Page 2 of Mafia Kings & Wedding Rings
“Granny, kind of sh… stuff is that?” Brick corrected himself before he caught something upside his head. “I ain’t ready to get married. I ain’t even got no girl! What am I supposed to tell my followers?”
“That internet shit ain’t the beginning and end, Brick,” Ivo scoffed and sloped forward with his shoulders drawn tightly together.
“Nigga, says you. This shit opens all kinds of doors for me around here,” Brick argued. “I’m a fucking celebrity, and you know profits have increased since my presence has grown.”
“Just like this muhfucka, dictating how shit supposed to go. Even in death.” Rage bubbled in my veins, and I shot to my feet.
“Staten—” Sighing like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders, my mother’s soft tone cut into my outburst.
“Nah, Ma. I showed nothing but respect to that muhfucka, that includes coming here for this shit show when I knew better!”
“What kind of life are you trying to get back to, Staten?” Granny questioned. “Everything you need is right here.”
“Says who, you?”
“This is your family. I don’t care what you say or how you feel. Those children also belong here. It’s obvious they all could stand a little guidance… some stability, and for damn sure some discipline. You’ve been doing this on your own for so long,” Marcella reasoned.
“I don’t need not one muhfucka in this room telling me how to raise my kids!” I barked, startling my grandmother as my own fury blinded me.
“Staten!” my mother hissed, eyes stretching in shock.
When it came to her and Marcella, I’d never been disrespectful. I wasn’t expecting the terms and conditions of his will to be so specific. Then again, if there was one thing I knew about Justus Marek, he did nothing in vain. There was a reason behind every single decision he ever made. I’d never seen him be impulsive or pragmatic. Much like Ivo, he had to have a plan A, B, and C for everything.I had a college education and could run this business in my sleep, but I walked away when I saw the risks up close.
“I might not have been a perfect parent, but I never walked away from my own family when the shit hit the fan!” Marcella stood with eyes of fury, scathing me.
The woman was half my size, yet she seemed so much more inferior, never blinking while staring me down.
“You call it walking away, and I consider it saving myself. You want to talk about legacy, family, all that other bull shit y’all tell yourselves to feel better. I know what that shit means!” I aimed a finger at my chest and growled. “I put everybody ahead of myself from the time I was eleven years old, and nobody looked out for me!”
I’d been absent and quiet far too long, and apparently, this gave muhfuckas the idea that I was soft. Shit couldn’t be further from the truth. I tucked that beast in the cage a long time ago when I made the choice to leave the Bluffs.
“You want a medal for that or something?” Granny’s brows drew together slowly, and we stood toe-to-toe. “You’re the first grandchild, the oldest, of course, a lot fell on your shoulders. What did you expect? You think it was easy for your father for you to just walk away the way you did? He and your grandfather sacrificed and built this family brick by brick, only for you to decide you didn’t want to be a part of it. Imagine that.”
“I was there when my mama’s car was shot up. I barely escaped with my own fucking life! I’m the one who pulled her out of that and held her in my arms, begging her not to fucking die! You think that was fucking easy?” I challenged, images and sounds from one of the worst nights of my life immediately flickering like a movie in my head.
The range of emotions coursing through me like boiling blood left my eyes misty. Suddenly tension-filled silence coated the air. My mother sniffled and wiped a single tear that slipped down her cheek as Marcella’s brown eyes softened. Her tears always hit me right in the chest. My relationship with Rossi had wavered over the years. It wasn’t on purpose. After that night, part of me detached from everything. It was easier that way to keep from being hurt.
“No. I know that it wasn’t.” She swallowed slowly and shook her head.
“Then don’t stand there talking to me about sacrifice and family when I’ve seen what this shit can do to us firsthand! You think I want to raise my kids in this?”
“You think you can just walk away? After everything. Your father is dead, your grandfather is dead, Staten.” Marcella aimed her sharp index finger at the ground. “You are heir to all of this. How does that make us look if you decide not to take over? The vultures are already circling. Ramirez wants a table sit-down ASAP to see how we’re going to move forward. We’ve put it offwith him and the other families because of the funeral, but they are only going to accept that for so long.”
“I can handle Ramirez and the other families, Gran. Let ’em go if he don’t want to be here,” Ivo chimed in.
He was doing two things: one, trying to de-escalate things between me and my grandmother, and two, throwing a jab at me at the same time. Immediately, my feral gaze shifted to him.
“Ivo, I appreciate everything that you’ve done for this family. The businesses wouldn’t run without you, but this is not on you.” Gran briefly addressed him before she swung back around on me. “This is about you, Staten. We’re all targets now that Justus is gone. There is a shift in power, and we have to show them who we are and that the Marek family is stronger than ever. I’m asking you as your grandmother… please consider this. If you leave here, you’re leaving us all vulnerable to the same type of people that hurt your mother and killed your father. At least if you stay, you and your children have top-of-the-line security, and they will have the best of everything.”
Giving me plenty to think about, I looked past her out the window and saw that the sun was setting. Our family estate consisted of the main house, which was where we had all gathered, and on the property, there were four additional houses scattered throughout the forty acres. Each one was designed for me and my brothers and our families one day. Ivo and his wife resided in one, but Brick chose to stay at the main house.
“She’s right,” my mother agreed somberly.
This was that bullshit. The guilt. The trauma. The obligation. Thinking about my seeds and our life in Chicago… I knew that they deserved better. It wasn’t like living in that city was any safer. At least here we had a crew ready and waiting for orders when shit hit the fan. Justus being gone left us wide open for muhfuckas to start testing us.
“This some bullshit!” I stormed toward the front entry.
“We need a decision soon, Staten!” Marcella didn’t bother to turn to me when she gave the instruction.
