Page 14 of Where Is the Love

“In case y’all didn’t know, us two youngest Hendersons finna takeover Nome. Marcus gon’ be there with me.”

I frowned slightly. I didn’t remember there being another Henderson sibling after Storm. That shit must’ve come out while I was gone. I could clearly see now that he was related. He had similar features. That nigga used to raise hell in Nome and at Hardin Jefferson High School. Maybe the secrecy behind who he really was was part of the reason.

He stood next to Storm and slapped his hand. “We ’bout to be like Chris Rock and Bernie Mac in this muthafu… Y’all get the point,” Storm said as his mother nudged him. “All those signs y’all were laughing at ’bout to go back up… except the Gabriel one, because I’m about to be an angel of war right now.”

“Nigga, you the devil! Satan himself, but I got’chu,” Jasper yelled, causing everybody to laugh.

“Y’all need to meet my muscle… I mean my staff. Of course, my beautiful wife, Aspen, is my publicist. The twins gon’ work with her on that by finding out all the dirt I need on Abney and all the shit he didn’t do while in office. Maui gon’ be my spokesperson. People smile when they see her. SS gon’ be my wingman.”

“Daddy, what about me?” his youngest inquired.

I couldn’t help but chuckle and slowly shake my head. This shit was finna be funny as hell. Storm was already over the top. That nigga was gonna be in campaign mode wherever he went. “Remy, you my bodyguard. Anybody look like they tryna get at me wrong, you gon’ be the one to take care of it.”

That lil boy flexed his muscles while everybody laughed. Storm kept talking, but I had zoned out as I stared at the beautiful woman across the way. She was slightly leaning against her stepdad, watching Storm be ignorant. The torment in her eyes was evident. I also realized that I wasn’t the only one watching her. Her ex was watching her too. I couldn’t really knock him for trying to get her back, but at the same time, he needed to respect her desires. He fucked up, and he needed to accept it and move around.

I could only hope that Jessica would stay with me like she said she would. Before leaving tonight, I would have to make sure I was clear. I would wait for all the time it took her to be good with herself. I was ready for love, but I wanted her to be ready to experience it again, too, without the weight of how it hurt her in the past.

At this point, I could only wait and respect her wishes while, at the same time, forcing her to verbally acknowledge I was here. As I watched her, our eyes finally met. Her gaze didn’t waver and neither did mine. After a moment more, I nodded at her and walked out the door.

CHAPTERFIVE

JESSICA

“Brixton ass done bulked up for real! Damn! He looks good, Jess!”

“Yeah, he does.”

I was sitting at the diner with Nesha, having lunch, but thinking about how I distanced myself from Brix the other night. I had too many emotions flowing through me with Decklan being there. I couldn’t handle Brixton’s sensitivity right now. Had I gone to his house, he would have had my ass bent over, taking dick like his good girl. I slightly rolled my eyes at the thought. He used to say that shit all the time.Come be my good girl, baby.

I used to get so damn jealous when he would say that to other girls, because I was dying for him to say it to me. Had Joseph not controlled my fucking life, he would have been saying it to me only. My mama had noticed a shift in my behavior, and I knew I needed to talk to her. Yesterday, I was quiet for most of our family time. Carter had taken us to J. Wilson’s after church, and once we left there, we’d gone home and chilled out.

After talking to my mama and Jacob about my schedule and listening to Jacob talk about the family business and the boutiques he ran with Carter, I went to my room. My mama had remodeled every room in the house except mine and Jacob’s. She wanted to get rid of the bad memories without having to buy another house, although Carter had offered to build another. She should have taken him up on that offer.

I felt like I was suffocating in that house. My room was where I spent a lot of time thinking about the turmoil Joseph was putting her through and the bullshit he was doing to me. I had no idea of the things he did behind my back, like the situation with Brix. I was sure that wasn’t all he did. Being in that room wasn’t helping, because memories of his abuse were all over the damn place. I was trying my best to forget about it, because I was living the life I’d always dreamed about.

I always thought I wanted to be a full-figured model like Tocarra, but Joseph had my self-esteem so damn low at one point, I didn’t think I would crawl out of the hole he dug for me. Somehow, I did though. My life was great in all aspects, except my love life. Had it not been for what I had to endure, I may have turned out differently, so I was doing my best to convince myself that everything happened for a reason, and it happened just the way it was supposed to.

“Jess, I’m sorry about Decklan. I didn’t know he was coming, and neither did Lennox.”

My eyebrows lifted as Jakari pulled up a chair to eat lunch with us. “What’s up, y’all?”

“Not too much,” Nesha responded. “Just trying to get my girl Jess out of the funk she’s in.”

“Why you in a funk, Jess? When Brix got there last night, you forgot all about our asses. Then y’all disappeared for at least thirty minutes. Y’all together?”

“No, Jakari. We’re just friends… just like we were in school.”

“Bullshit. That manbeenwanting you. He definitely sees you as more than a friend. He was only at the party for you. It was like he didn’t know anybody else… like his ass didn’t go to school with me and Nesha too. All he saw was his Bestie Jessie.”

I frowned at him. “Bestie Jessie? Nigga, what? That shit sound country as hell. Like I’m on the farm milking cows and shit.”

Jakari laughed as I stared at him without cracking a smile. “That’s what he used to call you when he was talking to me. He had said that he was breaking out that friend zone when we were in school, or he was gon’ have to score while he was in there to get you to see him as more. I guess that shit never happened.”

I rolled my eyes, although I wanted to cry. Instead of humoring him with a response, I stuffed some yams in my mouth. The food had to be the best part about coming home. I didn’t cook much because I was always on the go. There was no sense in cooking all that for just me either. Although there were soul food restaurants in H-Town, none of them were Jenahra and Chrissy’s country cooking.

I missed living in the country. City life was fun when you had someone to hang with, but I was alone most times unless my girl Tyeis was in town. She was a model, too, and worked for Carter and Shylou as well. She and I were their only full-figured models. That was done purposely. They didn’t want the attention scattered over a bunch of women. They wanted to focus on getting our faces and bodies out there. Tyeis had even done hand commercials, and I’d done shoe ads that showed off my feet.

Changing the subject, I turned to Nesha and interrupted her conversation with Jakari. “You’re telling me that neither of you had any idea Decklan was coming here?”