Page 31 of Defending the Post (The Complexity of Love #3)
Chapter Fifteen
Travel
Marquise
L ater today, I would be playing game seven of the Basketball League Finals, but no one knew I was here.
I couldn’t chance telling Malcolm because he would talk me out of it.
If I wanted to regain control of my life, I needed to face my villain, the monster who haunted me.
The gray walls and concrete floors unnerved me as I sat in the plastic chairs.
“Marquise,” the guard said, and I stood from my seat.
A loud buzzing sound went off and the door unlatched. The guard met me in the hallway, guiding me to a room filled with glass cubicles and phones.
“Number three,” the overweight, bald, Black man said.
I gathered myself and slowly strolled toward the end, counting down the numbers.
Reaching the number three spot, I took my seat, and those cold, dead eyes glared at me.
He was a shell of himself, although his frame remained the same.
The monstrous attitude he used to terrorize me with had disappeared.
He picked up the phone first, and I followed.
“Are you here to tell me I’m a piece shit the same way Malcolm did? Shit, he said enough,” Winston said.
I glared back at him because this was new information to me. Malcolm hadn’t mentioned Winston since the day Anissa rescued us.
“Ha... You didn’t know he came to see his daddy. I thought twins could sense each other. You took enough ass beatings for him,” Winston said.
The more I stared at him, the fear his menacing figure once held diminished. Once I realized Winston could no longer emotionally and physically hurt me, the little kid within me grew up.
“Yeah, Anissa made y’all soft, she got you calling some other man daddy.
I’m ya daddy and I hear Toni finally found you.
I hid from that bitch. I warned her in the hospital either be my hoe or I was going to take y’all.
She sucked my dick without an issue. I might as well get paid for her talents.
When are you going to put money on my books?
I made y’all. Where the fuck is my appreciation and you. ..”
I hung up the phone without saying a word.
Before I came here, I had an entire speech prepared to curse him out.
Winston’s mouth continued to move with those cold, dead eyes.
He knocked on the window and pointed toward the phone, but I sat back and watched him unravel.
The motion of his mouth suggested he was cursing.
Winston pounded the glass with his fist when I didn’t answer.
The guards restrained him, and I watched, seeing myself in his explosive outburst. For years, I’d subjected my family and friends to this behavior, and I owed everyone an apology.
After the guard hit Winston with the stick, I abandoned my seat and my trauma.
“Yo, Marquise and Malcolm, your family is here. They should be in the box as we speak,” the security guard said.
I exited my seat with Malcolm following behind.
Nothing was going to stop me from seeing my family.
I've been emotional since I left the prison this morning. If I hugged Malcolm again, he’d probably fight me.
Getting off the elevator to the suites, I hugged the first family member I could get my hands on, Pops.
“Son, hey what’s going on?” he asked, and I squeezed him until he patted me on the back.
Winston’s vile aura had depleted me, and I needed to be refilled with love.
“Love you, Pops,” I said
“I love you too,” he said.
He gave me squinted eyes after he peeled me off him. I found Mom next and after I hugged her; I kissed her cheek.
“Marquise, is the game making you emotional?” she said, and I shook my head no.
Ivey ran from me, but I squeezed her anyway. “Gross, this is going to cost you, Marquise,” Ivey said as I bear hugged her.
“Charge my card,” I said.
“No problem,” Ivey said, and we all laughed.
My eyes found Jhae, and she moved behind Malcolm, leaving my favorite lady, Erin. She stood to the side and giggled as I admired her beauty. The sight of her wearing my jersey with the fresh cut and oversized glasses sent my heart racing. I loved this woman.
“Don’t come over here with all that,” she said in a playful manner, holding her hands up.
I sucked my teeth and secured her, anyway, pecking her lips. “I love you, even though you are a weirdo.”
“I love you too, but I want the chip,” she said, and I chuckled.
“I’ma put in that work,” I said, and she nudged me down for another kiss.
“Hello, everyone. Are we ready to secure the championship?”
I turned to see Stephanie, the chief operating officer of the Basketball League, standing with a familiar face.
“Uncle Maalik,” Erin said and moved in his direction.
He embraced her with a tight hug and kissed her cheek. He introduced her to Stephanie, and they shook hands. The first person I found was Pops. He deflated his chest as Erin greeted Maalik. It amazed me he still hated the man, even though he won the prize. Mom knew she had to play it safe.
“Uncle Maalik. I’m sure you know everyone, but Jhae is my employer and?—”
Erin’s eyes darted over to me as she smiled. Malcolm chuckled, shaking his head. What are the chances he would be her uncle? The last time I saw him, he was groping my mom at a photo shoot. Erin led him over to me.
“Marquise is my boyfriend and don’t tell your brother. I’m working on boundaries,” she said with a glowing smile.
“Marquise,” Maalik said with a hint of hesitance in his tone. The last time we encountered each other, he was pushing up on my mom. I don’t care how mom told the story, he was tonguing her down at the photo shoot. We both probably weren’t looking forward to a family dinner.
“Maalik,” I replied.
“Don’t hurt my niece.”
Erin
The intense stare down between my uncle and Marquise was amusing.
It appeared the entire family had some interaction with my uncle.
Mr. Jefferies transitioned into a defensive stance as he pulled Anissa closer to him.
By the end of the game, I would be getting a text from my daddy.
Before I left Abbott’s steakhouse for lunch, I passed Stephanie Uncle Maalik’s number.
I figured it couldn’t hurt. She favored Anissa on several levels with her height and build.
“You owe me dinner, young lady,” Uncle Maalik said.
“I promise to connect. Enjoy the game.”
We hugged one last time before he walked away with Stephanie. Marquise’s eyes landed on me, and I chuckled.
“You didn’t tell me Maalik was your uncle,” he said, and I shrugged.
“Does it matter? You will have plenty of opportunities to get to know him,” I said, and he narrowed his eyes. Marquise scoffed before he kissed my cheek.
As we migrated into the suite, Anissa smiled in my direction.
I’m sure we were going to have a private conversation about my family connection.
The suite had a bar and comfortable seating.
As the crowd filled the arena, I could sense their energy.
Taking my seat at the end, Jhae sat next to me and nudged my elbow.
“Maalik is your uncle? You do know he is kinda Anissa’s ex,” she whispered, and I shrugged.
The door opened, and the room turned to find Toni. She stepped inside, and we all peered over at each other.
“Marquise sent me a text message, his jersey, and a limo, inviting me to the game,” she said.
Toni stood in the doorway with confusion on her face and no one held any answers but me. When Marquise left the prison this morning, he called me in tears. He had finally faced his true villain, and I supported him through the phone. Winston was the monster he remembered and thought Toni was.
“Come in, Toni,” Anissa said, and they embraced as Toni cried into her arms.
After the national anthem, Khaira found her way to me. I lifted her in the air, taking in her smile and sensing the love in the room. “Are you ready to go on tour in two weeks?” I asked Khaira, and she giggled.
“On tour?” Mrs. Shaw-Jefferies said, and I located her eyes as she leaned forward in her seat. Shit, Marquise didn’t tell her, I thought to myself.
“Marquise is the opening act for Jhae’s tour. He added a tour bus, and he has planned to take the girls and Toni,” I said with no confidence.
“Tour bus? He is performing the intro of the first song,” Jhae said, tossing her hands in the air.
Anissa squeezed the bridge of her nose as she tilted her head down.
“I can’t go on tour. I have clinicals this summer. Is this the surprise he was talking about?” Toni said as she peered up at me.
“I’m not spending my summer on a tour bus,” Ivey said with a crinkled nose.
“Wait... why is Marquise opening the show, and he is not dragging my children across the country! Kal!!!! Marquise is making plans again,” Mrs. Jefferies said, and I turned my attention back to Khaira.
She smiled at me, and I shrugged.