Page 162 of Are You Going to Love Me

All of his words were wrapped in sobs. His body was weakened by the release, and he couldn’t hold himself up. Eden held him, guided him to the floor, and held him like a mother would’ve held her child. A mother to her son. Maximus needed his mother, and he knew he would never have her in the capacity he needed.

She rocked him, rubbed his back, and kissed the top of his head. She didn’t mumble a word. It wasn’t needed anymore. He needed to release it. Tears, snot, and whatever else didn’t matter. He had a woman who could be what he needed when he needed, and she was strength at the dawn of morning.

His sobs quieted, but he still rested against her, his eyes closed. Settling.

“Thank you,” he muttered, sitting up.

Eden wiped her face. “Don’t thank me for loving you.”

Maximus laced her fingers in his. “Moving forward, it’s us. It’s this legacy we’re building, and we won’t look back.”

“It’s family day, you heading up before we go to dinner tonight?”

“I’m going to be real with you. I can’t handle that shit today.”

“I hear you. How about you finish that?” Eden suggested, motioning to the soundboard.

“Aight, but don’t leave me alone.”

“Never. You like that stalking shit,” she hummed, earning a small smirk from him. Holding her hands out to assist him to his feet, Maximus kissed her in the process.

“You know it.”

"Big dawg MB,”Julius’ voice and cloud of smoke alerted Maximus before his actual presence could. Maximus was taking in the view from Daysha’s childhood home. The golf course and the setting sun brought a close to his emotional break in the wee hours of the morning. With Eden curled up in a blanket clad inher tear-soaked tee, she tweaked his lyrics until the tiredness hit him. They’d only been up for a couple of hours, and now he was just finding some resolve within himself.

It must’ve been the prayer Eden whispered into his skin while she thought he was fully asleep. Maximus retained every syllable to his memory.

God protect him from the demons he doesn’t talk about. The ones that sit on his chest and play with his mind. The ones that gnash at him in his sleep and wreak havoc over his peace. Take the taste of guilt from his lips and replace it with the sweetness of life. Remove the memories of betrayal and replace them with peace. Wherever he steps foot, let him bear witness that You did it. Amen.

Seventy-six words that he would learn to speak over himself and then speak over her. He mused on the fact that Eden could pray over him with ease, but when it came to her and all of her situations, she was hesitant. For what he couldn’t be for himself, she was. For her, he’d be it too.

Turning his sight over his shoulder to find Julius smoking his signature strain of bud. Behind him was Daysha’s father, Richard Jordan. Maximus chuckled to himself, seeing the old man with a blunt of his own.

“You got everyone on that Azul Kush, huh?” Maximus trilled with a snicker.

“Keeps me ready for my baby,” Richard said with a snicker, as Maximus took a blunt from Julius. “All these years and I'm still running behind her.”

“I’m trying to be like that,” Julius said with a smirk, waiting for Richard’s reaction.

“You trying to have her barefoot in the winter, pregnant in the summer. My poor baby girl won’t ever be able to run away,” Richard huffed, taking a seat.

“Nahh,” Julius replied. “It’s not about controlling her. I just love her. Love being in her skin.” Julius shivered slightly. “Y’all made magic when y’all made her.”

Maximus smirked, inhaling a thick cloud of smoke.

“You felt that shit didn’t you?” Richard spoke.

Maximus nodded. “Through my entire being and back again. I’m experiencing new layers of love every day. Shit I ain’t never had before.”

Richard nodded, a smile forming. “Yeah, you got that shit too. Let me tell you something. A woman can be church, nurture like a mother, have this girl-like playful nature about her, and in that bedroom, she can fulfill fantasies, and that all comes from her being protected and taken care of. These young niggas out here think that having a woman submit is some badge of honor because they beat on their chest or on her and make her a shell of herself. A woman – a real one, who ain’t taking no shit off you – treated right, heard, and understood will be and do whatever for you within the realm of respect for herself and you.”

“Fa sho,” Julius agreed. “I never thought I was going to get a force like Day. That type of power is like a constant sign that God is real.”

Maximus grunted. “God is definitely real. And He really didn’t forget about me. Even in my bullshit. Felon, murderer, drug dealer, and He gave me that.”

Maximus turned to look into the house at Eden, Staysha, Daysha, and Donna holding children, laughing, and trading secrets. The happiness that oozed from each of them was like watching the stars dance for the men. Even Keon, who was standing on the edge of the green with the phone pressed to his ear.

“Crazy shit ain’t it. Even with all the bullshit we go through tied to the streets; the snakes and still come home to the softest place on earth. Arms open, ready to receive us and take thatweight off of us. I swear that hard nigga don’t exist when she step in.”

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