Page 37 of Soft On Her
“It wasn’t just Janice that we didn’t like. She was just always the one crying about it. When y’all were in middle school, they were seriously considering sending Milani to a boarding school to get her away from you. Zechariah knew he couldn’t just cold turkey stop y’all from being friends because that would’ve pissed Luis off. So his solution to separate y’all was to send Milani away. There was a big blow up about it, and me and Zechariah came to blows. That’s when the distance in the family grew. My father put his foot down and threatened to cut Zechariah out if he sent his granddaughter away; they, in return, distanced themselves from the family.”
“Damn, their disdain for me ran deep,” I said, perplexed.
“Y’all making it all somber and shit in here,” Terrel noted, lighting a blunt. “We haven’t done this in what? Five years?” He asked Mikel.
“Maybe.”
“It’s a celebration. Our families can stop side-eyeing each other for some shit none of us did. I can invite y’all to my strip club now. Everything is on me when y’all come down to Premier. Bring all the Harris men, and I can bring the Black men, and we can have a family reunion like we used to do.”
We finished the blunt while they continued cleaning the middle of the floor. When they were done, we were finally finished smoking the blunt. The shuffling behind us dissipated, and I turned around to confirm the floor was clear before walking over to the office door to open it. There weren’t camerason the interior of the warehouse, so we would fill my dad in later. However, I knew the heavy smell of bleach wafting through the air informed him that things didn’t go as smoothly as we’d hoped for.
“Uncle Mitch,” Milani teared up, rushing out of the office.
“My princess. I’m so sorry I couldn’t find you,” Mitchel murmured, sprinting to meet her midway. Milani leaped into his arms, and he caught her like she weighed nothing.
With everything everyone had gone through while Milani was missing, there wasn’t a dry eye in the room as she reunited with her cousin and uncle. Both families exhausted all resources searching for Milani over the last nine years, and she was finally home.
As much as I didn’t want to let Milani out of my sight, I knew she had other people who missed her just as much as I did. There were also new additions to the Harris family that she hadn’t met yet. I walked Milani out of the warehouse and pecked her lips.
“As soon as I’m done here, I’ll swing by to pick you up,” I informed her.
“Okay. I love you. I’ll see you later,” Milani cupped my chin and kissed me again.
“I love you too,” I bubbled before helping her into Mitchel’s truck.
I watched the truck disappear down the road while the sun set and felt Terrel place his hands on my shoulders. “Ahhhh, she got you soft as fuck, bro. I love you,smooch smooch smooch,” he teased like the annoying little big cousin he was. I mushed his face away before his lips could touch my face.
“Stop playing so much,” I groaned.
“I love this for you, Sneaux. Happiness looks good on you. Are you really going to ask her to marry you?” My father asked as Levi tried to help him into his truck.
“Boy, I can get in the damn truck on my own. Watch out,” my father barked on him, jerking his good shoulder away.
“Alright, old man. Go ‘head and tumble out that bitch. See don’t we leave you on the ground until your wife can come get you,” Terrel shouted across the parking lot. “I never thought I’d see the day where you let a woman get one up on you. Milani got you bandaged and bruised.”
“Shut the fuck up nigga. It was dark in there, and my back was turned!” My father groaned and took a seat in the truck.
“Ummm hmmm, sounds like you’re getting soft, old man,” Terrel waved him off.
“Alright, lil nigga. Come over here and let me show you soft.”
Terrel waved him off.
“That’s what the fuck I thought. Sneaux, back to you and the proposal.”
“I’m going to ask Milani as soon as she is settled in. I don’t want to rush her into anything,” I replied.
“Shut yo ass up. We all know Milani will marry you tomorrow. We can see it all over y’all,” Terrel pointed out.
“Fuck that. Are you really going to step aside just because Milani is back?” Levi pried.
“If need be. Milani’s early twenties were stolen from her, but I’m going to make sure she still has every opportunity she missed out on. What? Y’all scared y’all can’t do this without me?”
“Fuck no,” Levi refuted as the sound of an approaching vehicle garnered our attention.
“That’s Juno,” Levi announced.
“I’m going to get out of here. Sierra has been blowing up my phone since the doctor called her with care instructions.”
