Page 23

I laid on my back in the dark with one hand behind my head and the other holding the remote I wasn’t even using.

My body felt like it had been stomped out by life itself.

My chest was heavy, my nose clogged, and that damn chill in my bones let me know I was coming down with something real bad.

Shit, probably the flu or a cold. Either way, I wasn’t built to be laid up sick or not.

Miami didn’t stop moving for nobody, especially not for a king.

One of my chefs were in town from Haiti was in the kitchen throwing down on some pepper soup…

that real roots and fire. It was that thick, spicy kind that cleared your nose and sinuses and had your soul feeling brand new in thirty minutes.

He was muttering prayers and shit over the pot too and while I wasn’t too fond of it, I respected it.

I was just starting to doze off on the sectional when my phone rang.

“Yo,” I answered with a hoarse voice.

“Aye bruh, I’m ‘bout two seconds from puttin’ myself on child support!” Dique barked on the line, and the background noise made it sound like a fuckin’ WWE match was going on behind him. “I’m talkin’ automatic withdrawal from my shit and everything… garnish me. Fuck it.”

I rubbed my eyes. “Man, what now?”

“She talmbout I can’t take my daughter nowhere unless she bringin’ her fake-ass couch set, broke TV, and her see-through dresser from Dollar General. She actin’ like I’m tryna kidnap the baby and traffic her across the border or some shit.”

I groaned and slowly sat up. My fuckin’ head was pounding.

“I’m comin’.” I hung up before he could say shit else.

I exhaled long and hard. This was the same baby mama he swore up and down was chillin’.

Now she acting like she the Queen of Section 8.

I threw on a black thermal, slid into some sweats, and laced up my Forces.

I grabbed the Glock and tucked it before leaving.

Sick or not, ain’t no such thing as being caught slipping.

About forty-five minutes later, I pulled up in the truck behind the heavily tinted windows.

As soon as I turned on the block, that familiarity was there again.

Rusted bikes laid across the sidewalk, the corner boys posted up near the store, and shirtless lil boys were running through the front yards.

Dique’s deep voice echoed from the duplex porch before I even got out the truck. “I’m not takin’ the ashtray, Keondra! I don’t give a fuck if yo’ uncle carved it in prison.”

I climbed out and even though it was hot outside, my body had chills and body aches. However, cold or not, my presence warmed the block. Two of my hittas were in a second truck behind me, ready for whatever.

“Dique!” I called out as I walked up. “Man, what the fuck is this?”

He turned and smiled like I was the messiah showing up to end his pain. “Bruh, this girl really think she movin’ out with the whole hood. She got candles with no tops, a broken fan, and five bags of old clothes for a baby that’s three.”

Keondra popped out the screen door with a silk scarf covering her long hair with one hand on her hip. “Who you talkin’ to like that, Dique?! I’m the one who pushed your daughter out, remember that! You don’t run me!”

I stepped between them, not in the mood for this shit. “Keondra.” I said in a tone full of authority. She blinked at me, and I kept talking. “You done?” I asked.

“Excuse me?”

“I said... are you done? Or do I gotta remind you who you yellin’ at?”

She took a step back, allowing the realness in my tone to straighten her ass up. I wasn’t Dique, I didn’t fuck the girl and make a baby, and I wasn’t about to allow her to disturb what I built ‘cause she wanna be a loudmouth.

“Look,” I said. “You gon’ get taken care of and the baby too, but all this rah-rah shit?

That stops today. You got a $200 voucher, and you cryin’ about movin’ out the hood?

Bitch, count yo’ blessings. You got a Royal’s baby.

That child is a legacy, which means you gotta move smarter than this.

” I told her. She crossed her arms but stayed quiet.

“Talk reckless again, and I’ll take custody myself and you won’t see that baby unless it’s behind bulletproof glass. You think I’m playin’?”

“No, Dom,” she muttered.

I turned to Dique. “I’m out here sick as a dog, let’s get this shit wrapped up Dique.”

Dique nodded. “I’m on it, slime. I’m glad you came ‘cause I’d be in fuckin’ jail.”

“I hate y’all,” Keondra mumbled, walking back inside.

Dique shook his head. “Yo, I swear I gotta pray every mornin’ before dealin’ with her. This what I get for fuckin’ with her ass all ‘cause she got some good pussy.”

“Keep playin’, you gon’ have another baby.” I warned.

“Hell nah, the way my rubber and pull-out game about to be, I might win a gold medal for my shit.”

We exchanged a few more words until it was time to go.

The black trucks lined up like a motorcade outside Keondra’s dusty-ass duplex.

Neighbors were peeking out their blinds, being nosy like they were watching a damn movie.

A few kids ran behind the Escalades as we loaded Keondra’s last box in the back of one.

Her daughter, my niece, was comfortable in Dique’s arms with her thumb in her mouth, as her big innocent eyes took everything in. Dique was clowning the lil girl at first, but truth is, she was actually cute, she just didn’t look like us. At three years old, her features would’ve showed if she did.

“Let’s roll,” I said, adjusting my hoodie over my head as I stepped back into my truck.

The ride to Aventura was smooth and the further away that we got from the bricks, the cleaner the streets got, and the brighter the lights got.

The air started smelling like imported flowers and old money because in my opinion that’s all that was in Aventura, a bunch of old, rich folks.

Keondra was in the back truck with Dique and Kaylani, looking like she couldn’t believe this was her life now.

We pulled into the private gated townhome community like royalty.

It was the kind of place where every lawn looked uniform, and every house had that new-money look to it.

Her new spot was a two-story townhome with white stucco, black trim, a modern glass door, and her own private driveway.

Inside was fully furnished in cream, mocha, and soft gold colors with clean lines, plush rugs, big mirrors, recessed lighting, and marble countertops.

It was really some classy, grown woman shit…

some shit Keondra ain’t never seen before.

She stepped inside and immediately froze. “This mine?” she gasped, almost scared to touch anything.

“Yeah,” Dique said. “This the Royal upgrade.” He told her. Kaylani waddled toward the stairs, and her little bowlegs were working overtime.

“Let her see her room,” I told one of my people ahead of us.

We followed behind, and when Keondra opened Kaylani’s room door, I watched her entire energy change.

The walls were painted soft lavender. She had a white princess bed with the sheer netting draped over the headboard that sat in the center of the room.

There were stuffed animals lined up on a bench under the window.

There was a dollhouse in one corner, and a reading nook in the other.

She even had a closet full of brand-new clothes, with all the tags still on.

I was proud of Dique for getting everything situated with the little time that he had.

Keondra covered her mouth with her hands. “Y’all really did all this?”

Dique stepped behind her. “She a Royal. This the bare minimum… ain’t even half, but you gotta stay out my way and out my ear. I’ma take care of what’s mine… in peace.”

The Kaylani climbed on her bed, laughing, and Keondra just stood there with tears welling up but refusing to let them fall. I knew that feeling. That damn, this too good to be true type of disbelief.

I looked her dead in her face. “You ain’t gotta like how I lay down the law, Keondra.

But you gon’ respect what this name come with.

Ain’t no runnin’ ‘round actin’ like a hood rat.

No more porch yelling, no more beef with randoms. You got eyes on you now.

That child? She’s mine too. You act up, we snatch her back. Simple.”

She slowly nodded her head while gently biting the inside of her cheek. “I got it. I swear I do.”

Dique then threw her the keys to a new white Lexus NX parked in the garage that still had the red bow on top. “You gon’ need this to get her around,” he said. “Ain’t no bus rides or Ubers no more. She deserve better than that.”

“Dique…” she breathed, shaking her head like it was all a dream.

He shrugged. “Don’t say I ain’t never gave you shit.”

She looked like she wanted to hug him, but Dique wasn’t with all that shit.

He bent down instead, picked up his daughter, and sat her on the counter.

“Aye,” he said to the Kaylani, lifting her chin so her eyes locked with his.

“Daddy gon’ teach you how to talk real slick one day. But for now… you just be a princess.”

She giggled instead. “Daddy, can I have ice cream?”

Dique gently brushed his hand over her nose and then pulled out a twenty-dollar bill. “You can have all the ice cream you want baby.”