Page 77 of Lilith

Bingo.

“Why didn’t you just kill me, then?” I questioned her.

“Because she ain’t got the nuts to,” Ray said. “And she probably tried to hire someone else and couldn’t. You’re off limits.”

Silence from Pauline.

“I can’t believe this. You tried to have me killed because of things my father did,” I said, “but you blame me and not him? That just doesn’t make sense.”

“He’s the love of my life. That makes sense.”

“And he has no idea what a monster you are,” I mumbled, not expecting a response from her.

My eyes lifted to meet Ray’s, and I swear I read his mind. He wanted to know which one of us would kill her.

In lieu of an answer, I swiftly lifted my gun to her head and pulled the trigger.

“Shit, baby! You and these got damn head shots! You coulda warned a nigga!” Ray shouted, lowering his gun.

I looked at him, at his ruined clothes, and said, “My bad. I told you with my eyes.”

“With your eyes?”

“Yeah.”

“O…kay. Well, I guess you lost that mercy you had for your ex and his wife, huh? I rubbed off on you?”

I shrugged. “I guess you did, and I don’t see it as a bad thing.”

He slowly nodded, his eyes glued to me. “You good? I mean…you okay with this? You ain’t gon’ start acting crazy with me because you offed her, are you?”

I smiled. “I’m good. I actually feel relieved, like a humongous weight’s been lifted off me.”

“Cool. So…when I’m done getting this cleaned up, you gon’ explain how you got this stuff from Marlon. I ain’t forgot.”

I sighed, “Ray, don’t?—”

“And after that, I’ma fuck the fuck out of you. This shit turned me on.”

Grinning, I admitted, “It turned me on, too.”

EPILOGUE

One year later…

Daddy smiled as Blaze approached him, her arms raised for him to pick her up. He already had her sister in his lap but obliged my oldest daughter by hoisting her onto his vacant right thigh.

“Come on, birthday girl,” Daddy said, kissing her forehead. “You want all the attention today, huh?”

Blaze nodded, and everyone in attendance laughed. It was the usuals—family and a few friends. Of course, the twins and Valentina were there along with Cato’s partner, an older, very kind Black guy named Harold. Harold was a new edition to our family. Lore was even there.

Ray stepped toward Daddy, scooping Katana up and kissing her cheek.

Yes, he chose her name.

As the youngsters would text: SMDH.

At least I’d talked him out of naming her Blade. I didn’t want to confuse the girls with rhyming names.

No sooner than Ray could turn around, Umber took Katana from him. She truly loved her nieces. So did Memphis, but she wasn’t as hands on.

Speaking of Memphis, she dropped onto the couch beside me and whispered, “Daddy looks good. Seems like he’s getting past everything.”

I nodded. “I think he is.”

It was true. It’d taken a lot for him to recover from Pauline’s disappearance, but that was understandable. We were all shocked when the Shelby was found abandoned in that grocery store parking lot in a less than desirable part of Parkton. She’d been on her way to bring me and Ray Sunday dinner. The food was sitting right in the front seat. She must’ve stopped by the store to get something to go with dinner, but she was never seen again. The store’s interior cameras didn’t work. There were none on the outside at all, and no one remembered seeing her. Then again, people in that part of town specialized in minding their own business. What Daddy and the rest of us couldn’t understand was why she didn’t just go to a store in The Village. Well, since she was never found and never would be, we’d never know.

Memphis grasped my hand, and I turned to smile at her, thinking back to how Ray had called her that day and how she’d helped him dispose of Pauline’s body. The twins handled clean-up in the panic room, of course. Initially, I worried about my father, but he had Denita, and she’d taken good care of him. So good that when he asked me how I felt about him making it official with her, I gave him a huge blessing. They’d been married for a month now and they seemed so happy, just the two of them since he opted not to replace Pauline or Candy.

Looking around the room, I caught my husband staring at me and gave him a smile. Life was good, and so were we.