Page 32 of Welcome to the Table
“The fuck I look like a snake for when I helped your father expand to shit, he has now, all the way down to your asses.”
That last part slipped out, but they were interrogating me like I was in the fucking police station.
“Nigga, what the fuck you mean us? What the fuck you have to do with us?” Hellcat was barking up the wrong fucking tree, but I was about to give him something to fucking think about for a while.
I pulled a blunt from my pocket because I made my own shit. I lit the tip and inhaled the smoke. “Me and your father went into this business before you all were born. I don’t like the limelight, so I stay out the fucking way. Athena? I introduced them. Your father is my best fucking friend, and I don’t have to explain shit to y’all. Hellcat, you need to calm the fuck down before furniture starts moving in this bitch. And show some fucking respect. I’m the only uncle yo’ ass got.” I told him some honesty, “I would give my fucking life for this family, so stop fucking testing my gangsta like I won’t fuck you up,” I said, and he stood to his feet like he wanted smoke.
“Nigga, you want smoke?” he asked me, and I laughed.
I had a fucking black belt and was trained by the best.
“Man, y’all chill. Now is not the fucking time,” Calliope said.
“Put yo’ fucking knives down, nigga, and square fairly,” I told him.
He came out of his jacket, which I knew held his knives.
“So, you really trying to fight, huh?” Hellcat said as I took my vest off.
No words needed to be spoken after that. I took my gun out of my back and set it on the end table. Calliope pulled the table out of the way, but this shit was gon’ be quick and easy. I wanted to check on Jaci before I went back home to pack some shit. My lips twisted into a sinister smile, and he knew what was up.
He swung the first lick, and it actually landed. His closed hand crashed into my jaw, but I ain’t feel that shit. He hit like a bitch. I could be a ruthless motherfucker and kill his ass with my bare hands, but this was my nephew who was trying to fight me, and I was twice his size. Standing at 6’4” and weighing a solid 280, Hellcat's lil ass was no match for me. Calliope knew not to jump into this fight. I grabbed his ass in a headlock with his back to me in a chokehold. From the side, I could see Calliope getting up.
“Nigga, sit the fuck down or you gon’ be next,” I snapped, and he sat down. Not in a scary way, but he knew better. It was about respect. I was about to put this nigga to sleep. He talked too fucking much. His ass needed to calm down. His hands clawed at my forearm to let him go, but I refused.
“Man, let me fucking go. You lucky I don’t have my fucking blade.” His breath was hitched and sluggish. His ass could barely breathe, and that’s just the way I wanted it. He wanted to be a big dawg so fucking bad, but he was just a fucking puppy.
“Nigga, if you had that fucking blade, you wouldn’t cut me. I see straight through yo’ ass,” I growled, pushing him away from me. I straightened my shirt. “You need to exercise more, nigga. Breathing like a fucking dragon,” I told him, adding fuel to the already lit fire.
He was quick to grab his knife from the table. I wasn’t worried about grabbing my gun because I knew the nigga wasn’t gon’ do shit with it.
“Let me get out this bitch before I fuck around and decapitate this nigga, and Melph will be even more mad at me for having a hot head.” He pulled his jacket on and went to the door.
“Nigga, if you wanted to kill me, you would have. Just make sure you be here tomorrow to take your sister shopping. I know she is counting on it, and yo’ ass better not be late.” I swiped the blood with the back of my hand because that nigga busted my lip. That wasn’t shit.
He smirked and walked out the door, slamming it for emphasis. I wasn’t worried because he would be seeing more of me. Calliope sat on the sofa in amazement. I knew he had something on his mind, but I didn’t know if he trusted me enough to tell me what happened. His demeanor was one of disappointment mixed with confusion. Low eyes and slumped shoulders were a dead giveaway. I started to walk away, but my feet were cemented. I cared about Melph’s kids like they were my own. We all had a special bond, even Hellcat’s evil ass.
“You wanna talk about it?” I asked with my back to him. I heard an uncomfortable shift behind me and cleared my throat.
“I don’t care to talk about the shit, but since you asked, sit the fuck down and be my therapist,” he said without an ounce of laughter.
I had a rebuttal, but something in his voice made me hold back.
“You might wanna grab a drink and a few blunts for this conversation,” he said, and I did.
I sat across from him and took him in. Calliope didn’t really want this life for himself; he was thrown into it. Being the oldest of three, he took on a lot of shit that Melph threw at him, and Athena never intervened. He didn’t grow up too fast and lived alife as a child, but when it was time to handle business, he was the one to call. Levelheaded. Strategic. Thought before moving. Smooth. But let’s not forget deadly.
The first body he caught caused a wave of emotions, and he was never the same. It made him quiet over the years. He distanced himself from his family, but I respected that because shit did get crazy. I knew when Melph called me, it was something neither of his sons could handle. I respected that because I was the one to call when shit went left. It wasn’t their job to clean up his mess; it was mine.
“What the fuck is really going on? You only come out when shit is out of hand, and this was a surprise visit. We didn’t know what the fuck we were walking into. I definitely wasn’t expecting Jaci to be here, so I know it’s serious. Why the fuck does Fanucci feel the need to protect Melph? I don’t trust that nigga. He been trying to do business with us for years. We never budged, but now, all of a fucking sudden, we got a snake in our camp? That’s bullshit,” he got out all in one breath.
Yeah, that was heavy on his mind. It was something else, too, but we would work our way through it. I had nothing but time.
“Melph called me about Fanucci’s bullshit, and I came. He's trying to manipulate Melph into going into business with him, but that shit won’t work. I’ll find out who the snake is, if there is one. I don’t trust that foreign bitch.” I grimaced as the cool cognac smoothly went down my throat. It burned a little, but it was like a breath of fresh air.
“Don’t worry. You are more strategic than Hellcat and a better thinker. That nigga can’t hold a conversation without using violence,” I told him, and we both laughed.
“I keep telling his ass, one day, he gon’ meet his fucking match, a female version of himself, and that’s gon’ be his karma.” I agreed in my head, but I wanted to talk about him.
