Page 53 of Absolute Fulfillment
“Completely unrelated, but let’s have a barbecue slash cookout. Family thing and maybe some friends since you’re the social one in the family.”
“I am, ain’t I? I’on know, I got an irritating ass neighbor. Old bitch named Debby. She be knocking on my door and shit leaving sticky notes about regulations and all that good stuff.”
“I told you that you should’ve been cursed her ass out when she called herself telling you that you needed to cut your grass.” Rem hated Debby’s ass because he too had seen her sticky notes.
Jade laughed. “How, when you have damn near a mile long driveway to get to the house?”
“Same shit I said. My property sits further back behind a gate and some trees. She got beef with the other niggas over there too.”
“So yes to the pool party?”
I nodded. “But that ain’t why I came over here, Jade.”
She held her finger up and peered back down at her phone. “Remember when I came by your house I told you there was a cooking class near your place. I’ll book you and Caya’s slots. That way y’all can tell me how it was.”
“For you and who? Hopefully not homeboy who just walked up outta here in the pissy bellbottoms. He was seconds from opening those pockets when you ducked your apple head ass out the door.”
Dimitri laughed and so did I. Rem was going hard about ol’ boy.
Jade shook her head. “So this is because I didn’t answer the phone?”
He folded his arms across his chest like a child. “Yup, because you get all on my case for not answering mine and you ain’t answer your shit.”
“That’s funny because even though I get on your case about you not answering your shit. You still don’t answer it. Youfucking nut. And you…” Her attention was back on me. “Why are you up? You got shot, you should be in the house.”
Dimitri coughed. “Damn sure should.”
I glared at him briefly, then looked back at my sister. “I’m good. I had shit to do but got my fucking plans hijacked by ol’ boy n'em.”
When we finally left my sister’s spot, the first stop was at Kinga’s spot. By then the pain had subsided and I was feeling less like I couldn’t stand and I had a lot of energy. That was probably because Jade was on that herbal shit. She must’ve handed me three mugs of tea before I could make it out of the door. I was glad she was able to get the cooking shit hooked up for me, ’cause that was gonna be hilarious. My baby hated to cook, but the fact that she tried did something for me. The funny thing was, she was good at it, but hated the fucking kitchen with a passion.
When we pulled up to Kinga’s garage, I instructed Rem to pull around back as I already knew Kinga didn’t much frequent the front of the shop. My boy was finicky and didn’t like too many motherfuckers in his space. I understood that wholeheartedly as people weren’t shit but mouths and sponges. With the wrong motherfuckers in your face, you were bound to find anything in your face. Energy and space were sacred, and even though I knew the part about space off mental, I was just having to learn the energy part.
When we got out of the car, I pulled my phone out and called Kinga to see where his ass was.
“Yo, come through the back door. I’m in my office.”
“Bet.” I moved in the door with my brothers in tow. A few steps later I heard giggling and toys falling. When I turned into what I knew was his office, I was immediately greeted by the TV showing that damnLiloand Stitchmovie and a clapping babysitting on a mat. If I wasn’t mistaken, Kysler was the little one with the red hair while Brooklyn had the brown hair.
“You on some daddy daycare motion?” Rem asked, bypassing the toddler to take a seat on the couch.
“Hell yeah. Dogs had a vet appointment. Either one of y’all looking for a dog? My baby just had a litter.”
He picked Brooklyn up and sat her on the desk.
Dimitri laughed. “Hell nah, I can’t stand the little motherfucker I bought as is. Kids love him though.”
Kinga nodded. “My mother in-law is on the way in to get them. We’ll talk business when she grabs them.”
“Bet.”
For the next fifteen or so minutes we made small talk, sure to keep it light for the kid ears present. It baffled me how easy kids were. By the time their grandmother came, Kysler was playing with my chain while I stared at her in awe. I never thought about kids like that, never saw myself with them, but I was good with them. I now saw them as a part of my future. I had no choice, seeing as how I already knew Lil G was mine even though we didn’t share a lick of blood. It just was what it was because a real nigga stepped up to the plate regardless of what was on it. Caya was mine, so that made Adonis mine too.
“You looking for Josiah and Joy Jackson. They do stickups. From what I know it’s some family shit they do.” Kinga walked back in the room with his phone in his hand after seeing his mother-in-law and daughters off.
“Where you get that from?” Rem asked.
Kinga shrugged. “These my streets, bro. I been running them since I was fourteen, hugging blocks from east to west. I may not be in them as much as I used to, but when you move through this city like I did, people don’t forget. He knows that.” He nodded toward Dimitri who nodded.
