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Slowly, I rose to my feet, stretching my full length to inspect. Visitors weren’t welcomed around my parts and I hadn’t invited a soul to my property. A quick look at the truck and confusion plagued me. I took my eye off it momentarily to calculate the distance between Aussie and I.
“Aussie,esconder,” I whispered loud enough for only her ears.
The sound of her tiny feet retreating in the distance was the only confirmation I needed to move forward. Uncovering the automatic assault rifle underneath the raised garden bed beside me, I watched the truck come to a complete stop. I tucked the long butt of the gun underneath my arm, aimed it, and charged at the vehicle full speed ahead, ready to unload every round until I heard a familiarclick.
“Who are you and what the fuck do you want?” I yelled, rounding the truck until I reached the front shield where the tint was lighter and didn’t fully conceal the occupant.
It was at that moment that I lowered my weapon and rested it by my side. Faces that I remembered and could never forget stared back at me with as much love in their eyes as I had in my heart for them. Still in front of the truck, I waited for them to exit.
“Ready to clear this bitch out, huh?” Milo scoffed.
“Why didn’t you call?”
“So you can ignore the motherfucker or tell us not to come?” Makai asked. “Nah, player.”
“Besides, we got something special for you.”
“I don’t have time for y’all games and shit. Today isn’t the day. You should’ve called,” I hissed, turning around and starting toward the garden where I’d left Aussie. “Another time, fellas.”
“There’s no time like the present, brother.”
The rasp stopped me in my tracks. All movement halted as the sound of my beating heart replaced nature’s melody. Dropping my head, I tried to remember the last time I’d heard it so vividly, so close and not over wickedly awful collect calls that required spoken codes and attention to detail to avoid incriminating myself and the people around me.
“Mercer?” The rhetorical question fell from my lips, partially due to astonishment and partially due to disbelief.
I turned to find him standing just a few feet shy of me. Respecting my personal space, he tilted his head, trying to gauge my temperament as it related to the moment and my situation.
“Mercer,” I stated, almost inaudibly.
The reality of the moment opened wounds I didn’t know existed until I saw his face. He, too, had left me and for far too long. But, that didn’t stop me from desiring his embrace. He was big bro, the oldest of my father’s children.
Learning of my lack of objection through sheer, raw emotions that surfaced, Mercer pushed forward until I felt his arms around me and his hand on the back of my head. The sharp hairs of my beard that were untamed, uncut, and incredibly thick, brushed against his shirt as I twisted my head from one side to the other. His presence revealed just how out of touch I was with life outside of the one hundred acres of land I’d purchased for Aussie and me almost two years ago.
“Malachi. My brother, I’m sorry.”
My orbs stung, feeling like a thousand tiny needles were having their way with them. I tossed my arm over his shoulder and tightened my grip. It had been so many years since they’d cuffed him and hauled him off to jail to serve a five-year sentence that quickly turned into eight after a manslaughter charge was added to his sentence while inside. A shower incident left him with six stitches up his side and a traceable body on his belt.
“Welcome home.”
I pulled back, wiping the tears from my eyes before they had a chance to fall.
“Where my niece, nigga? I haven’t gotten a picture, a few minutes on the phone, shit.” He chuckled. “What’s up? She probably don’t even know Uncle Mercer loves her little ass down.”
“Trust me, bro, she knows. The little girl is far beyond her age with capabilities that are insane for a two-and-a-half-year-old.”
“She ain’t learned to cut hair yet?”
“Nah. Nah. Not yet.”
“Well, let that be the next skill she learns because her old man needs it. I almost didn’t recognize you, nigga.”
“Man, I don’t care about that shit,” I told him, shrugging my shoulders.
I don’t care about shit, Merc. Nothing but her.The words never left my lips.
“So, where is she?”
“Aussie.” I whistled. “Venir.”
