Zoya
“Menace!” I screamed.
My heart raced as I watched my brother snap out of a trance. The vein on the side of his neck protruded as he shot at any and everything that moved.
I’ve never seen my brother display that kind of emotion.
He made his way across the room towards where Stevie was lying in a pool of blood. She was near the stairs that led to where Dennis was. A man’s body was sprawled across hers, and blood stained her satin dress. Her freshly curled hair covered the floor.
Menace put a bullet in the head of a man who rushed into the ballroom. Then he tossed his gun and Corleon covered him as he went to his wife.
I stood behind Jett, my heart beating a million miles per second. I watched the pain on my brother’s face as he snatched the body from her. Stevie’s body jerked, and she slowly turned over, her hands shaking.
“Ma…Mavie…I…I’m alive,” she stammered, terrified. Blood covered her trembling hands.
He picked her up from the floor and held her tightly, squeezing her as she squeezed him back. He wasn’t worried about the blood on her hands, or on her dress. All he cared about was his wife.
“Wonder,” I heard his voice break, as his face remained in the crook of her neck.
“Stevie!” Skyler rushed over. She didn’t hesitate to end the moment they were having as she raced to her cousin who moments earlier looked dead on the floor.
Life moved in slow motion as we watched her. The knot in my chest refused to leave. My stomach ached, and I felt like I was about to empty that buffalo shrimp dip I had earlier onto the floor. I watched as the men scattered around the venue, making sure no one else was lurking.
Duke quickly came down the steps holding Dennis with a blanket over his head, his gun drawn in the other hand. Stevie and Skyler stopped hugging, and she rushed towards her baby. Duke carefully gave her Dennis as she sobbed, still shaking, while holding onto him tightly.
Menace stood there.
I watched as he blinked fast, three times, while cracking his neck.
As much as me and Menace didn’t get along, I was well versed in knowing that wasn’t a good sign.
He kept Stevie and his son away from this life on purpose.
He never wanted her to be caught in a situation like this, and someone had brought it right to his front porch.
“Who the fuck vetted the staff who worked tonight?” Corleon barked. Both Skyler and Jeffie were clinging onto him.
Ro walked back into the room with his gun at his side. “Everything was vetted from security.”
“Fuck you mean? Nothing came through me or Washington,” Duke replied, speaking of the other head of security. Washington had been with Menace as long as Duke, and everything had to go through one of them.
Ro looked confused. “That big light skin nigga told me that everything was cool… said the staff was good and y’all vetted them. I don’t do all this damn presidential bullshit.”
The tall light skin man he was referring to had to be my security, Ollie.
Jett finally allowed me to come from behind him, and Gerald came walking back into the room. His eyes were dark as he held his gun at his side like he was ready for whatever.
“Told you I don’t trust that nigga… why the fuck he always letting her do whatever? Kano was the one who called and told me his ass was still in the whip while she was in the corner store,” Goo vented, as he looked over at Menace.
Menace wasn’t here.
He was disassociating, and that was a sure sign that things wouldn’t be good.
I used to think he was weird whenever he got like that.
Staring into space, looking like he was here, but in reality, he was really miles away.
My feelings changed when I started experiencing the same thing.
I could be in the middle of class, hanging out with friends, or just watching TV, and I would find myself miles away from what I was actually doing.
It was funny because I could hear life happening in the background, still, it sounded like it was miles away from me. The feeling was almost crippling because you didn’t get to choose when it happened. For me, it mostly happened when I was severely depressed or stressed.
The first time I remember Menace disassociating, he beat the shit out the mailman.
It was then that Angie told us that he had to take medicine.
I never understood what the medicine was and she never cared to explain it to us.
Angie acted protective of Menace, always guarding him and talking to him in hush tones.
She was the only person that he tolerated and allowed in.
I don’t know how many times I saw her coming up from the basement.
She acted like we couldn’t know what was going on with our brother. Menace was always in and out at the time. I never knew what he was into, but Angelica clearly did. I didn’t miss the way Kora would look at her or avoid having conversations with her.
Some nights when Jeffie would sleep in her mother’s room, Angie wouldn’t even be in bed with her. I would see her coming up to her room in the morning, as if she never slept in her bedroom.
Even after the mailman incident, I truly didn’t see that side of him until he beat the shit out of my ex-boyfriend. That side of him caused my ex-boyfriend to shit out of a bag for the rest of his life. The crazy part was that he was considered lucky because Menace could have just killed him.
There was this sinister look in Menace’s eyes, and I don’t think I ever witnessed it before. It was scary and sent chills down my back, and I wasn’t even on the receiving end.
Goo walked over towards me, pulling me into his arms. He put his gun down on the cocktail table beside us and held my face. He kissed my lips a few times as he continued to look me in the eyes. His body was tense and I could tell what had just happened had him fucked up.
For those few seconds, while I heard my Pumpkin screaming “Where’s my wife?” I couldn’t get the words out. They were stuck in my throat because I was frozen. It wasn’t until Jett shifted me further into the corner that I was able to speak and ease his mind.
“You good, Baby?” he asked, as he kissed my lips a few more times.
I nodded my head. “As good as a shooting at an engagement party gets.”
I kissed his lips back, and held onto his arms, as he held me close to him. “Our blessing is good, too, right?” he spoke quietly into my ear.
I smiled. “As far as I know… yes.”
Whenever I held onto this man, I felt safe. His presence made me feel calm. The minute the shots rang out, I was running to where I last saw him, which was towards the shooting. Jett snatched me behind him so fast that I couldn’t do anything but remain there.
Still, my mind was on my Pumpkin and making sure he was safe.
My heart wouldn’t have been able to take something happening to him.
Honestly, it wouldn’t be off brand for the way shit happened in my life.
I would be damned if this man left me knocked up and alone.
I’d bring him back just to kill him again.
Holding onto him made me feel safe. I was technically safe behind Jett, however, there was a different feeling that I got whenever I held onto Gerald.
I was safe, guarded, and cared for. I could not deny that this was a feeling that I only felt whenever I held onto Gerald.
It was a feeling I had been searching for in all of my past relationships.
My brother was Menace Caselli and had been capable of keeping all of us safe for some time. Do you know how much big energy you had to have for me to compare you to my brother? Goo knew he was that nigga and didn’t need me to remind or tell him.
“Bruster, shut the fucking city down. I want this bitch dark until I say so.” Menace walked over and lifted Stevie’s chin with his finger, staring down into her eyes.
The feeling of fear, love, and relief all mixed into one emotion.
“Wonder, you going to your island, hear me? Greene, make sure everything is set up before she and my son touch down.”
“Baby, you good?” Goo held onto me as I nearly passed out hearing Menace call Greene by her actual name.
“Did… Did he just call me by my name?” Greene whispered to Duke, who was just as shocked and concerned.
“Maverick, you don’t have to tell me twice… me and the baby need to be heading to the jet now…come on,” she blurted, ready to get the fuck on right this second.
He continued to stare into his wife’s eyes, as he spoke to Duke. “Fuel the jet and take her and Maverick Jr. there.”
Jeffie took Corleon’s second phone. “They’re going to tell us that we’ll have to wait… I can get them to by—”
“Jefferina, make sure that jet is fueled and ready by the time my wife and son roll through that security gate. If not, I’m blowing through that bitch myself,” he spoke softly, never taking his eyes from Stevie.
“You’re not going, Mavie?”
“His main priority is keeping you and Dennis safe, Stevie.” I held onto Goo’s arm, as I looked at my sister-in-law.
She was nervous. I could tell from the way she held onto her son. I could only imagine where her mind would go having to board a jet alone with just the baby.
Goo looked down at me, and I stared into his eyes thinking shit was sweet.
“And my main priority is the fucking same, Boobie. You getting on that jet with her,” he told me.
I screwed my face up. “I hav—”
“Fuck all that shit you talking about, Zoya. My main priority is making sure that you’re safe. Your security has already failed you two times. I’m not giving him a third. I don’t wanna hear shit you about to chat about,” he sternly replied.
I poked my lips out and mumbled, “I never said I had a problem going, Goo.”
“Why you talking like that, Zoya?” Meer busted out laughing as he checked his gun. “But Goooooo,” he started mocking me.
“Fuck you, Meer.”