Page 14 of Give Me All Of You

“You can start by putting ya dick up before talking to me.”

What grown ass man is going to look another grown ass man in the face while his dick is out? He quickly stuffed himself back into his slacks while the woman stood to her full attention, with her pussy still on full display. This was the hoe shit that pissed me off because this nigga’s dick was just invading your walls, and you got the nerve to be trying to show it to me.

“Bitch, cover up that pick me ass pussy. Don’t nobody want that shit but this nigga,” I snarled.

Shamefully, she pushed her skirt back down over her hips and stood off to the side. She knew not to come this way because of the gun that I had resting at my side.

Taking my eyes off of her, they landed back on Lander, and he had all but five seconds to get my money.

“I didn’t come here for your games, Lander. Where the fuck is my money?” I growled.

One would think that the sweat perspiring from his forehead would be from the sexcapade that I interrupted. It wasn’t, though. This nigga was terrified, and he had every right to be.

“I don’t have it all,” he lied.

Cocking my head to the side, I looked at him, then his bitch. Her wig looked fresh. Nails didn’t need a fill-in, and her dress looked a little too good to have come from SHEIN. Her wrists and neck were iced out, too. Lander caught my observation, and I saw the lump in his throat form. That made me smirk at the thought of him fearing for his life.

“You don’t have it, but this bitch wearing a nice chunk of it. Didn’t y’all just get back from Antigua?”

He knew he was caught, so it was no need to lie about the shit.

“Okay, I know what it looks like, but I can get it to you in a few days. You got my word,” he pleaded.

“Nigga, your word don’t mean shit! You didn’t have a problem accepting my money, but now it’s an issue when it’s time to pay the fuck up. So, since you seem to have a problem getting my shit to me, let me help you out.” I lifted my hand and let off a shot right in the middle of ol’ girl’s forehead. When I heard her body drop to the floor, I spoke again. “That should speed up the process. You probably could still get face value for that jewelry if it’s still in good condition. You got forty-eight hours. I’m feeling generous since you’re in mourning and shit.” With a smirk, I left his office and let myself out the same waythat I came in. I wasn’t sending cleanup, either. Let him figure that shit out and explain what happened. I wasn’t worried about him snitching either because, for one, nobody was going to do shit. Most importantly, he knew he’d be joining that bitch.

As I headed toward the middle of town to check in with my brother, my dash lit up with Teresa’s name. I immediately accepted the call, since she was at the house with Lucretia.

“Everything good?” I answered.

I heard her sigh heavily and my heart immediately sank to the floor.

“She refusing to take her medicines and refusing to eat. She said she’s ready to die, Rakeem. She’s giving up, but she’s asking to see Peace.” I listened to Teresa and closed my eyes to take all of it in. The doctor warned us that most people got like this in the end. I knew it was coming, but that doesn’t mean that I wanted to face the shit.

“Aight. I’ll swing by my parents and get Peace. We’ll be there shortly.” I hung up the phone and drove the rest of the ride to my parents’ house on auto-pilot. The time was coming where I needed to mentally prepare for Lucretia’s death. I knew it was coming, but how can you really prepare yourself for that? How you can prepare yourself to lose the love of your life? How do you prepare to have conversations with your daughter about how beautiful and smart her mother was because not old enough to have any memories?

When I pulled up to my parents’ house, I parked in my usual spot and let myself in. When I got inside, I heard Peace’s little loud ass mouth before I could see her. That caused a smile to spread across my face because my baby was my peace for real. That’s why I chose that name for her. I walked inside of thekitchen, and she was sitting in her booster chair eating chicken nuggets and dancing to Gracie’s Corner on her tablet.

“You forever eating and dancing,” I joked as I made my way over to her. She really turned up then and reached her small arms out for me to pick her up.

“She is definitely going to be in some kind of dance classes when she gets older,” my mother said. When she looked at my face, she knew something was wrong.

“What’s wrong, Rakeem? Is it Lu?” she asked sincerely.

Sighing dejectedly, I responded. “Yeah, but it’s not what you think, but we’re getting there. She’s refusing to take her meds or eat. Her mama called and said that she wants to see Peace,” I revealed.

The look on my mother’s face was one of sorrow and pain. She didn’t like the fact that I was going through this. She also hated to lose Lucretia. She loved her. Hell, my whole family did. She’s been a part of this family for years and to know that we’re losing her is a hard pill for everyone to swallow.

“I’m going with you,” she insisted. I didn’t even argue with her about it. I didn’t know what I was walking into, and I probably need her in some form or another.

It took my mother all of ten minutes to go grab her purse and we were headed back out. I offered to drive her, but she wanted to drive herself. We got to my house in a little over twenty minutes and Teresa was sitting in the room beside Lucretia’s bed. Her eyes were closed, but I knew she wasn’t asleep.

“Hey, Reese,” my mother spoke, giving Teresa a hug.

Teresa rose from the chair and returned the embrace that my mother gave her. I watch the two of them comfort each other while I walked around the bed to where the other chair was andsat down in it with Peace clinging to me. Usually my baby would be happy to see her mother, but I guess she sensed something was wrong.

“Mommy schleep?” she asked in her tiny voice.

When Lu heard her voice, she weakly pried her eyes open and gave a faint, very weak smile.

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