Page 173 of Shâhzâdeh

“Are you alright, Vanya?” Maman and bâbâ were standing off to one side and she looked more than ready to handle whatever was going to happen tonight. Her long black hair was in a tight braided bun and she wore an all black one piece suit. To someone who didn’t know her, she looked like she was going to work out, but the gun that was holstered beneath her arm said otherwise.

“I am. Why do you ask?” Her eyes were filled with worried as she seemed to scan me cautiously. Her hands were on each side of my face as she checked me over.

“Xerxes said he’d been feeling bad off and on. I wanted to make sure he didn’t make you sick. I know men can be ridiculous when they are under the weather.”

“You aren’t worried about me,maman?”

She clucked her tongue in annoyance and shook her head as she embraced me quickly before doing the same for Xerxes and Ahmad. They’d been introduced to him earlier in the week and were happy to have another son. “Why? There is nothing I can do for someone who is already ill and refuses any type of treatment. I would prefer to keep my daughter healthy since she’s the one who actually listens.”

“It is a battle you will not win, son. Let her fret over our daughter while you protect your wife.”

Xerxes and his father hugged before he turned to stare at me. “I will never break a promise to you,eshgham. Let me know if you need a minute. But for now, I need to get to work.”

I nodded in understanding knowing I would see that shade fall down on his humanity while he did what he needed to. We shared a kiss and he gave me a wink before he turned around.

I didn’t need to see his face to see how his features had changed. “Why am I here?”

“What is the meaning of all of this?”

“I can’t wait until I sue you. Everything you think you own will be ours.”

I quietly watched my brother, our brothers, and our family surrounding my husband as he went to work.

The three sacks of skin were all righteously indignant as they continued to spout their bullshit. I hated that how I’d grown up exposed the layers of society and uncovered how many people only found joy in the torment of others. I knew that Xerxes was going to do something drastic on my behalf and I was happy I was about to witness it.

“Are you all done? I am not here to entertain your foolish zhoughts and questions. Zhere will be no suing, zhere will be no vengeance for any of you. Your names will fade into zhe wind like dust. Do you tink a man like me, who could get you here wizout anyone coming to your rescue, would be afraid of somezing as mundane aslitigation?” Xerxes’ sarcastic laugh started out slowly before it grew louder and the rest of the men in the Consortium joined in. I had to admit it seemed really stupid for them to think they were going to get out of this situation.

“Do you know who we are?” That came from the family patriarch who was sitting on the bed in the middle. Maman was standing next to me holding my hand and Ahmad had his arm wrapped over my shoulder.

“Why do they always ask this? As though somehow they think they are important enough to escape the wrath waiting for them. If they were, they wouldn’t be here in the first place.” Midas was glaring at the trio with as much disgust as Xerxes. I knew from Nevaeh that he was overly protective of all the women in the family and that I’d added myself to that list when I married his cousin.

“All this over Vanya? I’m trying to understand what the hell any of you see in her to put your freedom on the line for her.” Johnathan was strapped into the bed still talking shit, which was shocking to me.

Xerxes chuckled, the kind that allowed him a minute to intake the air that would feed his oxygen just enough so that he didn’t snap. I knew Xerxes like me was probably wondering why this man wasn’t tired of getting his ass beat. I knew at least four people in this room had put hands on him but I guess when you’d been taking licks your whole life; you got numb to it.

Xerxes stifled a manic laugh and flicked the tip of his nose multiple times before he spoke. “You sound jealous as a bitch. Which fits.” He’d asked me to braid his hair off his face and I’d done so without hesitation. Xerxes said he loved it and the way he showed his thanks was a testament to how pleased he was. Yacouba handed him a blunt and Xerxes took it like they’d done this move a million times.

“Thugs, all of you. Are you smoking the devil’s lettuce and trying to speak on righteousness?”

Mr. Kennedy, cause he sure as hell wasn’t my father, was still speaking like he was coming from a place of moral superiority. I could hear laughter around us and Xerxes told me that he’d given them a sanitized version of what happened but of course they knew Jada’s favorite new term ofbrusband. He reminded me that he was proud of me and that there was no shame in what had happened. That I was the strongest woman he knew even compared to his mother, which was high praise. I didn’t mind if he spoke about what they did, everyone here was our family and I knew they wouldn’t judge me.

I watched Xerxes as he stood in front of Mr. Kennedy, cataloguing his features or sizing him up for the kill. He disrespectfully blew smoke into his face and watched him struggle to breathe. I was sure he was trying to figure out a way to erase this man and the way he’d made me feel my whole life.

Mr. Kennedy’s hair was thinning, his build flabby but you could see the man had once been in shape. He had the same weathered look of many southern men who had spent their entire lives hating others instead of choosing love. His face was red, skin looked like leather and I knew he only had consistent clients because of his church affiliations and the ability to offer cheap prices because he could take advantage of Johnathan. His wife spoke up stealing Xerxes’ attention from her husband, which was the last thing she should want to do.

“This girl has been nothing but trouble since we got her. We should’ve left her where she was at. We are good people just trying to make a living and she’s brought nothing but bad things to our lives since we met her!” She turned her watery blue eyes toward me and I could see her hatred from here. “After all we’ve done for you! Don’t you know us? We are pillars of the community. Whatever lies she’s told you—”

“Lies? My wife does not lie. It is one zhing I love about her. She is brutally honest. And do I know who you are? Such a loaded question. You, zhe same weird ass bitch zhat knew her husband had an unnatural desire toward her adoptive daughter. I’m just trying to understand zhe ho who zhinks she has some type of moral superiority over me because I’m smoking weed to keep from choking her ass out when she harms kids.” The smoothness was lost in his voice and it became deeper and more gruff.

“God forgives us of all our sins, all we have to do is ask for forgiveness.”

I almost lost it right there, as his ass said that shit like there was nothing wrong with it. As though he didn’t seem bothered by this weird as predilection he had. The murmurs got louder and I had to tune them out. I didn’t want to miss any bit of information Xerxes was going to extract from them before they died.

“You mean to say you whisperastaghfurallah(I seek forgiveness from God) each time you lusted over her? No, you do not seek forgiveness from God. You seek to ease your own guilt because you are too weak to control yourself. If you wanted forgiveness from God, you would’ve asked someone to end your miserable life a long time ago.”

I could see it now as he shed the veneer of the well polished prince. It was hard to describe how his body stayed the same but everything about him was different. Darker. Deadlier.

Mr. Kennedy could sense it too, because he looked as though he was panicking. “You can’t find forgiveness in death. I can beat this! But I need to be alive to do better.” He was trying to buck against the restraints but it didn’t do him any good.

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