Page 35 of Make Me Remember

She took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. That took a lot for her to say. I lowered my face to hers and kissed her lips softly. “Thank you for trusting me, baby. I got’chu. I got both of y’all.”

She glanced at LaTee again, so I asked, “You wanna dance?”

“I don’t know how to zydeco.”

“Come on. I’ll show you. LaTee and Angel don’t know how to either, but they look to be having the time of their lives.”

She smiled. As we headed that way, my mama stopped us. She had an entire tray of food for us. “Come on, y’all.”

I smiled at Mekayla, waiting for her to decide what she wanted to do.

“To hell with dancing, baby. My stomach growling now. Was that shrimp and grits?” she asked.

I chuckled and followed my mama to a table where Rylan, Christian, and KJ were with their wives. Thankfully, it was a ten-chair table, so there was room for LaTee when she finished dancing with Angel. I turned Mekayla’s chair to the side so she would be able to keep an eye on her without it being too hard for her to keep turning around.

She kissed my cheek. “Thank you.”

Once we were seated, I introduced her to Rylan, Christian, Mya, and Cassie. She’d already met KJ. She and Cassie were around the same age, and I noticed that they stared at each other a little longer. “Did you go to West Brook?” Cassie asked her.

“I sure did. I thought you looked familiar.”

“Yeah! I think we had a class together one year. How have you been?”

“I’ve been okay. How about you?” she asked.

“Good. I just got married to this handsome Henderson a little over a month and a half ago.”

“Oh, congratulations,” Mekayla said.

When LaTee and Angel joined us, Angel hugged Mekayla and introduced herself. That was it. I no longer had my woman’s attention. Between Angel, Cassie, and Mya, it was a lost cause. Christian tilted his head, indicating we needed to talk. I leaned over to Mekayla. “I’ll be right back, baby. My cousins need to holler at me right quick.”

“Okay.”

I kissed her lips and followed Christian, Rylan, and KJ out the side door. When I did, they immediately went in. “Look at yo’ lovesick ass!” Christian said.

“Nigga, shut up. What’s up with y’all? How’s everything?”

“You missed the family meeting the other night.”

“Yeah, I was tired, and my ankle was killing me. I been meaning to get updated on everything.”

“Well, Shayla is causing trouble again.”

I frowned. “Cassie’s mama?” I asked for clarification.

“Yep. Stupid bitch. I wouldn’t dare say that shit in front of Cassie, because I don’t like calling a woman a bitch in front of her, but that bitch better count her fucking days,” KJ said.

“What is she doing now?” I asked.

“That bitch is after the Hendersons like we did some shit to her. Honestly, I think it’s more that she can’t stand to see Cassie happy and is trying to do anything to disrupt that. My dad called Watchful Eyes to take that bitch out. She came to our house saying she had proof that the Hendersons killed that nigga Reggie,” KJ said.

“What the fuck? Reggie, the dirty cop?” I asked.

“Hell yeah. I don’t know where or how she got proof of that shit, but her ass gotta go. Jakari said Jericho is a trained assassin, and he will kill her ass without a trace.”

“How does J know that?” Christian asked.

“He didn’t know that. You know Uncle Philly is working with them sometimes now. So he knows the inside. He said Ali or Vegas would take her ass out, too, without an ounce of hesitancy,” KJ said.

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