CHAPTER SIXTEEN IESHA
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
IESHA
“Ilove you, baby. I’m gonna be here for you. I know it’s hard. It’s hard for me, and I haven’t known him but for a couple of years. So I know it’s ten times as hard for you. Do what you need to do to release your sorrow. You are safe to do that here. You know that.”
He only nodded. Seeing him fall apart in my car broke my heart.
I’d never seen Seven this way, and it was so hard to process.
He cried that day at my apartment, but this was far worse.
He always had his shit together. I’d witnessed his anger, his pettiness, his ignorance, and even his sensitivity.
But this? This was hard as hell. It felt like he was broken, and the more I tried to put him back together, the more he would fall apart.
At that point, I knew I just needed to let him be broken right now.
I went to the kitchen to clean up. Everyone would be meeting again today.
I knew it was simply just to be amongst family for love and support.
My family did the same thing when someone in the family passed away.
PJ was just so young. What I thought was weird about the entire ordeal, though, was that the hospital wouldn’t allow the family to the back to see him.
They usually allowed that. PJ’s mom and his sisters were about to have a heart attack because they couldn’t sit with him.
Something weird was going on, and I didn’t understand what.
Once Seven was able to really talk about it, I would bring it up.
When we got here late last night, I held him in my arms until I fell asleep.
He was quiet, not making even the slightest sound.
I knew this was painful for him. He and PJ were close.
They were all taking it extremely hard last night.
If they would have known who to get at about his death, that person would have been dead on the spot.
I could see the anger crawling all over them, especially Ace, Seven, Mythic, and Kingsley.
When Mythic’s sister got there, I watched Kingsley morph from the abominable snow man into a roasted marshmallow.
The man looked like he was about to be on the rampage and would explode on the first person that tried to stop him until she arrived.
His demeanor changed the instant he saw her.
That was a serious pull that she had on his soul.
It was like he would be whoever she needed him to be.
She came before anything or anyone else.
PJ’s death came second to what she needed.
That hurt my heart, because I felt like he would lose himself and not feel the things he needed to feel for his own healing.
However, Kingsley was a very intelligent being.
I could see that just from observing him while being around the guys.
I could only pray that he was as emotionally intelligent as he was mentally.
Hopefully, he knew just what he was doing and handling for the sake of Treasure and his love for her. That part of it was beautiful.
I finished cleaning the kitchen and saw Seven had made his way to the couch.
When I woke up this morning, he was awake.
I didn’t know whether he slept at all. I went to the couch and sat next to him.
He turned to me and gently stroked my cheek, then kissed my lips.
I brought my hand to his cheek, resting my palm there and just stared into his eyes.
“Your family is meeting today. I’ll text Maui to find out where.”
“Okay. Thank you, baby.”
I closed my eyes and kissed his head. I was doing my best to help him carry the sorrow he was feeling, but it was so heavy. When I tried to stand, he pulled me close to him. I laid against him, slowly caressing his bare chest.
“I’ve been going over things in my head all night.
A lot of this shit doesn’t make sense to me.
Why wouldn’t they let them view his body?
When Lema came from the back, she was begging them to let them visit him.
That was when they told her he was dead.
Why wouldn’t they let the family see him even afterward?
When Grandpa died, we were all given the opportunity to go and see him before the funeral home took him. Some shit just not adding up.”
“I was thinking the same, but I didn’t want to say anything. PJ was doing too well to suddenly die. This is so confusing and dark.”
“Yeah. I’m gon’ get to the bottom of this shit. To say that he was with Watchful Eyes and acting on behalf of them, none of those niggas seemed as upset that he was dead.”
He quickly stood and made a call, walking outside. Was Watchful Eyes dirty? Naw. They wouldn’t do no shit like that. They protected the Hendersons with their lives. I stood to go to my room and get dressed. Seven wasn’t going to rest until he knew everything that was going on.
When we got to the family barn, everyone was here, talking and eating.
It seemed just like a normal family gathering until I saw PJ’s mama and sisters.
His mom was leaning against his dad, and Epic and Cachet were consoling his sisters.
I hated this for them, especially Lema. She was his twin.
Seven’s aunt went to PJ’s mom and pulled her in her arms, giving Mr. Philly a moment of reprieve.
I went and sat with Maui, Ashanni, the twins, and Milana. “Hey, everybody,” I said as I sat.
“Hey, girl,” Ashanni said.
Everyone else said hey, then they went back to their conversation. Milana was barely picking over her food. I understood. PJ was her first cousin. Their dads were brothers. I kind of just sat in silence, picking with my nails until Bali asked, “How are things with the knock-off Storm?”
My eyes widened as everybody laughed. “Honestly, they’re great. He’s back to being the sweet, summer rain I met two years ago.”
They laughed more, then Noni said, “You must’ve finally broke his ass off. That nigga ain’t never a fucking summer rain.”
I chuckled as my cheeks reddened.
“Aww Lawd,” Ashanni said. “She did.”
The twins turned their lips up as Maui chuckled. So to really make them shut up about it, I said, “Yep, and Lawd have mercy, he done turned me into a feen. That man is blessed. I can’t even—”
“Hell naw! We ain’t finna sit here and listen to you talk about that nigga like we don’t fucking know him. I don’t know who the fuck you take us for!” Bali said.
I laughed so hard, I almost choked. Maui was holding her stomach and laughing hard too. I was pretty sure she knew I did that shit on purpose. Ashanni’s baby flinched in her arms as we laughed loudly. I leaned over to her, and said, “I’m so sorry, princess.”
She was so beautiful. Her ears were pierced, and she wore a necklace and a bracelet. I already knew Ashanni was going to have a little diva on her hands. I glanced around the table and continued. “I might need to go sit somewhere else. Everybody over here is pregnant, except Milana.”
When she grinned, I slowly shook my head. “I just found out two days ago,” she said as she beamed.
“Congratulations, girl. I’m going sit by the old people.”
They fell out laughing, and Maui held on to me to keep me from leaving. I kissed her forehead and asked, “How are the three of you feeling though? The wedding is coming up soon.”
“Stressed, overworked, tired as fuck, and ready for all this shit to be over,” Bali said. “I just want to lay down all day and eat. My cravings are on one thousand. I swear I’m gonna gain fifty pounds if I’m not careful and tame this shit.”
“I’m sorry, Bali.”
She waved me off as I turned my attention to Noni. “Well, I’m not feeling much of anything. I’m a little sluggish, but I don’t even have morning sickness,” she said, then knocked on the wooden table.
“You are definitely the lucky twin.”
“Tell me about it,” Bali said as she rubbed her belly.
She was looking like she wanted to throw up just at the mention of morning sickness.
Within seconds, she hopped up from her seat, and as if he had an alarm on him, Carter was right behind her.
I always admired their love. It was so beautiful the way he took care of her while letting her be just who she was. Mythic was the same way with Maui.
I felt like Seven was gonna be close to that with me too. After we had sex, that man’s nose was wide open. I felt like he would give me whatever I wanted and would protect me with his life. As I thought about him, I looked around, trying to see where he went.
“He went outside with Mythic, Ace, Royal, and Kingsley,” Maui said as another pregnant woman sat with us.
“Hey, Aaliyah,” Maui said.
“Hey,” she said softly.
Ashanni reached for her hand, and asked, “Sis, is everything okay?”
She shook her head and broke down crying right here at the table.
Ashanni gave the baby to Maui, then stood and led her away from the table.
I didn’t know what was going on, so I wished they would have stayed and talked about it at the table.
Thankfully, my man was just as nosy as I was, so I knew I would find out soon enough.
“Who is she?” I asked.
“She’s Red Squared’s sister. Ashanni and Noni’s sister-in-law. She’s supposedly pregnant with Royal’s babies.”
“Babies?”
“Yeah. She’s having twins,” Maui responded.
“Geeze. Why you say supposedly?”
“Because they’re both some freaks and sleep around a lot. He wants them to be his and so does she. So I’m hoping that’s the case for them. If not, they are both gonna be hurt. He’s preparing to settle down with her.”
“Oh, damn. You think maybe they found out the results?”
“I don’t know. If they did, I can imagine what the results were.”
I frowned slightly as I looked toward where she and Ashanni went. Shani was hugging her and rubbing her back. When the men came inside, Royal stopped in his tracks, then turned and went back out the door. Seven was frowning, then turned and went back outside with him. The babies must not be his.