by J. L Rose
Once the plan was set and discussed among the family, and it was explained that the family would first stop in Syracuse with Dante’s sister, Melody, so Dante could meet his mother, Alinna told everyone to get ready to leave in a few hours.
“Yo, Dante!” James called out, catching him as he, Yasmine, Natalie, and Alinna were walking off and heading to the bedroom.
“What’s up, family?” Dante asked as he turned back to see what James wanted.
James cut his eyes over toward Alinna, Yasmine, and Natalie, and he caught the smile that Alinna gave him before she turned and led the other two women away.
James looked back to a smirking Dante and said, “Bruh, what’s up? Why didn’t you tell me you were bringing Mari out here?”
“Let me guess, playboy, you tripping because Maxine’s about to wild out because Mari’s not about to play the side chick, right?” Dante asked with a smirk. “My advice, J! Start with Maxine first, playboy, because shorty showed that she can play the insane game already!”
James just shook his head as he watched Dante walk off.
He then felt arms wrap around him from behind.
Maxine kissed him on the neck and then whispered, “We still got some time before we leave. Let’s go back to your room and play around a little.”
James sighed as he gently pulled her arms loose from around him.
He turned to face her and was just opening his mouth to say something, when he heard, “Hey, baby! Can I talk to you a minute, James?”
“Hey, baby!” Maxine repeated with an instant attitude as she turned to look next to James at the Spanish female who was supposed to be Natalie’s friend.
Maxine then looked back at James and said, “What the hell this bitch needs to talk to you about, James?”
“Shit!” James said, shaking his head.
He looked back at Mari and saw the confused look on her face as she stood staring back and forth from him to Maxine. He could already see shit about to blow up in his face.
* * *
Alinna waited outside next to the Bentley and talked with Dre, Tony T, and Wesley. The others began pouring out of the front door of the mansion all ready to leave and head out to the G4 that she had rented, which Alinna thought about buying.
Dante turned back to continue talking with his brothers, when he heard yelling and cursing. He swung his attention back to the front door and saw James walking outside, with both Mari and Maxine following behind him.
Dante slowly smirked when he saw what was going on with his boy James as both women were yelling at him.
Dante then spoke up to give his boy a break, “Max! Mari! Give it a break for a minute! Let the man handle his business!”
Maxine sucked her teeth and shot James a look before she rolled her eyes and stomped off.
“We will talk James! Dante can’t save you every time!” Mari told him before she also stormed off.
James could only shake his head as he watched Mari walk off.
He then looked over at Dante, only for Tony T to playfully ask, “Damn, J! When you decide to become a player, playboy? You got a fine-as-hell deranged lunatic and a sexy Spanish chick after you. You may need your own bodyguard, don’t ya think?”
“Real funny, T!” James said, unable to help smiling while the others laughed.
“You’ll be all right, family!” Dante told James as Alinna, Yasmine, and Natalie exited the front door, followed by the guards carrying their suitcases.
“Are we ready?” Alinna asked as she walked up to Dante.
“We’re waiting, y’all!” Dre answered, but then asked, “Y’all got enough bags, though?”
“Mind your business, nigga!” Alinna told Dre playfully, before looking back at Dante and saying, “I’m letting Natalie, Mari, and Meline use the Phantom. Natalie is going to have Rose and Emmy with her to watch the kids when we’re in Syracuse visiting your mother.”
“Where’s Melody?” Dante asked.
“She’s coming!” Alinna answered as she and Yasmine walked over to the backseat door of the Bentley.
The women stopped as they watched a cocaine-white BMW M4 pull inside the front gate of the mansion. They stood where they were as Dante, James, and Gage stepped out in front of the Bentley followed by Dre, Tony T, and the rest of the crew.
“Dante, relax!” Vanessa called out, pushing through the crowd to stand between him and Dre. “That’s Kyree. The twins’ brother.”
“Where the hell he been at?” Dante asked as the M4 came to a stop a few feet in front of him and the others.
“I had him out in Atlanta handling some business for the family,” Vanessa explained. “That’s why he didn’t fly out to Phoenix with the rest of us when you called.”
“What’s up, everybody?” Kyree said as he and two of his boys walked up to stop in front of Dante, Vanessa, and the rest of the family. “What’s going on, Dante, man?”
“You tell me!” Dante replied as he stared Kyree directly into his eyes. “You handled business out there in Atlanta?”
“No doubt, boss man! I made sure six different spots were set up all over Atlanta, and I even brought back some information on some new buyers who want to fuck with the family,” Kyree explained, holding up his cell phone to Dante, who simply nodded his head.
“Good work, youngin’! Get with Vanessa, and she’ll fill you in on what’s going on.”
Dante turned away and walked back over to the Bentley as the others began making their way to the other vehicles that were waiting. He then climbed into the car with both Alinna and Yasmine and shut the back door.
“Everything okay?” Alinna asked.
“Everything’s good, shorty!”
* * *
Once they were all out on the airstrip where both the rented G4 and Dominic’s G4 were waiting, Dante had Wesley and Amber explain to the team that he wanted them to fly back to Phoenix and hold down business until they got word from either him or Alinna. Wesley was still somewhat out of commission after taking two shots back in Phoenix. Dante then had the rest of the family and crew load up onto the rented G4.
“Dante!” Melody called out to her brother once everyone was on the G4 flying to Syracuse.
She waved Dante over to where she and the twins were sitting and talking.
“What’s up, baby girl?” Dante said, sitting down beside her, only to have Mya rush over to him and climb into his lap.
As he smiled at her, Melody looked back at Dante and explained, “I just hung up with Momma. I told her we was flying to see her. She’s excited, Dante!”
“Daddy! Are we gonna see Grandmomma?” Mya asked, looking up at Dante.
“Yeah, baby girl!” Dante answered as he began wondering how things would play out once he was face-to-face with his birth mother.
* * *
Dante slept most of the flight from Miami to Syracuse, but he was awoken as the jet was landing on the airstrip in Syracuse. He was surprised at how suddenly nervous he was as he stepped off the jet along with everyone else. He followed his sister, Natalie, and Alinna over to the stretch Escalade limo while the others climbed into the four other Cadillac Escalades that Alinna had arranged to be waiting for them.
Once Yasmine finished dealing with security and was inside the Escalade limo with Vanessa, Dre, Tony T, Harmony, and the others, Dante told the driver that they were ready. Melody gave the chauffeur the address where they were going, and he drove off.
“So, how long are we going to be here, Dante?” Diamond asked him from where she sat next to Mari’s brother/sister Meline.
“Not long!” Dante answered, shifting his eyes over to his sister when he heard that she was talking to their mother on the phone.
* * *
Brenda hung up from the call. She was both excited and nervous as she began pacing back and forth in the front room of their four-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath house in which she lived with her husband and daughter.
“Baby, you all right?” Dwayne asked, after walking i
nto the room and seeing his wife pacing the floor.
“Melody just called, Dwayne!” Brenda told her husband. “They’re home and should be at the house in twenty minutes.”
Dwayne smiled at his normally calm and in-control wife as he walked over to her and grabbed her in his arms. He kissed her passionately on the lips for a few minutes, feeling her body instantly relax against his. He slowly pulled back out of the kiss and watched her eyes slowly open to meet his.
“Feel better?” he asked.
She slowly smiled, nodded her head, and said, “Yes!”
Brenda then leaned in for another kiss when the doorbell rang, causing her to pause and her eyes to grow wide.
“Relax, Brenda!” Dwayne told her as he released his wife and walked over to the front door.
He unlocked it and then opened the door to find Brenda’s older sister, Gina, and her husband standing there, along with their son coming up the walkway.
“Where’s my nephew?” Gina cried, pushing past her brother-in-law to see her sister standing in the middle of the floor. “Brenda, where he at? Where’s my nephew at?”
“What? How you even know?” Brenda started, but then said, “Melody called and told you that Dante was coming, didn’t she?”
“She called me yesterday!” Gina confessed as both her son and husband walked into the front room with Dwayne. “Where is he?”
“He’s not here yet, Gina,” Brenda told her sister while hugging her brother-in-law and then her nephew. “Where’s Lisa? Why isn’t she here?”
“She’s out with her boyfriend,” Gina’s son, Floyd Jr., answered. “She claims she’s coming over later.”
“So, how long are they—!” Gina started, but stopped when the house phone rang.
Brenda looked over at the phone on the coffee table, picked up the cordless phone, and answered, “Hello.”
“Mama, we’re coming down the street now!” Melody told her mother as soon as she heard her mother’s voice on the line.
Brenda dropped the phone after hearing what her daughter had to say and took off for the door. She snatched it open and stepped out onto the porch, just as a pearl-white Escalade stretch limousine and four black Cadillac Escalades pulled up in front of the house. Brenda didn’t even notice that the rest of her family had stepped out onto the porch as well.
She stared as the back door to the limo opened and saw a young, white man step out, followed by a dark-skinned man who looked just as young as the white man.
“Who are they?” Gina asked, also watching the white and black men look around until an Asian woman stepped out of the limousine.
At least thirty Asian men dressed in suits climbed out of the four SUVs that had parked in front of the limo and behind it.
Brenda saw Melody hop out from the limo with a big smile on her face. Brenda felt her heart beat harder and faster against her ribs as she watched Melody reach back inside the limo and begin to pull someone out.
“Oh my God!” Gina cried in disbelief as Melody wrapped her arms around the same Dante Blackwell that was all over the world news and known almost worldwide. “Brenda, he’s gorgeous. He’s even more handsome in person, girl!”
Brenda’s hands covered her mouth as Melody walked her son up the walkway and up to the porch. Brenda wasn’t even aware that she was crying as she stared into the eyes of her son.
“Mama, here’s Dante!” Melody introduced while smiling at her mother.
“Oh my God!” Brenda cried, rushing over to her son and throwing her arms around his neck.
She hugged him tightly and felt his arms wrapping tightly around her. She completely broke down crying even harder from sheer happiness.
* * *
Dante first met his mother’s sister and brother-in-law as well as his cousin, Floyd. Brenda then introduced him to her husband, Dwayne Bell. In turn, Dante then introduced Alinna, Natalie, and Yasmine, followed by Dre, Vanessa, and the other Blackwell family members.
“So you’re my daughter-in-law?” Brenda asked, seeing a huge diamond ring on Alinna’s finger.
“Yes, ma’am,” she replied, but then respectfully said, “But, ma’am, you also have two other daughters-in-law.”
“Excuse me?” Brenda and Gina said in unison, looking from Alinna to Dante, who was talking with Floyd and Dwayne.
Brenda looked back at Alinna and said, “Alinna, I don’t understand what you’re saying, sweetheart. How can Dante have more than one wife?”
“It’s a long story!” Alinna admitted, smiling at her mother-in-law.
“I want to hear this!” Gina said as she pulled Alinna by the hand, leading her over to the sofa and sitting her down beside her. “All right! We’re listening, Alinna! Talk!”
SEVENTEEN
DANTE LEFT THE HOUSE with his mother as they walked the neighborhood and just talked and got to know one another. James and Gage followed in one of the Escalades. Dante listened as his mother explained about his childhood and the problems she had with his father. She also explained how she had lost him after his father took him away, and how she was unable to find him while she was pregnant with Melody.
Dante then explained how his father and his father’s best friend raised him, and how his father’s friend took him in when his father died. He also admitted that he mostly stayed with Dre and Dre’s mother.
“So how did you meet Alinna?” Brenda asked him, smiling up at Dante as she held her arm around his waist and leaned against him while they continued walking.
Dante didn’t want to lie to his mother, so he admitted the whole truth to her. To his surprise, she took it all so calmly and with a smile.
“She’s good for you, Dante!” Brenda told him once he finished explaining. “I really like her, and she even explained to me about Yasmine and Natalie, and I have some beautiful grandbabies.”
“Thanks!”
“But, there’s one thing I want to ask you, Dante.”
“I’m listening.”
“I know what you do for a living. I’m sure half the world knows what you do for a living. Dante Blackwell is a known name. But hearing all you’ve gained so far, don’t you think it’s about time you left the streets alone or at least stopped being active on the streets unless you have to be active? I’m not telling you what you’re doing is wrong, because what you don’t know is that I was once out in the streets doing the same thing Alinna is doing now. The only difference is that I didn’t have a Dante Blackwell to look out for me. So, basically what I’m saying is you’ve taken over most if not all of Miami and the streets know and definitely fear and respect you. So why not disappear into the background, Dante? You should know that no one stays on top forever. You’ve built an empire for your family; now live like the king I know you are, my son. Show your daughter a good life, and teach your sons to be men—men of power—and what is to be expected from them. You understand what I’m saying, sweetheart?”
Dante slowly nodded his head yes and then said, “I understand. But there are just two last things I have to take care of before I step back.”
He then explained about Fish Man and New Jersey, his promise to Monica, and the problems with Angela.
Dante was surprised when his mother said, “Talk to your cousin Floyd. He hangs out over in New Jersey selling weed. He may know something about this Fish Man person you’re looking for.”
Dante nodded his head after hearing his mother’s advice. He then wrapped his right arm around her shoulders as she leaned more into him and then continued their walk.
* * *
Once back at the house, Dante noticed a Lincoln Navigator that was now parked in front of the house. He made contact with James as he was climbing from the Escalade, and nodded toward the Navigator and then the house.
“Whose Navigator, Mama?” Dante asked, pulling his mother to a gentle stop as James went to check it out while Gage went ahead to check the house.
Brenda smiled when she caught the silent instructions her son had given to his men, who r
esponded instantly with no question.
Brenda then looked at Dante and said, “Honey, it’s just probably your cousin Lisa and her boyfriend, Eddie.”
Dante nodded his head in response to his mother’s answer. He then caught the nod that James gave him that everything was okay.
Dante then led his mother up to the front door and heard Gage whisper to him in passing, “It’s a cousin and her boyfriend.”
“I told you!” Brenda told Dante, smiling as she released him and then stepped inside the house.
Dante slowly smirked, realizing how on point his mother was. He then followed her into the house and paused as he caught some movement on his right side, only to see James swiftly move and grab the light-skinned man within seconds. The young man was on his knees with his arm folded behind his back, crying out in pain.
“Dante!” Alinna and Natalie cried out.
Dante stared down at the guy who James held down. He heard his mother call his name with a demanding tone. Dante then called out to James, who quickly released the man.
“Who’s this?” Dante asked, looking over at Alinna, who shook her head and had a smile on her face.
“He’s my boyfriend!”
Dante turned his head around and looked at the brown-skinned female who had just spoken up. She stared at him with a smile on her face.
“You must be Lisa, right?” Dante asked.
“Everybody calls me LaLa though!” she told him as she slowly looked him over. “And you are fine as hell! You sure we family, nigga?”
Laughing at Lisa’s question, Dante shook his head, looked at her boyfriend, and said, “You good, playboy?”
“Yeah!” Eddie answered, rubbing his shoulder while cutting his eyes over toward James.
He looked back to Dante and said, “You’re famous, man! Everybody in Syracuse is talking about Dante and Alinna Blackwell. You got mutha—!”
“Eddie!” Brenda interrupted, giving the young man a hard look.
“Sorry, Mrs. Bell!” Eddie apologized.
Dante smirked as he shook his head again. He looked around for Floyd Jr. and noticed that all the guys were gone.