Page 75 of The Love of Priest

"Lower your voice in my spot," Priest snapped at his mother indignantly. "If I didn't have to pick up you and your dude's slack as parents, then we wouldn't even be having this conversation," he reminded her, causing Jazzy to agree with a nod of her head.

"Don't mention Terrence in none of this shit. He provided the best way he could for this little bitch," Sylvia seethed while waving her hand in a dismissive manner in Jazzy's direction.

"See, I was trying to spare you," Jazzy rose from her seat and began making her way over. Priest quickly stood before his mother, barricading her from Jazzy. With Jazzy, things always went from zero to 100 whenever Sylvia was in the vicinity.

"Look, we're not about to do this. Putting your hands on your mother is the ultimate disrespect not only to her and me, but to God," Priest spoke down to Jazzy who had her chest heaved up fury.

"Nobody’s trying to hear that shit! For the last fucking time, she's not my damn mother!" Jazzy jeered as fury set into her eyes.

"Good, ‘cause I don't wanna be your damn mother! Unlike Priest, you have nothing to offer!" Sylvia retorted with disgust.

The elevator chimed, indicating that someone was coming up. Priest let out a sigh of relief once he noticed it was J'Ru sporting a smile on his face. The smile immediately drooped into a frown at the sight of Priest holding Jazzy back while Sylvia’s nose flared in anger. "I thought it was a family dinner?" J'Ru’s eyes scanned over them. "What she doing here?" He pointed at Sylvia.

With a cold glare, Priest eyed J'Ru, indicating that it was not the time for his antics. J'Ru decided to lay up. He made his way over to Jazzy and claimed her under his arm. "C'mon, Jazzy-Fae," J'Ru sighed, realizing he once again had to step in and help Priest diffuse the situation.

J'Ru led Jazzy over to the couch where they sat down. Priest was glad J'Ru showed up when he did. If he was alone, both Sylvia and Jazzy would’ve ended up feuding over the fact that he favored one more than the other. It was just too much.

Turning to face his mother, Priest’s dark eyes peered down at her. "You need to learn how to be an adult," Priest shamed his mother with a shake of his head. "She's your child. Stop trying to always get the last word and start fucking listening."

"I don't got to listen to shit from her! I'm her mother, and she doesn't even have the decency to respect that!" she shrilled dramatically like she always did. She always tried to deflect her wrongdoings by being extra. It worked in her favor sometimes; however, Priest saw right through that.

"Fuck you!" Jazzy jolted up from the couch quicker than J'Ru could even catch her. "You got a lot of fucking nerve considering yourself a mother! You ain't shit!" Jazzy argued, causing Priest to pinch the bridge of his nose.

He felt as though no one was listening to him. They were shouting over him just to get the upper hand, not knowing nothing could be resolved that way.

"Aye!" Priest flared his nose, interrupting their bickering. He turned in Jazzy's direction, immediately causing her to look away in shame. "Watch your mouth in my house. You're acting like I never taught you better."

Sylvia stood behind Priest, satisfied with the fact that he had set Jazzy straight for once. He then turned in her direction which caused the small smirk on her face to dismiss itself. The darkness in his eyes reminded her so much of Leonard. She fell for that darkness in Leonard’s eyes instantly, wanting to enjoy the thrill. She regretted it so much. Now Priest had that same darkness in his eyes. It was almost as if she could never get away from it. That pair of eyes was set to follow her for eternity. "You gotta do better. I'm tired of dealing with this shit. You two can't even act civil around each other. You can't continue to be toxic and turn around and blame everyone else for the lack of growth in relationships. Be a fucking parent. We didn't ask to be here," he scolded her.

Priest was always trying to be understanding, but that approach was beginning to be tiring. He was pretty set on Sylvia never changing. She was a horrible person; however, Priest would always see her as his mother. The dynamic of their relationship definitely differed from any healthy mother and son relationship, but he was fine with that. He had outgrown the yearning for a mother's love and attentiveness. Tables had turned, and now he was taking care of her. He no longer needed her. She needed him. He and Jazzy would never be on the same page when it came to accepting Sylvia. He no longer felt the need to try to convince her to do so either. Truth be told, things were beginning to feel old and repetitive.

"Dinner is served!" Talia piped in and announced, cutting a knife through the silent tension Priest had created by setting both Sylvia and Jazzy straight.

"I appreciate it, Talia," Priest thanked her, causing her to nod her head before returning to the kitchen. Priest no longer wanted to deal with either of them. He made his way to the dining room with J'Ru hot on his tail.

"We gotta chop it up after dinner," J'Ru reminded Priest.

Priest nodded. "I have a feeling I know what you wanna chat about." He let out a stressful chuckle.

J'Ru screwed his face, not understanding why Priest was taking everything so lightly. "Son, you're tripping."

Priest shook his head, indicating he thought otherwise. "I'm straight. Shit smoothed over now," he clarified.

"Still not adding up with me. Shorty is against you." J'Ru never had an issue with Britain, but after seeing her sitting on the opposite side of the courtroom, he couldn't say he didn’t feel some type of way. He would never tell Priest how to live his life, but there needed to be a clear distance between them. Shit would get real fucking messy and risky if she got to exploiting personal doings. At the end of the day, Priest was J'Ru's brother. If anybody went against Priest, they went against him too, and he didn’t take that lightly.

"Ru, we're good,” Priest asserted as he took a seat at the end of the lengthy dining table.

Sitting across from him, J'Ru sighed. This was a constant thing with Priest. It wasn’t that he trusted too easily. It was the fact that once he trusted people, he trusted them with everything. His loyalty went for miles, and he expected the people he trusted to be the same. J'Ru didn't want Priest to jump headfirst into a whirlwind of issues when it came to Britain. Shit would not play out nice, especially since she was fathered by Remy.

"So, you trust her?" J'Ru raised a questioning brow at Priest.

Priest sighed before running a hand down his face. "Shit is comfortable now, J'Ru," was all he cryptically said. J'Ru had no idea what he meant by that, but what was he left to do besides just follow Priest's lead? It was his life, after all.

ChapterTwenty-One

Content with beingin his presence, Britain straddled Priest's lower back as he laid face down in the center of her bed. With his hands tucked under his head, the chiseled muscles that graced his back flexed, enticing Britain.

Day three of his trial had come around, and this one was different. Things weren't sitting right with Priest, and it showed. Britain, who was present during the trial and sat off in the far back, was able to witness Priest’s frustration as he listened to Prosecutor Hernandez hit the jury with heavy facts and evidence that his lawyer, Abraham, was unable to dispute.

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