Page 10 of Hood Legacy

Faylin quickly rounded up her friends, and they left. Once they were gone, Deuce let out a small laugh and went back to playing his game.

“You know, Mercy, people fall down the stairs every day, and no one bats an eye,” Judah, who was quiet the entire time, said without looking up from his Switch.

“Right,” Deuce agreed as he played his game. “Accidents happen every day.”

Mercy and I exchanged worried looks before she pulled her phone from her pocket and started swiping the screen. I prayed she was texting his parents to let them know how calm he was about the situation.

Mercy came to stand next to me. “I’m pretty sure he’s plotting August's downfall,” she whispered, and I nodded. “My daughter is screwed.”

“You might want to tell December that his brothers’ life is in danger,” I whispered back.

“I did,” she replied, then turned to Deuce. “Hey, Deuce?”

“Yes, ma’am?” he looked at her with an innocent look.

“Who told y’all about people falling down the stairs?” she questioned.

“Granddaddy,” he answered with a shrug. “He said that a few folks he knows took a tumble when they stepped to Madea.”

“Shit, it’s genetic,” I groaned, then went back to eating.

* * *

I parked my car in my garage and shut it off. Slowly, the door shut, and I closed my eyes. I was tired, ready to sleep and do everything I did today and again tomorrow. The soft click of the door closing made me open my eyes, and I sighed. Even though I told Hood that I wasn’t worried about the roses, truthfully, I was.

I checked my surroundings, ensuring nothing was out of place, before getting out of the car and entering the house. My alarm's soft chirp hit my ears, and I sighed; it’d been tripped again. I went to the panel to check the time stamp for the disturbance before putting in the code, dropped my bag on the island in the kitchen, and opened it. I may have talked shit to Mercy about having her gun out when I came over earlier, but I was on the same thing she was. My hand went around my Glock, and I pulled it from my bag. Quietly, I checked my house; once I was finished, I sat on the edge of my bed and dropped my head into my hands.

My bedroom had been touched; I knew it because of the smell. I loved cherry, but a hint of sandalwood drifted through the air. The top drawer on my dresser was open and I knew I closed it this morning before I left. All that could be ignored, but not the black rose taped to the mirror. I stood, tucked my gun into my shorts, walked to the dresser, and snatched the rose from the mirror.

“Leave me the fuck alone!” I yelled, returned to the kitchen, and threw the rose into the trash. My phone vibrated in my bag; I dug it out, swiped the screen, and tried not to cry.

Unknown:

I miss you.

We belong together.

Distance means nothing.

You’ll be my wife.

I love you.

I’m coming for you.

I set the phone on the island and backed away from it, not stopping until my back hit the wall, and I slid down the wall. I wrapped my arms around my legs and pulled them close. I shouldn’t have lied to Aceyn and said the flowers were innocent and probably nothing. The sound of my phone continuing to vibrate echoed through my house for the next few hours. When it finally stopped, I was so tired I couldn’t move; I fell asleep in the kitchen corner.

I sat at my desk,watching security cameras from last night. Legacy saying she was getting random flowers on her car wasn’t sitting right with me. The arena was locked down, especially the player's garage. To have somebody freely moving through their area wasn’t a good look. The last thing we needed was for some random to be able to walk up on them. Fans or not, shit wasn’t safe.

“You ain’t seeing shit?” I asked as I clicked to the next view.

“Nah,” the head of security, Yeti, answered.

I looked at the phone and kissed my teeth. “She said it wasn’t the first time,” I said, then returned to the screen.

“You ain’t give me a damn date, Hood,” he replied. “You know how often she is here? Even in the off-season, she’s here working out. I legit got thousands of hours to go through from the last six months alone.”

“So, you saying you can't do it?”

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