Page 47 of All The Smoke

S moke.

I didn’t know why, but I was nervous as a mothafucka as I stood outside of my whip.

My heart was racing and a nigga felt anxious as fuck.

I was low key tight I wasn’t able to smoke out that bitch but I did burn on the way to the prison.

That was why I didn’t let my family ride with me.

I knew I was gon’ need to smoke and hell I wanted to try to get my brother to as well.

Knowing him though that shit wasn’t gon’ happen.

Nigga always on the straight and fuckin’ narrow.

About thirty minutes later I heard someone call my name.

Looking up, I noticed my brother walking across the parking lot.

I was a little annoyed they dropped his ass off across the way after directing me to park where I was, but I pushed the thought to the back of my mind and focused on my reality.

My fuckin’ brother was free. All the nights I grinded, all the tears I shed in private, the anger and shit I still felt for my parents, all that shit was worth it to me.

Had I been fucking with them; they could have sabotaged my brother’s shit right up under my fuckin’ nose.

“Baby brother.” He smiled as he approached with outstretched arms.

“My fuckin’ nigga.” I grinned, damn near in tears because a nigga had been dreaming of this shit. “Damn, bruh.”

“It’s good to see you, man.” He smiled, pulling me into another hug.

“Damn right, man.” I smiled. “I missed you my nigga,” I admitted. “Word I did.”

He nodded. “I missed you more.”

“Come on, man.” I waved him over. “I know you ready to get the fuck out of here.”

“Definitely,” he agreed, tossing his shit in my back seat, since I had the door off the Jeep, then climbing up front.

We made our way back to Crescent Falls, chopping it up. I spoke to my brother every single day of his bid but there was nothing like having the nigga in my face. We had always been close and he had always been there for me. I think the physical closeness was what I missed the most.

I took the nigga to get his haircut as soon as we touched down.

I had already let Nyla know I had a new client for her and she even put me onto a chick that retwisted locs since the nigga had let his shit loc up.

I got on his ass about how he kept his hair done on the inside.

He assured me he learned to do his own hair because he wasn’t sitting between another man’s legs or having one hovering all over him, playing in his head, even though there were straight men in there that did hair and got their shit done.

I was personally glad to know he was acting like the nigga I raised him to be.

After he got a cut and shit, I took him to my crib so he could shower and change into the fit I had there for him.

I had already set him up with a crib and whip.

He didn’t want me to, claiming we had already done so much for him, but I got him right.

There was no way I was going to let my mans come home and not be all the way together.

We ended up setting him up in my old apartment with all-new everything since Ice and K-Dot sold the condo, but I bought him a brand new Ford Bronco because I sold my old whip too. Plus, a nigga was seeing more bread these days thanks to the business I was doing with Mase, Cannon, and Rock.

“My nephews here?” he asked as we made our way to the door.

“Yeah. Kaori stayed to make sure the movers had all ya shit in place and neither of the boys be wanting to leave her side.”

Bri hated how much Solo loved Kaori but she knew there was nothing she could do about the shit.

I didn’t have no more problems out of her ass since taking her to court.

She thought I was gon’ let that shit slide, but those days were over.

I made it very clear that the moment she started acting stupid or didn’t drop my son off where he was supposed to be for me to get him I was gon’ drag her ass right back in that bitch.

Letting us in, we were met with the smell of the same candles she used to burn for me when I stayed at my crib and the sound of my little man crying.

I followed the sound to the back and made a mental note to ask why the fuck we ain’t burn them fuckin’ candles in our shit.

All she burned now was poundcake this and butterfly that.

“Ay, ay, ay.” I made my presence known when we entered the master bedroom and scooped my baby off the bed. His little cry stopped as soon as he was in my arms. “What’s the problem, daddy-o?”

“Uncle Noah!” Solo shouted and jetted into my brother’s arms. He hadn’t ever met his uncle in person but he damn sure knew who he was.

“Mad because he had to get that butt changed,” Kaori said as she caressed his head. “Noah, I’m sorry I had to change him in your bed before you got a chance to sleep in it.”

“That’s no issue, sis.” My brother smiled and pulled her into a tight hug. “So good to finally and officially meet you.”

“Likewise.” My girl grinned. “I hope you’re hungry because I’m preparing a feast now that your brother is back.”

“Most definitely.”

Kaori kissed my lips before she left the room, leaving just me, my brother, and the boys.

Noah went to the bathroom to wash his hands before he took a seat on the bed and asked for the baby.

I handed him over then leaned into the wall by the door as I watched him with my sons.

He answered Solo’s million questions and stared into Silas’s face.

“You’re really a father, bro.” He chuckled. “Like a whole father of two kids.”

“Word.” I ran a hand across my fade. “I can’t believe it myself most days.”

“You let Ma and Bishop meet him?” he asked and my smile faded.

Our parents hadn’t let the fuck up. They had been bugging me and my girl for months about seeing the boys. Kaori was a little soft on the subject now that she was a mother, but I wasn’t going. I didn’t give a fuck about how her or Bishop felt at all.

“Naw.” I kept it short.

I did go by to holla at my mother one day to maybe see how the fuck we were gon’ do this shit because Kaori was on a nigga’s nerves about family and forgiveness, especially since she talked to my brother more and did bible study with him.

The conversation I walked in on let me know I had made the right decision in staying the fuck away.

Every time I thought they couldn’t get no worse, they proved otherwise.

They were in a heated argument when I walked in the crib about Noah and the shit I heard was wild.

I told them I wasn’t gon’ tell my brother right away, but Bishop’s ass damn sure was.

His ass needed to be the bad fuckin’ guy.

“Smoke…”

I cut him off. “I ain’t trying to do this with you today, bro. Let’s just enjoy this moment and worry about the other shit later.”

His facial expression let me know he wanted to say so much more, but he refrained and I was grateful. It was a good ass day and a nigga wasn’t trying to ruin it with Bishop and his wife.

“I can’t believe I missed this twice,” Noah said. “You gotta have another one so I can be there the whole pregnancy.”

“Yeah?” I smirked. “Because I’m trying to put another one in her ass already.”

“No man.” He laughed. “Give her body a break.

“Maybe another month or so.”

“You’re ridiculous.”

“I know. You good with them though?” I pointed. “I’m gon’ go check on her.”

“Yeah, we good, gon’ ’head.”

Nodding, I turned and headed for the kitchen where I knew Kaori was. She was pulling stuff from the fridge when I walked in so I walked up behind her, pressing my now semi hard dick into her ass due to me seeing her bent over.

“Babe.” She giggled and got vertical before turning to face me. “What are you doing? I thought you’d be spending time with your brother.”

Lifting her into my arms, I set her on the counter next to the refrigerator and positioned myself between her legs.

“He told me to come put another baby in you.”

“I know you fuckin’ lying.” She laughed. “I’m just now getting my body back right.”

“Fuck out of here, man, you look good as shit.”

“You too.” She simpered. “You look so happy being back with your brother.”

“Happy I get to wake up to this fine ass face every day.” I kissed her lips. “But I am happy to have the nigga home.”

She went on, rambling about the place and furniture and shit that she had picked out and how she hoped he liked it all, but I tuned the conversation out.

All I could think about was how selfless she was, how she gave me one of the best things that ever happened to me while also becoming one of the best things to happen to a nigga.

I still couldn’t believe she had successfully made a nigga fall in love the first time I saw her. The sound of her voice, her scent, her smile and laugh, all that shit was permanently etched into my mind since the very first time I met her.

“Marry me,” I blurted, catching us both by surprise.

Her brows dipped and her eyes darted to my hand in my pocket.

“Wh-what? What are you doing?” I stammered.

Producing the ring I had been carrying with me since my birthday, I dropped to my knee and said, “Marry me, Kaori.”

“Really?” She sniffled. “You want to get married?”

“To you, since the day I met you,” I admitted. “I love you and my sons more than anything in the world and I know for a fact I will never be with anyone else, neither will you, so yeah. Will you marry ya nigga?”

She nodded and laughed a little hearing me say we were it for each other, but I was deadass. “Of course I will.”

Pulling the ring from the box, I tossed the box to the side and pushed it onto her pretty ass finger before shooting to my feet and kissing her deeply.

That wasn’t how I pictured proposing, hell I didn’t know how I would, which was why I hadn’t yet, but the moment felt right.

She had shown me several times over that she was my soulmate, so I wanted to get started on our forever.

The End!!!