Page 2

Blair

Everything moved in slow motion as bullets flew everywhere and Quasim was laying on the pavement with blood pouring from his body.

My chest felt tight as I saw him on the ground with his eyes fluttering open and close.

It was hard seeing him this way; he was always my strength, and now he couldn’t be that.

His eyes continued to flutter open and close as he smiled. “Smile, Anjo.” I heard him whisper, as his eyes fluttered again.

“A lot comes with being Queen Inferno, Blair… you must always protect your king. Me and Mina passing this to you and Pop… you prepared for that?” I remembered the conversation me and Papa had at the reception.

I was downing a bottle of water, and he came over to hug and kiss my head, while wishing me and Quasim all the blessings.

Something inside of me ignited, seeing my husband on the floor, carrying the next Inferno in my stomach, and watching my sister and brother-in-law holding it down to protect us.

Meer had been shot, but he was still in front of his wife while the rest of the IGs continued to hold it down.

They were protecting their queen and king.

Our king was down, and it was scary for all of us.

Quasim was never down. I held my baby’s face, and reached behind him for his gun, grabbed it, cocked it back, and remained by his side.

I wasn’t leaving his side; someone would have to pry me away from him before I left him here.

My heart steadied, as I watched a man coming up the block toward us.

It was as if he knew the king was down and wanted his chance to say he ended him.

“Aim and think of someone that you hate.” I heard Capri’s voice echo in my head.

I held the gun in my hand and listened to the words echo through my head as I pulled the trigger while still on the floor in front of Quasim.

The man ducked back, and I continued to keep an eye out while I saw Havoc rush over toward us. “Fuck, man… Ellis!” I heard Evan screaming while holding his brother in the street.

It was a slow day, so not all the Gods were here today. We only stopped here so I could use the bathroom, and all of this had transpired. The sirens could be heard in the distance, and I was sick to my stomach.

I took another shot, hitting him in the leg while Capri looked at me before she finished the man. She jumped on one of the God’s bikes and followed the string of bikes leaving the block with Kiki and Marley behind her. Meer yelled for her and couldn’t get on his bike because of his leg.

“I fucking 9!” He screamed into his phone while he hobbled, his leg bleeding out, and the sound of his wife on a bike in the distance.

“Queen, I need you to get in the car because we gotta get ghost… we gotta leave now.” Havoc told me, and I was so damn scared.

Syn rushed out of the bar and cowered down as she came near us. “Tiny, get in the car for me, baby… I need you to get in now.”

Without hesitation, she jumped in the car, as I watched Havoc and one of the OG’s that hung out at the bar pick up Quasim and put him in the back of his truck. I sat in the back with my baby’s head on me, as he closed the door behind him, adjusted the seat and peeled away.

Quameer had already gotten into the car that Wylie pulled up in, and we quickly got away from the scene. “Fuck!” Havoc hit the steering wheel and kept checking the backseat.

“His breathing is shallow. We need to get him to the hospital.”

“No more hospitals…Capo has given strict instructions to go to Dr. Ramos if somebody gets hit… said the police been sniffing around too much.”

“I’m not fucking gambling with my husband’s life, Havoc!” I hollered from the backseat.

“He was my friend before he was your husband, B. No disrespect, I would die for this nigga, so trust that I know what the fuck I’m doing and would never jeopardize that.” He raised his voice, which he never did.

Syn touched his arm. “You were grazed, Hamza,” she gently touched where the bullet grazed him, and he kept going.

“Fuck that…. Hit that contact with the R for me, Tiny.” He told her, and she went through his phone and did exactly what he had said.

The call sounded throughout the entire truck, and a voice came through the line. “Yeah.”

“King.”

The man whistled. “Fuck… come. You know the location.”

Havoc drove like his life depended on it, bending corners, and taking short cuts. Once we got onto the highway, he opened the truck up more and took speed. Syn put her hand over on his lap, and he wrapped it with his as he continued to drive.

She looked back at me. “How are you holding up back there, B?”

I couldn’t respond because the tears in my eyes had finally fallen, and I was choked up while holding my man. “I can’t lose him, Syn.”

She gently removed her hand from Havoc and reached in the back for mine. “Quasim is too strong to go out like this… he’s just taking a nap and resting up before he unleashes big shit on whoever thought he would fold easily.”

“Cops, Havoc!” I panicked, as cop cars surrounded us on all sides.

Havoc looked out the window and nodded his head, and the cop returned the gesture. “We’re good… they getting us to the bridge.” They continued at the same speed, hitting their sirens while cars moved out the way, allowing us to speed down the highway toward the bridge.

His eyes kept fluttering, but he hadn’t opened them yet. I needed to see his eyes, that intense glare he gave me before he smirked.

I needed to see my baby’s eyes to know that he was going to be alright.

My emotions were high, and I was trying hard not to break down because I had to be strong for him.

I pulled his cross out of his shirt and held it tightly in my hands.

Sim always wore his cross, never removing it.

I prayed hard, harder than I had ever prayed before, holding the rosary that he had given me.

I wore it today because it was going to be a special day. We would be finding out more about our baby, and hearing from my doctor.

Before Quasim entered my life, I had been so angry with God.

Why did he take my mother from me and put me in foster care with a bunch of people that never loved me?

Then I suffered with Tyshawn, and always wondered why he put him in my path?

Was I not a good person? Did I not deserve to find someone that treated me like a queen?

When I lost my son, the anger continued.

The moment the doctor told me I had cancer, I stopped praying.

I pretended like I had God’s number stored into my phone and I had blocked him.

What was the reason to keep praying when all he kept giving me was bad news after bad news.

My life was ruined, and I expected him to pull me out of it?

Then I met Quasim, a man that had experienced such loss, yet still had this unwavering faith in God. He encouraged and inspired me to start talking to God again. I prayed in the backseat while holding his cross and mine.

I prayed for our unborn baby.

His parents.

His brother.

Elijah.

I prayed for him to push through this and come through stronger than ever. I lived in this world without him before knowing him, and I didn’t want to do it again.

I couldn’t do it again.

The cops fell back as we made it to the bridge, and we breezed over it. Waiting on the other end as we entered Staten Island was NYPD, and they fell into place with their sirens blaring while leading Havoc where he was already going.

Quasim was always so humble, always so lowkey. I didn’t realize how important he was to so many people. Knowing that he was down was sending a ripple effect through the city.

Syn continued to look back at me with tears in her eyes as Havoc was focused on getting us where we needed to be. Quasim’s phone started to ring, so I went through his pockets to grab it, and saw Elijah’s facetime trying to come through.

I handed Syn the phone and she looked at me. “No, we cannot answer this call for him right now… this would traumatize him.”

Havoc looked at Syn and the phone. “Answer the phone… Sim always answers for him, and he’ll be an emotional wreck if he doesn’t answer.”

Syn did as she was told and put the phone to Havoc’s face as I held my mouth to avoid crying while hearing his voice. “Sim, can I call you Dad… Havoc?” He looked in the camera confused when he saw it was Havoc instead of Quasim.

“Yeah, man… Sim is handling something real important right now and can’t talk. He gave me his phone to answer in case you called.”

“Oh, okay. Is my mom around?”

Syn squeezed my knee because the tears poured from my face. We promised to never lie to him, and we were lying to him. “Who’s your mom, Elijah?” Havoc didn’t understand.

“Anjo… I want to call her mom. I asked Gams, and she said I needed to talk to them.” He was excited, and my heart ached.

“I think B is at home resting… look, let me hit you back with Sim… okay?” Havoc took a deep breath while trying to keep it together, but you could hear the emotion in his voice.

“Okay, Gams is taking me to the beach later.”

“Man, you having the best time… we miss you and I’ll talk to you later, cool?”

“Cool. Later, Havoc.”

Syn quickly ended the call, and he took the deepest breath. “Sim, you better not fucking die on us, nigga… you got Elijah and your seed coming into the world. You already promised your next seed was gonna be my God baby… can’t have Goon ass out here upstaging me.”

I released a loud sob as I held onto my husband.

The police cars turned off when we rounded the corner. Havoc saluted one of them while he peeled into a small upscale neighborhood in Staten Island. He quickly pulled down a tree-lined street with fancy landscaping. Every house was massive with gates that needed a code to gain access to the home.

He pulled up to a gate, hit the code and the gates opened as we pulled into the massive driveway.

Havoc whipped into the garage and the doors closed on us as he quickly got out the car.

No sooner than he got out, a short Spanish man came into the garage with two men behind him.

Three women rushed out as well, with Hassan coming behind them wearing his coat and scrubs.

“Hassan, what are you doing here?” I was hysterical as he gently removed me from the back seat while the men grabbed Quasim out and carried him into the house.

His body was limp as he disappeared into the house and my legs became weaker, while my head started to spin.

Hassan was less worried about my question and more concerned about the fact that I was pregnant and hysterical. My husband’s blood was all over my clothes, and my hands were shaking. He held my hand, checking my pulse and then looked at me.

“Blair, I need you to calm down… your heart is going at an alarming speed. I need you to take some breaths for me before you pass out.”

Synthia came over and she held my other hand. “In and out… please, just take a breath.”

Everything was hitting me ten times harder than before. My husband had just been dragged into a house, and we weren’t at the hospital. “He needs a doctor!” I screamed.

“I promise Blair, if you don’t calm down, I will sedate you.” He threatened as I was screaming and hitting him in the chest.

Syn grabbed me as best as she could and held my face. “Please calm down. I know this is hard and I won’t pretend to understand how you feel, Blair. He was a good man.”

“ Was ?” I screeched and snatched my arms from Syn.

“Fuck… I don’t know… I’m scared, too. He is a good man. We need to breathe and think of the baby. Quasim would be pissed if he knew you were stressing like this while pregnant.” Her calmness went out the way and she was panicking right along with me.

My legs had finally given out and Hassan caught me just as I was about to hit the garage floor.

He picked me up and carried me into the house.

Quasim’s blood made a trail down the hallway.

The open space featured the kitchen, dining room, and then a huge living room with huge floor to ceiling windows that showcased the entirety of Staten Island.

The view was one that would have knocked the wind out of my chest if it hadn’t already been knocked out. I was sick to my stomach as Hassan placed me on the cream sofa and then darted down the hall.

Syn looked around the massive living area and quickly came to my side, taking my hand into hers. Hassan returned with a blood pressure cuff, and a pulse reader. I watched as he placed the cuff around my arm and then clipped the machine on my index finger.

As he pumped the small ball thingy, he lined his scope under the cuff near the middle of my arm and continued to pump. “Don’t they have electronic pumps for this?” Syn asked.

Hassan looked at her as he continued to listen and loosened the valve. I tried to control my breathing and calm down. When he was done, he took the cuff and pulse reader off of me.

“I need you to calm down for me… I’m gonna take it again in a few minutes. Lay back on this couch, Blair.” He looked over at Syn. “I don’t like the digital shit. A professor told me he always uses this method… if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.”

He made sure my legs were up on the couch, and I felt a cool cloth over my eyes as he coached me to breathe in and out and relax. I smelled lavender and knew it was Syn holding her little stash she kept with her under my nose.