Page 1 of Merc

Prologue

Neo

So maybe leaving in the middle of the night wasn’t the best idea. It wasn’t my intention. Had I known Steven would give me an ultimatum—accept his bullshit or give up my home, business, and the life we were building—I would have been more prepared to make my escape. No part of my mind or heart wanted to believe the man I’d spent the last two years with could be so heartless and selfish. He knew how much music and my vinyl store meant to me; that was why he’d given it to me for our anniversary one year ago. I preferred it over an engagement ring, and now, I had neither.

It didn’t matter how much I told myself it was better I get away from Steven now after seeing the real him—my heart still hurt over how the man I loved could treat me this way. It also didn’t help that I had “Nothing But Love” by Lu Kala on repeat. Tears blurred my eyes as I belted the lyrics. It was as if she’d written the song just for me.

I had no real destination in mind as I drove. I could have gone to a friend’s house or to my parents’ home, but I didn’t want to talk about what was going on with me and Steven. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t be driving in the dark or while it was snowing.

The further I got into my drive, the worse the snow got. I’d filled up my tank before hopping on the interstate, and though I didn’t check the time I started driving, since I would soon be out of gas, I assumed I’d been on the road for at least five or six hours. Unintentionally, it seemed I’d taken a familiar trail to a mountain town like Gatlinburg from my home in Memphis. Because of how windy it was and how heavy the snow was falling, I didn’t want to risk driving through the mountains.

My decision not to continue driving was finalized when I got stuck in a snowdrift. I didn’t think anything could make my night or my life worse, but here I was, stuck in the middle of nowhere in a huge pile of snow. Curses and cries left me as I yelled and punched the steering wheel. I was mad at Steven for betraying and abandoning me. I was mad at God for making this godforsaken snow. I was mad at myself for not paying attention to where I was driving and ending up in a snowy town so late at night.

Checking the time, I sighed at the sight of 10:39 p.m. Wiping my face, I inhaled what I hoped would be a calming breath. I tried to request a tow truck, but my insurance company’s app didn’t work. My outgoing calls weren’t working either. If the sun was out, I’d sit in my car and hope help would drive by. Because it was pitch black out, I didn’t want to risk a car coming and hitting me.

So, I got out and grabbed the two bags I packed in my car before leaving and headed north. I couldn’t remember the last house I’d passed, and there were only two lights shining ahead. I had no idea what I was walking into, but anything at this point would have been better than being stuck with no service in the cold. As I headed toward the lights, I prayed they wouldn’t lead to a serial killer who planned to make me their next victim.

Chapter

One

Mercury

Back in Memphis

A few weeks earlier…

Nothing made me prouder than watching my son, Marz, hesitantly walk over to the little girl he had a crush on with flowers and candy in his hand. It was Valentine’s Day, and he wanted to show Kiana that he liked her. When the five-year-old came to me and asked me for money to buy his girl something for Valentine’s Day, I was amused. I didn’t even know he was aware of doing that kind of gesture, but seeing as his mother was a hopeless romantic, I shouldn’t have been surprised.

Aries told me she noticed Marz talking to Kiana every day after school, and he’d always have a smile on his face when he got in the car. Apparently, they’d been craft buddies this month, so they were working together closely on a few drawing and painting projects. I thought it was cute and was more than willing to train him young to ensure he’d be a gentleman when he grew up.

To be sure it was okay, I told Aries to reach out to the little girl’s mom. After she approved of Marz getting her something for the holiday, I took my little man to the store and set him up. He made her his own love note, and the shit was so cute I took pictures of it and sent it to all my homies last night. There was truly nothing that made me happier or filled me with more pride than my son.

Both Aries and I recorded Marz on our phones as he walked over to Kiana. When she noticed him coming in her direction, she smiled. Her mouth hung open, and she clapped at the sight of everything he had for her. She took the items hesitantly and thanked him before giving him a tight hug.

“Aww, they are too cute,” Aries cooed, fanning her watery eyes so her tears wouldn’t fall.

Chuckling, I ended the recording on my phone.

“We doin’ good with him, huh?”

“For sure,” she replied, wrapping her arm around me and resting her head on my shoulder as we watched them talk for a while before they locked hands and walked into their school. “That was just too cute. I’m glad I came up here to watch.”

“Same.” I agreed as she released me. “What you about to get into now?”

“I’ll probably go home and get a little cleaning done. I’m not sure what Omar has planned for tonight, but I want to make sure I don’t have anything to do but get Marz settled before we do our thing.”

If it was for any other thing, I’d offer to make sure my little man was straight so she could go out and enjoy herself. Since I didn’t like her nigga, I kept my mouth shut as we walked to our separate cars. Whether I had plans or not, I’d make sure I was gone so she would either have to stay home with Marz or make that nigga come to her.

I loved Aries because she gave me my first son. People often thought we were on some sneaky link shit. I had too much respect for her to play with her emotions and make her believe there was more between us than there was. For the sake of our child, I needed to make sure Aries and I forever remained on the same page, and since my son was a year old, that page had been one of platonic friendship.

As great as Aries and I coparented, our romantic relationship wasn’t as peaceful… which was why we broke up. I believed we simply didn’t have enough in common to sustain a fun relationship. She was cool, though, and I was grateful we got along as well as we did. I allowed her to live in the mother-in-law suite on my land, rent free, to make sure she was straight and my son was close.

Aries didn’t work, so I made sure she had enough money to take care of her other bills and still enjoy herself. A part of me hated how serious things were between her and Omar without her demanding more support from him, but she accepted a bullshit excuse about him not doing anything for her financially because they weren’t married.

I didn’t need another nigga thinking my little man was his responsibility, so I took great pride in providing for him and Aries, but that was the biggest reason Omar would never have my respect.

“What are you getting into tonight?” Aries asked as I opened the door of her Tesla. “Or should I ask who are you getting into tonight?”

---