Page 15 of Through Treacherous Weather
Justice’s left leg bounced anxiously. “I don’t believe they were shooting at you. It makes more sense that they were shooting atus, but I don’t know why. Aside from those lame ass niggas in Miami, I haven’t done anything in a minute. I shouldn’t have any beef but whoever it was killed an innocent bystander. A fuckin’ kid. I tried to be Justice the businessman and the family man, but when I find out who it was…” he stopped talking. There was no need to elaborate. Esco and Fatima knew exactly what kind of time he was on.
Fatima asked her brother if he wanted something to eat, and he declined. Her heart was shattered by the news of Calvin’s death. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw his body laid out on the ground. It was sad because a life was lost, and he was so young. Fatima didn’t care about him being in a group home or even being labeled a problem child. He didn’t deserve to die. Especially if he wasn’t even the target. No, he wasn’t supposed to be at the club that night, but who hadn’t done some shit theyweren’t supposed to do. It was a tragedy all the way around, and she hated the fact that Justice blamed himself.
“I’m worried about him,” she confessed in a low tone before dropping down on the couch. Justice left after only being there for about fifteen minutes. z
“He’s definitely not in a good headspace, but the sooner we can get some answers, hopefully, it will ease his mind. This Heiress chick. You really think we should be looking into her?”
Once again, Fatima frowned. “It’s not like I’ve known her my entire life. I just met her four years ago when I moved to Miami, but like I told my brother, she didn’t know where we were going. She’s not from here and doesn’t know much about Diamond Cove. If she wanted to send some niggas at me, she could have just given them my address.”
Esco nodded. “Just to be on the safe side, at least give me her name and social media information. Better to be safe than sorry.”
Fatima blew out a small breath and did as he asked. She was more than ready to get to the bottom of things because all of this was too much. Not knowing if she was the intended target or why had an uneasiness weighing her down that she couldn’t shake. Thinking about Kadafi and Yaminah both being laid up in the hospital. Calvin being dead. With a hard swallow, Fatima found herself going to social media and looking at Heiress’ profile. She hadn’t posted anything since the day before she left Diamond Cove. Fatima hadn’t even reached out to her and told her what happened that night. She hated the fact that she had to be selective and side eye her own friend. What the fuck was going on?
When Justice got in that night, Lauren was in bed dosing off while trying to watch a movie. The baby she was carrying moved the most anytime she was still. Sleeping through her kicks had become normal for Lauren to do. She had pretty much become immune to the movement while resting unless a foot or hand lodged underneath her ribcage or somewhere else uncomfortable. The sound of Justice walking into the room made Lauren’s eyes open, and she saw that she’d missed the last few minutes of the movie she had been watching. The one thing she hated about pregnancy was the fact that no matter how much sleep she got, her energy never seemed to be fully restored. She was always tired.
“Bae, did you remember to get the cupcakes for Truth’s class?” she mumbled in a sleepy tone while turning over on her side.
The moment she heard him suck his teeth, she knew he’d forgotten. Hormones and being sleepy made Lauren react before really thinking about it. “I texted you twice so you wouldn’t forget, Justice,” she whined.
When his head snapped in her direction and she locked eyes with him, Lauren was reminded of all her man had been through. Calvin, Kadafi, Yaminah. Before she could attempt to right her wrong, Justice was barking at her. “Are you serious right now? With all I have going on, you have an issue with me forgetting some cupcakes?”
Lauren inhaled deeply through her nose. “I’m sorry. I’ll get them in the morning before I drop him off.”
“I’ll drop him off in the morning, and I’ll get them.” There was a deep scowl embedded on his face as he took his shoes off.
“You haven’t been getting a lot of sleep, Justice. I’ll get up in the morning and take him, and you can sleep late if you want. I can get the cupcakes. It’s no big deal.”
“It’s no big deal, but you were just bitching about it.”
He was tired, angry, and upset, and she had started with him about some cupcakes. Lauren made the genuine effort to try and smooth things over. Although she hadn’t been selfish on purpose, she still realized her mistake. “I’m sorry, Justice. You’re right. With all you have going on asking you to go get cupcakes was inconsiderate. I’ll get them.”
“Coming at me about some fuck ass cupcakes,” he murmured. Justice was so angry that he felt like he would explode at any moment. He opened a group home to help kids, and a child got killed on his watch. Calvin was supposed to be at home safe and sound and instead, his dumb ass staff hadn’t even realized the boy was missing.
Justice wanted blood. He wanted blood for Calvin, Yaminah, Kadafi, and Jaiseem. His sisters could have been shot. Everything was a mess, and Lauren apologizing wasn’t good enough. Justice wanted to punch the wall. He wanted to cry. He wanted to give up. He knew running a group home wouldn’t be easy but got damn.
“Justice.” Lauren’s tone held a hint of warning. She was sorry, and she knew she had to give him grace, but she refused to be his punching bag.
“What?” he snapped, and Lauren stared at him with a slack jaw.
Justice had never come at her like that before. Pregnancy hormones had her blinking back tears. Ordinarily, she would have just cursed him out, but she was in a vulnerable state. Internally, she reminded herself not to take his mood personally. He was upset, and he had a right to be. When Calvin’s mother got the news that her son had been killed, she was pissed. Butshe wasn’t the only one. When Justice arrived at the group home and found both the staff knocked out asleep, he woke them up with a loud, deep, “Get the fuck up and get the fuck out.”
When they found out Calvin had snuck out and been killed all while they slept, all they could do was cry, but it was too late for tears. Justice was pissed. He cleaned house and fired everybody. His mother, Trinity, Winter, Ryan, and Ireland had been helping out. Justice wasn’t in the right head space to hold interviews, so he left that to his mother and Trinity. Justice stressed to them that they needed to let people know this wasn’t an easy ass lick where they could just come sleep, bullshit, and make money. It took everything in him not to put his hands on the staff that had allowed Calvin to sneak out. His mother trusted them and that trust had her planning her child’s funeral.
Yes, Calvin was wrong for sneaking out. But he was in a place where he was supposed to be supervised. He never should have been at anybody’s club. When Lauren didn’t respond, Justice put his shoes back on and left the room. Lauren’s teeth gritted as she rubbed her large belly. Hormones aside, it wasn’t even that she couldn’t get past his attitude on that night. It was every night after that. Her man was super stressed, and Lauren didn’t know how to fix it.
Sky had been with them for the past week while her mother was in jail. She didn’t have the money to post bond, and Justice refused to get her out. Lauren was running a household that at the moment had four children in it and an angry ass adult. She was weeks away from giving birth while being mentally and physically tired. Lauren wasn’t sure when Carmen would be released from jail, but she had no problem with Sky being there. Denim wasn’t any trouble, and she had cleaners that came in weekly. Still, she had to prepare for labor and a new baby while supporting her man and nurturing her kids. Lauren wasn’t sure how much chaos she could handle before it took a toll on her.
In the garage, Justice took every negative emotion he had out on the punching bag that hung in the corner. Blow after blow. Justice punched until he was out of breath and tears were streaming down his face. What was the point of changing? For all the bullshit he was enduring he may as well have still been selling drugs, robbing niggas, clubbing every weekend, and living life like a savage. What did becoming a better person get you aside from people testing you because they thought shit was sweet.
Loyal wouldn’t let up off Justice until he was out of the game. Justice had been retired for years and was still being met with bullshit at every turn. He hadn’t had to put his murder game down since Denim’s mother got the bright idea to send people to rob him. His trigger finger was going to get the exercise it had been craving. Just as soon as he found out who shot his people. It damn near didn’t even matter why, but he’d ask just for shits and giggles.
When Justice couldn’t throw another punch, he removed the boxing gloves from his hands and scrubbed the tears from his face. Back inside the house, Justice went into his mancave and grabbed a cup and a bottle of cognac. After pouring a hefty amount, he grabbed a glass jar that contained marijuana and a cigar. The plan was to smoke and drink until his world went black.
Chapter Eight
With a scowlon her pretty face, Trinity leaned forward to buckle the straps on her heels. It had been almost two weeks since her date with Grey, and she had been trying to hold out. Trinity understood why he didn’t reach out to her for sex a lot, but that didn’t mean she liked it. Her body had been aching for him, but she refused to be thirsty. The excitement that flowed through her body when he reached out to her earlier that day made her feel ashamed. The thought of him entering her and probing her mouth with his tongue had Trinity insanely giddy.
The excitement was short lived because he called her two hours later saying he had to cancel because his daughter had a fever, and he didn’t want to leave her with a sitter, so he could chase pussy while she was sick. Trinity completely understood, but that didn’t stop her from being agitated. He had reminded her of one of the main reasons she didn’t care to do men with small children.
