Page 61 of Dr. Bell

“Sleep in a bed other than mine and you gon’ wake up covered in spiders.”

Concealing the shock of him even suggesting such a thing, I asked, “You gon’ try me?” His unblinking eyes bore into mine. “I understand you want to protect me, but sometimes you gotta let me loose. Or else, these hoes will think they can play me any type of way. That’s not happenin’.” I was sure no one tested Adir this way. They listened and followed his instructions. While I understood their positions, they were paid to follow his orders. I wasn’t.

“My wife’s hands should never get dirty,” he finally replied.

“And I agree to an extent.”

“You really gon’ be mad at me?”

“Really mad,” I assured him.

The band began playing as the announcer’s voice boomed throughout the stadium. Fans stood to welcome the teams onto the field. Next to me, Adir’s keen gaze searched for Quilo. Once he spotted him, a since of pride oozed from his pores. For a second, I thought about taking my threat back. Then, Gensen walked by giving me a death glare in the process. Pettily, I smiledfor her. Sooner or later, I was going to give her a reason to really hate me.

Sooner or later came minutes after Quilo’s team won their home opener. While celebrating, the crowd got rowdy. While everyone celebrated, I tracked Gensen’s moves. She wasn’t slick trying to move into the aisle as Adir held my hand to lead me down the steps. He wanted to meet Quilo in the tunnel after the players headed off the field. Russ got on the other side of me, pissing me off because both men flanked me.

As we approached Gensen, she attempted to reach past Adir to swing at me. Like a good man, he nearly broke her arm pushing her off me. It was too late, though. I felt her skin graze mine and that was enough for me. I elbowed Adir in his abdomen, which did nothing, but it gave me just enough room to grab the hoe by the collar of her shirt. I snatched my hand from Adir and proceeded to bash the back of Gensen’s head in. Everyone in the vicinity got even louder as they tried to get a glimpse of me beating Gensen’s ass.

Russ was quick, yanking me up by my waist to get me down the stairs. Gensen swung back but her efforts were lax at best. Not only was she swinging wildly, but her blows kept hitting everyone else and not me. I dragged her with me down the stairs, causing her to trip and roll onto her back. The dress she had on lifted, exposing her panties and bare ass. She screamed and held onto her hair as I tried to yank every strand from her scalp.

Police and school security swarmed us as the announcer attempted to get the crowd under control. That was when Adir, Zel, Russ, and the boys went into action. It was as if the Dream Team surrounded me and made it to where no one could put their hands on me. Even with police threatening his very existence, Adir didn’t give a fuck about that.

“Let her go, baby,” he urged because I still had a grip on Gensen’s hair.

She wanted this, so I gave it to her. Russ had to pry my fingers from her roots. I took some strands with me and threw the flimsy shits at her.

“Next time shut up, bitch!” I hollered. I didn’t see what happened after that because Adir carried me off.

An hour later, I was embarrassed as hell as Quilo came inside the kitchen and shook his head. He placed his helmet on the island, then burst out laughing. I stood at the sink rinsing off some grapes for a little snack until dinner arrived.

“It’s not funny,” I said even though I grinned.

“It is, Coco. The whole team was tryna see you in action.”

I rolled my eyes and groaned. “I’ll be lucky if I’m not banned from the other games.” Adir said he’d work things out, and at this point, I hoped so. Supporting Quilo through his football journey was my job as his big sister. “Congratulations, by the way.”

He grinned big and for the first time since we’d been here, he truly seemed happy.

“Thank you.”

“You and Saar were beasts out there. I can see why you two hit it off.” Adir told me about Saar and that he was going to keep an eye on him. Especially if he and Quilo were going to be friends. The fact that Adir was so intentional with Quilo warmed my heart. He went with him to his tryouts and made it his mission to be at all his games.

“He’s aight.”

“Mm, hm. I’m so proud of you.” I gave him a big hug and kissed his cheek. “Now go clean up. Dinner should be here soon.”

As Quilo left the kitchen, I sighed deeply and wiped the moisture from my eyes. Hiding tears from him was something I hadn’t had to do in a while. If he saw me crying, he’d get into a funk, and I didn’t need that. Not when he’d just started schooland was enjoying himself on the field. This was a huge step from where we were three months ago.

Mama, you’d be proud.She’d be so proud. I hated that she wasn’t here to see that Quilo really did get himself together. She wasn’t here to wipe these stupid tears I shed because she’d lost her life way too soon.

“I’ma tell Pops you in here cryin’.”

Humble scared the shit out of me. I dropped a few grapes on the floor and clutched my chest.

“Boy!”

He cackled. “My fault, Ma. I didn’t mean that.” As he bent down to pick up the grapes, I stared at the back of his head, dumbfounded. While the twins and Peace referred to me as Mama Pretty, Humble normally just called me Pretty.

“It’s okay,” I stuttered out. “Why are your feet so damn light?”

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