AUGUST, page 22
Moving toward Mary, I saw the sheen of tears in her eyes. Kneeling down by the chair, I brought her into my arms for a tight hug. I released her, then wiped the tears she had staining her cheeks.
“We need to talk,” I told her.
“Okay,” she whispered, then squared her shoulders. “I’m listening.”
Smiling, I said, “I’m marrying Asia soon.”
Her face lit up so brightly that it could bring light to the darkest places. Those tears were back again, though.
“Oh, my Lord!” she exclaimed.
“I wanted you to be the first to know. I love ya granddaughter. Even though I tried like hell to run from her, my heart wouldn’t let me.”
“My grandbaby is special.” She sniffled.
“She’s very special to me. So are you, Mary.”
She cried harder.
“I want you to come live with me and Asia. Everything you need, I will make sure you have. I just want you with us. I want you with family. You will be safe with us. Most of all you will be loved.”
“Oh, August….” She put her face in her hands as she cried. I drew her back in for another hug. Her frail body shook.
“I promise to never abandon you.”
“I’ll do it under one condition.”
“Anything,” I replied.
She grabbed my face and said, “When it’s my time to go, however it happens and whenever it happens, I want you to let me go. I don’t want you living with guilt or a heart of sadness. You’ve done so much for me, August. No one has ever loved me like you and Asia do. You saved my life in more ways than one. Now, I want to save yours. Promise me you will let me go. Promise me that you’ll be the best husband to Asia. Promise me that she will never know the pain I suffered. Then, I will take you up on your offer.”
Without hesitation, I said, “You have my word.”
Two weeks later…
May came in quietly. Mary had easily settled into her new home, my house. King, Grey, and I moved all of Asia’s and Mary’s things into my house, then focused on handling any small remodels in Asia’s house. With Mary’s blessing, Asia decided to rent the house out. I’d keep an eye on it and make sure that the renters were keeping shit up. I didn’t want anyone fucking up Mary’s property. Like Elijah. That nigga was put on probation for his bullshit. He didn’t have another chance to pull any stunts. If I even caught his thoughts headed toward Asia or Mary, I was going to send him to his maker. Tera walked away from her charges, and Asia wasn’t upset about it. Long ass that hoe and her people stayed away from Asia, I didn’t give a fuck if they gained the next breath or not.
So far, Mary hadn’t seemed to care that Elijah nor her daughter ever came to check on her. Still, that shit broke my heart for her. Thinking about how fucked up it was brought Nate to mind. He’d been on my line heavy these last few weeks. He’d packed my mailbox up in just a few days. Whatever had him ramping up his calls could get the fuck lost.
“Go, June!” Faith declared, breaking me out of my thoughts. Across the skating rink, Asia held onto one of June’s hands, while Faith held onto the other. Asia was teaching my baby how to skate. Faith was June’s hype person. So far, he was having a blast. They looked so fucking happy, it gripped my heart and squeezed with love.
“Ain’t it crazy how we ended up here?” he said.
“No lie,” I agreed. “Shit is wild as fuck.”
“We gotta love them forever, August. No bullshit, no fuckin’ around, none of that shit. If you got a problem, come to me and I’ma make sure you solve that muthafucka. I’on ever wanna see Asia sad as fuck. She’s everything Faith never had, and I love that for my woman. I mean… Look how fuckin’ happy they are.”
We observed the ladies laughing and tending to June, who was eating all the attention up.
“You took the thoughts right out of my head, big dawg.” The pact that I made with Faith was forever seared into my brain.
“We’re some blessed muthafuckas,” he added.
I had to agree with that too. Shit could only go up from here.
“I just wanna tell you thank you, bruh.”
“Nigga, is you finna cry?” he asked, seeing the serious look on my face.
I chuckled and waved him off. “I’m dead ass serious, mane. If it weren’t for you, Faith, and King, I never would’ve made it through these last few years. You stepped up and assumed a role you didn’t have to. Outside of King, you became my brother. We both know that was only destined, ‘cause ain’t no fuckin’ way.” We both snickered.
“For real, mane, thank you for handling business for Faith back then. Thank you for how you’ve always fuckin’ loved her. And thank you for how you love and care for our fuckin’ son. Yeah this shit is wild as fuck, but I wouldn’t wanna take this fuckin’ ride with no one else. It’s all love.”
Jericho reached his fist out to me. We dapped, then shook on it.
“I luh you, too, bruh.”
We dapped again, just as my phone rang. It was King calling.
“Hey, bruh,” I answered.
“We have to go to Georgia,” he said without preamble. “Nate had a heart attack.”
Atlanta, Georgia
King and I dropped Tiffany and Asia off at the house we had here in the city and made it to the hospital several hours after King got the call. Not by a long shot was I ready to confront Nate, which was why I didn’t have Asia by my side. I wasn’t comfortable with Nate, so I wasn’t about to thrust her into some bullshit if there was some. Nate was too unpredictable. Therefore, he couldn’t be trusted.
The heaviness that I felt walking into the hospital to see Granny didn’t fill me as we entered the hospital. At the greeting station, we were given Nate’s hospital room. He was currently in surgery. King and I took the elevator to the third floor and stepped off, both of us quiet and brooding.
A sign on the wall in front of us pointed us to the left for the waiting room. As we headed down the hallway, a nigga wearing a white coat and surgical mask had his head down and shoulder checked the fuck out of me.
“Watch where the fuck you goin’!” I barked. I was already on muthafuckin’ ten. This nigga just laughed and kept walking. Pivoting around, I went after him. King snatched me by my collar and turned me back around.
“We ain’t here for that.”
Remembering why we were here pissed me off even more.
“I shouldn’t have come here. This was a fuckin’ mistake.” The more I thought about it, the more my fucking stomach turned.
“Aye, baby. I told you we would make this step together. Let’s see what the doctor has to say. If he’s good, we walk up outta here knowin’ that we at least made sure his muthafuckin’ ass was aight. We go back to our lives and that’s it.”
I dapped King. “Aight.” I could deal with that.
While we waited in the lobby for someone to retrieve us, I got on my phone and opened the last book I’d started. Reading was never far from me, not since meeting Mary. If we didn’t fall asleep first, every night Asia and I would take turns reading to Mary. June read to her whenever he came over. Right now, I just needed to get lost between the covers of this fire Tacarra novel.
What seemed like hours later, a doctor entered the waiting room and zeroed in on us.
“Family of Wells?” he asked. He introduced himself as Dr. Carson.
King stood, shook his hand and nodded. I followed suit.
“We’re his sons,” King informed the doctor.
“Okay, great. Mr. Wells did well during surgery. He had a massive heart attack, but we were able to get him stabilized.”
I wasn’t sure why the news didn’t punch me in my face like I thought it would. Instead, I listened as if the doctor was reading off a list of ingredients.
“I’ll be honest, though. After such a devastating occurrence, his heart is tremendously weak. Looking at his medical records, he’s had a long, tough history, so, honestly this was inevitable.”
Gulping hard, for a moment, I felt sorry for Nate. The old August would’ve blasted Kingston and blamed him for Pops being in the condition that he was. Today’s August sucked up the ounce of guilt that tried to plague me and spit it out. Nate was where he was because of Nate.
“We’ve fitted him with a pacemaker to assist the weakened muscle. Again, we won’t know how well the pacemaker is going to work until he recovers.”
“So, we just have to wait?”
Dr. Carson nodded. “He’ll be in recovery for a while. You can see him once he wakes up.”
King and I shook Dr. Carson’s hand once more before he left us in the waiting room. Sighing heavily, King plopped into a chair. So, did I. He planted his face into the palms of his hands, clearly frustrated.
He glanced at me. “Sometimes we don’t get a choice when we can confront shit. In those times, expect there to be a lesson imbedded in the confrontation.”
“What do you think the lesson is?”
He chuckled. “For the first time, baby. I don’t have an answer.”
Hours later, we were finally able to see Nate. We were already warned that we couldn’t stay long, as Nate was still intubated. When King and I walked in, Nate’s eyes widened. With the tube down his throat, he was unable to speak. However, tear tracks were evident along his temples. His eyes said what his mouth couldn’t. He was sorry.
“We forgive you,” King stated.
I reached out and grabbed my pop’s hand. With what little energy he had, he held it.
“We forgive you,” I seconded.
Like King said, forgiveness was for us. Not for Nate. The weight that lifted off of me revealed something to me that had me casually slide my hand from Nate’s. As much as I forgave him, something inside me knew that this nigga couldn’t be trusted.
King and I stayed until Nate dozed back off. The house we’d always stayed in whenever we were in Atlanta was where we retreated to. Asia and Tiffany welcomed us home with a fresh smelling house, and late dinner. Midnight was near.
Skipping dinner, I opted for a shower. Once I emerged, I climbed into bed to Asia’s open arms. I laid my head on her breasts, closed my eyes and just indulged in the smell of her sweet skin. As I laid here I tried to decipher the feeling of uneasiness I had concerning Nate. Quiet, Asia gently smoothed her fingers over my face, just allowing me to be still. Since visiting Nate, my spirit was in turmoil.
“Sometimes we don’t get a choice when we can confront situations. In those times, expect there to be a lesson imbedded in the confrontation.”
“What does that mean, Mama?” I questioned. She tucked me deeper into the comforter, smiled, then leaned over and kissed my forehead.
“It means that the very situation you’re running from is the very situation that will teach you the greatest lesson of your life.”
Wide-eyed, I just nodded my head at my mama.
“I love you, Asia,” I whispered.
She gently kissed my forehead. “I love you. I always will.”
I fell asleep trusting her with my whole heart.
Chapter Thirty-Six
CAGE DOUCETTE
All but slamming my office door, I snatched the surgical mask off my face and threw it across the well-kept ten by fifteen room. Without a sound, it hit the carpeted floor. Pacing the floor, I ran my hand over my mustache, lips, and beard. It pissed me off that my hand shook a little. My fucking hands never shook. I felt the old Cage warring with the man I’d become. Whenever I felt this shit I won at keeping him at bay. Tonight, I felt like I was losing control of that old nigga.
My door opened, and in walked one of the reasons why I had to put that old nigga behind me. The best half of me strutted into my office with her dark brown skin glowing like she lathered herself in oil before coming in here. Her body was covered in teal hospital scrubs. Yet it did nothing to hide the slender and shapely body I cradled every night. Her jet-black hair was up in a ponytail that swept her shoulder blades. It was her piercing brown eyes that did it though. And her juicy ass lips. Her oval shaped face and high cheek bones were crafted with a delicate eye and touch.
“Hey, baby.”
My wife made my fucking knees weak whenever I laid eyes on her. I married this woman while we were still in college. However, laying eyes on her was always brand new for me.
“Wifey…” Pulling her by her white coat, I brought her closer to me. Her smirk was too irresistible not to kiss off her face. She giggled when I took the kisses down to her neck.
“Don’t you even start,” she half-heartedly chided. “Tell me why your mask is over there on the floor. Rough case?”
Sighing, I brought her even closer and enveloped her in my embrace.
“Nah, none of that, sweetheart.”
“Then, what is it?”
I chuckled at Tatiana’s raised eyebrows.
“He’s here. Again.” Every day. Every day, I checked the fucking inpatient and outpatient logs to see if the nigga’s name popped up. It had been too many years, too many hours, and too many fucking minutes. Until today.
For a second, my wife said nothing. Her eyes told every emotion she felt. The only one I focused on was the one conveying understanding.
“Your word is bigger than any breath he will ever take. But you have to be sure it’s him.”
Releasing my wife, I went around my desk to retrieve an envelope from the top drawer. It was still sealed and in pristine condition.
“This all you need?”
I glanced at my nigga, Dallas, and nodded.
“You sho?”
Dallas McQueen was an OG and knew me well. I came up under him and his father, Dime McQueen.
“If that paper says what I know it does… I know his people. So tread lightly.”
“His people ain’t my problem,” I said. If Dallas said he fucked with this man’s people, I believed him. “How well you know ‘em?”
“Enough to hide anything or anyone fuckin’ wit’ ‘em.”
I chuckled at his coldness. “Relax, D. This ain’t about them.”
“If you thinkin’ ‘bout settlin’ a sco’, hit me up.”
Handing the envelope to my wife, I said, “It’s been here for a few years.”
Snatching it, my wife glared at me before ripping the envelope open.
“We’ll discuss why you kept this from me in a minute,” she mumbled. I knew hiding it from her would piss her off. Me and my baby kept everything on the table. Everything except this fucking letter.
She tossed the mangled envelope aside and unfolded the papers. Her eyes quickly scanned it before they flew to meet mine. I knew the answer.
“So, why’d you keep it from me?” She approached me like she wanted to reach out and smack me. My wife wasn’t anyone to play with, but our marriage wasn’t like that. We’d never raised a hand to each other.
“Would you believe me if I said I was scared?”
“Of what?” Her eyes took on concern then.
“Of the fact that I left that life a long time ago. We left that life a long time ago.”
“That’s true, baby. So has your mind changed? If it has, I’m more than okay with standing ten toes behind you.”
“My mind hasn’t changed. There are just… other people involved.”
“Who?”
“My brothers.”
“You’ve met them?”
I shook my head with a light chuckle. “Bumped into ‘em in the hall.”
“Purposely, I know.” She joined in me laughing.
“Are you considering their feelings in this?”
Shrugging, I said, “If I tell them the truth, I’m quite sure they’ll be on my side.”
“Then, tell them the truth. Make your decision after. Either way, I’m never relinquishing my position as your helper.”
Pulling her back to me, I took her face into my hands.
“Which is why I love the fuck outta you, baby. You’re more than my helper. You’re everything to me. There’s no one else I’d do this life with besides you, Tatiana Nicole Doucette.”
Her hospital issued phone went off just then, causing her to prettily roll her eyes.
“Dr. Doucette,” she answered. My hands were still on her face as I placed kisses all over her.
“Yes, I’ll be right there.” She quickly hung up just as my lips met hers. “I have a baby on the way.” Kissing me one last time, she said, “I love you, Dr. Doucette,” before dashing out of the door.
Smiling hard as hell, I propped myself on the corner of my desk and stared at the door. My wife and I had it made. Our past was just that. Allowing this shit with Nathaniel Wells to potentially ruin what we had fucked with me. On the one hand, I wanted that nigga dead. On the other, I was a whole married ass nigga with a family who needed me. I hadn’t caught a body since donning my white coat. After all, I was only in that life to fund my education.
Still, that life was always tucked at my waist like a Desert Eagle with the safety off. Because whenever I needed to, I’d bring that bitch out and clear the fucking air.
Casually taking a swig of the bottled ginger ale, I rang the doorbell and waited for someone to answer. Above me, the camera had already alerted them to my presence. Glancing at the driveway, I knew both parties were home. Lights were on, and, although it was evening, it was still fairly early.
The door was snatched open, with the young nigga glaring at me.
“The fuck are you?” he barked.
Smashing the folded piece of paper to his chest, I pushed him back and invited myself inside.
August was quick, though. He pushed me hard enough that I bumped the wall to the right. He stepped in my face, glaring.
“The fuck are you, nigga?”
“Aye!” King entered the foyer, his gun by his side. “The fuck is goin’ on?”
Glancing at him, I smirked. “Won’t you tell our brother to get outta my face.” That only made August angrier. He stepped closer, prompting King to hold him back.
“The fuck is you talmbout, mane?” King was in my face now, taking August’s place. He knew by looking in my eyes I wasn’t fucking around. Realization hit him as we shared the same hard ass glare—identical almost.
