4. Brick #2
“That nigga know he close to home, mama. He ready to knock the fucking door down.” I chuckled, and she shook her head. “How you feeling?”
“Better.” Her eyes fluttered open and looked right into mine. “At first, I thought last night was a dream and I was going to wake up somewhere I didn’t want to be. Then I realized I was in the safest place I’ve ever been.”
“You getting all soft on me and shit,” I tittered, sweeping my thumb over her lips.
“You allow me to be a version of myself I didn’t know I could be. Protected. Vulnerable. Safe.”
“Let me find out I put you in that soft girl era,” I teased, ready to kiss her sexy ass.
The tapping at my bedroom door had me punching the fucking air. I didn’t do that pop-up shit for one, but then I remembered I had put my phone on DND. Pulling out of Six’s embrace, I shifted onto my back to glimpse the time on my clock. It was almost ten a.m.
“Who is it?”
“Mr. Brick, Armon is here,” Marcie announced from the other side of the door. “Says he’s been calling you.”
Reaching out, I snatched up my phone and saw that he had called like five times and texted even more. Shaking my head, I set the phone back down and pressed a hand against my forehead.
“Shit. Aight. Tell him to come up.” I tossed the covers aside, and Six remained laying down beside me.
“What’s going on?”
“Just some shit he wants to talk about. You don’t even have to worry about this right now. I just gotta come up with a statement and figure out our next approach on this whole shit with Bella and her husband.”
“You don’t have to shield me, Brick. I’m good.” Six sat up and ran her fingers through her hair as my bedroom door swung open.
“My bad, didn’t mean to interrupt y’all.” Armon caught me sitting on the edge of the bed with Six behind me, hugging the covers against her chest.
“What’s up, Mon? What you need?” I grabbed my robe off a nearby chair and tied it around my waist as he marched over to my living room area and took a seat with all his equipment.
“I need to know what the fuck happened last night and how to spin this in your favor. Both of you.” He cracked his MacBook open and took a seat in his favorite chair, facing the door.
Six glanced my way, lifting a brow, and I went over to join him.
“Bro, you already know about me and Bella. Her husband just so happened to find out. I ain’t been with her since this whole thing with Six started though. She was on some salty shit last night because of that.”
“Well, she’s the one married, so she looks worse than you, but it’s not a good look for you, Brick. Now they’re dropping you as an ambassador too. I got that notification this morning.”
“I don’t give a fuck about none of that! Fuck her and her company. I’m only worried about making sure me and Six good.” I went over to the counter beside my mini fridge so I could turn on my Keurig.
I needed some fucking caffeine.
“My brand is changing, and I want the focus to be more on that. Not all this drama and other shit. Six is in school, she’s got a lot of other shit she can be talking about, and she got her own brand deals.
I need to fall back and deal with all this court shit anyway.
We can make a statement or be seen going out on a date one night so they know we still together.
Right now, I think it’s best to limit my exposure though. ”
“Shit, we might be able to work with that. As long as you’re doing your deals, it will leave everyone chomping at the bit to see what your next move together will be. Gives you time to regroup, focus on your own goals, and still get paid,” Armon surmised.
“That’s what I’m saying. Six been through enough. I just want her to be able to chill out and enjoy her life without all that extra shit for a while.”
I winked at her, and she smiled as she cuddled up to a pillow under the covers.
Armon caught the exchange, his attention volleying between us before squinting at me.
He’d known me long enough. This shit with Six was far from casual.
I was coming on all ten toes behind her.
It was fuck everybody when it came to us. The whole world could eat a dick.
“Six, I don’t know what you doing to this nigga, but I ain’t mad at it,” Armon joked.
I chopped it up with him a little longer before he packed all his shit to leave.
We agreed that Six and I would go live when she was up to it, but we would both post some shit to let mufuckas know we were still rocking with each other, and it was none of their fucking business.
After slipping into joggers and a t-shirt, I eased onto the edge of the bed, and she popped her head up while hugging the pillow.
“You hungry? I was going to run downstairs and have Marcie hook us up.”
“Yeah. I could eat.” She sat up, tossing the pillow aside, and climbed down from the bed.
I stood, towering over her petite frame and looking into her eyes. She was more content than when I found her last night. The light in her eyes was slowly returning.
“You know if you’re not good you can always tell me, right?”
“I know. I’m good. I can’t stay in this room forever though.” She sighed.
“Last night was a lot, Six.”
“And I’m fine, Brick. You need to relax, Papa.” Her full lips curved into a sexy smile, and I took advantage by capturing them with mine.
“Come on. Let’s go eat.”
Arriving in the kitchen a few minutes later, we found Rossi and Marcella at the table together sharing coffee and breakfast. At the counter, Marcie stood arranging fruit on a platter along with a bowl of yogurt and a side of granola.
She always cooked like it was for a small army.
Whatever we didn’t eat, Rossi would take over to the lodge or they would have delivered to the many shelters in the city.
One thing they didn’t believe in around here was food going to waste.
According to Rossi, somebody was always hungry somewhere.
“Morning, Queens!” I went to greet each of them with a kiss against their cheeks and pulled out the chair beside Marcella but across from Rossi so that Six could sit.
“Well, good morning, you two.” Marcella smiled. “Six, how are you feeling?”
“Tired, but I slept good. I think I just need to reset. I don’t know what they gave me, but my entire body just feels heavy.”
“We can get Doc over and have him give you some fluids. Flush out whatever it was,” Rossi suggested, bringing a forkful of fluffy eggs to her lips. “It’ll have you feeling like a new woman.”
“I appreciate that.” Six took her seat, and I sat between her and my mother while Marcie brought the fruit over to the table.
“What can I get you two? I made French toast and waffles, we have bacon, eggs, and hashbrowns too.”
“Yeah, alladat.” I nodded, reaching for a fresh mug to pour Six a cup of coffee.
“I heard Armon leaving. Everything OK?” Rossi checked with me.
“It’s all good. We falling back from this whole social media shit a little bit. Give the people some shit to wonder about.” I reached for a strawberry and chucked it into my mouth.
“I think that’s a good idea. I talked to Sol. She’s making sure she gets Kiara and her daughter checked out.”
Six went rigid in her chair as she peered into her coffee mug.
“You didn’t have to do that, Rossi.”
“The hell I didn’t,” my mother objected.
“And I don’t feel bad about it. I always instilled a sense of loyalty into that place.
I will not allow anybody to come in there and taint it with jealousy.
What she did was wrong. I can’t tolerate that and put anyone else in jeopardy.
Kiara made her own bed. She’s grown, and now she has to deal with the consequences.
I’m sure she will be alright. I had Sol write her a check, nothing major, enough for her to find a place and hopefully she can get her a job and take care of her and Kiadra.
It’s all we can hope for.” Ma reached for her coffee and brought it to her lips.
Nobody could ever say she wasn’t fair. Ma gave more than one chance to people that honestly didn’t deserve it.
Kiara was one of them. She deserved everything she got after that foul shit she pulled.
Honestly, that bitch was lucky she got off that easy.
Studying Six, I could see something was still bothering her.
Marcie walked our plates over, and everything looked like some shit off a cooking show the way she had plated it.
My stomach immediately growled when I reached for a fork and said a brief prayer over my meal.
“I want everyone to attend our annual fundraiser for the lodge in about a month. I’ve arranged for it to be held here.
Invite only. The guest list will include the other four families, and I want everyone on their best behavior.
This is about raising money for a good cause and helping to get the new facility up and running in the old neighborhood,” my grandmother informed us.
“Hopefully, by that time a lot of this drama will be settled and we can all try to get back to normal.”
“Ain’t shit normal about us, Cella.” I chuckled, shook my head, and stuffed my face.
Six managed to eat half her plate, but I could tell she was still sleepy.
Ma said Doc was on his way to help her out, but I wanted her to rest and relax, so I cleared my day so I could chill with her.
She dozed off about an hour after Doc hooked her up, and I sat in my room playing my game and checking on her from time to time.
After two blunts, I decided to shower and change, thinking maybe she would want to take a walk or something when she woke up.
I sat on my game, kicking ass until the phone to the house rang, jarring my attention. I had to pause to pick up.
“Sup?” I held the phone between my shoulder and ear and unpaused my shit.
“Mr. Brick,” Marcie greeted me. “There are two women here asking to speak with Six.”
“The fuck. Who?” I frowned and shifted on the couch just as Six was stirring from her long ass nap.