Mid sat in the passengers seat, his hand clutching around his gun. Bambi glanced over at her brother, eyeing him closely. He hadn't said one word since she received the phone call from earlier in regards to Jaden. She was upset just as much as he was, especially hearing that he was being called 'gay' while he was being beaten. It brought back those painful memories of being beaten for same reason, it ignited that fire in her again.
Not only that, but the fact his mother did nothing to help save or protect him, when he stepped in and took the beating for her when she was being slapped around.
She never tried to judge anyone based on their lifestyle, but when it involved a child being harmed in the process, it was something she wouldn't stand for.
"Tedric?" Bambi called out to him, he kept his focus on Jaden's house, waiting for his stepfather to come stumbling out of the house eventually. They could still hear the loud arguing coming from inside of the house. Mid was surprised that no one in the neighborhood had called the police yet.
But then again, when it came to domestic abuse, the people in the community turned a blind eye to it—despite how many black eyes, and bruises shown up.
"I know you're on ten right now, and you have every reason to be but, please don't shut me out." Bambi pleaded, still staring at him. Mid deeply sighed, and loosened his grip on his gun.
"He's just a kid Masiyah. I know whooping your child for little nothings somehow became normalized within the black community, but, beating a child until he's bloody in the face? How many more times have that happened to him, and I didn't even know about it? Or how many times have he went to school with bruises and no one interfered?" Mid finally spoke, not breaking his gaze from the house.
"I'm just glad he's safe now," Bambi said. "He'll be safe after this too Tedric, as long as he has you."
"Yeah but he belongs with his family, you know I can't keep him there and as much as I wanna have custody of him, I can't risk his life. I live a dangerous lifestyle, I can't put his life in jeopardy." he further explained.
"I know, we'll figure something out."
She watched as Mid perked up a little, squinting his eyes. Bambi followed his gaze, and saw that Jaden's stepfather, Clinton, finally came stumbling out of the house. He slammed the door behind him, and made his way towards his car. Mid and Bambi exchanged looks, Bambi nodding her head, indicating she was ready. Mid got out of the car and swiftly made his way towards Jaden's stepfather's car and got in as soon as the doors unlocked.
Before he could react, Mid pointed the gun at his head. "Drive," Mid instructed him. He said nothing, and did as what he was told. Mid could smell the heavy booze on him, causing flashbacks of his foster father.
The many nights he would sneak into Mid's room, and whisper in his ear, his breath reeking of alcohol. Just the thought of it, was making him sick to his stomach.
Clinton began to drive as Mid gave him directions to a discreet location; Bambi following behind from a safe distance. She was there for backup in case something went wrong.
Mid had him drive far out into the woods. Mid only wanted to teach him a lesson. As far as he was concerned, he was the one that was taking care of Jaden, and the last thing he wouldn't stand for was someone putting their hands on him.
Even if that meant removing the very hands that touched him.
The car finally came to a complete stop, Mid instructed him to get out as Bambi pulled in behind them. He kept his hands raised as Mid continued to point his gun.
He gestured the gun in front of him, leaning onto the side of the car. He deeply sighed as Clinton stood in front of him, the expression of fear on his face. "I was having a great fuckin' night so far, and then of course niggas just had to fuck it up for me." Mid started to say, redirecting his attention from his gun to Clinton.
"All you had to do was keep yo' fuckin' hands to yo' self and we wouldn't even be out here right now. He ain't none but a kid, what the fuck you doin' beatin' on him like a grown man for?" Mid continued, passing his gun over to Bambi. Bambi stared at it in confusion, but proceeded to grab it from him anyway. "I ain' come out hea' to kill you, we simply gone scrap. I want you to keep that same energy you had towards a little kid."
Mid pushed himself off of the car, and circled around him. He got into Clinton's face, and pushed him back. He tried to throw a punch Mid's way but unfortunately he weaved it and pushed him again. Clinton stumbled back, and began to charge towards Mid.
Mid went for his legs, tackling him to the ground, beginning to throw blow after blow to his face. Mid felt the anger in him arising, despite him being mellow a couple of minutes ago.
The anger he had built up inside of him, was being released with each punch he threw. Bambi watched the forceful punches Mid threw in horror. Though he said he didn't bring Clinton out in the woods to kill him, it seemed like he was going to with his bare hands.
"Tedric that's enough!" Bambi yelled, knowing if she let Mid continue, he would beat him to a pulp. She rushed over and pulled him off, Mid sent one last kick to his face before backing off for good.
"Put yo' hands on him again, and on me, I'ma send yo' head to yo' mama front door." Mid warned him. He grabbed his gun from Bambi, and made his way to Clinton's car, making sure to grab his keys out of the ignition. "While you at it, walk yo' ass to safety like Jaden had to."
Mid quietly made his way up the stairs, not wanting to wake Lotus or Jaden if they were asleep. He pushed the ajar door open a little wider, and seen that Jaden was fast asleep in Lotus's lap as she caressed the top of his head.
She was still wide awake, watching the TV with the volume on low. Her eyes darted from the TV to Mid once she noticed his presence in the room. Mid sat his keys down on the dresser, and walked around the bed to where Lotus and Jaden were.
He tapped Jaden a few times to wake him up, and helped him to the guest bedroom down the hall. He returned back to the room and shut the door behind him.
He pulled his shirt from over his head, and sat down on the end of the bed. He sat deep in his thoughts, reflecting back on the events that took tonight. Mid wanted nothing more than to just relax and have one peaceful night to himself. For the past couple of weeks, his life has been nothing but stressful.
The only thing that seemed to keep him at bay was, Lotus. After a long day, she was the main thing he looked forward to. He felt at peace, and his calmest when he was with her, feeling the warmth of her body against his.
He felt as Lotus's arm snaked around his neck, followed by her cheek pressing against his. His body instantly relaxing, as she planted small kisses on the side of his face.
"I love you, you know that right?" she told him, he nodded his head as she gently caressed his beard. "Don't let this ruin your night, as long as you handled it, this won't happen again."
Mid tilted his head back a little to meet her lips, Lotus deepened the kiss, as he shifted her position on top of him. Lotus grabbed his face with both of her hands, and pulled him closer to her.
"You really love me?" he asked her in between kisses, she hummed, nodding her head.
"I loved you years ago, and I still love you now. That never changed once we stopped communicating." she said pulling away as his hands glided around under her shirt.
"You sure?"
Lotus leaned in to give him another kiss, lifting her arms up as Mid slid her shirt from over her head. She brought her arms down, sliding her hands down his bare chest. "You wanna take a shower?"
"Why you think I'm stripping you of yo' clothes?" he mumbled against her skin, unhooking her bra. Lotus bit down on her lip and latched her arm around his neck as he picked her up by her thighs and carried her to the bathroom.
"Hope no one interrupts us again this time," she scoffed, he lightly chuckled flicking on the light. He sat her on the counter, and went to go run the water in the shower. Lotus sat there, swinging her feet as she watched him checking the temperature of the water.
She got down from the counter and turned to look at herself in the mirror. Once Mid was done getting the temperature right, he turned around and seen that she was standing there, staring at herself. He approached her from behind, resting his chin in the crook of her neck.
His hands freely caressing her chest. "You some nice to look at," he said, watching a smile form on her face. Mid admired everything physical about her, from her freckles, down to the stretch marks on her hips.
He loved seeing Lotus in her natural state. Even though he thought she was beautiful with makeup, but without it, brought a different glow to her.
"Water hot?" she questioned him, looking at him through the mirror.
"It's warm,"
Lotus sucked her teeth, and gave him a stern look. He deeply sighed and rolled his eyes, walking back over to the shower to adjust the temperature. "Bring yo' li'l demonic ass on," he said.
Lotus laughed and playfully shoved him, before stripping out of the rest of her clothes and getting into the shower. Mid followed suit, and shut the glass door behind him.
"This still a li'l warm,"
"Nevaeh I ain' boutta burn my damn skin off for yo' ass."
"Please daddy," Lotus pouted, wrapping her arms his torso. Mid glanced down at her, and bit his lip before turning the knob more towards the left. "Now I know how to get my way," she cracked up, letting go of him.
"You sound sexy saying it," he licked his lips, grabbing her throat. "Say it again,"
"Only when we fuckin' beloved,"
"And what's stoppin' me from doing that right now?" his tone of his voice becoming deeper, sending chills throughout Lotus's spine. She opened her mouth to say something but closed it, unsure of what to say. "Cat got yo' tongue?" he started grinning.
"No but mine boutta have yours if you keep on," Lotus replied, causing him to start chuckling again. She smirked to herself and grabbed the sponged loofah, pouring her body wash onto it before she started to lather herself down in it.
She looked down at Mid's hands, and seen that they were still bloody. She grabbed one of his hands, and began to wash the blood off. Neither spoke, but Mid knew what was going through her mind.
"I didn't kill him," he told her, breaking the silence between them. Lotus cleared her throat and looked up at him.
"I know,"
"How so?"
"You don't want Jaden to see you in that type of light. He knows what you do, but he only knows half of it. However, he'll know that you'll do anything to protect him by all means." She explained, now grabbing his other hand, following the same steps.
"I just want him to know that he has someone who's going to protect him no matter what. I just want to give him something that I wasn't able to have growing up." Mid vented, watching as she carefully washed over the small cuts in his hand. "I don't want Jaden to grow up and feel like he's alone in this world, I know how it feels to grow up and only have yourself, I don't want that for him."
"And he won't." Lotus assured him, cupping his face. "He'll know that he'll always have you to be there for him, even when he gets older. Apart of being there for him though, is to check on him mentally as well. While you were gone, he told me he felt weak."
"Weak?"
Lotus nodded her head in confirmation, "He felt weak because he didn't fight back," she said, lathering his chest down in soap.
Mid opened his mouth to speak, but closed it, slowly licking over his lips. "I'll talk to him about it tomorrow," he sighed.
Lotus stood on her tip toes to give Mid a kiss, before passing the loofah over to him, so he could wash her back. The couple finished washing up, and got out of the shower.
Mid wrapped his towel around his waist, watching as Lotus went to wrap hers around her body. He quickly grabbed the towel and tossed it, before grabbing her and tossing her over his shoulder.
He walked into the room, and laid her down on the bed. "All you had to do was tell me you wanted it," Lotus grinned, eyeing him as he grinned back at her, biting down on his bottom lip.
"Ion do much talkin', I like to get right to it love." he said, slowly rubbing his hand up and down the inside of her thigh. Lotus beckoned him with her index finger, he hovered over her and leaned down to kiss her.
Pushing her thigh back, he began to gently rub his thumb between her lips, feeling how wet she was. He rubbed his thumb on her clit, as he kissed her jawline, down to her neck. He continued to plant tender kisses down her body, he wanted to take his time with her.
The more time they spent together, the more sexual tension that grew between them. Although he wanted to take it slowly with her, there were times when he was with her, where he wanted it badly.
Getting a taste of her the other day, had him craving her uncontrollably.
He kissed the inside of her thighs, as he held a firm grip on them. He pushed her thighs back slightly, Lotus grabbed her right leg and pulled it back towards her. She felt as his broad tongue started to slowly move up and down on her clit. Letting go of a faint moan, she softly bit down on her lip as he continued to tenderly lick on her spot followed by him slowly inserting his two fingers in and out of her.
Mid listened as she let go of another moan, grabbing his wrist as he slid his hand up her smooth skin, and lightly squeezed one of her breasts. Lotus arched her back, and latched her hand onto his head, moaning even louder.
"Fuck," she heavily breathed out, her eyes rolling to the back of her head. Mid glided his hand under her arched back, and pulled her closer to him. He pulled his fingers out of her, and slipped them into Lotus's mouth, letting her taste her own juices.
She sucked on his fingers, as Mid proceeded to insert his tongue into her next. He felt as her body tensed up, she pulled his fingers out of her mouth and bit down on her lips again, trying to keep herself from moaning so loud that she might wake Jaden.
He wrapped his hand around her throat, and pushed his tongue deeper into her. Her juices beginning to
make small wet spots in the bed sheets, as he continued to feast between her legs. He sucked on her clit again, and pushed her leg back even further.
Glancing up at her, he watched as she tried to keep her composure, her chest heaving up and dow as she gripped the sheets. It was making him hard, hearing her rich, soft moans, it was like music to his ears. "Look at me baby," he lowly spoke, wanting her to watch him as he devoured her.
Lotus propped herself up with her elbows, staring into his light brown eyes. Seeing him take his time with her, made her even wetter. She hadn't been physically pleased in so long, every little touch and caress alone was sending her over the edge.
Mid kept his gaze with her, slowly licking over her clit, causing her throw her head back, a loud moan slipping from her lips. He took his fingers and slid them back into her again, this time curling them upwards on her G-spot. He began shaking his fingers, continuing to suck on her clit.
"Shit," Lotus cussed, her legs starting to shake, as she felt her orgasm nearing. "Fuck Tedric, please don't stop." she pleaded, lacing their fingers together.
Mid pulled his fingers out, biting down on his lip. "Beg me for it," he told her, planting small kisses on her inner thighs.
"Baby please," Lotus begged him.
"Please what Nevaeh, tell daddy what you want." he replied, putting his fingers back in, beginning to shake them once again.
"Daddy please make me cum," she moaned, scratching onto his back. She arched her back, closing her eyes, focusing on the tingling sensation she was feeling. "Oh my gosh, yes, don't stop."
The faster he stroked his fingers in and out of her, the closer she was to releasing. "You gone cum for daddy baby?"
"I'm boutta cum,"
As she finally orgasmed, her body instantly relaxed. Mid hovered over her, and leaned down to give her a kiss.
"Man listen bruh I done already told you, I'm not gone ask her that shit. We on good terms right now, I'm not tryin' to fuck shit up between us," Lotus heard Mid say as Jaden and her entered the kitchen. She tilted her head, narrowing her eyes listening to his conversation. "You ask her then, and watch how Lotus shoot yo' ass."
"Ask me what?" Lotus finally spoke, startling Mid. He quickly turned around to face her, with a weird expression on his face.
"Aye lemme call you back," Mid said, before hanging up the phone. "You got your stuff?" he turned his attention onto Jaden, Jaden nodded his head, still remaining quiet. "Cool, go put yo' shoes on, I'ma take you to get some to eat before I drop you off."
Jaden turned on his heels, and walked out of the kitchen. Lotus stayed put in the same spot, patiently waiting for the answer he was stalling to give her.
"Ask me what Tedric?" she repeated herself, now crossing her arms over her chest. Mid deeply sighed and braced himself, sliding his phone into his pocket.
"Yesterday the guys and I were talkin' bout a possible business connect out in Cali. She wanna do business wit' us—"
"She?" Lotus repeated after him, raising an eyebrow. She was already cautious about new connects, especially if they were women. Men in the drug dealing business were already shady, and grimy enough—but women were just as ruthless as the men.
"Yeah, she." he said. "Anyways, we'll have to move our product to her, however, we been comin' to a lot of dead ends when it comes to the mover." he further explained, leaning against the counter.
"Okay? So where do I come into this?" she held her hand out, still confused as to why they needed to ask her something in regards to the situation.
"They—" Mid paused, sighing again, running his hands down his face. "They wanted me to ask you if you would be able to somehow get yo' pops to move it for us—"
"Boy have you lost your fuckin' mind?" Lotus frowned, dropping her arms to her sides, giving him a crazed look. "Absolutely not! It's bad enough that I'm involved in this shit, but getting my daddy involved? Fuck no," she shook her head, walking out of the kitchen.
Mid instantly followed behind her, "Baby I already told them you wouldn't go through with it. I practically told them no for you," he defended.
"Well whoever came up wit' the idea, I'm smackin' the shit out of em' because how fuckin' dare they."
"It was Boonie's idea," Mid told her. Lotus stopped in her tracks and spun around to face him again, causing him to slightly flinch.
"Boonie?" she repeated after him again. "Bitch he need to move that shit himself then, y'all don't need this connect that fuckin' bad, especially if the bitch is makin' y'all move that shit on your own. She's lookin' out for herself if some shit goes wrong, and y'all need to be doing the same."
"I know, don't worry about it baby. I wouldn't even ask you no favor like that. He was very persistent on me at least trying, but don't worry, we'll figure some out." Mid grabbed her by the waist, leaning down to give her a kiss.
Lotus hummed, watching him closely. "You ready?" Mid asked Jaden as he came back down the stairs with his stuff. He nodded his head and lifted his backpack with his things in it, for Mid to see. He walked past the couple, to the garage without saying another word.
Lotus and Mid exchanged glances with one another, "Just give him time, he's probably still trying to process what happened." Lotus placed her hand on his chest, looking up at him.
"I just don't want him to shut me out, like I did to the people in my life, who wanted to help me. Keeping all that anger in isn't good," Mid stressed, now walking towards the garage as well. He waited for Lotus to walk out first, before he set the alarm.
The three got settled into the car, before Mid pulled onto the road. Majority of the car ride, everyone kept to themselves, besides the occasional kisses that Mid left on Lotus's hand as he held it. He stopped by Chick-Fil-A on the way to Jaden's house, to get them something to eat.
He pulled in front of Jaden's house, and shifted the gears in park. Jaden unbuckled his seatbelt and got out, along with Mid doing the same. He grabbed Jaden's backpack, and followed him up the driveway to his front door. He knocked on the door, and waited a few minutes, staring at Jaden who kept an emotionless expression.
Finally, Jaden's mother came to the front door, battered and bruised. She gasped once she realized it was Jaden, and grabbed him into a big, consoling hug. She began to bawl her eyes out as she held him, but Jaden didn't budge.
"We need to talk," Mid sternly told her.
As Mid went into the house, Lotus sat in the car occupying herself on her phone. While she scrolled through camera roll, she received an incoming call from her dad.
She hadn't spoken to her family much after the incident with her mom. Her dad reached out many times, but she never returned any of his calls or texts. She wasn't mad at him, though she was upset that he had known and never mentioned anything to her, she couldn't be mad.
Her siblings had also reached out to her, to let her know that they weren't aware of the situation and would have told her if they had found out much sooner. Lotus apologized to them, she had reflected back on it, and her temper had gotten the best of her.
Her anger was directed towards her mother, but she had taken it out on whoever else was in the space at the time.
"Yeah daddy?" Lotus answered the phone, watching as Mid entered the house, shutting the door behind him.
"You know how to work your phone now? Why the hell you ain't been calling me back?" Albert said, Lotus rolled her eyes, and sat back in the seat.
"I been busy daddy, life just been getting in the way." Lotus shrugged as if he could see her.
"Ain't that much busy in the world Lotus," Lotus put the phone on speaker, as she sat it down in her lap. She picked at her nails, listening to him rant on. "I know you're probably still upset about what happened, and you have a right to be. But Lotus baby I didn't know what was going on, I didn't even know your grandparents had been thinking about doing that. Have you been by to see them? They told me, you haven't been by in a while. They think you're mad at them."
"I'm not mad, I just need space from everyone. You guys preached about me having a life, and now that I'm trying to have one, it's an issue." Lotus scoffed, looking around at her surroundings.
"It's not an issue Lotus, it becomes an issue when you're trying to hurt those in the process of living your life."
"I'm not hurting anybody, when I'm ready to talk I will talk. As of right now, I think it's best if I keep to myself. It's already bad enough the bitch went and told everyone in the family I tried to kill her." Lotus argued, becoming irritated all over again by the situation.
After what happened with her mother, she had family members reaching out to her, telling her that she was in the wrong and needed to apologize to her mother. Lotus wasn't trying to take advice from people who never even stopped by to check on her and her grandparents.
"Stop it Lotus,"
"No you stop it, we can just talk later since all you want to do is lecture me on this bullshit. Goodbye daddy," Lotus said, before ending the call. "Do not need that damn stress in my life, fuck out of here."
"I never spoke on your situation because it has nothing to do with me. I can only help people who want to be helped, hence why I took yo' son under my wing. I don't give a fuck what you do in yo' household but when it comes to him," Mid paused pointing at Jaden, who was silently eating his food at the dining table. "That's when I have to step in, how dare you let a man beat yo' son til he was bloody in the face? Especially after he tried protecting you from that very man that was beating yo' ass?"
"He won't be back in this house, I just want you to know that. I want all of his shit out of this house, because the next time Jaden even calls me or have to walk to my house in the middle of night again—I'm taking you in those woods right along wit' his bitch ass." Mid warned her, she nodded her head in understanding. He pulled his wallet out and counted a couple of hundred dollar bills before tossing them on the table.
"Let me know if you need anything, aight?" he turned to face Jaden. He simply nodded his head and continued to eat his food, dapping Mid up. Mid walked out of the house, towards his car and got in.
Glancing over at Lotus, he seen that she was sporting an annoyed look on her face. "What's wrong baby?" he questioned her, gently grabbing her chin.
"Nothing, I'm okay." she cleared her throat, looking at him. "He gonna be okay? His mom okay?"
"Yeah, they'll be aight."
Hello! We back in this bitchhhhhh!!!!
So sorry for the wait guys, 😩 I've been moving and shit, so a lot has been going on. Speaking of, do I have any readers in Atlanta? 👀🥰
Thoughts on this chapter? I'm not gone cap, this probably has been the longest it's taken me to write a chapter LMFAO. I won't leave y'all hanging again. 😊
Thoughts on Mid and Lotus? 🥴 my boy Mid some serious with his tongue. LMAOOOO.
Anyways that's it, that's all.
Y'all be easy,
see y'all in the next chapter - Wynter 🤍