“No, you wouldn’t have. You still got your mama, Malia, and your brother on your mom’s side. The key thing is that they are all back and in one piece.”
“No, it ain’t. This shit ain’t over. They still coming after him. Since when has Trump and his lil army honored a court decision? My dad’s family in Mexico is attached to the Sinaloa Cartel. You think they finna let that shit ride?”
I slowly shook my head. I couldn’t tell him that it was truly done. Because of my involvement with the FBI, they completely released Uncle Marcus. Unc had no knowledge of that shit, and even if he did, who gave a fuck? He wasn’t involved in their shit. The feds were nervous because the cartel wanted to recruit him. Uncle Marcus wasn’t about to put his family in jeopardy. They could give him his inheritance and move the fuck around.
“Man, quit stressing about the unknown. Worry about that shit when or if it happens. For right now, he clear.”
He slid his hand down his face. “You right. This shit is just fucking with me hard. My dad always talked to me about how fucking with the wrong woman could destroy you. He calls them Delilahs.”
“What the hell is that?”
“In the bible?—”
“Oh yeah. You’ll confuse me every time. I don’t be in church, and when I am, I don’t be paying attention.”
He shook his head. “Delilah was Samson’s woman. He told her his secrets, and she fucking told that shit to his opps. They came in and fucked him up. Nigga end up dying because he trusted the wrong woman.”
“Damn. He must’ve been pussy whipped for sho. Let me go read that.”
He shook his head again. I found that was a common occurrence for people when they were around me for an extended amount of time.
“Where you was finna go?”
“Tell Iesha what the fuck it’s gon’ be.”
“Nigga, maybe you should just let that shit go. You gon’ end up in jail on a harassment charge if you keep fucking with her.”
“Naw. She pushing my buttons on purpose. She want me, but she want me to be more subdued . . . not so aggressive. Real eyes see real lies. She playing hard, but she want me as bad as I want her. She either gon’ take me like I am or be by her-fucking-self.”
“Or be with the nigga she was here with.”
I gave him the side-eye as he chuckled. I shot him the finger. That was typically my go-to when I didn’t have a comeback. That shit wasn’t consistent with who I knew her to be. Iesha didn’t usually play games. She was a straight shooter. Something wasn’t right about that situation. When I’d told that nigga what I had to say, I noticed the smirk on his lips when I walked away, like he knew some shit I didn’t.
“Nigga, be careful. Don’t get caught up on no charges,” Ace said as he got out of the vehicle.
“Uh huh. I’ll holla at y’all later.”
I backed out and headed to Beaumont. Iesha was finna tell me what the deal was. If she was done with me, she needed to stay the fuck away from me.
CHAPTER TWO
IESHA
“You gon’ tell that nigga the deal? Clearly, that muthafucka think you belong to him.”
I rolled my eyes. Seven knew how to really rub my nerves raw. I didn’t have time for his bullshit. At the same time, I loved that man. It was something about him that wouldn’t let me stay away. The crazy thing was that every time we were around each other, he pissed me off. Maybe if I broke him off, he would calm his ass down.
We’d been doing this dance for almost two years, it seemed. That shit made me think that I was attracted to his aggressiveness and his bullshit. I huffed as I glanced at Quincy.
“I haven’t talked to Seven in over a month. Why would I clarify anything?”
“He thinks you’ve moved on with me, Iesha. I mean, that is kind of misleading, since I’m your cousin and all,” he said, then chuckled.
I rolled my eyes. I’d picked Quincy up from the airport and took Highway 90 back to Beaumont. I knew they were turning up Henderson style about something involved with them pitching for a documentary. Then Maui texted me to let me know about Noni’s engagement. I decided to stop to congratulate her.
Seeing Seven made me weak, although I was able to pretend I was firm in what I believed. While I hadn’t given him the goodies yet, I fantasized about it all the time. All I wanted was for his ass to be more considerate and engage a filter sometimes. He made my volatile side wanna show up and show out.
“He’s making an assumption. Let him look stupid. He’s so possessive, and we aren’t even together.”
