“There is no making it through this. I told you on our first date that cheating was a deal breaker. Not only did you cheat on me, but you had two children in the process,” she pointed out. “There is no way that I would ever want to make it through some bullshit like that. Besides, now you can be with a woman who isn’t broken.”
As if her finding out about his cheating wasn’t bad enough, she knew what he’d said about her. Pillow talk was supposed to stay on the fucking pillow. It was clear that Chasity didn’t understand that rule. “Baby, I was hurt when we lost the last baby. I was out of my mind for a moment and?—”
Pril raised her hand to stop his unwanted explanation. “I don’t need or want to know the why. The why doesn’t fucking matter.” She pressed her hand on the horn. “All of your things have been moved from my house to your new home here.”
His brows furrowed to her confession. “What the fuck do you mean my new home here? I don’t live here.”
Like a perfectly timed entry, Chasity walked toward the passenger side door of the car. Nervousness was written all over her face. She tried to hide the fact that in her heart she knew that Derrick wanted to be with Pril. Yes, Chasity had his sons, but Pril had his heart. “Hey, baby. Welcome home.”
Derrick glared at Chasity like she had officially lost her ever-loving mind. She stood there with a smile while his life fell apart. “What the fuck did you do, Chasity?”
Her head bucked back. “What do you mean, what the fuck did I do? I didn’t do anything but do what you should havedone years ago. Derrick, I love you, and you should be with your family, not her.”
Stuck was the best adjective to describe how he felt. He wasn’t stuck because he didn’t know what he wanted. He was stuck from shock. “Chasity, that’s not a decision for you to fucking make.”
Pril’s eyes bounced between the two as her head shook. She cleared her throat so that she could get their attention. Once she had it, she spoke. “Derrick, you may not be able to make that decision, but I can. See, I don’t care where you go, but you won’t be at my house. Like I said, all of your worldly possessions are in Chasity’s apartment. You are the last thing missing from the puzzle.”
Derrick stared at Pril. Was she serious, or was this just the hurt in the moment talking? “Baby, please. Can we go somewhere and talk about this?”
“Derrick, you can’t be serious. She doesn’t want you! I do! Why can’t you see that and want me back?” Chasity’s tears fell down her cheeks.
The desperation in her voice made Pril’s skin crawl. She refused to be here for this. “Derrick, please get out and have a conversation with your children’s mother. Your car is over there and she has the keys.”
His head snapped in the direction that she pointed in.What the fuck?“Yo, y’all can’t be serious right now!”
“We are very serious,” Pril replied. She glanced at the time on her phone screen. “I have a nail appointment in an hour. Can you please get out so that I can get to where I need to be?”
Derrick wanted to set the world on fire. His children’s mother plotted on his ass to have him to herself. It looked like it worked too. “Man, fuck dat nail appointment! Dis more important den dat shit!”
“Aye, my boy. Ya tone is problematic. Pipe dat shit down, fuck nigga.” Jordan came out of nowhere seemingly.
Derrick didn’t like Jordan just as much as Jordan didn’t like Derrick. His mere presence annoyed him. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
“I know you ain’t think I was ga let sis handle dis shit by herself. Fuck niggas like you capable of anything,” Jordan said sternly. He pulled his gun from the holster, pulled the hammer back, then tilted his head to the side. “My fuck nigga eliminator is capable of anything when it comes ta laying down one.”
Jordan wished Pril had heeded his advice when he told her not to fuck with Derrick all those years ago. All of this bullshit could have been avoided. The fact was that she didn’t listen and now here they were.
Chapter 1
Tafari “Man” Seasons
2Years Later
Never A Bad Time For Blue Crabs . . .
“Boy, dem crabs was bitin’ taday. I tol’ you dey know when Big Rell in dat boat!” My father, Terrell Seasons, felt himself about the haul for today.
He wasn’t lying, so there was nothing that I had to say against his claim. “Yeah, Daddy. We did good. Half des bushels already sold. Troy in der ’bout to take da head off half dem shrimp.”
I loved fishing, shrimping, and crabbing with my daddy. Ever since I was a little boy, this was how our family made our money for the most part. My daddy had a nine to five, but this was the hustle that brought in the real money. It was one of my favorite pastimes to sit with my parents by the side of the road in Charleston or Mount Pleasant to sell the seafood that we caught that morning. My mama, Shayla, and grandmama, Lula Mae, handled the customers while my daddy, uncle Torrance, cousins Jordan, Troy, and I filled the orders.
“Good! I wasn’t ’bout to fuck wit’ dem shrimp taday. That boy know he can take da head off a shrimp fasta den anyone I know,” my daddy said with a titter.
I laughed as I passed him to walk into the back door of my business. What my father and uncle started, I took to another level when I startedMan Man’s Seafood Market & Ish Restaurant.As I got older, I wanted something that stamped a legacy for my family. I moved us from the side of the road to a storefront seafood market in North Charleston, South Carolina. Next door to the market was& Ish Restaurant.
When I came up with the name of my business, my parents didn’t understand the& Ishpart of it. When they asked why I chose that name for the restaurant, the only explanation that I had was that I planned to sell seafood and shit. When you heard aboutMan Man’s & Ish Restaurant, that was the answer to the question of what was served.Seafood and shit.
“ManMan! Come get dis girl from in front my counta before she get karate chopped in ha melon ass head. This lil heifer wasn’t ’round dis much when y’all was tagetha.” My mama fussed after she walked to the back.
