Page 40 of Give Me All Of You

“Why not? It’s not like she knows the nigga.” She shrugged.

Shaking my head at my best friend, we continued to talk about the current men in our lives. She filled me in on things with her and Rakeem. They haven’t really talked this week because things were looking bad for Lucretia. She said she understood, but I knew she missed him.

“Maybe he’ll come over with Hassan since he knows you’re here,” I suggested.

“We’ll see. Enough of this sad stuff. You really like Hassan, huh?” I blushed.

“I do, and it’s scary.” I admitted.

“Don’t let that shit, Keith, put you through tarnish your image of all men. Hassan seems to be pretty straight up and from what I can see, he likes you, too. Look at the lengths he’s going to help you. He didn’t have to go to that extent, but he did. Take it for the good that it is and make Keith eat his own shit.”

I laughed at her last statement. It wouldn’t be Journei if she didn’t say some off the wall shit, but she was right. Keith had his own life and apparently another one, yet he was trying to dictate mine. Fuck him. He can kiss my ass. The days of him playing with me are long gone. I was over his bullshit.

Chapter Sixteen

Rakeem

When Haze called me this morning to bring Journei to his house, I couldn’t move around then. I was the only one with Lu since her mother had a doctor’s appointment. When she came back, I met up with my brother at the freight yard to handle some business before I had to go back in. These days, I didn’t stay out long because Lucretia was literally in her last days. Like now, I was at the yard with my brother, but I didn’t plan on being here long. We just had a few last-minute things to handle and then I’ll be taking it back in.

“So, how did you end up with Rue and her baby at your house?” I asked him as we sat in his office.

“I called her after I left from checking in on Ma and Pops. Her tone was off, so I went straight to her, and she told me what her bitch ass baby did. I wanted to go kill that nigga right then, but I knew I couldn’t do that without it leading back to her, so I told her to just pack a bag so they could with me. That way, I could keep a better eye on them.”

I nodded because I knew all too well about wanting to be able to protect the people you care about.

“What do you plan on doing about her situation?” I asked.

“I asked her to marry me,” he blurted.

“You did what?”

“You heard me. I asked her to marry me. I’m supposed to get married anyway, right?” he declared.

“Yeah, but do you really think that’s a good idea? I know I mentioned asking her, but that was before her baby daddy started his bullshit. We don’t need that nigga in the middle of our shit,” I voiced.

“He won’t be. If she marries me, I can help her beat that muthafucka at his own game and she’ll be able to keep her daughter. We can continue business as usual with The RCF and it’s a win-win for everybody,” he explained.

I sat silent for a minute until a smile crept across my face.

“I guess congratulations are in order, then.” I slapped hands with my brother.

“You remember the day I had Journei go to the house with Lu and Peace?”

He nodded.

“Well, when I got back home, Journei had bathed and fed both Peace and Lu. Of course Lu didn’t eat, but she washed her up for me and wash and braided her hair. I wasn’t expecting her to be so content with doing that shit. But you know what was really crazy?”

“What?”

“Lu told me that Journei was the woman to help me love again. She said she saw her n her dreams and that’s why she was comfortable around her,” I confessed.

“Damn, that’s deep. What you think?” he asked.

Before I could respond, I fished my ringing phone out of my pocket. When I looked at it, I saw it was Lu’s sister, Jalissa, calling. My heart rate picked up immediately.

“Wassup, Lissa?” I answered.

Her sobs told me everything I needed to know, so there was nothing to be said.

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