Page 34 of Make Me Forget

“Well, now she will be. It was your prayers that helped everything to work out. The officers that paraded her around campus have been reprimanded, and Cassie may be due some type of compensation for that. Although she no longer has her job at Lamar, she’s the happiest I’ve seen her since we’ve been together. I suppose she feels a sense of freedom now that everything is out in the open.”

“I can imagine. That was honorable what she did for Jacob.”

“Your uncle is saying she’s Martha, and he’s Snoop.”

“Let me guess… Uncle Storm.” She laughed. “That man is a mess, but most times, he means well.”

“Well, you ready to go eat? Cassie has an early day and is supposed to be joining us.”

“Okay. So is Milana, Maui, Ashanni, and the twins.”

“Oh Lord. Christian and Rylan will probably be there too then.”

“Yep. Angel has her hands full at the daycare. Between JJ and Jacey, she’s earning every penny she’s charging them.”

I chuckled. Jacey was Jess’s daughter, and she was loud, just like her mother. Jakari deserved to be charged twice for JJ. That lil nigga was something serious. I stood and helped Karima from the floor as my phone rang. When I saw my baby’s number, I grinned. “What’s up, baby?”

“Hey. I just called to tell you I’m on my way.”

“Okay. We’re heading to the diner now. Just meet us there.”

“Okay. I love you.”

“Love you too.”

Karima smiled at me. “Y’all are so perfect.”

I gave her a smile then grabbed her hand and led her out of the door. No sooner than we had gotten in my car and was about to head to the diner, a cop car sped past my house. The only reason a cop would be in Henderson Village was if something had happened. I quickly backed out of the driveway and saw they’d gone to Jacob’s house.

Aww shit.

“God, we need you, in Jesus’s name. Keep watch over my cousin. He’s having a difficult time, but I know you can make all crooked paths straight,” Karima prayed.

When we pulled up, Jameka was handcuffed against a cop car, and Jacob was handcuffed near his garage door. I swore this girl was gonna be his fucking downfall. I didn’t know what he was thinking when he fucked Jameka, nor what Christian was thinking when he fucked her cousin. There was no way they were thinking with the right head.

We got out of the car and headed toward the action. The officer stopped us to ask who we were, then allowed us to proceed to Jacob. Jameka was over there screaming about the cuffs being too tight and pressing charges for unreasonable force because she was pregnant. That bitch was a bad look altogether. She wasn’t even that cute to be dealing with bullshit like this.

When we approached, the cop was trying to calm Jacob down. “I can’t take the cuffs off unless you’re calm, Mister Monroe.”

That shit only probably made him angrier. I didn’t know why he didn’t change his last name to Henderson like Jakari and Christian had done, or even Wothyla after his stepdad. Jacob’s father was deceased at the hands of Uncle WJ. Whenever someone mentioned his last name, though, it made him irritated. He would always think about how his father nearly killed his mother… Aunt Jenahra.

I watched him try to compose himself as Karima lifted her hands and approached him. I watched her slowly bring her hands to his face. “Baby, you have to calm down.”

He lowered his head and started taking deep breaths. After a minute or so, he looked up at the cop and nodded. He then took the cuffs off. Apparently, Jacob wasn’t at fault here. Once his hands were free and he massaged his wrists a bit, he said, “Please call me Jacob. I’m in the process of changing my last name to Henderson.

The cop nodded. “Yes, sir. I’ll notate that on the paperwork. I could see it bothered you when I called you that. Can you tell me what happened today?”

“She showed up and threw something through the big window in front. We have somewhat of a past. We messed around a couple of times, but that was about eight months ago. She’s saying she’s pregnant with my kid, but ain’t no way. She would have to be at least eight months pregnant. She don’t look that to me. She’s angry that I stopped fooling around with her and won’t let go.”

“I wish people knew how to accept rejection and move on. It would stop foolishness like this. I see you have a restraining order against her, so we will be taking her in. Because of that, we won’t do anything about the shove to the grass. But, Mister Jacob, you may not be so lucky next time. Whether it’s your baby or not, she’s still a pregnant woman. I get that you have a restraining order and she was in violation and trespassing, but you are going to have to contain your anger. This may not turn out so good next time.”

The anger in Jacob came back, and Karima wrapped her arms around him. “Keep her ass away from me then. I had to tell the operator that I was gonna kill her ass to make sure y’all came quickly. She wants me to fucking lose it on her ass so I can get arrested. I’m not gonna let her keep fucking with me without consequence. So y’all need to keep her away from me.”

He sounded calm as hell when he was talking, and I knew that wasn’t good.

“Jacob, you can stay at my house,” Karima said. “I’m leaving for Nashville next week, and you’ll have the house to yourself for a while. I’m only taking a few things, so the house won’t be empty.”

He looked down at her and gave her a tight smile. “Thanks, Rima.”

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