Page 140 of Lau Ahi
“Francesca as well.”
“Fitting in with your wives is not fitting into my life.”
They started laughing again further getting on my damn nerves.
“Oh, that’s funny that you think you’re going to find someone that you can actually tolerate who would just fit into your life easily. It’s almost as though you don’t know yourself. You think that some spineless innocent miss is going to do it for you? Be for real, Ori. We’ve been lucky enough that the karma of our last generation is allowing us to get what we need in this one. Mir lost the only decent parent he couldn’t ever had so the universe blessed him with Nyima and his son. Babette lost her ability to have more kids so Xerxes ends up in love with a woman who was stolen from her parents and provides her with a home. You can run down the list of all of us. Hell, the nigga that Jem gets with has a tall order to fill because I know her parents putting together something extra special for theirprensès.” Couba was ticking off tragedies that had happened to each of us. It showed that no matter how much money and power we amassed, shit was still going to happen.
I waved him off because I didn’t want to think of being worthy of this. It stirred up too much for me to contend with. “And you think me losing my father and my mama abandoning me means that I’m going to end up with the woman of my dreams? Be serious, Couba.”
“You can think what you want but the proof is you would’ve dropped your brother for even thinking about putting a bullet in her.”
“I wouldn’t have pulled the trigger.” I was lying and they all knew it.
“Yoo say that. But who kens? Yoo seem like yoo care and there’s nothin’ wrong with that, Ori. So stop denyin’ what yoo ken is the truth.”
I sighed, frustrated and not being able to escape this same conversation about my emotions. It was irritating me even more because Asha wasn’t speaking to me.
“Are we done here?”
“Yeah. Just like you’re anxious to get back to your girl, we’re ready to get back to ours.”
“Shut up, Mir.”
“I’ll say this: you’re different in a good way. Not softer because you would put a bullet in me for saying that shit. But you’re less angry. Still hard but not bitter. Like she came in and made you more… human.”
I folded my arms in front of me because it sounded like the good pastor had just called me a bitch. “That sounds increasingly like I’m soft.”
Mir just glared at me emotionlessly before he shook his head in disappointment. “Of course you’d see it that way.”
“Look, they’re trying to say that they like that you’re around here acting human and shit. They did the same thing with me and I don’t even stress the shit anymore. I mean I smile and shit and I know they be thinking Sweets gave me a lobotomy orsomething but it’s justher. She’s the best remedy for the chaos in my mind.” Smoke tapped the side of his head and I was again ready to shoot his ass.
“You know that my sister-in-law is crazy, don’t you?”
Smoke didn’t hesitate to give a retort to Yacouba’s warning. “Yeah, what’s your point?”
Couba focused on me as he pointed at Smoke over his shoulder. “Okay, don’t end up like this nigga but please come to grips with this shit. The last thing we need is a wedding like Liam’s where we find you tied up to a bed cause that girl done whipped your ass.”
Liam’s blond-headed ass was grinning and I knew that look too well. “I let ‘er do it willingly now. She likes to be in control.”
My mind went straight to the gutter and now I was thinking about myMistressand how easily I could let her tie me up and use me in whatever way—
“Never mind y’all. Let’s wrap this up so we can go eat. This nigga doing that awkward ass smile and shit so they’re good. He’ll have to get out of his way eventually. We ain’t got to do shit.” Cou hopped up and patted my shoulder bringing me back out of the thoughts I was having about Asha.
“Where to?”
“One of the family’s spots. The seafood one so that we know that Xerx won’t have to worry about what he eats. I already called and gave them a heads up to ensure it was all halal.”
Everybody looked at me again like I’d grown another head.
“Zhat’s zhoughtful of you. I guess Yacouba is right and we no longer have to stress about you.”
“Let’s get the fuck outta here before I have to find a new groomsman.”
Jahmir tossed the tie back on the pile in front of him as we made our way to the door. “I would tell you to stop running butwe don’t need to worry about it. You’re going to find out the hard way.”
ASHA
“This is harder than I expected it to be.”
