Page 39 of That Fire

“I saw her passing out something at the diner as I was leaving. That’s cool though. I’ll do whatever and be wherever y’all need me.”

She smiled and led us to the back of the house where everyone else was. When I saw my sister and niece, and Noni there, I was beyond happy. Mr. Red stood and hugged his baby girl, as did Asad and Red Squared. “Hey, everybody,” she said as she hugged Noni and Ashanni.

“Hey, y’all,” I said.

Mr. Red shook my hand and Asad and Red Squared followed suit. As we sat, Mr. Red said, “Well, I can see that all my kids love the hell out the Hendersons, that’s for sure.”

We all chuckled. “That’s because we got that sauce,” Noni replied, causing us to laugh more and Ashanni to stand and do a little dance while holding Azariah.

My sister was crazy. I leaned back against the cushions of the couch, and Mr. Red turned his attention to me. “Jasper and I have been cool for a long ass time. But just like he told my son he would kill him if he fucked with Ashanni’s heart, you get the same. Ashanni is his pride and joy, so I get it. Aaliyah is mine, no matter how nasty her lil ass has become as a woman,” he said side-eyeing her.

I tucked my lips in my mouth, trying to keep from smiling or letting on that I was grateful for her nastiness. She giggled and playfully rolled her eyes at him.

“I get it. I feel the same way about Ashanni. I can only imagine how I will be when my daughter gets here.”

He nodded. “Well, ain’t no need for me to go into detail, then. You’re a Henderson, so you know how things can get handled. Now that’s out the way, we can chill.”

We all laughed, and I was relieved. Noni and Ashanni went to the kitchen with Mrs. Shana, and Aaliyah was trying to get up as well. I held her close as I stared at her ankles.

“Naw, baby. You need to put your feet up.”

“Why? I’m not hurting.”

“They’re swollen. Don’t make me call Noni in here.”

She huffed as her dad glanced down at her feet. “Yep. Swollen just like your mama ankles used to stay when she was pregnant with you. Listen to your man.”

“See?” I said as she rolled her eyes.

She leaned against me and put her legs across Red Squared as he frowned. I chuckled as I rubbed her belly and kissed her head. Leaning to her ear, I said, “You sure you feel okay?”

She glanced up at me. “Yeah, baby. I feel fine.”

She was getting so close to her due date. I was on edge about her going into labor early. Bali had said that it was typical for twin births. I kissed her cheek as I continued to rub her belly, slightly lifting it as I did so. Within a couple of minutes, she was asleep.

Mr. Red smiled and slowly shook his head. He looked up at me and said, “I was slightly hesitant about this. Shana told me how the two of you began. I thought you’d disrespected her. I think all three of us did at some point. When Shana told me otherwise, I had to be appreciative that it was you instead ofsomeone else. I know how you were raised. Don’t tell your uncle, but Jasper is the best Henderson, hands down.”

I chuckled. “I think the same way, although I’m somewhat partial.”

“He spoiled y’all, but he taught you to respect people. When respect isn’t reciprocated, y’all know how to leave well enough alone and you walk away, especially if it’s someone older. I haven’t seen a person that Jasper can’t get along with. He’s never involved in bullshit. None of the Hendersons are really. Y’all can’t help that people are after what you have.”

I took a deep breath and nodded. Whenever you tried to help people, especially on a mass scale like my family, it tended to put a microscope on you. If we had just kept to ourselves and kept our money to ourselves, this attention wouldn’t be on us. What pissed them off even more was that we were helping primarily Black folks. Now we were fucking public enemy number one.

“Yeah. Karima said God is just going to bless us more right in front of them. I believe that. We’ve been sending out more rice and roux than we ever have to the grocery stores. It’s like the more they come for us, the more people patronize us. Kingsley said the grass farms’ output has had to double to keep up with the demand.”

“I can believe that. Y’all are truly blessed. I took my money and buried that shit,” Mr. Red said and laughed. “I mean, I helped my kids and other folks here and there, but not like the Hendersons. Y’all were helping the entire community. Ungrateful bastards messed that up.”

I nodded, then glanced down at Aaliyah. In a softer voice, I said, “I want to marry her. I don’t plan to be a forever boyfriend.”

“I didn’t think you did either.” He glanced at Asad and Red Squared as they nodded. “You have our blessing for whenever. Asad is around you the most. He knows your personality better than any of us. I’m not tryna judge the bullshit, because we wereall probably hoes at one time. I know I was. Yo’ daddy too,” he said and chuckled.

“That’s where I get the shit from. I’m just happy I can give all my love to one woman . . . that I feel safe to do so. Aaliyah is the epitome of what I ever desired in a woman. Honestly, I’ve been having feelings for her for a while, but I didn’t want to say anything because of what we agreed to.”

Red Squared slowly shook his head. “When Seven told me I needed to talk to my sister, man I was about to go off on his ass. When I realized what Ryder J had said, I was pissed at my sister. I knew then that you loved her. When I found out that wasn’t the truth, I was back to being ready for war to protect her, even if that was with a kid. I consider Ryder a kid, since he’s only about twenty-one or so. Plus, I knew Noni and I had our struggles. I was a whole nigga at some point. I knew I needed to extend grace to you until I knew the story. So I’m glad I didn’t approach you with that bullshit.”

I nodded and shook his extended hand as Aaliyah shifted to one side. I leaned over to her ear. “You okay, baby?”

“Mm-hmm,” she said groggily.