Page 22 of Hood Legacy

“Come on,” I sighed, and she entered my room. She closed the space between us and sat next to me on the edge of the bed. “I’m tired.”

“You care to tell me what’s going on?” she asked, and I shook my head. “It’s the only way I can help.”

“I don’t even know where to start,” I answered and rested my face in my hands. “I just want to sleep.”

“Then go to sleep,” she said, bumping her shoulder into mine. “Givens and Hood are downstairs with Gift; replacing your locks now. They should be done shortly.”

“It took three of them to do that?” I asked with a laugh. “Why?”

“Because they’re men and think they know everything,” she answered. I lifted my face from my hands and twisted my face. “I already called Zane and told her to come over.”

“Thank you,” I said as I stood. “I’m going to shower; you’ll be here when I get out?”

“Yeah,” she said, kicking her shoes off and scooting back into the bed. “We can have a sleepover like we used to.”

“Givens isn’t going to let that happen,” I said, shaking my head. “And honestly, I don’t blame him.” I looked at my bathroom and then back at Mercy to see her staring at me with an unreadable expression. We’d been friends for over twelve years, we knew each other well, and I knew she could tell I was hiding something. “I’m good, Mercy.”

“I don’t believe you,” she said, shaking her head. “But, I’m going to let it slide for now.”

I sighed, nodded, grabbed some clothes from my dresser, and headed to the bathroom. I closed the door, turned on the water, and stripped out of my clothes. I checked my reflection in the mirror once the water started steaming; I threw my clothes in the hamper in the walk-in closet, then tied my hair up, put on a shower cap, and got into the shower. I stood under the water and relaxed briefly before starting to wash.

Fifteen minutes later, I turned off the water, grabbed the towel from the hook next to the shower, and got out. My eyes went to the mirror across from the shower, and they watered at the sight ofI love you, written in the steam with flowers drawn next to it. I pulled the towel from my body and quickly wiped the words away before drying off and putting on my clothes. I didn’t care about putting on lotion or deodorant. I just wanted to get out of the bathroom. I pulled open the door to see Mercy lying there comfortably.

“Can we go to your house?” I asked as I wrung my hands. “Don’t ask questions, not right now because I don’t know. I just know I can’t stay here.”

“Yeah,” Mercy said quickly, getting up from the bed. She put her slides on and grabbed my hand. We interlaced our fingers, and she pulled me from the room. Givens and Gift stopped talking to look up at us when we got downstairs. “She isn’t staying here.”

“Let’s go,” Givens said with no hesitation.

Mercy continued to lead me to their car. I heard my front door close behind us, but I didn’t care to look back. Givens opened the back door, and Mercy climbed in with me. I watched as Givens spoke with Gift before they dapped each other up and went their separate way. Gift got into the truck, started it, and backed out of my driveway.

“Zane changed your locks while you were in the shower, and Nine will be by tomorrow to set up your security system,” Mercy said thirty minutes later, once we were settled at her house. I pulled my legs under me as I curled up on her couch. I was tired, but every time I closed my eyes, I saw the writing on my mirror or the flowers left in my car.

“Okay,” I said, not taking my eyes off the TV. SportsCenter was on, but the TV was muted, and subtitles ran across the bottom of the screen.

“You know–”

“I just want to sleep,” I said, cutting her off. I knew Mercy was looking for answers, but I had none. I didn’t know what was happening, who was behind this, or why. “We can talk tomorrow.”

“Legacy–”

“Mercy, I’m asking you not to do this right now,” I sighed as I shook my head. “Tomorrow, we can talk. But I want to lay here until I fall asleep.”

“Okay,” she said, nodding. She got up, turned off the light, and climbed back on the couch in her spot. “We will lay here until we fall asleep; if we don’t, that’s fine, too.” She adjusted her pillow, pulled her blanket to her chin, and faced the TV. “Then tomorrow, you’re going to tell me what the fuck is going on so it can be handled.”

I sat on the couch, watching Ahh Real Monsters with the volume on low. Givens came downstairs and glanced at the sofa Mercy was sleeping on and then at me. “You good?”

“Yeah,” I said with a quick nod. “Thank you for letting me stay here for the night.”

“You’re family, it's what we do.” He wiped his hand over his face, checked his watch, and shook his head. He grabbed water from the side of the fridge, then walked to the front door and pulled it open. “You good?”

“Yeah,” Aceyn answered as they pulled each other into a brotherly hug. He closed the door behind him, kicked off his slides, and followed behind Givens.

“She good?” Givens asked.

“Yeah,” Aceyn replied. He’d changed since I saw him at my house earlier; now, he was dressed in ball shorts, a tank, and tall socks. His hair was covered in a durag, making his slanted eyes more pronounced. He looked me up and down, licked his lips, then dropped his bag on the couch beside me.

“I’ll go in the morning,” Givens said as he pulled the blanket from Mercy’s body and picked her up bridal style.

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