Chapter 13 Prime #2
Finally, I turned to Grandma Rita. She was standing now, her head tilted like she was listening for me, one hand resting on the back of her chair.
“Hey, Grandma,” I said softly, walking toward her.
“Prentice.” Her voice was warm. Sweet. “Come give your grandma a hug, baby.”
Relief flooded through me. Maybe she wasn’t as mad as I thought. I stepped closer, arms outstretched.
That’s when I saw it.
The belt.
She’d been holding it behind her back with her other hand, and before I could react, she swung.
“Grandma—!”
WHACK.
The leather caught me right on the knee. Pain shot up my leg.
“You think you can just disappear for months?!” She swung again, this time catching me on the back of the thigh. “Not call?! Not visit?!”
“Grandma, I’m sorry!” I tried to back up, but she was surprisingly quick for someone who was legally blind.
WHACK.
This time she got me in the other knee. I stumbled, and she advanced.
“I’m old! I’m going blind! What if I died and you weren’t here?!”
“You’re not dying—OW!”
She caught me right in the dick.
The entire house erupted in laughter. Justice was doubled over. Quest was crying. Even Serenity, who’d set this whole thing up, was cackling.
“Grandma!” I wheezed, trying to protect myself. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”
“You better be!” She swung again, catching me on the shin. “Don’t you ever—” WHACK. “—stay away—” WHACK. “—that long again!”
“I won’t! I promise!”
“You promise?!”
“Yes! I promise! I’ll come around more!”
Finally, she lowered the belt. I was breathing hard, my legs burning, my dick aching.
Grandma Rita’s face softened. She reached out, her hands finding my face. “Let me look at you.”
Her fingers traced my features—my jaw, my nose, my forehead. It was how she “saw” now.
“You look weary,” she said quietly. “You working too hard?”
“Maybe a little.”
“And you’re not sleeping. I can feel it in your face.”
Of course she could.
She pulled me down into a hug, and despite everything—the pain, the embarrassment, the laughter still echoing around us—I melted into it.
“I missed you, baby,” she whispered.
“I missed you too, Grandma.”
She patted my back, then pushed me away. “Now go get some food. And don’t think I’m done with you. We’re gonna talk.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
I limped toward the food table, everyone still snickering.
Quest handed me a plate, grinning. “Got your ass whooped by a blind woman. That’s a new low, even for you.”
“Shut up.”
“She got you in the dick, too. That was legendary.”
“I hate all of y’all.”
But I was smiling. Because for the first time in months, I felt like I was home.
Dinner went better than I expected. The food was incredible, as always. Grandma Rita held court at the head of the table, telling stories about the old days when she and my father were building Banks Reserve from nothing. Stories I’d heard a thousand times but never got tired of.
Storie sat on my lap, stealing bites of my mac and cheese. Kiki and Tione had temporarily stopped arguing to debate whether Beyoncé or Rihanna had better music. Julius was trying to convince Serenity to let him buy her a new car. Ivy was on her phone, probably texting some new man she was seeing.
For a moment, everything felt normal. Like I wasn’t a killer. Like I wasn’t carrying the weight of Rashid’s expectations and Zahara’s secrets and Meech’s bullshit.
For a moment, I was just Prime. Just Prentice. Just Grandma’s boy.
Then Quest cleared his throat. “Yo, Prime. Justice and I need to talk to you about something. Business.”
The moment shattered.
“Now?” I asked.
“Yeah. Won’t take long.” Quest was already standing, exchanging a look with Justice that told me this was serious.
I kissed Dream’s head and set her down next to her big sis. “Y’all finish eating. We’ll be right back.”
The women barely noticed us leaving, too deep in their own conversations. Julius gave me a knowing look—he’d been around long enough to know when the brothers needed to handle business.
We headed to the study, a room that still smelled like my father’s cigars even though he’d been dead for over twenty years. Dark wood paneling, leather chairs, bookshelves lined with first editions. This was where the real decisions got made.
Quest closed the door behind us. Justice took a seat, his expression unreadable.
“What’s up?” I asked, leaning against the desk.
Quest didn’t waste time. “The mayor’s office is holding up our permits.”
My jaw tightened. Of course. “ You mean our mother? For what?”
“Because she’s Vivica but we’re this close to breaking ground.
” Quest held up his fingers, barely an inch apart.
“Everything’s lined up. Investors, contractors, the whole nine.
But we need final approval on a few key permits.
Environmental impact, zoning adjustments, some other bureaucratic bullshit. ”
“And Vivica’s blocking it.”
“Not blocking exactly,” Justice interjected. “More like… slow-walking. Every time we submit something, there’s a new issue. A new delay. A new reason why it needs more review.”
I felt the familiar anger rising in my chest. “What does she want?”
Quest and Justice exchanged another look.
“She wants to talk to you,” Quest said finally. “Privately.”
“Fuck no.”
“Prime—”
“I said no.” I pushed off the desk. “I’m not doing this. Whatever game she’s playing, I ain’t interested.”
“It’s not a game,” Justice said quietly. “It’s multi-millions of dollars in investments. Jobs. The future of the company.”
“Then tell her to approve the permits and leave me out of it.”
“We’ve tried,” Quest said, frustration creeping into his voice. “She won’t budge. Says she needs to speak with you first. Face to face.”
“About what?”
“She wouldn’t say. Just that it’s important. That it’s time.”
Time. Time for what? Time to pretend she gave a damn about me after throwing me to the wolves when I was thirteen? Time to apologize for using my case to boost her political career? Time to play happy family for the cameras?
“No,” I said again.
“Prime, be reasonable—”
“I am being reasonable. The reasonable thing is to never speak to that woman again. She made her choice. I made mine.”
“This isn’t just about you,” Quest said, his voice hardening. “This affects all of us. The company. Grandma’s legacy. Everything Dad built.”
“Dad’s dead. And Grandma built that company more than he did, even if nobody wants to admit it.”
“Which is exactly why we can’t let Vivica tank this deal out of spite,” Justice said. “One conversation, Prime. That’s all she’s asking for.”
“She doesn’t get to ask me for anything.”
“Maybe she wants to apologize,” Quest offered, though he didn’t sound convinced.
I laughed, bitter and sharp. “Apologize? Vivica doesn’t apologize. She maneuvers. She manipulates. She uses people.”
“Then use her back,” Justice said. “Go in there, hear what she has to say, get what we need, and walk away. You don’t have to forgive her. You don’t even have to be nice. Just… talk to her.”
I stared at my brothers. Quest, the oldest, who’d stepped into the CEO role as soon as he turned eighteen. Who’d carried the weight of the business while barely legal. Justice, the middle child, the peacemaker, who’d always tried to bridge the gap between all of us.
They needed this. The company needed this. And as much as I hated it, as much as every instinct in me screamed to refuse, I knew they were right.
“I’ll think about it,” I said finally.
“Prime—”
“I said I’ll think about it. But I’d rather cut off my own arm than sit in a room with her. So don’t hold your breath.”
Quest sighed, rubbing his face. “That’s all we’re asking. Just think about it.”
“I already am. And the answer’s probably still gonna be no.”
Before my pops was murdered, my mother was working for Banks Reserve but Grandma Rita ousted her as she got deeper into politics.
My grandmother said that my mother didn’t have the focus and ambition to grow Banks Reserve, a billion-dollar company, so she began to groom Quest to take over.
My mother has been bitter about that ever since.
She also remarried a man named Dante Oldsman, Serenity’s father. Dante works for a rival liquor company and my grandmother found that disrespectful.
I couldn’t imagine what my mother wanted from me. We hadn’t spoken in years. She was up for re-election in about a year. She probably wanted me to pretend like we were a happy family and I ain’t have the energy to lie. Nor the desire.