Chapter Seventeen

Hassan

It's been a few weeks since Lu's funeral and things are somewhat back to normal. Rock has been out of pocket and that's completely understandable. If I didn't do anything else, I had my brother's back. I stepped in and took care of the delinquent loans that we had out and had Ced and Art overlooking things at the yard. JaRue and Infiniti were still staying at my house, but I also took turns staying at her apartment too. Her bitch ass baby daddy hadn't been seen or heard from since he had those fuck ass papers delivered to her. I still wasn't putting anything past his ass, though. I needed to keep my girls safe. By keeping them safe, I had to make sure things were put in place so that they wouldn't have shit to worry about. I've been on the go all morning making sure that things were in place. I've been to the bank to add JaRue to all of my accounts and I was now at my lawyer's office to get the papers I had him to draft up. When I got home later, I would present her with all of this.

"I have everything that you asked for, Hassan. All you have to do is have her sign the places that are highlighted and I can get everything filed for you as soon as you get them back to me," my lawyer Eric informed.

"I appreciate this on such a short notice. I'll make sure that you're compensated for your time."

He nodded as he placed the paperwork back into the folder that it was in and handed it over to me. After ensuring me that I was set to go, I left his payment plus a little extra and headed by my brother's house. I hadn't seen much of him lately and I needed to put my eyes on him. Peace has been with our parents and even with me and JaRue some nights since he wasn't up to handling her full time yet. I sympathized with him, but he needed to get it together for his daughter. I pulled up to his house, and I saw his truck parked out front. Letting myself inside, I searched the house until I found him in Lu's room, sitting in the recliner that was by her bed. He had a purple covered phone in his hand, and I knew it was hers.

"Wassup with you?" I asked, taking a seat in the empty chair. Since no one was here but us, I pulled a blunt out and lit it. I took a pull before I handed it to him. I could see the half empty Hennessy bottle on the table beside him and knew he was going through it. He took the blunt from my hand and took a pull of his own.

"Ain't shit. You straight?" he asked, not looking at me.

"Yeah, I'm good. Just left Eric and got the papers I needed Rue to sign and shit. I'll give 'em to her tonight."

"That's wassup. I'm glad you found her. Make sure you take care of her, bro." I knew he only said that because of the situation with him and Lu.

"You know it's not your fault, right?"

He looked at me.

"You know she told me not to shut Journei out? She wanted me to be with her?" he revealed.

"Have you talked to her?" I know he hadn't because I heard her talking to Rue about it. She knew how he was doing through me. I just wanted to see what he was going to say.

"Nah. I honestly don't know what to say after not saying shit to her at all. She would text to check on me and I ignored the shit. Now she doesn't call at all. I know she sees Peace, because Ma told me. She said Peace loves her some bestie." He chuckled because that's the name she called Journei after hearing him say it. She called Rue, Rudy, and that shit was hilarious.

"Don't punish her, bro. It's not her fault, just like it's not yours. Besides, when have you ever let Lu down?"

He gave me a look.

"This is different," he protested.

"How? She asked you to promise her you'd do something, and you did. Doesn't matter that the promise was to love again. That goes to show you how much she loved you. She wanted you to have that again. She didn't want you to sit around in here mopping and shit. The fuck you going to tell Peace?" I hated to talk to my brother like that, but I would be a sorry ass brother if I didn't put it in perspective for him this way.

"You're right. You think she'll talk to me?"

"You won't know unless you ask. Get your ass in there and wash your nuts and call that damn girl. Lu didn't deserve to leave us so young, but you're still young and you don't deserve to be alone. Call her." I insisted.

He nodded, and I stayed with him a little longer before I left and went to talk to my parents. They found out the day Lu died that me and Rue were in a relationship and naturally assumed that she would be the one that I married. I told them that we would talk about it later, because that wasn't the right time. I didn't leave until Rock got his ass up and showered. When I got to my parents' house, I was surprised to see my pops anywhere other than his office. I guess with him taking a step back; he had more time to do normal shit like sit and play with his granddaughter.

"What's good, people?" I spoke as I walked in. When Peace saw me, she jumped out of my pops lap and ran full speed toward me.

"Uncle Hazie!" She hugged my neck tight as hell.

"Wassup, Princess Pea. You being good?" I asked.

"I good. Where Finny?"

Since she's been around me and Rue, she got to spend time with Infiniti, and you couldn't tell her that wasn't her bestie too.

"She's with her grandparents. I'll come get you so you can play with her, okay?"

"Kay!"

She jumped out of my arms and went back to playing. I went to kiss my mother on the temple before dapping my pops up and taking a seat.

"What brings you by, son? Is everything okay?" my pops asked.

"Yeah. Everything is straight. I just came from checking on Rock," I informed.

"He's still in that room?" my mother asked.

"I made him go shower, so hopefully he doesn't go back in there."

My parents nodded.

"I came by to let y'all know that I'm moving forward with the marriage arrangement. I already asked Rue, and she accepted. She has some shit going on with her baby daddy, and our marriage could help her with that, so it's a win-win for the both of us," I mentioned.

"What's going on with her daughter's father?" my mother asked.

"He's being an asshole. He doesn't do anything for Infiniti, but he wants to control Rue. That shit ain't happening on my watch. He's taking her to court for full custody because he found out about us," I revealed.

"That's awful and trifling," my mother input.

"The nigga even nineteen years older than her and lied about his age."

"So not only is the nigga a deadbeat, he's a pedophile?" my pops quizzed.

"Pretty much. She ain't got shit to worry about, though. I let her know I got her and Infiniti and she won't have to worry about that nigga taking her from her. She's been on edge because court is in a few days. That's one of the reasons I came by. I want y'all to come and show her that she has our full support."

"We'll be there, son. I'm proud of you for stepping and taking on this responsibility. Raising a family is a big step."

"I get it, Pops. I think I can handle it, though. I had a good example." I smirked.

After kicking it with my parents and niece a little longer, I decided to take my ass home. When I got there, she was out back with Journei.

"What y'all out here doing?" I asked as I walked toward them. I dropped a kiss on JaRue's lips before she could respond.

"Wassup, Journei?" I spoke once we broke our kiss.

"Hey, Haze. You seen or talked to your brother?" she asked.

"Yeah. I went by there earlier. Be looking for him to hit you up."

"Mhmm," she countered.

"Baby, I need to holla at you," I told Rue.

"Y'all go ahead. I'm about to head home. Rue, call me later. Love you. See you later, Haze."

While Rue walked Journei to the front door, I went into the living room and sat on the couch to wait for her. When she got back, I pulled her into my lap.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing's wrong. I just wanted to run a few things by you."

I leaned up and grabbed the envelope off of the coffee table and handed it to her.

"Open it."

She looked at me skeptically.

"Why you looking like that?"

"The last time I opened an envelope, I was being subpoenaed to court," she jested.

"I promise that's not what this is. Open it." I urged.

I watched as she opened the envelope and scan the documents. Inside, I had our marriage certificate that was dated back six months. Her name was added on all of my bank accounts, and I opened one for her and Infiniti. She had seven hundred and fifty thousand in hers, while Infiniti had two hundred and fifty thousand in hers. The documents stated she would get an additional million once she signed the papers and every year that we're married she'll get a deposit of one million dollars and Infiniti will get the same two hundred and fifty thousand as well. There was also a key to a brand new G-Wagon. I was tired of that little ass Altima she was driving.

"Hassan, what is all of this?" she croaked out.

"It's the beginning of our future, baby. It may not be ideal, but we can make it work. Because it's short notice, we won't have a wedding, but we can do that on our one-year anniversary if you want," I explained.

"You think we're going to last a year?" she asked.

"You giving up on me already?"

"No," she simpered.

"Alright then."

I kissed her and assured her everything would be fine. Fuck her baby daddy and his wife if they thought they would keep fucking with my wife and shit be sweet. That shit wasn't happening.