Shut Up & Listen - Chapter 77: Chapter 77

[cheyenne, 25]
August 21,
7:43 pm
[]
The high of the moment came down and the realization that they were on the floor in the bathroom made Cole laugh. Lonnie chuckled, "What's so funny?"
"I done fucked on the sink, in the shower and on the toilet seat. Fucking on the floor is crazy."
"You never had sex on the floor?"
"Hell nah, floors be dirty as shit."
"The toilet has actual shit in it." Lonnie frowned.
"Not when I was using it." Cole  frowned back. They stared at one another for a few seconds. "I gotta get that conditioner out your head." He mumbled, taking the cap off of Lonnie's head, "I'm surprised that shit stayed on."
Lonnie stood in the shower as Cole adjusted the water temperature then got in behind him. The younger man disconnected the hose from the holder and held Lonnie's head back while he rinsed the conditioner out of his kinky hair. Afterwards, they washed up and Lonnie left the bathroom, going to retrieve a robe for the both of them. It still shook Cole that Lonnie did things like wear robes and read books in his home library. Waiting in the bathroom, he decided to look through his lover's medicine cabinets tucked discretely behind the mirrors. He did not expect to see what he saw. He didn't know what it did but he recognized the name as something he'd taken before. He quickly opened the white pill bottle and emptied a few onto his palm, looking at the color and letters on them. Hearing footsteps, he quickly replaced the top and put them back, knocking the pills back onto his tongue and swallowing.
"You seem like the royal blue satin type." Lonnie mumbled, pushing the ajar door all the way open, handing Cole the robe.
"What? You got options and shit?"
"I love a good robe." He snickered, nodding his head with a mahogany colored Fenty robe on his own body. Cole looked him up and down with a smirk after noticing he had on matching slippers as well. "Don't trip my baby. I gotchu some too." He smiled, going back into the room, leaving Cole once again in the bathroom alone. He returned with some royal blue fluffy slides.
"There's no way these shits is yours."
"You right, I stole these from my moms." He held back his own laugh, forcing them onto Cole's feet which were not too much larger than Ices' feet.
They went to the front room where the shopping bags were with the hair products Cole picked out specifically for Lonnie's hair type.
"How you even know about hair and stuff?"
"My mom. She went to cosmetology school and worked in a shop when she was younger, before she became a social worker. She taught me and Dame how to know what products work best and how to use'em."
"How you know what my hair needed?"
"You have the same kinda hair as Dame. Makes sense with y'all being brothers."
"That's what's up."
"I hope Dame remember since he got a daughter now."
"If not, she got a uncle who know what he doing."
Lonnie complimented Cole while sitting between his legs facing the TV in the living room. Cole continued to comb out the wet hair lightly coated in oil and lotion. Once he got it detangled well enough, he grabbed the towel and gently pressed onto Lonnie's coils, removing a little of the excess water.
"Feel it." Cole told him. Lonnie reached his hand up to his hair with two fingers and thumb, grabbing hold of a lock of hair. He rolled between his fingers, admiring the soft feel. "Can I go see it?" He asked like a child, fresh out of the chair at their first hair appointment. Cole pushed him off of his legs as a 'yes' and stood to follow him to the bathroom. But, he decided to clean up the mess first. While retopping the containers, he didn't hear anything. He was confused so he walked down the hall and peeked into the room seeing Lonnie staring at himself in the mirror repeatedly running his fingers through his hair, mesmerized by how his fingers would go straight through.
Cole smiled and walked away wanting Lonnie to experience the moment for as long as he could. He remembered the first time he had his hair done by his adopted mom. It was the first time anybody had touched his hair. He was never taken for cuts by his fosterdad and the man certainly wasn't washing it. He sat on the couch reminiscing on his mom and the many firsts he experienced in her care. He knew the meds had kicked in when he looked up and realized Lonnie had been standing there calling him. He smiled at the sound of his name coming from those beautiful pink lips.
Lonnie smiled back at him. "Wait, don't u gotta go see your brothers or some shit?" He asked, "Lemme get you something to put on." He offered, leaving the room and returning with some boxers, grey sweats, a white tee and some socks. "You can get your clothes when you come back. I'll wash them for you."
Cole got dressed and left the home in Troy, hitting 75 at 90 making it back to Midtown, Detroit in record time. He pulled into the parking garage and fell asleep there, not waking until the morning because of a call. It was loud enough to wake him up as he never turned his car off and his phone was still on Bluetooth. He rejected the call instantly, wiping his eyes and powering off the car while he got his bearings.
August 22,
10:56 AM
As he sat up, a sharp pain ran from his eye to the back of his head making him groan. He closed his eyes for a few seconds. "Fuck." He whispered, holding his head. Reaching across the passenger side, Cole opened the drawer underneath the seat and dug around for a little baggie. After a few seconds of digging, he felt the plastic against his fingertips and pulled it out. He unsnapped it and stared at the options in the mixed up baggie of miscellaneous pills. He decided to close his eyes and pick two randomly. He swallowed them and threw the bag back where he found it.
The phone rang again. It was Cecil, his big brother. He answered it this time. "What up doe?"
"You still going to Dame house this morning? I thought you were coming by last night?"
"I got held up, but i'm outside if y'all wanna just ride with me." He offered.
Cole walked into the house trailing his big brother, Cecil. He stopped to pick up the baby from Sadé's lap and hugged her, greeting the both of them. He continued walking, holding the newborn, until he found Damon in his bedroom.
Dame was excited to see Cole with his baby and immediately opened the camera on his phone and snapped photos. "Aye, you remember them freeform dreadlocks I had as a kid?" Cole asked his big brother with a smile, still thinking about his hair journey.
"How could anybody forget that shit. I'd be so mad to see somebody kid walking around like that now." Dame dismissed Cole's nostalgia of his horrid foster father and the effects of the man. He changed the subject not wanting to reflect on the time, "Where you been at, bro?" He looked him over not having seen him since he was discharged from the hospital about a month ago.
Cole shrugged, "Just chillin' at the crib with Lonnie."
Dame's fell even more if that was possible. He stared at his brother with disgust. Frozen in it even. Shocked that, still, nothing had deterred Cole from fooling with his (Dame's) brother.
"Now what?" Cole sighed, irritated.
"You still messing with him? Yo ass gone end up just like Cobe." He spat through his teeth, holding back the sliver of anger that was threatening to spew.
Cole frowned in confusion.
"Why you don't fucking listen Cole? Everybody close to that nigga get hurt or worse. I'm just trying to warn your dumb ass."
"So i'm just supposed to leave him like everybody else?" Cole asked, getting defensive over the man, learning more and more about his upbringing everyday. Understanding him a little bit better, making him feel as if he gets him and why he is the way he is. "He's never had his fucking hair washed right." Cole stressed.
"The fuck is you even talking about?" He reached for the baby, "Nah, actually if you still hanging around him you can't be around me, my baby, or Sadé. Go'head and leave bruh." He took the baby from his arms. "My house ain't botta get shot up and ran through because you wanna keep fucking on a ticking time bomb."
Cole stood there almost in shock.
"Go nigga."
"Okay, fine." He mumbled.
"What? Huh?"
"I said Fine nigga, damn. Hand me my niece."  He demanded, taking the little chocolate baby back into his arms, cooing at her.
Dame knew he was lying through his teeth. Cole never left anybody alone. It wasn't something he knew how to do even when he tried.
Dame just watched his brother and child as an anxiousness overcame him. He shook his head and left the room with Cole in tow. He knew he would just have to be prepared for what was going to come in his new proximity to his blood.
Just as quickly as the two of them came back into the living room, the front door slammed and a horrified Maurice ran right past them to the back of the house. Dame was nearly pushed up against the wall into Cole who was holding the baby. "Aye, what the fuck?!" He yelled, cupping the baby's head. He looked down at his child then down the hall at his brother.
Reese stood at the rear of the hall clutching his chest for breath with one hand and pointing hysterically with the other. All this but no words.
Cecil went to him, instructing him to breathe. He put his hand on his chest and stared him in the eyes. "What happened out there?" He asked as Cheyenne had opened the door and gone out onto the porch to investigate. Cole followed her. They both returned with no conclusions.
"I saw." He tried to get out, but he was shook to the core. "He was out there."
"Who?" Dame asked, coming towards him.
"In the car. He looked at me."
"Who?" The two men asked in unison.
"With the gun. Man. Man with the gun."
Cecil looked at the others hoping someone was catching it.
"Cobe." He added, still unable to put together full sentences. Hyperventilating and rolling his hands trying to calm himself, the message seemed hopeless.
"Maurice. What did you see?" Sadé asked.
"Man. With the gun." He cried. Suddenly Dame's eyes widened. He left the hallway and went outside. He unlocked his phone and dialed his uncle's number.
"Uncle Mac." He said, still in disbelief. "Y'all heard anything on you know who? What if he still alive?" He said in a very low voice. He racked his brain trying to figure out how it would be possible.
"Why would you think that?"
"My brother said he saw the man who had a gun pointed to him."
"Nah, the dude with the dreads, he said they saw him at his parents house, right? He was basically dead." Mac answered surely, recalling Quincy's telling of the day Cobe was killed.
"Well shit, maybe he was more basically than dead." Dame shook his head, not believing his brother would lie about it. "Ah see and hit you back." He told him before hanging up the phone. Maybe he just thought he saw him.
"He probably having flashbacks or some shit." He reasoned with himself aloud. He shook his head at the situation and went back inside.
Cecil walked up to him. He patted his midsection with the back of his hand, "You aight?"
Dame looked through the hall, watching the ordeal, "What you think he saw?" He asked the shorter, lighter-skinned man.
Cecil looked at them too. "Hopefully nothing." He answered wearily. "I can't take no more crazy shit happening."
Dame nodded, agreeing, "I think it might be time for him to go home if he ain't feeling safe here." Dame suggested not wanting to say to much on what he thought was going on. No one else knew about the situation between Mohammed and Lonnie accept him, Q, and Lonnie's family/crew. He was told not to say anything to anyone, not even Cole.
He knew he saw Mo get murdered in that video. He also knew that Jah and their crew never saw any evidence when they went back to the site of the shooting. Anything could've happened. Anything could be true. He couldn't chance Maurice being in the crossfires again.
He went to Sadé and put his mouth to her ear, "I'm about to take him back to his daddy house." He told her. She jerked her head back in confusion but didn't question him right there. She went to Reese's room and gathered his important things and bagged them up for him. She headed to the door to take the bag to the car but Dame stopped her. "Pack you a bag too." He said softly, not wanting to cause a scene.
Cole , eho had been watchibg his big brother all along, came over to him. "Why you acting all calm? What happened?"
"Nothing."
"Yes it is something or else you wouldn't be tryna act all calm. Wassup?"
"Er'ythang cool. Me and Sadé about to take Maurice home though. So, all y'all gone have to dip. We gone come by the loft to see Ev an them afterwards."
Cole looked over to Sadé to see if he was gonna get anything from her and he didn't. Her and Dame are two of a kind; always on the same page seemingly. He just accepted that he wouldn't know, for now.
"I know he ain't from the hood," Cole started, buckling his seatbelt "but that was over the top. Just because he saw somebody?" He asked, confused.
Cecil didn't respond. He wasn't sure where Cole was going with his comments. Especially since Cole is the most dramatic person he knows.
"Why was he so spooked? Who had a gun?" He asked, looking around the car. "What it have to do with Cobe?"
"Nigga, you was there." Cecil scrunched his face up at his younger brother. "Cobe's friend pointed a gun at him. He said, 'you lucky ion kill kids'"
"Can you not talk about this in front of my son?" Chey asked.
"He can't hear us." He answered, looking at the boy behind him with AirPod max's covering his ears.
She huffed, really not wanting to hear it herself.
"Well, I don't want to hear about him."
"Who? Cobe?" Cole asked, oblivious; not remembering much of anything from those few days because he was heavily influenced just as he is now.
Cheyenne was quiet. Her face frowned up and turning red. Cecil looked back, "I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking."
"What's new?" She added. Cole looked about the car, feeling the strange energy. I tried to tell him. Cole said in his head, convinced that Cheyenne has a new man. The car was quiet until Cole got a text message and Siri read it aloud to the car.
"Message from Jah. I know you been with Black. Can y'all come to Maverik house?"
Cecil whipped his neck looking at Cole. "You been with who?" He scoffed, "Bro is literally dead and you still can't respect the code."
Cole didn't respond to Cecil. Everybody go harder on him than Cobe ever did about Lonnie.
"Hey Siri, text Jah." Cole announced, looking straight at his brother, standing at the stop sign until he finished, "I ain't seen him." He told the phone.
Cecil stared at Cole, disbelieving.
"Imma just drop y'all at the crib and go get some food, aight?" Cole told them, wanting to be rid of Cecil as soon as possible.
"We coming too." Cecil interjected.
"Nah."
Cheyenne nodded, "Yeah. I don't feel like being at the loft right now either." she said,  agreeing with her baby's daddy.
"Y'all ain't gotta stay there. You got a car." He pointed at Cecil.
"Just go to Maverik house." Cecil ordered. "Why you don't want us to go?"
"I don't know them people like that. And I don't know where he live. And on top of that, I don't know why Jaleel keep asking me about Lonnie."
"Oh that was Jaleel?" Cheyenne asked in a tone that made Cecil turn around to look at her skeptically.
"Why?" He asked.
She shrugged, leaning onto the window of the door. Cole's speculation was starting to get into Cecil's head, making him more insecure about the status of their relationship.
He looked back over to his brother who was driving the car. "Your brothers are here, why you ain't come by the loft yet?" Cecil asked Cole, changing the subject.
"I been busy."
Cecil scoffed, "Yo ass ain't doing shit."
"I sho get paid a lot of money to not be doing shit."
"Hell yeah."
"The fuck do you do?" Cole asked with an attitude, not being able to ignore the undertones of his brother's words.
"I ain't laying in a nigga bed, that's what i'm not doing." Cecil Jr. shot back, riling up a fight in his little brother.
"You swear you know me, nigga. You just got here, feel free to go back to where ever the Fuck you came from. Why the Fuck do it matter if i'm fucking him?!"
Cheyenne looked at Three making sure he was actually not listening before responding.
"Cole, you fucking Cobe's ex?" She asked in complete and utter shock.
Cecil laughed, facetiously. "See what i'm saying?"
"Fuck you." Cole grumbled angrily at his brother for outing him to his baby moms. Cecil started mumbling something under his breath that Cole couldn't hear making him angrier. He reached over and pushed his head, knocking it against the window. Cecil immediately swung, smacking Cole in his face making him swerve.
"Stop!" Chey yelled, trying to grab hold of one of the arms flying up front while Cole was still trying his best to steer the car. "Pull over!" She screamed, unable to stop them.
Cole swerved across the lanes to pull over and Cecil immediately unbuckled his seat belt which led to Cole doing the same and opening his door, they met in front of the car in full speed, Cole knocking Cecil down onto to the ground. He kicked him once then walked away but Cecil got up quickly pulling him back by his shoulders. Cole turned around and used his slightly larger frame to pin his brother down onto the hot hood of the car.
They stayed like this, Cecil trying to fight while Cole never let up, Calming down. He breathed through clenched teeth.
Staring him in his eyes, he finally let him go. "That shit getting so old dude." He yelled at him. "You never went this hard for me." An angry tear spilled causing Cecil to listen, "Fuck him." He screamed. "You don't know shit! Fuck him! You don't know shit." He yelled in his face. "Fuck!" He started pacing, getting heated again. He saw Cecil III watching him through the window. It calmed him immediately remembering that he was there and seeing and hearing everything.
"Your son just watched you get your ass beat." He said calmly, letting those final words sit with the older man. He walked away getting back into the drivers seat.
He looked behind him at hearing his nephew's voice asking what happened.
"Sorry Three. I just got a l'il too heated." Cole admitted, wiping sweat from his hairline.
The boy didn't respond. He put his headphones back on and looked out the window. Cecil still hadn't come inside. He was leaned up against the hood of the car. Getting tired of the antics, Cole blew the horn, startling the twenty-seven year old. Cole rolled down the window screaming, "Getcho Black ass in the car."
Cecil stayed.
"Imma run yo ass over in five seconds." He told him and began counting. Cole got to one and Cecil still hadn't moved so Cole put his foot on the gas scaring both Cheyenne and Cecil.
"Are you dumb?" She screamed, pulling his shoulder from the back. But the car was still in park.
Cecil jumped out the way onto the grass.
"You fucking idiot." He grumbled, slamming the door as he got in.
"Don't slam my fucking door."
"Fuck your door."
"I can't stand y'all." Chey commented from the back of the car. "Your fucking kid is in the car and you fighting the driver?" She scolded him as he stared forward while Cole drove. "Fuck the conversation we had. The answer is no. You not taking my son nowhere."
"Cheyenne."
"Cecil!"
He put his hands up. "You literally saw what happened. He hit me first."
"Are you two?" Chey grilled him,  She put her hand in his face, fingers ssueezed together in a straight line, "You can't think about yourself first when you have a damn child!" She said sternly, "He is number one. You can not handle it."
"I know that!"
She shook her head, "You're not ready."
"I'm sorry alright. Just one mistake and you blowing up like this."
"One fucking accident can kill anybody."
"So you never made a mistake with him?"
"I've had him all by myself for seven years, of course I made mistakes. I never been a mother before. But I didn't have a choice. I'm giving you the choice and you messing up before you even start."
"That's my bad Chey." Cole spoke up.
"It's not your fault. He should have left you alone."
Cecil scoffed. "See what i'm saying?"
"What you saying?"
"Nothing bro." Cecil let out, defeated, irritated.
"What you got to say?"
"It's always my fault huh? Like I told you to fuck a stranger and get pregnant. If anybody shoulda left somebody alone it was me. I shoulda left yo ass alone." He said lowly, almost to himself but Chey, Cole and C3 heard it. The car was quiet. Nobody said anything else for the duration of the ride. The only sound was Cole's phone ringing with Jah calling. Cole didn't answer the phone until they stopped at the parking garage of the building.
He waited until everyone got out but told C3 to get back in. He called Jah asking him what he wanted.
"Why I can't go in?" He asked, climbing back into the car.
"What? You don't wanna hang wit uncle Cole?"
"I do. But why did you sock my dad?" Three asked his uncle.
"Because your dad is an ass. Come up front."
"Who kid is that?" Jah asked, hearing C3's voice through the phone.
"Cecil." Cole answered.
"You and Cecil was fighting?"
Cole huffed, "Why you keep calling me, Jah?"
"I'm looking for Black."
"Then call him."
"He don't have his phone and even if he did, he wouldn't answer for me."
"Why not? How long it been since you seen him?"
"A minute. Like... two weeks."
"Nah," Cole shook his head, suspicions constantly flowing, "the fuck you do to him?"
"I ain't do shit."
"So then, what happened?"
"He got kicked out."
"Of the crew?"
"The house. Don't ask me why. I wasn't there and ain't nobody telling me shit. I'm supposed to be next after my pops but he been cutting me out. I don't think he replacing me, but he don't trust me no more. If you just help me, I can prove how serious I am about the family. You know I don't too much care for you or whatever, but if you help me, I owe you. Whatever you want or need. On my cousin grave, Cole."
"So, you want me to be help you by turning Lonnie in? Maybe he don't wanna be with you niggas no more."
"Cole."
"Nigga Maverik don't even fuck with Lonnie."
"He changed his mind. Don't ask me why."
Cole pursed his lips, putting his car in reverse, "Three, put yo seatbelt on and whatchu wanna eat?"
While C3 thought, Cole continued his conversation, "This shit sound fishy as hell. Y'all tryna put him in an asylum or something?"
"Why would you ask that?" Jah asked with far too much suspicion in his voice, giving Cole even more to go off of in his attempt to figure out what's going on with his lover.
"So y'all are?"
"No. But you think he need to go to one?"
"No?" Cole answered unclear of where the conversation was going, "Do you?"
"I think I want crab boil." Cecil III interrupted.
"Your dad is allergic to shellfish, you not?" He asked C3 who shook his head, still waiting for Jah to answer his question.
"You like seafood, Jah?" He asked through the phone. "Text me what you want in your bag and your address." He told him, hanging up without waiting for an answer. He was going to get his answers in person.
"What's an Asylum?" C3 asked, curious.
"It's where they lock people up who suffer from mental illness."
"Jail for crazy people?"
"Yep. And I know they would accept your father for sure."
"Don't talk about my dad." Cecil III demanded politely, scrolling through his phone.
"You got it dude." Cole answered, looking back and forth between his nephew and the road leading to the garage exit. He didn't know what else to say.