Chapter 24 Red Squared
RED SQUARED
“She did what?”
I couldn’t have heard that nigga right. He said Bali had paid to have somebody killed. He and I had gone to the barn while Asad, Mythic, and Ferris stayed on the back porch talking. He was so fucking angry. The nigga couldn’t even smoke a blunt.
“You fucking heard me. How I’m supposed to marry somebody capable of that shit? I can’t get over the fact that she ain’t even showing no remorse, man. I knew she could be mean, but this shit is way beyond that. That’s cold and fucking evil. Why would I want to be connected to someone like that?”
I was stunned into silence. This shit was unbelievable. “What . . . I mean . . . fuck. You breaking up with her?”
“Man, I want to. I’m just too angry to make that decision right now. I love the fuck out of her. For my entire life, I saw her as the woman I would spend the rest of my life with. I don’t know about that shit now, and it’s fucking me up on the inside. Fuck!”
I slid my hand down my face and sat on a bale of hay, watching him saddle his horse. I supposed he was gonna ride for a bit. “You want company?”
“Naw, I need to be alone for a minute, man.”
I nodded as he got on his horse and took off out of the barn. I slowly shook my head in disbelief. Pulling my phone from my pocket, I texted Noni. Have you talked to Bali?
She responded immediately. No. She won’t let me inside the house. This is killing me. Is Carter talking? What happened?
Instead of texting her back, I called. I didn’t feel like texting all that shit. She answered immediately, but she didn’t say a word. I didn’t either for a minute or so. “He saw her paying Watchful Eyes on her phone and started asking questions. He said she paid them twenty grand.”
Noni burst into tears. She probably had an idea of what had happened but needed confirmation. “Don’t cry, baby. I’ll be back over there later. He’s riding his horse alone right now. When he comes back, I’ll leave. I think Epic is on his way to stay with him.”
“Okay,” she whispered. “Fuck! Did he break up with her?”
“No. He said he was too angry right now. He wants to, but he wants to wait until he calms down and see if he still feels the same way. I just . . . I’m at a loss for words. They’re so perfect together. I don’t know, baby. It’s not looking good at all.”
“I hate that she won’t let me in. I know she needs me. I can hear her cries with my soul, Red. Her heart is so broken. You think maybe Mythic can talk to him?”
“I don’t know if that will help or not. They kind of kept their distance from Mythic when he was in that shit. Whenever they were around each other, it was because Mythic came to them.”
“I don’t know what to do to get to her. God . . . I’ve never seen Bali like this.”
“Same for Carter. We are going to have to let them figure this out on their own. It seems like that’s what they want. Mythic is heading over here, baby. I’ll call you back.”
“Okay.”
When he got close, he slowly shook his head and huffed as he fell to the hay next to me.
“Ferris and Asad headed out. Epic should be here in about ten minutes. I have to leave when he gets here. Baby girl is stressing so much because Bali locked herself in the house and won’t let any of them inside. Did he say what happened?”
I glanced at him. “This has to stay tight, man.”
“You have my word. I won’t tell him I know.”
“Bali had the pharmacist popped.”
He frowned. It was one of confusion because as soon as he realized who I was talking about, his eyebrows hiked up on his face. “Where Vanessa worked?”
“Yeah, man. He saw her paying Ali and asked her about it.”
He slid his hand down his face. I knew he was thinking about the baby they lost. It was imperative that he got back to Maui. Whenever she was stressed, her blood pressure went up. I turned to him, and said, “You should get home to Maui. I’ll stay until Epic gets here.”
“Yeah, you’re right. I’ll come back out here tomorrow. He said we aren’t turning up this weekend to celebrate y’all anymore, but I think we should do something, even if it’s at Mom and Pop’s house with just us. That’s a huge accomplishment, and a once in a lifetime offer for y’all.”
“I’m not worried about that. My baby would wanna come, and I wouldn’t feel right leaving her behind. Looking at her would be like looking at Bali.”
“Yeah, you probably right.”
I just prayed that they figured out something before we left for nationals next Wednesday.
Bali and Noni were supposed to catch flights and meet us there on Friday next week.
If they hadn’t made up by then, Bali wouldn’t show up.
She was stubborn as fuck. She wasn’t sorry about what she did, so there would be no apology.
It was just whether Carter would be willing to get over that shit.
Mythic stood and slapped my hand. “Tell my brother to call me if he needs me before tomorrow.”
“A’ight, bruh.”
I sat here, watching Carter out in the pasture. He was working the fuck out of that horse. He had him wide open, galloping at full speed. Lowering my head, I prayed for my boy. That was all I knew to do. My dad was sure to teach me the importance of prayer.
“Everybody left?”
I looked up to see Uncle Legend. “Yes, sir.”
“Go ahead and get out of here. I got him.”
I stood from the hay just as Epic joined us.
I slapped their hands and looked out at my boy once more.
He’d stopped the horse from galloping and was just walking him.
After taking a deep breath, I made my way out to my truck.
Just like he was worried about me at the last rodeo, I felt the same worry for him.
Actually, I believed I worried even more.
That last rodeo was just to solidify our standings.
This was the NFR . . . the championship.
He had to do well. I didn’t know how this shit would affect him.
I could only pray that he could separate his emotions from the job at hand.
When I got to Uncle Legend’s house, I took a deep breath.
It had been four days, and Carter and Bali still hadn’t spoken to one another.
Noni said Bali was going to work, but she hadn’t said a word to anyone, except her dad and her patients.
Noni was about to lose it. I slept at her house this entire week.
She was so worried about Bali. She wouldn’t even accept phone calls, and she wasn’t responding to text messages.
I brought Noni lunch Thursday because she was super busy and couldn’t leave.
When I saw Bali, I just stared at her. She normally looked mad all the time.
That was how she rolled. However, she didn’t look angry.
She looked depressed. Her shoulders were slightly slumped.
She wasn’t even frowning. I swore it looked like she wanted to cry.
I did notice she wasn’t wearing her ring.
Noni didn’t look much different from her.
I hated this shit. It was hurting my fucking heart.
I tried to put myself in Carter’s shoes.
That shit would have me on edge, too, but I didn’t think I would break up with Noni for that.
We’d have to have a serious talk about that shit, though.
He had to know that Bali wouldn’t do no shit like that to him. She loved his ass.
I got out of my truck to head inside and saw Treasure and Kingsley outside on the swing.
They looked extremely comfortable. She was leaning against him, and she was laughing.
I was truly happy that she was progressing.
When they saw me approaching, Kingsley stood and slapped my hand, then Treasure hugged me.
I continued inside to see my parents were here.
Aunt Harper was taking something out of the oven, and my mama was stirring something at the stove.
Grandma Rose was in there cutting up, as usual.
I wished I could have brought Noni with me.
Because I didn’t, I knew I wouldn’t be here long.
Despite my reasoning, the family still decided to cook dinner to celebrate our win.
There was a shadow dulling the moment, though.
I wasn’t happy and Carter surely wasn’t.
He’d thrown himself into work. He was practicing every day.
He was also training some nigga to bull ride.
For the past four days, I’d watched him.
It was like he no longer had a soul. He seemed so cold and empty.
The spark he possessed was no longer there.
It was no different today when I looked at him.
He was on the couch watching basketball with his grandpa, Uncle Legend, Mythic, my dad, and Epic. After greeting my mama, Grandma Rose, and Aunt Harper, I came back and greeted the men. I sat next to Carter and slapped his hand.
“What’s up, man?”
“Shit. Wishing I was outside practicing.”
I chuckled, but he didn’t crack a smile. “Well, we can always go out there for a lil bit after dinner.”
“Naw. My mama said I’m chilling with them today. I swear, she must think I’m twelve.”
I chuckled again as he cracked a slight smile.
Not knowing what else to say, I turned my attention to the game.
Dad and Uncle Legend were talking, and Mythic was in his phone, probably texting Maui.
Epic was watching the game as well, but Carter’s grandfather was sitting there dozing.
I smiled slightly at him. That man was damn near eighty years old, looking like he was sixty.
He and Grandma Rose were like grandparents to me as well, since I didn’t know any of mine.
My dad’s mom was deceased, not that he was all that close to her anyway.
She was the source of most of his issues.
He suffered a lot of abuse from her. She was a heavy drug user and fucked him up as a kid.
He told me, a few years ago, some of the things she put him through, and just thinking about that shit made my stomach turn.
I understood him a lot better as a man, though, and why he sometimes reacted to things the way he did.
Just to prove how wild and uncontained his mom was, he didn’t know his dad, and I believed she didn’t know who the fuck he was either.
Thankfully, his mom had a bout with her conscience and told him about money his grandparents had set up for him.
That was how he became a millionaire. Talk about double for your trouble.
I knew my mama’s mom, but since she wasn’t close to her, it was like she didn’t exist to me.
I rarely saw her. Her dad ended up passing away in prison.
I never got to know him, but I knew that he meant the world to her.
I could remember her crying for weeks about it.
I couldn’t have been more than eight years old.
Knowing that he was once a sheriff and had gone out that way was a hard pill to swallow.
How do you fuck up like that? He lost everything, and that was probably what took him out.
After nearly ten years behind bars, he met the reaper .
. . not long before he was supposed to be getting released.
I think that was what hurt my mom the most, because she was looking forward to reuniting with him and having him be a part of our lives.
“I think I’m calling off the engagement, man.”
I turned to Carter, my eyebrows slightly lifted. I didn’t know what to say. He didn’t say he was breaking up with her, but hell, he might as well. That was how she was going to take that shit. “Have you told her yet?”
“Naw. I plan to call her today. Can you listen in for support?”
“Yeah. I mean, I’m surprised you want me to.”
He slid his hand down his face. “I know I’m gonna need it. I feel like when I tell her I want to take a step back, she’s gonna break things all the way off.”
“Honestly, Carter, what’s the point in breaking off the engagement if you plan to still be in a relationship with her? Y’all haven’t set a date yet, right?”
“Naw, we haven’t.”
I shrugged my shoulders. “Well, there’s no point in breaking off the engagement. Either break up with her or be with her. She needs an answer, though. You can’t continue the radio silence you’re giving her. She may make the decision for you if you take too long.”
“I feel like I want her to. I love her so much.”
“So why can’t you get past this?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. She went too far, man. I can’t help but wonder if she’ll do that shit again. I don’t want to be in love with someone who can be cold enough to take a muthafucka out of here without remorse.”
“Are you still angry?” I asked.
“Naw, but my heart hurts. I miss her like crazy, but just at the mental picture of her, I get sick to my stomach. I know she won’t be going to nationals.”
All I could think about was Noni. How was I gonna be around him and Noni at the same time?
I remembered how I felt being around him and Bali.
I was depressed as a muthafucka. It seemed he was being hard on her about this, but I supposed that was just my opinion about things.
I could only hope he changed his mind before Friday.
“How you gon’ keep her from going? I mean, Milana, Rylan, and Karima are competing. She could choose to just show up without actually being next to you.”
“I suppose I can’t. She won’t be with me, though. That was what I meant.”
I nodded and took a deep breath as I glanced at Uncle Legend.
It seemed no one knew what to say to him.
Carter was pretty headstrong. When he made his mind up about something, he typically went with that shit.
I just hoped his mind wasn’t totally made up yet.
He and Bali were perfect for each other.
I knew that if they didn’t have each other, no one else they met would measure up.
I didn’t want to see either of them miserable for the rest of their lives, so this shit had to work.