Page 53 of Can I?

Standing up straight, he helped me off the countertop, and I damn near fell to the floor. My legs felt like Jell-O, and all I wanted to do now was sleep.

“Come on, baby. You have to change. Your skirt got wet.”

“Mm-hmm.”

I couldn’t say anything else. I was spent and didn’t know how I would be able to focus during the meeting. Hopefully, there wasn’t anything too important for me to pay attention to, because I was gonna miss that shit with the way Ferris’s tongue had stroked me into euphoria.

“So,they didn’t expect y’all to go as hard as you did. The problem is that people see the professionalism, the money, the prestige, . . . then they think you won’t come to the gutter and fuck their asses up without lube. This was easy work for me, Shawn, Nathaniel, Shepherd, and Dice. I appreciate your help, Jericho, Philly, and PJ, with what we did in China. They never saw us coming.”

Ryan was at the podium talking while I was leaned against Ferris. My family had respect for him after taking that bullet for me, so he was more than welcomed to be anywhere I was. As I was hoping, Ryan was updating us with what had gone down and how we shouldn’t have any more problems.

When he scanned the room and his eyes fell on me, I sat straight up. My eyebrows had risen. “You Milana, right?”

I nodded, and he slid his hand over his mouth. That shit had me nervous as hell. “There was a hit out for you, shorty, but we took care of that shit. Some chick that Ali said was the sister of some niggas you know was the one behind it. I’ve always been the kind of nigga that rarely handed out threats. I just did what the fuck I knew needed to be one. I can’t stand a muthafucka that talk big game and don’t do shit. She was that type of bitch, . . . excuse me.”

“It’s okay. Have you met my family?” I inquired seriously.

Everyone chuckled as he smirked. Ferris slid his arm around me, and I could feel his body shudder. I was more than sure he was thinking of all the possibilities had they not caught her. Although she was talking plenty of noise, it didn’t mean she wouldn’t eventually act out on it.

“She was related to the Andersons. I’m assuming that’s how Malik and Julius knew that nigga they were with at the Dollar General. We caught her ass in China. The only muthafuckas y’all need to be worried about are the ones that are locked up. I’m pretty sure they’ve caught wind of what went down out here the past week. Still be vigilant, but for now, y’all can breathe easy.”

Ferris kissed the side of my head as Ryan turned to his crew. “Dice and Shepherd weren’t introduced last time. The one with the lotus tattoo on his neck is Dice. They are both ex-military and once owned a gun range in Cali. They will hop on the first thing smoking if I need them, and now I know it will be the same for y’all. Dice’s wife, Bam, is a hell of a shooter, too, but she couldn’t make it down. Shawn and Nathaniel always down to exercise their demons as well.”

The guys nodded at us. Dice looked extremely intimidating. He had a frown on his face and had a lot of tatts like Ali. Ali smiled a lot though, so he wasn’t as menacing. He joined Ryan on the platform and slapped his hand. I supposed they’d formed an alliance of sorts. Before Ryan could relinquish the podium to Ali, he said, “Also, I look forward to our business venture. Thank you for the opportunity. You won’t regret it.”

I supposed they’d partnered with his architectural firm for whenever we wanted to build more houses or whatever out here. Nesha was working on developments in Devers and Liberty. She and Jakari did the damn thing with Henderson Village. Everyone clapped as he stepped down.

Ali turned back to the crowd and said, “I hope this shit is done. These people really had it out for y’all. Shy was right when he said those people wanted to be y’all. They wanted your place, but they will never have it.”

“Shol’ in the fuck won’t,” Uncle Storm said. “They’d have to take all of us out this muthafucka. We a damn army.”

“You got that shit right. Out of the four hundred sixty-nine people listed on the population sign, three hundred fifty of ’em got to be Hendersons.” Ali chuckled then asked, “Is Cassie here?”

I turned to see her seated in the back, breastfeeding the baby. “Martha’s in the back feeding the baby,” Uncle Storm said.

Ali nodded. “So, I know how much it upset you to know you were related to those people, in turn making you related to the Hendersons. I did some digging, baby girl. Apparently, you weren’t the only one in your family that was adopted. Your grandmother wasn’t an Anderson. They took her in after her mother died when she was three years old. She just started going by that last name when they registered her for school. You and KJ can do a DNA test if you want to, but y’all aren’t related, baby.”

Cassie started crying audibly, and KJ wrapped his arms around her. Aunt Keisha went and took K-3 from her as he screamed and cried. I was so happy for her. Karima had said that it still bothered her sometimes. To have that weight lifted off her had to be freeing.

Turning my attention back to Ali, he said, “Y’all are the most drama-filled good people I know. People that stay out of the way not supposed to have this kind of shit going on. However, I’m glad y’all did, or we wouldn’t have met. We will always have your back . . . no questions asked. Y’all are our people now, and I know Ryan feels the same way.”

We all clapped as Uncle WJ and Jakari went to the podium. Uncle WJ spoke first. “Family, it’s been a rough couple of months, but we made it through. Some shit went down, . . . shit that we may all need counseling for. Karima just had a baby, but she said she is willing to help us through it. We have connections to two other counselors. Serita Gardner was our counselor in thepast . . . Well, at least mine, Chrissy, and Syn’s. I think Jenahra’s too. She’s also our attorney, Sidney Taylor’s, sister.”

He glanced over at Chad from Watchful Eyes, and he nodded. “I was told that Chad from Watchful Eyes has a brother that’s a counselor. He’s also Shyrón Berotte’s brother. His name is Isaiah Berotte. So there is no excuse why you can’t talk to someone. Tiff.”

My mama nodded at him, and he nodded back. I had to assume that meant she would be going through counseling. I needed to hug her. She was really struggling with killing that nigga. My daddy kissed her head and pulled her closer to him.

“I don’t care how masculine you feel. We all need help at times. Mayor, if you need to talk to somebody, call Karima, Serita, or Isaiah. Marcus, Kenny, Jasper, Philly, . . . all of y’all. Every last one of you had to fire your weapon this past week. It won’t hurt to get that shit out of your system. Everybody understand what I’m saying? Don’t let that shit fester.”

Everyone nodded, and Jakari stepped to the mic. “With all the shit that went down, we didn’t really give Grandpa’s life the celebration it deserved.” He lowered his head for a moment. When he lifted it, I could see the glossiness in his eyes. “I put together a little something in honor of his memory. A lot of the footage came from a project I had to do in school some years back, and some footage came from the twins too. Y’all enjoy it.”

I took a deep breath as I tried to disappear in Ferris’s embrace. The projector screen came down, and the lights dimmed. The first slide was of Grandpa trying to rope a steer in his old age. We all chuckled. That day was funny as hell. He was telling King and Kane that they needed to study his technique. He had no technique.

It transitioned into pictures. There were plenty of group pictures and pictures of him working, trimming calf hooves or driving a tractor, and pictures of him and Grandma. When thenext video played, my eyebrows lifted. It was him and me at my first rodeo. I couldn’t have been more than five or six years old. He was on his knees in front of me and had fixed my cowboy hat.

“You are strong just like your mama. Don’t tell her I said this, or her head is going to get bigger than it already is, but she is my spoiled baby girl. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for her. I’m so proud of her and her accomplishments. But you know what her greatest accomplishments are?”

“What, Grandpa?” I asked.

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