Page 23 of Dom
Later that day, we rolled into the hood in two trucks as the shadows followed. We pulled up to one of Dom’s cousins’ houses on the northwest side, where the block was alive. Music was bumping and kids were running around with water guns as the meat on the grill was smoking. As soon as we stepped out, I felt eyes on us. Not in a dangerous way… but in that‘Damn, they fine as hell’kind of way. Dom had on a black Amiri tee with matching jeans and white low-top Forces. He was very simple today. I kept it casual too with jean shorts, a cute little crop top and a pair of New Balances. Dom dapped up some of the old heads, he hugged his aunties and handed a stack of cash to one of his little cousins running who was running the Kool-Aid stand. You could just see in everyone’s eyes the respect they had for him. Every block boy that saw him gave that same nod because they knew when the King was around, they were good.
Mrs. Delores was glowing and aging backwards. She had a plate in one hand and a Solo cup in the other. She was already two drinks in and talking shit at the spades table with one of Dom’s uncles. “Y’all don’t know nothing ‘bout running a Boston!” she screamed across the table. “Me and Tony been doing this since before yo mama had her first perm!”
We cracked up and it felt good to be around regular shit for once. O’Shynn pulled up fashionably late, wearing a fitted sundress and huge hoop earrings, already with a plate of ribs in her hand and Dique was on the side, rolling dice with a few of the OGs. The air was filled with Miami bass, BBQ, and joy.
“Carmen!” one of Dom’s cousins yelled. “Come get in this spades game! I need a real partner.”
Dom walked up behind me and slid his arm around my waist. “Don’t let her fool you, she ruthless with the books.”
“Ruthless?” I looked back at him. “I’m a shark, baby.”
For the most part, we sat, we laughed, and we danced. For a few hours, we weren’t lawyers or killers or shadows caught up in a war. We were just family… just regular people and it absolutely felt like something worth protecting. As the sun started to set behind the clouds, I sat back and looked at Dom across the yard. He was laughing, had a drink in hand, and showing that carefree smile I only saw in rare moments like this. He was far from perfect, and that’s what made me love him even more. Everything I’d done for him; I’d do it again and again.
The sun had set just enough for the citronella candles to flicker around the yard as the warm breeze surrounded our bodies. The laughter still bounced from the dominoes table, and Delores was somewhere talking shit and hugging necks while truly enjoying her day. Pops, Dom’s father was busy on the grill most of the time and O’Shynn had the Bluetooth speaker on fire playing some old-school Trick Daddy. A few minutes later, Dom stood next to me with one hand on my waist and the other nursing his drink. Dique came strolling back from the dice game, stacking his little wad of cash and cheesing like he’d just robbed a bank.
“Yo,” Dom called out, low enough so only our circle could hear. “We need to holla at you.”
Dique slowed his step, immediately clocking that it was serious. “What’s up slime?”
“Let’s take a walk,” Dom said, already leading us toward the side of the house, past the grill and the cousins smoking by the gate. We landed near the back fence, away from the noise and I could tell from the look in Dom’s eyes, he didn’t want to sayit, but this was something that couldn’t wait. We had danced around it long enough at this point.
Dom took a slow sip of his drink before setting it on the edge of the concrete wall. “Look… we got the DNA results back.”
Dique squinted. “DNA? You mean Keondra?”
Dom nodded his head. Dique scoffed, but it was all for show. I could see the way his hands curled into fists at his sides. “Man, I already told y’all that ain’t my…”
“She is,” I cut him off. “The test came back. Keondra’s little girl… she’s yours.”
Dique stared at us like we just sucker-punched him. “The fuck?” he mumbled in disbelief. “Nah. That girl don’t even look like me. I done been around her, and I…”
“That’s what we thought too,” Dom said cutting him off once again. “But DNA don’t lie.”
It got real quiet till the point all we heard was the muffled sounds of the music coming from the yard but back here, it was a different vibe right now. Dique looked away clenching his jaws. For a second, I thought he was going to swing on Dom out of frustration, but instead, he kicked the brick wall with the side of his foot.
“So what y’all tryna say?” he finally asked. “That I’m a fuckin’ daddy now? Overnight?”
“You been one,” Dom said. “You just ain’t know.”
“And we aren’t telling you to go run over there and start playing house,” I added. “But you have a daughter now… a real one. That baby deserves to know her father.”
Dique slowly turned with glossy eyes and not from tears, but the kind of pressure that starts in your throat when you realize your whole life just fucking changed. “She got my blood?” he asked Dom in a low tone.
Dom nodded. “She a Royal, homie.”
Dique looked down, placed his hands on his hips and then let out a long exhale. “Shit…” he exhaled. Dique always came with the jokes but right now this was as serious as I’d ever seen him unless he was shooting at somebody. He wasn’t angry anymore; he was just shocked and processing it. He may have been proud but just wasn’t ready to admit it.
“You gon’ be alright,” Dom said, looking his brother dead in the eyes. “But don’t say nothin’ to Keondra yet. I already called her ass and made it clear we’d handle it.”
“And she knows about the cease and desist,” I added.
Dique smirked, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Y’all muhfuckas really be out here runnin’ the streets and the legal system, huh?”
I shrugged. “Somebody has to do it.”
He gave a dry chuckle still shaking his head. “Damn… a kid, though?”
“I told you, you got this,” Dom said again. “But it’s on you how you move now nigga.”
