Page 28 of Anything Goes

I gritted my teeth, trying to control the urge to give his face the reconstructive surgery that I’d been dreaming about. “I said that I would come here on some calm, cool and collected shit. But seeing as you’re determined to fuck around and make me lose all of that, I’m just going to say what I have to say and get out of here.” I stood up. “That bullshit that you’re trying to pull with Keyon, kill it.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Oh, don’t act stupid. You know exactly what I’m talking about. You shouldn’t be telling him that the reason his mother works so much is because he’s not pulling his weight. I know my sister hasn’t told you no shit like that.”

“She doesn’t have to. Bottom line, if he was working like he’s supposed to, her ass would be at home. He needs to take care of his damn self. No son of mine—”

Before I knew it, I was in his face. “First of all, he’s not your fucking son.”

“Um…okay,” Alauni said, coming out of nowhere and hopping between the two of us. “That’s enough conversation.”

“Nah, we’re just getting started,” Reggie said with a smirk. “Your boy here has a whole lot to say. Let him get it off of his chest.”

“Gladly,” I said through clenched teeth.

“No, Law. This isn’t the time nor the place,” Alauni said, her hands pressed heavily against my chest.

My calm demeanor had quickly disappeared, and flashes of red were all I could see.

“Look, Keyon is going to be my stepson soon. That babying shit is over. He has to handle business like a man, and I plan to teach him that.”

“He doesn’t need you to teach him anything. I’ve got that covered.”

“Nah, you’ve got enough to deal with. In fact, how about you go handle up on that right now,” he said, nodding towards Alauni. “Maybe then your young ass will get out ofourbusiness. Your sister is a grown woman. She doesn’t need you trying to step in and regulate shit. We’ve got this.”

Clearly, Reggie had mistaken our age difference as some kind of assumption that he could talk to me however he wanted to, but I was ready to show him otherwise. “Let me be clear, my sister and my nephew are always my business. If I hear or see some shit that I don't like, I'm going to handle business accordingly. The only thing saving you right now is the fact that my sister loves you. Otherwise, you wouldn't even be breathing right now.”

“Is that a threat, Officer Montgomery.”

“Oh, that’s a guarantee. I highly suggest that you take heed to my warning and hang up that stepdaddy shit you’re trying to pull with Keyon. He doesn’t fuck with you. None of us do.”

“Yeah, well, the diamond ring that I put on your sister’s finger says that y’all don’t have a choice. Y’all might as well get with the program.”

“Okay, we’re done here,” Alauni stepped in. “The two of you have said everything that you needed to say. Let’s go, Law.”

I wasn’t ready to leave. But the pressure that Alauni was putting on my chest didn’t give me much of a choice.

We were out of the bar and onto the sidewalk in a matter of seconds.

“Why in the hell did you come here?” she asked, getting in my face.

“Because I needed to let him know that he needed to step off of Keyon. This fool has him thinking that it’s his fault that his mother works a lot. I know damn well that’s a lie. He only said that shit because he has his own agenda.”

“Okay, I get that. But you know that you have a very low tolerance for bullshit when it comes to Reggie. Your ass will end up in jail messing around with him.”

I sighed. “Yeah, I know.”

“Oh, and thanks to you, I’m missing the rest of my show.”

“It’s not my fault that you decided to run over here.”

“Clearly, it’s a good thing that I did. That situation looked just as dangerous as it felt. A few more seconds and it would have been a damn blood bath in here.”

Shoving my hands into my pants pockets, I said, “Actually, I was handling things quite well when you walked in. My fist wasn’t even balled up.”

Laughing, she shook her head and made her way towards the parking lot. “We both know that your fist isn’t the only thing you use to hurt people.”

“I mean, yeah, but that's usually a tell-tell sign that things are about to go left.”