20. Turk #3
The hairs on my arms are standing at attention, and my chest is tight as fuck. Grimey said some weird shit about his pops rolling over in his grave right before everything went down, and I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why he would say that shit.
And here Apache is waiting on me to answer him. So I say, “What he say?”
“That his second son was born the day before, and he was taking Grimey to meet him.”
I can’t help the laugh that escapes my mouth. “So you mean to tell me that Grimey is my brother? And this TayBone nigga is my pops? Aight, old man.”
He just smirks at me. “Where do you think you get your middle name from? Taylor Grimes… Montavious Grimes… Royce Taylor Grimes–”
“Atkins. My name is Atkins. And my mama never saw my Pops again. She wouldn’t have kept me from him. She ain’t know him.” This old nigga tripping. I brace myself on my desk and try not to rub the skin off my forehead.
Bea Atkins was all about the Black Family Unit. If she knew who my dad was, knew he was part of First Nations, we wouldn’t have been living in the Birch. She called that nigga the love of her life, for God’s sakes. My sisters and I would have been up in East Kenton having moon dances and shit.
“Look, I don’t know the specifics. I just know he met a lady during his extracurricular activities and found out he had a son out in South Kenton. Grimey’s the one you wanna talk to, but I doubt he’ll be forthcoming–”
There's a knock on the door before it opens and one of his guards pokes his fat ass head in. “Sorry to interrupt, Chief. We gotta get you back home.”
Apache nods and stands, turning back to me.
“Does Patience know about any of this?”
Apache shakes his head. “No, I never divulged anything that Taylor told me. Your parents weren’t married, and she would have had a harder life here than she did in South Kenton, and Grimey knew that, so he kept it to himself, as well.
But I do know he kept tabs on you through your sisters…
For what it’s worth, I'm sorry Fox is coming between you getting to know your brother.”
I stand and give him my hand to shake. “With all due respect, sir, I’m not.”
His lips twitch before he leaves my office. Rico rushes in right after him and plops down on the couch.
“Deuce is anal as fuck. You know how many times I had to look up a blueberry pancake recipe before I gave up and just take him to get donuts?”
I sit down, take down my bun, and start massaging my scalp like Auty would do. “I know that’s not why my son’s late to school, Dub.”
“Blame that nigga, not me. They not learning shit in first grade anyway. My boy knows how to read already. How the meeting go?”
I blow out air and groan. “Apparently Grimey’s my brother.”
I hear a strangled noise and look up to see this nigga clutching imaginary pearls. “Pay’s your sister?” he whispers.
“No, nigga! Grimey and Pay not siblings, they was engaged. Some biblical sounding shit that’s unbreakable. Keep up, nigga, damn. Grimey’s dad was supposedly some wild First Nations nigga who got Ma Dukes pregnant. I’m not buying it though.” That’s a lie, but shit, one thing at a time.
Rico just shrugs. “Stranger things have happened, but I feel you. Unbreakable bond though, eh? There’s exceptions to every rule. What we doing to get your second baby mama back?”
I smirk at my dawg. “We huh?”
Rico stretches before leaning back on the couch.
“Yeah, we nigga. This wouldn’t be the first time the girl you love gets caught up in some bullshit and we gotta go get her ass, and just like last time, I’m not letting you handle this alone.
Besides, shit’s been boring lately. I haven’t killed anyone in like four days. ”
“Nigga, you been having Deuce for six.”
Rico rolls his eyes like I’m being unreasonable. “Like I said… what we doing? I can postpone my Belize trip, Nan will understand; she always says you’re her favorite. Just don’t tell Ty.”
I light up like a Christmas tree. “How is my homegirl? She really never coming back here, huh?”
“Nope. Besides, it’s mutually beneficial for me to visit her instead.”
There he goes again being mysterious. Rico has always been a closed book, but it got worse after Fredo passed. You really only knew as much as he wanted you to, which was next to nothing.
I knew not to pry. Besides, it’s not like he’s a serial killer.
On second thought…
He cocks his head to the side and smirks like he can read my mind.
“Yo ass creepy as fuck, Dub. Back to rescuing my damsel, we need intel on the First Nations, and since they whole shit is tighter than a nun’s pussy–”
“Got it. Going undercover.”
Rico’s stint in the Marines is shrouded in mystery, too. But one thing’s for sure, when he wants to, he can blend in anywhere. Where Shad’s domain is the cloud, Rico’s is on the ground.
“Just let me get a nap in before I begin. Yo son man… I don’t think I’ll ever have kids. And bless your heart for having one with one of the Shaw sisters.”
“Ay… speaking of, you speak to Autumn? I think she got me blocked again.”
Rico yawns and turns on his side. “Yeah, she hung up on me then posted this crazy meme about how everyone hates her.”
I bang my forehead on the desk and groan. Great.