Page 6 of Through Treacherous Weather
With his hand still on her belly, they sat in silence and stared at the TV for a moment. Fifteen minutes had passed, when Natalie made herself get up. “I’m sleepy and hungry. I guess I need to eat before I think about going to sleep.”
“You sure you’re in the mood to cook? We can order something.” Wise knew that his wife was trying to be strong and supportive, but he could see the pain in her eyes.
“Yes, I’m good to cook. You know I’m dramatic at times, but it’s not the end of the world. Wisdom is so smart, and he’s happy. I know my baby will be fine.”
Wise bobbed his head. “You’re actually taking it well seeing as how last night you cried when you realized that you were all out of cookies.”
Natalie laughed as her husband shook his head. “Yeah, I’m so glad that I changed my mind about wanting four kids because this is the last pregnancy for sure. I can’t take it. Imani will just have to be my spoiled little princess because I’m never pushing out a girl.”
With a light shake of his head, Wise chuckled. “I pushed my vasectomy appointment back twice, but I’m going next month. My ass is nervous as hell.”
Feigning shock, Natalie’s eyebrows hiked. Not Wise Jacobs nervous? I can’t believe it.”
Wise sucked his teeth and frowned. “We’re talking about someone with a knife around my jewels. Hell yeah, I’m nervous. My dick is one of my best attributes.”
Natalie laughed so hard that it made Wise smile. He was happy that she no longer seemed down about Wisdom’s diagnosis. He didn’t care what a doctor said, his son was perfect inside and out. Wise simply planned to use the best resources to help him flourish in his perfection.
“This man just stood here and said his dick is the best thing about him.”
Wise’s smile dissipated instantly. “That’s not what I said. Baby look around you. You know damn well I’m good for more than that. Don’t play with me.”
Biting her bottom lip, Natalie advanced towards her husband. When she was in front of him, she pecked him on his lips. “You know I was just joking Honey Bun. Stop frowning like that,” she giggled.
“You get a pass today. Try it again, and you’re going to be sleeping down here on the couch.”
Natalie pivoted, turned her back on Wise, reached back, grabbed his hand, and led him to the kitchen. “Picture that ever happening.”
Natalie pushed out a small sigh of relief as she entered the kitchen. She would always worry because that was what mothers did. But Wise had succeeded in making her feel so much better about Wisdom’s diagnosis. She was confident that in no time, he’d be running around the house talking a mile a minute. And if it was never meant for him to utter a word, she’d find a way to be fine with that too. No one had a perfect life, but Natalie felt like she was damn close. There wasn’t much for her to complain about. Yes, it was nice that she had a rich husband, but that wasn’t even the best part.
The best part was the way Wise spoiled her. His loyalty and affection. He was a wonderful husband, father, brother, son, uncle, and friend. Wise had grown tremendously and was proof that anyone could change. If she hadn’t learned anything else,Natalie had learned that things had a way of working themselves out. Wisdom was going to be fine. She was sure of it.
Afew nights later, Heiress nudged Fatima playfully as they walked into a VIP section in one of Miami’s most popular strip clubs. Heiress was geeked to be in the company of some of the finest men that had ever walked the earth. They were rich as hell and fly as fuck. As they made their way through the club, all eyes were on them, just the way she liked it. Fatima ignored Heiress and waited for the bottle girl to fix her a drink. She was pissed that Heiress ran her mouth. Her friend was all hype and giddy about some shit possibly popping off, but Fatima was nervous. She didn’t want her people getting into any shit behind her. And she damn sure didn’t want them getting into it on behalf of Heiress who had already admitted that she was a thief her damn self. Fatima was antsy, and it was coming out in the form of agitation.
Ryan stood in front of a pouting Fatima and did a slow wind to the Nicki Minaj song that was playing. Fatima tried to be persistent with her attitude but eventually, Ryan made her smile. “There you go. You might as well have fun because you know how these knuckle heads are. They’re just going to whoop a little ass then be out. It’s not gon’ get too crazy.” If Ryan hadn’t learned anything else, she’d learned her man.
The guys had each others’ backs and front. And if things got too out of hand, she had a cool lil’ .22 in her purse. Ryan could understand why Fatima was upset, and she was giving Heiress the side eye as well. Ryan reminded herself that the woman was young, but she was still a lil’ too hype about Fatima’s people getting at Caleb and Shawn. Ryan knew how social mediaworked, and it wasn’t Heiress’ fault that Justice contacted her questioning her, because she didn’t include Fatima’s name in the story. Still, Ryan had her eyes on Fatima’s friend. She also didn’t miss the provocative way Heiress was dancing in her barely there dress.
None of the guys would look at her twice, and Ryan was sure of that. Not because she wasn’t pretty but because they weren’t risking their families for her. Yes, they were in the club, but every man in the section was spoken for, and Ryan felt it was a little tacky for Heiress to be bent over twerking with her ass cheeks hanging out of her dress. None of the guys were paying her any attention, however. Since they paid for the section, they were going to drink for a bit and enjoy it. The men knew they couldn’t indulge too much because they needed to be on point for what they planned to do.
Fatima accepted the drink that the server passed her. Once the cup was empty, she felt slightly better. Winter was more of the ratchet sister in terms of fighting and not running from confrontation. Fatima wasn’t a pussy, but shootouts and violence involving men wasn’t her thing. Winter might be the getaway driver for an armed robbery or some shit, while Fatima would be having panic attacks. Wise raised her to be tough, but she was still suburban and proper. Once she started dating, she had more pretty boys than thugs. Fatima was attracted to the sexy nerds and athletes.
Time seemed to stand still when Caleb and Shawn walked by the section with a few other guys that she didn’t recognize. Her and Caleb locked eyes, and she didn’t miss the slight way his orbs widened. Despite her reservations, it almost made her smile to see him appear a tad bit scared to see her. His eyes darted around the section, and he took in the fact that she was four niggas deep in the club. There were five people total inCaleb and Shawn’s crew, but Fatima knew Justice wouldn’t be worried.
As they passed, she didn’t miss the way that Caleb lightly tapped Shawn’s arm to get his attention. The view became blocked by a figure dressed in all black. Fatima’s brows hiked as four men walked into their section. All four had dark skin and thick wicks. They looked like people she wouldn’t want to tangle with. Her head whipped over at Justice to see if they knew the men that had boldly ambled into their section. When his lips parted with a smile, she released a sigh of relief. All of the men gave one another dap, and they began to talk amongst themselves.
“Damn yo’ people cool with the Zoe’s? They connected for real. Those are the niggas out in Opa Locka,” Heiress marveled. When Fatima didn’t respond, she kissed her teeth. “How long are you going to stay mad? Justice lives in North Carolina. I didn’t think he’d come all the way to Miami to get at those niggas. He asked me a question, and I answered him. I didn’t see the need to protect Caleb and Shawn. Fuck them.”
Fatima took a sip of drink number two. Maybe that was the case, and she was overreacting. Not many would have come to Miami just to get at Caleb and Shawn, so she could see where Heiress was coming from. Fatima had talked about her family being trained to go plenty of times but clearly, Heiress didn’t know just how real it could get.
“I just don’t like my people getting in shit. They’ve come so far and left the streets alone, but I get it. It’s all good. I’m just ready for them to get this over with, so they can hop on that jet back to Diamond Cove. I won’t breathe easy until they do.”
“It looks like you might be about to get your wish.”
Fatima followed her friend’s line of vision, and she noticed the crew walking out of the section in a single file line. Justice tucked his chains inside his shirt and pulled his slightly saggingjeans up as he walked. Her heart slammed into her rib cage as she downed the rest of her drink and rushed after them. Fatima wasn’t going to miss the action. Drinking the beverage so fast gave Fatima a head rush, and she felt dizzy as she trekked behind Ryan. Justice was the first to enter Caleb and Shawn’s section, followed by Loyal, then Truce, Kadafi, and the Zoes.
Fatima chose not to go in, but Heiress and Ryan were right there. Justice walked over to Caleb and smiled big while gently grabbing his wrist. She couldn’t hear him because she was too far away, but he appeared to be admiring the watch on Caleb’s wrist, while Caleb frowned.
Fatima wasn’t bad at reading lips, and she was pretty sure that Caleb’s response was, “Do I know you?”
