Page 222 of Lau Ahi
“The fuck he do?”
“Try to flex but she’s tough, she handled it. You know she got that shit wrapped up with her mama smooth as hell and that weird ass bitch she was working with. I wish I would’ve been able to see her whip ol’ girl’s ass. I didn’t think your wife had it in her but that bitch looked to’ the fuck up in her mugshot.”
I’d seen the fallout from Margo’s arrest two weeks ago. And Asha had in fact fucked her up. The way she’d uncovered the deceit that she’d had to live with for the last dozen years made me even more proud that she was my wife.
“Why weren’t you with her?” I trusted Alec and knew personally and professionally he was going to ensure that Asha was protected. I’d never known theConsortiumto hand over details to people who weren’t in the family.
“Not my assignment. Besides, your wife isn’t stupid. I feel as though my hanging around is already suspicious. I figured you’d want to be the person to announce that you were back from the dead. She thinks I’m a piece of shit that is trying to take your position. Never mind that I’ve been trying to keep her ass alive. But she’s loyal to you and my stepping in and having to deal with Theo’s ass makes me look suspicious to her.”
I folded my arms over my chest hearing firsthand how she’d been taking up the charge in keeping the family together in my absence. “Be glad she hasn’t tried to kill you.”
Hakeem slid back on his desk grinning as he did. “Oh, she did.”
My eyes widened in shock and now I was worried Asha had a mental breakdown after finding out the details on Margo. “The fuck?”
Hakeem started laughing like the shit was funny and it just affirmed everyone I knew was insane.
“I’m dead ass. I think she tried to poison my ass a few weeks back. I stopped by on some family shit and she fixed me a drink that had my ass down for a few days. Couldn’t keep shit on my stomach. I kept telling myself that I caught a bug or something but—”
I cracked up knowing that even worse than the shits was in store for me when Asha got her lick back. “Nah, that was a test. If she wanted to kill you, she’d have followed through. That was a loyalty test. You've been back since?”
“Hell, yeah, that’s family. I knew from Alec the shit she’d gone through so I wanted to ensure she was straight. I ain’t been crazy enough to take shit she offers me since.”
“Insulting my wife by not taking her hospitality?”
He looked unbothered with my accusation, and I couldn’t blame him. “My nigga, I had the runs for five fucking days. We can throw hands right now because it’s gone be a minute before I eat some shit she made, real talk.”
“That’s your fault for getting caught slipping. You should’ve taken something to combat that shit before you went over there. You probably made her even more suspicious of you.”
Hakeem only shook his head the look on his face the one I was growing more familiar with. “Got damn you’re in love. You over here defending her trying to kill your blood.”
“‘The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb’.” I quoted that verse with the same passion I felt for my wife and the fervor of my brother who might be delivering a second eulogy on me when he saw me again.
“That has Priest written all over it. The lessons that you learn inThe Orderstay with you forever.” A part of his history that he was giving me. Trusting me even though his place as my second was already set.
“I kept what was useful and discarded the rest. Now, we've got everything straight for what needs to happen?”
Hakeem pulled out his phone going through a checklist of tasks I’d give him.
“Told you before that crackheads were useful. So are my girls. All that shit is done. I assume you’re done waiting to take your place as the head of the family?”
I ran a hand over my hair thinking that the hardest challenge was in front of me and not behind. “If I survive the night.”
He turned to me and had his gun back in his hand before I could finish my comment. “Who we gotta ride on?” His desire to solidify both of our places in the family meant a lot to me.
It was comical to see that his devotion was as real as my mother said it would be. Hakeem’s loyalty was to the family and seeing it prosper. Unlike his relationship with Theo, we didn’t have bad blood. That meant we might have been as close as my brothers but we didn’t have a mutual hatred to overcome with each other either.
“You not killing my wife.” I didn’t bother to raise my voice as I was sure he didn’t realize I had been referring to Asha.
“What are you talking about?”
“You might believe that my wife is sad and I’m sure she is. But that doesn’t mean that she’s not about to kill me for being away from her for so long.”
He blinked a few times before he nodded his head and tucked his gun in his pants. “You right. She gave me the runs because of her suspicions. She knows that your ass faked being dead so you definitely got something to contend with. Shit, I ain’t trying to run this shit at all so you gotta survive. Good luck, my nigga.”
“What kinda second are you?”
He looked around confused before focusing on me. “Oh, my ass official now that you in the middle of some shit? The fuck am I supposed to do? I don’t get in between people and their marriages. That type of shit ain’t my business.” He held his hands up in surrender and I couldn’t blame him.
