Page 49 of Lost In You
Mila had lost a lot of blood. I had to chastise myself for hoping he would have just killed her. My mama always taught me that what I wished for someone else, could very well happen to me, no matter how much I thought they deserved it. She toldme to pray for my enemies, because they would surely need it when they came after one of God’s children.
It was crazy how her words entered my mind so clearly, like she’d said it yesterday. That also caused me to remember the scripture,Train up a child in the way he should go. When he is old, he won’t depart from it.While I knew I was paraphrasing it, that was the gist. It rang true in this moment.
When I released Ashanni, she turned to me and kissed my lips. After her parents left out of the house with Jayceon, she said, “I have never felt so scared and angry all at the same time. I didn’t care that she was mentally ill. I wanted to fuck her up. I’m glad I didn’t. Had Jayceon pulled away from me because of what he’d seen, it would have broken my heart. I love you so much, Asad, and I love that little boy with all of me.”
The tears flowed down her cheeks. Her anger was dissipating as she stared at the blood on the polished cement floors. I lifted her head by placing my fingers under her chin and stared into her eyes. The growth I’d seen in her over the past month or so was beyond remarkable. It testified to how much she loved me. She was willing to make changes to be who and what I needed. I would do the same for her in a heartbeat.
“I love you, baby. I wouldn’t have faulted you had you blown her head off. I’m glad you didn’t. Not for Jayceon, but for you. You’ve never killed anyone, and the image of her would have bothered you for a long time. Seeing someone be killed is far different from being the killer.”
She frowned at me, and I took a moment to look away. She placed her hands on my either side of my face. “You’ve killed before, Asad?”
“A long time ago. I was a teenager. A man was tryna rob us. We started tussling, and he dropped his gun. I ended up getting to it first because my mama kicked him in the balls. When I thought about his hands groping her as he took her purse, angerflooded my being, and I lit his ass up. All I could think about was him raping and killing my mama. When it was all said and done, I had nightmares about it for years. This is only my second time talking about it since it happened, nearly twenty years ago.”
She hugged me tightly and took a deep ass breath. “I’m sorry you had to go through that, baby.” After pulling away from me, she said, “Let’s get out of here, so Ali’s people can do what they need to do.”
I nodded and grabbed her hand, leading her outside. He was still out there, and he and Seneca were talking. He didn’t look angry anymore, so I was glad about that. I gave them a head nod and Ashanni waved. While she seemed fine now, I knew she might have problems later, especially when she tried to sleep. However long it took to help her get back to herself, I would be there for her. She risked her peace, and now her life to be with me, and I would never take her for granted because of that.
NINETEEN
ASHANNI
“The dick must beoff the charts for you to almost get killed twice.”
I frowned at Bali and shot her the finger. “Shut up, ho.”
She gave me a one-sided smile as she ate her stuffed chicken. I shoulder bumped her, then said, “And it is.”
She and Noni died in laughter. I had to join them, because the dick was definitely something to brag about. Asad had gone to his dad’s house, and I decided to spend time with my girls. Milana walked in with a huge smile on her face. She had been practicing her ass off. I was so proud of her. She was barebacking the fuck out of those horses. She was definitely a young version of her mama. She was built like her but had a darker complexion. She wasn’t as dark complexioned as Uncle Ryder, but she was closer to his skin tone than she was to Aunt Tiffany’s.
“What’chu smiling at?” Noni asked.
“I got invited to the Bill Pickett Rodeo!”
We all clapped and cheered. I was so happy for her. She continued. “Karima and Rylan did too! The Hendersons gone be in that shit!”
We laughed and jumped around excitedly. When Aunt Chrissy joined us, we burst into laughter. She was happy for her baby. Rylan used to be so spoiled behind her. My daddy said niggas had to use the jaws of life to separate his ass from her. I could only laugh at his foolishness.
“I’m so proud of y’all!” I said as I picked Milana up.
She was about three or four inches taller than me, but she was so light I could run around the diner while holding her. The girl looked like a string bean with breasts.
“When is it?”
“In two months, right around the time school starts, in Fort Worth.”
“Sounds like a good time!”
After she was seated, she looked at the twins and smiled. “So the grand opening is tomorrow! Are y’all excited?”
Bali and Noni smiled big. “It’s still hard to believe that we are doctors now with our own practice at only twenty-six years old. So hell yeah, we’re excited!” Bali said.
I was so proud of my cousins. They were doing amazing things. We were all building our legacy. The Hendersons would be here for generations to come, doing amazing things. Before I could blink my eyes, I would be a whole grandmother in these streets, like Aunt Jen and Aunt Chrissy. Seeing my mama morph into grandma mode with Jayceon was beautiful to see. I’d already gotten used to calling her Nana Chas like him.
“I’ve also picked out bridesmaids dresses for a winter wedding!”
“Aww shit. It better not be on Christmas Eve, Milana. I ain’t got young kids no more, but I’ll be damned.”
We turned around to see Uncle Storm standing there. I chuckled, because I remembered how he, Remy, and SS set shit off at Nesha’s wedding. Lennox was looking like he wanted to choke that nigga.
