Page 39 of When Love Takes Root

Marcus pointed from beside the filing cabinet. “LaToya and Tina.”

Juice slapped the arm of the chair and leaned forward. “See! That’s exactly what I’m talking about!”

Onyx dropped his head, laughing before he could fight it.

Onyx lifted his water bottle toward Juice. “You stupid.”

Juice said, “I’m accurate.”

Darnell tried to slide back into the bay, still laughing.

Juice called after him, “Go count something.”

Darnell’s voice floated back. “Yes, sir.”

The laughter lingered a little longer, warm and necessary. The smile on Onyx’s face eased first.

That was how I knew we’d reached the real reason he came.

Onyx said, “She got five kids herself.”

Juice lifted his brows. “Of course she do. That family don’t believe in small gatherings.”

A small smile touched Onyx’s face, but it didn’t stay. “JJ, Kayden, Maya, Zuri, and Skye.”

Juice went still for half a beat, then narrowed his eyes. “There you go again.”

Onyx frowned. “What now?”

Juice said, “You just did it with the kids too. Sir, are you making a list or starting a roll call?”

This time, Onyx laughed softer, but the sound didn’t travel as far. “I know their names because I’m their godfather.”

The room quieted. Not awkwardly. Respectfully.

Onyx looked down at the water bottle in his hand, his thumb moving along the plastic ridge. “Big J was my brother. Not blood but every way that counted. We played ball together. Doubled up on dates before me and Leilani got serious. Changed tires in the rain. Argued over music. Stood in each other’s kitchens like we paid bills there. When he married Celeste, we didn’t lose him to her. We all became family.”

His throat moved once.

“After he passed, that didn’t change. Those kids are mine too. If something’s wrong where they spend time, where their mama works, where they might be sitting after school doing homework or eating snacks in the back, I’m not sending just anybody over there.”

I set the pen down.

A widow with five children was already heavy. A widow whose children had a godfather sitting in my office with fear disguised as control was something else entirely. That wasn’t a favor. That was a man carrying the promise he’d made to someone who couldn’t stand beside him anymore.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

Onyx said, “She owns Celestial Crowns Hair Haven over on DePriest.”

Onyx set the water bottle down. “Lights flickering near her styling stations. Breakers tripping when she runs more than two dryers. An outlet sparked yesterday near the shampoo area, and this morning, she smelled something hot by the back wall.”

My pen stopped moving.

Juice stopped rocking in the chair.

A salon wasn’t a place to gamble with bad wiring. Between the dryers, water, and crowded stations, one mistake could cost lives.

“She shut that station down?” I asked.