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Capri stepped forward. “Those are her babies. I would do the same for Peach and Cherry… nobody couldn’t keep me from them.”

From the look in his eyes, I could tell he knew there was nothing that he could do. His wife’s mind was already made up, and she was coming back to the states.

“Jean told me that they’re coming back to the states.” Des walked into the room, pausing before going over toward where Sim was, bowed his head and kissed his forehead. “Remember the last time Mina lost it, huh?”

Papa hung his head. “It’s her boys, Des.”

“And mommy?” Capri asked.

“If Mina coming back to the states, then she coming right behind her… how it used to be before the twins came.” He informed her.

Capri walked over to her father, and he wrapped his arms around her. He dropped a few kisses on her head. “I want you to be safe… I know the role you play, and I’m right there with you… along with your brothers.”

“I cannot sit back and not do anything. I’ve done that in the past… please don’t make me do it again,” I stared at my best friend.

She looked between me and Papa and nodded her head. “I won’t allow you to sit back. That’s your husband in the bed, and I can respect and hold you down like you would if the roles were reversed.”

I walked over and hugged her tightly, taking a deep breath because I wouldn’t know what I would have done if I didn’t have her by my side. She released me and I walked over toward Sim’s side. Taking his hand into mine, I kissed the back of his hand as tears fell from my eyes.

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My heart was sore from constantly feeling the pain that surrounded our family.

When you became an Inferno God, you were considered family.

The Inferno family would ride for you until your last breath.

What made Quasim a great leader was the fact that he would ride just as hard for his guys as they would for him.

All the Gods were ten toes behind him, and he would do the same. Had he known that Ellis was being buried today, he would have been a wreck. As much as I couldn’t wait for my baby to wake up, I was glad that he didn’t have to feel this pain right this second.

The triplets were always together, lived together, and you never saw one without the other two.

When God blessed their mother’s womb with the three of them, he knew they couldn’t be without each other.

Now, they were forced to be separated from their brother, as he sat at the front of the church and the pastor shared a few words.

Their grandmother was a praying woman and put all her money they slid her way into this church.

I sat in the second pew, although they tried to get me to sit in the front with the family.

I was Queen Inferno, so there was a place for me to sit.

This wasn’t about me or my family today, it was about Ezra, Evan, and their grandmother losing Ellis.

I watched as Ezra held onto his grandmother as she sobbed out loud, holding her embroidered handkerchief over her mouth while he continued to be strong for her and his brother.

Evan sat still while staring straight ahead, never moving or making any sound. I could tell that they were hurting and nothing would make any of this better. Tears slid down my face, as the darkest shades I could find covered my eyes.

Capri squeezed my hand as we sat in the pew. Papa was in the back with the rest of the Gods, making sure nobody was getting into this church. Outside, you could hear the motors of the bikes of different biker gangs. They were all coming to show their respects because we lost someone.

We lost a God, and nothing was okay for us.

As a family, we were all fucked up because Ellis was so young.

I remember when Sim told me about how he started looking out for them.

Told me how they were menaces in the street, and their grandmother couldn’t control them.

She feared this would happen to them, and her fear came true.

I knew Quasim, and he would feel guilty. He would hurt and feel responsible for Ellis dying while working under him. He promised their grandmother to keep them alive, and take them under his wing, and now we were all gathered to lay him to rest.

My heart felt like it was going to beat out my chest because I kept looking at the casket and thinking of Quasim. How he or Meer could have been in a casket, too.

The pastor was staring straight at us and Capri removed her hand from mine, standing up. She was the district attorney, and the reason all of us in this church believed in justice with her on our side.

Fixing her black wide-legged pants and her favorite comfort heels, she made her way out the pew. Every person in the church stood at their feet, even Evan. She went up to the podium where the pastor hugged her and allowed her to take over.

“There are not enough words that I can say to thank this man that lies before me. When I was told that he jumped in front of Meer, and his last words were asking if Meer was alright, I broke down and cried. To be so selfless that you risked your own life to protect mine is something that doesn’t go unnoticed to us Infernos.

If they took things the legal route, then I would use all my power to do them over in the worst way.

They didn’t do it that way, and they chose the streets.

Mrs. Magnani, I can promise you that your grandson’s life will not be in vain.

Ezra and Evan, I can promise you that the get back for the pain they have brought our family will be handled.

I always do my end and make sure that every family in this church will always be protected.

Ellis, we are missing you down here. I will do my part to make sure your brothers take care of themselves, and your grandmother never has to worry about a thing.

You died before getting your flames, but I can promise they’re on you up there…

until we meet again, God.” She kissed her two fingers and held them over the coffin.

The minute we all filed out the funeral, I held onto Capri’s hand as we watched all the different bike gangs stand to their feet. We made our way down the steps, while Ellis was being carried by the Gods, Papa and Yasin holding the front.

Everyone stood up and watched with their heads bowed. The entire block was locked down and nobody was getting onto this block until we were gone. Capri kissed my cheek, and nodded her head, as she walked around the front of the truck that I would be in.

She walked around and took her helmet from Kincaid as she climbed onto her bike.

In her heels, she still got on her bike and was going to lead the ride to his final burial place.

Corleon held both Skyler and Jeffie’s hands and put them in one of the awaiting cars.

Capella held Aimee’s hand, as he walked over toward me.

I remained on the sidewalk and watched as they put Ellis in the back of the hearse. Evan rested his head on the door as soon as it was closed. Ezra rubbed his back, as they went to get on their bikes to ride their brother out.

Capella held the door open for me and I climbed in with Aimee behind me. She climbed toward the back, and Capella sat next to me. Papa got in the front seat with the driver, and saluted Capri.

She held her hand up, rotated her wrist with her fist closed, then let two fingers out that signaled ahead.

The sounds of the bikes could probably be heard from miles away.

Capri remained, and we all waited until we saw Kincaid fly down the block on a wheelie, holding a flag of Ellis’ face as Capri took off behind him.

Capone and Cappadonna were right behind their sister on bikes, while the rest of the Gods followed them. Our truck pulled out behind the limo with the triplets’ grandmother and family. Each member of a biker gang locked down block after block as we bypassed traffic signals.

“How you feeling back there, B?”

“Angry.”

“Feel you,” Papa said.

I looked over at Capella who had his hand over the chair, holding Aimee’s hand with his gun in his lap. Capri peeled the corners on her bike with everyone following behind her. I knew her mind was racing a million miles per hour.

You would never know it because she kept her demeanor calm and cool. I also knew her enough to know that she wasn’t going to stop until there was blood on her hands. Quameer didn’t play when it came to Capri. Capri really didn’t play when it came to Meer, and it was because she said he saved her.

He was the one who showed her what it was like to be loved, and for that, she would always go hard behind him. She signaled something to Kiki, and she and Yasin rode ahead of her to make sure the light was cleared so we could breeze by.

I watched as Kiki was on one side of the intersection making sure traffic didn’t come through, and Yasin was on the other.

She saluted when we rolled through the intersection, even though she couldn’t see me behind the tint, she knew I was in here.

All the bikes followed, surrounding the cars as we continued toward the highway.

When we buried my mother, I remember staring up at the sky and wondering why it decided to rain that day of all days. I was already sad because my mom was gone, then it started to rain and that made me feel worse. Like today, it started raining as we stood in the cemetery in New Jersey.

The rain drops pelted down on the umbrella that Havoc held over me.

I held my purse as I watched everyone toss roses on top of his coffin.

I stepped forward, the last one, and closed my eyes.

Bringing the rose to my lips, I kissed it and tossed it into the grave while bowing my head and saying a prayer.

Havoc remained next to me, and I roped my arms into his as we walked back to join everyone. “You alright, Queen?”

“I’m not, Hav.” I admitted.

Quasim still hadn’t opened his eyes, we were burying a God, and I was carrying a child that I was the least bit worried about.

I wasn’t sleeping well, and I barely could eat anything.

My mind was on everything else, and our time in Barbados.

Everything was good, so fun, and then we came home, and life fell apart.

Ms. Magnani let out a loud scream and tried to launch herself into the grave. “Not my Boogs… please lawd, not Boogs!” she screamed while Ezra held her back.

She sobbed into his chest, hitting him while screaming that everything was his fault. He stood strong, allowing her to hit him in the chest while tears fell down his face. Evan finally grabbed hold of his grandmother, and she broke down in his arms, while Ezra walked away.

I was quick on my feet and followed behind him while Havoc caught up with me. “Ezra!” I called toward him.

He turned around. “Thank you for coming, Queen.”

“Blair… you can call me Blair, Ezra.”

He hung his head. “Nah, I call your husband King, and you’re his Queen, so I’m gonna call you Queen.”

I saw so much pain in his eyes that I had come to realize in my own life. He was always meant to be strong. There was no time for him to break, because he was the foundation of his family. Ezra was what kept them together and made sure they were good.

As much as it had always been the three of them, it was no question who the leader was.

His brothers followed behind him because Ezra was a natural born leader, and that was what Quasim saw in him.

It took one big brother to recognize another one, and all that came with being the oldest. His grandmother wasn’t blaming Evan; she blamed Ezra because he was the oldest.

“You never have to worry about anything. We take care of our own, and we’ll get everything taken care of for you.”

“Nah. I’m good.”

“You’re not good… don’t lie.” Havoc said.

He looked over at him. “Any of us would have done the same to protect Meer and King… we would give our lives for the Infernos. He took us under his wing and gave a way for our grandmother to live comfortably. It would have been any one of us… shit just hurts.”

Havoc placed the umbrella into my hand and walked over toward Ezra who was trying to stand tall. He wanted to be strong, but the more he stood there, and everything ran through his head, I could see it fall down, and the emotions enter his chest.

The minute that Havoc made it over to him, he fell into his arms and cried. “He wanted to go to college… wanted to be a fucking a social worker and followed me because I didn’t want to go… always followed behind me,” he continued to break down.

Havoc held him up and rested his chin on his head while holding one of his fellow Gods up. “Ellis wouldn’t want you blaming yourself. You ride for your brothers like no other, Ezra… you would give your own life for them, just like I would for Yasin.”

We stood to the side and allowed Ezra to have his moment. When he pulled himself together, he came and gave me a hug. “Thank you, Queen.”

“Hey, you need to take care of yourself. This is not your fault, and Sim would not want you blaming yourself.”

“Cause he would blame himself… this ain’t on him, Queen.”

I sighed. “Yeah, when he wakes up, you tell him.”

He hugged me again, and I smiled. Havoc held his arm out, and I roped my arm into his, as he took the umbrella again and we made our way back to the truck.