Page 48 of Welcome to the Table

Hellcat

“ N igga, what the fuck were you thinking?” Calliope yelled at me once everybody was gone. I got that this nigga was mad, and he was caught off guard, but he wasn’t about to talk to me like I was a lil boy.

I didn’t know about the shit with Jaci. She didn’t even know about this fucking meeting or this building, so this shit wasn’t on me. The only thing I would take accountability for was the fact that I had my niggas take their little sister from Colombia.

“First of all, calm the fuck down. Had you not fallen off the fucking grid for damn near a week, you would know what the fuck was going on. You decided that you didn’t want to talk to anybody, and I get that, but shit got hectic in your absence,” I told the truth.

I understood the shit with Klarity, but dead pussy should not cloud his judgment.

“I knew some shit was shaky with them puppies, so I did what I thought was right, and I don’t regret it. She just can’t stay with me. She gotta stay with you,” I told him, and his nostrils flared.

He looked back at the woman sitting there like she was about to piss herself. I knew the shit was a setup when Wisdom walked into the house, and we didn’t know he was coming. I act on impulse, and fuck it, it’s done.”

“But, why, though? Why would you take their little sister? What if they take Jaci?” he asked me, and I felt my blood get hot.

“Exactly, nigga. This is unnecessary heat that we don’t need, but you just couldn’t help your fucking self. What about this shit with Jaci? Why the fuck did she kill Thiago's scary ass?” he asked me.

I put my hands on my head because he was asking too much, and my mind was all over the place.

“I don’t know, nigga, that’s why. I wanted to thicken the fucking plot because they think they are untouchable, and they know better than to touch Jaci!” I screamed in his personal space.

“Jaci killed that nigga because he was trying to get away. He wasn’t even in the building when we met with them. She was sitting in the car, waiting for our return.

“Do you not know the shit you just started?” he asked.

I looked into his eyes. They had changed to black, and I knew he was in beast mode.

“Whatever it is, I’m ready for it. They already got Melph, so we gotta do shit ourselves,” I told him, and he slowly nodded his head.

“Do you know the fucking war you just started? You killed that man’s fucking son, kidnapped his fucking daughter, and now they losing money for a fucking seat,” he yelled.

“I killed the brother because he was trying to get away the day we went to the club.” Jaci’s soft ass voice cut through the air.

Calliope’s head turned like the fucking exorcist. “You let Jaci get caught up in this shit when we supposed to be protecting her? And where the fuck were you, Hollygrove?” he asked us, ignoring Jaci’s voice.

“I can talk for myself, brother. He was trying to run while I was sitting in the car. I thought he was trying to snitch, so I got out of the car and slit his throat. That’s on me, not Hellcat or Hollygrove,” she said.

I was glad she left out the part about me telling her to wait twenty minutes.

“What the fuck were you doing in the back of the car?” he asked her.

I stood there watching. Calliope was a fucking monster in the streets, but he always handled Jaci with care. He never yelled at her or attempted to raise his voice. He walked closer, waiting for her answer.

“We were about to go to the mall and had to make a stop. I had to sit in the car,” she said.

“I waited, then I saw this Mexican-looking dude with long hair run around the building, looking suspect. So, I got out of the car, and well, you know what happened next,” she said like it was nothing.

“I didn’t know who he was at the time, but when I brought his head to Hellcat, he told me that I had fucked up.

” She had the fucking nerve to start crying.

He grabbed her against his chest and hugged her. I shook my head. He was a sucker for her every time.

“Don’t worry. We gon’ fix it.” He cut his eyes at me before letting her go.

I didn’t give a fuck about their little moment because Jaci was not innocent in this shit, and she wasn’t getting a pass with me at all. They had Melph, but we killed the man’s fucking son and kidnapped his daughter.

“How the fuck did you even get here?” I asked her.

“I took Momma’s truck,” she said.

“Fuck, man! She got a fucking tracker on all her cars, so she knows where the fuck you are, Jaci,” I said, pacing the floor. I didn’t need Athena to find us and try to fix anything. We had shit under control.

“I’m not that stupid. I knew about the tracker under the bumper and took it off, dummy,” she told me, and I shook my head. She was rusty and needed some practice.

“You been gone too long. You are a big dummy. The other tracker is in the fucking engine,” I barked, walking her way.

Hollygrove stepped between us to stop me. I wasn’t going to hit her dumb ass, but I was gon’ choke her. I looked in his face. We were the same height.

“Chill, nigga. Don’t lose your head. I’ll take Jaci and go, and you can handle the shit here with Calliope.”

I gave him a look. “Nigga, don’t fucking tell me what to do with my sister. Move the fuck around me.” This nigga was losing his mind.

“Look, all this catty shit about to make me shoot both you niggas. Fuck all that shit y’all talking. It happened already. Look at the fucking now!” Calliope’s thunderous ass voice boomed throughout the room.

Everybody jumped and became silent.

“What the fuck are we going to do with this young lady?” he said, pointing to Dakota, sitting in the chair, squirming.

“I said that shit earlier, and I meant it. She is going with you. You need some fucking company and something to do to take your mind off your dead bitch,” I told him.

“Nigga, I don’t kidnap women! What the fuck is wrong with you?” he barked.

“Well, you do now,” I said and turned my attention back to Hollygrove. I didn’t want to get into shit with my best friend, so I piped down and listened.

“Ain’t nothing wrong with me. When my hittas went over there to get her, she looked miserable. She was in the bathroom of a club, looking hella boring. Of course, they scoped out the scene, so I look at it like they were saving her from her family,” I revealed.

Calliope let out a dangerous chuckle, and only I knew what it meant.

“But did you see her misery? Look at her now. Don’t you think she wants to be at home with her family?” he asked me.

“I don’t give a fuck what she looked like. These niggas were fucking with our businesses, so I had to fuck with theirs,” I told him, and he shook his head. I knew I was working his last nerve, but I didn’t care. What’s done is done.

“Look, Hell, let me take her home, and we can figure this shit out. We got bigger fish to fry, and with emotions high right now, we all need a breather.” He stepped in to defuse the situation.

“Yeah, come on, Hollygrove, because if this nigga takes me home, we might not make it,” Jaci said as she turned to walk to the elevator.”

I watched as he followed her until they were on the elevator, and the doors closed. I turned back to my big brother, scolding me with his eyes.

“You know, Hell, just when I think that you would calm the fuck down or think before you do shit, you do the complete opposite. This shit is crazy.” He looked at her, sitting in the chair.

“She got earplugs in her ears. She can’t hear us,” I told him.

“What the fuck am I supposed to do with her? She is fucking scared, and you know we don’t move like this. This is a war that we don’t need,” he told me.

I felt my face getting hot. I didn’t give a fuck what war was starting.

“Since you been missing, let me let you in on some shit. The Point Mutts were moving product through the club for I don’t know how long, so they started the fucking war.

This shit was a setup. Fanucci calling out of the blue after all these years with some lame shit about protection?

Think about it. Then, we find out a fucking bartender is moving their shit through our club?

That shit ain’t no coincidence. Then, Wisdom shows his ass up?

Come on, now. This shit is a setup, and we gon’ figure out who the fucking snake is and why they chose to fuck with us,” I told Calliope, and I could tell his wheels were turning.

“Fuck, in almost a week, all this shit happened?” he asked himself, looking at me.

I stood there watching him. He was thinking, strategizing a plan, but he wasn’t alone.

“Calliope, we a team, nigga. We gon’ handle anything that comes our way,” I told him, and he snapped out of his thoughts.

“Fuck those Point Dawgs. They need us. We don’t need them. Thiago was trying to run back to safety and lost his fucking life. That’s on him. They want war, we gon’ give it to them,” he said, looking at Dakota.

“Go get some rest. I’ll take care of her.

She is my problem now, but yo’ ass needs to lay low for a minute.

I’ll tell Athena what’s going on in due time, but we good for now.

Let me handle this shit moving forward. Go find some pussy to climb into and wait for my call,” he told me, and I laughed, thinking about Raven.

“That’s what I thought. Already got somebody in rotation. Nigga, you sad.” He laughed, and I turned to walk away.

My head was down because what he said was right. I never thought first before I did some shit.

“Nah, chin up, nigga. You fuck up. I clean up. That’s just how we roll. Ain’t nothing new. We good,” he said to my back, and I held my head high as I got on the elevator.

I pressed the button, and the doors closed as I met my brother’s eyes one last time. I knew he was ready for war. He had the look of murder in his eyes. Calliope had turned into the grim reaper, and he was about to start collecting souls.