Page 28 of Welcome to the Table
Before Hellcat could respond, she got up from the table, leaving the men to walk. Her head was down, and I knew she felt defeated, but I meant what I said. He rolled his eyes as she walked away. She turned before completely walking off.
“Oh, and you better have that money ready because I ain’t sparing you.” She walked out, and I laughed.
“What’s up with this leaving shit?” Wisdom asked. “And why the fuck are you trusting the words of Fanucci? This Colombian motherfucker been trying to infiltrate the United States with cocaine for years, and you wouldn’t let him. Now, all of a sudden, the people are behind you, and he wants to protect you and not your wife? That shit doesn’t sound suspect to you?” Wisdom asked me.
I hadn’t told Wisdom the entire truth either, and it would remain that way.
“First of all, I’m a fucking man, and don’t think I don’t have my men following my every move. I can’t chance shit and be in fucking jail for not listening. I’ll be good, bro. Just watch over my wife and my daughter. I know my sons gon’ be good,” I told him.
He nodded his head in agreement.
“Is this shit over yet? Because I got shit to do,” Hellcat said.
“I see some shit ain’t gon’ never change.” He laughed, and Hellcat did as well.
“Calliope, what you over there thinking about?” I asked him because he had been a little too quiet.
“I never wanted to be a part of this shit, but I guess I ain’t got a choice in the matter, so I will just move accordingly. But the shit you did with Klarity was uncalled for. I get that the family don’t care too much for her, for whatever reason, but what the fuck about me and how I feel?” he said.
“I told you that something was fucking off with her, but you wouldn’t listen. I’m glad Athena figured the shit out before y’all got too deep,” Hellcat said.
“That’s why I can’t trust nobody. I was fucking with her for years. I found her ass, just for her to snake me. But, how, though? Athena kept saying the shit, but what the fuck happened for her to feel that way?” Calliope asked.
“That’s a conversation that you and your mother should have, because I really don’t know the story. I just know it happened years ago,” I told him, and he nodded.
“Well, we about to head out and go home before more shit pops off, and I lose the little bit of patience that I do have left. I don’t even give a fuck about the story. She gone now, and I’m by myself once again, so I’m good. She could keep the story to herself,” Calliope said, standing to his feet and grabbing his vest.
“Nah, don’t leave. You need to be a little calm. I don’t need you out here fucking shit up. You are my calm son,” I told him. He paused and looked at me before sitting back down.
I knew he had a heavy heart, and this would be the last time I saw my firstborn for a long time, so he had to stay. He was hurt, but he would get over it.
“So, Wisdom, my guy. You gon’ come out of the shadows and play with us in the city?” Hellcat asked him, laughing. This nigga didn’t take shit seriously
“Nah, I’m still in the shadows, watching everything that goes on like usual. I ain’t trying to get in yo’ way, nigga.”
I joined in the laughter, but Calliope was quiet.
We all had another drink since Calliope decided to stay, and he opened up a little, joining in the conversations and laughing finally. We laughed about old shit and what was to come, and it gave me some type of comfort.
When they left, I made my way to Jaci’s room because I knew she would be there in her own thoughts. She was more hurt than anything by my sudden departure, but I didn’t plan to be gone for long. I took the long hallway to her room. Her door was slightly ajar, so I walked in. She was sitting in the middle ofher bed, watching TV. I had long ago upgraded everything in her room. Gone were the little canopy bed with the Barbie set and 32-inch TV.
Athena has changed her color scheme to crimson and crème. Jaci had pledged Delta Sigma Theta while in New York. Everything from the walls to the bedding was those colors. She was watching a show when I walked in. She hadn’t looked at me, so I took that as it being okay for me to walk in. I sat on the edge of her bed with my back to her. I knew she was looking at the TV, but she wasn’t focused on it because it was low as hell.
I heard her sniffles, and my heart broke. Jaci never knew the monster she had for a father. She didn’t know the bodies that I had under my belt. She simply knew me as her Superman, who could save her from anything. She knew the Melph that nobody knew. I was a fucking marshmallow when it came to my daughter. For niggas to be speaking on me in New York had me curious as to how the fuck they knew me and where they were getting their information. I would have Hollygrove check that shit out in my absence. Before I left, I would call him, but now my focus was on Jaci.
I turned to face her, and she was sitting with her knees to her chest and her head resting on them. I didn’t know what to say to soothe her broken heart, but I knew I had to say something.
“I won’t be gone for long, Ladybug,” I called her by the nickname I’d used for her since she came out of her mother’s womb.
“But you are leaving us here, and I still don’t know for what. What have you done so bad, Daddy, that you have to leave us?” she asked with tears running down her face and on her knees.
I knew I couldn’t keep everything from her, and I needed her to boss the fuck up because we had a lot at stake. Her brothers had been training her to defend herself with and without a gun, so I knew she was good. I thought for a moment, ponderingif I should tell her the truth or just pacify a lie. I moved back onto the bed with my back against the wall beside her. I missed these moments, but this one was bittersweet. I wrapped my arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to me.
“Daddy is not a monster, but we are a family, the Black Guerrilla Mafia,” I told her.
She lifted her head to look at me. Her eyes held shock, but I wasn’t keeping the shit from her anymore.
“You mean like Scarface and Luca Brasi?” she asked, and I was surprised. What the fuck did she know about them?
