Page 39 of Dali: The Demolisher

Twila’s mother had secured the party room at what was probably the most upscale five-star restaurant in Jasper Lane. That was amusing within itself because Germany was a chicken tenders and Long Island iced tea type of man, yet the menu included a five-course meal that started with a wine tasting.

“You still don’t think they should get married?” Kassadee continued.

“No, but it really doesn’t matter what I think. I just hope Germany knows what he’s doing.”

When the servers began to serve dessert, Germany stood. “I just want to thank y’all for coming out to celebrate with us. I also want to say, when the pastor asks if anyone objects tomorrow, keep ya fuckin’ mouths shut. Y’all know I keep that thang on me and I won’t be afraid to use it.”

“Germany!” Twila whispered loudly, standing and tugging on his arm as he flashed the gun on his hip.

While quite a few of us laughed, her parents looked offended by his joke.

“I’m just playing, Twila, damn. Lighten up.”

“I want you to have that same energy toward yourself,” her father, Harold, said. “You make sure you respect and honor my daughter, and if you don’t…”

“You don’t have to worry about that, sir. I got her. She’s good with me.”

“Is she?” Keisha, her mother, asked.

“Shit,” Kas whispered, sitting up in her seat.

“Why wouldn’t she be?” Germany asked, lifting his glass and taking a sip.

“Ma, please,” Twila begged. “Now is not the time or the place.”

“When will be the time, honey? You haven’t come to your senses yet.” Keisha stood as she chuckled. “I’ve been waiting for you to realize Germany is not the man for you, yet you’re boundand determined to prove me and your father wrong—even at the expense of your own heart.”

“Twila’s right,” Auntie said, standing and putting her hand on Germany’s back in an attempt to keep him calm. “This isn’t the space for this conversation.”

“That man has cheated on you literally your entire relationship, and you’restillgoing to marry him? Are you reallythatdesperate, Twi?” Keisha continued, ignoring Auntie.

“What goes on in my relationship is my business, not yours.”

“You make it our business every time you come to us crying over what he did to you,” Harold said, standing.

“It’s only so much disrespect I’ma take,” Germany said. “Twila ain’t as innocent as y’all think. I might have my character flaws, but trust me, she has hers too.”

“Oh, so that justifies you being a habitual cheater?” Twila asked, turning slightly to face him. “What character flaws could I possibly have to make the way you treat me okay?”

“So now you got a problem with how I treat you?” Germany scoffed and ran his fingers down the corners of his mouth. “If I treat you so bad, why in the fuck are you about to marry me?”

“That’s what the hell I’m trying to figure out,” Vincent, Germany’s best friend said as he stared at his glass of wine. “It for damn sure ain’t the baby because it’s mine.”

“The fuck you just say?” Germany asked as Dynasty and I stood. If I heard him correctly, shit was about to hit the fan.

“You heard me, nigga. Twila ain’t pregnant with your baby; she’s pregnant with mine. I guess her guilt made her say yes to your proposal, but that ain’t your baby. And I don’t think I can stand around and let you be in my child’s life.”

“Okay, that’s eno—” Before Auntie could finish, Germany had leapt across the table at Vincent, who was seated directly across from him.

I couldn’t react as quickly as I normally would out of disbelief. All this time, I was worried about the harm Germany had been causing Twila… and it never crossed my mind that she could be out here doing the same—with his best friend of all people. When I finally processed what was happening, I helped Dynasty and Kennessy pull Germany off Vincent. Damage had already been done, and blood was seeping from Vincent’s nose and mouth.

After we got Germany outside, I went back in for Kas. At the sound of Twila’s mom talking about the police being on their way, I headed out and told my people we needed to move. As Kas and I followed the line of cars out, my mind swirled with one question after another. I wanted to know how long they’d been fucking off and how they could have kept that from Germany, but it really didn’t matter. I couldn’t imagine how my cousin was feeling. Was he hurt, or just angry? Did he care about Twila’s betrayal, or was he more concerned with Vincent’s actions? Would he eventually feel relief, or would this make him even more toxic? Only time would tell, and I could only pray this didn’t make Germany treat women even worse.

The Next Morning

All eyes wereon Germany as he ate breakfast as if he didn’t have a care in the world. What was supposed to be the morning of his wedding turned into the morning my cousins and I had an adult sleepover to make sure he didn’t become unhinged. Everyone crashed at my home since it had the most guest rooms thinking Germany would need to be kept on a tight leash but thathadn’t been the case. He did get drunk as fuck last night but that was it.

Mona came over this morning, and she and Kas had created a breakfast buffet with Journee. We were all seated at the twelve-person dining room table as he hummed and sliced into his pancakes. His eyes lifted and looked at us before he chuckled.

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