Page 56 of Butterfly 6, Phase 1

“Only this many things,” Messari responded, holding up five fingers.

“Exactly, nephew. You mix that shit up, form a ball of dough, and then roll it flat. That don’t sound too hard, do it?”

Messari shook his head. “That is so easy!” Messari shouted. Everything about Messari was loud and rambunctious.

“You trying to wake Auntie Ari up with all that yelling. Use your quiet voice, my nigga.”

“Okay,” Messari whispered.

“Now, let’s get started,” Isa said.

Isa could have easily ordered in, but he figured it was better to keep Messari preoccupied. If he were honest, he was keeping himself distracted as well. He hadn’t slept at all last night. He had taken a blunt to the face as the bleakness of their world shadowed his mind.

He hadn’t even realized the entire night had passed him by until he heard Messari creep out of the room. He knew Aria hadn’t slept, not until sunrise at least. When Messari got active, he quickly engaged him, so that she could rest. He didn’t want to care, but he did. As much as Isa played hard, Aria had endeared herself to him in such a way that made her problems his problems. Together or not, near or far, she was important to him.

“Uncle Isa, my daddy is your friend, too?” Messari asked. The question was completely out of the blue, and Isa peered at Messari curiously while mixing the ingredients to make their dough. He gave Messari his own little bowl and mixing spoon.

“Make sure you get all the flour out the bottom, nephew. Don’t just mix from the top,” he instructed. Messari had flour flying everywhere as he stirred. Isa shook his head. “You doing more spilling than mixing.” He took the bowl and gave it a good stir, then emptied the glob onto the cutting board. “Now use your hands and do what I’m doing. Get all that extra flour up with the blob of dough.”

Isa worked on his own dough. “Yeah, I know your daddy. That’s my potnah,” Isa said.

“Can him come over here sometimes?” Messari asked. “We can have so much fun. Me and you, and my daddy, and Pop Pop, and Eazy, and Meekie.”

“That’s a lot of people,” Isa stated, chuckling. “Unc don’t like a lot of mu’fuckas, nephew.”

“You got to like people, Uncle Isa! It’s not nice to be mean to people! The more the merrier!” Messari shouted.

“The more the merrier, huh?” Isa repeated, a smirk crossing his face. “One day, nephew. Hopefully, we all will get there one day.”

“It would be the best day ever!” Messari exclaimed. Isa knew that Messari was only naming the people, specifically the men in his life, that he loved. He was too young to realize that all of them couldn’t co-exist; all Messari knew was that they were important to his young life. He enjoyed them all for unique reasons, and in his young mind, getting them all together would be an overdose on love.

“You let me know when you plan it, neph. Uncle Isa will be there,” he said. “Sounds like a gangster party.”

“For my birthday! I want to have a gangster party for my birthday!”

“Don’t let your mommy hear you say that, boyfriend.”

Isa turned to see Aria, standing in the threshold of the kitchen entry, arms folded as she leaned against the wall.

“What are you making?” Aria asked.

“Pizza!” Messari shouted back.

“Well, make sure you make enough for me, too,” Aria said.

“Nah, nigga, we ain’t got enough,” Isa replied.

“Then I guess I’ll just take yours,” Aria answered.

“Us got enough! You have to share!” Messari chastised. Aria walked up behind Messari and kissed his cheek.

“You tell him, boyfriend,” Aria encouraged. She picked him up and placed him on her lap as she watched him finish the steps. “Your mommy called. I’m going to take you to your pop pop’s house when you’re done eating, okay?”

Messari nodded.

“What’s the word?” Isa asked. “They good up there?”

Aria looked at Messari and chose her words carefully. “Haven’t heard much. I don’t think much has changed,” Aria replied, choosing her words carefully, to not inform Messari. “They took Mo in for questioning about that old situation, but they let her go. That’s a good sign, right?”