Chapter 5
The paperwork was signed.
Every document, every motion, every piece of legal shit that had been holding my brother in a cage for all this time was finally processed and filed away.
The judge kept his word, and he was a smart ass man to do so.
The DA backed down like they should have from the beginning.
Zaire was officially a free man and all we had to do now was wait for him to walk through those prison gates and back into the world that had been waiting on his release.
This was the day I’d been working hard for since they tried to railroad my little brother.
One thing I had never played about was my role as the oldest son.
There was nothing that I wouldn’t do for Zaire and Namier.
Even though sometimes those niggas thought I did too much, or was too hard on them, everything I ever did was to protect them.
But I couldn't focus on that right now.
My mind kept going back to my wife's aunt's house. To whatever the hell that situation was that I walked in on. My mind was going back to Tatti's face when I asked about her having a daughter, to the way her entire body went still when she realized I'd heard everything from outside that front door. I couldn’t believe it, I didn’t want to believe it. I’d put her so high on a pedestal that I didn’t think she was capable of lying to me.
I'd been standing there listening to her tell her aunt that she was going to take her own child, and when I stepped inside ready to handle that shit, she flipped the whole script and made me look like I was the muthafucka who was in the wrong. That was the shit that I couldn’t shake out my head. It made my chest hurt, on some shit.
She threatened to leave me, all cause I wanted to help her lying ass, when in actuality I should have been pissed off and ready to leave her secret keeping ass.
See, Tatti was the type of woman that I’d always been scared of meeting.
She had a nigga doing shit and putting up with shit that I wouldn’t do for no other muthafucka.
I was used to not giving a fuck, but her ass had the power to really hurt and disappoint a nigga.
Although I overheard her telling her bitch ass aunt that she wasn’t giving her another dime and that she would take her own child.
I guess she was bluffing. The feeling of her going against me, that shit ain’t feel good and I didn’t know how to describe it, but it made me feel a way.
She was gonna have to explain and really make me understand what this woman was holding over her head to make her switch up on what she said she’d do in seconds like that.
The scared look on her face when I told Namier to just grab the kid, that let me know that there was some more heavier shit that she been hiding too.
Her ass was genuinely scared to go against her aunt in that moment.
Now, I’m eager to hear what she has to say.
And the shit better be good, especially for how she played in my face today.
Thinking about it had me damn near sick.
How could she be sitting up in my face everyday, keeping secrets, when I’ve laid everything out about me.
She knew every fucking thing! The good, the bad, and the ugly.
But, that’s what I get for being a real ass nigga.
I actually thought that I was supposed to keep it 100 with my wife and have no secrets. I guess I’m the fool around this bitch.
My wife had a whole human being that she'd been keeping hidden, while lying to me while I held her at night and we made plans about having our first child together.
How the fuck could she have her first child with me, when she already had one?
She made a real ass fool of me. That shit was fucked up on a level I couldn't even process right now, and the fact that she'd threatened to leave me too, that was adding another layer of betrayal that I wasn't ready to deal with.
I was pissed the fuck off right now. Not just angry—pissed in a way that made it hard to breathe, pissed in a way that made me want to break some shit or hurt somebody, and I had nowhere to put all that rage except deep inside my chest because right now, it wasn’t the time. Tonight was about my brother.
But damn.
I kept running my hand over my head as we stood outside the prison gates waiting on Zaire to come out.
I was shifting my weight from one leg to the other, trying to think of my next move and what I'd say when I got home to Tatti, trying to figure out if there was even anything to say at this point because I wasn't sure if I knew the woman I'd married at all anymore. Hell, was the muthafucka name even Tattiana? I ain’t know what to think or believe.
"Kaseem."
My mother's voice pulled me out of my head.
I looked over at her and she was watching me.
Not in a casual way—the way Zuri watched people, like she was reading every emotion on my face and saving it in her memory for later use.
That look meant she'd already seen something shift in me and she was waiting to understand what it was. Her ass was nosey and liked to be in our business too much. I loved my momma to death, but when it came to my marriage, I would always keep her out of it. I didn’t care what the situation was.
It was mine to handle, so all this shit, I was gone keep it to myself.
But, I did make a mental note to later ask my mom if she knew about this secret child all along.
Now, all the conversations, her questioning Tatti’s ability to be a good mother, her threatening to expose Tatti, now I needed to know what all my moms knew.
I also needed to know why she didn’t tell me either.
Stuff like this made me believe that I couldn’t trust anybody other then my brothers.
Because, if my mother would keep a secret this big from me, and she had knowledge of it, then, who could I trust for real?
I forced a half smile and it wasn't real but it was enough to get her to look away satisfied that I was okay, at least for the moment. She had no clue that I was a tickin time bomb right now, just trying to hold shit together.
My father stood beside her calm as always, the kind of calm that comes from a man who's seen everything in his lifetime and learned not to show emotion until everything was set in stone. I saw that he was holding a breath that he wouldn’t release until his son walked out of those prison gates.
Namier was pacing like he always did when he was nervous or excited and I still couldn't tell which one it was.
This was the day where I shouldn't be anything other than happy and grateful—Zaire coming home, my little brother finally free, this was the moment we'd been fighting for since he got thrown in that prison unjustifiably, this was the moment that proved the Carters didn't lose to anything or anybody.
Especially not a crooked ass prison system.
This moment showed that we could go to war with the world and still come out on top.
But again, I still was standing here thinking about my wife and her lies. Just as I tried to clear my head, my phone rang.
It was Tattiana calling.
It was like she felt me thinking about her ass.
I looked at it and was about to let it go to voicemail.
I wasn't ready to talk to her. Wasn't ready to hear whatever excuse she was about to make. Wasn't ready to deal with that right now while my family was here, while my brother was about to walk out of prison a free man. Tatti was proving to be a distraction and in this moment, I couldn’t let that happen. I needed to be present for Zaire. He’d been through too much.
I blew out a long breath and answered anyway. I wanted to be straight to the point with her. I couldn’t give her too much conversation. But, I was definitely gone handle her ass once I got back home.
I stepped away from the family, putting distance between us.
“I’ll talk to you when I get home Tattiana. I’m about to pick Zaire up. He’s being released in a few minutes. Now, ain’t the time.” I dismissed her, quickly. I ain’t have time to get too deep into this right now.
“I'm happy for Zaire," Tatti said, and I could hear it in her voice—something was bothering her. "But I'm calling to let you know, your whore Mallory is on the property trying to climb the gate. If she gets over it, I'm going to smoke this bitch. I'll see you soon!"
She hung up in my face after that, like I was a bitch or something.
I stood there holding the phone, staring at the screen.
What the fuck?
Mallory. On the property. Trying to get over the gate? That shit sounded crazy as hell but I knew from Tatti’s tone, the shit was real, and she was ready to kill her over it. The way that Tatti had already beat the breaks off the girl, Mallory had to be a damn fool to come back for more.
I pulled up the security feed on my phone with shaking hands. Today was just not my day, and I had been tried and tested all damn day.
There she was.
I rewinded the camera back just a few minutes. Mallory in her white Tesla, moving slow around the perimeter like she was hunting for something. Like she was looking for a way in. Like she had every right to be on my property. This bitch knew damn well, I ain’t play like that.
My jaw clenched so tight I thought my teeth might crack.
I could see her finally getting to the gate and trying the gate code.
Watching her realize it didn't work. Watching her circle again like she was trying to figure out her next move. I took note that Mallory kept making calls. I had been blocked the bitch, so I knew she wasn’t trying to reach me.
This hoe was up to some bullshit, and I could feel it.
And I knew without a doubt—that Tatti would do exactly what she said she’d do. My wife would shoot Mallory without hesitation if she made it over that other side.