Page 142 of Smoke

“You know what I mean, man. Babies have a distinct smell.”

I shrugged. “I mean, some of them lil fuckers be smelling foul. Juri took a shit the other night, and I swear I almost gagged it smelled so bad.”

He chuckled, causing her to stir. “You see how he’s talking about you, Ju?” he asked, patting her back. “Next time, shit on him for good measure.” He kissed her temple. “I can’t believe all y’all had a baby before me. None of y’all even wanted kids right now. Now Deuce has one and a half, Maceo has one on the way, and your ass went and became stepdaddy to not one but two. Ain’t that a bitch.”

Pops sat up and grabbed Darlyn from the arm of the chair. “Well son, stop sleeping with randoms and get you a woman.”

Kerrion scoffed. “I’ll stop when you stop. You and Maddie still messing around? Where she at?”

Pops laughed. “Do as I say and not as I do.” His face turned serious. “For real, son. Take it from me. Ain’t nothing like a good woman. Y’all’s mamas are good women. That’s why another nigga was able to snatch them up after me. I have nothing but respect for those men?—”

“Even Aaron?” I asked with a smirk. I still didn’t think he was over Mama Stephanie.

He threw a pillow at my head. “You always bringing up old shit. Like I was saying, I have nothing but respect for those men, mostly because they treat y’all like their own kids. Y’all might be grown, but you’re still my babies, and I’ll go to war about any of you.”

“I know, man. We give you hell, but we love your old ass.”

Steel chuckled. “Yeah, we love you.”

It wasn’t long before the rest of my brothers made it to the house. That didn’t surprise me. If one of us was over here, it was never long before the rest trickled in. Quiet as it was kept, we loved spending time with our dad. Sometimes we all piled up over here, had a smoke session, and talked shit for hours. Today was one of those days… well, minus the smoking.

Between Darlyn waking up and running between her uncles to play and us passing my baby around to love on her, nobody thought about stepping outside to smoke. Instead, we sat around talking about our childhood and laughing about the hell we used to raise. It was at that moment I realized this was going to be me at some point.

Me, my kids, and my grandchildren.

I could get with that.

Patrick was dead.

His father was dead.

His sister burned down my shop.

When Devin shared that news with me, I was livid all over again. I’d been friendly with that girl at one point. Even though Patrick had what I thought was an “estranged” relationship with his father, he was close with his siblings, especially her. I’d serviced her at my shop several times. When things ended with her brother, the bitch wouldn’t even look at me on the street. Looking at it now, I had thoughts as to whether she knew his motives.

At this point, I was ready to have my man eliminate the rest of that bloodline to ensure nobody else came after me. I didn’t think I could take one more thing happening to me. Devin was doing his best to take care of everything, but I was beginning to feel like even with all the pull his family had, there were limits.I knew he wasn’t untouchable, especially when the threats were coming from so many different angles. Still, I trusted him to take care of what nobody else seemed equipped to handle.

Three weeks had gone by since I lost my business to the fire. Insurance had been filed. Reports were completed. The rubble had been cleared. I couldn’t give any more energy to it. I had to focus on my kids and trying to rebuild in a new space. I was so in love with the building Devin not only bought but put in my name. I’d even taken the time to sketch out the vision I had for the layout.

It was just what I needed to bring me out of the funk I’d been in. With so much extra space, I could offer more services. I decided I wanted to add a spa and massage package. After the amazing massage I had when I first met Devin, I knew it would be the perfect addition.

This morning, I’d gotten myself together and dropped Juri off with Senior, my unofficial babysitter on the compound when Devin needed to go into his shop. After taking Korri to school, I stopped by the building to check on things. Shar’s father had already started on the renovations. That man was so damn funny. I could see where she got it from. Most of the suites were already framed out in the once open space, and I could see my vision slowly coming to life.

Once I left there, I headed to my house. I hadn’t been to the place since staying on the compound, and I was sure there was food that needed to be thrown out and mail to check. Plus, I wanted to pick up a few things for us. I wasn’t sure when we would be able to return, but one thing was for certain: I was tired of muthafuckas running me out of places I paid for.

Pulling into my driveway, I got out of the car and headed inside. My first stop was the kitchen, where I emptied out my fridge. I then headed to the bedrooms to pack some things for the girls and I. Thirty minutes later, I was heading to put ourthings in the car. When I opened the front door, I got the shock of my life. There stood Dana, looking at me like she could kill me with her bare hands.

I tried to close the door, but she kicked it in. I stumbled backward over the suitcase and hit the floor with a hard thud. She came inside and closed the door. Reaching behind her, she pulled out a gun and aimed it at me.

“You… fucking… bitch,” she said, glaring at me.

“Dana—”

“Shut the fuck up!” she yelled, angrily pointing the gun. “I’m gonna enjoy this. Because of you, my family is ruined. You had my brother killed! Then that fucking animal killed my father!”

“Do you know what they did to me, Dana?”

“Nothing that warranted them being brutally murdered by that Dillinger! You took them from us, and now I’m gonna return the favor.”

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