Hands All Over

Ch. 114 Crazy Girl

The loud sound of a motorcycle engine made Juice wake up with a start, his heart in his throat. He scrambled to the window, peeking out through the blinds only to see a familiar Mazda pull up in front of his mother-in-law's house, a very large man on a motorcycle pulling in behind her. His heart was beating fast in his chest when she pulled to a stop just a few feet away from her mom's front door, giving him a perfect view of her.

He saw Angela pick Evie up out of her car seat, holding her close to her chest for a moment and pressing a kiss to her temple. She headed inside, disappearing from view, and Juice stood there watching, his face against the glass trying to see if he could get another glimpse of his little family. After a few minutes, Angela came out without Evie, and he watched curiously as Quinn pulled her into a big hug, holding her tightly for a moment before pushing her away. She wiped at her face before getting in the car, waiting for Quinn to ride off before following after him. She was clearly upset about something. His guess was she hadn't wanted to leave Evie behind, and his heart ached with the need to be with her, to comfort her. This was all his fault. They shouldn't be separated like this. They should all be living happily together. Now all three of them were in spread out in different places. His heart raced in his chest as he quickly made the bed before running down the stairs and into the kitchen where Vivica was at the stove making breakfast.

"My girl is...she's..." he couldn't find the words as he breathed hard. Angela had left Evie. Angela was crying. Evie was probably crying. His girls were falling apart. "My Monk is..."

"Calm down, Mohawk Man," Vivica said with a scowl as she moved the bacon around in the pain. "Say it again, slowly."

"My baby is over there," he explained, pointing towards Graciela and Elena's house. "Saw Angela drop her off this morning. Ms. V..."

Vivica turned around and set him with a small smile. "I 'ave a plan. It's not goin' to be easy, but I think I got it figured out. In the meantime, I'll call Ms. Lena and have her come pick up some fresh vegetables. Tell her to bring the bebe. That way, she can have some time with her Papa."

Juice let out a sigh of relief, hanging his head as he took a seat at the kitchen table. "Thanks, Ms. V."

She nodded to him before gesturing to the cupboards. "Set the table for six, mon lapin. Jumpy as a rabbit you are," she said, picking up her home phone and dialing a sequence of numbers she seemed to know by heart. (my rabbit)

He smiled a bit, getting up and grabbing the placemats, silverware, and plates while he listened to Vivica talk to Happy's mom. Luther and Vandross came up from their room in the garage a few minute later, both grumbling as they started putting different condiments on the table, paying Juice no mind as they went about their business. Warwick and Dionne, the youngest of the bunch, started fixing mugs of coffee. They all helped each other, working in sync and absorbing Juice into the fold without any issue. Whatever made their Mama happy, they followed along with without complaints.

Vivica hung up the phone, gesturing for them all to sit down. "Late this afternoon, Lena's going to bring your baby girl ova. I told her Evie would like the garden."

Juice's heart rose to his throat. He couldn't stop the grin that spread across his face at the idea of seeing his little girl. "She's going to love it! I know it, Ms. V."

She nodded, taking a seat at the head of the table. "Now let's talk escape plans."

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Angela sat on the floor watching Abel play with his blocks. She was doing her best to calm him down after his little episode in the closet with Thomas. Jax had been gracious enough to let Kenny avoid lockdown to work at the funeral home, and Ellie go to work at the bridal shop. A part of her thought it was to hurt her even more while another part thought it was just him letting the kids live a normal life. "Auntie Gee? Does my daddy do bad things?"