CHAPTER ELEVEN SEVEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
SEVEN
I’d been standing in the driveway for ten minutes, just staring at the road.
Iesha left in Remy’s SUV and didn’t seem to even look back before she drove away.
I felt like I was about to lose her. She needed permanent space from me.
No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t convince her just how good we would be together.
I thought I had, but clearly, by her actions, I wasn’t as successful as I thought I was.
When I felt arms around my waist, I glanced down to my right and saw Maui. Despite her being the one I argued with the most, she was always there for me when I was feeling sensitive and vulnerable.
“She’s just overwhelmed right now. Let’s just focus on getting this over with. Come inside so we can hear what Daddy Mayor wants to talk about.”
I leaned over and kissed the top of her head, then grabbed her hand and let her lead me inside.
I already knew what he wanted to talk about.
My uncles and some of my cousins were here earlier because Ali said those niggas were coming.
Jungle and Vegas had seen them making moves, but there wasn’t enough time for us to truly prepare.
We should have gone inside to talk. I supposed we were in denial that they would actually do it.
Chad and Seneca had been camping out at the diner, Rondo, Dinalee, and Uncle Philly had been in Henderson Village, Rhodes and Jericho had been with Uncle Marcus and his family, and Jungle and Vegas were in Liberty.
They weren’t advised to kill . . . just to lookout.
I was more than sure that order would be changing now. Any of us could have been killed today.
When Maui and I walked inside, the twins were at the door like they were coming to check on us. After I closed the door, Bali said, “We got’chu. You fucked up, but that don’t matter. Don’t worry about her right now. You gotta worry about surviving. Fuck everything and everybody else.”
“Watch the people who run when shit get hot,” Noni added.
I didn’t feel like going back and forth with them.
Iesha had boundaries. I knew that shit. I wasn’t totally honest with her about what was going on.
Hell, I didn’t tell her anything was going on at all.
She tried to live a peaceful life. I knew that shit.
This wasn’t on her. It was on me. However, I knew I couldn’t focus on getting her to understand me right now.
Like Maui said, I needed to focus on my survival.
That would be easier said than done, though, because there was no life without her for me.
When I sat, my mama sat next to me and wrapped her arms around me as Daddy paced in front of us.
I closed my eyes and slowly shook my head.
“I’m sorry, y’all. I fucked up bad. Maybe I should just leave.
That way everybody will be safe. Then Watchful Eyes can just focus on me and Uncle Marcus and not be spread so thin tryna watch everybody. ”
“You ain’t goin’ no-fucking-where. We family,” Bali said as my dad nodded.
“You staying right here, Seven. Those muthafuckas don’t know who they fucking with. They need to know though.”
Right after he said that, Mythic walked in. He had a final exam today, because he enrolled in a mini-session. “My bad. What I miss?”
“Getting shot at and Seven trying to skip town.”
He slowly shook his head and sat next to Maui, gently rubbing circles on her stomach. She was due in a couple of months.
“I have three pregnant sisters who all plan to get married next month. How the fuck they supposed to be safe with me here? Huh? Tell me that shit. Maui stress levels probably through the fucking roof. I’m not tryna be responsible for anything affecting my nephew’s healthy delivery. I gotta go, man.”
I stood, and the twins both hopped up in front of me.
“Y’all sit the fuck down!”
“No! You aren’t leaving!” Bali yelled.
When I saw tears falling down her cheeks, I pulled her in my arms and kissed her. “Y’all see what this shit is doing to y’all? I love y’all too much for that. You will hear from me every day. I promise.”
“Nope. Who gon’ watch you if you leave? The government is every-fucking-where, Seven.
Stop being hardheaded for once and let us protect you.
We’ve been making plans. We have a meeting with Sidney and Shy tomorrow.
They have some news to update us with. Marcus has been busy.
Let me just say . . . He got his money. That lets you know that he’s made contact with his family. They are on their way as well.”
My eyebrows lifted. “The cartel is coming to big city Nome? Is that what’chu saying?” I asked my dad.
He nodded. “Y’all think it was a warzone when Watchful Eyes helped us fight the Andersons? This finna be ten times worse.”
“How are they gonna get in the country?” Noni asked.
“Baby, I don’t know, and I didn’t ask. Honestly, I don’t give a fuck how they get in. It’s a bunch of incompetent muthafuckas working for the government now, so . . .” he said, then shrugged his shoulders.
“Storm, what do you want us to do?” my mama asked as I sat back down next to her.
She intertwined her fingers with mine and lifted my hand and kissed it.
“We chill out until the meeting tomorrow. Once we know where we stand legally and then with Marcus and the cartel, then we can make decisions from there. Y’all got me? Nobody move and go nowhere. That’s only gonna make this shit harder on everybody.”
He slid his hand down his face, then slowly shook his head. “We done fucked up now. Karima at home in sackcloth and ashes, tearing her clothes and shit like David in the bible.”
My eyebrows lifted, and all it took was for Mythic to chuckle. We all started laughing. I slowly shook my head as I wrapped my arm around my mama. She had a lot on her plate, and this shit wasn’t making it any better. I knew if we had to leave, she would be going to her parents’ house.
“Don’t do Karima like that!” Maui yelled. “She helped me so much with her words and prayer.”
“I know, baby. I’m just playing. I’m just saying, though, she got her hands full. Somebody need to go check on her. She may have prayed her way to glory by now.”
We laughed more as Red Squared and Carter Legend walked through the door.
After they sat, Dad continued. “So, we will meet at the family barn tomorrow evening about six. I’m more than sure Watchful Eyes will be advised to handle shit however they wanna handle it.
If they know those niggas coming for us, take those muthafuckas out.
I’m pretty sure Vegas and Jungle wanted to do that anyway.
PJ too. He have to lay low right now though.
He’s been getting info Watchful Eyes needs. ”
I nodded. This shit couldn’t be over soon enough. Hopefully, Mrs. Sidney and Mr. Shy could give us clarity about what was going on tomorrow, along with Uncle Marcus. “How much money did Uncle Marcus get?” I asked.
My dad gave us an evil-looking grin. “He could buy Nome ten times and still have more money than he knows what to do with. Good thing we claimed his ass when we did. That nigga would’ve used that money to have all our asses killed.”
My mama rolled her eyes as the twins chuckled.
“Naw, but for real. He got close to three billion.”
Everybody jumped from their seats. “I know you fucking lying!” Bali yelled.
Dad shook his head slowly. “Our resources are unlimited now. He’s already talking about establishing so much shit for big city Nome. Our own police department, new infrastructure, and all kinds of shit. I can’t wait until our meeting with him to see what all he’s planning.”
I slid my hand down my face, not believing the shit I was hearing.
I supposed my family had this shit in the bag, although it didn’t look like it earlier when we were all scrambling for our lives.
My first thought, although I knew she was safe behind the house, was Iesha.
I would get Remy to go with me to take her vehicle to Uncle Marcus’s shop.
The smiles all faded when the door opened, and Aunt Tiff and Milana came running in. “Y’all, they made PJ,” Aunt Tiff said.
She burst into tears, and I quickly stood. “What do you mean?”
“They found out he was feeding information to Watchful Eyes. We need to get to the hospital. Philly, Ryder, and Ryder J are on their way to Liberty, and I’m scared as fuck.”
“Is PJ gonna be okay?” Maui asked with tears streaming down her face.
Mythic kissed her head, and said, “I gotta go, baby girl. I’ll try to text you every hour I’m gone, okay?”
I knew what that shit meant. He was heading to Liberty. She only nodded, then pulled his face to hers and kissed him. “Please, come back,” she whispered.
“I promise.”
He kissed her again, then rubbed her belly.
We all started packing up to go to the hospital.
I wanted to leave out of here with Mythic, but I knew that would be asking for trouble.
They would kill me out there, no matter who I was with or what kind of protection I thought I had.
It was too many of them. Mythic was taking a real risk going out there.
I took a deep breath and yelled, “Mythic, wait!”
My dad closed his eyes and nodded. He knew I wasn’t going to just sit here and allow everyone to get at those niggas for what they did to PJ.
At this point, I didn’t care if I died seeking retribution for him.
He’d saved my ass a countless number of times.
I ran to the cabinet and grabbed a .357 and bullets, then quickly joined Mythic, despite my mama’s cries.
“He’s barely hanging on. Those muthafuckas ain’t finna get away with this shit,” Mythic said, then flipped that blade around in his mouth.
I only nodded. “Where did he get shot at?”
He did some shit on his phone, and said, “He got shot in the abdomen, the shoulder, leg, and chest.”
“Fuck!” I yelled and hit the dashboard with my fists.