by Jahquel J.
Kiss jumped and stared at me with tears streaming down her eyes. I didn’t feel bad for none of the shit that I had said. It was me who sacrificed shit to give them a better life. I never complained because I loved my nieces. Still, when all I heard was complaints from Kiss, that shit got on my fucking nerves. She could have been in foster care, but I never let that happen. Her father was a poor excuse for a man. That nigga heard Sandy died and didn’t bother to come around and help with the girls. Still, I didn’t need him or anybody. I would carry any burdens on my back when it came to Love, Kiki and Kiss. It pissed me off when Kiss tried to do that guilt shit. She knew that they all came first, and she loved to throw that shit in my face. She started all of this because she couldn’t have a baby shower or the guest bedroom for the baby.
“Rosh—”
“Keep all that shit, Kiss. Deadass,” I replied and headed out the door. The girls had a car service that picked them up and dropped them off in the morning.
With the shit with Justice, then Staten and Summer, my time was spent trying to keep shit moving in the streets and visiting two different hospitals. I knew this shit wasn’t about me, still I felt like my world had been altered and I was trying to keep it afloat. Having all this shit happening and then adding the fact that a new baby would be entering our crib in two months had me worried too. Kiss thought she had it all planned out and she didn’t. Pushing a baby out of your pussy didn’t make you a mother. Time, sacrifice and effort made you a mother. My phone buzzed as I jumped into my whip.
“Hey, you,” my heart skipped a beat when I heard Justice’s voice on my line. It was raspy and low. Still, I heard every word when she spoke through the phone.
“Yo, you up? How are you?” I questioned. “You would wake up the day that I’m not there,” I chuckled, just feeling blessed that she woke up.
“I’m funny that way,” she giggled. “I heard about Staten and Ghost’s daughter. My mama just told me everything that happened.”
“Yeah, shit is fucked up right now. I’ve been praying for my nigga and helping out the best I could.”
“Listen…” she allowed her voice to trail off. “You have a lot on your plate, so I don’t expect you to come running up here. The doctor wants to keep me for a few extra days and then he’ll send me home,” she informed me.
“You need me to grab some of things from your apartment to bring to your mama’s house?”
“No, you don’t need to do that. When we see each other we’ll talk,” she coughed. “Okay?”
“Yeah. I gotta run some clothes to G and then I’ll be heading that way to you.”
“Priest, you don’t need to do that,” she protested.
“I know I don’t need to do anything. I want to. See you soon,” I ended the call and headed to Ghost’s crib before heading to the hospital. Marisol had pulled some clothes and packed them for me to pick up.
After she showed her ass and left the girls high and dry, I didn’t have any words for her. Certain shit you didn’t do, and she crossed that line when it came to me. My nieces were innocent in what we had going on. She took out her anger and hurt that she had for me on them and you didn’t do shit like that. When I pulled up to the gate, I hit the code and entered. Ghost wasn’t playing when it came to the safety of his kids. He had Pat and a few others standing guard outside the mansion. I nodded and entered the house. I heard cartoons and saw Marisol in the kitchen fixing Rain lunch.
“Hey,” she greeted softly. I wanted to tell the bitch to hey my nuts, but decided a quick nod would suffice. “We need to talk,” she added.
“Where’s the clothes?”
She disappeared down the hall and came back with a Louis Vuitton duffle bag. “We need to talk and the more you’re trying to ignore me, it won’t work.”
“Who the fuck said? Marisol, we don’t have shit else to discuss.”
“So, should I discuss this baby with the courts once it’s born? I didn’t lay down and make this baby alone,” she announced, and I looked at her like she had three heads.
“Man get the fuck out of here. You’re not pregnant.”
“Tell yourself whatever you want to, but I’m pregnant and I’m keeping my baby. If you don’t want to help, that’s fine. I’ll be sure to take you for child support.”
“Yeah, I’m bout to dip before I bust you in the head with this heavy ass duffle bag,” I turned and headed out of the house.
First she comes announcing that she’s pregnant with my baby and now she tossing child support in my face. If she was pregnant and it was mine, I had no issue taking care of my child. Her tossing child support in my face was like a slap in the face. Marisol had changed. Something about her was cold and I didn’t like the shit. She was better off not saying shit to me anymore. If she was pregnant, then time would reveal if she was carrying my child. Just because I fucked Marisol didn’t mean I was a fool. She was going to take one of those early DNA tests and prove to me that the baby is mine. She acted like she couldn’t have been fucking with other niggas. We weren’t exclusive, so she was free to do whatever she wanted with whoever she wanted.
I walked the halls of the pediatric wing and found Summer’s room. Ghost was sitting on the couch while looking at the television. Shakira was scrolling her phone with her legs crossed. They both looked up when I walked through the door.
“Hey Priest. Thanks for grabbing his clothes. He refuses to leave Summer’s side,” she stood up and hugged me.
“It’s no problem. How’s my Summer bug doing?”
“The doctors haven’t discussed when they’re going to bring her out of the medically induced coma. She has a blood virus and now they’re worried that it may be affecting her heart’s pumping function,” she explained.
“Damn,” was all I could say.
“Shakira, go call your parents or some shit,” Ghost finally spoke. She stared at him and rolled her eyes.
“You need to stop holding a grudge with me over lies,” she snapped and left the room shortly after.
I sat the bag down and plopped on the couch beside him. “How you holding up?”
“Trying to be strong, but my chest feels like it’s about to cave in. I’ll take everything she’s going through just for her to be straight.”
“We’re parents, man. We’d go to war and take any hurt that comes our kid’s way. I’ve been praying for all of you.”
“We need it.”
“What’s good with, Shakira?” Clearly, it was some shit that went down because the tension was thick as fuck in this room.
“Zeek came up here screaming about how Summer is his baby.”
“Get the fuck outta here!” Zeek had some fucking nerve to pop up to the hospital. That nigga must have had a death wish.
“Dead ass. Liberty ended up punching Shakira in the face and shit. That shit went left, but that nigga still been calling the hospital and trying to get information about Summer. He’s not even allowed to step foot into the hospital.”
“Damnmmmm.”
“I had Summer’s doctor do a DNA test while Shakira went home to change her clothes. She told me she’ll get the results tomorrow.”
“G, don’t go and do—”
“I need to know, Priest. If Summer isn’t mine, man I need you to do something for me,” he stared me right in the eyes.
I watched as he stood up and went to the built-in closet. He pulled his gun out and handed it to me. “Yo, the fuck you doing?”
“Take my gun.”
“G, I can’t leave you unprotected.”
“Take my gun, Priest. If that test comes back that Summer isn’t mine, nothing is going to stop me from putting a hole in her head right in this room.” One look in the eyes and I could tell that he was being serious. I took the gun from him and made sure it was unloaded and tucked it into my coat.
“Summer is yours. You don’t need to worry about that. She’ll be running around soon enough getting on ya’ll nerves.”
“Man, I hope so.”<
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“What’s good with Staten?”
“A piece of the bullet had hit an organ and it was causing him to cough up blood. They repaired everything and now he’s good. He’ll be in here for a little bit longer before they feel comfortable releasing him home.”
“Good. Good. I’m gonna go kick it with him when I’m done here.”
“I appreciate you going to grab some clothes for me.”
“Anytime. You know we’re family. Where’s mama?”
He sighed. “She had a nervous breakdown and I have Mirror keeping any eye on her. She trying to be here for me and then downstairs for Staten, that shit was fucking with her.”
“Dang, I need to go and check on her.”
“Nah, you’ll just get her worked up again. I knew that shit would happen because she was so busy trying to be everywhere for everybody. Mirror said she was resting and shit, so she’s fine.”
I dapped Ghost, kissed Summer on the forehead and then headed downstairs to Staten’s room. When I opened the door, he was propped up on pillows watching Netflix on his iPad while Chanel mopped the room’s floor.
“Don’t they have people they pay to do this?”
“And they don’t do it well,” she snapped. “Don’t step on my floor either,” she continued to mop the floor.
“What’s good, nigga?” we dapped each other and I took a seat next to him. “You went to see Summer?”
“Yeah, I popped in there real quick before coming down here,” before I could finish, Chanel shot me a look that told me not to say anything. It must have been a reason they were keeping him in the dark about Summer’s progress.
“Justice woke up,” I switched subjects hoping that he would leave the subject with Summer alone.
“Good for her. What about my niece?” he continued to pester.
“Priest, did Staten tell you that we’re expecting?” Chanel blurted as she leaned the mop against the wall. “We haven’t told anyone, but I figured you should be the first to know.”
Staten looked like he was pissed that she had announced their pregnancy. “Um. Congrats,” I replied. Shit, I didn’t know if I should have been excited or sad. The way she acted was like it was the best thing since grits. Then Staten was over here like he was pissed that she had gotten pregnant.
“What the hell did I say, Chanel? You’re too early to be telling people,” he stared at her and she rolled her eyes.
“I told Priest. He’s not going to tell anyone,” she assumed. Chanel and Staten had some crazy shit going on and I didn’t even want to be apart. I knew they were fucking, but a baby?
Staten never showed interest in being a father or even trying for one. He was too busy living life and kids were the last thing on his mind. Not to mention, they weren’t even together and were best friends. Did Chanel think he would stop fucking with other women because she was pregnant? The whole dynamic was fucking weird to me and I knew the shit wouldn’t last. Someone would catch feelings and when feelings were involved; nothing good could come out of it.
I didn’t anticipate taking so long to make it up to the hospital to see Justice. When I got finished at the hospital, I went to handle some business and before I knew it hours had passed. Justice told me not to worry about coming up today, still I made it my business to make time for everything else, so I was going to make time for her. On the drive to Jersey, I called Kiss to see if the girls were straight and if she fixed them dinner. She tried to apologize, and I cut her off and told her I would see them when I got home. With all I had going on, Kiss needed to know that I wasn’t going to put up with her childish and bratty behavior. If you’re grown enough to open your legs, then she was old enough to understand the reasons behind not having a baby shower or nursery for the baby.
She was about to be eighteen and legally grown. I wasn’t about to take on raising her son and her too. While she was worried about baby showers and rooms, she needed to be working on her mindset. Any pregnant teen in her position would be grateful for all that I have done for her. Instead, she turns and slaps me in the face by saying that I don’t give a shit about her. That was the shit that hurt the most. If anything, I care about my nieces more than life itself. Even if Sandy wasn’t dead, our relationship would still remain the same. My nieces would continue to mean the world to me.
Killing the engine, I swaggered into the hospital and right to the elevator. While I waited for the elevator, I checked my messages. Once I got on the elevator, it was a wrap for my phone’s service. I stepped into the elevator and pressed the button to her floor. Knowing that Justice was awake, I couldn’t stay away. Every day I had been up here when she wasn’t awake, so I was for sure going to show my face now that she was awake. I wanted Justice to see that I wanted to be with her. She was the type of woman that I craved in my life. Even knowing what she had been going through, I still didn’t judge her. While she probably thought I looked at her as weak, I saw her strength, even if she didn’t see it herself. When I rounded the corner into her room, I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw Scooter Bob sitting in a wheelchair by her bedside. They were in a deep conversation, but stopped soon as I walked into the room.
“Priest,” Justice’s smile was infectious. Even if she tried to hide the smile she gave me once she laid eyes on me, she couldn’t.
Scooter Bob turned around and looked at me. “Is this a… friend?”
“Todd, can you give me a second please?”
“I’ll just come up tomorrow morning. The doctors want to talk about when they’ll release me home. I told him to wait and see how you’re feeling first.”
“Okay, babe,” she replied, and I raised my eyebrow at her lips saying babe. It made me mad that she was calling the nigga that tried to kill her babe.
“Nice meeting you, man,” he tried to stick his hand out and shake mine. Looking down at his hand, I kept my hands inside my leather jacket. He caught the hint and wheeled out the room.
“Babe?” I said as I closed the hospital door behind him. “The fuck you mean babe, Justice?” she sighed and looked away from me.
“Not now, Priest. I just want to see you,” she tried to give me that smile that I loved so much. It didn’t work this time. My mind was too focused on her calling this nigga babe. “You gonna give me a hug?”
I walked over to her, grabbed her face gently and kissed her on the lips. Sticking my tongue down her throat, I held on to her face as if my life depended on it. I kept shit to myself and never liked to burden people with my feelings. Any day and time I would be there for whoever needed me, but I hated to accept the same help I was willing to give. When I heard about Justice, my mind went to Sandy. A woman that I actually was having feelings for was about to leave me. Sandy had to go, she was sick and if I could pull the sickness out of her, I would. Except, I couldn’t. I couldn’t take away the sickness that she had. With Justice, she was willingly putting herself into harm’s way with this nigga. He didn’t love her. Love wasn’t supposed to hurt the way it was hurting her.
“Priest,” she giggled and wiped her mouth. “My breath probably stinks.”
“That don’t even matter to me,” I kissed her on the lips once more before taking a seat at the end of her bed.
“You look tired. How are the girls?”
I sighed and chuckled at the same time. “Kiki and Love are straight. Me and Kiss are arguing right now. We’ll be good though.”
“For?”
“Jus, you don’t need to worry about this right now… you got too much other shit to be worried about.”
“Why?” she insisted.
“She wants a baby shower and a room for the baby. I told her she couldn’t have either,” I explained.
“Well, what did she think? Nothing she has been doing lately even qualifies for a celebration. You both need to get on the same page. The last thing you want is to bring that baby home and you and Kiss aren’t on the same page. Kiss now is dramatic, but Kiss post baby will probably be worse. Not to mention, post-partum
and all of that other stuff.”
“We gonna get it right before my great-nephew is going to be born.”
She reached for my hand. “You have to. Kiss needs you more than anything right now,” she told me as she stared into my eyes.
“She won’t even tell me shit about the baby daddy.”
“It’s that white boy from school. Kyle McCarthy.”
“McCarthy, I know that name,” I tried to remember where I heard that name from and kept coming up blank.
“You better have. It’s the borough president’s son. He was who Kiss was sleeping with when I walked in on them in the gym. She says he’s the father and he denies it.”
There had to be a reason why Free was hiding the fact that Kyle was her child’s father. Whenever I brought it up she acted as if she didn’t know who the father was. “What you think?”
“What you mean what I think?”
“About the situation.”
“I don’t know who to believe. Kyle says he isn’t the father and she says he is. Kyle could be lying, but then again why would he care? If it was his baby, all he would do is have his father cover it up like he does most of the crazy shit he does around Staten Island.”
“I’m going to talk to her about the shit.”
“Don’t. There’s a reason she hasn’t told you. She’ll come to you when she’s ready,” Justice encouraged. For the sake of not arguing, I was agreeing with what she said. Soon as I got home was another story. I’d be damn if Kiss was raising this baby alone while the son of a bitch that looked like he purged was free to do whatever he wanted.
“When they letting you out of here? I want to pick you up and bring you to my crib. I’m good at taking care of people,” I winked.
“I bet you are.”
“You good?” I noticed her demeanor had changed. “Jus, what’s wrong?”
“I don’t want you to hate me,” a tear fell down her cheek as she looked away from me. My heart was beating fast because I didn’t know what was going to come out of her mouth.
“I could never hate you.”
“I’m pregnant, Priest. With everything that happened to me, I’m surprised that I didn’t lose the baby. They’re calling our baby a miracle baby,” tears continued to fall down her cheek.
