Page 4 of Soft On Her
“If nobody believes in me. I know my little cousin always will,” I affirmed as we broke the hug.
“Milani, when did you get here?” My father turned to question her.
“A few minutes ago,” she quivered.
“Did your driver bring you over here? I already sent Mikel home,” he explained.
“No, I kind of rode my electric scooter because I couldn’t find him, and I was already running late. I figured I could use the fresh air.”
“Don’t ever do no shit like that again. Did you even have your gun on you?” He interrogated.
“I don’t know how to shoot a gun,” she swallowed hard.
My father silently shook his head.
“Luis! We got one still alive.”
“Go hang his ass up. I’ll be down there to question him soon.”
“Is everybody okay?” I wondered, terrified to ask.
“Yeah, security at the gate and near the front of the house were outnumbered, but they held it down. I need to get you two out of here though.”
“Sneaux!” My mother shrieked, rushing into the crafting room with Aunt Bunny and Aunt Violet on her heels.
“I’m okay, mama,” I assured her, inhaling her floral scent now.
“We need to get everybody out of here before the police show up. They need to speak to as few people as possible,” Aunt Bunny suggested.
My father’s phone rang, and he placed it against his ear while ushering us out of the room.
“Listening.”
He was quiet until we reached the stairs, then he spoke again. “Bet.”
He ended the call, and we descended the stairs in a rush. The burnt smell from the discharged gunpowder was dry and acrid, and mixed with the iron tang of blood that also permeated theair. I knew that was a scent combination that I’d never forget. Holes riddled the walls in the entryway and foyer. Most of the furniture was destroyed and overturned. Our house would need a complete remodel if we were ever going to occupy it again.
The four bodyguards that were in charge of driving me, my aunts, and my mother around met us at the bottom of the stairs with four of my father’s other men.
“Take my family to the safehouse. I’m going to get Milani back to her family.”
My mom looked over her shoulder to protest, but my father stopped her statement before it could leave her lips. “You’re going, and you’re going to stay put until I figure out who had the nuts to take aim at my family while we’re celebrating my daughter’s graduation. Members from all four families were in attendance. Motha fuckas gotta pay, and I have to make sure it happens. This shit happened on my watch,” he bellowed.
“Make it back to me in one piece, Luis,” my mother sighed and strutted over to kiss his lips.
“Make sure Milani makes it home in one piece, Dad,” I added.
“You know I got her,” my father assured me.
Milani wrapped me up in a hug, and my hands flung to her back.
“Alright. We have to get going. Y’all will see each other again as soon as this shit blows over,” my mom cut in.
I broke the embrace and smiled at Milani. “I’ll call you as soon as I can.”
“Okay,” she nodded.
We all exited the frosted glass doors and piled into our respective cars. My graduation itinerary was thwarted, and we ended up spending the weekend four cities over in the safehouse until my father came to pick us up. I never would’ve imagined that would be the last time I saw Milani. While the four familiescame together to eliminate whoever was bold enough to shoot up a party where members from every family convened, Milani’s father, Zechariah, didn’t make it out alive. According to Mikel, his widow, Janice, wanted nothing to do with either the four families or her late husband’s family, so she disappeared with Milani. No one had seen either of them since my father took Milani home that day.
