Chapter 22

Beethoven

Late April

What was supposedto be a celebratory dinner was about to be over before it could start. When I left Memphis, I was under the impression Whiskee would be with her brother while I was gone. Mahogany had a brand trip to take. At the last minute, Pops asked Carlos to go with him to Miami, and the dumb ass agreed. As furious as I was, I was trying to keep calm. Ike was big on professionalism, and I didn't want to curse Carlos's ass out while I was in his home.

Squeezing the bridge of my nose, I pulled in a deep breath.

"Why would you agree to go on the trip knowing no one would be there for my wife?"

"I didn't think I could tell your pops no. The professional relationship is still new. I didn't want him to think I wasn't reliable."

"So it's more important to you that my father think you're reliable than your sister's emotional well-being?"

Carlos huffed. "Look, can you leave the meeting and go get her or not?"

"I'm not in Memphis, nigga," I seethed quietly, feeling like I was about to explode. "It's gonna take me three damn hours to get back home. By then, it'll be well after midnight."

"Shit. Okay. Let me see if one of my homies can go and at least sit outside of their apartment. That's going to have to do until you can get there. Damn. Had I known your meeting wasn't in Memphis, I would have told him no."

This conversation was useless to me, so I ended the call. Dialing Mama's number, I shot Omari a look before leaving the dining room. It was important to me that we made a great impression with Ike tonight, but nothing was more important to me right now than Whiskee's mental state.

"Hey, baby," Mama answered with a smile in her voice. "How's your trip going?"

"Well, thank you. Listen, I need a favor."

"Anything."

"Whiskee is at home by herself for the first time in years. She… has a thing about being alone at night, and I won't be back for several hours."

"Will she be comfortable with me?"

"I'm sure she will be. I'm gonna call her and see if she wants you there until me or her best friend can get to her. If so, can you go pick her up?"

"Of course, baby. Just keep me posted."

Relief filled me as I thanked her and ended the call, then called Whiskee. It took forever for her to answer, and when she did, I heard the deep, shaky breath she took.

"H-hey, baby." She sniffled, and the sound was like a punch to my gut. "How did it go?"

"Fuck this. How are you?"

Whiskee cleared her throat. "I'm fine, Beethoven."

"Don't lie to me. I'm 'bout to send you a FaceTime request."

"No, don't!" she yelled softly, quickly. "I'm scared, I'm not gonna lie, but I'll be okay."

"I'm sorry, bae. If I would've known your brother was leaving, I would've brought you with me."

Whiskee chuckled, but it turned into another sniffle. "I can't suffer with this forever, right?"

"Bae… I need to see you to know you're okay. Can I please FaceTime you?"

She thought about it for a while before agreeing. When the FaceTime connected and I saw her red, puffy eyes, my heart broke into pieces. She was sitting against the wall with her knees to her chest. On the nightstand next to her was the 9mm that was supposed to be inside of it for emergencies.

"You remember we put bars on the windows, right?" She nodded, tugging her bottom lip into her mouth as her chin trembled and eyes watered. "And the door is an armored door now, bae. No one can get in. You're so safe, Whiskee, I promise."

Her head nodded rapidly and eyes squeezed shut. "Okay," she whispered.

"My mama is gonna come and get you, aight? She's going to take you to her home, which is just as secure, and I'll pick you up in a few hours."

She looked into my eyes. "I really appreciate that, but I think I need to be alone. If I don't, I'll never get over this. You're right; I'm safe here. I'm uncomfortable and scared, but I'll make it through the night."

"Are you absolutely sure, because she's ready to come if she needs to."

Whiskee took a deep breath and nodded. "I'm sure, baby. Thank you. Besides, I don't want the first time we meet to be while I'm on my bullshit."

Her smile made me smile. "My mama don't care about that kind of stuff. She knows I care about you, so she cares about you too. If you need her to come, she'll be there."

"Okay. I'll keep that in mind, but I really think I'll be okay."

"Aight. I'll send you her number just in case. If you need her before I get there, just call her."

"Okay, baby. I will."

We talked for a few seconds more before ending the call. I sent her Mama's contact card, and she saved her number before I went back into the dining room. Though, being honest, the last thing I wanted to do at that moment was eat, drink, and be merry. I wanted to get to my wife. She was right, though. Maybe her being alone tonight was for the best. I just hated that she didn't have time to mentally prepare for it. Hopefully, she'd be okay. If she wasn't, Mama would pull up on her, and I'd be right behind her.