"Why was he following her?! I need answers!" Joseph slammed his fist on the desk.
"Bishop, we don't know." He stood in front of the group of men.
"We don't know what they're planning or who they're planning on going after." Joseph tried to keep his calm. He felt himself losing control of his emotions. He's worked so hard to manage them but someone is trying to undo his hard work by going after his most precious things. It was become harder for him to keep cool. There's only so much praying a man can do.
"I don't need excuses."
"Bishop..." Joseph held up his finger.
"Don't feed my bone of that bul....mmm." He put his fist against his mouth and looked at the wall while he focused on his breathing. "Lord Jesus, I'm gonna need you to help me." He whispered to himself.
"Bishop..."
"MmmMmm." He turned back to the men. "I don't....need to hear anymore excuses. I need to know what's going on. My family is in danger."
"Mmcht...man." He heard one of the guys smack his lips.
"Excuse me....you got something to say?" Michael Sr. stood up. The guy looked at the two of them. He didn't understand why Bishop was acting how he was. "Out with it.
"Look, I just feel like you doing way too much."
"I'm doing too much by trying to protect my family?"
"Everybody trying to protect their families and honestly you putting ours in danger by doing this."
Joseph stood up straight and walked over to him. The rest of the men looked in fear. It was known what type of man Joseph was. He was one to make very calculated moves, especially when someone pissed him off."
"So..." he chuckled. "...who's following your family around?" Who is actively trying to kidnap them or has it happened already? Is your family member's rapist trying to attack your family?" The guy's jaw clenched.
"Tell me, how many times did someone rig your child's car to explode so she would die? Did your child have to learn how to walk and talk again because your brother tried to kill her? Did your brother rape your wife and lie for years about then taunt her with it? Hmm?"
Joseph leaned down. "Tell me exactly how much me having you do research for me is hurting your family. You are not out there on the streets for me. You are sitting here in a cushy office space on a state of the art computer while you charge your lunch bill to my company. So how is this hurting you and your family?"
"You ain't got to do all that. It ain't that deep. What happened to your family ain't got shit to do wi...."
before he could finish his sentence, Joseph's hand had already gone across his face and he had fallen to the floor. The guy held his face as he looked up at Joseph, who now had his fist balled up, ready to hit him again.
"Joe." Michael Sr. came behind him and held his wrist. "It ain't worth it." Joseph took a deep breath and put his fist down.
"You better be glad I know Jesus, because the old me would have shot you dead for what you just said." The guy rolled his eyes.
"Man...." Michael picked the guy up and sat him back in the chair.
"Shut up." Laura came over with an ice pack. With her help, Michael got Joseph back to the front of the room. He turned and faced the guys while Joseph cooled off.
"Listen, this is not some small thing. This is not Bishop just being paranoid. Someone is after our families and because they're after our families, they're also after yours. Because if they take us out and this business goes down, what will happen to yall? Hmm?" They guys nodded.
