“Oh, she finally got some sense and left your stupid ass?” I smirked.
“You know… if I find out you or Nev put her up to taking my fuckin’ daughter away from me, y’all both gon’ feel some pressure behind this.” He sneered at me.
The look in his eyes let me know that my brother wasn’t there. He had checked out, and someone else had checked in. At that moment, without one doubt in my mind, I decided Jela was never coming back to this nigga. I didn’t care what I had to do to make that happen; she and Chunks were never coming near his ass again.
I stepped closer to him, and we stood nose to nose. “Fuck you gon’ do, Dame? Hmm? Do that shit now. I’m not afraid of you or any of them fuck niggas you’ll send my way. You try any bullshit, and I promise… I’m going to forget you’re my brother.”
“I already forgot you were mine.” He shoved me. “Fuck out my face, bitch boy.”
That shit crushed me. Never in my life did I think we’d be here in this place of malice. We have gotten into many fights growing up, but before the day could end, we were back laughing as if one of us didn’t just make the other bleed. But this, this was different—he was different.
“I’m going to walk away and forget you just said that.”
“I wouldn’t, if I were you. I’m done listening to you, Tru. Every time I do something, you reprimand me like I’m fucking five. Being against me when your fucking friend hitting my people, you ain’t no brother! It ain’t our fault his moms died from sucking a glass dick! It ain’t my fucking fault she’s dead! Instead of you standing beside me, like you used to, you siding with my fucking enemy!
“If you ain’t with me, then ya hoe ass is against me. Better stay the fuck outta the way, Truce Shiloh Stone, or your name gon’ be on the header of a tombstone. Bring my bitch back here, or her ass gon’ be the first to go.”
I didn’t waver when I drew my hand back and dropped him right where he stood. He lay, sprawled out on the floor, as I grabbed my hoodie and left his house.
I didn’t arrive back at my hotel room until seven in the morning. I couldn’t sleep after everything that went down with Dame and me. I drove around for hours until I eventually ended up at a local park, watching the sunrise. As I thought about this beef with Dame, I knew I had to get Jela and Chunks the fuck out of Muskegon. I finally figured out the reason he acted the way he did about her. He didn’t love Jela; he was obsessed with her.
With Jela’s soft, sandy brown curls, her hazel eyes, round snout, full pink lips, and killer body, she was the perfect woman for a perfect man, and Dame knew that. He was threatened by her beauty and even more threatened by any man she encountered, especially me. He may have been okay with letting me get my lick back, but he knew that it would go further than that if I did. His taunting was him flexing his power over her, knowing if I’d agreed to knock her down, it would only be on his terms.
I wasn’t some young, naive little nigga anymore. I wanted—needed—a wife. I wanted my own family, which was why I was getting my house built from the ground up to start that journey. I had the career I desired, the house I envisioned being constructed, and all that was missing was my queen.
I pulled into the hotel, handed the keys to the valet, and proceeded inside. I bypassed my room and headed straight to Jela’s. Knocking lightly, I waited until she opened the door. This time, she and Chunks were wide awake, and her eyes held a look of worry. Chunks lifted her head from her mama’s shoulder, and once she noticed me, she tried to jump out of her mother’s arms to get to me.
I grabbed her and kissed her cheek. “You missed me, Chunks?” I asked, nuzzling my nose in her hair that smelled like Baby Magic.
“Oh, you are so fake, Scottie Pie. She sees you, and I’m instantly forgotten.” Jela giggled while we walked further into the room.
I watched her as she sat in front of the mirror, taking out the twists she put in her hair last night. The girl was nothing short of stunning, and looking at her reminded me of why I was doing this. I liked her—a lot.
“Jela.”
“Yeah?”
“We gotta go. I have to get you and Chunks out of here and somewhere safe.”
She finally gave me her eyes and frowned. She stood and walked over to me. Her fingers grazed the bruise on the side of my face where Dame had hit me. “You guys got into a fight?”
“I hardly call what happened a fight, but yes, I beat his ass.”
“I didn’t want you to get involved, Truce. I should have never left.”
She was angry as she stormed into the bathroom before coming back out with a washcloth. She gathered ice from the ice bucket into the washcloth, handed it to me, and took Chunks from my arms.
“You don’t understand, Jela. The nigga is being reckless. My best friend almost killed him because of his recklessness. I didn’t know my coming back here was going to lead to all of this, but my brother ain’t the same brother I left in Muskegon a year ago. That nigga was never like this.”
She nodded. “He wasn’t. He never laid a finger on me, at one point. Now, I feel like I’m about to be running for my life for the rest of my life.”
“You won’t. I’m going to make sure you’re protected moving forward, but right now, I need you to pack you and baby girl up… I’m taking y’all back to Detroit.”
Her head whipped over to me. “Really?”
I nodded. “You’ll be safer with your family.”
“But he knows where they live…”
