Page 49 of The Impossible

“What the fuck do you mean no? He don’t know about none of this?”

“Grandpop says he doesn’t have the heart for the dirty business, so no, he doesn’t know anything.”

“Ain’t this some shit.”

My tolerance for bullshit was low, so I was already ready to get to the business that paid me and not what stressed me. But how could I do that when I had snakes in the grass? When I had motherfuckers trying to take the very person I had waited forever to start my fucking life with?

“You just bought yourself another day on this plane. Be grateful.” Otto laughed.

“Keep his ass alive. I gotta put this shit together right and deliver it with a bow.” With that, I left the structure. Had I stayed there any longer, I would have killed TJ. Flashbacks of her standing there with her hands on her face, waiting to die because she was out of options, plagued my memory. It was fucked up because I had all but pushed her to not think about it, only to be thinking about it myself. I didn’t think I ever considered how loving another person could affect the mental. I worried about her more than I worried about anything in this fucking world, not only because her grimy ass family, but because I wasn’t out here clean. Over the years I had made my fair share of enemies and motherfuckers who would love to find my weakness and exploit it. She was my weakness and my strength wrapped in one. In no time at all, the woman I had my eyes on from a distance for years had become my everything up close and personal, and now she was carrying my child… our child.

“You know you could vent his shit and we can get the proof a different way,” Otto said, snapping me from my thoughts.

I shook my head and pulled from the blunt. “Thought about it. Shit, I even thought about cutting his head off, shipping it to the O’Leary estate, and taking the whole bloodline down that same night. Ain’t gonna do shit though. Folks like Shamus gotta be embarrassed, outcast, then killed.”

Otto nodded. “You tell me what you’re thinking. But remember, he has Chief Logan in his back pocket.”

I laughed and extended the blunt. “Ain’t nobody worried about Logan. Not a lick of loyalty lives in BPD. I’ll go see that fool myself.”

Otto shook his head, accepting. “I know you will, but you don’t like him, so that ain’t even a conversation to be had.”

I laughed. He was right. I didn’t like Logan because he was a snake and I didn’t put snakes in my back pocket. Funny enough, Shamus was a snake, so that was why they got along so well. While I had the mayor, Shamus always had Logan. The way I saw it was that I could easily remove the chief and put a motherfucker I wanted in place, but Otto said that was an act of aggression. So that idea stayed a thought.

“I’m serious, Hon. We’ll figure out a way before it comes to the way you’re thinking.” He pulled from the blunt, leaned against the hood of my car.

“Aight. I hear you. Either way O’Leary is outta here.”

He nodded and extended the blunt back, but I shook my head. I rarely smoked, but in these moments, I needed something to ease my mental. “I know.”

“But on another note, how you doing? You good in there?” He knew what I meant when I said in there. I tried to check in with my brother as much as I could. He could always come to me with anything, because even if I didn’t get it, I’d find a way. I was my brother’s keeper in every lifetime.

“Yeah. I’m straight.”

I paused and looked at him, making sure he was for real. Otto would also downplay what he had going on because he didn’t want to become a burden to anyone. He wasn’t the type to put his business or problems on others. We clashed over that often because at the end of every fucking day he was my brother and his problems were my problems.

“I’m dead ass. I’m good besides yo’ mama and this grandchild talk. I don’t know how many times I can stress to her that I’m not on that.”

I laughed. “She’s gonna probably give you a break soon.”

“Why?” Confusion filled his features before a big smile that showcased the dimple on the right side of his cheek appeared. “Already, nigga?”

I nodded, rubbing my hands together.

“In the midst of all this going on, you procreating? You realized this is a new job for all of us, right? Now I gotta get a fucking car and babyproof the crib. The fuck? I’ma be uncle of the year and shit.”

I chuckled at the way he took the news, knowing he was serious. Though he didn’t want kids, he was good with them and they gravitated toward him.

His phone rang. He looked down at it, then back at me. He had a big, dumb ass grin on his face. “I’ma drop by the house tonight and bother you and sis. Right now though, one of my usuals is in town and I need that.”

I laughed. “Aight, fool. I’ll make sure Nic puts you something to the side.”

“Bet.”

We talked for a little bit longer, then I was on my way home. I hadn’t heard from Nic since earlier, but I half expected her to be sleep. When I left earlier, she was yawning while Amethyst talked a mile a minute, so I figured she’d be out soon. The vibration of my phone caught my attention. I glanced at the screen to see who it was. It was my mother, probably calling me because she couldn’t get in touch with Nic.

“Yeah, Ma.”

“That is not how you answer a phone. Especially not one I’m calling. You were taught better than that, Hondo,” she scolded, all in one breath.