Page 6 of Pieces of Us

Nehemiah

L oon pulled through the gates of my residence and into my driveway.

I could see Shelby’s Durango sitting curbside and already knew she was waiting for me to find out the verdict of what happened today.

I was almost sure Shanise called her and Chelsea already, even though her ass wasn’t supposed to be talking about my situation with anybody.

However, when it came down to our family, none of us played about one another.

They hated Diana the moment she moved all her shit into my house. At one point, we all were cool, but the moment our father’s forced us together, things were never the same.

“A’ight, fam. I’ll hit you later,” I told Loon as I exited his truck.

“In a minute.”

We slapped palms twice and saluted. I made my way up to my door and walked inside. Instantly, the smell of marijuana hit me.

I’m going to kick her little ass.

Shelby became interested in marijuana when our mother fell ill with Multiple Sclerosis. Queenie Newson was our guiding light, our guardian angel if I had to describe her. She was one of those moms that showed up for anyone she ever said she loved.

We never had to worry about if we were receiving enough love, affection, or attention because she never lacked in that department. It wasn’t until she could barely get out of bed that we realized how much of an impact she had on our lives.

We’d always known, but when she wasn’t able to do the things she used to do, it affected us more than we realized. So, Shelby started researching things to help with her condition. Unfortunately, by the time she figured it out, Queenie was gone.

To quell the emptiness of losing our mother, Shelby continued to grow marijuana to help save the lives of others or at least assist in helping them manage their pain. I was proud of her. What I wasn’t proud of was her smoking in my damn house.

“Anna Mae, what the hell I tell you about smoking in my house?” I asked once I entered the kitchen where she was located. I looked over and saw Chelsea and Shanise playing checkers at the table while Shelby stirred something in a pot.

“In my defense, I was trying out a new strand, and it works because I’m very calm, very sane, and very not about to go slice your ex-wife’s throat.” Shanise and Chelsea laughed.

“It’s not funny. Anyway, hello, ladies. Nice to see you all migrate over here when there’s an issue. At least I know y’all will ride at dawn for me.” I opened the fridge, grabbed a beer, then took a seat at the table.

“We gon’ always ride. I don’t know why you thought we wouldn’t,” Chelsea said as I leaned over and kissed her cheek.

“That’s why I love y’all. What you cooking, Sis?”

“Chili.”

“Chili in May?”

“What’s wrong with that?” Chelsea asked.

“It just doesn’t fit the weather.”

“Well, it’s all you had to cook up in here. That’s why you need a real wife. Because what the fuck was her baldheaded ass doing up in here?”

“The bare minimum,” I replied.

“We can see that,” Shanise said.

“So, just to be clear, we’re not putting hands on her?” Shelby queried.

I chuckled. “Nah. Leave her baldheaded ass alone. She got what she wanted.”

“And you just let her.” Shanise rolled her eyes.

“We’ve been fighting for months, Shani. I was over the shit.”

“The boat, though! Mannn, how the fuck you let her get the boat?” Chelsea yelled out.

“That part. But you’ve always been one to avoid conflict,” Shelby countered.

“He should have let me do my job, and that broad would have walked away with just her badly beaten wigs.”

“A’ight, enough. I get it. I really don’t want to show up to Pops party because I know Vic is going to be there. I don’t want to hear shit about what happened between me and his daughter.”

“Speaking of wives…I ran into Drue at Walmart the other day.”

I paused mid-sip and looked over at Shelby. My heart did a nosedive into my stomach from knowing Shelby ran into a puzzle piece to my lost past—my Morgan, my Mo Boogie, my love.

My eyes cast out of the window I sat in front of as a visual of her in the yard tending to the April flowers she’d planted…

watching them as they bloomed in this early May.

I closed my eyes tightly, trying to let go of the pain I felt when she disappeared without a trace.

How one man could hide a person should have been studied.

After scouring the city to find her, on whatever day Shelby saw Drue after thirteen years, they resurfaced? I had questions. If Drue was back in the picture, I knew Mo wasn’t too far behind.

“Hemi? Are you okay?” Chelsea asked me. I was sure she was concerned.

“Y-yeah…of course.” I swallowed down the rest of my drink. “Did you say something to her?”

“I did. She didn’t give me much on Morgan, and I didn’t want to pry, but I could tell she wanted to. She said after y’all’s breakup, they moved to Troy and their dad severed her communication to the outside world. She wasn’t even allowed to have friends.”

I scoffed. “That man was a fucking nut job, so I’m not surprised.”

“I loved Morgan. She was so sweet.” Shanise chimed in.

“We all did. I gave Drue my number to keep in touch, but I doubt she will.”

“Drue wasn’t as sheltered as Morgan. I mean, in a sense of having a boyfriend. Sis stayed with the niggas.” Shelby laughed.

“Not gon’ lie. She sure did. She wasn’t letting them hit, though, but she had them wrapped around her finger.”

Shanise offered information that I didn’t care about. I was silent as they continued talking until the conversation segued to my father’s upcoming birthday party.

I wouldn’t say I didn’t want to celebrate my father’s big sixtieth, but I always resented him a little.

That showed in me only visiting him on Sundays and holidays.

It was messed up, but he didn’t start being extra until my mother passed away.

That’s when he started forcing me to do shit I didn’t want to do.

I was young and vulnerable at the time. We had just lost our mother, Morgan was snatched away from me, and I couldn’t function enough to stand up to him when it came to what I wanted to do with my life.

However, I wouldn’t let him choose my career or having kids with a woman who only cared about her image more than she cared about anything else.

“I’m just glad you didn’t have kids with that bitch, Hemi. Lord knows I’d really have to clock that bitch for playing with your offspring,” Shelby stated, placing a plate with chili inside a breaded bowl in front of me.

“Yeah…Thanks, baby sis.”

“Anything for you, big bro.” She kissed my cheek as I smiled, digging in.

“Man, bet fifty I beat you.”

Loon challenged Morgan as we sat on the bleachers at Renaissance High.

It was after 6:00 p.m., and she would be leaving me soon because her curfew was 8:00 p.m. My arm was draped over her shoulder while she was snuggled under my arm.

They were having a debate on who was the fastest on the track team for both male and female athletes.

Since they both trained for Renaissance, Loon wanted to flex his muscle on my girl.

“Lawrence, please. I don’t want to have to take your money. I will dust you.”

“Bet me then, PK.”

“Loon…” I said, laughing. “Don’t do it, man. My baby’s stats speak for itself.”

“You put up the fifty for ya girl then, sleeze.”

“You know what, Lawrence? How about we don’t put up any money. I’ll just beat you for the free ball,” she said, standing up.

“If you get beat by a girl, I promise I’m dumping you!” his girl, Delilah, exclaimed.

Loon scrunched his face up. “We ain’t even together. Fuck you talmbout?”

I laughed.

Delilah mushed me. “Shut up.”

“Hey, not too much on my booby, girly,” Morgan told her.

I blew her a kiss and winked at her as she blushed and descended the bleachers.

“Come on, Mr. Smith. Let me show you how a real athlete gets down.”

“I should have had some popcorn for this,” I said, rubbing my palms together.

Delilah and I both watched as they stretched, and my girl did exactly as she promised. It was a close call, but I knew Morgan had the speed of a cheetah and the ambition of a real go-getter. It was the reason why she was going to be my wife.

When they made it back to where we were sitting, I was already standing at the bottom of the bleachers, waiting to receive her. She jumped into my arms and kissed my lips.

“My winner.”

She smiled down at me with love in her eyes.

“I-I want a rematch!” Loon said out of breath.

Morgan and I laughed.

“Give it up, nigga. You would have lost that fifty if my baby didn’t decline.”

“Man, what the fuck ever. She cheated.”

“Aww, don’t be a sore loser, Larry!” Morgan teased. “Better luck next time.”

“Forget y’all! Come on, Dee. I gotta get up early tomorrow.”

We bid them a good night as I slipped my arm around Morgan’s waist.

“I may as well get you home too before your pops put out an APB on you and shit.”

“I still have an hour before I have to be in…I want to spend it with you.”

I smiled, taking her hand and leading her under the bleachers. There were a few portable chairs under there since it was where most of the high schoolers hung out after hours. I sat down and pulled her onto my lap.

She smiled down at me and kissed my lips. “I can’t wait until we go to college. I won’t have to worry about my dad stopping us from being together.”

“He ain’t stopping shit now, so you don’t have to worry about anything. Once we graduate, you’re going to be my responsibility. I’m going to take care of you. Then after we graduate college, I’m going to marry you and give you five babies.”

“Five? OMG! I was thinking more like two!” She laughed.

“Nah, I need my starting five. My family is big. It’s only right to keep the tradition going.”

“I guess…I want to be a physiologist. After you told me how your mom passed, I want to be more in tune with the human body.”

“For real?”

“Mmhmm…First, I want to start with the lips.”

She kissed my lips, and I slid my tongue in her mouth. Our hands busied themselves with touching on parts, and I knew if her father saw us, he would probably roll over and die.

We stayed under the bleachers vibing, talking, listening to Boyz II Men “End Of The Road,” and joking about our night ending.

“Morgan!” We both looked through the bleachers, seeing her sister Drue looking around.

“Oh, shoot. What time is it?” she asked, grabbing my wrist to look at my watch. “Oh no. I’m four minutes past curfew!” she whispered, hurriedly jumping from my lap.

I grabbed my speaker and shut it off as we left from our hiding spot.

“I’m right here, Drue.”

“Girl, Dad will be home in thirty minutes! You better be glad I was looking at what time it is.”

“Sorry. We lost track of time.”

“Hey, Hemi.” Drue waved to me.

“What up doe, Drueski?”

“A little advice…If y’all are going to sneak around, make sure you have her home on time before Mr. Holier Than Thou brings his ass home.”

“Noted,” I replied.

“Drue, language!”

“Girl, please. Let’s go before you get both of us in trouble.”

Morgan turned to me, wrapping her arms around my neck.

“Just a few more months until you leave and another boring year until I join you. We won’t have to worry about any of this anymore…right?”

“Facts, baby.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, Mo Boogie. Dream about me, a’ight?”

“Always.”

She placed a soft kiss on my lips as her sister smiled and dragged her away.