Page 119 of The Love of Priest

Priest shook his head with a sigh. He wasn't sure whether he'd gotten through to Mirsad. One thing he did know was that it wouldn't be that easy. Mirsad was young. He was meant to make mistakes. His mistakes just always happened to have life or death consequences the majority of the time.The ride continued in silence. Priest wasn't going to continue to harp on the matter while Mirsad seemed to still be processing what was just preached to him.

After a couple of minutes, Priest parked his car at the curb in front of Remy's house. Mirsad looked around confused, not understanding why they were there. "Get out," Priest told him just as he opened his door to get out.

Upon exiting the vehicle, a smile stretched across Priest's face as he saw a few kids he always looked out for begin jogging over to him. "Woah! Priest, when you get this?!" Jamari, a twelve-year-old boy asked, referring to the vehicle. Jamari was honestly Priest's favorite kid around the neighborhood. He had a mouthpiece on him and was always trying to holla at ladies who were way older than him. Jamari was the oldest out of three siblings, and he kept them in line as if he were running things. It was amusing, but Priest knew that when Jamari got older, he was going to have a special place in his brothers’ hearts.

Priest reached his hand out, dapping Jamari up since he felt like he was too old to do hugs. "A few months ago," Priest told Jamari as he went ahead and gave his younger brothers hugs.

Jamari plastered his face against the tinted windows of the Bentayga, trying to catch a glimpse of the inside. "Priest got the cherry red pie filling on the inside!" Jamari exclaimed in excitement, causing his brothers, Jaden and King, to make their way over to see the inside of the car as well.

Priest laughed at Jamari's description of the red interior of his car. "Tell you what: get them grades back to me, and I'll take you on ride," Priest suggested.

Jamari's eyes widened in excitement as he nodded his head swiftly. "That ain't nothing, man," he said with confidence.

"Can we come too?!" Jaden and King asked in hopes that they could tag along.

Priest nodded. "No doubt. Y'all better hope 'Mari been doing what he gotta do in class." Priest’s eyes peered down at Jamari.

"Man, you ain't gotta worry about me," Jamari waved him off.

"I'll take your word for it. I gotta go chop it up with Rem. Y'all stay out this road and out of trouble," Priest told the three, and they all nodded. Reaching into his pocket, he extracted some cash out of it. Peeling the stack back, he pulled three twenties out of it, distributing it amongst the three kids.

"Thank you, Priest!" they exclaimed, giving him hugs while Jamari resorted to dapping him up again.

"It's nothing. Stay safe," he told them as they offered him a goodbye.

As they took off to spend their money, Priest turned to face Mirsad, who had an uninterested look on his face. "Y'know, you used to be like that when you were their age," Priest told him as they approached Remy's gate.

"Well, not anymore," Mirsad mumbled. "My balls dropped."

Priest chuckled as he led the way toward Remy's door. Once they made it up to the porch, Priest applied a knock onto the door. It didn't take Remy long to open the door for him. He had a burning blunt in hand as he exhaled a cloud of smoke. Priest laughed since he expected Remy to be waking and baking.

"To what do I owe this visit?" Remy stepped aside, allowing Priest and Mirsad to step into his home.

"A favor," Priest cut to the chase. "Rem, this my little cousin Mirsad. Mirsad, this is Remy," he introduced the two.

Remy nodded at Mirsad, who did the same. He appointed the two seats in his living room before sitting opposite them. "What's the favor?" Remy side-eyed Priest as he put his blunt out.

"The Groves got shot up—" Priest began.

"I heard," Remy nodded. "What's your issue with Darius?" He furrowed his brows at Priest. Word had yet to make its way around, but Remy had his sources and knew what was going on. He knew Darius was in for a rude awakening for fucking with anything that belonged to Priest, but he wasn't going to warn anyone. His loyalty lied with Priest at the end of the day.

Priest smacked his lips. "I don't even know the little nigga. His issue is with this one," Priest said as he pointed to Mirsad.

"You need a hide out?" Remy chuckled as he shifted his attention to Mirsad.

Mirsad scoffed. "I don't need anything," he clarified.

"Shut the fuck up," Priest ordered Mirsad.

Remy laughed. Mirsad was the typical little nigga Remy dealt with on a day-to-day basis. There was nothing Mirsad could say or do that could shock Remy. He had dealt with this type of behavior from Priest, J'Ru and a line of other niggas he had to teach right from wrong. "Nah," Remy held his hand out to halt Priest. "Let him say how he feels."

Priest glanced from Remy to Mirsad, who had an angry expression etched on his face. "I don't need no fucking hide out,” Mirsad insisted. "I was good where I was at."

Remy chuckled before averting his attention back to Priest. "Well, you heard the man," Remy shrugged. "He was good where he was at."

"Nia doesn't think so," Priest finalized. "I'm not risking him getting her shot at again. Plus, I know you can whip him into shape."

"He's not my fucking father," Mirsad spat.

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