Page 29 of Sparks Will Fly

“Depends on who’s asking and why?”

Squaring my shoulders, I prepared myself for whatever could come next. I didn’t know this nigga from a can of paint. What could he possibly want with me?

He chuckled lightheartedly. “Calm down, killa.” The smile on his face loosened some of my tension but not completely. I was still at a loss on who he was. “I’m Lovie’s brother, Mercy.”

It wasn’t until he mentioned it that I could see the slight resemblance in their features.

“Oh, damn. My bad. I thought we had beef I ain’t know about. It’s nice to meet you.” I extended a hand that he met with his own.

“Nice to meet you too. I’ve heard a lot about you,” he shared as he came to stand beside me.

“I hope good things.”

He smirked. “Good enough to interest that crazy ass sister of mine. It’s only right that I ask about your intentions with my baby. Lovie is a handful and comes off as bitchy, but she’s really a sweetheart and deserves the best.”

I nodded. “I agree. My intention is to continue getting to know her. I’m open to wherever that leads, but I feel like I already know all roads will lead me back to her.”

Even as I spoke, my eyes surfed the crowd looking for my brave girl. Tonight, I found myself hunting for her a little longer without her hair all wild and untamed. After a few more seconds of searching, I realized I couldn’t find her because she wasn’t in the gym anymore.

I returned my attention to Mercy. He watched me pensively. Eventually, he began to nod his head.

“I can respect that. You promise not to hurt her?”

My eyes drifted to the doors, wondering about Lovie again. There was this feeling in my gut I couldn’t shake. It took a while for my attention to return to Mercy.

“I’m not the type of man to make promises I can’t keep, but I will promise to never intentionally hurt her. I’m human and will make mistakes, even if I have her best interests in mind.”

He chuckled then tipped his cup backward, downing whatever was inside in one gulp.

“You aight with me. I can tell you’re not a nigga to bullshit around. If you take care of my baby, then we’re good.”

“Never have been and never will be. She’ll always be taken care of with me.” That odd feeling rushed through me again making me pause. “Speaking of which, let me go see where she’s disappeared to.”

He nodded. “Shit, I’ll walk with you. I need to go back to the car and refill my cup.”

I began walking away with him right on my heels before he eventually moved beside me. Soon as we walked through the double doors leading to the hallway, we noticed some kids running outside. I already knew that was never anything good and picked up my pace.

When we made it outside, we were slapped with a gush of cold air. The crowd was easy to find because they were literally right outside the door. Mercy pushed through with me to find Lovie standing between two teenage boys who looked ready to go blow for blow. They were exchanging words with their whole chests. The crowd was egging it on, ready to see something pop off. I knew shit could go left quickly and didn’t want to risk it.

I started toward Lovie just as the boys started getting antsy. One went to swing on the other, barely missing Lovie, and caused her to fall to the ground in the process. I was to her in seconds.

“You good, Trouble?” I questioned while inspecting her for myself. She had some tiny rocks buried in her hands but was okay overall.

By the time I helped her up, Mercy and some other men managed to tear the boys apart. Now that I knew my girl was good, I focused on them. Marching over I kept Lovie’s hand in mine.

“Y’all must’ve lost your damn minds putting hands on my woman, the woman who has gone out of her way for weeks to put together something memorable for y’all to remember that life gets better, and this is how you repay her?” I could feel myself getting pissed off. This was exactly what they expected from us when we got together.

“I’m disappointed that y’all would turn a beautiful night into a stereotype. They already think we can never come together, and when you show up ready to pop it, you prove them right.” I ran a hand down my face and let Lovie’s hand go as I stepped closer. “I don’t know what the issue is, but from this day forward when you step foot on these premises, your beef doesn’t fucking exist. Most of the time, it doesn’t even matter for real. This is a place where everyone respects each other, and that starts by keeping our hands to ourselves. Now, y’all owe my woman an apology for ruining her special night and pushing her down.”

By the time I was finished, they both had their heads low. Each rumbled off a half-hearted apology. Before I could correct them, Mercy beat me to the point.

“Lift your fucking heads up. Apologize with the same loud voices y’all were using to argue with. Y’all crossed a line and better pray I don’t start handing out ass whuppings for putting hands on my sister. I don’t give a fuck how old y’all are either.”

“Oh, my God.” Lovie groaned from behind me and slapped her forehead. “It’s okay, you two. I swear I’m fine.”

I shook my head. “No, it’s not okay. Too many of our people have died fighting. As a man, our strength is physical. What if you hit your head when you fell? Accountability is important at their age because all actions have consequences.”

“And some last a lifetime,” Mercy chimed in. I could tell we were going to get along. We had similar mindsets.

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