He Who Is a Friend (Sadik #1)

by Love Belvin

Your upbringing, culture, current lack of knowledge of Him is inconsequential to His covering and will for your life. He still wants to be in a relationship with you.”

“I declare right now, Satan, you may tempt, but cannot destroy. You may come near, but cannot touch. You may plot, but you will not conquer. In case you did not know, this soul belongs to The God Who Sees. El Roi has already seen into her future, has already lain the trap of her faith…”

“Historically, there has been a push for the breakup of the Black family. The purposeful separation of families during slavery, mass incarceration, police brutality, hiring bias, the purposeful injection of drugs into our communities, welfare rules that encourage the exclusion of Black men from their homes, and the false narrative of the absent Black father. All of these are consistent and, unfortunately, effective tools of white supremacy, pushing an altered reality that we shouldn’t buy into. Your family can and should look however you want it to, as long as it’s built on love. But there is power and promise and real joy in seeing that, despite hatred’s best attempts, we can overcome those barriers and still find forever with each other.”

She seemed…simple. Uncomplicated in the grand scheme of things. Smart, aloof of her environment, hidden yet honest, tainted and undeniably innocent at the same damn time.

friendships between a man and woman are underrated and underutilized nowadays. Friendships can be beautiful, uncomplicated...meaningful.”

“Nah.” I grabbed the syrup. “But I do think it’s necessary to check whomever addressed Bilan without my permission.” My eyes rolled up to my brother, then my father. Iban’s ‘deer caught in headlights’ stare gave him away. My father’s strong ignore game was his confession. I dropped the glass syrup dispenser onto the table. “Let’s make one thing goddamn clear: she may be new to you, but she’s it for me. As long as she breathes, she’ll never have a reason to fear if I’m walking the earth. And in my family home, she will be safer than a fairy tale princess in a goddamn fortress.” My fist banged the table, temper getting ahead of me, no matter how much I tried to reign it in, in the presence of my nieces.

“Tending to the Man Who Governs the Masses: How to Protect What He Values Most by Twanece Edmondson.