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They both were leaning on the front of a blacked out suburban truck. Jey's father wasn't looking my way, he was looking into the restaurant. I see the bald headed guy hit his father on his shoulder getting his attention, then he points in my direction. His father nods and looks away while the other guy starts walking towards Jey's car.

Oh shit!

Is he coming over here? He can't be. I continue to watch as he gets closer to the car and I start to panic. He can't even see me. I know he can't. Without taking my eyes off of the man, I start digging through my purse for my phone.

He answers but I don't even wait for him to say anything.

"JON!" I yell into the phone.

"What's wrong?"

"I'mattheblackbeardineandthesemencameinonpunchedJeyandtheresanotherwalkingtowardsme." I say, panicking, my words running together. "Yousaidtocallyouif—."

"Wait! Slow down." He says. "I can't understand anything you're saying."

"JON! Jey is in trouble!" I managed to get out before the guy stopped at the passenger side. I froze in horror.

"What do you mean he's in trouble? Where are you?"

"I can't talk." I whisper

"Huh? Where are you?"

"Jon, 5 men are here." I whisper, not taking my eyes off of the man. He looked at the car for a second, then walked towards the back of it. He can't see me. Thank god!

"We're at Black Bear diner, on Newport. 3 men walked in and attacked Jey. A fourth one is standing next to his car. I'm in here but I don't think he can see me."

"He can't see in the car, he has double sided tints, now if he walks to the front of it....." Jon starts but stops. I knew what he was about to say, but I guess he thought that'll freak me out more. "Tell me what they look like."

"Seriously?" Now the man is standing on the driver's side of the car.

"Quickly!" He yells

I glance into the restaurant and I see the guy hit Jey again. He hit Jey so hard it knocked his bun loose. I close my eyes to avoid the image.

"Jon, they're attacking him. I have to do something." I say

"Listen to me, Hazel. This is important. What does the man standing next to the car look like?"

"He's big, with big muscles, tall, has a bald head, he's very tanned. Looks like he's black." I say quietly. "Help him." I say feeling myself starting to break down. "Jon! Please come!"

"Fuck!" He yells. "I know who that is. Hazel, he will hurt you. Do not open that door for anything."

"I'm not. I think your dad is here too."

"Shit! He's there...they said they weren't going to fucking do anything. They lied to me." He says. "Aight. You have his keys right?"

"Yeah." I answer

"Go home and wait for my call. I'm on my way." He says

"What? I'm not leaving him. Are you crazy?"

"Trust me. He would want me to get you out of there. I'm only a few minutes away. I'm turning around now." He says

"Jon, what's happening?" I ask. I'm scared to move. I feel like he's going to see me in and rip the door off. That is how terrifying this man is.

"Hazel, just go home. Please."

"Wait!" The bald guy comes back on my side of the car then he pulls a gadget looking thing out of his pocket. He gets down on his knees. "He's putting some black thing under the car." I say to Jon.

"He's putting a tracker on his car. Jey removed it a few weeks ago." He says. "As soon as you can, wait until he moves away from the car, then leave."

"I'm not leaving him."

"I know my brother and he wouldn't want you there. Just leave and I promise I'll bring him back to you in one piece."

"It just doesn't feel right leaving him..."

"I'm pulling up now...I'll bring him to you." He says

I see Jon pull into the parking lot and parks right next to me. He jumps out of the car, gaining the attention of the bald man.

"What's up?" Jon says, closing his car door.

"What do you mean, what's up?" The bald headed guy says. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

"Y'all said y'all weren't going to do anything."

"We changed our minds." The man says with a shrug. "Come with me." He walks away but instead of going back to the blacked suburban where they were, he's walking towards the restaurant.

Jon hurries over to the car and opens my door. It was only a crack. "When we go in I want you to drive off. Do not stay to watch anything."

I nod my head. "Okay."

He closes the door as quietly as he could then walks towards the restaurant as well. I quickly jump in the driver seat, ready to start the car. I looked to see if their dad was still standing outside of the truck and he's not there anymore. I didn't see him going to the restaurant so he may be sitting in the truck. That could be a problem for me but I'm gonna do what Jon told me to do.

I looked inside the restaurant one more time just to see if Jey was okay. I didn't see him. All of the guys were looking down so I'm assuming he was on the ground. I see Jon go into the restaurant quickly as the baldheaded guy was walking slowly behind him. Jon was arguing with the bigger man bun guy. Then it looks like Jon was maybe trying to help Jey up. I couldn't really see. The baldheaded guy said something to the bigger guy with the man bun, then he motioned for them to do something. I see them bend down and lift Jey but he doesn't move. They were holding his upper half of his body and dragging him towards the entrance, while they all were walking out.

Both of my hands cover my mouth as I am shocked to see what's going on but I'm so worried about him. Is he okay? He's not fucking moving and they're just dragging him like he's a bag of garbage.

As all five of the guys walk out, I see Jon look at me with a look that I only could take as him telling me to leave. I was supposed to leave when he went into the restaurant. I did exactly what he told me not to do. I waited until they got a little bit further away from the car, then I started it and quickly pulled out of the parking lot.

As I'm driving back to our building, I realize there's a tracker on the car. Jon knows it's one here too, but I don't know if I should go back to our apartment. I'm scared because I didn't know if they saw me pull out or not but then I think about what Jon told me. He told me to go home and he knew that they put the tracker on the car so if you wanted me to go elsewhere, he would've said it.

After a few minutes, I arrived at our building. I park in the garage in the usual spot, and I hurry into the building. I felt like I was being followed. I put the key into the elevator and I took it all the way up to our apartment. As soon as I step foot off the elevator, I fall onto the floor of our foyer, and take a deep breath. I felt relieved.

I laid on the floor for at least 20 minutes trying to wrap my mind around what just happened. I have so many questions about the situation and I was so confused. Jon said in our conversation that they told him they weren't gonna do anything, that leaves me to believe that Jey might've done something. It seems like they didn't tell Jon because they knew he would try to rescue his brother. But what did he do? Who were those people? These people obviously don't care about shit if they could clear out a restaurant just to whoop somebody's ass. Obviously they're dangerous because I remember Jon telling me that if I open the door that man would hurt me. What the fuck is Jey into and does this affect me?

****

Hours had passed. I tried to keep myself busy and clean up the apartment, but there wasn't much to clean as Jey and I are very clean people. I took a long shower and washed my hair, trying to keep my mind off of Jey but that didn't work. I've texted and called Jon multiple times, no answer. I definitely texted and called Jey more and he didn't answer either. I was scared of the outcome of this situation. I don't know what was going on. It was almost 4 AM and I was exhausted from being up for so long, but I couldn't go to sleep not knowing where Jey was or if he was okay. The images of what went on haunted me and I was a mess. The only thing I could do was hope Jon stayed true to his promise and brought him back to me.

I grabbed a blanket and went out into the living room. I made myself comfortable on the sofa. I held my phone in my hand so if he called I wouldn't miss it, or if he comes in I'll hear the elevator and I'll be right here waiting for him.

I woke up to a man's voice, scaring the shit out of me. It wasn't Jey's. It took a minute for me to realize who it was. I was asleep and I didn't even know it.

"Told you I'd bring him back to you." I heard a voice say from behind me. I turned around to see Jon walking in with Jey following behind him.

I shot up and ran over to Jey. We made eye contact for literally a second before I threw myself into his arms. He tensed up as I hugged him.

"Easy." He says. I guess I was hugging him too tight but I didn't care at the moment. I was happy he was here.

He buried his face into my neck and I hugged him so tight. I felt his thumbs caressing my back as he hugged me. I don't know why but I really felt like I wasn't going to see him again. That scared me. I was so worried about him. It really gets to me that I couldn't do anything. I had to just sit there and watch what they did to him.

"Damn, eyes closed and everything?" Jon teases his brother but Jey didn't say anything, he continued hugging me. I felt my emotions begin to take over, I tried to swallow them but I couldn't hold them in any longer. My eyes started to tear up and I felt his arms get tighter around my torso.

"I'm here, baby." Jey says

"I couldn't do anything." I managed to get out before the flood gates opened.

"I'm okay, baby." He said pulling away, so he could see my face. "You did the right thing." He holds my face. "I don't ever want you to get in the middle of something like that."

"I felt helpless."

"I know but calling Jon is exactly what you were supposed to do. I'm fine, baby." He tries to comfort me. He wipes my tears with his thumbs, then he hugs me again.

"Who were those people?" I ask

"My family." He pulls away and walks towards the living room.

"Your family? What?" I repeat in disbelief, following close behind. I couldn't believe my ears. His family did this to him? His father? What? This can't be true.

"I told you we weren't the average family."

"I'm so sorry, baby." I hug him then he slowly sits down on the sofa. You could tell he was in so much pain.

"The three guys that came in the restaurant were our cousins, Lance, Jacob and Joe." Jon says. "And the bald guy was another cousin, Dwayne. Him and my dad don't really get their hands dirty. They're pretty much running the business."

"I just can't believe your dad was part of this." I say

"He's the one that had Joe put his hands on me." Jey says. "That motherfucker wanna run the business so bad, he'll do anything they say." Jey says and Jon just shakes his head.

"This is crazy. I say trying to process. "This is the type of shit you guys have to deal with? Why can't you just say you don't want any part of the company?"

"It's our business, we have to." Jon says

"But what if you don't want to?"

"I don't wanna be a part of this. I let it be known. They know. But I'm forced to stay. If not, shit like tonight happens. That's why they're always on my ass."

"Yeah." Jon chimes in. "I try to tell him to just be cool and do what's asked but he causes problems. And I get it. Ion wanna do this either, not like this. The difference between me and him is I just do it, he doesn't." Jon explains.

"The life we have is because of this business. If they let us out we would have to start over. Find a way to make our own money with no help." Jey explains

"And they won't make it easy on us." Jon says

"I'm sorry you guys have to go through that. That's awful."

Jey pats the empty seat next to him, telling me to sit down. "You need to relax. You've been up all this time?"

"I was worried." I take a seat next to him. I swing my legs over his lap and I wrap my arms around his neck. Jey places his hand on my thigh and begins rubbing it.

"I'm here now." He says. "You did the right thing by calling my brother. That's exactly what I needed you to do." Jey says

"Yeah, you did good." Jon says. "Anytime something happens and he ain't around or available just call me."

"So why did this happen?" I ask

"I removed a tracker from my car a few weeks ago." Jey says.

"All of this over a tracker?"

They both nod their heads.

"That's going against authority. And we're taught not to go against the family." Jon says.

"This is a lot." I say.

"Yeah.... Baby, do me a favor and give us a minute." Jey asks

I look over at Jon and he's looking directly at me. He just smiles.

"Um, yeah... can go in the other room." I don't know why but I felt a way about him dismissing me from the living room. He just got back and I was worried about him. I just wanted to cuddle up next to him.

"Just give us a few minutes." Jey says

I stand up with my blanket and walk out of the living room. I was going into the bedroom, around the corner, but instead of minding my business, I stood in the doorway to listen. I know I shouldn't but why would he dismiss me like that. Plus I never know what's going on with him, like in his head. Maybe doing this could give me some insight.

"We should've discussed this through before we got here because I don't want her involved with this in any way." Jey says

"Nah, we need to keep her in the dark as long as possible." Jon agrees. "....and my dumbass spilling names and shit." He laughs at himself.

"I already told her what I do for our company."

"Everything?"

"Mostly. I couldn't lie to her anymore after I told her I was married. That hurt her and I'm not willing to see that look on her face again." Jey explains. "It's all good. I don't think she's gonna say anything, but I just want to leave her out of this. I want to protect her."

"You should." Jon says. "We'll be selective with the info from now on. I think they know something is up." Jon says

"With T?" Jey asks

"Nah, the business."

"Oh...Anyway, before we get into that, stop looking at my girl like that. I see it in your eyes. You wanna fuck her."

Jon laughs. "You need to let me borrow her for a couple hours, or let me get in on the action."

My mouth hit the floor. Is Jon serious? I know he didn't just ask his brother that.

"She ain't gonna be with that." Jey says. "Get that threesome out of your head right now."

"Aight, one on one then." Jon tries to negotiate.

"No." Jey laughs. "Ever since we been back in contact, we been fucking without protection."

"Come on, I'll use a condom."

"Nah... that's all mine." Jey says.

Damn, that's how they get down? That's crazy he asked to "borrow" me. The way he asked is like they've done this before. Probably have.

"You like her, huh?" Jon says

"Yeah. She ain't like T." He says. "She genuinely cares about me. I couldn't ever say the same for T. Did you see her reaction when I walked in here? She ain't playing about me and I ain't fucking it up letting you hit."

"Aight. Just putting it out there."

"Put that shit away." They both laugh.

"Is it good?" Jon asks and they both laugh.

"Man....its like a waterfall. Every night I'm in it. Killing it. She can't get enough. And she's down for whatever I wanna do. I ain't giving that up." Jey laughs. "I'm not even going to lie to you. I don't think she even wants anyone else. I'm telling you, she ain't giving that up."

"Man, whatever." Jon says

"Don't be jealous, my baby got some good pussy and you can't have it." Jey laughs.

"I haven't ever seen you like this before. I like it. It's like you have a purpose."

"Yeah, to come home to her." Jey says. "Man all I wanna do is be up under her, kissing her, hugging her, all that. Simp shit. But she makes me happy and that's all I want."

Hearing him say that melted my heart. He really loves me. It's not an act. Our feelings are mutual and I love that I finally have some type of clarity on that.

"I'm happy you found someone that makes you feel that way. It's about damn time."

"Me and T been over, we just gotta make it official." Jey says. "Anyway, about the business, what do they know?" Jey asks

"I don't know, they won't tell me. But like I told you earlier, they were pissed off about the tracker. You moving it made them think you were doing outside dealings. I told them you weren't but of course they don't believe me. You're my twin. They know ima cover for you. They're starting not to take my word and I don't know how much longer me protecting you is going to work. They told me they weren't going to do anything and then this happened. You can't touch that thing anymore."

"Ima leave it there and my car is gonna sit right in the garage. I'm not gonna touch it."

"I don't think that's a good idea because then they're gonna think you have something to hide. Just go on as normal. They don't know that you know it's back on in the car, they didn't see Hazel.  Just don't do no crazy shit." Jon says.

"I'm not doing anything to begin with. just because I don't want shit to do with the business they think that I'm doing something. I just don't want them to follow me. What if they run up on me again and I can't get her out of there in time? What if they see her? That's gonna start a whole other issue that I'm trying to avoid. I haven't even brought up any of this shit. They already think I'm dealing with outsiders, so me bringing that is just gonna cause more problems and I don't want that. Hazel gave me three months to make this shit happen and I'm already a month in. I don't know how I'm gonna do this."

Dang, maybe Jey really is trying to make this happen. I see he's under a lot of stress and I don't wanna seem selfish but I have to look out for myself. I feel bad for him but I don't want to continue seeing someone who is married so I understand there's a lot going on right now for him, but I need him to make it happen.

"I get it. It's a lot." Jon says. "I don't know what I would do if I was in your shoes but you still gotta be smart about this. I don't think it's gonna be settled in two months.....On top of that...." Jon pauses and I hear him sigh. "I think T knows about Hazel. She asked me where you were staying and was complaining that you haven't been around as much."

"What does it have to do with Hazel?"

"She asked if you were seeing anyone."

Oh shit!

"What did you say?" Jey asks

"I told her I didn't know." 

"See that's some shit that I'm not gonna do with her. She asked me and I told her that I had met somebody. This was when I first got back here, after Hazel and I were in Chicago. She said she felt things were different, which they were. I didn't wanna go back to her house. That's why I started staying in a hotel. I was so fucked up that I did that to Hazel. She asked me then, and I told her I met someone. I told her I understood that we were cool, but I wasn't gonna tell her any information when he came to that because I didn't want her to come back and use it against me. With her asking you questions about it I feel like that's what she's trying to do. We've been so cordial throughout this whole situation. I don't want to start having issues now."

I could hear it in Jey's voice that he was upset.

"When you gonna slap her with them papers?"

"Soon." Jey says.

Well, at least he's not lying about it. He's telling his brother the same thing. Hopefully, he sticks to the plan and get this over with.

There was a silence that fell over the room for a few seconds.

"Ummm...well dawg, I'mma be honest with you. I think she wants to work things out." Jon says

"I'm not working shit out with her. We both have been unhappy for years and now all of a sudden because she thinks someone is in the picture she wants to work it out? Get the fuck out of here with that bullshit. We BOTH wanted this separation. Fuck that!" Jey said, pissed off. "And I'm not gonna have this conversation with Hazel in the other room. It's disrespectful."

"Since yall so comfortable with each other. Why don't you have it with her sitting next to you. She needs to know what's going on with that too. You want to keep things open and honest with her, bring her in." Jon says

"BABY!" I hear Jey yell. Now I have to act like I wasn't listening the whole time. I knew I shouldn't have been eavesdropping.

I wait a couple of seconds, and then I walk out of the bedroom. "Yeah?"

"Sit down." Jey says

"What's up?" I ask

"So I'm sitting here talking to Jon and he just told me something and I think you should be a part of the conversation."

"Okay?"

Jon speaks up. "What would you say if his wife told him she wanted to work things out with him?"

I don't know why, but hearing that question felt completely different from when I just heard it standing on the other side of the wall. It made me feel like it was an actual possibility that they could get back together, even though Josh just said that wouldn't happen.

I look at Jey and he looks at me. "You're gonna get back with your wife?"

"No, no, baby. I don't wanna do that. I want you." He says reaching for my hand.

"If I'm gonna lose you, tell me now so I can go. I don't want this to come up later down the road and I get hurt because you weren't man enough to tell me what it was."

"No baby. I would never do that." He says

"Then you need to give her the papers...and I need you to do it, like, today."

"You have my word. I'm going to do it but it's not gonna be today. You don't ever have to worry about us getting back together. I put that on my life." he tries to reassure me.

"Okay." I say. That kinda got to me. What if she decides to have this conversation with him next time he's over her house with the kids. Oh my gosh, she could be using the kids to get what she wants, and off that's the case I don't stand a chance.

"Well, we all gotta get some sleep, so I'll check on y'all later I'm gonna head home." Jon stands up.

"Take care of him." Jon says to me.

"I will." He gives me a hug, then leaves.

Jey looks at me after the elevator door is closed.

"What?"

"I promise you don't have to worry about anything. I'm not gonna go back on anything I said to you. I told you that night in my car that it was me and you from now on and I mean that." Jey says

"I believe everything you're telling me I just feel like I'm stupid for believing it." I say

"We can be stupid together then." He flashes a weak smile.

"Come on. Let me look at your ribs." I stood up and then I helped him up. He slowly stands to his feet. I can tell he's in so much pain right now. I hate to see it.

He follows me into the bedroom. He takes off his shoes, pants and socks, then he pulls his shirt off slowly, and most of his midsection is red.

I touch his ribs on the left and he flinches at my touch.

"Ouch!" He draws back from me.

"I'm sorry, babe." I say and touch it again. "I know it hurts but I have to touch it to see if anything is broken."

"I'm sure a few ribs are broken." He says.

"It's tender so it's definitely going to bruise. I'll go to the store and get some meds."

"You don't have to do that babe. I'm fine." He says

"I don't want you in pain. I want you to go to the hospital but I know you're going to refuse." I say

"That's sweet that you care about that but I don't need to go." He says

"Exactly. You're gonna need to ice them to keep the swelling down. I'm going to get you some pain medicine so you don't start whining like a bitch later."

We both laugh.

"I've been through worse." He says

"For some reason I believe that. And I wasn't around then, but Ima take care of you. Now lay down and relax." I say

He smiles and walks over to the bed. "Yes ma'am."

I help him in bed and pull the blanket over him.

"I'll be back as quickly as I can." I say tucking him in.

He smiles. "I kinda like you taking care of me. I could get used to this."

"If you do what you're supposed to do, I'll be all yours and I can."

"I will. I promise." He says. "I don't want you with anyone else. You're already mine." He say

"Oh! About your car..." I start but he cuts me off.

"Take the Cullinan. There's no tracker on that. They don't even know I have it." He says. "We have to get you a car so you don't have to worry about shit like this. I'm sorry about all of this."

"Don't be sorry. And I have a car."

"In Atlanta, and you said you were going to sell it."

I laugh. "Oh yeah...well we'll figure it out. I can start looking later."

"Don't worry about it. I'll call my private dealer and you guys can discuss it later."

"You have a private dealer?" I'm amazed. Do you know how much money you have to have to have a private car dealer? All he has to do is make a call, tell them what he wants and they bring the car to them.

"Yeah." He looks at me like I should've already known this. "Whatever you want, I can get."

"That's not important right now. I'll be back." I kiss him on the lips then I leave to go to the nearest 24 hour drugstore.

*

To be continued...

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