Page 21

Blair

I peeled myself away from Elijah as he slept peacefully in the bed with me. Since he had arrived, he hadn’t wanted to leave my side, and I didn’t want him to either. Kissing his curly head, I sat on the edge of the bed and took a deep breath.

The bedroom was attached to where Sim’s room was, and I needed to be close to him.

Capone made sure I had everything that I needed to be near him.

Capri was down the hall with Meer, after convincing him to go back down the hall to his own room.

That didn’t stop his afternoon visit when he had the nurses push his bed into the room to visit with Sim.

Covering Elijah back up, I slipped my feet into my slippers and went into the next room. The sounds of his machines and watching his chest rise and fall always made me sick. I hated and loved those machines at the same time. Hated them because it was a reminder that they were breathing for him.

Loved them because they were keeping him alive, and that was what we all wanted. I stood on my toes and kissed his face, the scruffiness of his unshaved face scratching against my cheek. It had been weeks since everything happened, and he wouldn’t wake up. I wondered if he ever wanted to wake up.

If he saw Harley like I had, I knew he wouldn’t want to come back. Why would he? I couldn’t be angry because he finally had his baby girl in his arms. Something that he had wanted since she left him.

I grabbed the pink Basin and went to fill it with warm water to wash his face and body. This had been my morning routine, because I needed something to do. We had sent the message to Polo, and it had been silent since.

Usually, I would welcome the silence, but this time it made me nervous. What did they have up their sleeve next? I took a deep breath and continued to wipe him down and then grabbed the lotion to make sure his feet remained moisturized.

“Angel pie, I need you to get some rest, too,” I looked up as Gams came into the room. She had a plastic plaid shopping bag in her hand.

The bag brought so many memories of hauling them to the laundromat when I lived with my foster family off Utica avenue. We would pack our clothes in those bags, and lug them down the block to get washed, and then repeat the process all over again.

More than likely, she had cooked food at the house and brought some for me to eat. The kitchen was stocked with snacks and ready-made food daily, still, I never went in there to grab anything. Other than crackers or cookies, I didn’t eat much.

I made sure I heated Elijah a meal up in the microwave every night, but I usually picked off his food because my appetite was nonexistent. “I woke up a little bit ago. Needed to get him cleaned up for the day.”

She offered me a small smile as she sighed and dug into the bag. “Dumplin requested some breakfast this morning. I made you and Elijah some and prepared some lunch and dinner, too.”

“Thank you, Gams.”

She walked over to rub the side of Quasim’s face and then kissed his hands before taking a few plates and headed back out the door and down the hall.

I pulled the chair up to the end of his bed and rubbed his huge feet.

God, I missed feeling him putting his feet on me when we were in the bed.

I turned up the news and listened to all the headlines of the morning while rubbing his feet and his calves.

“Good morning, we’re coming to you live from Red Hook, where fear is once again gripping the community. The infamous Red Hook serial killer has reportedly resurfaced.

Earlier this morning, a jogger and his dog made a chilling discovery near the industrial waterfront.

A body found washed up on the rocks. At this time, the victim’s identity remains unknown, and authorities have yet to release any official details.

Residents are understandably on edge as investigators work to determine if this latest tragedy is indeed connected to the string of killings that have haunted this area.

We’ll continue to follow this developing story and bring you updates as soon as more information becomes available. Back to you in the studio.”

I sighed. “Do you hear that, Simmy. Oh, baby, I wish we could watch the news together like we always do.”

I would do anything to see him say a quick prayer before crossing his chest and kissing his hand up to God for whoever that died whenever we were watching the news together.

As I continued to rub him down, I zoned out and thought of all the things we had gone through.

So much of our relationship was a push and pull.

Mainly me pulling and him pushing away. We finally got away from all of that, and now we were faced with this. Faced with possibly losing the one man I had loved with my entire heart. A man that would give his entire life for me and had shown me what love felt like.

It wasn’t supposed to hurt.

Love was supposed to feel warm and tingly. That feeling you felt as you walked down the hallway knowing that Santa had left the younger you gifts under the tree. That was how I felt when it came to being loved by Quasim Inferno.

It started out rough, however, the moment that we figured things out, it was beautiful. I wanted the chance to continue to love this man and show him how good our love could get. How much love we could bring into our family.

“Mom?” I quickly wiped my tears and turned to Elijah standing there.

He swiped the sleep away from his eyes as he stared at me. “Hey baby, why are you awake?”

“Why are you crying?”

“I miss him… that’s all. It’s alright to cry when you miss the people you love.” I wiped the lotion from my hands and fully turned to him.

Elijah hugged me and held onto me. “Will I have to go back with my other mom if Sim doesn’t wake up?”

The fear this boy had when it came to having to go back with Thea made me upset.

No child should have ever been scared to be with the person who birthed them.

A mother was supposed to be their child’s safe space.

As he held onto me, and I rubbed his curls, I knew it would be a cold day in hell before I would ever allow him to go back with Thea.

“I will make sure you don’t ever have to go back with her… okay?”

“Anjo, will the baby call you mommy?”

I laughed. “Of course. Not right away because it won’t be able to talk, but soon as it learns to speak, I’m sure it will call me mommy.”

He pulled his head back and stared at me. Elijah was small for his age, and even with him being on the smaller size, he was almost the size of me. “That’s why I want to call you mom and Sim Dad… I don’t want to confuse the baby.”

I pinched his cheek. “Is that right? Hmm, I think there’s another reason you want to call us mom and dad, and whenever you’re ready to tell us, we’re right here to listen.”

“Okay,” he smiled and walked over toward Sim.

He reached his hand up and rubbed the side of his face before going to brush his teeth and wash his face to get ready for the day.

“Speaking of the baby… I had Ramos reach out to a colleague of his that is an OBGYN. She’s gonna come to check you and the baby out,” Hassan stood in the doorway.

He was dressed in his scrubs, which meant he had just come from work. Although he took time away, he eventually had to return. “I don’t want to know anything without him, Hassan.” My voice cracked.

“That’s fair… I just need to know for my mental that everything checks out with the baby, Blair.

You can’t ignore your pregnancy because he’s not awake.

I know Sim, and I know he would want you taking better care of yourself and not stressing out because of him.

B, every baby is a blessing, but this one that you’re carrying is the biggest blessing to King and us Gods. ”

I folded my arms. “How does anyone expect me to eat, sleep, and thrive when there’s a chance that all of this could be over within seconds.

There’s that chance that he won’t wake up and I have to make the tough decision to end his life.

How am I supposed to suck down a steak and go on with life…

I’m really trying, Hassan. I promise I am. ”

He removed himself from the doorway and walked into the room, extending his arms. I hugged him, as he rubbed my back while I sucked up the tears before Elijah came back. Life was so unfair, and now I had to think about not one, but two kids.

Elijah needed me, and this baby did, too. How could I go on if Quasim was taken from us? It was something that I didn’t want to think about. I actually became sick when I thought about it, so pushing it out my mind was much easier than sitting around thinking of what my new reality could be.

“Corleon got me Mercer’s schedule and the sick fuck like to shop at GoodFoods every Wednesday.”

I pulled my head back and stared at him. “Hassan, please don’t tell me that’s some code word for the freaky shit he’s into.”

My heart was already broken having to hear the trauma and pain he inflicted on Elijah. I didn’t think my heart could take anything else. “It’s an expensive ass grocery store in Jersey City. He and his wife own a condo in the same neighborhood.”

“What is the plan?”

Hassan shrugged his shoulders and took a deep breath.

“Honestly, I’m just winging this shit. I can’t ignore the shit that he has done to Elijah…

knowing I could have prevented what happened to that boy and he gaslit the fuck out of me about what I knew I saw…

can’t ignore that shit. This is one thing that I can do for King…

one thing that I can handle, so leave it in my hands and know I’m working shit out. ”

“You have to be careful. Berkeley is still missing, and we don’t need you going missing, too. This is messy and a lot of powerful people are connected, Hassan. This isn’t the streets, so you need to be careful stepping into this.”

“Menace Caselli is powerful, if not more powerful than most of them. Both of his sisters are in high positions. Corleon already told me to give him the word… Menace isn’t happy that Mercer is a client of his, and he has done this shit. I’d be more worried about Mercer than me, B.”

“And Lucia?”

“Capri is going to have that meeting with Lucia… see what she has to say. We have to play this safe and wing this shit. I’m not stupid enough to think one man can take them down…

I’m smart enough to know that I can take that one man down, and the people that he surrounds himself with will push him to the front to save themselves.

Lucia will sell her mother to save herself, so once she sees Mercer is going down, I can promise she won’t be a problem. ”

I paced the room and ran my hand through my hair. “No loose ends.”

“Just because she won’t be a problem doesn’t mean she won’t be handled. Too much is at stake keeping her alive.”

His phone rang and he quickly answered. “Yeah… stop fucking with me. Fuck… shit… I’m on my way.”

“What happened?”

“B, that body they found was fucking Berkeley.” He dropped his head and ran his hand through his locs.

My heart dropped to my toes when he looked over at the breaking news that came across the screen, interrupting the daytime talk show that had been on previously.

“We’re back with a heartbreaking update from the scene this morning in Red Hook.

Authorities have now confirmed that the victim discovered earlier this morning is Media News journalist, Berkeley Tate.

This is still a developing story, but emotions are running high here at the scene.

Just moments ago, Tate’s family arrived, and as you can likely hear behind me, her mother is overcome with grief.

Investigators remain on site, piecing together what led to this tragic loss.

We’ll continue to follow this story closely and bring you the latest updates as they become available. Stay with us.”

I lowered my head and prayed for Berkeley and her family. She didn’t deserve what had been done to her.

God, protect her family.