Page 8 of Alpha Bait

She vanquished my smug smile with her next words.

"This feud is over. I am serious. If either of you from either side decides to take this feud out of my house, I will ruin you. I am talking to you, Jamal, Indie, Donnie, Margot, Kiana, Selena, Ames. Each and every one of you is now responsible for peace. I've lost too much this year and I don't intend to lose anyone else. These powerful men that brought us to each other's throats are dead and I will not allow this battle to take any more lives. Do you understand?"

Silence. None of us understood. Judging by the look on everyone's faces, none of us planned to understand.

Mama continued, "Silence? Okay. Let me put it this way. My husband left me with a lot of money and I will ruin you or end you if you defy me. Even if you are my own son or my own daughter."

She stared me right in the eyes as she said "daughter", her face twisting into an expression of anger that I'd never seen in her before. My blood ran cold and hairs stood up on the back of my neck.

"I want you all to speak," she continued, "Speak now and tell me that you understand. "

"We understand," Ames replied, nudging Selena who reluctantly agreed as well.

"I understand, mama," I replied afterward, wanting to show at least my good faith.

I doubted my mother's tactic would work, but it wouldn't be we Holloways who defied her. It would be them. I had to make that clear. Donnie agreed after I did and reluctantly, Jamal agreed. Jamal was sullen of course, but he knew when mama wasn't playing.

"You're all dismissed. Selena, Ames, speak with your family. I will be in touch."

"Yes, ma'am."

Selena and Ames exited the room. Jamal rushed to my mother and started speaking to her in hushed tones.

She replied with a loud, "Quiet, boy!"

That silenced him and my brother sulked out of the room.

"Jamal, wait!" I chased after him, struggling to continue standing in my heels.

"What is it?"

He turned around, his furrowed forehead casting dark shadows across his face.

"Mama's trippin'."

They won't stop fighting with us just 'cause she said so."

"No," he replied, "they won't."

"Listen, Jamal, we should do something... something not stressful. The funeral's over, mama's going wild, we need something to take the family's mind off of all this."

"What are you thinking?"

"A party."

He chuckled, "A party? Damn Indie, you're still such a sorority girl, you know that?"

"This is not about a sorority lifestyle. We've been through tough times, we've barely seen our friends... We need to establish that our family is still strong in the social scene and in the business world. We might not be able to fight the Carmichaels, but we'll be able to prove to everyone else that we're not going anywhere."

Jamal thrust his hands into his pocket and nodded.

"Okay, okay," he replied, "I see where you're going with this."

"So it's settled then?"

"Yeah," he grinned, "let's throw a legendary Holloway party."

---