More of the family came in and got food then took seats. It must have been a family day for sure. It seemed everyone here was family. Mrs. Chrissy and Mrs. Tiffany brought our stuffed chicken to the table, and all talking ceased. “It’s good to see all of y’all here together. Usually, someone is missing,” Mrs. Chrissy said as Christian and Rylan sat at the table with Kendrall.
Rylan kissed her cheek before sitting. I could hear the door opening repeatedly, meaning more people were coming inside. I didn’t even bother to look, because my stuffed fried chicken had my undivided attention. I took my first bite, and that chicken stuffed with mac and cheese nearly catapulted me to glory. My eyes rolled as Ashanni laughed at me.
“It’s so good, huh?” she asked.
“Absolutely. I never tasted anything like it.”
“It tastes better than jailhouse food. Did you even stay long enough to get dinner?”
I frowned hard as everyone’s eyes went to the bitch standing behind me. I didn’t know how in the fuck she knew where I was, but I was prepared to throw her ass on top of this table. I stood from my seat, and everyone else did as well. I turned to see the huge smile on her face.
“How did you know how to find me, and why the hell are you here?”
“Is that any way to talk to your mother?”
I jerked my head back like someone had spit on me. That was what her words felt like. “Mother? You can’t be serious. Kendall Daniels is my mother. You were simply the incubator. You were hardly ever a mother to me. Now again, how did you know how to find me?”
She huffed and rolled her eyes then looked around the diner, like something was more interesting than the question at hand. The twins appeared on either side of me, and Kendrall was behind me, holding me at the waist. He could try to hold me all he wanted to. If this bitch said the wrong thing, there would be nothing he could do to stop me from getting at least one punch in.
“You having a problem with your hearing? She asked you a question, and if you don’t answer her, we will drag you out this bitch,” Bali said.
I looked around to see everyone was watching. While I was grateful for the support, I was also embarrassed about the ruckus she was causing. She huffed, displaying plenty of attitude like she thought they were playing with her ass.
“I sent this to your address, and it came back with a forwarding address,” she said, extending an envelope. “When I saw it said Nome, I had to come see what you were doing out here in the country. My cousin lives out here. On my way to the address, I saw you heading here. I sat in the parking lot, trying to decide if I would even come inside.”
“Well, clearly, yo’ ass made the wrong decision. You good, Martha?” Uncle Storm said, walking up behind her.
I practically snatched the envelope from her when she turned to look at Uncle Storm. There was no telling what kind of bullshit she was sending my way. When she did, her head dropped backwards. “Damn! I didn’t know they made them like this in Nome! Shit!”
Before she could say another word, Bali had grabbed her wig and snatched that shit off. “Watch yo’ fucking mouth,” Bali said as Jacob held her around the waist.
She looked from Bali to Storm, and I supposed she saw the resemblance. She smirked and said, “Please get your minion while I try to handle things with mine.”
She picked up her glueless wig, dusted it off, and put it back on her head. It looked like Uncle Storm wanted to snatch her ass, but surprisingly, he remained silent. I tore into the envelope to see there was information about my biological father and a check. I frowned as I read the information. It was basically saying that my biological father had left this to me in his will. He died three months ago. I never had a relationship with him, but he cared enough to leave something to me? Impossible.
“What did you do to get him to leave this? I ain’t never even met this man. Why would he even care enough to do this?”
“You’re right. He didn’t care, but I made the family care. It was hard trying to raise you. That was why I left you with someone who was strong enough to fight through the trenches with you without fucking up. Price is a good man, and I wanted you to have a good influence on your life. Kendall is a good woman as well. But I figured he at least owed you that much.”
I looked down at the check again to see that it was for twenty-eight thousand dollars. I didn’t know if he just had this money laying around or if it was from his life insurance. I didn’t even know his name, because I couldn’t care less until now. I looked down at the letter and scanned it until I found his name. “So his name was King?”
“Yeah. He was much older than me, but that was your father.”
“I know you fucking lying!” Uncle Jasper blurted. “King from Nome?”
She frowned as she turned to him. “Yeah, why?”
“Aww fuck,” Kendrall said. I turned to him, trying to figure out what was going on. He filled me in. “That was Uncle WJ’s biological father. He wasn’t in his life either.”
I frowned hard, trying to remember who that was when, suddenly, his face appeared in my head. My mouth opened slowly, and I covered it with my hand. “Kendrall… oh my God. Does that mean?—”
“Naw. I’m not related to King, baby. We ain’t related. But my uncle is your older brother. That shit sound bad as hell, but we ain’t related. I promise. At this point, though, ain’t it too late?”
I glanced at him, not finding any humor in this shit at all. I looked back at Shayla and asked, “So what’s in it for you? The only way I believe you would give this to me was if you would benefit in some sort of way. How much money did you get?”
She looked around as a slow smile appeared on her face. “I got one hundred grand, because I had a life insurance policy out on his old ass that he forgot about.”
I slowly shook my head and handed her the check back. “I don’t want this shit. If I keep it, you’ll find a way to continuously throw it in my face as to how you got this money for me. No thank you. Keep it.”