Page 43 of Give Me All Of You

“How? She asked you to promise her you’d do something, and you did. Doesn’t matter that the promise was to love again. That goes to show you how much she loved you. She wanted you to have that again. She didn’t want you to sit around in here mopping and shit. The fuck you going to tell Peace?” I hated to talk to my brother like that, but I would be a sorry ass brother if I didn’t put it in perspective for him this way.

“You’re right. You think she’ll talk to me?”

“You won’t know unless you ask. Get your ass in there and wash your nuts and call that damn girl. Lu didn’t deserve to leave us so young, but you’re still young and you don’t deserve to be alone. Call her.” I insisted.

He nodded, and I stayed with him a little longer before I left and went to talk to my parents. They found out the day Lu died that me and Rue were in a relationship and naturally assumed that she would be the one that I married. I told them that we would talk about it later, because that wasn’t the right time. I didn’t leave until Rock got his ass up and showered. When I got to my parents’ house, I was surprised to see my pops anywhere other than his office. I guess with him taking a stepback; he had more time to do normal shit like sit and play with his granddaughter.

“What’s good, people?” I spoke as I walked in. When Peace saw me, she jumped out of my pops lap and ran full speed toward me.

“Uncle Hazie!” She hugged my neck tight as hell.

“Wassup, Princess Pea. You being good?” I asked.

“I good. Where Finny?”

Since she’s been around me and Rue, she got to spend time with Infiniti, and you couldn’t tell her that wasn’t her bestie too.

“She’s with her grandparents. I’ll come get you so you can play with her, okay?”

“Kay!”

She jumped out of my arms and went back to playing. I went to kiss my mother on the temple before dapping my pops up and taking a seat.

“What brings you by, son? Is everything okay?” my pops asked.

“Yeah. Everything is straight. I just came from checking on Rock,” I informed.

“He’s still in that room?” my mother asked.

“I made him go shower, so hopefully he doesn’t go back in there.”

My parents nodded.

“I came by to let y’all know that I’m moving forward with the marriage arrangement. I already asked Rue, and she accepted. She has some shit going on with her baby daddy, andour marriage could help her with that, so it’s a win-win for the both of us,” I mentioned.

“What’s going on with her daughter’s father?” my mother asked.

“He’s being an asshole. He doesn’t do anything for Infiniti, but he wants to control Rue. That shit ain’t happening on my watch. He’s taking her to court for full custody because he found out about us,” I revealed.

“That’s awful and trifling,” my mother input.

“The nigga even nineteen years older than her and lied about his age.”

“So not only is the nigga a deadbeat, he’s a pedophile?” my pops quizzed.

“Pretty much. She ain’t got shit to worry about, though. I let her know I got her and Infiniti and she won’t have to worry about that nigga taking her from her. She’s been on edge because court is in a few days. That’s one of the reasons I came by. I want y’all to come and show her that she has our full support.”

“We’ll be there, son. I’m proud of you for stepping and taking on this responsibility. Raising a family is a big step.”

“I get it, Pops. I think I can handle it, though. I had a good example.” I smirked.

After kicking it with my parents and niece a little longer, I decided to take my ass home. When I got there, she was out back with Journei.

“What y’all out here doing?” I asked as I walked toward them. I dropped a kiss on JaRue’s lips before she could respond.

“Wassup, Journei?” I spoke once we broke our kiss.

“Hey, Haze. You seen or talked to your brother?” she asked.

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