WTF I Want (The Henderson Family Saga #29)

Prologue

SEVEN

“They dropped the charges, Mister Henderson,” Mrs. Taylor said.

I exhaled the breath I was holding. Those muthafuckas were really tryna get at me.

They came for me, and because I’m Black and defended myself, they were wanting to punish me for it?

They could get the fuck out of here with that bullshit.

My dad wrapped his arm around my shoulders, breaking me out of the trance I seemed to be in.

Mrs. Taylor and Mr. Berotte were still standing there, but neither of them was smiling.

They wanted to talk about me, but their asses had tempers, too, especially when it came to the justice system.

They didn’t have faith in that shit, just like most Black people didn’t.

With the way they presented my case and defended me, that judge didn’t have a choice but to let me go.

They’d come to the family barn where we were having a meeting.

Before they arrived, though, a constable had delivered paperwork that stated the very thing they’d said.

I couldn’t understand why those people tried to file civil charges against me anyway.

I fucked that muthafucka up because he was trying to rob me.

He had a weapon as well. It was clearly self-defense.

“We’ll meet at your parents’ house in the morning to go over some things with you, Mister Henderson.”

I rolled my eyes. “I told you to call me Seven. You don’t have to be all that professional with me, Missus Taylor. I’m just twenty-one. I’m sure you got kids older than me.”

She rolled her eyes as I had done. “I have a son older than you. He’s thirty-two. However, you are my client, not my son. It’s a show of professionalism and respect. Now, see you in the morning. Bye, boy.”

I chuckled as Mr. Berotte smirked. I could tell I wasn’t far from getting under her skin. It seemed I was good at that shit.

“I’m glad this shit is over. That attorney saw right through their bullshit. I ain’t never been so fucking nervous,” my dad said.

I had never seen him as nervous as he was either.

That was my nigga. Now that I was grown, we were practically best friends.

Although I still lived with them, my parents let me do my thing.

Most Hendersons stayed with their parents until they were twenty-five and got their money.

My older sisters were all still living there too.

Bali and Noni were building their houses.

They’d just turned twenty-six and would be coming home to check on things when the summer rolled around.

They were in medical school but would probably be graduating in a hot minute.

I wasn’t in a hurry. We had it good at our parents’ house, except for them constantly fucking.

I felt like I had to fucking throw up every time I heard them.

I surely couldn’t go to any of my cousins’ houses.

Uncle Jasper was worse than my dad. From what Milana said, so was Aunt Tiff and Uncle Ryder.

I just had to make sure my headphones were near or that I wasn’t home.

When we finally got to the SUV, my mama said, “Thank God, SS. I was so damn scared. What made it worse was that everyone knew you hadn’t done anything wrong. My hostile side had come out of retirement. You will always be my baby, no matter how old you are.”

I slowly shook my head as my dad grabbed her hand and kissed it.

He looked like he was ready to come out of the water and hit them with those cat-five winds a few times during this whole ordeal.

“If they would have put my son in jail, they would have had to lock my ass up too. I would have fucked that courtroom, judge chambers, or wherever the fuck I was, up. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have been the only Henderson to show the fuck out. ”

I smiled. That was why I loved that nigga.

Mayor Seven Storm Henderson had his family’s back.

Nobody was safe when it came to a Henderson.

But for his kids? That nigga would lose all control.

Unhinged wouldn’t be a good enough word to describe how he would get.

I aspired to that same amount of loyalty to my family.

He was the perfect example for me. Our temperaments were a lot alike, and our levels of ‘I don’t give a fuck’ were the same as well.

My sisters always said I was acting like him, but they didn’t know that was the ultimate compliment to me.

When we got home, I hopped out of the SUV and went inside, dying to get to my bed and release all the tension I was holding inside.

Most times, I released that shit publicly, not giving a fuck.

I wanted to punch that constable in his face simply because of the way he handed us the envelope.

It was like that muthafucka had a chip on his shoulder.

I couldn’t go to jail though. It would kill my family, especially my dad. I was his oldest son, and I wanted to make him proud. With as unhinged as he could be at times, he’d never done time. I needed to be sure I held up the Henderson name.

All of us had made something out of ourselves.

I wouldn’t break that tradition. Being a nothing-ass nigga was forbidden around these parts.

Although I had just started working on my master’s degree, I felt like I hadn’t found my purpose.

I knew I would work with the family business.

I was already handling the grass farms and mowing the hay fields from time to time, but I felt like there was more that I was supposed to be doing.

When the doorbell rang, I frowned slightly. We had all just left the family barn, so I wasn’t sure who had followed us here. After a couple of minutes, there was a knock on my door, so I said, “Come in.”

My mama was standing there, looking scared as fuck. “The FBI is here to talk to you.”

“What the fuck they want with me?”

“I don’t know. They won’t say if you aren’t in the room to say that it’s okay for your dad and I to know.”

I frowned and made my way downstairs just as I was . . . no shoes and my shirt undone. When I got down there, my dad was standing there with them. He had a deep frown on his face, and those muthafuckas looked scared as hell.

“Damn. You’re tall too,” one of them said.

I only frowned harder as he cleared his throat.

Most people were intimidated by my dad’s height of six-eight.

I was six-five, not much shorter than him.

I didn’t know what he was expecting when he saw how tall my dad was.

My mama was at least a foot shorter than him.

I guess he thought I would follow her genes. Whatever.

The other agent said, “We don’t want to take up too much of your time .

. . unless you say yes.” He opened a folder.

“We’ve been watching you ever since you were arrested for killing Jake.

We were watching him. For you to be able to handle him so efficiently, we knew you had to have been trained to use a gun.

No one was put in danger, not even the woman that was with him. ”

“Get to the point,” I said.

My mama gave me the look . . . wide eyes and tight lips. I didn’t give a fuck about these men. They were in our house, and they clearly weren’t here to arrest me, or they would have done so already. His eyebrows lifted, then a smirk appeared on his lips as he nodded.

“We would like you to be an undercover agent for the FBI.”

“Hell naw. Y’all want me to be a fucking snitch?”

“People are dying on the streets, Mister Henderson. We need to know who’s pushing this shit.

It’s not what they’re used to, so it’s taking them out left and right.

We have a few guys we’re watching, but we need someone like you to truly infiltrate.

You are a familiar face, and they already know you don’t take no shit.

Judging by our presence today, we can tell your dad has that same reputation. ”

“You fucking right about that shit,” my dad said.

They chuckled. “Mister Henderson, this job will pay you twenty grand a month.”

“In order to use me in that capacity, y’all gon’ have to dig deep in them pockets. I can’t leave my fucking house for that.”

He smirked. “We are authorized to offer up to fifty grand a month.”

My eyebrows lifted. “Why the fuck y’all try to lowball me then? You should’ve led with that shit. What all would I have to do?”

My mama stood and walked away with tears in her eyes.

I supposed she didn’t want me to sign with them.

Fifty grand a month was a lot of fucking money.

I couldn’t just walk away from that offer without knowing more details.

My dad and I sat on the couch, and they sat across from us in the two accent chairs.

“Well, our main target is the supplier. You would be able to get to him through Adrian. He’ll be able to lead us to the head of their organization. Now, Jake and Courtney were told to rob you. They thought you would be an easy target.”

I frowned and sat up on the couch. “Who the fuck targeted me?”

“Mythic Semien.”

My eyebrows lifted. Why the fuck would he target me? Our families were friends.

“Legend Semien’s son?” my dad asked.

“That’s the one. You can start with him and work your way through the organization.

The first thing we will need you to do is ‘snitch’” he said, holding up air quotes.

“There are some dirty cops in Liberty, and we need to weed them out.

Most likely, they will let Mythic walk, but it will cast a light on them.

I slid my hand down my face, trying to calm down my anger.

“Let us see it, Mister Henderson. We want to be sure—”

“What the fuck y’all wanna see?” I said as I stood from the couch. “I can’t believe that muthafucka would do some shit like that. I thought we were cool, but all that shit out the fucking window now. He got the right fucking one. I ain’t scared of his ass.”

I swung my arm, like he was standing in front of me. I wanted to go find his ass. Turning back to them, I said, “I’m in.”