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I shook my head and walked over to him. He grabbed me and hugged me real tight like he always did. Pattin’ my back hard as hell, but I knew it was ’cause he missed me. It had been a minute since I’d seen him. He finally pulled back, holdin’ onto my shoulders and lookin’ me up and down.

“It’s all there, Pop,” I said, shovin’ him back and laughin’.

“Nigga, I know it’s all there. I see you. The fuck in that L.A. air? You bigger than the last time I saw you. Hittin’ them weights hard, youngin’.”

“Somethin’ slight. You look good. Happy and shit. Where yo’ lady at?” I asked, droppin’ in my seat.

“She out wit’ yo grand muva. They gettin’ somethin’ to cook for you. They should be here soon. I sent they asses out three hours ago, so we could chill,” my dad said, pullin’ out a bottle of Henny.

It was just turnin’ 11:00 a.m., but I was home, so I said fuck it and grabbed one of the glasses on the table. He poured some for me, then splashed some in his glass. He relit his blunt, lookin’ me over, and I just sat there. Pops did the same thing every time he saw me. Like he was tryna see how much I’d changed.

“Niema here wit’ you?” he asked, pullin’ on his blunt.

“Yeah. She at the hotel.”

He looked at me, head cocked. “She ain’t poppin’ up here, is she? You know yo’ grand muva.”

If my grandmuva knew what was really goin’ on, she wouldn’t give a fuck about no contracts. She would probably try to kill my pops for gettin’ me caught up in this shit. Janette Ross wasn’t scared of a mufuckin’ thing. But I knew Ambrose. I knew they would take her from me. That was somethin’ I couldn’t live wit’.

“She shouldn’t,” I answered. “She know I’m here, though.”

He nodded, then drank the rest of his shot. “You know I catch them watchin’ me sometimes. Sittin’ outside the house. When I get off work late. Like they just waitin’ on me to do somethin’.”

I gulped down the rest of my drink, then leaned back in my seat and stared at him. The last thing I wanted to talk about was them. I was the one carryin’ out the sentence. I was the one makin’ the sacrifices. All he had to do was stay outta shit. The longer I looked at him, the more irritated I became.

“Pop… Ion wanna talk about that shit. I came here to see you and Granny. I’m home. Let’s just enjoy it.”

He shifted his weight, slouchin’ in his seat. “My bad, son-son. You right. I’m glad you home, for real. Won’t be no more limits on how long you can be out here. We gon’ chill. Just us.”

“Yeah… Mommy’s birthday comin’ soon. You gon’ come wit’ me to see her?”

His face fell, and the color drained from it. I already knew that look. My pops had probably visited my muva’s gravesite three times since she’d been gone. Every time he went, somebody had to peel him off the ground. I was no better, but if that was the only way I could be close to her, I’d take it.

He rubbed his hand down his chest, then pressed down. “Ima go wit’ you, Juv.”

I nodded slowly, sippin’ my drink. Ain’t much I could say to comfort him. My fuckin’ heart broke any time she crossed my mind. Mercedes Ross loved me no matter how much I drove her crazy. She never missed a game or a school ceremony. It was always us against anybody, includin’ my pops. I was the classic mama’s boy, and I ain’t give a fuck. She was everything to me.

My pops sat across from me, rubbin’ his eyes. I knew the nigga wanted to cry, but this shit was his fault, and he had to make peace wit’ it. The guilt changed him.

“Pop. You ain’t gotta come. I can go. It’s cool.”

“Nah,” he said, wipin’ his eyes. “I’m comin’. Just needed a minute.”

He re-lit his blunt and hit it again, then splashed some more Henny in our glasses.

“I saw one of them Mercer girls not too long ago. The middle one, Selene. She had her daughters with her. One of ’em looked just like Juicy.”

Ain’t this some shit.

“Yeah,” I replied, sittin’ back. “How she doin’? I ain’t seen Selene in a long ass time.”

“She good. She said she saw that you was back home, and Marley asked for you.”

“Mama Marley? Damn,” I said, shakin’ my head. “How they know I was back home?”

“Nigga, you Juvie Ross! And she said Shaina told her. She seen the press conference. We chopped it up for a good lil’ minute. You seen Juicy?” he asked.

“Yeah. At a gala,” I answered, twirlin’ my drink around.