Page 44 of Can I?

“She truly is. I’m so happy for Karima. I wanted you to know that I’m going to move the horse to Legend’s house if you want to go to Liberty to practice. You know he will help you bareback if you wanna practice that. He helped me tremendously. Red and Shana are going out there to stay with him and Harper for a little while also. Red quoted scriptures for me, to relax me. I think you’re getting there. You just need to calm down. You’ll do so much better if you do.”

I nodded. “Why are you talking to me like you won’t be training me anymore?”

She shrugged as we waited for the elevator. “I’m just saying what’s on my mind, baby.”

“Mama, please leave. You don’t need to be there. Let Watchful Eyes handle that shit.”

“Baby, none of us are leaving. Jen and Chrissy are staying too. We refuse to let those fuckers run us out of our fucking town. Big City Nome ain’t shit without us. We ain’t finna run. We want y’all safe though. We will all be open for business. I’m not going to let my siblings down. Just pray for us, okay?”

I hugged her tightly as the elevator doors opened. “I love you, Mama. Please be smart, and be careful.”

“I will. Your dad will make sure of it.”

I nodded as Ashanni, Maui, Aunt Chas, and the twins came running to get on the elevator with me. As it closed, we all stared at my mama. When the doors closed, I succumbed to the tears I was holding back, as did everyone else. Their dads would be there, in the eye of the storm. We all grabbed hands, silently praying for our parents, uncles, and aunts, along with our male cousins.

When Jakari said he was staying, all of them stayed. Angel was an entire mess knowing that Rylan could be in danger. Wewere all a mess. The only male cousins that wouldn’t be staying were CJ and Remington. They were too young. I felt like my brother should have left, too, but he insisted he was staying with his crew of cousins.

This was too much for us. When the elevator doors opened, we released hands and made our way to our vehicles. They would be following me to Ferris’s house. Once I got in my truck, I texted him to let him know we were on our way. I couldn’t bear talking to him right now. I knew I would break down on the phone. I hated that all my family was there, but they made me leave. Ashanni had her mom, Maui and the twins had each other and their mom and Remy if need be.

My entire family could be wiped out. I was so thankful I had Ferris. He would be able to soothe my nerves and calm my fears. I felt like I should have been in the trenches with them. It wasn’t like I couldn’t stop through when I was on my way to Liberty, but that wouldn’t be enough. I needed my family, and they needed me. I could imagine my aunts and cousins thought the same way I did, especially Aunt Chas. She was Uncle Jasper’s ride or die.

As I drove, I said a silent prayer for my family, that they would all be safe and that this bullshit would be over sooner rather than later.

“Mama,this is my girlfriend, Milana Semien. Baby, this is my mama, Paula.”

“Hi, Missus Paula. Nice to meet you.”

“Hi. Nice to meet you too. Who all do you have with you?” she asked as she lightly shook my hand.

I wasn’t getting a good vibe from her ass, and I could tell Aunt Chas and the twins were feeling the same thing. “This ismy aunt Chasity. She’s married to my mother’s brother, Jasper. This is her daughter Ashanni. These three are my uncle Storm’s daughters, Bali, Noni, and Maui.”

Everyone spoke and Aunt Chas asked, “Do you need help with anything? Thank you for preparing dinner for us.”

“Sure. If you don’t mind, could you help me bring food to the table?”

“I don’t mind at all.”

Instead of going to sit with my girls, I followed them to the kitchen to see if there was something I could do. “Missus Paula, I don’t mind helping. What can I do?”

“We have tea and lemonade. If you want to pour everyone’s drinks or get bottles of water out the fridge, I would appreciate it.”

I smiled slightly and went straight to the cabinet with the glasses. I could see her frown from my peripheral. “Milana, how did you know where the glasses were?”

I frowned, my facial expression matching hers. “I was here yesterday. I stayed the night to help Ferris.”

Her eyebrows lifted. I wanted to roll my eyes. She was going to be one of those mothers. Ferris was twenty-eight years old, and I was pretty sure she would say that he was still her baby. Aunt Chas glanced at me as she plated the salmon. Breaking the awkward silence, she said, “The food smells really good, Paula.”

“Thank you so much. I hope y’all like salmon. I didn’t think to ask Ferris ahead of time. I just grabbed it from the sink and brought it here to cook since I’d already thawed it out for us to eat.”

“Yes. We all enjoy seafood,” Aunt Chas said as I poured lemonade in most of the glasses.

I actually didn’t too much care for salmon. It was too dry. Hopefully she knew what she was doing in the kitchen. My mama often said that I’d gotten ahold of some salmon that waspoorly cooked. She said she would get Aunt Jen to cook some for me so I could try it, but we never did. It wasn’t something that anyone in the family just had to have.

Ferris only had a five-chair table, so I placed five glasses there and the other three at his bar. I remained quiet as I picked up dishes to take to the table. There was salmon, some type of cream sauce, shrimp, mixed vegetables, rice, and rolls. I then went to the front room to tell them to come eat. When Ferris stood, he smiled at me, and I couldn’t help but smile back.

As we made our way to the kitchen, I said, “Three of us will have to sit at the bar.”

Before any of us could volunteer to do so, Mrs. Paula said, “You, Ferris, and I could sit there. Your family can sit at the table.”

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