Chapter 51 #3
“Didn’t know what?” Psalms questioned her. “Huh? You didn’t know what? You willingly came into our family fold knowing that your nigga was not here on some real shit, and you know it.” She put her shears to Lavender’s throat. “Where is Tank and the rest of the fuck niggas you work for?”
“He left,” she cried. Snot ran from her nose faster than tears fell from her eyes. “I don’t know where he’s at. I’ve called, and he won’t answer.” She cried harder. “I thought he loved me, but he doesn’t!”
“No, you think?” Psalms sarcastically replied, then laughed. “When did you realize that? Before or after he beat your ass?”
“He didn’t hit me,” Lavender said, shaking her head. “He never hit me.”
“Umm, baby, you must haven’t looked in the mirror or cannot feel your face because you are fucked up.”
“This wasn’t him,” she said. “It was her! I found them in bed together!”
“Oh, somebody else got your nigga huh?” Psalms laughed, then shrugged.
“That’s just a little bit of your karma, baby girl.
You couldn’t have expected him to be loyal to you when he had you out here playing the victim and shit.
” She pushed the shears into Lavender’s neck, just enough to break the skin, and stopped.
“You hate him enough to tell me where he’s at? ”
“Probably with her,” Lavender answered. “All this is because of her anyway! Why couldn’t he pick me? Why didn’t he love me? I gave him everything! All these years, I was loyal! I did what he asked! I was where he wanted me to be! I got all the information he asked for! But he chose her!”
“Oh, whoa is you.” Psalms rolled her eyes.
“You aren’t getting a second of sympathy from me because that nigga wasn’t loyal.
” She pushed the shears into her neck just a little bit more.
Lavender’s eyes ballooned, and tears rolled down her face faster when the realization of what was happening dawned on her.
Psalm was slowly killing her. “Now give me the address where they are staying so these two can have something to do.” Lavender gasped a few times, and Psalms rolled her eyes. “You’re being dramatic.”
“Dramatic?” Trey asked low enough that only I could hear him. “She’s literally pushing a knife into her throat. Ain’t shit dramatic about that. Her ass needs to be on a case study because she ain’t all there for real.”
I chuckled when Psalms glared at Trey. From the way she looked, I did not doubt that she’d heard him. Lavender gasped again, and Psalms moved her head so that her ear was next to Lavender’s mouth. Psalms nodded a few times, then lifted her head.
“Thank you,” Psalms said, then pushed her shears into her neck and sliced from ear to ear.
Lavender grabbed her neck as if it was going to stop the bleeding, then her body hit the ground.
Psalms watched her for a few moments, then squatted, used her shears to cut off her head, and then stood.
“I’m done here.” She walked away carrying Lavender’s head by her hair. “I have the address.”
“Um, what is she going to do with her head?” Trey asked.
“Her sister wants it,” I chuckled as I followed behind Psalms. She’d had her fun; it was my turn now.
Thirty minutes later, I was parked in front of a small building on the outskirts of town.
I turned off my truck, checked my gun, and got out.
Trey parked next to me and got out. I was ready to get home, lay up under Yale, and rub on her booty.
I got out of the truck, looked around, and chuckled.
If this nigga Tank wasn’t anything, he was funny as fuck.
This was the same gym Citrine hosted fights in back in the day.
I checked my surroundings, then approached the door and turned the handle.
It was unlocked, which didn’t surprise me.
“You know this place?” he asked when I walked into the building and immediately turned on the light. The old building looked the same. A small ring sat in the middle of the room, looking like it’d seen better days.
“My brother hosted fights here back in the day.” I nodded. “I spent years in this muthafucka.”
“I hate gyms,” Trey said, looking around. “Shit brings up bad memories.”
“Four used to fight here,” I said as I started looking around. There was a funny smell in the air. I looked over at Trey and chuckled. “Let me guess, you didn’t know your brother was fighting?”
“Nah,” he answered, shaking his head. “But then again, I ain’t surprised about it, especially if it had some kind of connection to her.”
“I’m assuming the her you’re referring to is Corinthians,” I said, and he nodded. “Nah, he was fighting before--”
“It’s always been connected to her,” he interjected and walked away. “That’s all he’s ever cared about: protecting her. So if he was here, then it had something to do with her, trust me.”
It was something about the way Trey referred to Corinthians as “her” instead of her name that annoyed the fuck out of me. Trey had an issue with Corinthians.
We checked the entire building only to come up empty. “You think she lied about the location?” Trey asked.
I climbed into the ring and picked up a piece of folded paper that was in the middle of it. “Nah, he was here,” I chuckled as I opened the paper and read what was on it.
“How do you know?” he asked. I held up the paper and shook it. “Because this nigga left a note.”
“A note?” he asked, and I nodded. “What does it say?”
“How many branches of the tree will have to die until the problem is uprooted?” I read. “See you soon.” I put the paper in my pocket, then climbed out of the ring.
“What the fuck does that shit mean?” he asked when I passed him.
“Xoey calls our friend group a tree,” I answered him as we left. “It’s how she explains our connections. To us, we are a tree. Each branch is a different family. We might not be family by blood, but we are family.” I unlocked my truck, got inside, and started it.
“Y’all tree is fucked up,” he said, looking around.
“That may be, but don’t worry about it,” I said, shaking my head. “We will take care of all this.”
“Nah, see,” Trey said, grilling me. “That’s where you got me fucked up.
Y’all didn’t handle shit accordingly, which is why I’m here.
Y’all accepted too many people into the fold without protecting what was already here.
Y’all got enemies mixed in with family, and y’all can’t see who is a friend and who is an foe because the lines are blurred.
” He smirked and shook his head. “Don’t worry about it, though, because I’m here now and I’m not nearly as nice as my brother.
” He walked away from my truck, got into his, started it, and pulled off.
I closed my car door, not giving a fuck about what he was talking about. Like Psalms said, he was only alive because Four hadn’t woken up yet. As soon as he did and explained why Trey was here, then we would decide how to deal with them. And that was if Psalms didn’t kill Trey first.
**
“Mama!” I called out as soon as I stepped through the back door of my parents’ house.
I closed the door, then kicked off my shoes.
The smell of cornbread was the first thing I noticed when I stepped into the empty kitchen.
I quickly searched the first floor, then went back to the kitchen and grabbed a plate and fork to make myself a plate.
Not only was there cornbread on the counter, but also ham, mashed potatoes, and greens.
I sat at the island, said a quick prayer, then started eating.
“Ahh, I’m telling,” Citrine said, coming into the kitchen. He looked at my plate, then shook his head. “Mama said don’t touch her pots.” He took a plate from the cabinet and started making his own plate. “She’s going to cuss your ass out.”
“Nigga, you making a plate right now!” I said in between bites of my food. “If she’s going to cuss me out, then she’s going to cuss your ass out too.”
“Nah, she isn’t,” he said, putting his plate in the warmer.
“Because I’m going to tell on your ass first.” He ran from the kitchen, and I chased after him.
We got to the hallway leading up the stairs, and I jumped on his back.
Citrine’s big ass didn’t even slow down as he took the stairs two at a time. “Mama!”
“Shut up, nigga,” I said, trying to put him in a headlock. “Shut your big ass up!”
“Mama!” He laughed, then slammed me into the wall. He immediately stopped moving, and we looked at the big ass hole in the wall. “Oh shit.”
“Mama is going to beat your ass,” I laughed as I climbed off his back. “You put a hole in her wall!”
“Nigga, you put the hole in the wall!” He pushed me, and I shook my head. “That’s your whole back!”
“That you slammed into the wall.” I pointed to the wall and glared at him. “I didn’t fall into that shit! Nigga, you slammed me into the wall!”
“Because you were on my back!” He fussed. “If you weren’t on my back, it wouldn’t have happened, which still makes all this your fault!”
“Oh, nah, nope,” I said, stepping back with my hands in the air. “This one is all you, Citrine.” I backed up until I was at my parents’ door, then lifted my fist to knock.
“You better not fucking snitch, nigga!” He looked around with his hands on his head. “Okay, okay.” He started nodding. “I got a plan.”
“The plan is for Diamond Stone to beat your ass,” I laughed.
“No, the plan is we flip this shit,” he said, looking around.
“Yeah, we move this shit from this wall to the other wall. They won’t even notice it was moved.
Then, when they are gone, we get somebody over here to fix it.
You think Clarke is doing anything?” He looked panicked as hell, and all I could do was laugh harder.
“She can fix this shit fast as hell. I’ve seen what her fine ass can do.
Building houses and shit. This should be a piece of cake.
” He took the picture off one wall and put it over the hole in the other wall.
The picture wasn’t big enough, so he started pacing.
“Nigga, just tell her what you did.”
“I like my life, Amethyst.” He glared at me as he paced. “Diamond Stone ain’t about to let this shit slide. She’s been fussing our whole lives about fucking up her house.”
“You’re too damn big to be this fucking scared,” I replied. “She ain’t gonna do shit but fuss and then tell you to get her shit fixed.” I turned and knocked on her door. “Mama!”
A few seconds later, Mama opened her door. She fixed her robe and glared at me. “What do you want, Amethyst?”
“Why are you not dressed? It’s three in the afternoon,” I asked her as she stepped into the hallway and closed the door. “What you close the door for?”
“Stop asking questions you aren’t old enough to know the answers to.” She adjusted her robe and crossed her arms. “Now, why are you at my house like you don’t have one of your own?”
“Technically, he’s homeless,” Citrine said from behind me.
“Really, nigga?” I said, turning around to see Citrine smiling. “Alright, bet.” I nodded and turned back to Mama. “Citrine put a hole in your wall.” I stepped to the side, and Mama’s face twisted. “He threw me into the wall.”
“Stone!” Mama yelled, calling Pop. She never used his first name. The door opened, and Pop stood there with a mug on his face and a pair of black ball shorts. “I swear on everything, you are never getting pussy again! Look at what your son did!”
“Now hold the fuck up,” Pop said, shaking his head. “Diamond, be mad, but don’t lie. I was just in that thang having you begging and pleading before this nigga knocked on the door.”
“Eww,” Citrine and I said in unison.
“Eww, my fucking ass, niggas,” Pop said, waving us off. “I’ve been in that thang since before y’all were born. As a matter of fact, how the fuck do y’all think y’all got here?”
“Immaculate conception,” I answered, and Citrine nodded. “Three times God blessed y’all.”
“He blessed these nuts, and I dropped you three niggas into my favorite place to be and then had to wait three weeks after each of you niggas were born before I got back to it.” Pop adjusted his shorts and grilled us.
“Longest three weeks of my fucking life.” Pop pulled Mama back, and she rested against his front.
“You’re supposed to wait six weeks,” I said, mugging him. “And stop touching on my mama.”
“Or what?” he questioned me. “This is my fucking wife. Go on before I bust your shit.” He kissed her neck, making her smile. “Now what the fuck happened to my wall? And who is getting it fixed?”
“Citrine threw me into it,” I quickly said.
“Why?”
“Because he made a plate!” Citrine yelled. “I was coming up here to tell Mama, and his childish ass jumped on my back. I tried to throw him off, and we fell into the wall.”
“He threw me into the wall,” I corrected him.
“You were in my food, Amethyst?” Mama questioned me, and I nodded. “Why?”
“I was hungry.” I shrugged. “I called your name when I got here, and you didn’t answer, so I made myself a plate. I thought you were asleep or something, so I didn’t want to bother you.” I was lying, but they didn’t know that.
“She was busy getting ate,” Pop said, licking his lips, and I took a step back.
“I am a child,” I mugged him. “Remember my place, sir.”
“Shut the fuck up,” Mama said, shaking her head. “Get my damn wall fixed, and it better be fixed by the end of the day.”
“I’ma call Clarke,” Citrine said.
“You calling a woman to fix some shit?” Pop laughed and shook his head.
“I swear I failed y’all.” He opened their bedroom door and stepped back, pulling Mama with him.
“Do what you gotta do, but step the fuck away from this door unless you wanna hear how y’all were conceived. ” Mama laughed as he closed the door.