JORDAN BAKER POV
My family has been in so much disarray ever since the big Latrelle reveal. Mom and dad have been at each other's throats nonstop because dad was sending money to Grace and he left mom out of the loop about it. Mom feels blindsided.
Mom's also mad because dad was in fact sending Grace her well earned money. Not always, but most of the time.
I don't know how dad is gonna salvage this one...
Then there's my twin sister Olivia. I'm her least favorite person in the world right now and I don't know how to fix it. I didn't want her to end up heartbroken, I just wanted the truth!
Maybe I am selfish, I don't know. But to make it up to Olivia, I'm not gonna give Latrelle a hard time anymore. He's my brother anyway, we can't be beefing. Dad won't allow that. Besides, I have someone else to worry about.
Khalil.
My family still doesn't know that Khalil and his friends put guns to my face at the party. They never will either because I can handle Khalil. And it looks like I have to handle him right now because him and his homies are approaching me.
"Oh look who it is, fellas. Bitch made Jordan," Khalil jeered.
I got in his face. "You sure you wanna call me that? Because I can change your thoughts about me real quick."
That elicited a snort from him. His homies laughed too. "Remind me what you said about being on your turf?" Khalil got in my face now. "Looks like you're on our turf now, and your little bitch ass friend ain't here to protect you."
"I don't need John. I can handle your ass on my own."
Khalil put his arms out to the side. "Then please, by all means, handle me Jordan."
So I gave him what he wished for. I punched him in the face and his homies looked shocked. They weren't expecting me to be so bold.
I told them that I'd change their thoughts about me real quick. No son of Billy Baker is bitch made.
Khalil was shocked too, so it took him a few seconds to start hitting me back. All of my rage is powering me so Khalil's punches aren't doing shit to me but making me stronger. His homies noticed too, so they interfered.
Darnell grabbed me and held me from behind, preventing me from moving. That gave Khalil the opportunity to pound on me relentlessly.
I grunted as I tried to escape Darnell's grasp, but nothing is working! He's not letting go of me for shit! He wants Khalil to win that bad?!
Well I'm not letting that happen so I jerked my head backwards, banging my head against Darnell's. That made him stumble backwards while holding his head. Then I focused on Khalil.
I pushed Khalil to the ground and pounded on him now. Malik and Elijah didn't dare interfere either. Ms. Kent did though.
Ms. Kent yanked me off of Khalil and I'm a little shocked. Damn, she's strong.
"What is going on here?! How many fights do I have to break up today?!"
Khalil's ears perked up. "Who else fought?"
"That doesn't matter, Khalil! Who threw the first punch?!"
All of them pointed at me and I'm fine with that because I don't regret it.
I raised my hand and spoke proudly. "I did."
"Alright then. Come with me. I'm sure your father will have some words for you."
I shrugged. "Let's go then."
Ms. Kent's shocked that I don't care. Why would I care? I was defending myself and I just proved that I'm not bitch made. Khalil is though because he had to get his homies to interfere in order to get his little hits in.
So Khalil's the real bitch made one, and I just proved that too.
BILLY BAKER POV
"Latrelle, what were you thinking son?!" I asked angrily as we entered my office.
Latrelle sat down with an attitude. "Oh now you wanna claim me as your son?"
"Don't do that. Your mother already explained-"
He interrupted me. "Which one? Grace? Laura? Or my real one that you won't tell me about?"
I caught an attitude with him. "First of all, Grace and Laura ARE your real mothers! Don't get it twisted! And I know that you're hurt, but we have other matters to discuss! Like you fighting Cesar!"
Latrelle shrugged. "He's had it coming for a while now."
Clearly he has no regrets so I exhaled deeply and said, "Look-"
But then the phone rung, interrupting me. I picked it up. "Hello?" I listened to what Ms. Kent's telling me and now I'm angry all over again. "Of course he did."
I slammed the phone down. "Give me a second, Latrelle." I got up and opened the door to see my middle child looking all roughed up. "Get your ass in here!"
I pushed Jordan into the room. "Fighting Khalil?! What the hell were you thinking?!"
Latrelle looks intrigued now.
"I was defending myself! He called me bitch made and ain't no son of Billy Baker bitch made!" Then Jordan noticed that Latrelle's present and he pointed at him. "Including you too, I guess."
"I sure ain't. I gave Cesar the business."
"And I gave Khalil the business," Jordan said as he sat next to his brother. They actually fist bumped, to my surprise.
It's time to discipline them. "The both of you don't need to be giving ANYBODY the business! You can't go around fighting just because your father works at this school! I'm tired of saving your asses! Especially you, Jordan."
"I had to defend myself!"
"And now you're back on Khalil's radar!"
"I was never off of it!"
"Yes you were! Your mother-"
"MOM DIDN'T HANDLE IT! Khalil and his homies pulled up to John's party and put guns in my face!" Jordan revealed.
Latrelle looks just as shocked as I am. "WHAT?!"
Jordan nodded. "They could've shot me. Then you would've had two sons in the hospital."
Thank god that didn't happen. I don't know if Jordan would've survived that. He's not built the same way as Latrelle, but he's not weak. No son of mine is bitch made and that's a fact.
"Okay, this family needs a serious intervention," I concluded. "But these are still school hours and you two need to get to class so I can't scold you like I want to. I will say this though—Latrelle, Laura and I are going to speed up the process and have you moved in by the weekend."
He disagreed. "Man, ain't no need for all that! I'm good at Monty Finnie's place!"
"You're moving in."
He rolled his eyes.
I spoke to Jordan. "Jordan, I'm taking away your car privileges."
"WHY?!"
"Because Khalil and them are still after you! We don't want them messing up your car again! We just got it repaired!" I explained.
"How am I gonna get to and from school then?!"
"You and Liv are just gonna have to ride with me. You'll also be riding with me when you move in, Latrelle."
"Whatever," Latrelle grumbled.
"Great. That's settled. Now get your asses to class and behave!"
They both stood up and left my office grumpily. I just leaned back in my chair with my hands on my head. Jesus, what am I gonna do? I now have to raise two teenage boys?
Latrelle and Jordan may have their problems, but they're more alike than they know. They're both a damn handful.
Moving Latrelle in is going to be a big step for this family. A risky one too because his shooter is still roaming the streets and the police don't even know who they're looking for. But I'm going to protect Latrelle like my life depends on it, like I should've did all those years ago. I'm going to protect all of my kids.
I just hope that they actually want protecting.