“Yo’ sister, man. You wanna know details, talk to her,” I said as Mythic handed me a blunt.
His frown deepened as I walked outside and handed Royal the blunt. His dad was the damn plug. He should’ve had some smoke on him already. He practically snatched it from me and lit up immediately.
“Chill out, man. I gotta go in here and get dressed. I’ma call Crew to come chill with you.”
“Naw. I’m finna go home. I may not be there later. I can’t be around her ass right now.”
I watched him walk to his newly built house, then went inside. When I saw Ryder J, I went right to him. “Why would you tell that nigga that?”
“You don’t think he needed to know?”
“Hell fucking naw! Is PJ here? All you did was cause confusion. He didn’t need to know that. He knows the babies aren’t his. That shit wasn’t his business.”
“Man, whatever.”
“Whatever my ass. Don’t have me jacking yo’ ass up before the wedding.”
“Aye, y’all cool out,” Mythic said.
Carter and Red came and stood between us. Carter said, “Ryder, he’s right, man. You didn’t have to tell him. PJ ain’t even here to claim them.”
He nodded and walked out. I slowly shook my head.
“Why would he tell Royal that shit? I think he really cares for Aaliyah. Knowing she could be pregnant for him, he was all in, ready to make her his,” Red said. “I gotta talk to my sister, man. That was fucked up.”
“The way he said that shit, I don’t know if she really admitted to anything. She asked him if he would be mad if the babies were PJ’s. That ain’t admitting guilt. She could have been fucking with him. We don’t know what went down between them when they finally talked after finding out his DNA wasn’t a match,” I said.
Carter nodded. “You right.”
Asad slowly shook his head. “I can’t believe Aaliyah would be that careless. It just doesn’t seem like her to be that way.”
“If it helps you to know, Royal said the condom broke on a couple of occasions. I think he really likes Aaliyah. He just knew what they agreed to. They were both fucking around. If she was truly fucking both of them, she wrong as fuck,” Epic added.
“Yeah, well, let me get dressed. Y’all niggas ain’t finna blame me if we’re late,” I said as I disappeared to a bedroom.
I pulled my phone from my pocket and sent Iesha a text.
I can’t wait to see you, baby. I miss you already.
“I’m gon’ take you in one of these conference rooms and fuck the shit out of you. Why you didn’t let me see this shit you got on before the wedding?” I said in a low voice near Iesha’s ear. “Who you advertising for? You already mine. I don’t need convincing.”
Her face was red as she giggled. “Seven, your sister picked out this dress.”
“Which one?”
“Maui.”
“Mm-hmm. Wait ’til I see her lil ass. They not going on a honeymoon. She’s due in a lil while.” I side-eyed her, then said, “You fine as fuck, even though you got my titties on display like they for sale to the highest bidder and shit.”
She giggled again as Kingsley and Treasure walked in before us. Milana and Ferris were behind us. They would be the last ones to walk in. We would be standing closest to Maui and Mythic, along with Ashanni and Asad. Epic, Cachet, Kingsley, and Treasure would be standing closest to Carter and Bali, and Aaliyah, Remy, Milana, and Ferris would be standing closest to Red and Noni. They’d put Maui and Mythic in the middle, and surprisingly, that was Bali and Noni’s idea.
Iesha slid her hand through the crook of my arm as Aunt Syn and Aunt Vida nodded at us to proceed down the aisle. As we walked in, I saw Iesha’s people seated on the left side toward the back. She smiled their way as we continued down the aisle. Once there and we went our separate ways, me standing next to Asad, I saw my mama crying. I didn’t know how my dad was going to walk all three of them down the aisle at once.
Once Milana and Ferris had come down the aisle, Jacey, Ember, and Cadence were flower girls, and Renzo, Jayceon, and Baylor were ring bearers. I knew Mythic’s son, Caleb, would have been one had he been old enough. It was getting harder and harder to keep up with all these kids. These six belonged to Jess, Nesha, Christian, Rylan, and Asad. Nesha had a flower girl anda ring bearer in the wedding. The funny part was Jakari asking the twins if they wanted JJ to be in it. He got cussed smooth out.
When the doors closed, the music changed, prompting the crowd to stand. My dad was standing there between the twins and there was something tied around his waist. I frowned, trying to figure out what type of bullshit they had going on. He lifted his hand and said, “Rev, I know I normally give you a hard time, but we really have to move quickly. Maui is having contractions. She’s getting close.”
Everyone gasped and whispered as they came down the aisle. I realized the cloth tied around his waist was attached to a wagon. Maui was doing her best to sit up, but she looked to be in pain. The minute he reached the front, the preacher did his spiel about anyone objecting. My dad and I looked around, and Rev. White proceeded. My dad stood in front of all three of his daughters with tears streaming down his face.
