Chapter 34
34
“ N igga, move! I’m tryna work out!” I fussed.
Bo was all up on my ass laughing as I bent over to pick up the dumbbells. “Oh, is that what you were doing? I thought that was a signal,” he said, gripping my butt cheeks.
“A signal for what?”
“Fucking,” he said, his voice deadpan.
“Bo, move! Shit!”
“Fine, mean ass, and speaking of asses, make sure you get some squats in. If you lose that booty, I’ma cry.”
Rolling my eyes, I turned to see him leaning against the front of his treadmill. smiling at me. He converted his formal dining room into a gym long before I moved in, but I never bothered using it until I received my diagnosis. I always figured killing people was enough exercise for me.
“You look happy,” I observed as I began doing bicep curls with the eight-pound weights.
“I am. Why you using them baby-ass weights?”
“Because I’m tired from the constant fucking your old ass has me doing.”
His eyebrows flew up. “Old ass, huh?”
“Old as hell.”
His smile widened. “You about three seconds from fifty yourself, ain’t it?”
“So is my pussy.”
“Yeah, it’s aging like the finest of wines. Motherfucker is priceless.”
“That’s what I’m saying.”
“Riiiight, so…my mother has invited us to dinner.”
“Why? You stop her deposits or something? She wanna evaluate my performance as manager although I haven’t really done anything?”
“First of all, she don’t run shit at The Agency. Second, you’re the fucking boss right along with me. Can’t no-fucking-body evaluate you. Third, I thought we agreed you were going to focus on your health right now.” His voice softened with the last sentence.
“We did. I just feel like I’m not pulling my weight around here.”
“That pussy pulling all the weight.”
I sighed, dropping the weights on the floor. “Why’d she invite us?”
He shrugged. “She told me some bullshit about it being a while since she’s seen or talked to me, talking ‘bout she misses me.”
“You don’t believe her?”
“Hell no! I don’t trust shit that comes out of her mouth.”
“So…we’re not going?”
“Hell to-the motherfucking no!”
“I’m cool with that decision,” I said with a shrug.
“Oh, I know you are. I’ma set up a call or something. Maybe a video chat, but I ain’t giving her or nobody else in her household a chance to ambush me.”
“You think they’d really do something like that? I know Tavares is a hot head, but he doesn’t seem calculated enough to do anything.”
“Yeah, but he’s devoted to my mom. She spoils him because he’s her only grandchild.”
“Well, Zaccai is too weak.”
“True. Hey, enough about my messed-up family. Now, what’s your plan for keeping them thighs juicy? I’ll cry if they get skinny.”
I sighed again and shook my head.
“Damn, this is really…regular. Nothing like your high-rise place. You like living here?” Umber said, her eyes sweeping the living room.
“I do. It’s a quiet neighborhood, and it ain’t like I’m living here alone,” I pointed out.
“Yeah, you definitely aren’t,” Lilith muttered.
I sighed. “What’s on your mind, Lil?”
She shrugged, raking her fingers through her hair. “It’s just that I barely get to talk to you anymore; you don’t come to visit…”
“Oh, so you wanna act brand new? You gonna act like you didn’t ghost the whole family when you first got with Ray?” I asked.
Her eyes widened. “I lost contact after I left Marlon. Ray just happened to come along around the same time,” Lilith countered.
“Yeah, she was in mourning. Besides, we’re used to you calling to check on us and stuff, big sis,” Umber said. Her ass was actually pouting.
My mouth dropped open. “Really Danielle Boone? You’re a virtual recluse out there in the woods! You don’t fool with nobody!”
“Nobody but her dog,” Lilith corrected me.
“That’s why you’re supposed to be checking on me!” Umber whined.
I stared at her and lifted a brow when a thought hit me. “Umby, are you…you feeling lonely because Lilith and I are both married now?”
Lilith gasped. “Oh! Are you, Umber?”
Our baby sister lifted one shoulder and dropped it. “I don’t know. It’s like, y’all have these self-contained lives now. Everything is shifting. I just want us to communicate more.”
“Me, too,” I said. “Look, I’ve had so much going on. New marriage. Trying to manage my health. It’s a lot, but I’ma always love my family. Always .”
“Damn, my bad. How are you feeling? You look great,” Umber said sheepishly.
“I feel good so far. Bo takes good care of me,” I said, suppressing a smile.
“Oh, we can see that. He seems so…aggressive. I bet he’s tearing you up in bed,” Lilith said.
“I wasn’t gonna say nothing, but…” Umber mumbled.
“I wouldn’t be with him if he wasn’t,” I informed them. “Anyway, let’s go in the kitchen and eat since I did invite y’all to have lunch with me. Bo’s chef can cook his ass off.”
“A chef? What did you say he does for a living?” Umber questioned.
“He’s in corporate management.”
“Hey, where is he?” Lilith queried.
“He’s spending time with his mom today.”
“When do we get to meet his family?” Umber asked.
“Never. I can’t stand those motherfuckers,” I declared.
“Well, damn. Uh, let me hit the bathroom you showed us before we eat,” Umber said.
Lilith and I were in the kitchen when she moved close to me and whispered, “I still can’t believe you married your boss.”
I frowned, setting the plates I’d gathered on the island. “Lil, don’t start.”
“I’m just saying…”
“ Please don’t.”
Just then, Umber returned yelling, “Let’s eat!”
I broke weak, or maybe a more truthful way of looking at it was, she broke me down. She, being my mother. She kept calling, basically begging to see me, and shit, she was my mother . So, I finally agreed, taking one bodyguard with me and leaving the other two to watch over Memphis who swore they were sorcerers or something because she rarely saw them, even though they were always present. That was by design, of course. I didn’t want her upset at me because she could take care of herself. I knew she could, but I needed the extra assurance. In truth, her security was for my peace of mind. She didn’t need to know I’d bought the house across the street from my place for them to hole up in. She didn’t need to know their names, either, although that information was at her fingertips. All she needed to do was be. I just needed her to be, and while being, to be with me. That was it.
I hated to leave her to meet with my mother, but I also didn’t want to bring her with me and end up shooting my mom if she disrespected her. I still owed Zaccai another bullet for talking slick at that last meeting.
We met at The Bell Room, a café in The Village known for their tea cakes. I loved me some damn tea cakes.
I arrived a whole hour early, waited for my security to check everything out, and was told my mother was already there. I found her sitting in a corner booth nursing a cup of coffee.
Dropping onto the seat across from her, I asked, “Just you and Moody and the guys outside?” I nodded toward Moody sitting a few tables away from us, failing to blend in with the other patrons. Dude was too damn huge.
She smiled. “Yes. Always aware of your surroundings…”
“Mm-hmm, just like my father.”
“If you’re fishing for an apology, you won’t get one. I did what I had to do to protect you and Zaccai.”
I chuckled. “No, you did that for yourself. I’m sure of that.”
She shrugged. “Partly. He was trying to cut me off. Believe me, he owed me.”
I nodded. “Whatever you say.”
She sighed, took a sip of her coffee, and fixed her eyes on me. “I didn’t ask to meet you to argue. I want…I need a truce. I want to be a part of your life. I’m not getting any younger, and I just…you’re my son. I love you.”
I stared at her. I might have had a soft spot for the woman who raised me, but this was too far out of character to be believable.
She blew out a breath, reclining in her seat. “Bo, I’m serious. I know you’re angry about how things panned out with Miss King in the past?—”
“ Mrs . Pierce,” I corrected her.
This woman visibly flinched before rubbing the back of her neck. Her mouth opened, but no words were spoken.
“What has Memphis ever done to you?” I asked, my pulse thumping in my temple. “Our family swooped in when she was young and pulled her into our world. She has done her job better than anyone else at the company. She’s intelligent and efficient. She has a good heart, and she still loves me despite what you did to us, what I let you do to us. What’s your fucking problem?!” I somehow kept my volume low, but she couldn’t have missed the venom in my voice.
Her gaze dropped to the table as she said, “To be honest, she reminds me of myself.”
“So…you hate yourself?”
She smiled and shook her head, eyes still on the table. “No, I think I envy her. I envy that you love her so much. I could see it in you when you brought her to meet me for the first time. I knew you’d give her the world…and you did.”
I frowned. “Ain’t that how love is supposed to work?”
“In theory, yes. Didn’t work out like that for me.”
“So, all this time, it was jealousy….”
Finally, her eyes met mine again. “Yes. Your love for her endured all these years, and I realize you purposely didn’t have children with Layla because of Memphis. I thank you for Tavares, though. He’s a light.”
“Tavares is an ungrateful ass.”
“He’s misunderstood.”
“Like Zaccai, huh? You love to make excuses for sorry ass niggas.”
“You’re so much like your father; it’s actually a little frightening. He was so no-nonsense.”
I shrugged. “What’s going on, Ma? Why are we here?”
She sighed, her gaze now out the window beside us. “I’m getting old. As I said, I want to be a part of your life.”
I smiled. “Don’t worry. I won’t cut you off as long as you show my wife the respect she deserves. An apology would be nice, too.”
“I’m not worried about money. I want my son. I love you.”
Our eyes were locked, and though she looked and sounded sincere, my cold-ass heart couldn’t accept it. She’d wreaked too much havoc in my life, upending my one real source of happiness—Memphis King.
So, all I did was grunt, “I’ll think about it.”