Page 100

“You and I both know how much danger she could be in. I still remember the way Meesha’s boyfriends used to beat her ass, and we would be in the room crying and begging them to stop. I used to think one of them was going to kill her one day and she would get up the next day with a face full of makeup, as if nothing happened. It never made sense to me.”

I nodded as I thought of the many times I tried to intervene whenever Meesha was getting her ass beat. She would get with these street cats, and they would always end up beating her ass because Meesha couldn’t stay faithful to save her life. She loved the attention she got on the streets and the perks it brought her. The old saying that you can’t turn a hoe into a housewife was true, but every man who came into her life thought they had what it took to get her to settle down. She was good for the first couple of months, then eventually reverted to her old ways.

She let them move in, pay a couple of bills, and play step-daddy while she ran the streets with her hoe-ass friends. Eventually, they grew tired of her bullshit and tried to set her straight, but Meesha wasn’t the type you could tame. Even when they got physical, she fought back and gave them a run for their money.

They would come out of the room with matching bloody noses, and Meesha would make them food like nothing had happened. I vowed to never put my hands on a woman because that was something only cowards did.

To see Malea follow in our momma’s footsteps hurt me, but I refused to intervene until she was truly ready to leave. I had seen firsthand how those types of relationships worked, and I would be damned if I put my freedom or life on the line only for her to go back to him. All I could do was pray she eventually woke up, saw him for the man he truly was, and got away before it was too late.

TWENTY-FOUR

honesty graham

“Damn girl, those ribs aren’t gonna jump off your plate and run away,” I teased Serenity. Her face was damn near in the plate, and there was sauce all over her face.

“Girl, I’ve been waiting to eat for hours. You mind the business that pays you, okay.” Ren rolled her eyes as she cleaned the meat off the bone.

“Oops, I guess you told me.” I snickered. We were in the backyard of my cousin Justice’s house. The men decided they wanted to have a cookout, so we all came together. One thing I loved was the fact that I was a part of a family who knew how to cook. I could go to just about anyone’s house and get a good meal.

“You’ve got a lot of nerve to speak on me when you’re over there looking mighty thick, Sista. Solomon must be feeding you more than dick over there in the new house,” Serenity shot back.

My jaw dropped as I dropped my head in shame. When I looked at myself in the mirror, I noticed the changes in my body.

Solomon called it my grown woman body, but I wasn’t used to the extra weight on me. My hips and butt had spread, and while I didn’t mind some changes, the little pudge in my belly made me a little insecure.

“I’m about to go on a diet. My man said I could go to the gym with him even though he doesn’t think I need to change anything.”

“I agree with him. You’re carrying the weight well, and it’s in all the right places. Are you on birth control?” Ren questioned.

“Yeah, I got the ring implant six months ago. I think that’s another reason for the weight gain. They told me it was a chance I could either lose weight or gain it, and apparently my body chose the latter.”

I decided to get on birth control when Solomon and I had a pregnancy scare. With him on the road so much, neither of us was ready for a baby, so I did what I needed to do to make sure we were safe.

“I’ve been thinking about getting the implant, but I had a client who started losing her hair when she got hers. I know my husband loves me, but I refuse to walk around looking like a Milk Dud by the head in order to keep from getting pregnant,” my cousin-in-law, Janae, added.

“Well, I’m getting on something after I drop this baby. Dreaux is not about to pump me with babies back to back.” My sister, Peace, rubbed her little belly. They had recently found out they were pregnant with another baby.

“Well, you could always stay off the dick, sis,” I teased her.

“Umm, hell no. Hell, if I could, I would hop on it right now. That man is my addiction, and I don’t have any plans to get help. I told him I wanted to look into my birth control options, and you would have thought I told him I wanted to have a threesome with two men. I don’t know why these men are so against protection,” she huffed.

“Wisdom told me I could make the choice if I wanted to. I definitely want to give him another baby, but I want to enjoy the twins for a little longer.” Janae explained.

“I agree. Khalid wants more kids, but I’ve been on the fence. I love our little family, and I’m not sure I’m ready to add to it. My mother-in-law tells me all the time that she’ll be there for me if I decide to expand our family, but I’m scared.” My other sister, Charity, told us.

Most of the women in our family had children, with the exception of myself, Triniti, River, and Justice’s wife, Ciyani. Speaking of her, she seemed unusually quiet during the topic. I never said anything, but I wondered if anyone else noticed.

“I still can’t believe I let Messiah knock me up again. He claims I told him I wanted to have his baby, but I keep telling him he can’t take anything I say seriously when we’re fucking. Those deep strokes will have a bitch delusional and talking out the side of my neck. I cannot be trusted.” Yaya snickered as I cringed.

“Yuck. I don’t know how many times I have to tell y’all I don’t want to hear about y’all sexcapades. Messiah is like a second father to me.” I pretended to gag because I couldn’t stand hearing about my brothers in that way.

“Ma’am, aren’t you fucking my brother?”

“Fucking him to the ground. I rode that dick like a racehorse this morning. What’s your point?” I stuck my tongue out, making Yaya roll her eyes.

“What the fuck did you just say?”

I froze when I heard my brother’s voice behind me. The other women snickered as the color drained from my face. When I turned to face Messiah, he wore a deep frown.