Page 27 of Typa
“Hell fucking yeah. I gave that nigga ten grand to pay for the shit I sold and for the shit that got confiscated. Then he waited a couple of days to say I owed him more. I ain’t giving that nigga another dime. He pissed because I wouldn’t re-up. The night before Maui left, he’d held me in his house for hours, trying to get me to give him more money. He only let me go because I told him I had money at home. I couldn’t give him what I didn’t have on me. That’s why they probably broke in my house.”
Dad shook his head. “We got your back, son. You tryna do right? We gon’ help you do right.
I nodded, feeling appreciative of them. All this time I thought they’d disowned me. They’d kept their distance because of what I was doing. They just wanted me to grow up. As we continued riding, I tried to adjust my arm. That shit was starting to hurt. We headed back to the barn, and Epic had to help me off. I was glad they came, because a nigga would have slid off this horse and hit the ground.
At least my arm was no longer fucking connected to my hip. It was still in a hard cast though. They helped me to the house, and Mama had my pain pills and water ready. “I’m gonna eat, Mama.”
She smiled at me and kissed my cheek. “Come on, baby.”
Before I could sit down, Vanessa was at the door with Caleb. I smiled slightly as Epic let them inside. When she saw me, she gave me a slight smile. I stood from my seat and gave her a friendly hug. “You good?”
“Yeah. I’m just glad you’re still here on this side of the dirt.”
I smiled, then took Caleb from her and kissed his head. “Yeah, me too.”
ELEVEN
MAUI
I lay on my side,staring at the TV. I wasn’t really watching it. My mind was a million miles away, wishing I could come and go as I pleased. It had been a week since the rodeo, and I’d been on strict bedrest ever since. Bali kept me at the clinic for a couple of days with a monitor strapped to my belly. Hearing the baby’s heartbeat gave me solace. It was the most peace I’d felt in a while. I wanted to text Mythic, but I knew communicating with him was what had gotten me here. I wasn’t ready to just be his co-parent.
Shaydon had been calling every day to check on me. I appreciated his concern. Mythic hadn’t messaged me since I last saw him. I felt like that was because he thought I had let him go. He thought I wanted Shaydon.Maybe I should.Shaydon was safe. He was what women fantasized about. The man was caring, sensitive, sweet, funny, and rough around the edges. He could be rough when he needed to be, but his dominant personality was what I liked about him. The way he held me a week ago stayed with me.
Even after what happened that day I fell asleep in his arms, he never brought it up to me. I just knew he would have saidsomething about it by now. He was so mature for his age. I knew his parents played a huge role in that. The only place Mr. Shylou and Mrs. Cass allowed him to stay overnight at was Uncle Kenny’s house. When they were younger, he was always hanging with King and Kane. His brother, Shymir, was always with them too. SS, Royal, and Crew would be in the mix as well.
There was a knock on the door, and I knew it was either one of my parents or Aunt Vida. They’d all been taking care of me like I was an invalid. Bali and Noni would come in the evenings when they left the clinic for the day. Since Seven and Remy still lived here as well, they would check on me periodically. I should have been getting plans together for my house. My birthday was in a couple of days. I would be twenty-five and would get my money. I used to be excited about it. I almost didn’t care now.
It was a lot of money, nearly three million the last time I looked. Henderson Ranch and Farms had set us up for life. I knew that I would spend a grip on a house, right next to Ashanni, but I wasn’t so sure about anything anymore. I thought I would have been a dentist by now, raking in even more money. Once I started school, I let Ashanni talk me into going into business administration with her so we could work together for the family business. I supposed it wasn’t too late to go back to school for that, but it would be extra hard with a kid.
When the door opened and I saw my mama, I smiled slightly. She smiled back and asked, “You need anything, baby?”
“No, ma’am.”
She glanced behind her, then came inside. Sitting next to me, she asked, “How are you feeling?”
“I feel okay.”
I knew she wanted to tell me about Mythic, but the last time she tried, I told her not to. I didn’t want to talk about Mythic at all. It was a constant reminder of what I couldn’t have. I could barely listen to Glorilla these days, because I always thoughtabout him when I heard that song. We would laugh and say she made that song about him.Thinkingabout him would cause my damn blood pressure to rise, so I surely couldn’t talk about him.
How was I supposed to let him go? Nobody got me like him. He knew what I was thinking without me saying a word and vice versa. I loved him so much. I was convinced our souls were tied . . . hell, they were tangled. Loving him hurt so good. I hated the shit he was involved in, but his soul? It was beautiful. Despite the evil crimes he’d committed, he was good at his core. Living without him was torture.
“So what do you wanna do for your birthday?”
I shrugged. “Nothing, I guess. I’m pretty much confined to bed.”
She smiled slightly. “I think we can come up with something. It’s your twenty-fifth, and that’s big for the Hendersons, right?” she said, obviously trying to get me excited about it.
“Yeah, I suppose it is,” I responded, then smiled tightly.
“Well, I have to go meet with Tyeis and Yendi about articles they’re doing for Nome News. We decided to crank that back up. Yendi is doing her section on books of course, and Tyeis’s column is about mental health and therapy. Then I have to make a trip to Houston to check on Mama. The doctor said she’s at the beginning stages of dementia. I hate that.”
I nodded. I wasn’t that close to Grandma, but I hated to hear that news also. I felt like the only reason I wasn’t as close to my mother’s parents was because they lived out of town. Like Jacob, I did my best to get along with everyone. “I hate that too, Mama. Give her my love.”
“I will, sweetness. Vida is downstairs, and your dad will be back shortly.”
“Okay. I’m sure I’ll know exactly when he walks through the door.”
I chuckled, and Mama did too. “He loves messing with, Indie.”
