Page 45 of Lost In You
“No you aren’t, and that’s okay. Unfortunately, you’ll have to get used to it. Maui made her decision, baby.”
“I know. I just hate what it did to our crew . . . to the bond between the two of us. We always had each other’s back. I stillhave her back, but she’s pushing me away because I was being pushy, trying to get her to tell me her why.”
Jess smirked and gave me the side-eye, like I should have known her why.
“Jess, ain’t no dick good enough to make me turn my back on everyone I love.”
“Never say never, boo.”
“I can say never. I have good dick and my family. My family means the world to me. I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have Jasper and Chas’s horny asses in my life. Besides Maui, they’re my best friends.”
“That’s so good, baby. Uncle Jasper and Aunt Chasity were relationship goals for me. Real shit. Maui is going to have to be broken for her to let go. I hate it, too, because Uncle Storm ain’t himself. I just went over there, and he was sitting outside just staring out at the cows in the pasture behind his house. He stood and hugged me but didn’t say much of anything.”
Right after she said that, he walked inside. He was in desperate need of a haircut. I would have to let Daddy know. I stood from my seat and went to him. “Hey, Uncle Mayor.”
“Hey, Shani.”
I wrapped my arms around him to give him a quick hug, but he held me a little longer, causing the tears to leave me. When he released me, I turned my head to wipe my tears as he went to the counter. The twins walked in with scowls on their faces. I spoke, and they barely spoke back. Going back to my seat, I sat and lowered my head. Jess grabbed my hand. She didn’t say anything, but I knew she was in just as much pain watching Uncle Storm as I was.
The twins got their food and came sat on either side of me. That surprised me, because they’d been practically ignoring me. Jess stood and left us alone, like she knew that we needed privacy. I swallowed the lump in my throat again.
“I heard Asad was fucking you so good, you risked your life to get that shit again,” Bali said.
I closed my eyes briefly and leaned against her. She leaned against me too and did something I didn’t expect. She burst into tears. Noni and I couldn’t keep it together after that. We huddled together and all cried until I felt like I would have to throw up. When I felt strong hands around me, I turned to see Jacob. Rylan and Christian were embracing the twins. I stood and fell into him. This was so hard for all of us.
When Milana walked in, she ran to us, giving out hugs and crying right along with us. This was crazy. We were behaving like Maui was dead. Just the thought of that sent a chill up my spine. I really hoped Mythic proved us all wrong. We all sat, and the guys sat at a table next to us. Other patrons were staring at us like we were crazy, but we didn’t give a fuck . . . never did. We had to constantly remind Aunt Jen and Aunt Chrissy this was our shit. Everyone else was blessed to be able to share our experience.
They would simply roll their eyes and apologize to their customers for our bullshit. Most of the regulars knew to expect it. I grabbed Bali’s hand and gave it a squeeze. She gave me a slight smile and said, “We’re sorry for leaving you out here to deal with it alone. We were just so angry. Still are.”
“I know. I know it was best for y’all to stay to yourselves. I just miss our crew. Have y’all gone out there to see her?”
They both frowned at me. “If we go out there, we might end up killing that nigga,” Noni said.
“I feel y’all on that, but it’s Maui. He’s not holding her hostage. What is it about him that she can’t seem to let go of? I mean, I know she’s getting dick, but shit, he ain’t the only nigga with good dick.”
Bali shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. I stopped trying to understand, Shani. This ain’t my lil sister. You know she swung at Noni when we carried her ass home?”
My eyebrows lifted. “If that’s what a diamond-chip dick do, I don’t want no parts of that shit,” I said.
Milana rolled her eyes and released a slight chuckle. That caused all of us to giggle. We would be okay. All we could do was pray that Maui came to her senses and soon. Uncle Storm walked over to our table and sat. We remained quiet to see what he would say. We’d finally stopped crying, but he had me on the verge of doing so again.
“I have to believe that Maui is going to come back to us. I just hope that she isn’t damaged too badly when she does. She will never be the same after this, so we will have to be patient with her when she returns. Whether she’s with that nigga or not, she still my baby. I can’t stay cooped up. I got a city to run. When the cat’s away, the mice will play. I need to go get my hair cut so people will take a nigga seriously around here. Depression gon’ have to get the hell on.”
I smiled big. I was grateful he didn’t bring me back down. Milana started clapping, and I joined her. He gave us a half smile. “Thank y’all for having Maui’s back enough to tell her when something’s wrong. I love the way y’all love each other. Don’t lose that.”
He stood and walked off, going right behind the counter to give Aunt Jen and Aunt Chrissy a rough time. Everyone needed him back to himself. Things were too dreary around here with him cooped up in the house depressed.
The door opened, and my daddy walked in. “Where that wooly bully nigga at?”
I giggled as Uncle Storm came out with a frown on his face. He went to my dad and slapped his hand. They hugged for a moment, and I could only imagine that it was that way whenthey were kids. My daddy always had his back just like I would always have Maui’s, whether she wanted me to or not.
When I got off, I went straight home. I needed to lay in Asad’s arms something serious today. I’d been lying in his arms every night, though, for the past week and a half. My parents hadn’t said a word about it, but I knew Chasity wasn’t going to hold her tongue for much longer. I was actually surprised she’d held it for this long.
The minute I walked through the door, Jayceon bolted from the couch straight to me. I dropped my bag to the countertop, being sure my hands were free to hug him. “Mommy!”
My eyes watered. It didn’t matter how many times he’d called me that, my heart got softer every time he said it. I stooped and picked him up, immediately kissing his cheek. “Hey, suga! How was your day?”
“It was good! Gigi and Nana Shana came over, then they took me to ride horses at PaPa’s house!”
