Page 28 of So I Know it's Real

This time, I was the one to look away, placing my eyes on the ceiling fan. “Yeah. She left me with a broken heart after lying about having my baby. The night the police tossed me in jail for beating up her baby daddy, I threw my heart in the trash. No need to hold onto shit you’re not using.”

“I think your heart has found its way back to you, considering you helped my family without a second thought.” She cuddled up to me and kissed my shoulder. “Can you sing me a song? I think it’ll help me go back to sleep.”

I smiled at her lighthearted remark. “Only if you sing with me.”

We went back and forth, rapping lyrics of songs I hadn’t heard in years. Each minute reignited her comfort with me and my faith in a woman’s word. Eventually, Clover tooted her assup against me, and I slipped my arm around her silhouette. The feel of feet on me annoyed my soul, but the sensation of her little piglets dancing against my legs felt like love taps.

“If you want to take me out, I’m down,” she spoke into the night.

“I’m not interested anymore.”

“Wait. What?”

“I’m just fucking with you. You pick the day. I’ll pick the place.” I kissed her shoulder and then growled at the sweet scent of her tresses. “Good night, Lucky.”

“Good night,Buttah.”

“What the hell?”I jumped out of my sleep and pressed my back against the headboard when I spotted the twins standing over me. “Aye! Don’t do that shit. It’s weird.”

“Are you calling us weird because we’re twins?” one of them asked.

“No. I’m a twin too. I called you weird because you were watching me sleep. The only person who can do that is your mama.”

“What are you doing in my mama’s bed?”

I smiled, recognizing the smart ass to be Tatum. “We had a sleepover.”

Pierce shook his head. “That’s a lie. My mama doesn’t allow sleepovers.”

“I’m special.”

Tatum snickered. “No, you’re not. I like your gun.”

My eyes raced to the chair in the corner then to the menace. He laughed when I yoked him up by his graphic tee. His brother went yelling for their mama.

“I’m not scared of you, Dookie Durk.”

“I don’t want you to be scared. I want you to be respectful. If I ever hear about you touching a gun, looking at a gun, or even being in the same room as one, you’re going to see me.”

“Durk!” Clover yelled from the doorway. “Why do you have my child hemmed up?”

“It’s all right, Mama.” Tatum tapped the top of my head. “We were wrestling.”

I nodded. “Right. Now, he knows who’s the champ,” I declared before tossing him on the bed. “Can you get me a towel and toothbrush? I want to get fresh before I order breakfast.”

Clover bit her bottom lip as her eyes drifted to the floor. “Durk, you don’t have to do that.”

“What I tell you about that? I want to feed you before I head out. Can I do that?”

“You can.”

After eating with Clover and her twins, I rushed home to shower and change clothes. I had appointments scheduled for later in the day, but Shiloh asked me to ride with Loso and Ishmael to pick up money from Remy Brim. Though Shiloh changed his life after meeting Stevie, he was still the most important middle manin the city. Aside from owning a strip club, he ran a delivery company that dealt with legal and illegal goods.

“I’m on my way outside,” I said, answering Ishmael’s call.

Prior to walking out of my spot, I made sure the air and lights were off then grabbed my burner and my North Face bomber. My house wasn’t as spacious as Shiloh and Church’s estates, but my three-bedroom contemporary home was new and included the amenities of a luxury hotel.

“You ready to go get this money?” Loso greeted me as I slid into the backseat of his AMG.

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