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“I’d rather call it messy,” Aella teased as her mother exited, laughing as she did so.

“Aye,” Mars barked, his arms loaded with a box as he stood in the back of the moving truck Cassius rented a day earlier. He had movers on the way to help expedite the process, but since Mars stopped by to help, they began unloading some of the smaller things from the truck. “I’m tellin’ you right now—if this muthafucker bites me, you’re going to be one dog short.”

Nova stood at the end of the ramp, eyeing him curiously.

“You shoot my dog and I’ll kill you,” Cassius threatened, taking the dog by the collar and ushering her into his not-so-new house. It took Cassius about a week to pack up his home and return to Whiskey Creek, but doing so in such a short time frame meant taking his mother, Jules, up on her offer to occupy his family’s smaller second home.

“Fine. I’ll just strangle her.”

“I’m finna call PETA and report you,” he chuckled.

“Fuck PETA, fuck you, and fuck Cujo.”

“Nigga, you better stop talking about my damn dog,” Cassius warned, laughing as his mother’s vehicle rolled to a stop next to the track.

“What’s up, Ma?” Mars called cheerfully as she stepped out of the car.

Removing her sunshades, she chortled. “Why am I not surprised that you made it here before me?”

“I wouldn’t have been if your son hadn’t summoned me at the crack of dawn, as if I like his ass like that.”

“You better stop cussin’ in front of my mama,” Cassius cut his eyes at Mars before wrapping his mother in a hug.

“Umph,” she groaned as he tightened his hold. “Don’t hug me like you miss me when it took dissension in the family to bring you back home after you ignored my pleas for you to move back for years,” she fussed, swatting him away. “Goes to show how much your mother means to you.”

“I’m back temporarily,” Cassius corrected her. “And I don’t know why you’re carrying on like you haven’t seen me in years when you were in Brighton Bay so much you may as well have bought a house out there.”

“Because I knew visiting you was the only way I’d lay eyes on you,” she said, pulling back and gripping his shoulders as she searched his face. “But speaking of dissension, are you okay? Your father told me about what happened at Severo’s, and I haven’t gotten a chance to talk to you about it yet.”

“I’m straight,” he assured her. “No worries.”

“Cassius,” his mother lowered her voice to a whisper, “marriage isn’t something to take lightly. You⁠—”

Cassius quickly cut her off. “Ain’t nothing to worry about, Ma. A marriage isn’t happening. Aella wouldn’t agree to it, so that’s a wrap. I’m not tying myself to a woman who wants nothing to do with me.”

“Well,” her lips formed a half-hearted smile, “if you say it’s not happening, then fine. I’ll leave it be and help get the cleanup started. Lord knows how much dust this house has collected over the years.”

“I appreciate it. And do me a favor while you’re inside and keep an eye on Nova,” his head jerked in Mars’ direction. “Apparently, Mars is an animal abuser.”

“Aye, that dog has the eyes of a killer. I prefer to think of it as an act of self-preservation,” Mars hollered back, unloading another box from the truck.

Giggling, Jules moved away from her son and sauntered into the house.

Checking to ensure the coast was clear and that his mother was out of earshot, Cassius approached the truck and took a seat on the bumper.

“I need to holla at you about something, bruh.”

Jumping from the back of the truck to the ground, Mars wiped his hands on his basketball shorts. “What’s up?”

“I’ve been having someone tail Korr for the past couple of weeks, keeping track of his comings and goings, the people he’s connected to, and his schedule. For the most part, he does the same shit every day.”

“Which makes him the perfect target,” Mars commented.

“Taking him out will be easy enough for sure. The difficult part will be getting all Five Families together in one place so that everyone has a solid alibi.”

“Yeah,” Mars scratched the back of his head. “That could potentially be problematic.”

“You included,” Cassius emphasized. “If they’ve been watching us like I think they have, then they know you’re linked to my family somehow. We all need to be in the same room at the same time.”