Chapter 14
INever Play About What’s Mine
Double
I was known for being laidback. I didn’t like to stress, wasn’t one to lose my temper, and hated to overreact.
But the shit with Compton’s whoever putting her hands on my wife had me pissed the fuck off.
Watching my mother slap Compton had given me a tiny bit of comfort but not enough.
I paced back and forth as my family and I stood outside of Mahogany Hall as the guests left the party.
Big Hill walked over and placed his hand on my shoulder. “Lynne got Cecil to make something. We’re all gonna head to our house and eat.” Cecil was their in-house chef.
“I ain’t even really hungry.”
“Nah, you’re too pissed. But your wife needs normalcy right now. Her nervous system is probably on a thousand at this point. Let’s get her fed and let Lynne, Journey, and Passion love on her and help her reset.”
“Who gon’ help me reset? ’Cause I’m ready to rip some shit up right about now.”
“I know you are.” His head nodded up and down. “But who needs to be settled more right now, you or your wife?”
Of course, he was right. I was pissed, but my wife had been assaulted. She went to Compton with her heart open, willing to help. Her generosity had been returned with violence. I inhaled deeply.
“Once the women are settled and reset, . . . we’ll help you get that anger up off you in a way that won’t have me hiring lawyers and bailing you outta jail.”
I chuckled lightly.
“Remember, it’s always action, never reaction.
Meet her energy with the opposite energy.
She’s confused; be sure. She feels vulnerable; be protective.
Men, we tend to go quiet when we’re processing, especially when we’re processing anger.
She’s gonna need your words, . . . your reassurance.
Be steady and soft for her. You ain’t gotta express how pissed off you are to her.
She knows you’re pissed. We all know you’re pissed.
Show her that your anger about an outside situation will never touch her.
Show her that she’ll always get the gentle you. She’ll always get her husband.”
I nodded then patted his shoulder. “Thanks, man. I got it.” I heaved out a heavy sigh. “Let me get my wife, and we’ll meet at your house for dinner.”
I walked away from my grandfather and over to the group of women—my mom, Lynne, and Journey—who were showering my wife with comfort and warmth. When I was close to them, I held out my hand to her. She took it. “Big Hill said we’re gonna go by their house and eat dinner. Is that cool?”
Her eyes met mine as she nodded in agreement. “Yes. I’m starving.”
I couldn’t help grinning at her. Big Hill told me to be soft with her, and when it came to Tinsley, I really didn’t know any other way to be.
There was something about her that automatically made me get on my simp shit.
It might’ve been the fact that she had it so hard before I got to her.
I mean, she was from money, so she didn’t know struggle, but she knew what it was like to feel like a piece of property as opposed to feeling like a cherished member of the family.
She knew what it was like to be a commodity.
I wanted her to know what it felt like to be valued because of who she was, not what she offered.
I held the door open for her so she could climb into the truck.
Once I was settled in the driver’s seat, I rested my right palm on her thigh and turned to her.
“You up to dealing with my family, or you wanna grab something and eat at the house? Cuz I’ll text them right now and tell them we’re not coming. ”
“No. No. I want to eat with your family.” She sighed as I started the vehicle and pulled away from the curb.
“I really like your family, Double. Your mom is so maternal. She makes me feel all warm and cuddly.” She giggled.
“Not to say that my mother wasn’t maternal.
She absolutely was. She hugged and kissed me.
She held me in her lap, sang songs to me, and read to me.
She just couldn’t . . . or wouldn’t protect me.
My father was so pushy and bossy. She didn’t have what it took to stand up to that.
Plus, I feel like he probably bullied her too, with his money and social standing.
Your mom is like the best of both worlds.
She’s all motherly, and she’ll beat people up for you. ”
I laughed aloud at that. “Yeah,” I agreed. “That’s Passion for you. As long as you’re cool, I’m cool.”
“I’m fine. My cheek doesn’t even hurt anymore.”
I felt the grip that my left hand had on the steering wheel tighten. Her face never should’ve been hurting in the first damn place. I exhaled slowly.
She kept talking. “I’m fine. That entire situation just caught me off guard. I’ve never had anything like that happen before in life.”
“The fact that American women are so unpredictable is the main reason that I want to get you into some self-defense classes. I’ll text Charity at some point tonight and get you on the books so—”
“Is there no way that you can just teach me?”
I looked away from the road for a millisecond to glance over at her. “You would rather me teach you?”
“Uh, yeah. You know I’m most comfortable with you.”
“Okay, we’ll do that. We’ll start next weekend.”
“Today is Friday. Why can’t we start tomorrow?”
“Don’t you need to prepare? Like order some fitness stuff off the internet or something?”
She giggled. “I’m good. I would rather just start. When I realized what was happening . . . like that the Diamond girl was actually looking for a fight? I was so scared, Double. The only thing scarier was when Gretchen tried to make me marry Mr. Gillespie.”
My fingers gripped the steering wheel again.
After dinner, Big Hill announced to the ladies that the men were going to take a drive. That explanation was for Tinsley’s benefit. I could tell that both my mother and Lynne knew “take a drive” was a colloquialism by the way they rolled their eyes at him.
I wasn’t surprised that Big Hill, my dad, and I ended up at Lucky Day’s Lead but, yet, and still, this is my business.
We gon’ follow the rules and not have no mistakes.
Before any weapons are discharged, I’mma need you to put on your earmuffs and your glasses.
Once you do that, you can load your targets and start. ”
I grabbed a target from the stack and attached the two metal clips to the shoulders of the human silhouette.
I took my time getting it straight, taking deep breaths and trying not to let myself think too hard about old girl touching Tinsley’s face.
Once the target was secure, I hit the button on the keypad and sent it down the lane.
I watched it move down the motorized track.
Once it was in position, I lifted my gun.
Steadying myself, I aimed for the midsection—the chest—and let off round after round.
When the clip was empty, I let my hand drop to my side.
Lucky walked into my lane, hit the keypad, and brought the destroyed target toward us.
“A’ight, Cousin.” He removed the tattered paper from the clips and replaced it with a new silhouette. “I see—”
“Send it back down there.” The new clip clicked into place.
“Okay. You apparently have some more shit on you. I’mma gon’ ’head and let you get it off.” He hit the keypad, starting the process of sending a new target down the lane.