Page 137 of Steel

Romi and Shar stood in the entryway to the kitchen, doubled over in laughter, while recording them on their phones. When Romi saw me, she tried her hardest to gather herself as she walked over to greet KJ and I.

“Look at their big stiff asses,” I said, pulling her in for a hug.

“They have been at it for a good twenty minutes,” she said, wiping her face before plucking KJ from my arms. “Hey, puddin’!”

She smothered his face with kisses, causing him to giggle. Shar finally put her phone away and came over as well.

“You see this shit?” she asked, hugging me and pinching KJ’s cheeks.

“Those are your husbands.”

I turned my head in time to see them hitting the Kid n Play, looking like they were having the time of their lives. This was fatherhood. Just doing dumb shit with your kids. Maceo finally turned to see me, and a grin spread across his face. He came over to dap me up and take his nephew before going right back to dancing.

The front door opened again, as the song switched to the phonics song, and Deuce walked in with Liam and Darlyn with Salima right behind them. When he saw our brothers, he frowned and shook his head.

“Y’all too big to be gyrating like that!” he called over the music.

“Don’t act like this beat ain’t fire, nigga,” Smoke said, hitting the Milly rock.

Darlyn and Liam scurried out of his arms to go join their uncles and cousins. The door opened again, and Jaeda and Quaid walked in. This nigga didn’t even speak before he was rushing past us to join in on the fun. I expected nothing less from him, because he loved teaching the kids new shit, and he ran this channel in the fucking ground whenever he and Jaeda babysat.

“Now that’s a damn shame,” Deuce said, shaking his head. He turned to me. “Come on out back and blow one with me.”

He didn’t have to tell me twice. I kissed Jaeda and Salima before following him out back. We claimed seats by the pool, and he sparked up the blunt. For a while, we smoked in silence before he finally said something.

“How you doing? I haven’t checked in with you in a minute.”

“I’m good, man.”

“You sure? I mean, you jumped into this relationship after everything that happened.”

“I didn’t jump into it. I love Neha. I’ve always loved her, and I never stopped loving her. I just pushed that shit outta my mind. It still hurts. I can’t lie about that. But knowing what I know now, I’ve forgiven her. I feel much better after taking care of that muthafucka.”

His eyes widened. “When did this happen, and why didn’t I know?”

“About two weeks ago. Me, Pops, and Quaid?—”

“Aw, hell nah! How you took that nigga with you and ain’t say shit to your brothers?”

“’Cause that nigga is my brother too.”

He nodded. “My bad. You right.”

“Anyway, you know your daddy has connections every fucking where. He got us in. I gave that nigga a paralyzing agent and beat the fuck outta him before snapping his neck.”

Deuce grinned. “You love using them damn hands, nigga.”

“For a muthafucka like that, he didn’t deserve the mercy of my gun. He liked to hit women, so I made him my bitch.”

“And here I thought Smoke was the unhinged one behind his woman. He was terrorizing the city, and you out here sneaking into prisons and beating niggas to death.”

I chuckled. “Protect and serve. Ain’t that what Pops said?”

“His old ass can’t stay out the field when he’s supposed to be retired.”

“I don’t know if we will ever see the day that Senior fully retires from the game. This shit gives him a thrill. Maddie’s overseas with Mia, and it’s not like he’s getting any pussy right now to keep him occupied. Other than running between our houses, he ain’t got shit else to do.”

I laughed. I could agree that I saw my father ten times as much these days than when he was in charge. No lie, I enjoyedhim just being my father and not my boss. We joked on Senior a lot, but the man had wisdom, especially with being a parent. He was one of the first people I called when anything was going on with KJ. No matter what time it was or what he was doing, he showed up.