’t lie about that. I was driving like a bat out of hell until I got to Red Squared’s house.
That was where Aaliyah had moved to. Since Red had moved in with Noni, he told her she could live in his house instead of renting an apartment.
I turned in the driveway, kicking up all kinds of dust. If what Ryder J said was what really happened, I was gon’ have to stay away from her ass so I didn’t choke the fuck out of her. Normally, I was a pretty laid-back dude, but this shit was threatening for my Henderson savage to reveal itself.
When I got out of my SUV and slammed the door, she appeared in the doorway. I walked to the porch and stared at her through the glass, waiting for her to open it. She looked nervous as fuck. She’d never seen me angry.
“Did you fuck PJ? Is he the one that’s a possible father?”
She frowned and tilted her head. “Since when do we talk about who we’ve fucked, Royal? Did you fuck my brother’s baby mama?”
I frowned and took a step back.
“Yeah, nigga. I never questioned you about that shit. I know that you knew exactly who Mila was, but that dick has no fucking bounds. Don’t come at me like that in your life ever again.”
“You know we run in the same crew, Aaliyah. That shit would just be dirty as fuck, especially if he’s the father. The DNA test say I’m not. You don’t owe me your loyalty, but I thought we were better than this. That nigga is practically my cousin.”
“He’s dead. Why does it matter?”
“He . . .” Shit. I almost said that nigga wasn’t dead. “He’s family, that’s why it matters. What the fuck you on? Did you fuck him or not? Is he the father?”
“So, I’m assuming it would bother you if he was, huh?”
“See, I better get off this fucking porch, because you playing games. If he wasn’t, you would have just said no. You tryna make me catch a fucking case.”
I walked off as she stood there with a deep frown on her face.
The thing that pissed me off the most was that my dick was still hard.
It was always that way in her presence. My lip twitched as I got back into my Escalade.
That was proof that I was losing my cool.
I rested my head on my steering wheel for a moment, trying to calm down, but it wasn’t happening.
When I lifted my head, I noticed she was still standing in the same spot.
Her frown was gone, and her eyebrows were lifted and scrunched together.
She’d never seen me angry, but she’d never seen me show any emotion beyond those exhibited when we were fucking.
She’d seen my desire and lust and maybe playful moments, but that was about it. I was guarded. That was intentional.
I peeled out as my phone rang. When I saw her name on the caller ID, I ignored it and headed to Maui and Mythic’s house.
Today, my cousins were getting married, one of them to her brother.
It was supposed to be a happy occasion. It wouldn’t be.
I almost didn’t want to go now, because I knew she was in the wedding.
Just my luck, she would end up standing near where I chose to sit.
I slowly shook my head, hating that I’d put myself in this predicament.
I trusted Aaliyah . . . trusted the fuck out of her.
We both enjoyed having sex. We took precautions and even considered each other’s feelings.
I wanted to think that we were friends. My heart was hurt, and I felt betrayed.
That shit was bothering me as much as her fucking PJ.
I wanted to relay a message to him and tell him he had a set of twins on the way, but that wasn’t my style.
If they were his, somebody else would have to tell him.
When I got that email saying my DNA wasn’t a match, I damn near cried.
I was making so many plans for us. I’d added a nursery to my house plans.
That shit was gonna look weird as hell now.
When I got to Maui and Mythic’s house, I couldn’t even go in.
I stood outside pacing back and forth. For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why I was so angry.
Aaliyah wasn’t my woman. She could sleep with whoever she wanted to, including my fucking brother.
That was the nature of the game. I didn’t have a right to question her.
It wasn’t her fault that I dove in head-first. We weren’t sure if the babies were even mine, but I was making plans like they were.
In my heart, I felt like they were. Maybe I wanted them to be mine.
My cousins were all starting families. My sister had recently got married and had a baby.
She was Aaliyah’s fucking sister-in-law.
Seven drove up, so I prepared to tell him what was going on. He wasn’t going to leave me alone until I did anyway.
The minute he got out of his SUV, he said, “Aye, what’s up wit’chu?”
I stopped pacing and closed my eyes. When I reopened them, I stared at him for a second and said, “You wanna know who the other possible father could be?”
“Who?”
“PJ.”
His eyebrows lifted. “I know you fucking lying! What the fuck?”
“Man, I wanna take Aaliyah and ring her fucking neck. PJ didn’t know we were sleeping together, just like I didn’t know they were fucking around.
Aaliyah and I didn’t talk about who else we fucked, but she knows we run in the same fucking crew.
I’m scared that when I see her ass again, I’m gon’ wanna fuck her up. ”
My face was hot as hell, so I knew I had to be red. I felt like I wanted to explode and talking to Seven about it wasn’t helping. His temper was crazy as fuck.
“Who told you that?”
“Ryder J said PJ was talking about fucking her. When I asked her about it, she had the fucking audacity to pop off and ask me, ‘Would you be upset if he was the father?’. What kind of bullshit she on? Huh?”
I started pacing again, trying to rid myself of the urge to go back to Aaliyah’s house.
“Let me go get you something to smoke, man. You can’t be bringing this energy to the wedding. Storm Henderson will fuck you all the way up. He interrupts everybody’s wedding, but I promise, if somebody try to fuck up Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum, and Alice’s wedding, it’s gon’ be hell to pay.”
I rolled my eyes as he went inside to get me something to smoke from Mythic.
I should have gone to my parents’ house.
Dad was probably on the back deck in the clouds at this very minute.
When Seven came back out, I snatched the blunt from him and lit up immediately.
I slid my lighter back in my pocket and took a long ass pull.
“Chill out, man. I gotta go in here and get dressed. I’ma call Crew to come chill with you.”
I released the smoke I was holding in. “Naw. I’m finna go home. I may not be there later. I can’t be around her ass right now.”
And just like that, I’d gotten fired up all over again.
My house was right next door anyway. I got into my Escalade and went to my house, pulling in the garage.
After putting out my blunt, I went inside, and for some reason, I went straight to that damn nursery.
I sat on the floor and just stared at the two baby beds.
This shit was a waste of my money and depressing as fuck.
When my phone rang, I silenced it, not bothering to look at who was calling.
I didn’t feel like talking to no damn body right now.
How could she fuck PJ? It was true that I fucked Mila, everybody knew that shit, including Asad.
It wasn’t like I was close to Asad. He was a good ten years older than me.
That wasn’t the same as her fucking Philly.
Her and Mila weren’t friends, despite her being in Asad’s life for years.
I stood and went to the bathroom to take a shower.
If I didn’t go to that fucking wedding, I would never hear the end of it.
Uncle Storm would make sure we all felt his wrath.
Old spoiled ass nigga. He and my dad stayed into it but were best friends.
I didn’t understand their dynamic. Most times, they argued just to argue.
After starting the shower, I heard my phone buzz on the countertop.
I wanted to ignore that shit again, but with everything going on, I figured I had better at least check.
Just as I figured, it was a text from Aaliyah.
I wasn’t about to read that shit right now.
I needed to put a move on it if I was going to get to the wedding on time.
Once I put on my tan suit and green shirt, I decided not to wear a tie.
I just wasn’t feeling it. They had better be glad I showed up at all.
I moisturized my face and goatee, then put on my jewelry.
I didn’t go anywhere looking a mess, no matter how I felt.
My skin was always moisturized, and my jewelry was always on.
I took my self-care and appearance seriously.
I got into my vehicle and drove to the family barn. Had it not been on a highway, I would have walked. Gas was getting too high to be driving all over Nome. Cranking the engine for these lil short distances was crazy.
When I got to the barn, Aaliyah was the first person I saw. She was sitting on a bench outside near the door. I wanted to roll my fucking eyes. I backed out and drove around to go inside through the kitchen. She was going out of her way to make me miserable.
The way her titties were on display in that dress, I would literally snatch her up and have angry sex against the side of the venue. Fighting my thoughts and desires seemed to be my biggest battle at the moment. My emotions were going haywire.
When I walked into the kitchen, I had to roll my eyes.
My mama was standing at the stove, and my dad was behind her with his arms wrapped around her.
Normally, I didn’t mind seeing their love, but right now it was irritating the fuck out of me.
I walked past them without speaking and could hear my mama calling my name.