Page 71 of Quasim III: King Inferno

I sighed. “Shit, maybe Landon might surprise us.”

“By being obsessed with his God-niece? I don’t think the weirdo will… love isn’t something that we do. Menace might be the one that got lucky, and even then… he kidnapped his wife, so yeah.”

Me and Capri laughed. “And here I thought I had issues with my brothers… Capone ran into Naheim the other day.”

“Sheesh, how did that go? He still works for your brothers, right?”

She shook her head no. “Nope, he stepped back and has been doing his own thing… whatever that is.”

“He’s lucky that he was able to walk away without a scratch. Especially after all he put you through.”

“First of all… he was lucky to be breathing with Cappadonna and Capone. Surprised they didn’t shoot that nigga.”

“I told them not to.”

“And they listened?” We both shrieked.

Capri went and sat on the edge of the tub. “Your brother went and put your ex-boyfriend in a wheelchair, and fucked him up bad to the point the man eats and shits from a bag, right?”

Zoya nodded her head. “Yeah.”

“How did that make you feel?”

“Back then… I told my brother I hated him. Being honest, I did hate him and stayed away from him. Purposely always waiting until five minutes before midnight to call for his birthday, and finding anything to do for the holidays… I wanted him to suffer.”

“Fuck, Zoya.” I whistled.

“Me and Naheim’s shit was ours… it wasn’t their place to stand in and handle it. They’re my brothers, not my fucking muscle. I don’t need them to step into my life and fix things forme because I am a grown woman. When it comes to Capone and Cappadonna, they hold their marriages close and not many know what’s going on in their marriages. I respect it, and all I wanted was for them to do the same. Naheim didn’t need anything more done to him because he has suffered. I want everyone to leave that man alone… I’ve moved on and he has, too.”

“Damn, we not the ones still on his neck… don’t even know that man for real,” Zoya laughed as she sat the test down.

“I’m glad that your mother decided to let that situation with him go and gave you and Meer room to grow.”

“It was going to happen with or without her. I love my mother, and I know our relationship has been tense for the past few years. The minute that I came to the realization that she is just a girl too… a girl living life for the first time, I extended grace. My grandmother isn’t easy, and I can see why she thought what she was doing wasright. Forgiveness is a thing and people need to realize that it can happen, and it did happen.”

“How do you really feel?” I asked, pulling us back onto the subject of Capri being pregnant again.

She smiled. “I’m going to be alright.”

“How are you going to tell Meer?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know… all I know is that we need to get ready to head to this event because Corleon told me that I needed to be there.”

“Be safe tonight, you two.”

I looked around her bathroom. “You be safe… you the one living in serial killer lane.”

Zoya cut her eyes at me. “Bitch, get out.”

We all laughed and hugged each other. I didn’t know where things would go, but I knew having my girls with me was something I needed.

I had gone so long without having genuine friendships that I wanted to keep them close to me and cherish them.

Corleon

I walkedinto our hotel suite as I watched both Jeffie and Skyler dancing while singing into their makeup brushes. A part of me was mesmerized as they continued to sing ‘Mary’s Joint’ by Mary J. Blige. Shit made me miss my moms because this was her favorite song. Any Saturday, I could hear her belting the words out to this song and doing that signature staggering dance that Mary always did while holding the mop in her hand.

Grief was funny like that. I could go months without feeling that pain in my chest, and when I thought I was healing and moving on, that shit struck like a knife in the back. Making me miss everything about my mama. This song brought up so many memories that I couldn’t bring myself to distract them from singing it.

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