"Now and Forever"
Nayeli
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Opening up my bible, I flipped open to the book of Ephesians to read one of the many verses I had bookmarked. I had said my morning prayer and always ended my prayer off with a verse for protection. We faced many evils in the world but staying covered by the Lords words helped to get through it.
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Taking a deep breath, I slowly stood to my feet from my kneeling position by the bed. I rubbed my legs where ached as I tried walking. I was healing well but the pain was very much existent. Today was the morning of Marcellus court date. At this point, we knew he would be doing time but depending on the judge.
He had managed to stay out of trouble so far and has kept quiet so hopefully that worked to his advantage.
Stepping out the bedroom, I pulled the door close behind me before entering the living room. As I entered, I watched Reese as he was attempting to fix Asia's hair. I leaned against the wall and shook my head at all the wrongs he was doing. I knew I had to step in when he tried to use the fine tooth comb to detangle her kinky hair.
Walking over, I took the comb from his hand and motioned for him to move.
"I'll fix her hair, then we'll drop her off with my sister and head to the courthouse" I laughed taking his spot on the couch.
Joie got out of school early today so she was going to watch Asia while we went to the court house. Marcellus didn't want her to see him like that so he didn't want me to bring her. She had been asking about him a lot and she was only able to talk to him when he called.
"Hurry up" he mumbled going on his phone. I rolled my eyes and quickly parted her hair into six sections. It didn't take long to detangle her hair, the spray bottle with water and conditioner made the process easier. After banding them up, I plat the ends and added hair clips.
"Okay we can leave now" I announced standing up. We made our way downstairs after Reese locked up. I buckled Asia up in her car seat and placed her bag in the back seat next to her.
"Uncle Reese said my hair is rough and hard" Asia said looking down. I frowned and turned to give Reese a look. Closing the car door, I turned and looked at him.
"What? I felt like I was fighting to comb that shit" he defended himself as if that made things okay.
"Look, you don't say stuff like that. You as an important male figure in her life, need to set the bar for how she needs to be treated and how she sees herself." I lectured. I didn't care if he was annoyed with what I was saying or not.
"Here you go, I didn't mean like that" he sucked his teeth.
"No one ever does and it's little stuff like that, that we remember and I'm not trying to be dramatic but can lead to self hate" I explained. At a young age, small things can quickly break your self confidence. Even people my age and older struggle daily to love themselves.
"Alright man" he breathed out. He opened the car door to the back and started talking to her. I smiled as they hugged and she kissed his cheek.
Soon we were headed to my parents place, I brought Asia to my sister and quickly left back out. I wanted us to get there quickly and be able to find parking.
"Your friend called you?" He asked glancing at me.
"No I haven't heard from her" I sighed.
"Tell me where that nigga stay at again" he said randomly after a moment of silence.
"Reese-" I groaned not wanting to deal with these right now.
"Nayeli I ain't ask you, I'm telling you to tell me where that bitch stay at" he said making me close my mouth. I was going to argue but decided against it. I told him the address and he smiled showing off his perfect teeth. He was smiling but I could tell the Peter situation had him heated.
"Asia needs you" I reminded him. The last thing he needed to do was get caught up in my mess and lose his chances of gaining custody of her.
"Never shit where you eat" he chuckled to himself.
"I don't want to believe Armani has anything to do with that shooting" I shook my head as we passed by the large buildings. Armani was someone that I would never question about loyalty. She always kept it real with me and our bond was like no other.
"When people on them drugs...loyalty and all that shit means nothing, it's like it rewires their brain" he replied. I didn't respond, I just closed my eyes and thought about the events that would soon be taking place.
We soon arrived the courthouse, after going through security we were led to room where Marcellus would be. After settling inside, Marcellus was brought in and his lawyer sat alongside him.
"Mr.Santos, what did I tell you before when you stood in front of me last time" the judge asked as she brought her glasses down and glanced at him. I sat next to Reese who looked like he didn't want to be in here at all.
"That you better not see me in your court room again" Marcellus recited.
"And yet here you are" she stated the obvious. She looked almost disappointed as she looked over some files. Everything went by entirely too slowly but my heart dropped when it came time for the sentencing.
"You squeezing the shit out of my hand" Reese said making me look down. I hadn't even realized that I grabbed his hand. I quickly let his hand out of my grasp and opted to just keep my hands on my lap. He took me by surprise when he slid his hand back over and intertwined our fingers.
The judge looked over some things, Marcellus said his piece and his lawyer said his. Soon she had come to a decision and asked for silence.
"I'm sentencing you to 18 months in jail. I hope you will take heed to my words when you get out and turn your life around Mr.Santos" The judge announced. Reese had let go of my hand and ran his hands down his face. I didn't even listen to the remainder of what was being said. I know he wasn't getting as much time that she could've given him but I just felt bad for Asia.
I gave Marcellus a weak smile as they walked in out of the courtroom.
Soon Reese and I were back in the car headed back to his place. Everything was a lot to process right now and I couldn't stop my mind from racing.
My thoughts went back to the night of the shooting. It seemed like everything had a way of falling off track in my life, no matter how hard I tried to keep it in line. I knew God had a plan for me but it was becoming hard to believe that.
I hadn't even realized Reese had arrived at his apartment until the slamming of the driver side door shook me out of my thoughts. I gathered my things and got out of the car. Trailing slowly behind him, we made our way into the elevator.
"You hungry?" He asked as we got off. I shook my head no and waited until he unlocked the apartment door. Stepping inside I made my way to the room that I stayed in.
"You good?" Reese popped in looking at me funny. I know he usually didn't do things like this so it made me smile a bit.
"No I'm not" I replied being honest. There was no reason to lie at this point.
"Don't worry about Marcellus. He did his wrongs and this is what he gets for it. Sucks for my niece but hopefully he learn his lesson this time. His baby mama is crazy and does the most but he drove her crazy"
"It's not even about Marcellus, it's about everything" I huffed laying back.
"Talk to me" he said laying back next to me on the bed.
"You don't have to-"
"I know what I don't have to do, I said talk to me" he cut me off.
"It's school, my family, just life in general" I began vaguely.
"Alright so what's up with school?" He pressed.
"I had to withdraw from my class because of the shooting. I was so close to being done and my professors weren't willing to cut me any slack." I explained the frustrating situation.
"Okay so just register for the classes again. Shit is annoying but you gonna keep complaining or you gonna get it done" he looked at me. I nodded my head knowing her was right. I wanted my degree and I wasn't going to let anything stop me but this bump in the road shook me up.
"I'ma get it done" I mumbled.
"Better say that shit like you mean it, what else" he pressed.
"Oh where do start?" I chuckled humorlessly.
"You tell me"
I took a deep breath before letting all the things I was worried about fell from my lips.
"My best friend is becoming a drug addict that probably had something to do with the shooting. My brother is getting into things that can end his life."
"Your brother gonna make his own decisions, I know you his big sis and shit but-"
"I don't wanna bury my brother, I can't handle that, my mom couldn't handle that" I shook my head trying to rid my mind of the thought of that.
"He's deep in this shit, crossed the wrong people. Only way to get away from it would be to leave Minnesota"
"He's not going to do that" I said knowing exactly how Joel was. He was that "no human can strike fear in my heart" kind of person.
Sometimes removing yourself from a situation didn't make you weak, it actually made you stronger and wiser. It can be harder to walk away rather than stay. I wish he would learn this but he was adamant on being hard headed.
"Your parents know about this?" He questioned.
"No, I feel like they have an idea of what he could be doing but they have no proof." I shrugged.
"If something happens to him, you gonna regret not doing anything about it"
"My parents are already stressing about so much and my dads trying to get better" I breathed out not knowing what to do anymore. There was a problem in every aspect of my life and I was just tired of dealing with it all. I know I didn't have the worst life and I was grateful but things were still hard to deal with.
"They signed up for this parent shit, they'll learn how to manage it"
"My dad might not live long enough to even see me get married or do something he could be proud of" I said speaking what came to my mind next. The thought saddened me but it was my reality.
"Damn" was all he managed to say.
"Yeah I know" I closed my eyes hoping I didn't start crying.
"What's wrong with him?" Reese asked slapping my hands off my face. "Better not start that crying shit" he joked.
"He had or has brain cancer basically and they removed the tumor but they can't get it all. The tumor spread to areas that are inoperable. By removing the part they can and keeping him on these meds, he'll live longer"
"It's crazy that they have meds for that but not a cure. That's some straight bullshit, I know they got a cure somewhere"
"Yeah and the treatments and meds make him so weak sometimes, I know he's tired of going through all of that just to live but he wants to be here with us for however he can be" I smiled thinking about how strong he was for going through what he does.
"Damn I didn't know you was going through shit like this. I see why you act the way you do" he suddenly spoke.
"You always find ways to try and insult me" I shook my head and moved to get off the bed but he grabbed my thigh.
"Nah I ain't mean it in a bad way. I just see why you so-I don't know. You a hard worker and you don't put up with no shit. A lot of these females out here got they priorities fucked up but you got your head on straight" he said making me smile.
"That was probably the nicest thing you've said to me so far" I laughed. It wasn't much but it was enough to make me smile.
"Shut up with that soft shit" he mumbled.
"Oh and the icing on the cake, my car that I saved up all my money for is ruined" I laughed just loving how life had a cruel sense of humor.
"You have a car" he smirked.
"No I don't, the car was totaled and taken away" I reminded him.
"So you still don't want your jeep?" He asked.
"You kept it?" I asked.
"It's yours, I wasn't taking that shit back"
"Thank you so much" I hugged him tightly. I didn't put up a fight with him about the car because honestly I needed it. I leaned back and allowed some space between us.
"No kiss like last time?" He asked with that dumb look playing on his face. I don't know what made me do it but I leaned over and I kissed him.
He didn't hesitate to kiss back as he laid me down on the bed and hovered over me. The fact that I hadn't had sex in a long time made my skin sensitive to his touch. His lips left mine but never left my skin.
A moan escaped my lips as his hands roamed my body. I went still for a moment as his hands slid up my dress and he began to pull my panties down. He seemed to be waiting for my okay before he continued.
This moment felt so wrong but still felt so right.
"Why you stopped?" I breathed out pulling his lips back to mine.
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unedited
Nayeli in the MM
Happy New Year✨🎊
Starting the new year off right with an update, hopefully I'll be able to update more.
How was this chapter? What are y'all thoughts?
The Bible verse in the chapter was Ephesians 6:10-13 KJV
naya ♥️