Page 26 of Pieces of Us

“I’m not ready, Drue. They’re too close to Megan. What if—”

Drue raised her brow. “What if? What are you going to do?”

“You don’t understand. I can’t explain this right now.”

“Then I think it’s about high time that you do.”

Nehemiah

The Birthday Party

When I pulled onto my father’s block, it was like the Million Man March outside.

I was exaggerating a little, but it seemed as if the whole neighborhood came out to celebrate him. Although my father had a big estate, the neighborhood wasn’t the kind to have huge parties in, especially with a known king pin being the one to throw it.

Shelby told me the party would be small and intimate. This shit was like a damn concert, and I swore I was ten seconds from turning my car around and taking my black ass back home.

What the hell is this man doing?

My father had to be losing his mind to invite people to his home—the place where he rested his head. Although security seemed to be tight and my cousin Ruger and his Rebels were in here deep, I was uncomfortable with all this.

One of his guards noticed me and waved me through the gates, directing me to a spot reserved for me. Only family was allowed to park inside the gates.

I shut off my engine, grabbed the cake and his gift, then climbed out of the car. Immediately, a server came and relieved me of the items as I slapped palms with the guard, Emanuel.

“Good to see you, Hemi.”

“Good to be seen…What’s up with all of this?”

“Man, I’ll let ya pops tell you.”

I shook my head and proceeded to the back of the house where the DJ played “I Get Around” by Tupac Shakur, my father’s favorite artist. Once I made it beyond the gates, I saw people sitting, standing, and in the heated pool. I greeted the people I knew and ignored the ones I didn’t. This shit was ridiculous.

I spotted my father standing on the huge deck with my uncles Lou and Trent along with their soldiers and a few women. When he saw me, he smiled wide.

“My son.” He maneuvered around his people, pulling me in for a hug.

“Happy birthday, Pops.”

He kissed my temple. “Come talk to ya old man for a second.”

I nodded as I hugged my uncles then followed him inside. Shelby and Chelsea had outdone themselves with decorating. There were balloon arches, a banner that read over the hill, and black, white, and gold decor. There was a buffet of food set off to the side of the kitchen and a fruit table on the other side. I followed him through the kitchen to his study and took a seat in the chair in front of his desk.

“I don’t want to make this a long-winded ceremony, so let me say what I have to say.”

“Look, Pop, if this is about Diana—”

“It is, but it ain’t. If you’d let me speak, I wanted to tell you that I apologize for how Vic and I played this. We didn’t think it all the way through and was only thinking about ourselves and what we wanted. Ya moms told me to take care of y’all andprotect y’all, but I failed at that. Victor knew his daughter was a wild child, but he swore she was down with it.

“I also knew you weren’t with it from the jump, and I should have never forced you to marry her. I got beside myself, and I want to apologize for the part I played in this. Morgan Prescott would have been my downfall, Son. I couldn’t allow you two to link.”

“Your downfall?” I queried.

“Yes. Her bitch ass daddy was threatening me. The nigga turned holier than thou and started acting like a bitch. I didn’t want you with her for that reason alone. I could have paid for you to go to whatever school you chose, but I needed you away from her.

“I didn’t want me killing her father to ruin what you were trying to build with her. So, I felt you and Diana would be good for each other, but that proved to be a damn bust.”

“You damn right it was a bust. I wasn’t in love with Diana, and she wasn’t in love with me. She showed me that shit every day, even when I tried to make shit work. You knew Morgan was the only person I’d ever loved, and you took that away from me.”

---