Page 90 of Weddings on the West: Vol. I Brick & Destiny

“Bitch, if you don’t get the fuck out the way, I’ma shove both them big ass Crocs up your ass! Move!” We heard from outside, and everyone laughed hard as hell when we realized that it was Destiny making threats and not Eden. They both walked in and Des must have got nervous because she fell back. Eden, on the other hand, walked right over to where Brick lay in the bed.

“What’s good, fuck nigga?” she asked as she stomped towards him with her fist up. “Good to see you breathing and shit.”

“Eden, I swear to God if you punch me, I’m sicking my brothers on you!” he hollered, cutting his eyes at her.

“Damn, I’m just playing!” She laughed and threw her hands up. “Y’all in here all emotional and shit! I’m trying to lighten the mood a lil’! Besides, these niggas know they can’t do shit with me one-on-one.” That got a small laugh out of all of us as Destiny tipped towards the bed.

“Peep,” he whispered as he looked up at her.

I felt like we should have given them a little privacy, but I also wasn’t ready to let my brother out of my sight yet. I had the reputation of being “The Protector” but as the oldest, Brick helped raise me and Ki. I wasn’t shit without both of my brothers, no matter how much I complained about them or ventured off on my own.

“Brickly,” she answered, still crying. She sat on the edge of the bed and touched his hand, pulling it to her face and sobbing as she kissed it.

“Baby, please don’t cry. I’m okay,” he promised, looking like it pained him more to see her crying than the bullet or the six-hour surgery he just endured.

“I just-you… Baby,” she squeaked out, not making a bit of sense as he let her cry it out.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “Please stop crying.” My nigga was really in love. And the best part was that I could tell that she loved him just as much. She didn’t know it, but Des would never have to worry about shit ever again. Eden either. They were our family now and would be good forever.

A few hours later, the room was silent. Main had convinced Mama to go home, but the rest of us wouldn’t leave. Destiny sat in a chair right next to Brick, face still pressed into his hand as she slept. Eden was curled up on the window bench asleep since she refused to leave her sister. Kilo was knocked the fuck out on the floor with one lone pillow and a thin ass blanket. I could already hear him fussing about his back later.

I rose from my seat and stretched my weary limbs.

“You gone, bro?” I heard a whisper and looked up to see Brick looking at me in the dark. I stepped closer so I could talk to him, staying far enough away so that I didn’t wake my sister.

“Yeah. I just remembered I got some shit to handle at the house.”

“Bet.” He gave me a faint nod. “Listen man… I appreciate y’all looking out for her while I… wasn’t able to.” He bit his lip and shook away the tears.

“Always, nigga. She’s one of us. You already know. Eden’s crazy ass too.”

“Where were y’all? When I woke up, Ma said y’all stepped out.”

“Handling business,” I said with a nod to let him know exactly what I meant.

“Nigga! Y’all took my girl on a mission!? When I’m up again, I’m on y’all ass!” he fussed.

“You know she was good with us… And she handled herself,” I assured him.

“What? My baby caught her first body without me? I’m about to fuck all y’all up!”

“She did good too. You taught her well.” I chuckled, thinking about the story he told of the first time he took her to the gun range. Her scary ass damn near killed them both, then was too scared to pick up a gun again for weeks.

“She really did good?” he asked with a proud smile on his face.

“Yeah… You taught her to pistol-whip bitches?” I asked.

“Man, hell naw!” He laughed, then quieted down when one of the sleepers started to stir. “Gotdamn.” He sighed, looking over at her sleeping face. I assured him that I would be back in a few hours and headed out. The sun was barely coming up, and I knew it was past time that I got my ass home.

I rode to the house in total silence, just like I liked it. My brothers always talked shit about how I could do everything without needing a soundtrack, but that just made it easier to hear myself think. When I pulled into my driveway, a smile spread across my face, as I remembered who was waiting on me inside. I disarmed the security system and pulled my truck into the garage.

I drug my exhausted body into the house, listening for any sounds before heading upstairs. When I opened the door to the bedroom and saw the empty bed, my heart dropped to my stomach. I checked under the bed, in the closet, and in the bathroom. Those were the only places in the house that she should have been. I came up with nothing each time.

“Fuck,” I mumbled to myself, coming out of the room and falling silent for a moment. I knew she couldn't be far, so I took off in search of her. After the day I had, I needed to see her face more than anything.

I stalked through the house, letting my senses guide me and going room by room until I cleared the entire second floor. Next I went downstairs, filing through each room until I reached the kitchen and heard rustling in my walk-in pantry. I tipped over, quickly flung the door open and was met with a blood curdling scream and a bag of flour to the face.

“Wait!” I said softly as I threw my hands up in peace. When her eyes landed on my face, they widened bigger than twenty-four-inch rims.