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CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

FERRIS

“ F erris wheel, why you here? You should be laying down somewhere, chilling out.”

I gave Milana’s uncle a slight smile, and he did the same then extended his hand. His twin twisters were right behind him with slight smiles on their faces. “Well, I couldn’t miss a Henderson turnup. Y’all niggas rowdy out here, so I figured the party gotta be just as rowdy.”

He chuckled. “We rowdy at times, but only when provoked. People don’t know their fucking place around here. They don’t know how to respect greatness.”

“You muhfucking right, nigga.”

Mr. Storm looked at Uncle Jasper as he stood next to him and frowned. “Nigga, get yo’ high ass on.” He pushed him then said, “Jasper, you got some mo’?”

I laughed so hard. They were a trip. Uncle Jasper shoved him back and said, “I always got some mo’. Not necessarily for your ass though.” He turned to me and said, “What’s up, nephew? You smoke?”

“What’s up, Unc? I do occasionally, but that might change if I’m gon’ be this close to the plug.”

He laughed then slapped my hand. “Hell yeah. Family smoke sessions are every Friday. They used to be at my house, but now they at my Smoke and Chill spot. Only family is welcomed on those nights. Hell, we may have to chill with that shit for a while though,” he said as he followed Ali with his eyes.

Mr. Semien had tried to tell me who everyone was.

There was no way I would remember everybody, but I was sure to remember the niggas that were watching out for us while we were together.

As Ali walked over to Mr. WJ, the men all joined them.

My baby set a plate in front of me as she stared at them.

Something was up . . . per usual around this bitch.

Milana sat next to me to eat her food when Ali went to the mic. “Congratulations Ashanni, Maui, Royal, SS, and King. Y’all are poised to play a significant role in the family business. If you’re wondering how I know your names, it’s my job to know everybody. I know all of your names.”

He gave a wide smile, and it looked like all the women were in a trance staring at his Puerto Rican looking ass.

“A’ight, nigga. What’chu want so these women can fucking function?” Mr. Storm said, causing Ali to chuckle.

Another man I wasn’t familiar with walked in and joined him on the platform.

“What’s up, everybody? I told y’all it was gon’ be some shit if I had to come back.

Well, after the shit that happened at the diner yesterday, we are about to go to war.

We’ve been researching the entire family to figure out who was passing out orders and false information.

We about to have the police confused as fuck, not knowing where to turn next. ”

“Like Ryan said, shit about to get dangerous. If y’all can get out of Nome for a lil bit, we need y’all to do that,” Ali said. “If you a bad muthafucka, like Mayor Henderson, you can stay.”

Mr. Storm smirked then went to his wife and held her close. This shit was getting crazy if they were asking them to leave their homes and businesses.

“I’m staying. I wish I would run like a bitch,” Mr. Marcus said as he stood from his seat. Most of the men agreed with him. “I’ll get my wife and kids out of here, but they got me fucked up if they think I ain’t gon’ be here to protect our legacy and what’s mine. Fuck outta here.”

I grabbed Milana’s hand, and she turned to me, a worried expression on her face. “You know you can stay with me, baby.”

She nodded and turned back to Ali. Her cousin’s boyfriend stood and said, “My house in Cheek has six bedrooms. Y’all are more than welcomed to stay there with my baby.

” He glanced down at her as she squeezed his hand tightly.

She looked like she was about to either throw up or go into labor. “You good, baby?” he asked her.

Everyone surrounded her. I could imagine the stress of everything had sent her into labor.

When he picked her up and ran outside with her, I figured that was what was up.

Milana turned to me and said, “Can we go? I mean, I’ll take you home, then go to the hospital.

I need to be there with her. She’s like my big sister. ”

“I know, baby. Let’s wait to see if Ali has anything more to say,” I said, noticing he was back at the mic.

“I know y’all are running to be with Karima, but if y’all can be out of here by Monday morning, that would be good.”

“Monday night gon’ be a massacre fucking around with me. I’m finna be ji crazy, reckless, and unhinged, because this shit is on my last nerve,” Ryan said.

I didn’t know where the hell he was from, but it had to be East Coast somewhere. I took ji to mean very or extremely. Gripping the table, I stood from my seat. “Lana, I have two extra bedrooms if any of your cousins want to stay with us.”

She turned to me and placed her hand on my cheek. “Thanks, baby. This is the second time we’ve had to get out of here. I’m so sick of this shit. I don’t understand why these people can’t just leave us the fuck alone. I don’t want to lose any of my cousins to this bullshit. I’m so tired of it.”

“I can imagine, baby.”

“Milana, please stay with Ferris.”

“Mama, what about you?” she said, pulling away from me.

“I can’t leave, baby. You know how I feel about those muthafuckas. I’m gonna be ready to pick those muthafuckas off just like my brothers.”

I could see the pain on Milana’s face as she hugged her mama.

I could also tell that she wanted to stay with her mama but wanted to be with me at the same time.

She was torn. I wouldn’t sleep if she didn’t come to Beaumont with me.

When Ashanni and Maui joined us and they asked if they could stay with us, I knew I didn’t have to worry about whether she would come to my house or not.

The twins walked over, and they smiled at me. I rolled my eyes. I knew the only reason they were smiling was because they wanted to ask to stay at my house too. “Now y’all need a nigga. Y’all will have to share a bedroom and so will Ashanni and Maui.”

They chuckled and one of them said, “Thank you, Ferris wheel. I knew you loved us.”

I slowly shook my head. I didn’t know what I was gonna do with a house full of women.

They were gonna drive me insane, but I would take that any day over any of them being in danger.

We all left the barn as the men stayed behind to talk.

Had I been closer to the family, I probably would have been right there with them, hurt leg and all.

As we walked outside, I saw Mrs. Aspen running to her girls. I wasn’t sure what they were talking about until they looked over at Milana. She was probably wanting them to stay with her. When we got to Milana’s truck, I opened her driver’s door as she stared at me.

“Who’s going to help you get in if I’m already in, Ferris?”

“I got it, baby. I told you that on the way here. Only one leg is hurt. I can use my other to get inside.”

“I just want to take care of you as much as I can. Can I do that?”

I frowned slightly as I grabbed her hand. “What’s going on, Lana?”

She looked away from me for a moment then turned back to me.

“You gave me a chance to be in your life, and immediately after, shit popped off and you got shot. You could have lost your life trying to protect mine. Ferris, I don’t want you to regret your decision.

I just wanna be whoever you need me to be and do whatever you need me to do.

I know I sound desperate. It’s not that.

It’s just that I know you are the man for me. I don’t want to lose you.”

I put my hands to her face. “Milana, I made a conscious decision to be with you. I had plenty of time to think about the risks. I’m a grown ass nigga. You are the one for me as well. Unless you specifically do something to jeopardize that, I will be here for you. Okay?”

She draped her arms across my shoulders, and I pulled her hips to mine and kissed her lips. “You’re who I need, baby. This shit right here between us is too strong to let go. Be secure in that. You got a nigga by the balls.”

She pulled away from me and smiled slightly then kissed my lips and got in the truck. When I got inside with her, I could see the twins and Maui approaching us. Milana put her window down to see what they wanted.

“We’re still coming with y’all. Mama is going to Houston to stay with her parents,” Maui said.

“And we don’t fuck with them like that,” one of the twins added.

Maui rolled her eyes. “See you at the hospital.”

“Okay,” Milana said and watched them walk away. “I wonder where Aunt Chas is going. Ashanni may choose to go with her. Although that’s her mom, they are literally best friends, even more so than my mama and me.”

I nodded at her. “I suppose she’ll let you know at the hospital.”

She nodded in response and drove away to take me home.

“I don’t like this shit, Ferris,” my mama said. “You being around that family done already got you shot.”

“It’s cool, Mama. They were extremely remorseful about what happened.

It wasn’t their fault. Those people are literally after them.

They killed the patriarch of the family.

One of Milana’s cousins ended up walking up on it and killed all three of them.

That doesn’t make him wrong. Their grandfather wasn’t dead yet, but he died two or three days later.

Imagine if you would have walked up at the dollar store to see your grandfather on the ground, beat to a pulp. ”

She huffed as she stirred the sauce for the salmon she was blackening. “Okay. Whatever, Ferris. I don’t want to see you die over bullshit. You’re my son. What they have going on ain’t your business.”

“Yes, it is. The woman I’m falling for, . . . it’s her business, and that makes it mine. Had I not been there, she would have taken that bullet. It could have killed her. Had that would have happened, I don’t know what I would have done with myself.”

“Okay, Ferris. How many of them are coming here?”

“Besides Milana, four of her cousins and possibly her aunt. So six of them all together.”

She nodded as I went to sit on the couch and put my leg up.

She was pissed, but I didn’t care. Milana was the woman I wanted to love, and I didn’t give a damn about what was going on with her family.

The way she had me feeling was something I’d never felt before.

There was no way I could let that go. It was wise of Ali and Ryan to tell them to leave if they could.

If they were scattered out, it would be hard for them to pull what they did yesterday.

When my phone rang, I sat up and got it from the coffee table to see that it was Asad. “What’s up, man?”

“Yo, you good? I wanted to check on you.”

“I’m cool. Milana is staying with me still. Her cousin went into labor, though, so she went to the hospital.”

“Karima?”

“Yeah. The men they have watching their back recommended that they get out of Nome, because things were finna get bad. So she’ll be here through next week for sure . . . Ashanni too.”

“Shit, for real?”

“Mm-hmm,” I said with a smirk on my lips like he could see me.

“I guess I’ma have to slide through there then. I’ll call first to make sure she’s there.”

“Well, I see you ain’t giving up.”

“I’m not gon’ press her, Ferris. I just wanna be in her space. That way, whenever she’s ready, I’ll be the first nigga she thinks about.”

“Is that rizz?”

He chuckled. “What the fuck is that, nigga?”

“Never mind, man. I be talking to them kids online, and they got me saying all that stupid shit. It rubs off on me. It’s hard to explain. I guess I was saying you were flirting or taking the shit deep. Don’t worry about it.”

“Nigga, you need to quit talking to those kids online. They got’chu saying stupid shit. You closer to being a millennial than you are to those fools in Gen Z.”

“Nigga, I’m twenty-eight. I’m Gen Z.”

“Whatever. You still at the start of that shit. Ain’t no way you should be on the same wavelength as a kid born in two thousand ten.”

“Whatever. I don’t even get into all that shit. I just hope you know what you doing and you don’t get hurt. Ashanni is a beautiful woman, and she seems sweet, but I don’t want you falling for a woman that ain’t falling for you.”

“I hear you, man. I’ll probably slide through tomorrow since they’re at the hospital.”

“A’ight. Just hit me up.”

“Okay.”

He ended the call. “He tryna be with one of those Hendersons too, huh?”

I rolled my eyes. “They are good people. You tripping for nothing.”

“Okay, Ferris.”

I could see now that she was going to get on my nerves about this.

I almost wished I wouldn’t have called her.

The twins would let her ass have it. They didn’t care how old a person was when it came to bullshit and disrespect.

Then I would have to check them about talking crazy to my mama. I should have thought this through.