12. Chapter 12
King Damini
Ever since I stepped out of the morning shower, my phone had been blowing up nonstop.
Vibration after vibration buzzed against the nightstand, and the constant noise cut through the heavy silence of the bedroom.
Between my mother and my father’s second wife, they hadn’t given me a peaceful morning.
But it was not until the second wife sent me a long text that the anger really started boiling in my gut.
‘Damini, please. Your father is threatening to put us out on the street. He is going to strip the house, freeze the trust, and throw me and these kids out if you refuse to meet with him today…’
The crazy part was that my father was not even calling me himself, although his number was already blocked on my end.
But he had his women blowing up my phone, and he was threatening to throw that girl and those little kids out on the pavement just to force my hand. That was a whole new level of sick.
I had sat on the edge of the bed and shown the message to my wife. Danni didn’t blink when she read it. She took a sip of her water, looked at the screen, and spoke.
"Let’s go out to dinner then. I'll be right there with you."
She did not seem as worried as I was, but I trusted her.
Now we were getting dressed, and I stood by the vanity watching her through the mirror.
She walked over to her nightstand and popped her daily pills.
She washed them down with a huge cup of cold water.
We locked eyes through the glass as she reached down and picked up her holster.
Then she strapped her nine-millimeter tight around her thigh before she even put her outfit on.
I found myself fucking my wife with my eyes as she pretended to ignore my stare. I was so obsessed with her. I loved my wife so fucking much, and watching her casually strap up was driving me up a wall.
We headed downstairs, but as soon as my feet hit the living room floor, I knew something was definitely off with me.
My skin felt like it was prickling with a thousand tiny needles.
Hot flashes kept washing over my back, and a sudden, heavy metallic taste filled the back of my throat.
My heart was pounding double-time, and a subtle tremor was running down my fingers that made it damn near impossible to button my shirt collar.
I glanced down at my forearms and noticed a few angry scratches.
I paused, trying to think back. I assumed they were from Danni digging her nails into me earlier during sex, but as I looked closer, I realized her nails didn’t touch my upper arms. It wasn’t making any sense, but my head was starting to pound too hard to dwell on it.
I kept rubbing the back of my neck, but the nerves in my spine kept jumping. My vision went out for a fast second, going completely blurry before snapping back into focus. I blinked through the haze and shrugged it off, assuming my blood pressure was just surging from the father drama.
We sat down on the leather sectional in the living room for a quick minute before walking out to the truck. Danni seated herself right next to me, checking her notepad.
She caught the shift immediately. Her eyes swept over me, taking in my flushed skin and the light sweat breaking out along my hairline. She eyed me up and down.
"Are you good, Dame?"
I swallowed hard, blinking through another wave of heat. I wiped a bead of sweat off my temple before I cleared my throat, trying to play it cool.
"Yeah... yeah, baby. I'm good. Just... amped up."
Danni kept her eyes locked on me for two long seconds, reading the micro-twitch in my face. She reached over, placing a hand on my burning knee.
"Alright, King," she murmured, her tone smooth and completely unbothered. "Let's go hear what your father has to say."
***
We were seated in the back corner booth of the private dining room, waiting on my father. My vision was already swimming slightly, and the side effects of that damn chemical were making the overhead lights bleed into sharp, neon halos.
Adanna leaned back against the plush velvet seat, her dark eyes casually scanning the restaurant entrance. "I bet you twenty he bringing that bitch with him."
I scoffed, shaking my head as a sharp wave of nausea washed over my stomach. "No, he not."
Adanna smirked, taking a sip from the water glass placed in front of her. "He wants me to fuck up so it’s easier for him. Trust me, he’s bringing her trifling, bitter, no-neck, sloppy-seconds having ass bitch."
I just blinked at her, completely stunned by how smoothly she spat every single word.
Not even two seconds later, my father turned the corner. At first, he appeared to be by himself, but teetering right behind him was Brooklyn, eyeing both of us.
Adanna let out a low chuckle and tapped her acrylic nails against the polished wood. "Run me my money."
I smirked despite the pounding in my skull, rolling my eyes at her confidence.
But before I could even reach into my pocket for my wallet, she reached across the table, grabbed my phone off the wood, and unlocked it without breaking a sweat.
A second later, a notification popped up across the screen showing she had just CashApped herself thirty dollars.
I snatched my phone back, squinting through a sudden flash of static in my vision. "You said twenty!"
Adanna leaned over, pressing a quick, sweet kiss to my cheek. "Let me enjoy my cheap thrill. It's not like you ain't got it."
I ain’t bother reminding her that she had more money than everybody sitting in this damn room combined. I just kept my mouth shut as the room took a nauseating tilt.
My father sat down across from us, wearing a smooth smile while Brooklyn took her sweet time rolling her shoulders and sliding into the booth right next to him. We eyed each other in silence.
"What the fuck you want?" I broke the silence, glaring dead into my father's eyes.
Brooklyn opened her mouth, her voice dripping with artificial, sweet poison. "That's no way to greet your family... or your second wife."
I dragged my eyes over to her, my blood instantly hitting a boiling point. Adanna slapped her palm down on the table and burst out laughing.
It was not a fake chuckle either. It was full-blown, tear-inducing, hysterical laughter that echoed off the walls, and my father and Brooklyn instantly lost their smug expressions. Caution washed over their faces as they visibly leaned further back into their seats, unnerved by her reaction.
Adanna slowly stopped laughing, letting out one last lingering giggle. She leaned forward over the table, fixing Brooklyn with a look that could freeze fire.
"What is it about me that has had you so pressed all this time?" Adanna asked her.
Brooklyn furrowed her brows. "What?"
"Be real for once in your damn life and say it," Adanna continued, tapping her nail against her glass as her eyes locked onto hers. "Don't be a punk-ass bitch. Be real."
My father tried to step in, raising his hand. "Now hold on—"
"Shut up, Eze," Brooklyn snapped, cutting him off. "Ain't nobody jealous of your fat ass!"
Adanna started cracking up all over again, shaking her head before letting out a long sigh. When she locked eyes back on Brooklyn, a small, terrifying smile was playing on her lips. Then, she proceeded to eat that bitch completely alive.
My baby rested her elbows on the dark wood of the table, steepling her fingers as her eyes locked onto Brooklyn.
"It’s bitches like you," Adanna began. "Bitches who sit around obsessing over another woman because you don't have a single soul or substance of your own. You are no better than a pathetic-ass nigga who swears he’s a 'good guy' while he sneaks behind your back.
You are useless, Brooklyn. In every sense of the word. "
Brooklyn opened her mouth to snap back, but Adanna didn't even give her room to breathe.
"You couldn't even be a real friend to the people who actually held you down," Adanna continued.
"So tell me... how do you genuinely go to sleep at night knowing what how fucked-up you are?
How do you look in the mirror knowing you betrayed the very Black women who sheltered you, fed you, and took care of you when you had nothing?
I used to sit back and feel sorry for your bitter ass.
I really did. But Jade was right about you after you tried to force her to go outside.
You are just a hollow, insecure bitch trapped living in the past, begging for table scraps from men who don't even respect you. "
Brooklyn’s face turned bright red, her fake composure shattering into a million pieces in front of us.
"And is my weight really the only fucking insult you can scrape together out of that tiny-ass brain?
" Adanna sneered, leaning in closer. "Because this big body runs you and everywhere you step.
Every room you walk into, my fat ass shadow is already sitting in the chair.
Every move you make is just a weak-ass reaction to me.
If I wanted to cut off the food supply to your whole tribe today, I could do it before the waiter brings the bread basket.
If I wanted to dig up your cousin and your uncle just to put bullets through them all over again, I could make that happen, too.
You are nothing to me. You're a bug on the windshield of my life.
You were never above the program. Oh! And I will happily wipe the floor with your ass if you ever try to embarrass me like that again. "
Brooklyn’s eyes flared. Her chest heaved as she gripped the edge of the tablecloth.
"You think you're you—" Brooklyn spat, her voice cracking under the weight of her own embarrassment.
"You've been jelly from the get-go," Adanna cut her off. "And I really can't believe I let someone who was so fucking twisted be close to me. You think putting a little title on yourself makes you a Queen? You're playing stupid games and about to win some dumb prizes."