Page 13 of Mafia Kings & Wedding Rings 2: The Finale
“So, it’s dangerous?” I wondered, reaching for the blunt when she passed it in my direction.
I wasn’t naïve about Staten or his family. He and his brothers all carried this ‘fuck with me if you want to’ demeanor. The tattoos and that dark glint in their eyes was all very telling about each of them. Staten didn’t discuss that part of his life with me, and I was OK with that. There were a few nights where he came home looking like he had gone to war with the world, but I wouldnever press him. I just made sure that the house and the kids were good to alleviate the obvious stress absorbing him. When he walked through the door, I wanted him to be able to leave that behind and focus on what was going on under his roof.
“I’m sure they’ll be fine. It’s better to not think about what could go wrong and let them do what they do. I’ve watched them all come out of some of the stickiest situations. It comes with the territory from time to time.”
“Do you know what happened that night? The accident?” I took another pull from the blunt before passing to Plum.
Sol took a sip of her drink before leaning forward with the glass between both hands. She studied the brown liquid for a minute before speaking again.
“Staten picked Rossi up because she caught a flat in her car. It was late, and she didn’t want to wait for a car service. There was already some alleged beef between Staten and this dude, Dame. Damien Carruthers. He and Staten went to school together. He was basically a nobody who always wanted to be down with Staten and his brothers. He was lame. Grew up, got plugged in to one of the other families and moving a little weight. He made the mistake of disrespecting and trying to move in on Marek territory, so Staten had to check him in front of a lot of people. Dame didn’t take it so well, especially when Staten pistol whipped him.”
The man she talked about didn’t sound like Staten to me. He sounded cold, ruthless, and he was anything but that when I was with him. Something in his eyes told me a beast rested somewhere inside him though. It was in his jawline and that little vein in his temple when he was upset. Little things I peeped about him very early on. I could even tell when one of the kids was pushing him a little too far. Sometimes it was cute, but there were other times I knew he was teetering right on the edge of an explosion.
“He made an enemy that he underestimated. Staten stopped to get gas, and Dame happened to be there and followed him and Rossi. He shot at the car, and Staten shot back. They ended up in traffic, and I believe that’s when your mother’s car was hit,” Sol expressed. “That’s how Rossi got paralyzed and Staten was shot in the chest. The two of them almost died.”
“And my mother did die,” I whispered.
“I know it doesn’t bring her back or make it better, but . . . maybe this can give you some closure.” Plum reached out to grab my hand. “It wasn’t something that was done intentionally. On top of that, the doctors said that the aneurysm is what killed her, not the accident.”
“I need another drink,” I huffed, hopping off the couch.
“Let’s order some food. I’ll keep the drinks going, and let’s break out the karaoke machine. We haven’t done that in a while.”
“I don’t know about all that,” I mumbled.
“Come on. It’ll make you feel better!” Plum encouraged. “What y’all want to eat?”
“Some damn ribs!” Sol suggested.
“Girl, I’m with you when you right.” Plum aimed a finger at her and picked up her phone. “Let me call my little plug at Ruby’s Soul.”
Between the two of them, they managed to distract me, but my mind was still on Staten and the kids. Tavi and Saga had their mother, but Piaget and Rogue were weighing on my heart. I’d grown closer to the two of them than I could have imagined. Rogue instantly became like Velcro since we spent the most time together. One night I even found him under my bed where he had fallen asleep with his favorite blanket. With Piaget, it was all about getting her to focus. My girl could go from zero to sixty in a blink. I decided to sign her up for dance recently and was going to surprise her with her first class next week. She did enoughentertaining when she was home, so I figured why not give her another outlet.
“I can’t just let you sit around here playing what if and moping though, Brie.”
“Why not? I’m also fresh off a breakup.”
“You are not hurt behind Sayer’s trifling ass,” Plum called me out. “The situation is fucked up, but you were one foot in and out the door with that anyway. God just gave you a little push.”
“Wait, who is Sayer?” Sol queried.
“My ex,” I revealed. “The night I met Staten and the kids at the grocery store, I stopped by Sayer’s spot after and found him with Kendra, his baby mama that I knew nothing about. Girl is due any day now.”
“Wow. The audacity.” Sol shook her head.
“Now tell me that wasn’t a sign.” Plum nudged me. “You meet Staten the same night you find out the truth about that fuck nigga. Now you’re living in his house, helping take care of his kids. Brie . . . listen to the Lord, sis.”
“Whatever, Plum,” I scoffed.
“I’m telling you! Everything happens for a reason! Now . . . about that karaoke!”
We sang every heartbreak, old-school song we could think of. Between the laughing, twerking, and cheering each other on, my voice was gone, my knees were shot, and my cheeks and stomach ached from laughing so much. Plum kept the drinks coming, and we all took an edible that Sol had with her. When the food arrived, we kept it up, eating between takes until we were drunk on the floor in front of the coffee table like thatWaiting to Exhalescene.
After cleaning the bone of my last rib, I tossed it into the basket with the other four I’d demolished and leaned back against the couch. Plum came across an unopened bottle of Marek Reserve from the back bottom shelf of our collection.Neither of us remembered it being there. Now it was nearly gone since we’d been tossing back shots.
“You know what . . . I ain’t mad at the Marek Reserve.” Plum licked her fingers and brought her glass to her lips to swallow the last of it. “Got me wanting to drunk text a few niggas and see if they trying to be my sneaky link.”
“Girl, don’t do it.” Sol shook her head and bit into a rib. “Especially if you ain’t trying to reignite the fire. That reserve will have a nigga ready to marry you. Trust me.” Sol flashed the fat, teardrop-shaped rock on her finger and finished her food.
