Chapter 21
TWENTY-ONE
MAUI
When we walked inside Mr. Legend and Mrs. Harper’s house, there were people everywhere.
Mrs. Harper was hysterical. I could imagine so.
Had I found out someone had harmed Indigo, I would probably be the same way.
Mrs. Shana and Mrs. Kortlynn were doing their best to console her.
Mrs. Kortlynn was Mr. Zayson’s wife. Their husbands all rodeoed together once upon a time, along with Mrs. Shana.
Sometimes she hazed for Red Squared, her son.
I made my way to them, and they all looked up at me.
Mrs. Shana and Mrs. Kortlynn gave me tight smiles and moved over a bit so I could hug Mrs. Harper. “I’m so sorry. Watchful Eyes will find her.”
“I’m praying they do.”
“I need you to believe it though. Believe that she will be saved. Please. That’s so important.”
She rested her head against my shoulder. “I’m trying, Maui. I’m trying so hard. That’s my baby.”
I wrapped my arms around her tighter and kissed the side of her head.
When I released her, Mythic was standing next to me.
She stood from her seat and fell into him.
He hugged her so tightly. I could tell he wanted to be on the streets trying to find her.
Knowing the type of man he was, I had to be okay with that.
Mythic wasn’t going to completely leave the street mentality in the streets.
He was always gonna be a street nigga. I respected him for trying to give me something different and leaving the drugs alone.
“I’m so sorry, Mama.”
Hearing his voice tremble pulled tears from me.
They were falling down my cheeks uncontrollably.
Seeing Mythic be sensitive and vulnerable always did that to me.
She pulled away from him, and said, “I’m so proud of you for leaving that shit alone.
The devil don’t wanna let you win. He don’t want you to have a clean break.
He can’t win, and don’t let him. You going out there being reckless and being who you used to be would be letting him win. ”
“Better me than Treasure. She ain’t have shit to do with this. They fucking with my sister. I’m gon’ get her back, Mama.”
He pulled away from her as she tried to grab him, clinging to his shirt.
He got away from her, and she flopped back to the couch.
Mrs. Shana and Mrs. Kortlynn sat back where they were, grabbing her hands and talking to her.
I walked away, speaking to people, as I made my way back outside.
Mrs. Kortlynn’s daughter smiled at me and spoke.
We went to school together, but we weren’t really friends.
She hung with a lot of the bourgeois crowd. They weren’t my type of people.
When I got outside, I saw Mythic talking loudly and Mr. Legend trying to restrain him. I quickly made my way over to them, but Carter hooked me around my waist, keeping me from approaching him. “He’s too wound up right now. Let him notice you first.”
I stared up at him and nodded. He didn’t want me to accidentally get hurt.
I could appreciate that. As I watched Mythic practically have a meltdown, I noticed my people pulling up.
Uncle Philly and PJ went over to him, along with Mr. Red, and they got him to calm down.
Once he was breathing deeply, he noticed me.
He extended his hand, and I went to him.
“I’m sorry you had to see me crashing out, baby. I’m so fucked up about this.”
He pulled me in his arms, doing his best to embrace me with that cast still on his arm.
I pulled away from him, noticing the gun in his waistband.
I puckered my lips, and he gave me a tight smile.
Lowering his head, he kissed me. When I tried to deepen the kiss, he pulled away.
The only time he wouldn’t kiss me deeply was when he had that damn razor blade in his mouth.
Sure enough, he took it out and gave me what I silently requested.
I put my hands to his face as he slid his arm around my waist.
I separated the kiss, and said, “I love you so much. You don’t have to do this alone. Look at all the people here to support you. Work with them.”
“You right, baby. I love you too.”
I released him and watched him walk over to where Ali was. My dad stepped out of his SUV and went straight to Mr. Legend. I couldn’t believe those people had kidnapped Treasure. I figured I would be on their radar, not her.
“Everybody come on in the house so we can talk about what’s going on.”
I looked up to see Mr. Berotte speaking.
I didn’t even realize he was here. He was dressed down in a Shedeur Sanders football jersey, wind pants, and a baseball cap.
That nigga had a grill too. He must have been off today.
I had to slowly shake my head. When I turned to go inside, I noticed my girls were here.
I went to meet Ashanni, Milana, and my sisters. Shani grabbed my hand.
“I hate this, boo.”
“Me too, Shani. Treasure is so sweet. She didn’t deserve this bullshit.”
Noni grabbed my other hand, and I noticed how red her face was. “You okay?” I asked.
She shook her head but remained silent. I looked over at Bali to see the frown on her face.
That wasn’t unusual, but what was strange was that she wasn’t next to Noni.
She was on the other side of Ashanni. The two of them were usually inseparable.
I frowned slightly as Shani squeezed my hand. “We’ll talk later.”
I nodded at her as we entered the family area. We stood against the wall by the staircase as Mr. Berotte took the floor with Ali right next to him.
“Jericho got somewhat of a lead. All hands are on deck to find Treasure Semien. Our guys from Houston are some headhunters, especially Vegas. He’s here.
With him, Jericho, Jungle, and Seneca on the streets, we should know more soon.
I don’t wanna voice what he thinks the lead is until it pans out.
All of Watchful Eyes is on the case. Although the police are on it, they don’t know we are too.
In the meantime, this is what we know. There are at least ten niggas from Adrian’s crew that are after Seven and Mythic.
They will try to get at whoever is connected to the two of them to get their attention. ”
“They done fucked up,” Ali said.
“By the way Shy is dressed, I think we caught that hint,” Daddy Mayor said.
Shy side-eyed him and allowed a smirk to appear on his lips. “You muhfucking right, nigga.”
I glanced over at Mythic and saw him flipping that damn blade in his mouth.
He glanced over at me and tilted his head, summoning me to him.
I left my spot on the wall and went to him, molding my body into his.
He kissed my head as I wrapped my arms around him.
When I glanced back at my girls, I could see Shani talking to Asad with Jayceon in her arms, Milana was on the other side with Ferris, and the twins were still against the wall with plenty of space between them.
They’d gotten into it about something, and I was almost sure that I knew what it was. Red Squared.
“How you let a nigga dictate what the fuck you do, Noni? I’m not understanding that shit!” Bali ranted.
I took a deep breath and slid my hand down my face.
There was nothing I could say, one way or the other.
Whatever was good for Noni was what was best. Bali shouldn’t have had a say in what went on in Noni and Red Squared’s relationship.
Bali was pacing back and forth as Noni stood there watching her.
“Bali, I have to prove to my man that you don’t fucking run my life!
He thinks I’ll do whatever you say do, because that’s what I’ve always done!
The fuck! We can be Tia and Tamera Mowry in this bitch, not getting along.
I refuse to continue to sacrifice shit I wanna do for what you want!
I am damn near twenty-seven years old and still fucking doing what you say to do.
Fuck this shit! You can get with it or not, but I no longer give a fuck! ”
I hopped up from my seat and got between them. They seemed like they were about to start swinging on each other, and that shit wasn’t gonna happen on my watch. They towered over me, so I was doing my best to keep them apart. “Come on, y’all. Please don’t do this.”
This shit was painful to watch. Sure, Bali and Noni had arguments, but it was never to this level. “What the fuck going on down there?” Seven yelled from upstairs.
“Shut the fuck up, SS!” they said simultaneously.
My eyebrows lifted, and they stared at each other.
When I saw Bali’s facial expressions soften, I took a step back.
They were both hot headed as fuck, but Bali was the ringleader.
If she calmed down, then most likely, Noni would too, and that was exactly what this was about.
Noni was trying to assert her independence from Bali.
They did everything together. When they were kids, they used to sit on the damn toilet together.
“Noni, I just don’t want that nigga to run over you. That’s all. I know you love him. It’s just . . . I guess it’s just hard watching you be like Maui, all submissive and shit.”
I frowned. “How the fuck did I become a part of this?”
Noni smiled slightly as she glanced at me, then lowered her head.
“Bali, sometimes you have to sacrifice a bit for the ones you love. Carter Legend is laid back and doesn’t care that you’re a boss.
That shit doesn’t bother him in the least. Sometimes, it bothers Red.
He doesn’t want it to seem like I’m running him, and I can respect that.
I’m trying to learn not to be so bossy all the time.
It’s taking effort, because that’s who the fuck I am at my core.
I’m still a fucking Henderson through and through, but I can learn to compromise on some things.
I’m not switching up or no shit like that.
Just, when I’m with him, I’m trying to put my soft side at the forefront. ”