• • •

"Eli'll get him off." Christian told the guy on the phone, "Don't worry 'bout it."

I don't know how my dad came to that conclusion, but I waited til he ended the call to correct him, "That nigga going to jail. They caught him with the shit. How y'all expect me to fix that?"

"Come up with something." Marc voiced through a yawn, "Like you always do."

"Ain't no alway-"

"Eli." I turned to look back at my dad, "You're smart. You graduated college. You'll figure it out."

"Neither one of y'all went so I guess that's why you can't fucking comprehend that I just said he going to jail. Prison to be exact."

Marc stood up, "There he go bitching again. I already gotta listen to Lauren every day. I can't deal with two women."

My brother, Jamarcus was easily the least likable person in my life.

I didn't know if I should blame him for that, or my dad for allowing him to think that if he fucks up, somebody fixes it.

To their credit, I did find a way to solve all their problems, but it took time that I no longer had. I was already trying to be in as many places as possible, and instead of realizing that, they kept adding more shit to my plate.

These bitches trying to kill me.

Christian sighed and rested his chin on his hand, "Sit down. Elijah, ignore Marc. He's just stressed 'cause Lauren wants to leave again."

"Ian' thinkin' 'bout that shit. Where she gone go?" Marc asked with a laugh.

"Tell her I'll help her divorce his ass and take everything he own."

He looked at me with the same smile, "And I'll kill you just as fast as I kill her."

"Everytime!" My dad yelled angrily, "I can't even get you niggas to sit in the same room for more than an hour without fighting!"

He couldn't get us in the room for more than 10 minutes without fighting.

Marc and I had a very strained relationship largely due to the fact that he lost his biological mother during childbirth, and I still had mine. That was Christian's fault though, as he was the one who not only cheated on my mama, his wife at the time, but also got someone else pregnant.

In my eyes, she never treated us differently, but I guess he saw something that I didn't, and we fought nearly every day until we were teenagers.

I was still the best man at his wedding, though, and he was present at every important event I had.

Marc shook his head, "I can't listen to no 'posed to be man complaining all day. He almost 30 and his nuts still ain't dropped."

"My nuts ain't drop 'cause you let stupid ass people work for you?" I asked rhetorically, "Bitch you are 30, and still don't use half the brain you got."

"Elijah. Get Fredo out. Jamarcus will pay you. That's the end."

Christian signed my checks because I technically worked for him. At no point when I went to college did I expect to be the family lawyer, but how surprised could I really be when it was a family full of fucking criminals?

It worked because I was overpaid by a lot and knew I wouldn't make that money if I represented regular clients.

I sighed loudly, "Pick somebody to spend the next 15 years in jail."

"One of the young bulls. Jail make 'em tough." Marc replied, checking the notification that came down his screen.

"Well you go then. Weak ass nigga."

For some reason unknown to me, Christian's workers respected him and would put their life on the line to preserve his. It took little to no convincing to get them to agree to sit in a cell while whomever they loved was taken care of.

It was no reason for the District Attorney to waste taxpayer dollars by doing a trial when they could accept a scapegoat and hope that we fucked up on a larger scale.

They were appeased because they got at least one person, and we were happy because they didn't actually do shit.

After we agreed on a person, I went downstairs into the living room where my mama, Tracey, and Zion were looking at his phone.

"That muffin was hard today." My mom said when she noticed me.

"The girl who usually makes 'em was off. Tomorrow it'll be better."

She smiled happily and look at Zion, "How many 27-year-olds you know bring their mama a muffin every day?"

"Mama technically I bring it 'cause mans don't drive." Zi replied, "So how many 29 years olds I know bring their mama a muffin every day? Just me."

Neither of us would have to do it, but I don't think at any point in their marriage did Christian put her happiness before his.

"Be safe." She hugged me, "And see you tomorrow."

• • •

I looked up at Lauren entered the room, plopping in the seat in front of me, "I told him last night that his daughter hates him because he cheats. You know what he did? Went and cheated."

"You ain't even try to ease me into the conversation at all."

She laughed slightly, "I'm getting real sick of it, Eli. She doesn't actually hate him yet, but she's starting to notice things. I don't want her to feel like that's okay to get cheated on."

"If you still there what you expect her to think?"

Lauren didn't mind my bluntness because she appreciated honesty. Very ironic that she would go on to marry my lying ass brother.

My niece was 11 so she probably already knew what Marc was doing, however she chose to feel about him was up to her.

"I can... look past it." She murmured uncomfortably, "But I don't want her to feel about Marc how you feel Christian."

"You took that one lil psychology class online and now every chance you get, you try to tell me how I feel about Christian."

"You don't even call him dad. Marc said you called him by his name since y'all were kids."

I stopped reading my screen and looked at her, "I think that's some weird shit that y'all sit up and talk about me."

Most people didn't understand our family dynamic, and that was fine. It only bothered me when they tried to do what Lauren was doing now: dissecting a relationship that didn't exist.

"It was after y'all had that big argument on Christmas." She waved me off, "Now what do I do to get Milani to not hate her dad? What do you think Christian could've done differently."

"As long as he doesn't fuck the baby sitter y'all should be good."

Lauren opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, "We don't have a babysitter."

I shrugged, "Cool."

The look of confusion let me know that she couldn't tell if I was joking or not, and I didn't want to add to her paranoia by telling her that I wasn't.

• • •

a little insight into elijah.

thanks for reading 💕