Page 13 of Dali: The Demolisher

“I’ll be with you in a sec,” she said as she poured cherry grenadine into a glass.

I waited patiently, cracking a few jokes with Mona as she worked the bar. When Kas got a free moment, she made her way in front of me and leaned against the countertop.

“I thought you left,” she said. “Thank you for the marketing idea. As you can see, it worked.”

“I’on know what got into you, but if you value these niggas, you bet not ever let me see you kissing one again.”

Her mouth opened and snapped shut as she stared at me. “Huh?”

“You heard what I said, Kassadee Smith. I didn’t stutter.”

With a nervous chuckle, she squeezed the back of her neck. “I’m a grown ass woman, Dali. I can kiss whoever I want.”

“Aight.” Chuckling, I stood. “If you think this shit a game, put a nigga’s life on the line if you want to.”

“Dali, I—”

“Even when you ain’t mine… you mine. Don’t disrespect me like that again.”

She groaned and walked away as she shook her head. “I’m not about to play with your delusional ass, Dali. Go home.”

“I’ll be that. You just make sure you don’t forget you ain’t single.”

“Yes, I am!” she yelled as I walked away through her smile.

“Yeah, aight. You heard what the fuck I said.”

The growl she released caused me to chuckle as I headed out.

I’m not sure what she thought this was, but I’d show her better than I could tell her.

We might not have been in a committed relationship, but Kassadee was mine and would always be mine. I wouldn’t let anyone get in the way of that—not even myself or her fears.

That Weekend

Sweat drippeddown my body as I put my weed eater on the back of my truck. My lawn care service was the one I was least hands-on with. All the summers as a kid cutting grass with Pops and my brother made me despise it. It was a great money maker though, so it was an amazing business to have.

Even with that being the case, I still cut my grandparents’ and parents’ yards. That was a responsibility I’d probably never age out of.

Mama came and handed me a bag that I was sure was filled with a sandwich, chips, and some kind of fruit. I told her I wouldn’t be able to stay for dinner, but Pam Ingram wasn’t going to let me leave this house without feeding mesomething.

With the way the sun was beaming down on me, I’d gladly scarf down whatever was in the bag.

“Thanks, Ma.” I gave her a kiss on the temple as I accepted the bag.

“You’re welcome, baby. And thank you. I know you hate doing this, but it’s really helpful now that your father has slowed down some.”

Pops had a heart attack earlier in the year, and even though he was slowly getting back to himself, me and Dynasty tried to take care of as much as we could for them.

We talked for a while longer as I sat in the truck and ate the turkey sandwich, loaded up with tomatoes and pickles like I liked, then headed out.

On the drive, I checked in with my crew, saving Kennessy for last. I wanted to get in his head about his sister. Since what happened the last time I saw her, I hadn’t been back toEver’s Pub. I felt bad about threatening the men she entertained but I also needed her to know what was at stake. I knew I couldn’t stop her from dating altogether, but I didn’t want to see that shit.

“Wassup, bro?” Kennessy answered, and the sound of children’s laughter in the background immediately filled my ears.

“Where you at?”

“At the park with Sam and her friends. I’m not sure how I got talked into this, but here we are.”

---