Page 25

CHAPTER 25

MCCOY

“Nooo!” I laughed as I pushed away from the table. Tears from laughing so hard fell from my eyes and I shook my head. For the last hour, we sat around, laughing, talking, and getting to know each other. Shaka, Mahogany, Paxton, and Breeze were probably the funniest women I’d ever met. “You’re telling me that man cut your door out the wall. Like, for real?”

“Yes!” Mahogany laughed. She sat back in her seat and slowly rubbed her stomach. She was almost seven months pregnant with her first child, and if the glow on her face was any indicator of how happy she was, then I knew this wouldn’t be her last. “All because he doesn’t like talking through a damn wall.”

“How wasn’t this on the news, or at least the blog sites?” I collected our plates and took them to the sink. Focus was a big deal in the rap industry and Mahogany’s fashion line was one of the biggest black-owned lines out. She catered to the community in a way no one else did and because of that, we stayed buying her clothes. I owned at least twenty of her exclusive women’s business suits.

“Because no one was going to tell on him,” Paxton said. “Even though she was mad, there was no way she was going to ever embarrass him and run to the blog. That wasn’t the first time he showed his ass about her and it won’t be the last.”

“How mad was she?” I asked, laughing. There was no doubt that at the moment, Mahogany was upset because any sane person would be, but she had forgiven him.”

“Super pissed.” Paxton laughed. “I mean, she called me going off. Seriously yelling and cussing and all I could do was laugh because low key, it was kind of romantic.”

“Romantic?” Breeze questioned with a laugh. “Please explain to me how that was romantic. I mean, I love Focus like a brother, but that shit was lonely.”

“It was a gesture of love,” Paxton retorted in a dreamy, sing-song-like voice. We all looked over at her, then busted out laughing. “Okay, okay, I’m lying. That shit was funny because it wasn’t happening to any of us.”

“Exactly!” Mahogany said after pulling herself together. “Because it wasn’t happening to you, y’all thought it was funny. But when y’all men were showing their asses, nobody thought it was funny.”

“Because they are lunatics!” Paxton replied and I shook my head. “Exodus burned down a restaurant because I was on a date.”

“He didn’t burn it down,” Shaka said, waving her off. “He just did a few spot fires is all.”

“Yeah,” Mahogany agreed. “He just did a little razzle-dazzle.”

“Razzle dazzle?!” she screeched, making me laugh harder. “That man?—”

“Loves you!” Mahogany interjected with a laugh. “He loves you, and if my memory serves me correctly, you said you would love to fall in love with a man like Exodus not even a year ago.”

“She did say that,” Shaka agreed. Paxton looked between her two friends, then flipped them off, making all of us laugh again. “Don’t be mad at us because you got what you wanted.”

The doorbell ringing caught me by surprise, and I turned and looked at the door. I wasn’t expecting anyone else because Lynx couldn’t make it due to work, but I had no clue who else Shaka invited.

“Oh, that must be Sasha and Corinthian!” Shaka said, standing.

“My best friend is here!” Breeze said, dancing in her seat.

“Let Krude find out you callin’ the madam your best friend,” Shaka replied with a laugh and walked out of the room. A few seconds later, Shaka came back with two very beautiful women following her. “McCoy, this is Sasha Jones and Corinthian DeCorte. Ladies, this is McCoy Toliver, my future cousin-in-law.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” I said, shaking both of their hands.

“You too,” Corinthian said. She handed me a bottle of wine, then went to the table to hug all the other women. “I brought a little something. I know they can’t drink but that doesn’t stop the rest of us from enjoying ourselves.”

“You’ll have to excuse my gift. I was out with Krude before coming here, and well, if you know Krude, then you know.” Sasha handed me a large gift bag. I looked down at it, surprised to see edibles, dipped fruit, bags of weed, and fruit juice inside. I set the bag on the counter and turned back to Sasha. I was trying to hold in my laugh but the embarrassed look on her face was making it hard. “I’ll have something better for you tomorrow. I promise.”

“Nooo.” I laughed, shaking my head. “I swear this will be used.”

“Oh shit, you get down, McCoy?” Corinthian asked, surprised. “If I would’ve known, I would’ve brought you something from Psalms’ store!”

“I don’t, but Earth does,” I answered with a shrug. “So, like I said, none of that will go to waste.”

“That’s true,” Shaka agreed. “And knowing Krude, he probably had Psalms send all his favorite stuff.”

“He did.” Sasha laughed as she took a seat next to Breeze. They playfully bumped shoulders, then giggled before turning back to me. “I told Krude it wasn’t needed, but he didn’t care. We’d been running around all day, so we stopped by Psalms’s, and he ran inside before dropping me off with Corinthian. He was more focused on shopping for his baby shower than anything I had to say.”

“Oh, his girlfriend is pregnant?” I asked, surprised. Earth had mentioned the only people expecting besides Shaka were Mahogany, someone named Monica, and now Memphis’s wife, Nyla, whom I hadn’t gotten a chance to meet. Shaka said Monica wasn’t feeling well and Nyla was out of town for the rest of the week, but I’d meet them soon.

“He’s pregnant,” Sasha said with a laugh.

“Excuse me?”

“It’s a long story. Just know Krude is pregnant, he’s going to be a single father and his baby mama is a stem who he swears left him,” Sasha tried to explain. “But nobody has heard from Megan in like two weeks, besides Nyla, who is her best friend. I plan to go by there sometime this week because he is going to drive me crazy if I don’t.”

I looked at her, then turned to the rest of the ladies, who were all laughing.

“And Krude is your best friend, right?” I asked and she nodded. “But Breeze is also your best friend?”

“Yes, and Krude is Corinthian’s cousin, and her other cousin, Exodus, is dating Paxton.”

“The one from the grocery store that was fussing about her not having her gun,” Mahogany explained, and I nodded. “She’s our best friend.” She pointed to herself and Shaka. “And her partner, Exodus, is also my best friend.”

“Wait, what?” I laughed. “You’re best friends with a couple?”

“Yeah.” Mahogany laughed. “I met Paxton first, while in college. Exodus came later through my fiancé.”

“Focus, right?”

“Yep. Tobias is best friends with Exodus and Nine, who is also my cousin.”

“Hold on.” I threw my hands in the air to stop her from talking and laughed. “Your cousin Nine is best friends with your fiancé, who is also best friends with your other best friend, who is also dating your other best friend.”

“You’re thinking too much into it.” Mahogany laughed. “We all have large families. I’m a part of the group that everyone calls the Numbers because of our birthday.” I waited for her to explain because what? “Our dates and months match. So, I’m One because my birthday is January first, then there’s Four who’s April fourth, Six who’s June sixth, Nine who is September ninth, and then Zero who was born October tenth.”

“Zero?”

“He didn’t want to be called Ten, so we call him Zero.”

“And I’m a part of the Bible Thumpers,” Corinthian interjected. “Our grandfather is a preacher and all of his kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids are named after something in the Bible.” She shrugged, then started counting on her fingers. “There’s Krude, whose real name is Genesis, Exodus, Judge, me, Mercy, Psalms, Cross, and my son, Judah.”

“Then there’s us,” Breeze said. “We don’t have a nickname, but it’s me, Earth and Fire. Shaka and her brother, Khan.”

“What about you?” I said, turning to Sasha. “I mean, I know you’re dating Corinthian’s cousin and best friends with Krude, but are there any other connections?”

“Yes.” She softly laughed. “My cousin Monica is engaged to Focus’s DJ and other best friend, Armani, who we call Baby.”

“Hell, that’s a lot to take in.” I laughed and rubbed my face. “Y’all are connected one way or another. Doesn’t it get confusing?”

“Sometimes,” Shaka answered and shrugged. “But it works for us because we know everyone here and not here has each other’s back. I can walk out the house and not have an ounce of fear because of them and my man.”

“Right,” Breeze agreed. “My brothers’ connections are deep. You never know who they may or may not know.”

“Like the guy who owns the grocery store,” I said, nodding. “He’s friends with Earth, right?”

“Yeah, Memphis. He’s married to Nyla, but he also has two sisters. One’s name is Dove and she’s married to CJ. His other sister isn’t married, but I think she’s dating. He has a brother, Dallas. He’s engaged to Galaxy. She has two sisters, Nova, who is dating Zero, Mahogany’s cousin, and Aurora. She’s dating Domo.”

“Domo and Aurora made it official?” Shaka asked, sounding surprised.

“Even if they didn’t, they did in my mind. I’ve seen them together; that cougar loves that boy.” Breeze laughed.

“She’s older than him?” I asked, even though I couldn’t point out either one of them if I saw them walking down the street.

“Yeah, by like eight or nine years.” Shaka laughed. “She’s having a birthday party soon. I know Earth is going, so you’ll meet her and the rest of the astrology sisters then.”

“Is there anybody else I need to know about?”

“Domo’s brothers, Bizzy and Bohdi.”

“And Symphony and her sisters.”

“It’s too many people,” I said, throwing my hands up again. They all started to laugh, and I shook my head. “I’m going to have to make a chart or something to know who is who and who they are dating.”

“What about you?” Mahogany asked. “Any brothers or sisters?”

“Not that I know of.” I shrugged. “I grew up in the system.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” she said, sounding genuine.

“Don’t be,” I said, waving her off. “I can’t change the past and I’m good with it at this point. I do have a best friend that’s like a sister to me, though. We met in college and have been connected at the hip since.”

“Why isn’t she here?” Shaka asked.

“Work. She owns a daycare and has a few teachers out due to being sick, so she’s been covering for them. They have an overnight program, too, for a few parents, so she’s there tonight.”

“What’s her daycare called?” Corinthian asked. “Judah goes to Ms. L’s Center, but I know she’s full and Fire is looking for somewhere for the twins to go until she has an opening.”

“Lynx Williams.” I laughed. “She owns Ms. L’s.”

“Get out of here! I love Lynx! She’s taken care of my baby since he was six weeks old, and I had to put him in daycare!” Corinthian replied and I nodded. “Oh, tell her I’m sorry too.”

“Shit, me too.” Paxton laughed.

“About what?” I looked between the two women, trying to figure out the joke they obviously knew, and I didn’t.

“Exodus goes in there at least twice a month and drops off ice cream and candy to the kids before he snatches Judah and runs,” she said, and I nodded. For the last few years, Lynx has had a love-hate relationship with one of the uncles of a kid who went to her center. She said he was great with the kids, but he was bossy and never followed directions.

“He does drive her crazy but it’s because he knows she is good,” I said, waving her off. “Plus, I’ll be honest with you; she looks forward to seeing how he’ll try to sneak Judah out of the building. She said last time, he put him in a gym bag.”

“He did.” Paxton laughed. Corinthian popped her in the shoulder and rolled her eyes.

“My baby swore for a week afterward that’s how he was supposed to travel. Shit was annoying.” Corinthian playfully rolled her eyes.