Page 13

ADIR

Our honeymoon ended too quickly.

I wanted to spend another week with just me and Pretty.

However, we had responsibilities.

One of those responsibilities had a hard ass head.

Humble entered my office with Quilo in tow.

His eyes landed on me.

The mild hostility I was normally met with wasn’t as noticeable today.

That was a start.

“Have a seat,” I told him.

Humble left my office, leaving me and a standing Quilo in a stare-off.

Instead of repeating myself, I pointed to the chair across from my desk.

Reluctantly, he finally sat down.

“Did you get ya license?” I questioned.

“Yeah,” he replied.

“Let me see it.”

Huffing, he went into his back pocket to retrieve his wallet.

He slid the card out and handed it to me.

My last name followed his first and middle name.

I checked to make sure that the address was accurate before handing it back to him.

“How do you feel?” I asked.

I’d waited to have this conversation with Quilo.

He’d needed some time to unwind before he and I could ever have a civilized conversation.

He was a hothead, and I was a nigga who didn’t mind cooling off hotheads.

I needed him to get his mind right before we delved into the meat of who he and I were.

According to Peace and Humble, Quilo had been thawing out a little bit since the wedding.

That brought me some comfort.

With me, it was a quick wassup and that was about it.

As long as he warmed up to my sons and me, Pretty would be cool.

Pretty.

The way she stayed on my mind had to be studied.

We had a great routine going.

She was still trying to get used to me, so I gave her the space to feel like she was still living alone.

I didn’t seek her out and instead allowed her the space to come to me.

Damn if a nigga didn’t wait for her to come to me every night.

I waited up just to hear her turning my doorknob to come into the room we would one day share.

I’d sit next to the bed and hope she asked me any-damn-thing just to hear her talk.

Her scent filled my room to the point where sometimes, I just closed my eyes and let the air particles around me take me on a journey.

Oftentimes, the journey led me to having the hardest dick.

She had me so ready to show her everything I wanted to do to her.

However, I promised her that things would move slowly, and I meant that.

Which was crazy because we worked together now.

Her office was just a short walk away from mine, and it took all my willpower not to be in her shit between every patient.

And she’d just started yesterday.

“What you mean? I’m being forced to claim ya fuckin’—”

Quilo’s tone and delivery snapped me out of my thoughts of Pretty.

I shot him a sharp glare which cut his words off.

“I don’t like this,” he said.

“We’ve already established that.”

“You gon’ hurt my sister.”

“I would never.”

“All niggas say that.”

“I’m not all niggas.”

“All niggas say that shit, too,” he countered.

I had to give it to Quilo.

He wasn’t a pushover.

“You’re right,” I conceded.

“All niggas do say that shit.”

He puffed his chest out at the small victory.

However, I was about to burst his bubble.

“All niggas can’t make a body disappear, though.”

Quilo’s cocky expression turned into a stern mug.

“I was protecting my sister.”

I shrugged.

“No matter the reason, you really think having ya future in the hands of the laws is easy?”

He simply looked at me.

“I didn’t think so. And the laws ain’t the only issue here. You’re smart enough to know the streets don’t play fair.”

He took his L on the chin and clicked his teeth.

“I’ll give you that.”

“So, where do we go from here?”

As if he waited for the opening, he asked, “Why is it you can make a body disappear? Who the hell are you?”

Smirking, I replied, “You haven’t asked Humble or Peace?”

Reluctantly, he shook his head.

“You should get to know my sons. I think you’d find that y’all have some things in common.”

“Like what?”

“Ask them,” I stated.

“As for me, I won’t tolerate disrespect. I’m cool with you knowing exactly who I am. You gotta understand what type of privilege and responsibility comes with knowing me. That goes for every single person in this family.” I motioned around to the pictures of the Bells on my walls.

“To know these people is to understand that there is a code. There is honor. There is respect. Most of all, there is loyalty.”

“Ain’t nobody loyal,” he mumbled.

Before I blasted off, I checked myself.

Quilo wouldn’t know anything about loyalty outside of his sister.

“One thing you’re gon’ learn about a Bell is that we are loyal. You bear that last name now. Either you down to be a part of us, or you’re destined to be against us. Which is it gon’ be?”

He sat quietly for a minute and just let his eyes roam around my office.

While he did that, I reviewed a patient’s chart and let him have the time he needed to get his thoughts together.

On a regular day, I saw at least twenty patients.

While Bell & Associates offered emergency services, we were also a full-fledged urgent care and internal medicine office.

Oftentimes, it was hectic around here.

However, I loved it.

The chart I was in now belonged to a local senator.

His diabetic labs were worse than the last time we spoke about his health three months ago.

Tomorrow, he had an appointment to discuss his results, and as always, I was already prepared to hear him tell me how he was too young to have all these health problems. Really, he wasn’t disciplined enough to take better care of himself.

Honestly, I was tired of trying to get him to do right by himself.

As I typed notes into his chart, I shook my head, wishing this man would understand how bad off he was.

“You gotta give me yo’ word.”

My fingers stilled over the keyboard.

Briefly, I studied Quilo.

Standing, I moved from around my desk.

“Stand up,” I told him.

He stood and immediately screwed his face up.

I stuck my hand out, which he looked at as if it was a gun pointing at him.

“I give you my word that Coco is eternally safe with me.”

His eyes met mine as he reluctantly shook my hand.

“I need something from you, though,” I said while tightening my grip.

“I need ya word that everything you left in Orlando, stays there. As of today, ya life here is all you know. Humble, Peace, Bragg, and Kalm…those are ya brothers. This family is ya family. ‘Round here you follow my lead. Understood?”

He gulped, then nodded. “Aight.”

I slid my hands into the pockets of my scrub pants and sighed.

“So… Is this family like the mafia or some shit?” he queried hesitantly.

Chuckling, I answered his question with a shrug of my shoulders. “What gives you that impression?”

He pointed to my desk. “That gun is big as hell, Doc. Then, there’s security everywhere we go, chauffeurs, the way y’all move…”

We both chuckled then.

He sobered, then added, “Plus… You said ya’self you can make a body disappear.”

I tilted my head and sobered as well. “While we’re on the subject, no more bodies, Quilo.”

Defiance returned in his demeanor. “I do what I gotta do—”

“ Which is call me… ” I emphasized. As he shook his head in disagreement, I said, “This is not up for debate. The smell of blood can be addictive if you let it. Don’t let getting one body under ya belt make you think this life is a fuckin’ cake walk.”

As if what I said registered, his eyes quickly rounded before he glanced away.

“Aight,” he finally replied.

“A few more things. Next week, Pretty is signing you up for school. You’ll be going to Niceville Shores Preparatory High.”

“A prep school?” His face contorted. “Wit’ uniforms and sh—” He cut his words short before he cussed.

“Humble and Peace graduated from there. I think it’ll be a good fit for you.”

“I’on know about that,” he countered.

“I know about it. Do you play basketball? Football?”

“Neither.”

“Football it is.”

“What?”

“You need to keep ya’self busy.”

“I’ll get a job.”

“No, you won’t. School is ya focus. Football is to help you learn some structure and discipline outside of Bell Estates.”

He clicked his teeth again.

“Tryouts start soon.”

“Come on, bruh.”

“Fix ya reactions, my baby. You might find out you fuck wit’ it.”

Quilo shot me a look that said otherwise, but I simply shrugged my shoulders.

“Gon’ on home,” I told him. He was all too eager to get the hell out of my office.

Going back to my desk, I sat down and got back to my charts. Sometime later, I crept out of my office to find Pretty. I missed her like crazy.