6. Zeus
A LITTLE EARLIER IN THE NIGHT…
“Man, I had to cut that ho off. I never fucked that girl. After I got a whiff of that abominable pussy slush that she had between her legs, I told her all she could do was suck my dick. Bro, I had to wash my hands with bleach and Fabuloso.”
I couldn’t stop laughing at my brother’s stupid ass. Hades rarely took anything seriously. He was the type of person who would crack a joke in the middle of a tragic event. He’d been like that since he was a kid. I loved that no matter what you did, he refused to let anyone break his spirit. “I thought you said she had it.”
“Yeah, she did. She had swamp water pussy that should be condemned. Now her ass is acting like her ass is sprung. How the hell you sprung from sucking a dick? What kinda woman are you!” His face held so much disgust.
We had just come from the strip club that he owned. He almost lost his mind when ole girl was there trying to audition. When we walked in, she was on the stage. Rhythm was not this girl’s friend, and coordination was her enemy. It was painful to watch. Hades asked her why she was there wasting his people’s time. This crazy ass girl said she would do anything to be close to him since he’d ghosted her.
This man told her that having her in his club was a health hazard, and he could not risk getting shut down by the health department for having rotted fish in the building. The way baby girl’s face cracked made me feel so damn bad. The club’s manager, Princess, made it no better by suggesting that she take a trip to the doctor to address her pH balance. Princess was Arke’s wife and one of the best female riders that I’d ever met.
We were on our way to our parents’ house to check in with them. All of us had been busy with business and club shit. We all stayed committed to our Sunday family dinners. I loved our dinners because after dinner, my baby would play an instrument. Last Sunday, she pulled out an acoustic guitar. When we stayed at her lake house and she was in her music room, I loved watching her in her element.
“Mamá, Bampás, where y’all at?” Hades yelled out as soon as we walked into the house.
My father came around the corner with a turned-up lip. “Gie mou, giatí prépei na káneis tóso gamiméno thóryvo sto spíti mou (Son, why must you make so much fucking noise in my house)?”
Although his lip was turned up, he still came over and kissed both of our foreheads like always. We followed him into the kitchen where our mother sat at the kitchen island with a wine glass. The relaxation on her face made me happy.
“Hey, beautiful.”
Hades was the first to kiss her cheek. My brothers and I were mama’s boys, the same as my sisters were daddy’s girls. Our father was the normal Greek father who wanted his children close, hence the family compound. None of us minded because we wanted to be close. Our hope was to raise our children within close proximity, so the family compound was perfect.
“Hey, my boys. What are y’all up to tonight?” she asked with a coy smile. Laverne Basil was nosy as fuck.
“Nothing much. We’re about to head out to get my baby. Her ass been in that damn studio all day, and I bet her ass didn’t eat.”
I knew my girl, and her ass would get sick because she forgot to eat. My baby was slim, thick with it. I loved that shit because I fit perfectly between her thighs. She had enough ass to fill my hands and ripple on my dick.
My mother kissed her teeth. “Now, I done told that damn girl about not eating. She gonna make me pull my belt out. Tell her that I’m gonna be over at your house in the morning to cook breakfast. I dare her not to eat too.”
“I’ll tell her,” I said. My mother coming over to cook was never a bad thing. Her southern breakfast was always good.
Hades crossed his arms over his chest. That was the sign that he was about to have a tantrum of some sort. “So, I have to get a woman before you come cook breakfast at my house?”
My father guffawed. “That’s about right, Son. You know she’s not going to come over there for some pórni (whore). Matter of fact, you better not bring one through those gates, or it’s going to be a problem.”
“That’s messed up.” The pout on his face would make you think that someone smacked his ice cream on the ground. This man was spoiled like hell.
I pushed him in the shoulder. “Man, come on so I can get to my girl.”
No one had time to play with my brother’s ignorant ass. I left him standing there. If he wasn’t in the car by the time I put the gearshift in drive, his ass would get left. Bet his ass was in my truck by the time I was ready to pull off.
Just like I thought, my baby hadn’t eaten. She really fixed her mouth to tell me that she ate some damn cheese cubes and pepperoni. There was a refrigerator in her studio that I had installed. Once I saw the late hours that she kept, I made her put a refrigerator and microwave in there. She complained because there was all of that in the breakroom. That didn’t matter to me. When Jin was on her grind you couldn’t get her out of that studio.
We stopped at Cook-Out to get her sandwich that she had to have at least three times a week. When we got to the building, I parked in my assigned spot. Yep, I had them put assigned spots for my baby, the receptionist, and me. When my brother and I got to the front door, I pressed the buzzer.
When it didn’t sound off and the lights in the building didn’t flash, I raised a brow. The front door of the studio was double-plated, bulletproof glass, so you could see the light from outside of the building. Something’s not right. I pulled the door handle without putting in my code. When it opened, I dropped the bag of food to pull out my gun. My brother followed suit. Jin knew better than to leave the door unlocked after hours.
My brother and I moved through the empty building with our senses wide open and our guns up. I planned to shoot anything moving and worry about the shit later. My baby’s studio was upstairs in the back. The second my foot touched the top of the staircase, I heard a low but audible scream. We took off toward her studio.
I pushed the door in and went into beast mode. Some bitch boy was on top of my girl with his pants halfway down. She tried to fight him off, but he overpowered her. I grabbed the back of his shirt and yanked him up. When I saw who it was, red clouded my vision. Without second thought, I took off on that bitch.
Hades knew that I had it, so he went over to help my baby. I got him in a headlock and held him. “So you want to be a fucking rapist? Well, you fucked with the wrong one.”
With a quick movement of my hands, I snapped his neck. He could be a rapist in hell. His body dropped. I left him there to get to my girl. I dropped to my knees. “Baby, baby! Oh God. Hades, call Hestia now!”
“I got you, man. I’m going to call Meliseus and Arke too. Take care of your girl.” He rushed out of the studio, but not before he kicked the dead pussy on the floor in the face.
Jin’s face was bloodied. There was a handprint around her neck. She fell into my arms, hysterically crying. With a hoarse voice, she spoke. “Wh-why would he do that do me? Wha-what did I do?”
“You didn’t do anything.” I pulled her face out of my chest. “He’s gone. He will never hurt you again.”
Hades ducked his head into the room to let me know that Hestia and Hera were ten minutes out. They must have been at the hospital, which was on University Blvd. I just held my baby and rocked her. She would never be in this studio alone again. If I wasn’t with her, security would be here posted up until she left. I slipped this time, but it would never happen again.
“Baby, let’s get out of this room, okay? I’m going to pick you up.”
She nodded. I stood, then bent down to scoop her into my arms. I stepped over the body, pulled the door open, then left the room. Hades paced outside of the door with the phone to his ear and a scowl on his face. The devil would shiver at his demeanor.
As soon as I set her down on the couch in the upstairs lounge area, Hades went downstairs to open the door for our sisters. At some point, he must have locked it. I knew the rushed footsteps up the stairs were my sisters. They both gasped when they saw her. A tear escaped from Hera’s eye.
Hestia rushed over. She asked her if her cochlear was on with her hands. My baby shook her head. I reached behind her ear and turned it on. Hestia gently grabbed her hands. She told my baby that she was going to touch some places to see if it hurt. Jin flinched in pain when she touched her side.
“Sis, I’m going to lift up your shirt to see, okay?” Hestia asked. She didn’t do it until she was given permission. By then, Hera had joined her.
When she lifted her shit, her entire side was red. My tears released. This shit could not be life.
“Jin, I need to take you to the hospital to make sure you have no internal bleeding.” When my baby shook her head, Hestia soothed her. “I know, I know, but we have to, okay?” My sister looked at me, then asked me to step away for a minute.
I hesitated for a second, but I did. I walked over to Hades. He saw the agony of my spirit and pulled me into a hug. I needed this hug more than I needed oxygen. “Pops is going to meet us here. He’s on the way. Poseidon is on notice. He’s with Melody in Cali. They’re catching the first flight out.”
Moments later, Hera had her arms around Jin as she slowly walked toward us. I rushed over to carefully lift her. Once she was in my arms, I kissed her forehead. “I love you, Dindi.”
Arke and Meliseus pulled up right as I placed my baby in Hestia’s SUV. She kept a notepad and pen in her middle console. I took it out and put it in my back pocket. “Baby, I’m going to be right behind you, okay? I need to talk to them and Pops when he gets here.”
“Okay. I love you,” Dindi said just above a whisper.
I leaned in and softly kissed her lips. Hestia and Hera promised to take good care of her. I knew that they would. My father pulled up fifteen minutes after they left, on his motorcycle. I could imagine him going one hundred on the interstate to get here.
“Where is my daughter-in-love?” he asked as soon as he hopped off his bike.
My father was in immaculate shape for his age. He took his health and physical well-being very seriously. Most people thought he wasn’t any older than forty-eight, maybe fifty because of his gray beard. When they found out that he was fifty-six, they were in disbelief.
I told him that Hestia took her to the hospital. He pulled out his phone to text who I was sure was my mother. Him, Hades, Arke, Meliseus, and I walked into the studio building while I told him what happened. He told Arke to call Tekhne to wipe the cameras. My father praised me when he saw the dead body on the ground. “Prostatéveis tin oikogéneia me káthe kóstos, akóma ki an aftó simaínei thánato állou í ton eaftó sou (You protect family at all costs, even if it means death of another or yourself).”
I let him know my plans for the body. After approval, his instruction to me before he left to go to the hospital to meet my mother was to leave my calling card. They would know that the reckoning of Zeus had fallen on them.
It took forty minutes or so to drop off the package before I got to the hospital. Hades felt left out that he didn’t contribute to the death of a fuck boy, so he added a bullet to his forehead. When my mother saw me, she walked over to me with open arms. “Baby, I know. I know.”
“Mamá, why the hell do these bitches keep testing me?”
She didn’t answer my question. I didn’t expect her to. I pulled away from her when I saw Hestia walking toward me.
“She’s alright. There was no internal bleeding, but she was in a lot of pain. I gave her some meds, and she’s sleeping now,” she told us. With soft eyes, she continued. “I want you to know that she was not violated. She fought hard, Zeus. She fought for herself and y’all’s baby,” she said with a smile.
I stumbled back. “Sh-she’s pregnant?”
When we first started having sex, I told her to get on birth control. I’d admit, I never circled back to make sure that she did. I also stopped pulling out. She never said anything, so I never thought about it. My Jin is pregnant, and that bitch tried to rape her!
My mother’s hand was over her mouth with tears cascading down her cheeks. “I’m going to be a grandmama. Is the baby alright? How far along is she?”
“My lil niecey-pooh, hopefully, is fine. Based on her last period, she’s around twelve weeks. She’ll need to set an appointment with her doctor. The pain meds that I gave her are safe for the baby.” She shed her professional shell and jumped up and down. “I’m going to be an auntie!”
Damn, I popped a baby in her ass quick as hell. Good job! “I want to see my girl. Where is she?” When she told me what room she was in, I left her and my mama standing there.
I walked into the room. Her face was bruised, but it didn’t take away from her beauty. I was so in love with this damn girl it made no damn sense. My previous relationship was about four years ago. It was cool, but after a year, I realized that she was in love with the thought of being Madam Prez versus being with Zeus, the person. When I broke up with her, she tripped for a little while until my sisters had a few words with her. Last I heard, she’d found her home with the president of another club. They were married with three children.
I pulled the lounge recliner chair close to the bed. After I gave her a kiss on her forehead, I sat down next to her. It was after two in the morning, and I was exhausted. Before I knew it, I was asleep.
Not sure how long I’d been asleep, but I woke up when I felt someone squeeze my hand. My eyes fluttered open. Dindi wore a small smile with her head turned in my direction. I scooted up in my seat. “Hey, love. How you feeling?” I wasn’t sure if she could hear me, so I signed.
“I feel ok, tired. Can we go home, please?” she asked. Her voice was low.
I stood, then pressed the call button to make sure she could before I gave her an answer. “Let’s see what Hestia says. If she says it’s cool, I’m taking you and my baby home.”
An uncertain expression sat on her face. “You’re not mad or think it’s too soon? I know you told me to get on birth control, but I forgot. I’m sorry.”
“The fuck you sorry for, Jin? Do I look like I’m mad? You’re my forever. Isn’t that what I told that interviewer? I meant that shit.” I reassured her.
She fidgeted with her fingers. “You’re not worried that our baby could possibly be deaf?”
“Jin, didn’t you tell me that the reason you’re deaf is because your mother had the flu and the COVID virus during her pregnancy? That tells me that it isn’t hereditary. Even if it was, I don’t give a fuck. That’s my baby in there, and I already love him or her just like I love you.” She had me messed up.
Hestia and Hera came into the room with a cheesy smile before Jin could respond. “Hey, sis! You ready to go home?
“Alright, you’re good to go. If you’re in pain, take some Tylenol. You know I’ll be over to check on you and my niecy- pooh. God, please let it be a girl!” Hestia put her hands together in a praying motion. “Make sure you make an appointment with your doctor this week, Dindi.”
“I will,” Dindi confirmed.
Fifteen minutes later, we were on our way home. We both got into the shower where I washed my baby’s body since she was still in pain. I made sure she was in the bed and asleep before I made some phone calls. I wanted to see if the rider circuit was talking yet. Yeah, the news traveled fast, and the message was heard.
I waited a few days before I broached the subject of what was the beef with my girl and those fuck ass Coopers. First that shit with Jennifer. Now they were sending muthafuckas to attack my woman. Shortly after Dindi and I began our relationship, I asked her if she ever fucked with Aaron. She adamantly told me that she did not. Well, if it wasn’t that, then it had to be something else.
We found out that the dude that attacked her cut the wires to the buzzer and somehow jimmied the lock. That didn’t sit well with me, so I reached out to a security firm to update the security in the building. It was a complete overhaul of a better, more advanced system. I wanted cameras in every inch of the perimeter of the building. The cameras in the studios had sound; however, clients could request that the sound be turned off. NDAs were signed with every client for the protection of their intellectual and creative properties. Everything was stipulated in the contracts that were signed. None of the artists thus far had an issue with it.
It was not widely known about the attack because that was how I wanted it. My mama had my baby on bed rest. She was at my house in the morning, at noon, and night, cooking. There was also a declaration that Sunday family dinners would be at my house until further notice. When Melody got here, she was on fire! Poseidon had to calm her ass all the way down.
Another reason I wanted to talk to her was because it was clear that she and Melody were holding something back. There was no way that I could affectively protect my woman and child if I didn’t know what the hell I was up against.
“Baby, why does it seem like you took three bites of that damn food?” I signed when she glanced up from her laptop at me after seeing me stand in front of her.
I walked into the living room where Jin sat on her laptop, I was sure, handling business. Her ass still wasn’t eating like she should. All I knew was she had better feed my damn baby. We went to the doctor the day after the attack to check on the baby. She was thirteen weeks pregnant, and the baby was doing well. We would find out what we were having on our next visit.
She huffed then rolled her eyes before her hands got to telling me shit I didn’t want to see. “I’m not hungry, Zeus.”
She only called me Zeus when she was annoyed with me, much like I called her Dindi when I was annoyed or mad with her. “Dindi, I get that you’re not, but I need you to eat. Maybe you forgot, but you’re pregnant. You need more protein. Do I need to get you some protein shakes and start juicing or something?” Was this our first signed argument?
“The shakes don’t sound too bad. I’ll eat some more.” Her head lowered to give her attention back to her laptop screen.
I moved to sit on the ottoman in front of her, causing her to put her eyes back on me. “Baby, we need to talk. Put that laptop away for a minute and turn it on.” She knew what I meant by turn it on.
Her face was contorted, but she shut down her laptop and closed it before she reached behind her ear. “Yes, Zeus.”
I snickered at her annoyance but chose to ignore it. “Baby, I need you to tell me what’s going on with you and the Coopers.” I held my hand up before she said anything. “Look, as your man, it’s my job to protect you, and I can’t do that shit if I don’t have all the details of what I’m protecting you against. Now you told me that you’ve never fucked with Aaron, but his wife almost killed you. Now they got someone coming to attack and trying to sexually assault you.
“Normally, I would let this shit go with you brushing off the conversation or deflecting. I’m not going to do that today. On top of protecting you, I’m protecting my child.”
She sat there for a moment before a tear fell down her cheek. “Aaron Cooper is my father. Him and my mother were married before she died. When she died, my auntie took me to California with her. He paid her three thousand dollars a month until I was eighteen. I’ve never seen or heard from him though.”
That was not at all what I expected to hear. Now that I had, it made her attack even more treacherous. These motherfuckin’ K.O.K bitches were going to have me eliminating an entire club.
OVER A WEEK LATER…
We had a club meeting tonight. Now we were chilling at one of our bar and grills like we did after most of our meetings. Club members loitered inside and outside of our establishment. It was definitely a vibe. My brothers and sisters were outside leaning against our bikes, having conversation. I never stayed longer than two hours. I always showed my face as the president.
Jin was with Melody at the lake house. My baby needed to work in the studio. She didn’t feel comfortable enough to go back in Loud Silence yet, and that was understandable. I didn’t want to overcrowd her, especially with her cousin being here. Although I didn’t want to overcrowd her, I was still on her ass about eating. She was doing better.
“You know they buried that fuck boy a few days ago,” Poseidon blurted out.
I shrugged. “Rest in hell.”
There was nothing else that I had to say. I wouldn’t waste my time with a conversation. My brothers were aware of the news about Aaron Cooper being Dindi’s father. Later in the day that she told me about it, Melody brought over a box with all these documents and pictures of Aaron and her mother. They were together when they were teenagers, which was crazy. Him being married to that ho Jennifer now was a far stretch from the type of woman that Harmony seemed to be.
We stood outside, shooting the breeze. “I’m about to get out of here to go to the lake house.”
As I dapped Hades, three of our club members came down the block faster than they should have been. They caught the attention of everyone on the block because this was outside of the norm. When they passed us, they gave a signal that meant DEFCON 1.
Immediately, Hades and Poseidon pulled Hestia and Hera behind them. That didn’t stop my sisters from pulling their toolies. Everyone on the block pulled. Arke sent a loud call to the members that were inside the bar. Moments later, a slew of motorcycles came around the corner on the block. All of them were masked up, but the flags identified them as K.O.K. They fucked up now.
Rata Tata! Pop! Pop! A barrage of gunfire commenced. My people took cover the best they could while letting off on those fuckas. From the way a lot of them were falling from their bikes, we were tearing their asses up. As fast as it started, it was over, and the remaining bikes were gone.
I saw the black in Hades’s, Arke’s, and Meliseus’s eyes. One glance at each other and they went into further action. They walked over to every person that lay on the ground and lodged bullets in their heads. It didn’t matter if it was a man or a woman. “Prostatéveis tin oikogéneia me káthe kóstos, akóma ki an aftó simaínei thánato állou í ton eaftó sou (You protect family at all costs, even if it means death of another or yourself).”
I texted my father a code that alerted him to call the mayor and chief of police. This wasn’t something that we could handle by ourselves. There was going to be a lot of black dress purchases, baby mama, mommas, and side chicks crying in the upcoming weeks. Hope those bitches had life insurance. K.O.K just fucked up.