CHAPTER NINETEEN SEVEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
SEVEN
Ireally wished I could have just stayed buried in Iesha’s pussy all night.
Unfortunately, I had to carry my ass to work.
I had to get back with the PRCA and the Pbr on our rates for their inquiries.
I had to work with Uncle Philly and Rylan on that.
They helped me figure out the rates for that.
I had to understand the different fees charged before I could give an accurate rate.
I also needed to check in with my dad. He said that some of the agents were leaving the area.
We were all meeting at the diner for lunch, and Iesha was driving out here to meet me as well.
We needed our family time. Those couple of weeks of us not gathering seemed to be hard on everybody.
When PJ ‘died’, we knew it was time to stop hiding and fight like our last name was Henderson.
We had too much protection out here to be acting scared.
When I got to the office, I saw Kingsley sitting outside, doing something in the back of his truck. That nigga was always doing something. I hopped out of my SUV and saw he was getting his fishing supplies together. “What’s up, nigga?”
“Not too much. About to go fishing. I need to clear my head.”
I nodded as I slapped his hand. “Treasure still haven’t come around?”
“We talk on the phone, but that’s it. I miss her like crazy. I feel like I’m about lose it. Maui is who I talk to in order to know how she’s really doing. That’s why I’m here. School is out, and I ain’t got shit to do. I should’ve enrolled in the first session of summer school.”
This nigga was gon’ be a professional student like his daddy in a minute.
He was getting another master’s degree. This time I believed it was in marketing.
He already had one in finance. He helped run his dad’s truck stop mostly.
He decided not to work in the office for the family.
He said there was enough of us in there.
He was just fine with overseeing the rice fields and the grass farms.
“She gon’ come around, man. Don’t give up.”
“Yeah,” he said and went back to doing something with his fishing line.
I went inside the building to see Ashanni and Maui looking at something on the computer. “What’s up, y’all?”
“Hey, Seven,” they said in unison as I put the security code in the door and walked through it.
“What y’all doing?”
“Looking to see what book we reading next. It’s this book by Kay Shanee called Russ.”
“That’s the name of the book?”
“Yeah, it’s the character’s name.”
“Whatever. Y’all have at it. You need to be sitting, though, Maui. Don’t make me text Mythic. He’ll have yo’ lil ass sitting at home in two point five seconds.”
“Ugh!” she huffed, then sat. “Happy?”
“I don’t give a damn, but you should be.”
She rolled her eyes and shot me the finger. I walked to the back office to find my dad, Uncle Philly, and Rylan sitting at a conference table talking. I shook all their hands, then asked Uncle Philly, “How’s my boy?”
“He’s holding up, man. Doing his best not to lose it.
He wanna be home. I want him home. I want to tell Kema so bad.
She taking it so hard. She still depressed and shit, not wanting to leave the house.
I’m gon’ have to talk to Ali about it. She needs to know the truth before it kills her.
I hate seeing my Kemie like that. It’s to the point where I’m scared for her to be alone. Tiff is there until I get back.”
I nodded and swallowed hard. I could only imagine the time my mama would have if something ever happened to one of us.
“Go home, man. I got this. Your wife needs you. Call Ali on your way home,” Rylan said. “You know I ain’t gon’ fuck it up.”
He smirked, and Uncle Philly squeezed his shoulder. “Thanks, Ry. I appreciate it.”
My dad nodded as Uncle Philly shook his hand.
“I really think your family should know, even if Ali doesn’t agree.
Philema is probably having a really hard time too.
That’s her twin. She probably feels like a part of her died with him.
They’ll be angry when you tell them, but at least they won’t feel hopeless anymore. ”
Uncle Philly nodded, then shook my hand. Once he left, my dad said, “Aspen would have known as soon as I did. Ain’t no way I woulda kept something like that from her. Fuck what they say. That’s my wife.”
I nodded and so did Rylan. “Well, I wouldn’t be able to tell Angel.
She would let it slip that he was still alive.
” He chuckled, then said, “Honestly, I’m worried about Ace knowing with how he was talking about Uncle Marcus in front of that girl.
He needs to be more aware of his surroundings and people he thinks he can trust.”
Ace was my boy, but Rylan was right. Sometimes, when it came to women, he was a little too trusting.
That was how that ho had him fucked up a few years ago.
Bali and Noni almost had to dog walk her ass.
Not trusting their asses wasn’t disrespectful.
Everybody got the same energy around these parts.
He needed to learn how to read people better.
The eyes didn’t lie. That shit exposed lies and bullshit all the time.
“Well, what I do know is if that nigga run his mouth this time, I’m gon’ shut his ass up. Matter of fact, go put his ass wherever they got PJ. Let them sit it out together.”
Rylan and I laughed at my dad’s foolishness, but he was serious as hell. Ace didn’t just run his mouth like that. He was just talking around the wrong person. My nigga was a real one. He just had to adjust that lens of his. I would make sure that happened. PJ’s life could depend on it.
“Nigga finally get a woman and think he a fucking love expert right now, like he one of those trolls from Frozen.”
I shot Kendrall the finger as he playfully pushed my head. Iesha chuckled a bit, then said, “Y’all heard my man. He said cater to your woman and show her you love her. Don’t play wit’ him, because he does everything he talkin’ ’bout.”
I nodded with my lips twisted to the side as everybody rolled their eyes. I kissed Iesha’s neck, since she had her braids pulled up into a ball on top of her head.
“Let them know, baby. We a fucking unit. You come for one, you may as well get ready to battle both.”
Milana slowly shook her head. “Iesha, boo, you can’t be acting like Seven, girl. We got enough with just him.”
Iesha giggled. “That’s my man though. If I ain’t ridin’ for him, who I’m ridin’ for?”
“You better tell ’em. We don’t play that shit. Real life Bonnie and Clyde in this bitch.”
“Nigga, shut the fuck up and eat,” Christian said. “Been grown for two minutes and think he a fucking life coach. Believe me, Royal got one of the best niggas giving him advice. Uncle Jasper got that shit on lock. Na eat yo’ lil stuffed chicken.”
Everybody laughed as I put my arm around my baby. We’d gotten to the diner for lunch and everybody was here. Usually, it was just on Fridays that we were all here at the same time. Not today. Everybody was happy to be back to normal.
When Aunt Jen set that chicken in front of us, everybody started cheering. She just laughed at our crazy asses. Aunt Chrissy had brought out pasta and garlic bread, and Aunt Jen came back with red beans and rice and cabbage.
We were eating our bellies full today. We all just missed this. Sometimes, I felt like we took it for granted, because we’d gotten so used to it. When Remy and CJ walked in, I said, “Y’all thought our crew was bad, wait ’til those niggas get cranked up.”
Everybody turned to look and when Jacob saw CJ, he said, “Hell yeah. That nigga sneaky as fuck. I saw his ass creeping out the house the other night while Mama and Pop were probably sleeping.”
“I mean, he about to start his first year in college. He shouldn’t have to creep though. I’ma have to talk to Mama about that,” Jess said.
“Naw. Mama right. It was two in the morning, and he was leaving. We were normally coming in. Only one reason you leave the house at two in the morning, Jess,” Jacob said, then kissed Mekayla on the side of her head.
“This woman will have me jumping out a third-story window to get at her. So I get it, but nigga damn.”
We all laughed as Mekayla side-eyed him.
“I know that’s right, sis!” Mya said, giving her a high-five.
When Remy sat next to me and grabbed some chicken, he said, “What’s up, y’all?”
When everybody just stared at him, he frowned, looking just like a product of Mayor Storm Henderson.
“Why the fuck y’all looking at me like that?”
“Uh-huh. I can see that nigga gon’ be trouble,” Brixton said. “He tall, got the long hair like Marcus, and the attitude of his daddy. Yeah, it’s gon’ be trouble in big city Nome.”
Everybody laughed, then spoke to him. When CJ sat, they all spoke to him as well.
They never got to eat with us, because they were usually in school.
Remy still had one more year. CJ planned to go to Lamar or TSU.
He hadn’t made a definite decision yet, since he didn’t get a scholarship.
He was going into business with his dad, and I believed I knew why. Women.
When Uncle Jasper, my dad, and Uncle Marcus walked in, they were already arguing. We all rolled our eyes as we watched them go back and forth. They went to the counter, and Aunt Jen said, “A’ight, bad asses. Hush all that noise.”
They all smiled, pushing each other to get to Aunt Jen. I swore they were like big ass kids when they were together . . . which was all the damn time. Bringing my attention back to my baby, I asked, “You wanna go look at where our house will be? We gon’ live right next door to Kingsley.”
“Of course. I would love to.”
I smiled at her and kissed her head. She brought her fork of red beans and rice to my mouth, and I took it.
My gaze didn’t waver until I saw somebody approaching us.
When I looked up, I saw it was her sisters.
Ayzjohnna and Tas’zhane were standing there smiling.
So I said, “What’s up, y’all? What y’all doing out here? ”
Iesha turned around, and said, “Hey, y’all! Come on so you can meet Aunt Jen and Aunt Chrissy.”
“Hey, Seven. We had to come see what all the hoopla was about. Iesha brags on this place all the time,” Taj said.
“First of all, girl, ain’t no hoopla. That shit is facts. The Hendersons don’t fuck around.”
Taj giggled. “Iesha said the exact same thing. I swear, y’all two were meant for each other.”
She slowly shook her head as they walked away. When they did, Maui sat next to me. She leaned against me, and I frowned. “So because your man ain’t here yet, you want affection from me?”
“Shut up for once, SS. I just wanted to say how proud of you I was. Yes, we argued a lot and still do sometimes, but I love you. I’m sure I speak for the twins also.
I was not confident in you and Iesha making it, but after I started seeing the changes in you, I knew she was the one.
Not saying that you are anywhere close to being perfect, but you’re perfect for her now.
Y’all look perfect for each other, because I’ve noticed the changes in her too. ”
I kissed her forehead. “Thanks, Maui. I love you too. Na move. You making me itch.”
She pushed me and went back to her seat next to Ashanni.
I smiled slightly, feeling grateful for her lil ass.
Whenever the twins gave me a hard time growing up, she tried to balance shit out by being positive.
Even when she had to get at me about something, she always lifted me after she figuratively slung my ass to the ground.
I looked around and was grateful for all the family being together again. We had better enjoy it now, because the war was just beginning. Just because we won one lil battle, didn’t mean the shit was over. When they came back, they were gonna come harder.
Mr. Shy burst through the door in his suit, and I took a deep breath. Peace never lasted long around here. I just hoped he wasn’t here about no bullshit. Everybody was staring at him. He was huffing a lil bit, so my dad said, “Spit that shit out, nigga.”
When Mr. Shy smirked, I knew we were okay for now. “We get our day in court. Seven get ready, nigga. The government finna get they asses handed to them. Me and Sidney got three months to prepare. We finna fuck those bitches without lube. Y’all feel me?”
Everybody clapped and cheered as Mr. Shy went to the counter to get something to eat. Iesha sat next to me and intertwined her fingers with mine. “And it begins. I need you to be aware of your surroundings at all times.”
“You got that, baby.”
I glanced at her sisters, and Ayzjohnna looked like she was about to orgasm when she bit into that mac and cheese stuffed chicken.
When I chuckled, Iesha turned to see what I was looking at.
When her eyes met her sister’s, Ayzjohnna slowly shook her head.
Her mouth was full, but she was happy as hell.
“See! I told y’all!”
“You was right. I can see we gon’ be here at least once a week,” Taj said.
I smiled as Taj looked at me and nodded. “You right. The Hendersons don’t fuck around.”
I chuckled, and said, “Welcome to the family, sister-in-law.”
I stared down at Iesha and licked my lips. “Get ready for that, baby. I promise it’s coming sooner rather than later, because why?”
Her face reddened as she said, “Because you get what the fuck you want.” She slowly shook her head. “I love you, Seven.”
I kissed her lips. “I love you too. Mrs. Seven Storm Henderson Junior, coming soon.”