Principessa (Book II of The Stepbrother)

Chapter 38: Abara's

Haden

"Ugh! What is that smell?!" Luca said as he covered his nose in disgust.

Driving down the east side of town could make you have that reaction. The streets were littered with trash and tent cities went on for miles. The smell of urine was strong, which I'm sure is what Luca was referring to.

"Roll your window up, it'll be over in a few," I stated as I continued to drive down the run-down road, making a note to avoid the many potholes that sat in the middle of the street.

"I thought the Abara's had money." Micah stated as he looked at the abandoned homes we passed.

"They do." Was my only response.

I continued to drive until the potholes lessened and the smell of urine was no longer existent.

"Who knew the east side had a nice part." Enzo stated tiredly in the back seat.

I looked at him through the rear view mirror but kept quiet. Why they were acting like little whiny bitches, I wasn't sure. But we were here for business. Even if it didn't seem like it. The Abara's we're throwing a barbecue and we got an invite. We don't turn down invites from those we do business with, there has to be some sense of familiarity amongst us.

I pulled up to the large home at the center of the cul-de-sac and shut down the engine. We walked up to the brick home and I knocked on the door.

Loud music could be heard through the door with loud talking and laughs. The smell of barbecue filled the air around us. The door opened revealing Jhamari Abara.

Jhamari was an older man, slightly older than my dad. He was tall, slightly taller than me, his thick black beard had sprinkles of gray mixed in and contrasted with his rich hazelnut skin.

His smile widened as he clasped my hand and pulled me into a hug. "Haden, it's good to see you." He stated before nodding to everyone else.

"Good to see you too, thank you for inviting us." I stated as he stepped back and let us in.

The house was filled with people. We walked through the large living room to the kitchen. In the kitchen, multiple woman stood around talking and cutting up different fruits and vegetables.

"Jhamari, how are you just going to leave the grill? Almost burnt the damn ribs." A light skinned woman said with her arms on her hips. She looked to be around the same age as Jhamari.

"Alright Julissa, I'm going out there now." He said before turning to us. "My sister." He added with an eye roll.

"Hold on! How you gone bring all these new faces into my house and not introduce anyone?" Julissa stated placing her hands on her hips.

With a sigh, Jhamari quickly introduced us all. Julissa cut her eyes at her brother before turning to us with a smile.

"Welcome boys, the food will be ready soon. You can go out back if you would like, the kids are out their in the pool along with my nephew and some of his people. Make yourselves at home." Julissa said before she turned back around, cutting the pineapple on the cutting board.

We followed Jhamari outback and just like Julissa said, the pool was full of children playing around all from the ages of what looked to be 5-16. The teens monitored the younger ones on the shallow end of the pool.

I looked around the yard to see Jabril, Jhamari's son sitting in one of the lawn chairs with a dark skinned woman in his lap. He spotted us with his dad and patted the girls thigh as he got up and walked over to us. As she stood, it was then we could see the bulging belly under her swimsuit.