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“I guess I shouldn’t complain. Look at you, getting home five hours late from Cuba because of a flight delay.” This time, I yawned. It was true. There was some fishy shit happening at Teterboro earlier today when I should have been flying in. Then my jet malfunctioned. Something electronic with the control board. That took about two hours to fix. I was supposed to be home hours ago. Tonight was my night with Chivon. Her mother had to fly out with her troupe for costume fittings in Atlanta in the morning. They were using the jet, which was why I had to be patient with the jet repair. “At least you can sleep late.”
“Nah.” I rubbed my right eye on the way to the kitchen. “I gotta get lil’ Blueberry in the morning.”
“Awwww,” she cooed. “Maybe Juggy can swing by and pick her up.”
“He’s outta dodge.” Jug was ninety percent back to his normal health again. He’d been in Miami for a few a days, calling Jos-Renee every damn day, begging her to come down there with him. Ashira and I had been trying to remind the nigga she was married. I believed Juggy feared finally losing her friendship now that he was healed. “I’ll be a’ight. Just have to fix a big ass cup of tea before I leave to get her in the morning.”
Josie laughed into the phone. “You and that darn tea.”
“It’sthe—” I heard a loud ass noise coming from outside of the kitchen. “—drink of life,” I finished.
“Is everything okay?”
“I heard some weird ass noise.”
“Mouth, Ojasvi!”
I dropped my keys and went back out into the hallway to the front of the house. “My bad, Queen J. Lemme hit you back. I need to see where this is coming from.”
“Okay. I’ll be here.”
“A’ight.” I made sure the call was disconnected before slipping the phone into my pocket. That was when I learned the sounds were rhythmic. I stopped in the foyer, listening again. The next round led me to the den. It was loud as hell, and from the doorway, I could see a pair ofJ’s hanging from the arm of a sofa. I stepped inside and rounded the couch. Sighing, I gripped the space between my eyes. Clearly, I wasn’t paying attention to my property when I pulled up and headed into the garage. I slapped his leg then wiggled it until my baby brother stirred awake. “Yo. Yo!”
Nicholas jumped up, eyes tight and red. “Aye, man.”
“Aye, man?” I was lowkey offended. “You smell like a fuckin’ bar dumpster. How many you throw back tonight?” It was after one in the morning.
What time did he get here?
Nicholas had his own place but stayed at my crib randomly. Here he could get a good meal and visit his niece. I never tripped, liking his access to my world that way.
“Shit, man,” he groaned, brushing back his long hair with his pale hands. “I came to kick it with you. Where you been? Cuba that far?” His slur game was thick.
“Flight delay. Why you wasted, king?”
“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. Dad’s tripping.”
“How?”What now?
The nigga barely spoke to me now. If it wasn’t about Chivon, he had nothing for me, and I learned to live with it.
“I told my mom you were flying me to Vegas for my birthday. She ratted me out to Dad, and now he’s saying he won’t let Mom cook me a birthday dinner and cake. He’s fucked up, bro.”
When Nicholas had become an adult and grew closer to me, my father distanced himself from us emotionally and physically. Nicholas hadn’t been taking it well. Jug tried to tell me last year, dude been drinking more than casually. He was straight at work, but after hours was when he’d go to the local bar or wildin’ out at his lady friends’ place, drunk.
I took a deep breath, scratching my head. “Yeah, man. He is, but you ain’t. C’mon, and kick off those shoes.” I ran his pockets for his car keys. How this little nigga made it here this wasted, I was afraid to find out. “You’re crashing here tonight. In the morning, we’re gonna kick it about getting you some help with this Daddy shit.” That would help with the drinking, I was sure.
“Nah, man,” he slurred. “I’m good. I’mmago—”
“Nick, man!” I spoke over him. “Yo’ ass is sleepin’ this shit off here. You leave when I say.”
My brother cringed before turning over and lying down. Before I was done pulling his sneakers off, the snoring had resumed.
I made my way upstairs. On the way to my room, I passed Chivon’s and noticed the night light was on. Backing up to confirm it, I walked inside. Sure enough, my baby was stretched out in her little bed, pushing out quiet snores. Then my neck whipped back to the full-sized bed near the door.
Ashira…
She’d brought her by when I called her about the flight delay. Ashira didn’t want me to have to drive all the way out to Edgewater to pick up my little Blueberry in the morning.
