AUGUST, page 20
Right away, Asia sensed the switch up in me. “Everything okay?” she questioned.
Harold pointed his cane at me. “Thanks to you, I gotta move!”
“I’m pleased,” I replied, nonplussed.
“Come on, June, let’s go wait for Daddy at the elevator,” Asia suggested.
“Yo’ daddy is a bitch ass nigga,” Harold told June. His ass was about to lose the last three teeth in his mouth.
Katrina gasped. “Mr. Harold!”
“You shut up, old hussy. You think I’on know you fuckin’ Mary’s son.”
“Aye, nigga!” I hated to cut the fuck up in front of June and Asia, and I surely hated to come to Katrina’s defense. But this old nigga was about to get his wings earlier than expected. The security guard brought his fat ass over and intervened when he heard us getting too loud.
“Mr. Harold. Gone back up to your apartment,” he said.
“Don’t tell me what to do, fat fucka!” Harold barked.
“If you don’t, I’m gon’ have to call the police and tell ‘em you harassin’ folks again.”
Harold waved the guard off. “Fuck you,” he mumbled as he shuffled to the elevator.
June, Asia, and I took the other elevator to avoid being in closed in spaces with him. He would provoke me to snap his old ass neck.
“Daddy?”
“Yeah, baby?”
“You’re not a bitch ass nigga. That old man is a liar.”
I wanted to chastise June for saying that shit, but I laughed instead. Asia busted out laughing too. Thankfully, with me and Jericho in his life, June had no idea what a bitch ass nigga was yet.
“Nah, I’ain that, my baby.”
“That’s right! You are the best daddy ever!”
“He is the best,” Asia seconded.
The elevator opened with me peering down at June. With a smile that was identical to mine at his age, he peered up at me. In a flash, I was back in time, seeing myself peer up at my mother as she held my hand.
“Close your eyes, baby boy,” Mama said.
“Why?” I questioned.
“Close them now, August!” she whispered.
Closing my eyes tightly, I held onto my mama’s hand. We were supposed to be shopping with my daddy. He went off to another aisle, so Mama and I went to find him. Daddy was standing in another aisle with a man who looked just like him but was much younger. The two were arguing. Mama told me to close my eyes, but I could still hear them arguing.
That’s when I heard it.
“August!”
Blinking, I focused in on Asia’s concerned expression.
“We’re on our floor,” she informed me.
Stepping from the elevator, I eased my grip up on June’s hand. Me holding his hand so tightly didn’t faze him. However, my palm sweat against his smaller palm. Putting the vague memory to the back of my mind, I got my shit together and entered Mary’s apartment behind Asia.
“Mrs. Mary!” June let my hand go and ran to Mary, whose arms were opened wide. The smile on her face was unforgettable.
Moisture clouded my eyes. At one point, I had this. I had it and fucked it up.
“Baby, you okay?” Asia’s hand touched my face as she spoke under her breath. I wasn’t aware that I wore frown lines until my face relaxed.
Lifting her chin, I kissed her lips. “I’m cool, lil’ mama.”
She knew I was a fucking lie but didn’t call me on it. Leaving it be, she went to Mary and hugged her. I was next, placing a kiss on Mary’s cheek. She touched my cheek too.
“Your energy is off,” she whispered.
“I’m good,” I lied. She chuckled.
Moving away, I sat on the couch with Asia while June climbed in Mary’s lap. He opened the book to start reading. My boy made me proud, reading slowly but with animated voices that had us joining in his fun. The book, Weekend at Grandma’s: The Talking Couch, by Mar Keita, was one of four books June ended up selecting. So far, I could tell why he enjoyed this author’s stories.
“Run, Jonie!” he shouted and giggled at the same time.
“Run, Marie!”
Mama nearly stumbled as she snatched me up and took off running.
“Keep your eyes closed, baby!”
The urgency in her voice frightened me.
“Daddy!”
Bouncing back to the now, I plastered a smile on my face and answered June.
“I’m all done!” He bounced off of Mary’s lap and handed me the book.
“He did fabulous!” Mary praised.
“He sure did,” Asia seconded.
I’d checked out, missing the end of the book. Plus, my heart raced like fuck. I wasn’t sure what the fuck was going on in my head. Seeing shit I that I couldn’t recall happening fucked with me. Either I was hallucinating, or something was very fucking wrong. There was no way I could’ve gone through an entire shootout and not remember it. Confused as fuck, I ignored it, hoping like hell I wasn’t losing my fucking mind.
A couple days later…
Outside of the courtroom, I stood by my truck, visible to Elijah and his family as they exited the building. Lotus looked nervous as fuck to see me. Her nervousness made her daughter look me up and down. Since my baby had already fucked her up, I deduced that she was the weakest fucking link. The person’s eyes who assessed me the hardest were Eli’s. He remembered my face and where he knew me from. He glanced at his pops who had a mug on his face.
Thanks to Grey coming through for me, Elijah sat in jail for a little while to get his fucking sense about him. Not that I would encourage Asia to drop any of the charges, but the State picked them up anyway. Elijah fucked up being on Ensley Shores property when he attacked Asia. That was grounds for elder endangerment on state property. For now, he was on bond until his next court date.
As for Tera, she was on bail too. Word had it that she cried to the judge about being provoked. The only thing Asia could’ve provoked out of her muthafuckin’ ass was jealousy.
“Y’all go to the car,” Eli told his people. Elijah wasn’t going for that shit.
“I got this,” he said.
“No, Daddy. Come to the car,” Tera stated. Good. Asia must’ve given her a brain transplant.
Reluctantly, Eli let his wife and daughter pull him toward their ride. Meanwhile, Eli approached me looking paranoid as fuck.
“It’s been a minute.” He tried dapping me. I grilled his fucking hand and him.
“When you ever known me to be friendly, nigga?”
He took his hand back and pretended to scratch his head.
“Ya mama had a lotta shit to say ‘bout what you was gon’ do to me.” I chuckled.
“Look, mane. Let’s squash this shit, aight. Ain’t nobody tryna fuck witchu like that.”
“I know. Tell ya pussy ass daddy that if I gave a fuck about that lady who gave birth to you, I would put his muthafuckin’ ass on blast. You’d think after makin’ a baby on his wife that he would learn how to keep his fuckin’ dick in his pants.”
Eli’s face balled up as he glanced over his shoulder at his pops.
“Still fuckin’ around on the missus is crazy, right?”
It took him a second to bring his attention back to me.
“Like I was saying. What I need you and ya people to know is I want all the fuckin’ smoke behind Asia. And we both know I’ain gon’ choke on that shit. Pretend like she came from another nigga’s nuts and forget she exists. I’m tryna be polite about this shit. But if one of you muhfuckas push me… I’m definitely on that.”
He clicked his teeth. “I just said ain’t nobody on that shit, bruh.”
“Yeah, aight. Get the fuck outta my face.”
Walking away without laying hands on a muthafucka was grown August. He and I were getting along better lately. Now if I could just shake the fucking dreams flooding in.
“You sure you’ve got this?”
Katrina eyed me then Mary, who sat in the passenger seat of my truck.
“She’s in good hands,” I assured her.
“I sure am. Now carry yo’ old sour self on somewhere. We’ve got places to be.”
Katrina rolled her eyes at Mary before stalking off without a goodbye. Since Harold dropped salt on her, she’d been walking on fucking eggshells around me.
Laughing, I shut the passenger door. Mary didn’t even know where she was going. All she knew was that I had a surprise for her. With the end of March came June’s birthday. I couldn’t celebrate his day without one of my favorite people being there.
Weeks had passed and my love for Mary only amplified. The more I went to Ensley Shores, the more I wanted her out of there. It went from me visiting her twice a week, to now calling her every day, or popping up on her whenever I felt like it. It was beyond the point of me wanting her out of there. I was preparing to bring her home.
The library I started in my spare bedroom was almost complete. I’d bought so many books over the last few weeks that Asia was starting to question what the hell I was up to. I’d been keeping the library a secret. Whether she knew it or not, once it was fully complete, her ass was moving in with me. So far, the library was an exact replica of the library at her house. Therefore, there was no reason she shouldn’t want to live with me forever. Her and Mary.
“This is my first time being outside of there. I don’t even get to leave for doctor’s appointments.” She snickered. “Ensley Shores has its pros. I guess I shouldn’t complain because I haven’t had any real issues outside of Harold.”
“Harold won’t be fuckin’ witchu anymore,” I told her.
She guffawed. “That stubborn old man won’t go peacefully, I can tell you that.”
I hated how sure she sounded.
“It’s been other people on my floor who left because of him. He’s a bully.”
“Well,” I started. “He bullied the wrong lady. You got someone on ya side who doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty.” I reached over and tweaked her chin. “Aight?”
She nodded. “Okay.” Her smile was that of a woman finally accepting that someone could actually want to love and protect her. My heart broke for Mary. Which was why I was determined to show her that she deserved the world. I was going to give it to her.
Kids screaming and carrying on like they were the only ones in the neighborhood met us as I pulled into my driveway. My whole family was here to celebrate June’s big day. I helped Mary out of the truck and felt like the proudest nigga walking her to the back where the yard teemed with my family.
King spotted us first. He put his plate down and came over to meet Mary. His expression went from shock to puddy in a heartbeat. I could see his throat moving as he fought back his emotions. Seeing Mary did that shit.
He was aware that she was blind and approached her carefully. “This has to be Mary,” he said.
Her smile stretched across her face. “Why, yes! You smell and sound like August.”
King chuckled. “Just like I told ya granddaughter, I’m finer than this nigga. It’s King, by the way.”
Mary shouted with laughter, drawing June’s attention.
“Mrs. Mary!” he shouted and ran across the yard to hug her legs.
“Hey, baby boy!”
“Your boys need you.”
Hearing my mother crying again made me so sad I couldn’t enjoy the movie. Lately, I’d forgotten how to be happy, and I was only five.
“Fuck them boys!” my father hissed.
“August?”
King’s voice swept into my mind, bringing me back to the present.
“I’m gon’ take Mary to meet everyone. Is that cool?”
“Yeah,” I replied, putting Mary’s hand into his. “Be careful, bruh.”
King looked at me like I was crazy, then laughed. “I got this.”
“I’ll be fine, August,” Mary added.
Yes she would be. Amongst me and my people, she would always be fine.
Chapter Thirty-Three
ASIA ANTHONY
I would never get tired of August’s family. This afternoon bled over into the evening, and all the while, I laughed until my stomach cramped. It was good seeing Jacoba again. She, Faith, Tiffany, and Gianna embraced me on another level.
Being around them had me reevaluating how I thought my relationship with Nesha was solid. Things between us seemed genuine from the start, but I could admit I saw some red flags. Like the first time Nesha introduced me and Chad. Thinking back, she completely stepped over my toes when it came to him. Then, she would drop my location to him as if that would make things better. All the time she knew that Chad was out here fucking other girls.
“Girl, all athletes fuck around,” was her response to me complaining about Chad’s trifling ways. The fact that she even hooked me up with a man she knew was trash was another red flag.
A real friend would never. A real friend would’ve strapped her laces up to go beat that nigga’s ass with me. Only, I wasn’t trying to beat Chad’s ass. He had the Asia who was cool with walking away from a man without the slightest second thought. My connection with Chad couldn’t even peek at the shit I felt with my fine ass man, August.
Which was why I grinned at the picture of Nesha and Chad cozied up at her last show. The blogs were messy as fuck for this. They followed me, so they knew I’d blocked Nesha. I didn’t recall blocking Chad, but he was blocked. The two looked good together. If I was petty, I’d put a comment under the post. That was them, though. Nesha seemed like she moved on from trying to fuck my bag up and was now trying to hit me another way. I caught the shade. It was cool, though.
Since working with Jacoba, business had been off the charts. Before long, I was going to have to break down and get an assistant like August offered. Putting another set of hands in my business wasn’t what I wanted, though. As long as I could, I was going to go without the help.
“You good, my love?” August snuck up behind me and caught me in my head. To him, it looked like I was enjoying the antics of the kids running through the yard.
“Of course, I am, boo.” I turned my head to kiss him. “I’m about to go use the bathroom.”
“Aight. I gotta get June’s other presents out of the truck.” He brought me up out of the chair I’d been sitting in.
“Don’t y’all try to sneak off on some freaky shit,” King said, causing the rest of the adults to bust out laughing. August mugged him while I simply blushed and snickered.
“And if they do?” Gianna leaned back to glare at King. “Let’s not forget how you bow guarded your way into Tiffany’s life.”
“Oop,” Grandma instigated.
Mumbles sounded off. That sounded interesting.
“My wife has a point,” Grey said. As if remembering something, his lip curled up.
“We can’t talk,” Blu mentioned. “I’m lookin’ for a spot as we speak.”
Jacoba gasped, but we died laughing. I couldn’t blame Blu. His wife was stunning.
Leaving them, August and I walked hand in hand toward the house. He opened the sliding door for me, kissed my lips, then went around the back to get to his truck. Moving through the house, I made quick work of emptying my bladder.
After finishing, I washed my hands and looked at my reflection in the mirror. Happiness and joy radiated from every pore of my face. My skin was light and glowing. And even on the inside, I felt better. As Dr. House had said, the effects of the medication would eventually wear off. I’d finally reached that stage.
Coming out of the bathroom, I heard the trilling of a phone. Following the sound to the kitchen, I found August’s phone on the counter. It stopped ringing just as I snatched it up. This wasn’t the first time I’d seen the name Pops cross the screen. Honestly, August never talked about this man, so when the phone rang again, I wasn’t sure whether to answer it or not. Settling to just take him his phone, I went out of the front door to him getting the box out of the bed of the truck.
“Bae, your phone is ringing,” I told him.
With his hands full, he replied, “Answer it.”
“It’s your dad,” I told him.
His face registered annoyance. “Don’t answer that shit,” he said, so I didn’t.
For the remainder of the evening, I observed August being inside his head. He laughed, smiled, and took pictures. However, heaviness was all over him. Sadly, I understood that feeling all too well.
August and I finally climbed into bed once the house was quiet. Grandma was back at Ensley Shores, and I could tell going back broke her heart. I prayed that one day I could just bring her home. I hated seeing that sadness on her face.
Pulling me close, August brought our faces close. He stared into my eyes with me just so smitten by this nigga that I would do anything for him.
“Shit is complicated with my pops,” he started. “After my granny died, I had to cut him off. It was either that or continue down the path of destruction that I was on. My pops hated King for going into law enforcement. He wanted us to be in the streets like he was. Any time I tried doing right, he’d get on the phone and make me feel like shit for going against him.” He shook his head and heavily sighed. “I got shot in a shootout, but I also shot a couple niggas.”
I couldn’t avoid the shocked look on my face. He chuckled.
“I asked you were you ready for what you don’t see. This is that time, baby.” He ran his fingers down my cheek and gave me a crooked smile that held no happiness. “My mama was killed in a drive-by. Some niggas were lookin’ for my pops and caught her instead. I have dreams about her often. Lately… I’ve been having flashbacks, nightmares almost. It terrifies me that her face is fading. Like my mind is forgetting what she looked like.”
This time my hand touched his scruffy jawline.
“Back to that shootout. If it wasn’t for King and his homeboys, I would be sitting in prison right now. Thing is, I know my father would’ve been proud of me. What I’m doin’ with my life right now is probably killin’ him on the inside. I was too naïve to notice that he did that shit with King. Now that I know better, I don’t let him in. The calls are just so that I know he’s alive. Crazy, ain’t it?”
