Page 20 of Still Forever

Jax

I paced the warehouse floor, waiting for Zo to bring back what I’d asked for.

Taj sat tied to a chair in the middle of the room.

His face was swollen, one eye shut, his nose leaking blood, and his teeth broken and rattling around his mouth like loose change.

And that was just light work. I already owed this nigga for even thinking that he would have a chance at dating my girl, but the fact that he thought he could disrespect her sped up his death date.

He groaned with his head swaying from side to side.

“Hurry the fuck up and kill this nigga before I shoot him, Jax. All this moaning like Jodeci, getting on my nerves,” Judah snapped, tossing me a towel for my busted knuckles. I chuckled and wiped the blood from my hand.

Trouble and Judah had been here since they heard what happened at Kennedy’s house. That’s just how we moved; no one handled missions alone. It didn’t matter if we could handle it ourselves. We are our brother’s keeper, always.

The warehouse door opened. Zo walked in with a briefcase and tilted his head toward the room, signaling for us to follow him. Once we were all there, he set the case on the table and cracked it open. A small bomb sat in the center, connected to wires, and a timer could be heard ticking.

Trouble stepped back fast. Judah damn near threw himself against the back wall.

“Jax, what the fuck are you doing?” Trouble grilled, with his eyes narrowing.

“Man, mama said it was me, but y’all the niggas that need the therapy,” Judah said as he put more space between us and threw his hand over his face. Like his arm could shield him from a damn explosion.

I chuckled as I looked at the expressions on their faces.

“It’s a mouth bomb,” Zo said casually. “Small enough not to take the building but powerful enough to erase him.” He shut the case and then handed me some gloves and a roll of duct tape.

Slipping on the gloves, I whistled and popped the case open again.

I lifted the bomb and removed the green and yellow wires like the seller had taught me.

Trouble went to the back of the room to stand beside Judah.

Glancing through the window of the office, I could see the rise and fall of Taj’s chest. If he wasn’t already, he was definitely about to regret the moment he put his hands on Kennedy.

Going back onto the main floor, his one good eye followed me. The footprint of my boot on his chest from when I stomped him out earlier was still there, resting on his white shirt.

“Open your mouth bitch boy,” I said as I walked toward him with the bomb in my hand. As soon as he saw what it was, I could see the panic all over his face.

Just as I neared him, he spat blood on my pants. I smirked as I switched the device to my left hand and backhanded him so hard that the sound of his jaw cracking echoed off the walls.

“Gah damn!” Judah said as he came from the room, now that he had some entertainment.

Taj’s head dropped, and tears spilled down his face. Roughly, I reached into his mouth and grabbed his bottom teeth, forcing it open. The scream he let out told me that either his jaw was dislocated or broken, but it didn’t matter. I was about to put him out of his misery in a second anyway.

“How the fuck you gone protect my girl if you fold this easy? Soft ass nigga.” I stuffed the bomb in his mouth and clamped my palm over it as I got the duct tape from my back pocket.

I wrapped layer after layer around his head until nothing but the muffled sounds of his cries were coming through. He shook violently against the chair, like the chains that I had on his chest, wrists, and legs could be broken by his body strength.

Then I turned and walked back into the room. With every step I took, his screams got louder underneath the tape. I don’t know if he thought I planned to let him go after I beat his ass earlier, but it wasn’t a chance in hell that he would live to say he ever disrespected Kennedy.

“You niggas got your raincoats?” I asked them lowly as I pulled the remote from the case and held it in my hand. I didn’t press the button for a while as I stared out the glass. Not because I was rethinking the decision, but because I was enjoying watching him cry and scream like the bitch he is.

I meant what I said, any nigga touches a hair on her head, it was their last day on Earth.

“You know I don’t fuck with bombs,” Trouble warned. I chuckled.

They all sat and watched as my finger hovered over the button. Judah drew a cross across his chest. I hesitated on pressing it and glared at him.

“Judah, what the fuck?” I gritted.

“Nigga you got us in here with a bomb like we can’t get blown up too.” He said as silence fell over us. Me and Trouble locked eyes, and then we all broke out into laughter. Judah always picked the worst times to be a clown.

Taj was still strapped to the chair, using all his energy to try to get out of the chains that had him stuck to the seat.

After I let him feel it, I picked up the remote and pressed the button.

His head exploded like a watermelon. The power from the bomb caused the chair to fly back 10 feet, smacking the wall and then falling sideways on the floor.

Blood, bone, and brains sprayed the gray paint on the walls.

Just as promised, nothing else was destroyed.

His body, still chained to the chair, was untouched but headless.

Trouble looked at Zo, “I need a case of them.”

We all walked out of the room and onto the main floor to take in the scene.

“Yeah, I gotta step my psychopath up. Is that the nigga’s tongue?” Judah asked as he nodded toward the corner of the room.

I tossed the gloves on the floor and pulled out my phone to call the cleanup crew.

Kennedy should have already known that nobody touched her and lived to talk about it. If she didn’t know how far I would go for her. This was the answer. And no one was exempt from it.

“You clean up pretty nice,” Remy said as she grabbed my hand, and I guided her down the stairs of the estate.

“Preciate it, you look good too,” I said as we walked toward Zo, who was waiting for us.

Since KD had fired him, he had been back driving for me when he wasn’t on his shift, watching her.

Tonight, he was on driver duty. As we approached the truck, I noticed that Zo gave Remy a look that caused her to blush.

Right as he looked away from her, we made eye contact, and I smirked at him.

But I didn’t say anything about it, it wasn’t my place to check what she did, and if I had to be real, I couldn’t care less.

After a thirty-minute drive, we arrived at the restaurant, and we held hands as we walked inside.

My parents had asked us to have a family dinner.

If there was one thing about Meena Jennings, no matter how old we were, she was never going to stop making time for her boys.

And anytime I got to spend with my parents was always cool, so I wasn’t turning down any invites either.

The elites had shown their hand when I saw one of them trailing me to the office. Since I knew for sure they were watching, I was going to give them a show. Make them think that I was playing their game. So, I invited Remy.

“Look at my big baby,” My mother always referred to me as that. Of the three of us, I was the tallest. Trouble and Judah shared the same height. The nickname had stuck for thirty years. She smiled as she hugged me, then she turned her attention toward Remy.

“Hi, pretty. I’m Meena. Nice to meet you.” She said as she pulled her into an embrace. Moms loved KD, but she was never left in the dark about anything. She was aware of the arrangement and Remy. She also knew Rem’s position on the marriage and respected her for it.

“Hi, Mrs. Jennings. Nice to meet you.” Remy said as they parted. Pops stood, and I dapped him up before he brought me into a hug and then shook Remy’s hand.

I rounded the table to Judah, who shook my hand and then hugged Remy, holding her.

“You look good, you smell good. You want a permanent spot at this table, baby?” He asked as he let her go, and we all started laughing.

“Boy, you are a mess,” she said as she hit him, and we took our seats. Trouble was late as usual. Between Storm and having two children, he hadn’t been on time for anything in the last two years.

We sat around talking until we saw him and Storm walking toward us.

“Son, you ain’t never gone show up on time?” Pops chucked at Trouble.

“If I do, my wife sick, Pops.” He looked at Storm, who hit him playfully.

“Hey, Mama, hey Dad,” Storm said to my parents. She rushed over and greeted them.

“Don’t ‘hey mama’ me, where are my babies?” My mother scolded her, turning to look around like she expected the children to walk in behind them.

“Home with Ms. Cita. I need some wine. I have been running behind a toddler since seven o’clock this morning, Ma. I don’t—see now it gets to a point.” Storm stopped mid-sentence as she glared over at me and Remy and put her hand on her hip.

“Storm,” Trouble warned.

“I kept it cute at BJ’s party, but I’m not about to play with y’all.” She turned to walk out without a second thought.

“Baby…” Trouble said as he grabbed her arm and gave her a look that she understood. She huffed but didn’t challenge him before she eventually flopped in her seat.

“Uh-huh! Cool your hot ass off, rainstorm,” Judah taunted her as he smirked at the look on her face.

“Leave my wife alone, nigga.” Trouble said as he grilled Judah.

We hadn’t all been at the table for five minutes, and it had already started. Moms and Pops sat back and laughed as if it were regular programming, and for us, it was. Every time we got together, it was a mix of jokes, idle threats, and business talk.

I turned to look at Remy, “You okay?”

“I’m fine,” she answered as she sipped from her glass.

The food came, and moms had pre-ordered damn near the entire menu for us, like she didn’t trust the restaurant to feed us enough.

Platters of lamb, seafood towers, roasted vegetables, fried chicken, and salads.

Between mouthfuls of food, Trouble kept answering calls, and Remy was politely answering Mom’s questions about where she grew up and how life was in Louisiana.

Judah filled Pops in on the business and how we had to put a system in place to make sure no money comes up missing. Pops was giving us game and wisdom like he always did. Trouble had the chair, but he still had the crown in our family. When he spoke. We listened and took notes.

But Storm sat in the chair with her arms folded across her chest. Every now and then, she would look down at her phone and by the way the speed of her fingers moved, I knew she was texting Kennedy, probably talking shit about all of us at the table.

I chuckled. Her loyalty ran so deep that it seemed reckless.

Every time we caught eyes, she would glare at me like she could burn a hole through me.

It had been months, and she still wasn’t letting up.

“What happened to your hands, Jaxon?” Moms asked as she motioned toward my busted knuckles and waited for an answer.

“Business, I’ll fill you in later,” I said quickly. She smiled and let it go.

“Remy, how are you liking New York?” Pops asked.

“I miss home. The people here are different, so hard. I can’t tell if I’ve offended someone or we’re just having a regular conversation.” They both chuckled.

Storm let out a deep breath. Trouble leaned over and said something in her ear that caused her to sit up straight. I don’t know what the nigga said, but if she could have turned red, then she probably would have.

I chuckled; her little ass had the heart of an elephant.

She was barely five feet and was walking around like she could beat my ass.

She was cold with a can of bear mace, though; I saw firsthand how she shook it and sprayed Nay like a roach until the can was empty.

Now that she knew how to use a gun, I don’t think I wanted to fuck with sis.

“Storm,” Ma called, making her look up from her phone. “Eat your food, baby. You done picked at that plate long enough. I know you can throw it back.” She joked.

“Yes, ma’am,” she muttered, putting a piece of chicken on her fork.

Remy stayed calm, smiling through the heat in the room. She didn’t let the pressure at the table get to her, and I respected that.

Judah was on his third plate. When he finally dropped his fork, he smiled and rubbed his stomach. “Man, ma, you always feed us like we’re fresh out of jail.” He said, cutting the tension and making us all laugh.

Zo had been standing outside with everyone else’s detail before he walked over to the table. He came to me and bent low.

“Two tails outside,” he whispered. “Black sedan. Been there since we pulled up, I think it’s the Matron and the Muscle.”

I didn’t move; didn’t let it show on my face. Just nodded. “Aight, keep eyes on them.”

He nodded and went back to his post.

Remy carried on with small talk with Ma, as if nothing had happened. But I couldn’t shake Zo’s words. They were proving they meant business, and so did I.

As we wrapped up, Pops called for the check, and we all stood to leave.

As I leaned down to hug my mother again, she spoke lowly.

Only for me to hear. “You make sure Kennedy knows she’s loved.

No matter what, she’s a part of this family, and always has a seat at our table. Don’t you ever let her forget it.”

“I won’t,” I promised, squeezing her.

Because if tonight had shown me anything, it was that the elites could play all the games they wanted, but they couldn’t rewrite the truth. Kennedy was mine, and in this family, even if her name wasn’t spoken, it still held weight. And anybody who forgot that? They ended up like Taj.