Page 39 of Rhodes to Love

“I need to be with the family.”

“No, baby. You don’t need to be here.”

I looked up and saw Rhodes staring at me. I didn’t even hear or see him walk into the room. He quickly made his way to the bed and pulled me into his arms. “What’s going on, baby?”

I didn’t answer his question. “Can my mama, aunts, and female cousins come here?”

He lifted his eyebrows. “Umm… yeah. I mean… shit. What’s going on?”

I put my mama on speaker so he could hear her cries. Right after, my text messages started blowing up. There were three or four threads going at once. “Mama, y’all come here. Please. I’ll get Rhodes to call Watchful Eyes to escort y’all.”

“They are already here, baby.”

“Tell them to bring y’all here.”

“I think they are taking us to Beaumont to Residence Inn. They’ve already secured several suites for us. Nome is like a war zone. I’m so worried. Your dad is at the hospital and has been since late last night, but your uncles, brothers, and cousins are on the rampage. It’s like… the police aren’t even fucking with them right now. I’m so scared. Tiff, Jess, and Milana are trying to be out there with them. Jericho literally had to pick Jess up and throw her in an SUV and take her home. It’s soooo bad.”

I closed my eyes and cried into Rhodes’s chest. There was too much going on. “Please tell Ali to bring you and Cassie here. I need y’all close to me. Please.”

“I will. I need to finish packing. I’ll call you in a little bit to let you know what’s going on.”

“Okay. I love you.”

“I love you too, baby.”

After I ended the call, Rhodes said, “Let me make some calls, baby.”

I pulled away from him and looked at my text messages. I was in a thread with the younger female cousins, one with the older female cousins, and a bigger group that looked to include all the women of the family. I clicked on that one to see Aunt Jen praying for Grandpa and the men of our family. Even Uncle Carter, Uncle LaKeith, and Uncle Ryder were out there. It had to be really bad if Uncle Carter and Uncle LaKeith were out there. Uncle Ryder was always gonna ride for my uncles. He’d been in the family the longest of the three of them.

I kept reading to see Uncle Philly was out there, along with Uncle Aston, Mal, and Uncle Shylou. It seemed every man that was a friend to the Hendersons was out there in the streets of Nome. I scrolled down to see our rodeo friends were there too. Mr. Legend never got involved in shit, but even he was out there and had brought Mr. Zayson and Mr. Red with him as well.

I stood and fell to my knees, praying loudly. I needed my family to be protected. Grandpa had to make it through this. If he didn’t, they would burn Nome and China down. I wondered if the boys were related to the Andersons. If they were, it would only make things ten times worse. As I prayed, I could feel Rhodes kneel next to me. He grabbed my hand as I cried out to God.

When I finally opened my eyes, I fell against him. “Your mama, Cassie, and your Aunt Cass are coming here, baby. I talked to Ali. More of them may come too, but I know those three are for sure coming. I need you to take deep breaths. You have to calm down for Roselynn.”

“I know. It’s like your issues aren’t even significant anymore compared to what’s going on out there.”

“Right. Rondo, Jungle, and Vegas from Watchful Eyes are still going to be out here with us. So we have protection. I think Rondo’s wife, Dinalee is gonna come inside and chill with us and make sure we’re good. We’re gonna get through this. I promise, baby.”

I nodded as I continued taking deep breaths. Pulling away from him, I texted my daddy.Hey, Daddy. I just got the news. How’s Grandpa?

Rhodes watched my phone, waiting for a response with me. He texted someone on his phone as my daddy’s response came through.He’s hanging in there, Rima. He has a couple of broken ribs, a broken nose, and they broke his arm. It was touch and go last night. They finally got him stabilized this morning. The heart attack wasn’t massive. Thank God.

I closed my eyes and released a sigh. At least he was still alive and stable.Okay, Daddy. I’m praying.

I know you are. I can feel it. Thank you, baby.

I stood from the floor, and Rhodes helped steady me. “I know you probably don’t feel like it, but I need you to come downstairs and try to eat something.”

I nodded and quietly followed him to the kitchen. When I got down there and saw his aunt Kimiko standing there with a plate of breakfast for me, I gave her a slight smile. “Thank you so much, Aunt Kimiko.”

I went to her as Rhodes took the plate from her and hugged her tightly. “I should have known Rhodes wasn’t the one that had it smelling this good down here.”

She chuckled. “Chile, you know that boy can barely boil water.”

I chuckled, doing my best to put what was going on with my family at the back of my mind. I’d already prayed and there was nothing more that I could do about it. While I wanted to scream and cry, I knew that wouldn’t help or solve anything. If anything, it would probably have me sick. I sat at the kitchen table where Rhodes had set my food and inhaled deeply. It looked and smelled so good… either that or I was extremely hungry.

The bacon was crunchy just how I liked it, and I practically inhaled the waffles and eggs. When Aunt Kimiko set that bowl of grits next to me, my smile widened, especially when I noticed how yellow they looked. That meant they were good and buttery. I could feel Rhodes staring at me, but I didn’t care. I didn’t realize just how hungry I was until I got down here and saw that food.

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