Page 105 of Search My Soul
“Damn, I’m glad to know how you really feel,” Duke replied, setting his fork down onto his plate. We’ve never had the kind of relationship where we sugarcoated anything, so he shouldn’t have been surprised.
“Yeah, it is. I might not be shit when it comes to women, but you know how I carry my sisters. You and I have been running through bitches for years. Hell, you were talking about how you made Mercedes get an abortion last year, so when did you even find the time to pursue my sister? Come on now. You can be inyour feelings all you want, but you know you ain’t shit.” I huffed. Duke could try to act like he had amnesia, but we both knew the truth. My sister deserved to have a man who was only with her. Duke didn’t have a monogamous bone in his body, and I wasn’t the kind of brother who would sit around while their sisters got cheated or beaten on.
“I would never cheat on Patience. I’m not gonna act like I haven’t been a fuck nigga in my lifetime, but things are different with her.”
“I’m not tryna hear none of that shit. Did you forget my sister has a child? You must not value your life, because I would slit your throat behind Romi without a second thought,” I vowed. Duke knew firsthand how hard I worked for my family, so it made me wonder why he even thought this would be a good idea.
“Your threats don’t move me because I don’t plan to hurt them. I love Romi as if she came from my balls. Even if Patience and I decided not to deal with one another, she would still be my baby. The only reason I never spoke on this situation was out of respect for your sister. She knew how you would react, so she has been keeping me at arm’s length for years. I’m gonna tell you the same thing I told her, I’m a grown ass man. I’m not afraid of you, and I don’t plan to hurt her. We’ve been playing this cat and mouse game for years, and I’m tired of it.” Running my hand through my beard, all I could think about was the fact that the people in my life couldn’t seem to be honest with me. Then, when shit hit the fan, they wanted me to show up and save the day. Everything was becoming too exhausting for me.
“I guess you’ve got it all figured out, huh? My promises remain the same. If you aren’t gonna be the man they need, leave my family alone. We’ve been boys for a long time, but I promise you don’t want to make an enemy out of me. I’ll forget I ever held any love in my heart for you and bury your momma right next to you.” I needed a blunt or something to take the edge off, but I’vebeen taking a break from any and all drugs. My mind was fucked up enough, and I didn’t need anything else to make it worse.
“Understood,” Duke replied before his phone rang. The grin on his face pissed me off, but I assumed it must have been my sister.
“What’s up, ladybug?”
“Where are you?” I recognized my niece’s voice right away, and it caused me to focus my attention on Duke. “When are you coming to get me? You haven’t come over in a really long time. Do you not love me anymore?” The sadness in her voice made me angry, but I decided to sit back and see how things would play out.
“Of course, I love you, ladybug. You’re my favorite person in the whole world. I’ve been busy with work, but I promise I haven’t forgotten about you. That could never happen.”
“Okay, well can we get ice cream when you come? Oh, and can you buy me another squish mellow?”
“You can have whatever you want. I love you, princess. Give me a couple of days and I’ll be there to see you.”
“Okay, I love you too.” The grin on his face remained which told me that he truly had love for my niece.
“Why are you looking at me like you want to chop my head off?” Duke inquired, reaching for his glass.
“You already know what I’m thinking. My sisters are my everything and my niece means more to me than them. You’re a grown ass man so I would never try to tell you how to live your life. However, when it comes to my family, I will kill any and everyone who tries to harm them,” I warned. Duke was someone I considered a brother, and I trusted him with everything in my life, but I would drop him where he stood if he ever tried to hurt them.
“You already know what’s understood doesn’t have to be explained. Like I said before, I would never do anything to hurteither one of them intentionally. We’re brothers so I would never want to jeopardize our friendship.”
“All right. I hear you.”
“So what’s the deal with you and Neeya? Have you spoken to her recently?” Murk questioned.
“I haven’t spoken to her in a while. I check on her when I can, but the communication has been slim. There’s no beef between us, but I can’t be her friend or anything else right now. I wanted to try because I missed being in her presence but not being able to have her as mine was too much for me to handle. I love her too much to settle for a friendship.”
“I get where you’re coming from, but wouldn’t that be a good start? The two of you have gone through a lot and maybe it could help you to rebuild if you start back as friends,” Murk reasoned.
“I don’t know. I’m not going to be okay with the idea with her dating another nigga, but I don’t have anything to offer her right now. I’m still fucked up behind us losing Zion and I’m sure she is too.” I shrugged, taking the rest of my drink to the head. A part of me felt guilty because I hadn’t been there for Juicy the way I should have been. I didn’t process grief well and I would have only caused more issues for her had I been around. The ladies kept me updated on her well-being so that was enough for me.
“Ahh, shit,” Duke exclaimed.
“Speak of the devil,” Murk mumbled under his breath.
“Aye, we need to leave.” Huncho spoke quietly, sending my thoughts into overdrive.
“What’s going on?” I asked while scoping the scene. I’ve been on high alert due to my lack of sleep as of late. The way they were acting, you would have thought one of the opps had walked into the restaurant. Even though we were in a public place, I had no problem busting my guns if necessary. I would pay someone to clean things up later.
“Hey, sweetheart. Can we get the check, please?” Huncho called out to the waitress as she walked by. I wasn’t done with my food, and it pissed me off that they still hadn’t told me what was going on.
“Aye, one of y’all better speak up before I turn up in this bitch. You know I don’t like surprises or secrets so stop treating me like I’m some type of child.” I hissed. I glanced around once again, trying to see whatever it was they didn’t want me to see. When my eyes landed on her, it all began to make sense.
“We’re in a public place, so you can’t overreact. If anything, we can wait outside for them to come out if you want to do something,” Duke suggested. Everyone was staring at me like a ticking time bomb waiting to go off.
“I’m gonna go speak. It’s the right thing to do,” I replied in a calm tone. Inside, I could feel my anger surging as I wondered how long this had been going on. I remember when I first saw her at one of our events and they were talking to one another. The way she reacted to him gave me the impression that they weren’t cool but seeing them here together made me think she might have really been playing me all along.
“Naw, boss. I don’t think that’s a good idea. Why not just hit her up later on when you’ve had some time to process things?” Huncho attempted to reason with me. However, there was no reasoning with me. I needed answers, and she was the only person who could give them. Scooting my chair back, I stood up and adjusted the buttons on my dress shirt.
