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“A few niggas pretending to be patients bum-rushed us,” Maasai explained. “I don’t know how the fuck they got their weapons through security…” He spread a stern look between me and Dice. “But I do know we can’t afford to let something like this happen again.”
“Sanai didn’t do anything to help them,” Bakari finally spoke up. Now, all eyes were on him.
“And you know that, how?” Hakim frowned at me and then looked at Bakari. I let out a laugh and shook my head.
“Because he was with me and he’s been with me for the past couple of hours,” I said, tucking my knife away and locking my hands to my hips.
“And how the fuck do we know you ain’t set all this up?”
“Look, Hakim, I don’t blame you for being suspicious but I’m not the one you’re looking for. I told you this shit would happen.” I aimed a finger around the semi-circle of men surrounding me. “I told all y'all that it would happen, and everyone wanted to act like I had my own agenda. Like I was scheming to get Junior and now look.” I tossed my hands in the air. “It’s starting. Exactly what I said would happen is happening.” They all stared at me like I was insane, but they couldn’t deny that I was right. Not after what happened tonight.
Seven
“Just because you have a thing for her doesn’t mean we have to let her into our private meeting. I don’t even want to let Dice in right now until I figure some shit out.” Maasai was brooding and stalking around the conference room like a pissed-off bull. I was still shell-shocked from shooting three men dead in the very place I was supposed to save lives.
I sat with my spine curved forward and my elbows on my knees in a swivel chair that gave me enough distraction so that I didn’t become completely unglued.
“I never said I liked her,” I corrected quietly. “I said she seems to have a plan and she won’t stop until she’s executed it. Let’s hear her out. If we’re going to hear her out, then she needs to hear us out, too. It would help if we all worked together is all I’m saying.”
“You do like her, though,” Hakim added. He’d found a bag of chips somewhere and proceeded to crunch them annoyingly loud. Or maybe I couldn’t tolerate any noise since firing my gun. Whatever it was, the sound of him eating at a moment like this was pushing all of my buttons.
I stood to my feet and moved closer to him. I snatched the bag of chips and crushed them in my hand while holding his gaze. His dark eyes narrowed at me in a challenge.
“Really, nigga?” He tried to snatch the bag back, but I moved them away, dashing the trash can in the corner so I could dump them out. Hakim shoved me hard until I collided with the wall.
It was the perfect excuse to let some steam off and throw a punch at him. My fist connected with his jaw, and he stumbled back in shock. That shock turned to anger in a matter of seconds and before Maasai could do anything to stop us, we were fighting.
“Yo! Chill!” my oldest brother shouted but I wasn’t in the mood to listen. I was full to the brim with angry, charged energy that needed an outlet of some sort. Knocking Hakim’s head off was the perfect outlet.
Maasai managed to wedge his body between the flurry of fists flying between Hakim and me. He shoved me to one side and Hakim to the other, his nostrils flaring while he pushed out short puffs of air.
“Both of y'all are fucking childish!” I slouched into the corner, catching my breath while Maasai fussed at us. “With everything that just happened, you want to fight each other? We’re brothers.” He shot his furious glare at both of us then continued. “We’re Godwins. We run this fucking city. Act like you come from a line of Gods instead of attacking each other like fools.” His ranting settled and he fell into a chair, swinging from left to right, making sure Hakim and I knew he wasn’t pleased.
“I know who I am, but you might need to remind Dr. Breeze over here.” Hakim jabbed his thumb in my direction.
“Fuck you. I know who I am.”
“Oh, let me rephrase then,” Hakim sniffed, taking a few steps toward me. The irritation in his eyes bled through into his jerky movements. I still had plenty of fight in me so if he wanted smoke, I had it in spades. “Maybe you need to tell this lil nigga that other people exist outside of him and he’s not the only one reeling from what the hell just happened.”
“I don’t need to tell you or Bakari shit. You already know. So act like it,” Maasai grumbled. “Now, you need to tell me why you think Sanai is so relevant to this meeting, Bakari. I’m not addressing that fight, but I expect you to handle it and not let it carry on outside of this room.”
I rolled my shoulders and purposefully bumped into Hakim on my way to sit down. He sucked his teeth and muttered something under his breath which was cut off by a low rumble in Maasai’s chest. When he sat in a chair on the opposite side of the room from me, I flipped him off when Maasai wasn’t looking.
“He wants her in the meeting because he smashed and now he’s thinking with his dick.”
“Hakim, if you don’t want your teeth knocked out then you need to shut the fuck up.” I made sure he saw the sincerity in my eyes.
“So you’re already taking up for her? For your new pussy.” He chuckled at his own words and I pushed to my feet, ready to swing on him again but I didn’t even know why. Was he pissing me off? Sure. He did that anyway, though. We were brothers and if there was anyone who got under my skin, it was Hakim. Still…there was something else beneath my skin this time and it wasn’t my brother.
“Sit the fuck down, Bakari,” Maasai pleaded with me but there was no sympathy or warmth in the way he did it. It was more like a warning wrapped in plea paper. I listened to him only because I knew if I didn’t, nothing would get accomplished. At a certain point, I had to ignore Hakim.
“Look, the fact of the matter is that Sanai can get close to Junior. She knows his right-hand man and she’s determined to bring this motherfucker down. We have shared interests. It makes sense.” Once my brain fog was clear, it was easier for me to get my point across to Maasai. The room grew silent and I took the opportunity to sit alone with my thoughts.
Was I bringing Sanai in because I fucked her?
My brain instantly rejected that possibility. She seemed like she wanted to stop the Temple takeover as much as we did. I was able to see past her killer instincts and the cocky attitude she put out front for everyone to see.
I saw the little girl who wanted validation from her mother. I saw a determined woman who recognized loyalty and goodness and was willing to protect it. I saw someone who was telling the truth.
