Chapter 4
RED SQUARED
“You’re trembling, Noni. You okay?”
We were expecting Bali, Carter, and Karima at any moment.
Noni invited Karima to pray before we even talked.
That was a smart move. I didn’t want Bali to take anything I said the wrong way.
I wasn’t as articulate as Carter. He knew how to express himself wholeheartedly.
I expressed myself, but sometimes, I didn’t do it effectively and other times I did it too effectively.
Like Bali and Noni, I barely knew what it meant to bite my tongue at times.
“I just want everything to go right.”
I nodded as the doorbell rang. “Well, hopefully Karima beat Bali here,” I said as I headed to the door.
Noni nodded, then took brownies from the oven. When I got to the door, it was indeed Karima. That had to be a good sign. God was looking out for us. She smiled when I welcomed her in. Once I closed the door, she hugged me. “How’s everything going, Red?”
“Professionally . . . good. Personally . . . it could be better, but that’s why you’re here. We could use all the help we can get.”
She chuckled, then made her way to the kitchen with Noni.
After they greeted each other, I heard the door open.
I knew that was Bali and Carter. They never knocked when they entered each other’s houses, but I somewhat expected her to ring the doorbell today, since they were barely on speaking terms.
Once they entered the front room, I shook Carter’s hand and gave him a brotherly hug. Once I pulled away from him, I extended my hand to Bali. “Hey, Bali.”
She glanced at my hand, then hesitantly shook it. “Hey.”
That was a win. I would take that stank attitude all day, since she still greeted me. Lately, she’d been ignoring me. Mean ass. It was a miracle Carter and I were able to stay close because of their bickering and Bali obviously having a problem with me.
Bali walked away from us and headed toward the kitchen where Noni and Karima were. I looked at Carter, and said, “Man, I been praying this talk goes well. I’m gonna do my best to watch my tone and my words. I hate they’re not getting along.”
“Me too. It’s killing Bali more than she’s letting on. I know she’s more aggressive than Noni, but she can be really sensitive, too.”
When they joined us, Karima stood between Bali and me, and said, “Y’all grab hands. I never expected to be here today, but I’m glad you called, Noni. God is all-knowing and all-powerful. Whatever issues you guys are facing, He is more than capable of solving them. Let’s pray.”
I closed my eyes and bowed my head. I could feel peace entering the room the longer she spoke. I’d never experienced this side of Karima. I only really saw her at rodeos when she was barrel racing and competing with Milana in their relay team.
“Lord, we come as humble servants, thanking You for this day, for life more abundantly, and for Your divine intervention. We are here to express our views and come to an understanding about things. Help everyone here to consider each other’s feelings before they speak.
Help them speak with clarity to provide insight into the issues they face.
Most of all, Lord, restore what has been lost, repair what has been broken, and we will give You the glory for it all. In Your son’s name we pray, amen.”
We all agreed by saying amen as well. Karima grabbed her purse and was about to leave until Bali asked, “Karima, can you stay?”
She smiled and nodded, then sat in the accent chair.
Noni and I sat on one couch, and Bali and Carter sat on the other.
I grabbed my baby’s hand as she took a deep breath.
“Bali, I miss you so much. My day-to-day has been difficult since we’ve been at odds.
I’m sorry for all the disrespectful things I spewed your way. ”
Bali’s face reddened as Carter rubbed her back. “I accept your apology. I’m sorry, too, and I miss you.”
When I saw the tear fall down Bali’s cheek, I realized just how serious this was to them.
I hated what I said to Noni yesterday now, about them acting like teenagers.
There was silence for a moment, then Bali said, “It’s so hard for me to watch you change, because I felt like you were doing it to appease Red.
It’s one thing to compromise on things, but you are making obvious changes. ”
“I know. I should have talked to you before making changes, so you could have understood more. I’m doing this for myself, too.
My mouth could be extremely disrespectful and still is at times.
I needed to not only be better for me, but for Red, too.
I needed to be able to respect him as the man in my life.
My mouth was extremely reckless with him, which was why his attitude had become what it was with me.
Plus, my feelings were closed off, as all of y’all heard at Daddy’s house months ago,” Noni said and rolled her eyes.
Carter chuckled, and Bali smirked. “Carter and I talked about this, and he helped me to see that whether I agree or not, this is your life. I just . . . I don’t want to see you lose yourself in the process.”
“Oh, I won’t. I’m still a twin twister. I ain’t lost shit.”
Bali smiled as she glanced at me. I sat up and cleared my throat, inwardly praying that what I wanted to say would come out right.
“I apologize for my attitude and temper, Bali. I want you to know that Noni isn’t the only one making changes.
I’m working on my temper. I started anger management classes.
Noni and I are changing together, and I can honestly say that I know some of her changes have been for me.
Not because I’m demanding her to but because she wants to help me be better.
She knows that mean ass streak y’all have is only going to fuel my raging fires. ”
I smiled slightly and continued. “I miss us all hanging out together, and I hope, after this, we can get back to that.”
Bali was just staring at me like she didn’t believe a word I said.
After a few seconds or so, she said, “You had one part wrong. You did demand it, Red. I saw it with my own eyes and heard it with my own ears. You prompted the change. Nigga, you threatened to leave her. Had it not been for Carter, you would have left her while we were still in medical school because you didn’t want to wait. ”
She was getting angrier by the second. Subduing my words, I simply said, “You’re right, and I wasn’t expressing myself correctly.
When I reworded what I needed to Noni, I should have done that publicly, just like I embarrassed her publicly about her attitude.
We came to an understanding about what I needed and the things she needed. ”
Bali crossed her legs and huffed. She closed her eyes and took deep breaths, and said, “Okay.”
I wasn't sure what that meant, so I asked for clarity. “Okay, what?”
“Let’s just start over. I’m going to do my best to leave my petty at home when we’re together, because I don’t forget shit.”
I chuckled and stood from my seat, then pulled her from hers and hugged her. She pushed me, and said with a deep frown on her face, “Nigga! I said start over. Nowhere in that did I say I would be friendly.”
I chuckled as Carter laughed. Slowly shaking my head, I said, “My bad. I’m just glad we good now. Does this mean we good to all ride together to the next rodeo?”
Carter wrapped his arms around her waist and softly kissed her neck. I could see the peace that came over her. They were so good together. He was able to soothe all her demons, and I wanted to eventually be that for Noni. Bali closed her eyes and relaxed in his embrace.
When she opened her eyes, she said, “Yeah, we good to load up together unless you piss me off before then.”
I slowly shook my head as Noni smiled and came to my side. I kissed her head and wrapped my arms around her, too.
“I know I smelled desserts, so where the cookies and shit?”
I laughed loudly. Carter was crazy. He watched The Original Kings of Comedy all the time when we were younger. That was his favorite quote from it.
“Nigga, yo’ mama is a baker extraordinaire. You don’t need to be worried about our brownies,” Noni said.
Bali went to the kitchen, along with a smiling Karima, leaving Carter and I alone in the front room.
I took a deep breath, relief flooding my soul.
This meeting could have gone haywire and made things a lot worse than they already were.
He clapped my back and flopped on the couch next to me as the doorbell rang.
Before I could go to answer it, Noni appeared with a frown on her face. Nobody popped up at her house. They always called first. Only two people were allowed to do that and one of them was here. When I heard, “Hey, Daddy Mayor. Come in,” I rolled my eyes.
I did that every time they called that nigga that. They damn near idolized that nigga. It was like he did no wrong in their eyes. Had I not had a sister, I probably wouldn’t understand that shit. Pops spoiled the shit out of Aaliyah. She had him wrapped around her pinky finger.
When they appeared in the room with us, Bali damn near powerwalked to his ass and hugged him tightly, like they hadn’t seen one another in months. He put his arms around both of them and kissed their foreheads. Carter and I stood from our seats, waiting to shake his hand.
After he hugged Karima, he shook our hands and sat on the couch with us.
I wasn’t sure why he was here, until he said, “We planning something for the men of the family. Although y’all ain’t officially in yet, I figured since y’all are dating my babies and don’t seem to be fucking up too bad, I could invite y’all. ”
“Speaking of,” Carter said, glancing toward the kitchen. “I need your blessing, man. Me and Bali been doing this dance a while now.”
“Uh huh. Holding hands under my dining room table. I told your daddy years ago that I was gon’ bust yo’ ass for that shit.”
Carter’s eyes widened.
“Yeah, I knew about that shit. Just because I don’t say shit, don’t mean I don’t know, nigga.
When it comes to Henderson and Nome business, I’m all in that shit.
Don’t forget that shit either. We knew this would happen.
Maui and Mythic threw us way off, but I always knew the two of you would be together. ”
He slid his hand down his red face, then said, “You have my blessing.”
They slapped hands, and he glanced at me. I didn’t say a word. I didn’t think Noni and I were ready for that sort of thing yet. We were still trying to figure out our dynamic.
“I’m glad they got tired of being at each other’s throats. When I saw Karima’s car here, I knew it was for one reason and one reason only, because she don’t fuck around with their rowdy asses.”
I chuckled. One thing we could all agree on was that Bali and Noni weren’t liked by a lot of people, but they were loved by their family, even if they couldn’t stand being around them for long periods of time.
“So, whenever you and Noni figure shit out, let me know. Now that she and Bali have come to an understanding, that should make it a lil easier.”
I only nodded. I never really said much to him.
It wasn’t that I was intimidated, though.
I was afraid of saying the wrong thing or my words being misconstrued if I allowed myself to be too comfortable.
It seemed that was a new problem I needed to get a handle on.
Noni had been the only woman I’d been interested in for the last six years.
We definitely should have been further along in our relationship.
Her putting us on hold, like we were homie lover friends had worn me thin as fuck.
We were doing all the things couples did.
She was afraid that I would have tried to monopolize all her time while she was in school.
It took Asad and Carter to help me understand where she was coming from.
I liked titles, though. I wanted her to claim me as hers, even though I already knew I was.
When Noni appeared with a bowl of ice cream and brownies with pecans, chocolate syrup, and caramel on top of it, I sat straight up. When she lowered it more, I saw the cherries in it. Bali had done the same for Carter, except he had strawberries instead of cherries. This shit looked so good.
“Thank you, Noni.”
“You’re welcome.”
She was about to walk away, but I grabbed her hand, pulling her back to me and kissed her lips. She smiled as her skin reddened some.
“You ought to sit next to me and eat with me, baby.”
“I would, except I already fixed mine. I’m going back to get it.”
“Give it to me, Noni,” Mr. Storm said.
She smiled at him and went back to the kitchen.
When I looked over at him, I nodded, silently thanking him.
Noni wasn’t really affectionate. I had to initiate it.
Sometimes she turned it down, like now. She could have easily combined her bowl with mine.
While looking at him, I noticed Bali had never left.
She was sitting on Carter’s lap, eating with him.
I tried not to envy what they had, but it was hard not to.
It was what I craved. Thankfully, Noni was trying.
Carter had been working on Bali’s ass for a long time.
I didn’t have that much patience. When he’d told me that they had sex, I didn’t believe him.
He’d been dedicated to her for a long time.
What Noni and I had didn’t compare to what they had.
We lacked experience. That was okay, though.
We would get there if we kept working on ourselves.
When she came back, she handed the bowl to her dad and hesitantly sat on my lap. Immediately grabbing the spoon, she fed me some of it. Mr. Storm stood and went to the kitchen with Karima. Noni stared into my eyes as I chewed what was in my mouth.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t even think you would want this type of affection in front of my dad.”
“I love you, girl. I don’t care who’s around. I’m gonna always want to show you how much I love you. Okay?”
She nodded and took the bowl so I could feed her. My other arm was wrapped around her. Hopefully, she would begin to understand how this love thing was supposed to work. I was trying hard to adjust, and I knew she was, too. I just hoped our efforts wouldn’t be in vain.