Page 23 of The Prodigy

I hated that fucking nickname. It was my mama’s whole thing. She was the queen—that much I agreed with—and Nay was the Duke. I was the Knight, Eris was the Prince, and Jaz was the Princess.

Anyway, it was quiet for almost a full minute before shit popped off.

Nay jumped up and stormed off toward the door, but my uncle Prez got there first. All he had to do was shake his head and Nay stopped right where he was.

“Boy, come sit back down,” Mama said with a sigh.

“Kari?” Eris said. “He ain’t even the oldest! I could see if it was Nay, but him?”

“Let alone the fact that his ass ain’t been home in years!” Nay said with the assist. “This some bullshit!”

“Why can’t y’all all just be at the top together?” Jaz said, and we all ignored it.

Mama pulled a cigarette out of her case and brought it to her mouth. Before she could even get it between her lips, Prez was in front of her with a gold lighter. She accepted his light and took a couple of puffs before she returned her attention to us.

“Knight, the first thing you need to do is get with Gray Hightower. I think he’s okay, but I need you to make sure.”

“Hold on,” Nay said. “So we not even gonna talk about it? It’s Knight, the end?”

“Yeah, basically,” Mama agreed. “Frankly, Duke, and I think you know this…your judgment ain’t shit. You lack self-control. And Prince, you’re too soft. That ain’t a insult, it’s just facts. But most important, this is how your daddy wanted it.”

Nay looked at me sideways like any of this shit was up to me. Eris just stared at the floor, pouting like the annoying little brother he was.

“But if one of you boys feels like you could do better,” she continued, “feel free to try your best to rise to the top. It’s Knight for now, but nobody said it has to stay that way.”

If Jaz felt any kind of way about not even being in the running, she didn’t show it. She just sat there, bored, watching to see what would happen.

“You ain’t got shit to say?” Eris asked me, his nostrils all flared out.

“Not really. I can’t honestly sit here and say I wanna be in this position, but if it’s what Daddy wanted, I guess I’ll do what I gotta do.”

“He don’t even want this shit,” Nay barked.

Eris nodded. “Not only that, but this nigga got a whole fake ass wife out there in the living room. That’s a distraction.”

“No it ain’t,” I defended. “I’m keeping that girl close to keep her quiet, that’s all. Can’t be distracted by something that’s fake.”

“I sure hope that’s true,” Mama said. “I got enough problems dealing with those two bitches Nay knocked up. I don’t need no more female drama.” She looked at my sister. “You got anything to say?”

Jaz shook her head.

“Good.”

“You know what’s foul?” I said. “Ain’t nobody said shit to me about the nigga that tried to kill me. That’s the whole reason I’m in this situation in the first place. Somebody’s at me, and nobody’s making a big enough deal about that for me.”

I looked around the room. “It wouldn’t be one of y’all, would it?”

Everybody had the good sense to look shocked at that accusation, and I’ll admit, I didn’t really think any of my family would put a price on my head. But I’ve been on this earth long enough and seen enough bullshit to know that you canneversay never.

“You been beefin’ with anybody?” Eris said. “If so, we can dead that shit quick.”

I hid a smile. Competitive or not, me and my brothers didn’t hesitate to ride for each other.

“Nah,” I answered. “I’d only been back here for an hour when dude tried to kill me. That ain’t enough time to piss nobody off.”

“What if it’s the same person who tried to kill Daddy?”

We all looked at Jaz, then I locked eyes with Mama. She was stone-faced as usual.

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