Page 21

“How you feeling, Ice?” I asked as she held the cup up to the pink lemonade fountain.

“I’m great, and I can pay for my own food. The money you deposit every month is good enough for me to survive, I guess. You will get into heaven for sure, Caine.”

The compliment she gave had sarcasm written all over it, and I knew because I knew Isis.

“That doesn’t mean I can’t cover a meal for you at a restaurant my family owns.”

“Covering a meal and having a relationship with your child are two different things, Caine.”

My eyes dropped to her stomach, to my daughter growing inside her.

About seven months ago, I got impatient because me and Kharti still hadn’t conceived. So, I called up Isis since we'd dealt with each other in the past. She was happy to hear from me, but she had no idea that I was hoping to create a son that night. If we made a son, I planned on leaving Kharti. God, however had a funny way of doing things because I convinced her to get a blood test for the gender at ten weeks, and that’s when she let me down with the news that we had created a daughter. I didn’t force her to get rid of it. I mean, the child is still mine, but it wasn’t solving my immediate problems.

“Ice, I thought we already came to an understanding about my relationship with you and the baby. I’m married. So, I can’t openly take care of a child. But I am here to help in any way I can because I do fuck with you and always have. You won’t have to worry about anything, and neither will the baby.”

“Taking care of us financially is one thing, but money doesn’t raise a child, Caine, and you knew you were married when you nutted inside me, but that’s not the important part, right? Now excuse me, my feet hurt. I’m about to go sit down until they call my name.”

She pushed past me, waddling to a nearby bench. I shook my head, then went to another table and sat there until my name was called. Once I retrieved my meal, I got the hell out of there because seeing Isis put more pressure on my fuckin mental for today.

After barely touching my food in the car, I took off to my next destination, the jailhouse to visit my little brother Easy. I was the only person in the family who even went to see this nigga and keep him updated on shit. Easy was behind bars robbing a corner store when he had money at his disposal. He was the smartest nigga in our family, and that is how he got the nickname Easy. As a kid, everything was always easy to him. There was nothing he couldn’t do, and that mindset and drive ended up fucking him in the long run.

After arriving at the jailhouse, I checked into visitation and sat at the window waiting for the nigga to come to the booth. I kept my head down, waiting patiently, until I heard two knocks on the glass. When I looked up, my baby brother was standing there, looking the same minus the long braids he usually wore. Easy wasn’t as tall as me or Duke but that didn’t say much because we were 6’4 and 6’5. Easy was a cool 6’0 tall, which was a lot bigger than a lot of the niggas he used to whoop growing up. This nigga was having fights from pre-K on up, confusing the teachers on why a straight A student stayed in the principal’s office.

I picked up the phone with a smirk.

“So, you finally decided to cut that shit off your head, huh?”

He rubbed over the thick ass waves on his head now.

“Yeah nigga, I had to get rid of the lion's mane. I’m not sitting between no nigga’s legs letting them do my hair. They been cracking down on the lady guards being around a nigga. They think I’m establishing a relationship with a few of them in here.”

I laughed through my nose. This nigga always been a ladies’ man. He was probably one of the only niggas that actually lost his virginity to an older girl when he was like eleven years old. Him and Duke were always more girl crazy than I was growing up. I did what I did with bitches and dipped on them. Those two niggas always wanted a bitch to think they loved them, and that is something I never played about. My mama always preached there is a thin line between love and hate. Shid, I know that from the way Isis acts now.

“Anyway, how you holding up in here? Have you learned how to make a spread yet?”

“Nah, I’m not learning how to make shit like that because I don’t plan on being here much longer. Those detectives can’t connect me to that robbery. They saying it was the same shoes and stature as mine in the footage, but my lawyer is going to eat that shit right up in court next month. You know how many six foot niggas there are in Houston rocking J’s?”

“Yeah, well I hope so. A nigga tired of visiting up here being confined with your ass. You know I don’t like being without my cell phone for no amount of time.”

“Yeah I know you have to run the businesses as usual.” I nodded my head.

“But how is Pops doing? What’s the latest on him?”

“He’s doing, man, but I don’t think it will be long before he checks out.”

“So that means not long before Caine Essex takes over the Essex empire and inherits everything Pops worked hard for. I saw this shit coming from the tricycle days. I’m happy for you, my boy. Just hate we have to lose Grandpops for you to come up.” He lowered his chin.

Easy, like Duke, never cared much about inheriting anything and I'm sure it's because they thought it came with too much work. Easy always felt that street money came faster, and Duke, well, Duke always lived life to take care of Mirical and himself, not any businesses. Nowadays, I’m fighting myself for this inheritance.

Me and Easy chopped it up for the next forty five or so minutes about random shit before a guard with a fat ass walked by and tapped him on the shoulder.

I read the name Miles on her name badge, and it made sense why she was stacked up the way she was behind. All the women in the Miles family in SouthPark had fat butts all the way back to the aunties and grandmas. We went to school with a few Miles girls, so I’m surprised they let her work around Easy. I didn’t recognize her myself, but that little nigga knew everybody.

“Well big bro, she say we got five minutes or so left in our visit, but I think I will cut it short. I need to get back to my cell before chow time and shift change.” He turned and looked over his shoulder at her as she walked away.

“You hell nigga but do your thing. I’ll be back up here to visit with your ass again soon.”

“Sho nuff.” He stood up, phone still to his ear.