War (5 page)

              She’s not hearing it. Nat is trying to talk to her, no doubt telling her to relax. So far they haven’t caused a scene but when Danny and Malcolm are in a room, their presence can be masked for only so long. Sooner or later they’ll be noticed.

              “Rena,” I hear Matt say as I watch the scene. “Come to Piranha’s now. Danny’s here and she just caught Malcolm buying somebody a drink…it was harmless, just the shit you do when you’re out and you have hawking ass women…well, no baby, I don’t do it
per se
, but some men do…Rena, don’t start no shit with me tonight. I’m tired…just tell Mrs. Simms to watch the boys and come down here…alright.”

              Malcolm is in rare form now. I’ve never seen him look like this; he’s looking at Danny, eyes fixed on her, concentrating on every word she’s saying, nodding in submission, shutting up when she yells ‘shut the hell up!’, closing his eyes and nodding okay. Damn. He’s just trying to make his wife happy. I know the feeling.

              “Shit, Jasmine’s going over there,” I hear Matt say to himself as he looks up from his phone, finally noticing that my wife is a mere few feet away from the scene now.

              Jasmine heads over to Danny, Marla on her trail. Jasmine squeezes her way through Malcolm’s crew and tries to pull Danny.

              “Come on,” I see Jasmine saying, “Let’s go Danielle…come on…not here.” Danny’s ignoring Jasmine while Malcolm’s still nodding, still saying ‘I’m sorry’. And then Jacob gets up.

              Jacob, drunk, has pulled Jasmine by the arm. She turns, notices him and they begin to stare at each other. I watch him pull her to him, eyes red. He leans down to whisper something to her. She looks down while he does.

              My blood pressure is rising.

              Years ago, on the streets of New York, during that Christmas brawl, Jacob Blair got the best of me. But that was because I didn’t know why he and I were fighting. I thought that we were fighting over Danny. I had no idea that we were fighting over Jasmine. But now I know. And tonight, if he wants to have a rematch over my wife, I’m ready. I will murder that Blair.

              I now see Jasmine shaking her head
no
. What the hell is he asking her? To come home with him? She puts a hand on his chest, says something to him and then pushes him away. But it isn’t a push that’s meant to gain results. She doesn’t want him to let her go. He pulls her back to him closer. She closes her eyes.

              “Take it easy,” I hear Jon say to me. “Too many people. Too many cameras.” My eyes are glued to Jasmine and Jacob. My teeth feel like they’re breaking from clenching them together. I want to
kill
this muthafucka.

              I watch Jacob whisper something to Jasmine again. I watch her shake her head
no
and this time, I watch her pull away from him. Completely. Holding on to her purse, she rushes through the crowd of Malcolm’s friends and towards the front doors. And my heart is beating a thousand times a minute. I watch Jacob as he turns to go after her. Nat stops him, shakes his head
no
and points to a barstool. Jacob glares at Nat, closes his eyes and then heads to the barstool to sit.

              “Another one,” Jacob says to the bartender, holding up his empty glass.

              “That was hard for her,” I say to no one in particular. “Did you see how hard that was to walk away from him?”

              “Huh?” Matt says to me, watching the scene with Danny and Malcolm still playing out. “Shit, this is about to get ugly.”

              “I should go help,” Jon says as he stands, a grin on his face. “Be right back.”

MATT

              And so Marla’s now rubbing Danny’s back and saying
,
The baby, Dan, the baby
. And Malcolm’s got his eyes closed and head bowed, nodding along to Danielle and saying,
I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry
over and over again as Jon strolls over to them. I know for a fact that shit is about to hit the fan, so I stand up. Marlon apparently thinks the same thing so he stands up with me. The only thing running through my mind now is New York City and the night we all had a big brawl outside of the Ritz during Christmas. But this is what Jon hasn’t considered: this time we’re outnumbered. Jacob’s got his in-laws and those are some big ass white boys. This isn’t about to be pretty. So something’s telling me to hurry my ass over there before Jon gets himself killed.

But then, Marla.

She apparently sees Jon approaching, out of the corner of her eye, because she turns to him. And now, with her eyes squinted and her head turned to the side, she points a limp finger at him and says, “Jon, did you know Malcolm was here when you texted me to bring Dan and Jasmine up here for drinks?”

NAT

              “Did you know Malcolm was here when you texted me to bring Dan and Jasmine up here?”

MARLON

“Did you know Malcolm was here?”

JON

“Jon, did you know Malcolm was here when you texted me to bring Dan?”

JACOB

“Did you know Malcolm was here when you texted me to bring Dan and Jasmine up here for drinks? Did you do that on
purpose
?”

MARLON

              And while Danny’s still cussing his ass out, Malcolm slowly opens his eyes.

NAT

              Mac looks up and over at Jon.

MATT

              Malcolm turns his head and sees Jon.

JACOB

              Mac’s ass looks up and sees this muthafucka standing there.

MATT

Whop!

JACOB

Smash!

MARLON

Boom!