Page 35

ADIR

The next morning, a short walk down the street led me to Uncle Duval and Auntie Maddie’s house.

I rang the doorbell and chuckled at Toast losing her shit.

She weighed six pounds soaking wet.

However, her bark sounded deadly as hell.

“Nephew!” Unc answered.

Toast ran out of the front door, barking and carrying on like I was a complete stranger.

I picked her up and shook my head at Auntie dressing her dog as if she was a little baby.

Excitedly, Toast sniffed at my beard.

“You bite me, it’s gon’ be slow singin’ and biscuit bringin’,” I warned her.

Auntie Maddie would’ve killed me if I hurt her precious dog, though.

So, I put her back down to save us both.

She nipped at my heels as I entered the house.

“What brings you by?” Unc questioned.

Glancing around the house, I asked, “Maddie home?”

Unc made a face and said, “She went out of town for the weekend. Her ass knows damn well I don’t like her being gone longer than one night.”

“I can understand that.” I wouldn’t have been able to sleep knowing Pretty wasn’t within arm’s reach.

“I was hoping she’d make me a peach cobbler.”

Unc laughed.

“My wife put her foot in those cobblers, don’t she?”

I grinned.

“That’s why I took the walk. I needed it like ASAP.”

He shook his head and continued to laugh.

“I’ll harass her when she comes back,” I stated.

Toast was sitting in front of me like an obedient child waiting for me to give her a treat.

“Dog is clingy as hell,” Unc mentioned.

“I can’t walk a single step without her following me.”

“She misses her mama. If I were you I’d give her one of Auntie’s pillows. Auntie’s scent will help her relax. Might give you a break, too.”

He clapped me on the shoulder.

“That’s a good idea, Nephew.”

“Aight, good luck. I’m out.”

Leaving Unc’s house, I ducked my head at his lead security guard, Cooley, inhaled a lungful of March’s gentle air, and thought about Auntie Maddie’s peach cobbler.

There wasn’t a single person in this family who knew how to get the peaches perfectly tender and full of spices.

While tender and perfectly tasteful, her peaches still managed to be juicy and not dry.

Then there was the fluffy, buttery, sweet dough that made the whole cobbler set apart from any other I’d tasted.

Man, I could eat that shit every damn day and wouldn’t care about the weight I put on because of it.

As I entered my driveway, Zel stepped out of the front door and met me halfway.

“Locate my auntie,” I ordered.

“I got you.”

“Discreetly,” I added.

Bell Estates was land owned by my people for generations.

I knew every inch of the land that belonged to us.

For days, I’d been watching Seven Bell Place.

Auntie’s car would come and go as it normally did.

Nothing seemed to be off.

But it was.

A few days later, Auntie Maddie gasped when she saw me walk into the salon.

With a sharp glance, I sent the hairstylist scurrying away to give me and my aunt some privacy.

I’d paid her well for her services.

“How’d you find me?” she whispered.

Her hand lifted to shift the scarf covering her neck.

“Your hair looks nice, Auntie,” I complimented.

Nervously, she glanced around.

Her youthful face bore subtle signs of exhaustion.

Signs that I’d never noticed before.

My aunt was always the epitome of grace and beauty.

She was the woman whose voice never rose above a calm tone.

So, to think there was something seriously wrong with her fucked with me.

“There’s no need to be nervous. Come… Let’s talk.”

Hesitantly, she took my hand.

I assisted her from the chair and walked her towards the exit.

Outside, Alli opened the back door of the Phantom for Auntie to slide inside.

I followed after her.

Once the door was closed, Auntie inhaled deeply.

Again, she looked nervous.

Alli slid into the front seat, then pulled away from the curb.

“Auntie, relax, aight.”

“How can I relax when the leader of the family I’m running from seeks me out?” Her voice broke for just a second.

“ Why are you runnin’, Maddie? That’s the question I have for you.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced at me.

By the way her fingers played with the hem of her black blouse, she was unsure.

“It’s me you’re talkin’ to,” I said.

She chuckled humorlessly.

“Exactly, Adir.”

“Nah, you don’t get it.” I placed my hand on hers to stop her from fidgeting.

Her eyes hesitantly met mine.

“You’re talkin’ to me. Not anyone else.” It was like watching the weight of the world lift off of her.

She nodded, then sighed.

“Thirty years. That’s how long I’ve been married to your uncle. Then again, you knew that.” Her giggle was low and full of anything but joy.

“One morning, we woke up…and he was different.”

“Different how?”

Slowly, she reached up to remove her scarf.

Faint red marks lined her neck.

“Every time the marks begin to fade, he replaces them with new ones.” She blinked her eyes hard and faced the window.

Inhaling deeply, she held it for just a second before exhaling.

“The abuse started after Heir left home.”

“That’s about the time you started wearing those scarves.” Here I’d always thought that it was just a part of her signature style.

All the while, she was hiding something as dark as her husband abusing her.

Her head slowly nodded.

“It doesn’t take much for him to get angry. I wish I knew why he was angry in the first place.”

“Knowing the why wouldn’t change a thing,” I stated.

She accepted that. “You’re right. Still, I feared for my life every day in that house and there wasn’t a single thing I could do about it. Then, Heir called me. She was sick and needed me there for a few days. To think, he barely let me go.” Disgusted, she shook her head.

“Once I got to Heir, she took one look at me and knew something was wrong. I’d been able to hide it from my children for so long. But my daughter is smart. She’s the one who encouraged me to escape. The day I was supposed to come home, Duval’s security team just let me walk out of her apartment. They didn’t even try and chase me. DJ still doesn’t know. And even if he did…my son is still a Bell by blood. He’d choose his father every time, no matter what.”

Which meant, Auntie Maddie’s back had been against the wall.

“I’ve dealt with countless infidelities, which I thought I could handle. I figured he’d grow tired of it soon enough and return to the man I once knew him to be.”

“Until he didn’t.”

Solemnly, she nodded.

“Why does a man feel the need to hurt someone who would do anything for him. I had his children, kept his home, and loved him deeper than anyone. Cheating is one beast. But abuse… Why me?”

In that moment, I hated it for my future daughters.

I’d kill anyone who ever tried playing with her in such a way.

“I don’t know,” I answered.

“I won’t make the mistake of letting another man get the chance to do that to you.”

This time, she touched my hand.

“Thank you, Adir.”

“No thanks needed. I wish you would’ve come to me.”

“What gave me away?”

“Toast. You left her.”

A small, sad smile adorned her face.

“If I would’ve taken her with me that day, he would’ve known I was up to something.”

“I get it, and I applaud you for getting out. Even if I’m a little bothered that you didn’t come to me.”

She shooed me away.

“I was terrified, and there’s nothing to applaud. You found me. Which means, it was only a matter of time before he would’ve found me as well. If he ever lays eyes on me again, I won’t put it past him to kill me.”

“He won’t lay a hand on you,” I said.

Auntie solemnly reached into her bag and pulled out a brown envelope.

She handed it to me.

Inside were several tapes and photos.

Glancing at the pictures, I asked, “Where’d you get this?” I knew without a doubt that it was the same person who left me an envelope.

“It was delivered to Heir. However, the letter on the inside is addressed to me. She received it yesterday.” Her voice broke.

“He killed that poor girl.”

Staring down at the picture, I had no problem believing who killed Genika.

“Have you listened to the tapes?”

“No… I couldn’t bring myself to.”

“Aight,” I mumbled as Alli hopped on the interstate.

“Where are we going?” she questioned, a little frantic.

“Home, Auntie.”

She clutched her chest, and her eyes widened.

“No! I can’t! Heir! I need to—”

I silenced my auntie with a finger to my lips.

“Relax… Heir is safe with Dothan. I got you, aight.”

Tears spilled from her eyes as her lips trembled.

“Adir?” Her eyes pleaded with me to reassure her.

“I promise,” I assured her.

Two hours later, just as the sun set, we arrived back in Niceville Shores.

I tucked my auntie and cousin at a safe house and went straight home to listen to these fucking tapes.