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“Okay. I can’t wait to see you. I need friends. All of the people I’ve befriended are Jakari’s family. It would be awkward for me being around them without being able to be around him. Although we aren’t on bad terms, I’m hurt and trying to get over him.”
“I understand. You know I don’t have friends like that either. It’s always just me and JaCory. I just got home, so I’ll call you back in a little bit.”
“Okay.”
I ended the call and finally ordered my shake and headed home. My mind went back to Jakari, and I truly wanted to talk to him. I knew it wouldn’t be good though. It would only make me long for him more. Grabbing my phone, I blocked his number. The tears fell freely from my eyes, because blocking him from my life and heart hurt like hell. Hearing his voice had me longing for him all over again.
When I walked into my apartment, I flopped on the couch and started looking for places to stay in Pearland. It was right outside of Houston, so it wasn’t far from the action. Pearland wasn’t nearly as small as where I was. It was about the size of Beaumont, maybe a little bigger. I could handle that though. It was still much smaller than D.C.
The cost of living wasn’t much different from where I was, and the district had openings. While I loved being a librarian, I was a certified teacher as well. It wouldn’t take too much to get certified in Texas. Plus, they’d allow me to work while I took the necessary classes and passed the state exam. There was always a need for teachers.
I didn’t think I would be moving again, but this town was too small for me to be here, existing with Jakari. Although I hadn’t seen him, I’d been holed up in my house for three weeks, not going anywhere but to work. I wanted to go to the diner just to see if he was really for real about not being with me, but I talked myself out of it. After my mama came and fucked my mental up, it was definitely out.
I needed to just focus on myself now, like he did. I thought we were better together but maybe that was one-sided. I was better because I wanted to be better for him. I should have wanted that for myself though. I’d considered him to be the healing for my soul, but that was too much pressure on him.
This time, when I started over, I would do it completely for me and not rely on anyone else to make me whole or happy. I was doing that slowly before I met Jakari, but falling for him fucked all that shit up. My soul thought it needed him… It still thought that. That was the reason I had to get away from here. He and his family were too close for me to ever forget him.
When I found an apartment to my liking, I clicked on the link to contact the property management to get a tour. They had an appointment available as soon as Monday evening. That was perfect. I’d leave work at one, get lunch, and be there by four. The place had two bedrooms, a spacious front room and kitchen, and a fireplace. It also had two bathrooms. It looked fairly new as well. This would be my last move if I could help it.
CHAPTER19
JAKARI
“So you’re saying they took it into their own hands to take Tyrese out?” Uncle Storm asked.
“Yes, sir. They didn’t want to give the situation time to escalate,” I responded.
He nodded repeatedly. “Keep them muthafuckas around in case we ever need them again. I like niggas that be about that action. Fuck talking and warning people. They needed to know the Hendersons ain’t to be played with.”
“Uncle Mayor, you have an important call from the council,” Nesha said, interrupting our meeting.
He rolled his eyes. “If it’s about that fucking game room somebody getting cussed the fuck out.”
Aunt Jenahra chuckled, and it caused everyone else to laugh. Uncle Marcus stood and followed him out, I supposed in case he was needed. Uncle WJ stood as I sat, and said, “Thank you for bringing Watchful Eyes on board, Jakari Henderson.”
Everyone chuckled as they passed a box around the table until it got to me. I frowned slightly, then opened it to see new business cards, nameplates for my door and desk, and a couple of company shirts with ‘Jakari Henderson’ embroidered in small letters on the front. I smiled and looked around the room at my aunts and uncles. “Thanks, y’all.”
“I heard Avery came by the other day. I also heard that you handled it well. God was with him, because I don’t know how I would have handled seeing him,” Uncle WJ said. “Thankfully, Pop needed me. That caused me to be away from the office. Speaking of Pop,” he said, then opened the side door.
When my grandfather walked in, we all stood. That was a surprise. We all applauded his presence, because it was rare that he left home ever since Grandma had died. He lifted his hand, gesturing for us to stop. “Y’all sit down.”
We chuckled as the mayor and Uncle Marcus walked back in with frowns on their faces and flopped in their seats. I didn’t know what the call was about, but clearly it wasn’t on the up and up. “Mayor, do you wanna say something before I get started?”
He quickly popped up from his seat like a jack-in-the-box. “Yeah. These white people finna catch all this hurricane fury as soon as I leave from here. They pissed, because I got the ‘black side’ of Nome’s drainage and shit fixed. They can suck my dick. Sorry, Pop. I’m about to fucking blow up on their asses then resign and tell them to fuck themselves. I paid for that shit out of my pocket. I’m about to let them see just how much the Hendersons boost Nome’s finances. I ain’t donating to another muthafucking cause unless it benefits us.”
Everyone remained quiet for a moment, then Uncle WJ said to Philly, “Pull our resources from the volunteer fire department, the post office maintenance, the county maintenance, and the city. I don’t give a fuck about none of that shit if they think they gon’ railroad my brother.”
Everyone stood and applauded again. “Storm when is the next meeting?” Aunt Tiffany asked.
“Tonight,” Uncle Marcus said since Uncle Storm was in his phone.
“We all showing up. Y’all call everybody. Jasper get in touch with Red and tell him to spread the word on the ‘black side’ of Nome. Fuck those people. This shit gon’ be war, and we coming with the big fucking guns. They think because we black, we gon’ stand for their shit? They got another thing coming. We run this shit, and it’s about time we start acting like it!” Aunt Tiff said.
Her face was red and so was Aunt Jen’s. Everybody was so fired up we forgot about whatever Grandpa had to say until he stood. We quieted back down as he said, “I just wanted to let y’all know that I was back.”
He laughed, causing us all to calm down and laugh along with him. “Welcome back, Grandpa,” I said.
He nodded. “I can’t grieve continuously like I’ve been doing. Thanks, Chrissy, for convincing me that I had more to live for. I miss Joan tremendously, but she lives on through my daughters. Hearing Tiffany go off just now reminded me of her fiery temperament. Having Chrissy and Jen at the house reminds me of her nurturing and caring side, along with her great cooking. I have her in all of you. Thank y’all for being patient with me and taking care of me, until I realized that. Storm, in the words of your mama, go show them who running the fucking show.”
