Page 16 of Where Is the Love

“Quit your lying, fool!” Nesha yelled.

They all worked in the family business. Sometimes I wished I did too. Maybe when I slowed down on modeling, I would move back. My brother seemed to enjoy it, and so did Nesha and Jakari, although he was tryna drag my uncle. “You gon’ get off Uncle WJ. Unc is doing a hell of a job with the business. You better soak up all you can before he fully retires. You’re the oldest Henderson grandson, so I’m more than sure all this shit finna be yours.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. He said the same shit. Me and Philly been running shit, but I can tell he’s on the downside of it too. Mal might be joining us on the business side of things soon though. Christian is more focused on A/C work with LaKeith. Most likely, he’s going to be taking the lead on that when LaKeith is ready to slow down. Rylan only dips in from time to time. He’s mostly working with Uncle Storm.”

“Yeah. Jacob worked with him for a while, but he realized that wasn’t his calling. After he’d been there for a few months, he was sick of looking at cars,” I said and chuckled.

Our little brothers were doing their best to find their way. I believed Jacob had found his niche. Christian and Rylan were Jakari’s younger brothers, but we all grew up like siblings since my mama and Aunt Chrissy were so close. Mal was our parents’ first cousin, but he was still bull riding, so he was in and out.

I went back to my food that was now cold and picked over it a bit before closing the box. Jakari grabbed my hand, and Nesha grabbed the other. No one said anything. We used to do that all the time as kids, because our parents were all in turmoil because of shit either our grandparents did or our fathers. Jakari’s dad was a fucking pedophile, and they didn’t find out until he was grown and in college. That shit threw him for a loop. They hated that muthafucka, and I did too for what he’d done to Nesha and her sisters. Then all the bullshit Nesha went through with her dad was a lot.

“Go meet Brix. While your heart may not be ready right now, I still think he’s who you need,” Nesha said.

“I don’t want to feel like I’m using him though. I’m going to meet Nate next weekend, and I don’t know what’s going to come of that.”

“I know. You gon’ have a decent time, but all you gon’ be thinking about is Brix,” Jakari added.

“So now you a prophet?”

“Hell yeah. Anybody that has been paying attention can prophesy that outcome.”

I rolled my eyes and was gathering my food when I said, “I’ll call him when I leave.”

“Call who?” a voice I recognized as Brixton’s said.

That was what I got for sitting with my back to the door. I never usually did that, but my mind was far away from here when I first got here. Nesha was sitting there with a silly smile on her face, and Jakari looked just as stupid. I stood from my seat and turned to see him standing there with a bouquet of roses. I bit my bottom lip and closed my eyes as I responded, “You.”

It came out as a whisper, but I knew he heard me. When his fingers stroked my cheek, I opened my eyes and stared at him. I could feel the tears building, so I looked away and cleared my throat. “You wanna chill out with me in person instead of by phone?” he asked.

“Yeah. You owe me an apology anyway.”

He frowned as I took the flowers from him. “For what?”

“Bestie Jessie, nigga?”

He glanced at Jakari, and they laughed hard as hell. I rolled my eyes and made my way to the kitchen to tell my mama that I would see her later. She was sliding peach cobbler in the oven, and I had to stand still and take in the aroma. “That smells so good.”

She turned to me with a smile on her face. “Thank you, baby. I’ll bring some home.”

I smiled back at her. “I’m about to leave with Brix.”

“Is that who bought you those beautiful flowers?”

“Yes, ma’am. Listen, we need to talk about some things. I know you can sense when things aren’t quite right with me, and I made a vow to you on Christmas day that I would do better about letting you in. If it’s not too late when I get back, can we talk tonight?”

“Of course, baby. If I’m asleep, wake me up.”

“I’m not going to wake you up. If it’s too late, we can just talk tomorrow morning. Okay?”

“Okay. See you later, and be careful.”

“I will.”

I walked out of the kitchen to see Lennox and Brixton sitting at the table with Nesha and Jakari. They seemed to be getting acquainted. I stood there and watched until they noticed me. Brixton stood and shook Lennox’s hand then made his way to me. “You wanna ride with me, or will you just follow me home?”

“I’ll follow you home. You might try to hold me hostage.”

“Girl, if you only knew. The thought has crossed my mind a few times since Thursday night. If the Hendersons didn’t run so deep around here, I would have done it already.”