Page 51 of Lost In You
“It wasn’t forceful, Bali. He just wanted y’all to see that whatever concerns me concerns him too.”
“That’s the bullshit he’s selling you,” Noni said, and they walked off, smiling for the cameras like nothing ever happened.
Maui walked over to a chair and had a seat in the waiting area. When Milana and I tried to join her, she stood. “I’m just gonna go. I love y’all.”
I closed my eyes briefly and pulled her back down into my embrace. When I saw Asad looking for me, I knew something had popped off. I quickly released her, and said, “We have to calmly walk out of here so we don’t alert anyone that something is going on. But by the way Asad is looking for me right now, I can tell something has happened.”
Maui looked over at him and released air. She stood, and we made our way to him. When he saw us, he approached. “SS found Mythic on the other side and threw a punch. Mythic pulled his gun. Uncle Storm got involved and all the Henderson men pulled their weapons. Carter and Red are trying to get Mythic out of here in one piece.”
I slowly shook my head as we quietly walked out the back door. The sight before me nearly caused me to drop to the ground. Mythic’s gun was pointed at SS.Jesus.Maui quickly ran over there and stood in front of SS. Trying to remain calm, she said, “Mythic, please. This is my family . . . my brother. He’s just worried about me. We can just go. Okay?”
“Nigga, you put yo’ hands on me. People don’t typically live to tell about that shit.” He flipped that razor in his mouth with his tongue and gave SS a cynical grin. “I respect the hell outta y’all, but I won’t tolerate disrespect. I care for Maui a lot. That’s my girl. She sees the best in me. Y’all ain’t gotta see it.”
He lowered his gun slowly and put it in his waistband. “She’s my peace. I can’t let go of what she freely gives me.”
Maui walked over to him, and he put his arm around her.
“So you just gon’ leave with a nigga that pointed a gun at your brother?” SS yelled as everyone started lowering their weapons.
“Seven, you punched him for no reason. What did he do to warrant that?”
“He corrupted my sister, got her turning her back on her family. You know that DNA test he was waiting on? Yeah. That’s his kid. Nigga probably got more of them running around here. But if that’s what you want, go for it.”
SS stormed off as Maui dropped tears. However, when I saw Uncle Storm’s demeanor, I went to him. He looked so defeated. Maui turned and looked at him and everyone else then left without another word. I buried my face into Uncle Storm’s suit coat, probably staining it with makeup. When I felt him moving, I looked up to see his brothers surrounding him. Uncle WJ started praying aloud for God’s protection for Maui and for SS.
This was too much for all of us. SS should have kept his fucking hands to himself. I felt like this wasn’t over, and it was gonna get bad before it got better. When I saw a vehicle speed up and Mr. Legend get out of it, my heart sank. While he and Uncle Storm had supposedly squashed things, this was different. Guns had been drawn. He had a deep frown on his face, but I could also see the sadness in his eyes.
He spoke to everyone and when he got to Uncle Storm, they shook hands. “Can we go talk at the barbershop?” he asked him.
“Yeah. All the men need to come, because it’s going to take all of us.” Turning his attention to SS at the far end of the building, he yelled sternly, “Seven, get the fuck over here now!”
I could only hope they would come to some sort of agreement to just leave the two of them alone. I thought that was going to happen today, but SS almost caused a massacre. He could have lost his life today, causing Mythic and Maui to lose theirs as well. She wouldn’t have allowed them to shoot Mythic without them shooting her too, no matter what he’d done.
Seven walked over with a deep frown on his face, and all the men got in their vehicles to go up the highway to my daddy’s barbershop. I turned to see Asad still standing there, so I went to him. “Where’s Jayceon, baby?”
“He’s inside with his Nanas and Gigi. Nana Shana, Nana Chas, and my mama.”
I nodded and smiled at him as he wrapped his arms around me. “You okay?” he asked.
“No, but I will be. I wish Karima would have been here to pray. She had a rodeo out of town last night and got stuck in traffic on the way back. She probably would have known something was about to go down before it even happened.”
“Well, thankfully, everyone walked away from this. Let’s get back inside so we can eat cake and continue celebrating with Bali and Noni.”
I nodded and went back inside to see my girls cutting the cake. They glanced at me, and I saw the anger in their eyes. I was surprised they were able to subdue it. This was supposed to be a joyous occasion, but now they would always remember how SS and Mythic didn’t respect that. I truly believed had they not broken up their huddle inside the building, SS would have hit him then. Today would have truly been a disaster for them.
After they took pictures, I walked back over to them and hugged them both. “I’m so proud of y’all. Despite what was happening earlier, this was a beautiful day to celebrate two beautiful Black women who are making history. Fuck them for trying to overshadow it with bullshit.”
They smiled at me and hugged me again. “Thank you, Ashanni. I suppose our celebratory dinner is off,” Bali said.
“No the fuck it ain’t. They gon’ get themselves the fuck together, and they are going to celebrate with y’all. Unfortunately, Maui won’t be here, but everyone else will. I will make sure of that shit.”
I wiped the tear from Noni’s cheek and sent my daddy a text.I know y’all are busy right now, but tell them they all better show up at the family barn for the turn up. The twins deserve that. Get a couple of blunts to calm their hostile asses down.
As I was sliding my phone in my jumpsuit’s pocket, it vibrated. I took it out to see he’d responded.Don’t worry. We gon’ all be there. Storm got Z-Ro coming. We finna get fucked up!
I chuckled at my daddy’s response. Going to Asad as he ate a piece of cake, I opened my mouth for him to feed me a piece. Instead of using his fork, he used his hand. I frowned slightly as he said, “Girl, I washed them before I got a piece.”
I bit my bottom lip, and he put the cake to my mouth. I was sure to allow my tongue to slide all over his fingers. As I was swallowing what was in my mouth and staring at Asad’s crotch, I heard Bali say, “I’m handling obstetrics. See you in a couple of months.”
