Page 48 of Make Me Forget

“Hurry and get to me, baby. I need you. That’s real shit.”

“I’ll be there in thirty minutes. I have to stop and get gas.”

“How many miles you got left?”

“One hundred miles.”

“Naw. I’ll put gas in your car tomorrow. Those pretty fingers have no reason to be on a fuel nozzle… nowhere near a gas pump. That’s my job… or any man in my family, if for some reason I ain’t here and you had to stay behind. None of the Henderson women pump their own gas, and we ain’t ’bout to start today.”

My heart was so damn soft. “I’m not a Henderson yet though, baby.”

“You can fuck with me if you want to, Cassie. While you washing your gas tank, I’m checking your car’s gas tank needle as soon as you get here.”

I hollered with laughter. “You get on my damn nerves! I won’t stop. I’ll be there in twenty minutes now.”

I ended the call, and no sooner than I did, I looked to my left and saw Shayla waving at me with a big Kool-Aid smile on her face. It took everything in me not to ram my car into hers and run her right into the median. I rolled my eyes and stared forward, refusing to look that way again until she flew past me. I was sure she was going to visit her people. They were probably planning Jameka’s funeral.

Their ratchet asses probably couldn’t pay to bury her, and I was sure she didn’t have life insurance. If she did, I would be surprised. I was surprised they were even still in Nome, being that the water probably had shit in it. The Hendersons hadn’t gotten everything maintained yet. They were debating if they even wanted to do that now. Everyone would just have to install wells and aerobics systems for the sewer.

That would definitely weed out a lot of people. I had to research how much that shit cost, and I found out to install a water well could be at least six grand. The aerobics system could cost another six grand. I didn’t think any of them had twelve grand laying around. So hopefully, that would push Shayla’s family out of Nome so I wouldn’t have to see their asses anymore.

CHAPTER 17

KENDRALL

“Now that we have some time to ourselves, what happened, man?”

I was in the bedroom with Jacob. He was discharged this morning. After helping him get home, I gave him a couple of hours to get settled. I’d gone to the diner and talked to other family members while eating lunch. Mostly, everyone else had gone to work, but I came here to chill with him. Cassie had gone to class to take a final and would be shopping with her mom afterward.

The competition was this coming weekend in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. We would be leaving in the morning, right after Cassie’s final, because it was an eight-hour drive from Nome. Thankfully, her final was at eight in the morning. She said the professor had assured them that the final wouldn’t take longer than thirty minutes. So by nine, we should be on IH-10 heading east.

“I’d just gotten home. I’d gone to Brix’s gym to work out. I normally work out in the morning, but I woke up late, so I had to go straight to work. One of the tractors is down, and I needed to get it fixed. I have two more that I needed to maintenance. Apparently, they were watching my comings and goings.”

“That’s fucked up. I can’t believe she did that shit.”

“Honestly, I’m glad that bitch gone. I was getting sick of her shit, and I was two seconds from snapping on her ass. I would be in jail.”

“You still sound a bit winded.”

“Yeah. It’s the broken rib.”

“Did they all jump you at once?”

“After her punk ass brother said what he had to say about her letter and shit, yeah. I was fighting for my fucking life. I don’t know who saw it and came over, because I didn’t have time to even look around.”

“Well, when I was getting there, everybody was there. Ryder J called me. He said he was in Beaumont going to meet my brothers somewhere, but SS had called them for help. They were too far out, so he called me. I got there right as Uncle Storm fired a warning shot. I clotheslined her brother though. That nigga was running right past me.”

Jacob rolled his eyes then tried to take a deep breath. He was in a lot of pain. I could see it on his face by the frown that appeared and the grunts he made. I’d been around him long enough to distinguish his frowns. With the way his eyebrows were scrunched together but slightly lifted, it surely wasn’t a frown of anger.

I stood so I could give him time to rest, but he said, “Sit yo’ ass down, KJ. A nigga in pain, but that don’t mean I need time to myself. Now if Jakari was up here with bad ass JJ… then that nigga would have to go.”

I chuckled and sat back down. “I just don’t wanna keep making you talk, man.”

“Yeah, whatever. How are things shaping up for the wedding?”

“Good. I wanted to ask you to be in it, but with what just happened, I know you may not feel up to it.”

“Fuck that. I’m gon’ be in that wedding, even if I have to roll in that bitch in a wheelchair.” He paused for a moment then continued. “Looks like I’m the last one in our crew that needs to be locked down, but there was this beautiful ass therapist that came to see me yesterday.”

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