Page 28 of Dom 3
Pops bent down and shook her little hand like she was grown. “You got some strong genes in you, sweetheart. You gon’ run this family one day.”
Keondra smiled, nervous but charmed. “Hi, Mr. Royal.”
“Pops,” he said simply. “Mr. Royal make me sound like I’m signing checks. You welcome here.”
Ma clapped her hands. “Everybody come eat!”
We stepped into the dining room, and the vibe hit different. Keondra looked at all the food with her eyes wide. “This is nice,” she whispered.
Ma heard her though. “Baby, this ain’t nice. Thisis family and we don’t do regular.”
Dique sat next to Keondra and leaned back in his chair with Amour on his lap. “You good?” he asked Keondra in a low tone.
She nodded, smiling despite not feeling too confident in herself. “Yeah. I’m good.”
I took my seat at the head, next to Pops. Ma sat across from me, tapping her nails against her glass like a judge ready to start court. She looked from Amour to Keondra to Dique.
“So,” she said, with a slow grin. “Now that I finally got all my babies under one roof, y’all gon’ tell me why the streets are talking and why my phone has been ringing off the hook? And don’t nobody try to play me dumb. I’m not your average mama.”
The room fell quiet for a second. Dique looked at me. I leaned back in my chair, calm as ever. “Ma,” I said. “We’ll talk about that after we eat.”
Ma leaned forward, with her eyes narrowing with a sly smile. “Mmm hmm. I figured as much.”
She lifted her fork and pointed it at Keondra. “You hear that, baby? These boys always got something cooking. You better keepyour eyes open and your prayers strong if you’re going to be a Royal woman.”
Keondra gave a small laugh and nodded. “Yes ma’am.”
“Good,” Ma said, turning back to her food. “Now pass me them greens before I start asking questions y’all ain’t ready to answer.”
The table relaxed again, with laughter kicking in and Amour reached for a biscuit with both hands like it was a golden egg. For a moment, it felt like peace, which was a rare thing in our world, but we all knew peace around here never lasted long.
Dinner carried on the way it always did when Ma was in her element all loud, and full of stories. Amour sat between her grandma and daddy, trying everything on her plate while ma doted on her like she was a doll she’d been waiting years to meet. Keondra relaxed some too, laughing with Dique about bullshit since all they did was talk shit to each other. For a second, it felt normal. For a second.
But Ma didn’t let much slide. That woman noticedeverything.Her eyes caught more than any security camera ever could. She ate another bite of greens, looked out the big window, then back at me and Dique.
“Are ya’ll ready to talk? Y’all just gon’ act like I don’t see all them extra bodies outside?” she finally said, with her voice cutting through the laughter. “I counted four trucks, two sitting across the street, and another one at the corner. That ain’t our regular rotation, Dom.”
I set my fork down slow. “Just bein’ careful, Ma.”
“Careful?” she repeated, dropping her eyes into tiny slits. “Boy, careful is one truck, maybe two. That out there?” she pointed toward the window, “that’s lockdown.”
“Ma…”
“No, don’t ‘Ma’ me.” She leaned forward, with her diamond bangles clinking against the table. “Every time it get like this, it means y’all are knee deep in some mess you aren’t telling me about and every time, I find out after the bullets already done flew. I’m too old for surprises.”
Pops’ chair slid back slowly. He’d been quiet the whole time, letting her talk, but when he stood, up the room adjusted. Pops didn’t have to raise his voice… he just had that presence that hushed everything down. “Dee, let the boys breathe,” he said calmly. His tone was smooth and deep. “They’ll tell us when we need to know.”
She stared at him for a second, then exhaled hard. “Alright, but I swear, if I hear one siren near my driveway, I’m beating somebody’s grown ass.”
That broke the tension enough for a few chuckles to sneak around the table. Even from me. Ma muttered under her breath and went back to fixing Amour’s dessert like she hadn’t just threatened her own sons in front of company.
Pops turned his gaze to me and Dique. “After dinner,” he said, quiet but firm. “My office…now.”
That was all he had to say. He meant business and when the plates were cleared, me and Dique followed Pops down the hall to his office. He kept it simple with dark wood walls, and old leather chairs, with the smell of cigar smoke and pine oil lingering. His framed photos told the whole story of who he was throughout life. A man that had done dirt, survived it, and built his empire quietly. He closed the door behind us and leaned against the desk, crossing his arms. His gold watch caught the lamp light.
“I see the extra security,” he started. “I see the tension in this house. I don’t need the news to tell me when my sons at war.”
Neither of us said anything. Dique looked down at his sneakers, chewing on his toothpick now, while I stared at the rug. Pops didn’t like explanations anyway. He liked truth, plain and simple, which I didn’t mind giving, when the time was right.
