“Ramone,” Lani yelled.
“What?”
“Was that really necessary?” she fussed.
“It’s cool Lani, whether you know it or not my brother’s opinion means a lot to me. It’s just crazy that he feels so strongly about it that he wouldn’t even show up. I understand you not giving me away but you not showing up don’t sit well with me.”
“Ladybug, I’ve known you all your life. I pretty much know you better than you know yourself; I have a parental instinct I developed when I took you in. I know when someone isn’t right for you when I look at them. I’m telling you that he is not the one.”
“Why you never said anything before then Ramone,” I sighed
“Because you’re grown and I was never one to interfere in your relationships unless I felt some shit wasn’t right. Well, I’ve never felt that way until you got with this nigga. I thought it was just a phase you were going through and you would get over him soon. Now you’re talking about marrying this nigga. So I have no choice but to step in and do my job.”
“Ramone, I’m pretty sure she can take care of herself. She wouldn’t be going through all this if she didn’t want to be with him. So why wait until they get this far to break them up?” Lani asked.
“Because that’s my sister, my baby sister, my only sister. I refuse to sit back and let her make the biggest mistake of her life. I get a funny vibe from this nigga, something about him ain’t right, and I’ll be damned if I let him get my Ladybug into some shit. Just like Micah and Mykell would do the same for you.”
“Are you sure this has nothing to do with him pulling that gun out on you?” I asked trying to see where my brother’s head was.
“Come on now Reneice.” He used my government name so he must be serious. “You know me; I’ve been in the streets since I was a little nigga. I know how to analyze people and when I say I know a nigga ain’t right, ten times out of ten, he ain’t right.”
I just sat back taking in everything my brother said. He was right, whenever he felt some way about somebody he always seemed to be right. Now I was confused about what to do. “Look, mami, I know that’s your brother and you care about his opinion but you need to do whatever makes you happy. Not anyone else,” Lani said.
“Shut up Le’Lani!”
“Ramone Tyshaun Peake, go find you some business,” she fussed at him.
“Last time I checked my sister was my business.”
“Okay you guys, that’s enough. I have to go pick up my son from his father’s house then I have to go home and get dinner started. I’ll talk to you two later.”
* * *
Kamil was out of town handling business, so it was just my Fat Man and me. I fixed us some breakfast then put him in my bed and turned on some cartoons for him while I jumped in the shower. My mind was all over the place. I was thinking about what Ramone said. I was a little hurt that he wouldn’t come to the wedding if I went through with it. He was feeling some type of way about Kamil and that bothered me. Could Kamil really be no good for me? Was I making the biggest mistake of my life? Was I going to regret this in the end?
My thoughts were interrupted when I heard Romell laughing. He must really be into those cartoons. I wrapped my towel around me and walked out of the bathroom. I damn near jumped out of my skin when I saw who was lying in the bed as if they belonged here.
“Oh my God! What the fuck are you doing here?” I said as my towel dropped. I hadn’t seen Mykell since Romell’s birthday, and I really didn’t want to see him then. I had no words for his black ass.
I bent down to pick my towel up. “What you rushing to cover up for? You’re acting like I ain’t never seen that ass naked before,” he smirked. “But to answer your question, I came to spend time with my son. Especially since you haven’t let me see him in three weeks.”
I went to my drawer, putting my panties and bra on, ignoring everything he was saying. “How did you get in my house Mykell?”
“That doesn’t matter.”
“Ugh! Can you get out so I can finish getting dressed?” I asked becoming irritated.
“Girl, gon’ head with that bullshit!”
I threw on some leggings and a t-shirt. I grabbed Romell out of the bed and walked downstairs. I couldn’t be in the room with him because I didn’t know what he would try.
“Where’s MJ?”
“Spending time with his new mom.” I knew he was just saying that shit to get a rise out of me but I wasn’t about to play games with him.
“Why are you here?”
“I already told you, I’m here for my son. I also wanna see what that booty do,” he laughed after hitting me on my ass.
I rolled my eyes, “Well your son is right here, but you will never be able to taste this again.”
“Is that right?” he asked walking closer to me. “Never say never. I’m like Ray J, I hit it first,” he laughed.
I just shook my head. “Mykell don’t play with me. You said you wanted your son, so get him, if not, leave. You shouldn’t be here anyways.”
“Says who?”
“Says me. Last time I checked your name wasn’t on shit in this house.”
“Except yo ass. Now stop playing and come here.”
“Mykell, don’t make me slap you,” I laughed at that fool.
“Aight man,” he said, picking Romell up.
“Man, yo mama acting all funny and shit. Now that the cat out of the bag, she act like she don’t want it no more. Everybody already knows. We might as well keep it going. We might even make you a little sister.”
I walked over to him and hit him in the head. “Why you always gotta talk shit?”
“I thought you liked it when I talk shit,” he said, winking.
“Ugh, I can’t stand you.”
“I love you too.”
“Whatever.”
Conceited ass.
Kya
Kya: I heard my cousin is out of town so she and the little bastards should be there by themselves right now.
Unknown: Perfect.
I was happy that it was finally happening just so I could be done with it. I had been trying for the longest to get rid of that bitch, but it was as if she refused to go anywhere. Well, she had no choice that day. R.I.P. I thought to myself.
Chapter 9
Mykell
“I don’t know why yo ass always gotta act funny.” I was getting tired of going through the motions with her ass.
“I’m not acting funny, you said you wanted your son, well get him. Any other bullshit you came for is dead! Never again.”
“Fuck out…“
TAT! TAT! POP! BOOM!
I was cut short by the sound of guns and bullets ripping through the house.
“Ahhh! Romell,” I heard Neicey scream.
At that moment, I didn’t give a fuck about being hit. I was more worried about protecting my family.
I grabbed Romell off the couch, then ran over to Neicey and pushed her to the ground, using my body to protect them both. Only God knew I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I lost either one of them,
TATTTT-BOOM!
It sounded like cannons. My lil man was screaming his heart out and Neicey was shaking. We stayed that way until I didn’t hear any more gunshots. When it got quiet, I immediately checked my son to make sure he wasn’t hit. He was fine, just a little shook up. Neicey was okay too, and that was all that mattered to me.
“Let’s get the fuck out of here before they come back.”
“What if they’re still outside?”
“I’ll check. You stay here.”
I ran to the window and peeked out. I didn’t see any cars or anything suspicious. I wasn’t one to take any chances, so I checked to make sure I had my pistol on me. I looked over at Neicey and she was trying to comfort Romell and calm him down. “It’s okay Fat Man, Mama’s got her baby.”
“Yo, you still got that thing, Ma?” I asked, referring to her gun.
“I never leav
e home without it.”
Gangsta ass, I thought to myself.
“Aight, come on. Let’s get the fuck out of here.”
Neicey rode in the back with Romell because he was still crying his eyes out; eventually she got him to fall asleep. She pulled out her phone and called somebody.
“Where are you?”
I looked at her in the rearview mirror and could tell she was pissed from her facial expressions.
“Somebody shot up the damn house while me and my son were in it!”
“We’ll talk about it later.” She hung up.
She put her head back on the seat and I could see the tears running down her face. I was about to get to the bottom of that shit. Something could have happened to my babies and I would have had to fuck the city up!
I pulled up in Pops’ driveway. Neicey got out with Romell in her arms and walked in the house. She went straight upstairs, to lay down, I assumed. “What’s wrong with Mommy? Why’s she crying?” MJ was on it, never missing a beat.
“She’s fine lil man. Where’s your grandpa?”
“Right here,” Pops said walking out of the kitchen.
“We’ve got major issues, Pops,” I sighed.
“What’s wrong?”
“I went to go get Romell to spend some time with him, but when I got there muthafuckas got to shooting up the damn house. My damn girl and son were in there, I could have lost them.”
Pops didn’t say anything. He just shook his head and walked to his office. He did that when shit got real and he had to make some phone calls and handle some business. I took that as an opportunity to go check on Neicey and Romell. I found them laying down in my old room. I went and sat on the bed by Neicey. I rubbed her hair, and she just looked at me.
“You know I’ma get to the bottom of this shit right?”
She shook her head, “No Kell, I don’t want you out there getting hurt or getting locked back up.”
“Gon’ head girl, what kind of man would I be if I let somebody get away with trying to hurt my family?”
“Do you think they were after me or Kamil?”
“You ain’t beefing with nobody are you?”
“No, especially not anybody that would want me dead.”
“Then I’m pretty sure they were after ya boy.”
“Knock, knock.” I turned around to see Pops. “I made some calls and everybody has their ears to the streets. We’re going to handle this. Where’s Kamil?”
“He’s in Atlanta handling business.”
“Okay, well y’all are staying here until he gets back.”
“I’ma stay here with them.”
“You don’t have to,” Neicey tried to protest, but I shut that shit down.
“You heard what I said. Now get some rest.”
Some foul shit going on here, I can feel it.
Ramone
I got off the phone with Mykell and my heart damn near dropped to my stomach. Too much shit was happening to my sister and it was funny how her so-called nigga wasn’t ever around when shit went down. He was suspect in my eyes and he was guilty until proven innocent. I had to call my boys and let them know it was time to get down and dirty like we used to. I had their asses on standby until it was time to handle that shit. Mykell said he wanted to do some research before we handled it so that was what we were going to do. Don’t nobody mess with my family and get away with it. I decided to call Dad and let him know what was up.
“Hello?”
“Dad somebody shot up Ladybug’s house while she and Romell were there.”
“What the fuck! Are they okay?”
“Yeah they made it out untouched. Pops has them staying with him until her nigga gets back in town.”
“Where the fuck was he at? Matter of fact, never mind. I’m on my way.”
I looked at the phone and he hung up before I could even respond.
“What’s wrong?” Lani asked walking into the room.
“Somebody shot up the Neicey’s house.”
“Oh my God! Is she okay?”
“Yeah, Romell was a little shook up, but Mykell was there with them when it happened and he took em to Pop’s house.”
“We gotta go see her!”
“Pops said to let them get some rest and come see them tomorrow.”
“Where the hell was Kamil?”
“Good ass question, he’s supposedly out of town handling business.”
“Yeah right.”
I knew I wasn’t the only one that was feeling some type of way about that nigga.
Kya
Kya: You fucked up, Mykell was in that house with them, and nobody got hurt.
Unknown: That just means we have to up our guns and come a little harder. No worries, it will be handled.
Kya: How do you plan on doing that?
Unknown: Watch and learn.
I had a feeling that the shit was going to come back and bite me in the ass.
Chapter 10
Reneice
It had been a week and Kamil’s ass still wasn’t home. You would think that the moment I told him the house was shot up; he would’ve been on the first thing smoking back home. But nope, that nigga still had his bright ass in Atlanta. Talking about he couldn’t leave until he was finished handling his business. Fuck him and that business! Even my dad came to see me. He’d been there ever since he found out what happened and refused to leave until he got some answers. What the fuck is really going on? Who would want me dead?
“Wassup, Knucklehead?”
My thoughts were broken by Micah. “Nothing much Mack, just racking my brain trying to figure this shit out.”
“Don’t even stress it. You just worry about taking care of my nephew and let us big dogs worry about that other shit.”
“It’s kind of hard doing that when I’m a damn walking target and I don’t know who’s gunning for my head,” I fumed.
I looked at Micah and he was looking at me as if I was crazy.
“I’m sorry Mack, I didn’t mean to take it out on you, but this is really stressing me out. I have to watch my back now every time I leave the house.”
“It’s cool baby sis, I understand, but you know good and damn well we’re not gonna let nothing happen to you. Kell, Mone, and I may be out of the game now, but that don’t mean that shit ain’t in us no more. We don’t have no problem busting our guns for yo lil ass.” He mushed me.
I just laughed. “Now that’s what I’m talking about. I’ve been looking for that smile for the longest,” he said.
“Yeah, if she don’t keep smiling I’ma end up kicking her ass,” Mykell said, walking in the room.
“Where you been?” I asked.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“No never mind, you’re grown. Do you.”
Ever since the shooting, I looked at Mykell in a different way. He could have said to hell with me and just worried about his son. Instead, he looked out for both of us and that really meant a lot to me. He had been helping me and staying there with us, not once had he made a pass at me or tried to sleep with me.
“Wassup, Mackaroni, where you been?” he spoke to his brother.
“Took a little vacation, and now I’m back and ready to handle business.”
“Good, that’s what I like to hear.”
“Umm, where’s Romell and MJ?” I interrupted their conversation.
“Downstairs chilling with their grandpas,” Mykell answered. He was about to say something else when his phone started to ring. He looked at his phone and smiled. “Excuse me guys, but I need to get this.”
I cut my eyes at him wondering who was calling him that had him grinning like a damn cheetah cat. Why does it even matter, we’re not together anyways.
“So y’all back on track or something?”
“Absolutely, not! He has his hoes and I have Kamil.” I said.
“Unh huh. So where is Kamil now?”
“Atlanta.”
“Does he know what happened?”
“Yeah, but he said he can’t leave until he finishes handling business.”
He looked at me as if I was crazy. He started to say something but I cut him off.
“I know, I know. Just leave it be until he gets here.”
“Alright, but let’s go see my nephews.”
We made our way downstairs where I saw my Fat Man chilling in my dad’s lap.
“Aww, look at my four favorite men chilling together.”
“Hey Ladybug,” my dad spoke.
“Hey Dad, hey Pop-Pop.”
“Wassup baby girl?”
“You two are too hip for me,” I chuckled.
“You know I’m far from old. I’m only 46. Now that man over there,” he pointed to my dad. “He’s old,” he said and laughed.
“Yeah right. I’m only 46 too. So if I’m old, what does that make you?”
“I’m happy to see you two are getting close,” I said sitting next to Pop-Pop.
“Girl, see what I didn’t tell you is, we actually know each other. How do you think I knew where to find you?” my dad asked.
“What? How do you know each other?” I asked confused.
“His wife’s brother and I used to be best friends.”
“Ms. Cherry?”
“Yup! I knew Mykell and Micah when they were little snotty nose kids. They moved here before Le’Lani was born so I didn’t know about her,” my dad explained.
“This is too much. Did you know that when you took me in Pop-Pop?”
“I didn’t until after I had a conversation with Mone. That was after the little incident we had downstairs and I had to beat his ass.”
“Wow!”
“I know right.”
Mykell
I didn’t miss that look Neicey gave me before I walked out of the room. I knew she still loved a nigga and after the shit I just found out, her ass would be home where she belonged. I had to call Mone so I could share that information with my brothers.
“Yo Mone, get ya ass here nigga. I’ve got some shit I know you would love to hear.”
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