Merc (COMPLETED)

Page 40🔓

Merc 🤎🐻

After disconnecting the call, I laughed. “I feel like I’m in a nightmare. There’s no way this girl is serious about this shit.”

“She seems to really be in love.”

“Too in love. It’s like she’s blind to everything else.”

“That’s how it be sometimes. You can be so caught up in the good that you can’t see the bad.” That was true. “Try not to get too anxious about it. From the sound of things, they don’t have any solid plans in place yet, so there’s still time for this situation to turn around.”

“Maybe, but I’m not going to wait for it to turn around. I’m going to turn it around myself.”

I patted her thigh so she could get up, then I grabbed my blunt and stepped outside to smoke. It was cold as hell, but I needed the relief. When I was done, I felt a slight sense of peace. I found Neo in the bathroom, getting ready to do her hair. To take my mind off things, I offered to help. I sprayed and conditioned her scalp before she pulled her locs up in a bun that gave me an unobstructed view of her beautiful face.

Time flew by as we talked and listened to music. By the time we were done, my heart was more at ease. I was glad she was here with me because she made everything feel like something I could handle, and God knows I was grateful for that.

Day 3

“It’s done,” Bully said. “Both.”

“Aight, let ’em know I appreciate ’em.”

“Always.”

I disconnected the call, grateful my homies were just as loyal as I was.

I didn’t plan to tell Neo what I planned to have done to Steven and his baby mama. Come to find out, ol’ girl had a clothing store. It was easy to send my people out on a get back mission for her. They destroyed destroyed her inventory just like she’d done Neo’s with Steven. For him, I couldn’t resist letting Toe get at his ass. I told him to do lightwork so Neo wouldn’t feel bad about it if Steven called her—mostly body shots that would leave him sore and bruised for a couple of weeks.

Neo hadn’t been eating. I thought it was because she was depressed. When I went searching for her to give her an update on the weather, I heard a muffled version of her voice coming from one of the guest rooms. I went inside, and when I realized she was in the closet, I was about to leave. Hearing her say my name caused me to stop.

She was praying… for me.

Pressing my ear against the door, I listened as she ended her prayer with, “God, I’m ending my fast today, trusting You to be You. You are a covenant keeper. You won’t go against Your nature and Your word to make a liar out of me. I’m asking that You be Jehovah Baal Perazim for Mercury. Be his Lord of breakthrough. Give him clarity, liberty, and opportunity when this snow melts. Give him clarity on how to handle this situation with Aries. Give him liberty from the thoughts and depression that have been consuming him at the mere thought of his son moving away. Give him the opportunity to restore the healthy relationship he had with Aries and bless it to be free of ego and pride and selfishness so they can be on the same page to do what’s best for their son. In Jesus name I pray, amen.”

Quickly shuffling out of the room, I weakly fell against the wall outside. Neo wasn’t just praying for me; she’d been fasting for me too. And she wasn’t doing it for show. She wasn’t doing it to make herself look better in my eyes. She hadn’t even mentioned it to me.

I wiped a quickly fallen tear and released a shaky breath as I stepped into the nearest guest bathroom to compose myself. Outside of my mother and grandmother, no woman had ever prayed for me. No woman had ever sacrificed and offered more of herself to God for me. No woman had ever gone to God on my behalf.

A while ago, I said there was no woman in my life worth the effort and sacrifice of being a priority. Neo had officially changed that. She wasn’t just a woman I now knew my heart and body would be safe with; she was a woman I knew my soul and spirit would be safe with too.