AllFreeNovel
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“The shirts and shit of mine you wore on vacation, I didn’t wash. I used it to introduce my boys to you. Though they haven’t formally met you, you’re no stranger. They’re very smart boys and great listeners. They’ll behave themselves. If it makes you more comfortable, after I’ve let them meet you, I can lock their door so they aren’t able to come inside until you leave or are more comfortable.”
“No. No. I don’t want their routines altered on my account. If you say they’re going to behave, then I can get over myself.”
“Bet. You ready?”
“No, Makai,” she stated honestly. “But this is as ready as I’ll be, so yes.”
“It’s all good, Kiwi. Come on.”
Their barks rang out into the night air. Glacier’s grip on my hand was tighter than it had ever been. When we entered the house and the barking halted, suddenly, she grew worried.
“What happened? Where are they?”
“On their way inside. They’ve recognized it’s me and have quieted themselves before entering.”
The tension in her body was written all over her beautiful face.
“Relax. Everything will be fine. You’ll know off top if they’re fucking with you or not. They will inspect. Just don’t pani—”
“Oh my God. They’re here!” she shrieked. “What do I do?”
“Nothing. You do nothing, Mommas.”
Midnight and Ghost entered the foyer where we stood, hovering as they did whenever they were suspicious. Ghost led the duo, circling Glacier and me, using his nose to familiarize himself with the new visitor. Midnight was right behind him, conducting his own inspection. Once they’d circled us a few times, Glacier began to relax.
Ghost posted up a few feet away, confirming he’d completed his thorough analysis or whatever the fuck dogs referred to as an investigation. Midnight was the last one to rest on his ass. Both of them stared back at Glacier, who hadn’t taken her eyes off them, afraid of what she thought they might do. Truth was, my boys weren’t going to harm her. I knew that. Deep down, I knew she did as well.
“Can I pet them?”
“They ain’t with all that shit, but you can try. They’ll just walk off if they’re not interested.”
“And they won’t try to bite me?”
“If they wanted to bite you, baby, you’d be bitten by now. Unrecognizable. On the way to the morgue, not the hospital. You good. They fucking with you. You can chill now.”
I left the trio alone and headed for the kitchen. The shrimp noodles in my cabinet had been calling my name since I hit the first of four blunts Trent and I had faced together.
“Behave,” I warned Ghost and Midnight.
Instead of following me to the threshold of the kitchen, because they weren’t allowed inside, they remained fixated on Glacier. That was confirmation they were expecting her undivided attention. She was afraid of them seconds ago.
Now that they were genuinely curious about her, she’d be fighting to get them to leave her ass alone. They’d follow her around like hawks, ready for demands and ready to kill anything that threatened her well-being.
I broke the pack of noodles twice and placed them in a bowl of warm water, careful not to touch them. I popped it into the microwave and set the timer. As the bowl began to spin, I washed my hands and began preparing the things I’d need to enhance the hood classic. Butter, pepper, all-purpose seasoning, and hot sauce.
By the time the microwave beeped, Glacier was still nowhere in sight. I hooked my noodles up, waiting for her to peep her head around the corner. When she didn’t, I went in search of her, not finding her ass until I was on the last forkful of noodles.
She was upstairs, in the room furthest from the rest of them. It was the smallest and one that I didn’t frequent. There was too much pain within its walls. It held my first heartbreak.
“She was beautiful.”
“And the smartest woman one would ever meet. Deemed a genius, but I’m still trying to figure out how the one thing that was most brilliant about her was the same fucking thing that betrayed her. Brought her to the edge, ultimately suggesting that the world was a better place without her. As deep as her love for my father ran, she couldn’t fathom going out alone. He had to join her. She made sure that he would.”
She placed the picture of my mother back on the shelf where she’d got it. When she began to drift in my direction, Midnight and Ghost were at her side. Just like me, my boys had fallen and it didn’t take long at all.
“I’m so sorry.”
“Same, Mommas. Living in a cold ass world without the two people you need most is wicked. I keep wanting this shit to be a nightmare that I can wake up from. But I’ve been awake a long fucking time, long enough to know this is real. This is reality.”
