Chapter 11
BIANCA
My hands shook as I cleaned the dresser of the mess I’d made.
My damn body still quivered like Antonias’s head was still between my thighs.
He’d depleted my energy and left me shaking like a leaf.
The road to recovery needed to speed up or else I would forfeit all the hard work I’d put in during physical therapy.
After I was done cleaning, I quickly showered, moisturized, and dressed. Antonias hadn’t reappeared, and I wondered who was at the door. Leaving my room, I walked the hallway leading to the living room hearing several voices.
Rounding the corner, I saw my brothers, Coco, and Kwamé in the living room. All eyes turned to me.
“The fuck you run outta the party for?” Adrian blasted.
Teetering into the living room, I hoped they couldn’t see the blush stealing my body that Antonias put there. He stood with his hands in his pockets and slowly licked his lips. A smirk followed as he looked me up and down.
“I was ready to leave,” I explained.
“Bullshit,” Adir drawled. “What the fuck happened?” His gaze found Antonias. The way my brother looked at Antonias, there was an undercurrent there that scared the fuck out of me.
“Nothing—”
I attempted to further explain myself when a commotion at the front door grabbed all our attention. Adir pulled out his gun and so did Adrian. Russ peaked his head in the door. A scowl was on his drenched face. It looked like he’d been doused with liquid of some kind.
“Aye, come get this damn girl,” Russ warned Antonias.
Just then, Katrelle shouted, “Antonias! Get out here, now!”
In an instant, my blood overheated to dangerous levels.
Hearing Katrelle’s voice triggered the same response out of Adir, Adrian, Coco, and Kwamé.
Although we all reacted at the same time, my feet carried me swiftly to the front door.
Antonias plucked me up like a feather and placed me behind him.
I bumped into Kwamé, who was quietly removing her jewelry and handing the pieces to Adrian.
His crazy ass accepted the pieces with a smile on his face as if he was ready to watch Kwamé tear Katrelle to shreds.
“You lost yo’ mind comin’ to my fuckin’ house?” Antonias barked at Katrelle, who was too upset to care.
“You made a deal with me!” she shouted. “How dare you run after her barren ass!”
That’s it!
Just a while ago, Katrelle spoke ill of my body, and I let it slide. I wasn’t letting it slide twice. Kwamé had removed her jewelry for nothing. Somehow, Antonias became a door, and with all my might I burst through him to get to Katrelle. She wasn’t prepared for my fist connecting with her face.
“Ah!” she screamed and stumbled in her heels, which got caught in the hem of her gown.
Scrapping in the middle of the country wasn’t on my Christmas Eve agenda. However, here I was, bashing Katrelle’s face in. Hopefully, I hurt her good enough to send her ass running home crying.
“Bitch! You came all the way to the country to get yo’ ass whooped, ho!
Huh? Huh?” I shouted the last part. My abdomen was on fire, but I didn’t let my grip go.
I made sure her lovely gown had plenty of grass stains to carry back to the city.
While it seemed like I’d been whooping her ass for several minutes, seconds later, Antonias intervened.
Not a single person helped Katrelle from the ground.
“Fuck you, Antonias!” Katrelle yelled. Russ was right in front of her, though, ushering her back to her car.
On the verge of tears, I turned my anger back on Antonias.
“How the hell does she know I can’t have children?” I grilled him, then pushed him in his chest. He was the only one intimate enough with Katrelle to tell her such a thing. Shit, if he’d done to her what he’d just done to me, then it was no wonder she was out here acting a damn fool.
Antonias grabbed my wrists and yanked me towards him, prompting Adir and Adrian to step in. Coco and I were no match for the three men who started a shouting match.
“You niggas gon’ do something or shut the fuck up!” Antonias barked.
This isn’t good, I thought. I was utterly terrified. Coco was doing her best to keep Adir at bay, but Adrian wasn’t backing down for shit. He was right on top of me as the two men held a shouting match over me.
“Watch how you touchin’ my sister!” he barked back at Antonias.
Where the fuck is Kwamé? I asked myself.
Scanning the yard, I found her near Katrelle’s car. My eyes widened at seeing the two women on the ground. Kwamé was on top of Katrelle’s back as Russ tried prying her from the other woman.
“I’on give a fuck what you talkin’ ‘bout, nigga! This my shit!” Antonias’s voice pulled my attention away from Kwamé, Katrelle, and Russ.
There was never a time in my life that I’d ever heard my brothers raise their voices.
Shit. Tonight was the first night I’d ever heard Antonias raise his voice.
“Bee! Get yo’ ass in the fuckin’ house! You niggas get the fuck off my property! ”
Wait. “Don’t yell at me!” I shouted back.
Antonias’s eyes spit fire as he glared down at me. He was already angry, and I was making it worse.
“You goin’ wit’ them niggas?” he asked me as he motioned to my brothers.
Right before all this shit started, his lips were on mine, his tongue was dancing in the most intimate part of me, and now we stood here arguing.
“Answer me, Bee! Or was you fuckin’ lyin’?”
“No—”
“You just said you loved a nigga!”
“I do,” I replied.
“Nah, I’on think you do,” he shot back, breaking my heart in two. “You think I told that bitch some shit I would’ve never spoken of.”
I laid my hand on Antonias’s chest and pleaded with him to calm down. “Please, calm down.” He looked dangerous and crazy as hell.
“Nah, I ain’t calmin’ down,” he stated. “You either gon’ love me now, or you ain’t gon’ love me at all, Bee. Right the fuck now. It’s yo’ decision.”
If I made the wrong move, I would lose Antonias forever.
It was written in his eyes. Turning to my brothers, I met both their gazes.
Normally, I would never challenge my brothers.
Not outside of Dr. Bell a silent apology wafted between the three of us.
Then, I hugged my father. The whole situation with me getting shot put a few more gray hairs in his beard.
Leaving them on the couch, I sought out Antonias. He was inside the dining room sitting at the table with Kwamé. Whatever they were talking about ceased when I entered. Antonias’s eyes dropped to the necklace he’d gifted me, and his gaze found mine again. I blushed and offered him a shy smile.
“I’ll give you two some privacy,” Kwamé said as she stood from the table.
Before she walked out of the dining room, I asked her, “What happened between you and Katrelle?”
She sighed. “While you and Coco were trying to keep Adir and Adrian from jumping on Antonias—”
I groaned and Antonias chuckled.
“—I was talking to Katrelle.”
Glancing at Kwamé, I quipped, “Talking, sis? You were on her back.”
“I wanted to know how she knew, too. She said she saw you that night. She saw how badly you were injured and knew there was no way you should’ve even survived the wounds.”
Blinking back tears, I nodded. “Oh.” Antonias told the truth. I avoided eye contact with him and quizzed Kwamé. “So, how did you end up on Katrelle’s back?”
“Well…” She sheepishly shrugged. “Her mouth got slick, and I had to pop her in it.”
Grinning, I said, “That sounds about right.” We hugged, and then she left me to deal with Antonias.
I stood by the entrance of the dining room, admiring how lovely he looked sitting at the well-made table. A red tablecloth covered the large rectangular table topped with fine dishes, fresh colorful flowers from the farm’s garden, and three tall burning candles, emanating the scent of gingerbread.
“Good mornin’,” he drawled, then wet his lips with his tongue.
“Hey,” I replied.
“You gon’ come here?”
Smiling, I went to my man and straddled his lap. Running my fingers through the thick curls on top of his head as I kissed his lips was exactly how I wanted to start our day every morning.
“Merry Christmas.”
“Same to you,” I responded.
He touched the locket and said, “You like it?”
“Actually, I love it,” I uttered. His eyes softened and an equally soft expression covered his face. Whatever journey we were about to take, I was wholeheartedly sticking beside him.