Page 18 of A Hood Wife And A Rich Goon 2

“On top of all that, Oracle can fucking walk, and Eazy’s ex, Niva, she’s alive.”

“What the hell? Is this the Twilight Zone?” Toni ran her fingers through her hair. “How? I… I don’t even know where to start. How is Eazy? How are you? And what are you going to do about Midas?”

“I’m killing that nigga. Ain’t no other option,” Bull voiced, listening to an alert go off on his phone beside him.

He reached for it and checked the notification window and saw that he had a text come through from Eazy in the group chat to him and Jewel.

E: Need to talk. ASAP. I’m at Lotus’s spot.

Bull: Say less. Let you know when I’m on the way.

“Who was that?” Toni questioned.

“Eazy. Said he needs to talk. Get dressed. Get the kids dressed. We can go grab some clothes from the house if you want. I kind of want to stay close to Brenda right now.”

“Yeah.” Toni nodded. “I get it.”

“I’m gonna take a shower and go talk to her. One more thing.”

Bull tossed the covers, planted his feet on the floor, and faced his wife.

“Don’t tell anybody Braxton is dead. As far as the rest of the world knows, he took off.”

“Okay,” Toni agreed.

Bull disappeared inside the bathroom, closing the door behind him, and Toni got up to get herself together. She couldn’t lie and say she wasn’t relieved that Braxton would no longer be a problem. For the last four years, the man had haunted her dreams. For the first time, she could breathe and didn’t feel the need to look over her shoulder as much. There was still Midas and Chai to deal with, but without Braxton backing them, it was going to make things harder for those two to accomplish anything.

Bull showered, handled his oral hygiene, and slipped into a pair of sweats, a white V neck shirt, and a pair of navy, gray, and white Nikes. Emerging from the bathroom, he spotted Breeze on the edge of the bed while Toni tied his shoes. Jou Jou jumped up and down in the middle, fully rested and ready to terrorize for the day.

“I monkey, Daddy. Look, I jump!” She continued to bounce.

Bull shook his head and paused at the foot. “Jou, you need to be careful. This a big bed. I don’t want you to fall and hit the floor.”

“I big guh, Daddy.” She pouted, a cute frown embedded in her heart shaped face.

Toni finished with Breeze’s shoe, and he jumped off the bed.

“Gamma Brenda said we can have pancakes for breakfast. Can we, Daddy?” Excitement danced around his warm brown eyes.

“Yeah, come on, let’s see if she’s got some ready.” Bull nodded toward the door, and Breeze shot ahead of him as he pulled it open for them to leave. Toni sighed, waved for Jou Jou to come to the edge of the bed, and scooped her onto her hip.

“Come on, little bouncy girl.”

“Bounce bounce!” Jou squealed from her mother’s arms carrying her out of the room.

There were no breakfast smells. The only aroma that toyed with Bull’s nose as they descended the stairs was liquor and tobacco smoke. Sprawled out across the sofa in the living room, a half empty bottle of Jack Daniel's still in her hand, Brenda’s arm dangled off the couch onto the floor. The ashtray was nearby, filled with cigarette butts from her black cigarettes.

Shaking his head, Bull paused in the doorway.

“Is she always like this?” Toni asked.

“For most of my life.” Bull sighed. “Take the kids to the kitchen.”

“Come on, y’all. Mommy will make you pancakes,” Toni encouraged.

“Yay!” Breeze pumped his fist and took off running down the hall.

Toni lowered Jou Jou to the ground, and she gave chase right after her brother in the museum of a house. For a minute or two she hovered as Bull took slow strides into the room toward his mother. She could relate as he knelt and reach out to nudge her back. It took her a minute to come to. Lifting her head off the couch, she squinted through the slight rays of sun poking through the curtains.