Page 13 of Blade: Blade Outlawz MC

“Yo!” I called as I walked through the foyer.

My mother came out of the kitchen with her apron on and a dish towel over her shoulder.

“Dion Nixon, I will beat your ass if you come in here yelling like that again. I don’t know how many times I have to tell your big ass about that,” my mother fussed as she walked near me.

She yelped when I pulled her into my arms and kissed her cheek.

“Hi, Momma.”

“Hey, Dion.” She swatted me with the dish towel. “Your brother is in the kitchen, probably trying to sneak some food.”

“No, I’m not!” My brother yelled from the kitchen.

My mother laughed and walked toward the kitchen. I shook my head as I followed her.

Axe stood when I entered and hugged me when I got close. “What’s good, bro? He patted my back. “We need to talk when we leave.” He whispered in my ear.

“Don’t be doing that whispering mess in here, Dante. If you can’t say it out loud, then don’t say it all.”

“My bad, Momma.”

“Uh-huh. Dinner will be ready soon, so make sure you two wash your hands.

It didn’t matter how old we were; my mother would tell us to wash our hands like we weren’t going to do that anyway.

Once a week, no matter what we had going on, Axe and I had dinner with our mother. Darcy Nixon didn’t play about spending time with us. She was a single mother of three boys, so she had to work multiple jobs, but she never made us feel neglected. It didn’t start until Darren died. For months, the three of us went through all stages of grief. Most days, when Axe and I weren’t at school and my mom was at work, the three of us would stay in our rooms. One day my mom decided that enough was enough, and she forced us to have dinner as a family. When we moved out, she changed it to once a week, but sometimes it would be more. Nobody could cook like my mother, and some days I really need her cooking.

I wonder if Pepper could cook.

“I don’t see either of y’all moving.” My mother’s sugary voice broke through my thoughts.

I shook off thoughts of Pepper and walked down the hall. My brother came up behind me.

“Don’t say shit right now,” I said to him.

Even though he said he would wait until we left, I knew my brother. It was just the two of us in the hallway, so I wouldn’t put it past him saying something.

“Oh, trust me, I won’t. Your mother would hate to find out the shit her baby has been up to.” He brushed past me and went into the bathroom.

I ran my hand down my face. I already knew how the conversation was going to go. He wanted to wait until we left because he knew shit would get heated. He wanted to talk about Pepper and what I was doing with her, but I didn’t have any answers for him.

I leaned against the wall until Axe came out of the bathroom. I went in, did what I needed to, then went back to the kitchen. When I walked in, Axe was in the middle of telling my mom a story about the students in his class. Axe, also known as Mr. Dante, was a second-grade teacher. It was crazy to me that he became a teacher. I would have never guessed, especially of kids so young. Some of the fathers were intimidated by him, and a lot of the mothers tried to fuck him. He was better than me because I would have busted a few of them down, but he never did. Axe was very selective about who he dealt with. I couldn’t even remember the last time he was in a serious situation.

“Took you long enough,” my mom said as I sat in the chair opposite my brother.

“I had to use the bathroom.”

She sucked her teeth and came over to the table with our plates. My mother didn’t play about touching her pots, so she always fixed our plates.

I rubbed my hands together when I looked at the plate full of smothered chicken, rice, and green beans. After she placed theplates down, she went to the stove and grabbed the basket of rolls she made. A pitcher of red Kool-Aid sat in the middle of the table.

“Dante, it’s your turn to bless the food.”

The three of us joined hands as my brother blessed the food. We rotated who would do it each week.

“So, what’s been going on with you, Momma?” I asked as I scooped some rice and chicken onto my fork.

“You know me, spending time with the ladies from the crochet club and going to church. I sure wish I had some grandkids to occupy my time.” Her eyes darted between my brother and me.

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