Blindsided

Chapter 42: Back Home

~B~

The boys took a moment to do some bonding of our own in the spacious backyard. Since I was pretty much a part of the family, they treated me as such. We drank beers and rotated a few blunts while they chastised me for the break Kali and I took. I let them get their overprotective brother speeches out the way respectfully, then we chopped it up as men before Lem gave me fatherly advice to prepare for London.

That eventually transitioned to the conversation of protecting Kali from the media and in possibly dangerous situations, and the topic of guns surfaced. I found myself down the rabbit hole of teaching gun etiquette while they looked on impressed.

"Well damn, what kind of work do you do where you need all these?" Lem questioned while viewing the assortment of handguns on the outdoor patio table in awe.

I laughed and sat the Glock I was holding on the table so Cleve could pick it up. "Yea, what the hell are you a secret agent assassin or a Kingpin?" Cleve added and I chuckled without looking them in the eye. They weren't ready for that conversation, in fact nobody was. That piece of who I was and what I was capable of would stay between me and Kali. They wouldn't know what to do with themselves if they found out their sweet little sister was just as nice with a weapon as I was, and that she had a few bodies under her belt.

"Imma always keep it tucked. Y'all seem to forget that I'm from the Bay. Nobody will catch me slippin, especially now that I got a daughter on the way. Maybe next time I can rent a spot at the outdoor range and give y'all some pointers." I suggested and they both looked at each other.

"I'm wit it." Lem shrugged.

"Hell, I'm down." Cleve added as he pointed the weapon like a Charlie's Angel just as Kali's dad emerged from the sliding door, appearing as though he was on a mission. That mission seemed to be me as he b-lined my way.

Dre shook his head just as a tired parent would, and it was even more funny because all of his children were grown and they still made him do it. "Son, give B the gun before you kill everybody!"

"Pop, I got this!" He waved it without paying attention to where he was pointing it, and both Lem and I ducked instinctively."

"Aight, gimme this fam, it's loaded." I intervened before Dre pushed Lem aside to get to me.

"Y'all boys give me and B a moment please." He ordered as he stuck his hand in the pockets of his cuffed jean overalls that gave the illusion that he was flooding. He pulled the hood of his hoodie down and smirked at me, and I can't lie, it made me nervous.

"What you bout to do, grill em?" Lem chuckled while nudging his dad.

"Imma grill you if you keep on." Dre insisted before Lem and Cleve took off. I smiled awkwardly as he pulled me to the side and asked me to walk with him around the perimeter of the house while everyone was occupied. We started walking in a comfortable quiet, appearing as though he was preparing to say something that wasn't necessarily easy. As our own relationship seemed to grow in twenty-four hours, I playfully hurried him along.

"Let's go old man, we ain't got all day!" I joked while slapping his back.

He laughed and stopped soon after before he continued to gather himself. "I just wanted to have a little talk with you about Kali and my granddaughter."

"Yea, Wassup?" I stood straight and folded my arms.

"I just wanna know if y'all are done playing games? That you guys will stand strong for each other and London, no matter what is thrown your way."

"Yea man, I'm not goin nowhere. With her is where I'm supposed to be. She's home."

"That's good to hear you talk about her like that. It's how I talked about Nita to her father before I asked for her hand in marriage. You plan on marrying Kali?" He glanced from the corner of his eye and I chuckled with a nod.