by Sadie Black
After flushing the toilet handle by giving it a little kick with my foot, I leave the stall and walk over to the sink. The exit door flings open and a woman walks in, looking like she was just dredged up from the depths of a dirty pond. “Wow, it must really be coming down out there!” I quickly rinse off my hands so I can get moving and help Mama toss the stuff in the car and get Brooklyn squared away.
“The rain is God’s baptism. It figures you would hide from it, since you whisper Satan’s words into the Pharaoh’s ear.” My entire body shivers as my skin covers in gooseflesh. I turn and stare at the woman, with her stringy, soaked hair and deeply sunk, hollow eyes I hadn’t recognized her.
“Eileen? Oh my God! What are you doing?” My voice is shrill and echoing off the bathroom stalls.
“Do not take our father’s name in vain!” She reaches in her pocket and I feel my eyes grow wide as she pulls something out in her clenched palm. I look frantically at the door that she’s blocking, the only way out of here is behind her. She flicks her wrist and it becomes clear what she’s yanked from her jeans as she flicks open a switchblade in her hand.
“Shit! Eileen, don’t do this. You don’t know what you’re doing. Put down the knife,” I beg, my voice trembling as I back up toward the stall I just came out of slowly.
“You took her from me, you took my child!” She lunges across the room at me and I fall backward through the stall door and slam the door shut in her face. My fingers struggle to shut the flimsy lock, but I can’t get my grasp when Eileen is shoving all her weight against the other side. “You’re trying to take her to the darkness, to steal her away from the light.” She screams and throws herself into the door managing to crack it open a little.
“Help!” I shriek and my words reverberate around the room. “Fuck, someone help me! Help! She’s gonna stab me!” Tears streak down my face as I try with all my might to keep the metal barrier of the stall door between us, but for someone so wiry, she’s surprisingly strong.
Eileen plows through the door and corners me in the back of the stall, feebly using the toilet to put space between us. I face the wall, trying to protect my belly from her knife and wildly scratch at the wall as if there’s a secret passage out of here I just need to find. “Eileen, please! I’m pregnant, you’re not just gonna hurt me. You’ll be hurting an innocent child. Help! Fuck! Help!” I scream again, praying that someone, anyone, will save me.
“Your child will be ok. You would raise her in darkness, but I will bring her into the light. I’m going to take her from your belly, and I’ll save her life.” Eileen lunges across the toilet toward me and I crouch down and twist around, pushing past her. My head snaps back as she palms a fistful of my hair, but I keep pulling forward in a desperate attempt to escape. She grabs my arm and flings me to the floor, jumping on my back like she’s mounting a horse. My heart races as my senses all narrow down to one purpose; to escape. I fling wildly, rolling over and knocking her off of my back and the knife skitters across the bathroom floor underneath the sinks. I start to push myself back up off the floor to run out of here before she has a chance to reclaim her weapon, but she shoves me down with her foot and knocks my forehead against the stall frame.
“Eileen! What the fuck!” I hear Bradley’s voice boom around me, but I can’t move. “Brianna! Fuck, Brianna, are you ok?” I want to feel his arms around me. To know that everything will be ok, but blood is pooling on the floor in front of my face and my vision is narrowing. I can hear Eileen screaming and Bradley and my father’s voices meld together in the distance as my sight shrinks inside of a black tunnel. I drop my head to the floor and everything goes dark.
DEVOTED
Part Three (Conclusion)
A BWWM Interracial Romance Serial
First edition. July 20, 2015.
Copyright © 2015 Sadie Black.
Written by Sadie Black.
The right of Sadie Black to be identified as author of this Work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
This book was published by Sadie Black. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author.
This work of fiction is intended for mature audiences only. All characters represented within are eighteen years of age or older and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. This work is property of Sadie Black, please do not reproduce illegally.
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Please note that this is a work of adult fiction and contains graphic descriptions of sexual activity, graphic language, and violence. It is intended for mature readers aged 18 over only. All characters depicted as engaging in sexual activity in this work of fiction are consenting adults, eighteen years of age or older. Blood relatives never engage in sexual activity of any kind.
Chapter One
Bradley
“Get out of the way!” I push past a growing crowd of people at the bathroom door. Most of them have their cell phones out, holding them out in front of them so they can record Brianna crumpled on the floor with a pool of blood collecting around her head. Henry is on my heels as I notice that there’s a woman on her belly scurrying under the sinks to reach something… a knife!
It takes every fiber of my being to hurry past Brianna over to the sinks. I want to hold her, to help her, to make everything ok. However, some crazy bitch wielding a knife can only make this worse. I run over to the woman, slithering like a snake under the sinks and grab her feet, yanking her back. As soon as I drop her muddy shoes back to the grimy floor she is desperately grasping for the weapon again. I jump over her squirming, determined body and stomp on her hand with all of my weight.
“Yowww! No, no, no! Her baby is going to grow up in darkness. I’m saving her from the Pharaoh!” the dirty bag-of-bones shrieks as I look down in horror.
“Eileen? What the fuck are you doing here? Oh my God, you crazy bitch!” I glance over at Brianna, dear Lord, please save Brianna and our baby. Henry is holding his daughter in his arms, but Brianna looks lifeless as he holds her, tears dripping from his chin down onto her face. “Henry, is she…” I leave the unasked question hanging in the humid air; I can’t bring myself to say the words.
“She’s breathing, Bradley.”
“You took everything from me! I have nothing.” Eileen sobs and rage courses through my blood. I want to twist her frail neck until I hear her bones crackle; I want her to be out of my life forever. The thought flashes through my mind like a lightening storm. Instead I drop my knee into her the small of her back, pinning her in place as I twist her arms behind her.
“Shut the fuck up, Eileen. You are the only one who ruined your life. You’re not a fucking victim!” I twist my knee as I look back to the real victim in the room and then over to the crowd of gagglers with their cell phones hovering around the door. “This isn’t a fucking movie! Someone call 9-1-1 for Christ’s sake.” I swear some people aren’t worth the air they breathe.
“Heavenly Father, please let my baby stay. I’m not ready for her to go to you yet. I just got her back.” Henry’s voice cracks as he rocks Brianna in his arms like I’ve often held Brooklyn when she wakes up from a bad dream.
“Outta the way, everyone move it. Now!” Two police officers burst into the bathroom, ordering the scum holding cell phones to clear the way. One of the officers runs to my side, “Sir, I need you to stand up.” He demands, standing over me.
“She’s dangerous. She attacked my fiancee with a knife. Look it’s right there,” I nod my head to the switchblade hiding under the sinks. I try not to think about the engagement ring in my pocket and how Eileen may have robbed me of the only woman I’ve ever loved.
“I ha
ve control of the situation, Sir. I need you to clear out.” I drop Eileen’s arms like the foul garbage that she is and rush to Brianna’s side.
“Brianna? Baby? Are you all right?” I drop to my knees and wrap my arms around her as Henry keeps bargaining with God. Brianna’s eyelids start to twitch, and she rolls into my embrace. “Brianna? You’re gonna be all right, I promise. I promise, baby.” I watch as the blood from her forehead blooms on the fabric of my shirt.
“Bradley?” She answers me weakly. All of my anger is washed away by a tide of relief. Tears spring to my eyes as I lean over her and kiss her face. “The baby! Oh my God, where’s Eileen? Is my baby ok?” She struggles to communicate her jumbled thoughts.
“Everything is going to be ok, the baby is fine.” I smile and run my hand down over her beautiful belly, but when I look down my smile fades as fear grips my throat.
“What’s wrong?” Brianna tries to sit forward to follow my gaze, but a paramedic stops her.
“Just relax and try not to move around too much, ok?” Two other paramedics are calmly carrying over a bright orange stretcher. “We’re gonna get you to the hospital and take care of you and that little one, ok? But I need you to take it easy.” He speaks to Brianna gently, in a practiced calm manner. “Sir, I need you to step out of the way. We’ll take over from here.” His voice firms up and I wordlessly nod, knowing there’s nothing else I can do. “Do you have a preference for the hospital?”
“Yeah, take her to the Presbyterian, please.” I watch as they roll Brianna onto the stretcher, her eyes are locked on mine and in them I can see her fears. It seems to take an eternity as they strap her onto the board and brace her neck. However, it isn’t her neck that I’m worried about as I watch them easily lift her from the floor and steadily walk her toward the door. She didn’t have any problems lifting her head only moments ago. Luckily, she didn’t lift it far enough to see what I am worried about; the blood soaking the crotch of her pants, billowing upward to her hips and down over her thighs. I try not to panic as she watches me, I need to keep a poker face and to reassure her that it’s all going to be ok. However, with that much blood, I’m not so sure myself.
“Don’t worry, everything is going to be ok. We’ll meet you at the hospital, ok? The cops have Eileen, so don’t even think about her anymore. You’re gonna be all right.” I feel like a liar as I follow the paramedics carrying Brianna out to the ambulance. But I don’t know what else to say. Stressing her even more isn’t going to help anything.
“Brianna! Oh my Lord! My baby!” Evelyn starts shrieking as soon as we get outside the door. Police are everywhere keeping people from getting too close.
“Evelyn hush, she’s gonna be ok.” Henry walks over to his frantic wife. Brooklyn starts calling me from Evelyn’s arms as soon as she spots me.
“Braddy, come here. I need my Braddy!” I hate Eileen with every fiber of my being. I can’t believe the terror she’s caused my family, not to mention her own flesh and blood. She never deserved any child, let alone one as sweet and loving as Brooklyn. As the paramedics load Brianna into the back of the ambulance, I make my way over to my niece. The truth is, I need to feel the comfort of her little baby arms around my neck right now as much as she needs me.
As soon as Brooklyn is in my grasp, Evelyn collapses against her husbands chest. Her body is heaving as she sobs loudly, and Henry rubs his hand over her back the same way I am doing with Brooklyn. “Braddy? Why is Brianna laying on that board? Where is she going?” She looks at me wide-eyed, even at two-years-old, she’s smart enough to know the answer isn’t good.
“Brianna fell down, honey. She just needs to go to the doctor and get a check-up. It’s all going to be ok.” My throat closes tight around my words, as I choke back my tears. My mind is spinning like a cyclone, not even an hour ago I was talking to Henry about marrying his daughter. That feels like it was in another lifetime.
“Mama! Mama, come here!” Brooklyn starts twisting and flopping around in my arms. I struggle to hang onto her like a trophy fisherman waiting for someone to take a picture of their prize catch. “Mama, I want my Mama!” She starts wailing, and I look around in confusion until I spot Eileen in the back of a police car. With her head bowed and her body shaking, I can see that Eileen is still in her own world filled with delusions and distress. Anger trembles through me as I watch her sit there, oblivious to the pain that she’s caused me and Brooklyn. She hasn’t even noticed her own daughter who is freaking out to be near the mother who never deserved to raise her.
“Come here!” Brooklyn’s voice is hoarse from screaming, and tears are mixing with snot on her face. There’s no amount of hugging or hushing her that’s going to calm her hysterics. We need to get out of here. Now.
“Let’s go,” I nod at Henry. “We need to get to the hospital and get her out of here,” I tilt my head at the flailing toddler. He nods in response and shelters Evelyn with his arms, turning to go.
“No go! No go!” Brooklyn sobs bitterly. “Mama!” She cries the words so hard it makes me choke back my own tears. I try to hold her against my chest, but Brooklyn doesn’t understand that her mother can’t take care of her. She doesn’t know that Eileen can barely take care of herself. A child can never see anything but the good in their parents. I strain to hold her close to my body as we make our way down the path.
“Sir? Sir!” I turn to see the man calling out to me. A police officer with a round belly and a ruddy complexion is slowly jogging to catch up with us.
“Officer?” What now?
“Sir, I’m going to have to ask that you come with me, there are some forms to fill out and I’ll be needing a witness statement before you can go anywhere.” He puffs out the words like he just sprinted over here.
“Right now? Can’t this wait? I have to get to the hospital, and she needs to get out of here.” I tilt my head toward Brooklyn, who has stopped fighting me and is just crying uncontrollably against my shoulder.
“No, it can’t wait. I’m sorry, sir. It shouldn’t take more than twenty minutes or so.” He rubs his hand over his neck and stares at my shoes, his cheeks turning crimson as Brooklyn bawls loudly.
“Fine.” I push the words through my clenched teeth. “Lord knows we haven’t been through enough already, what’s another twenty minutes, right?”
“We’ll try to make it as quick as possible, Sir. If you want to leave your daughter with,” he looks at Brianna’s parents, uncertain of how they’re connected to my family.
“My fiancee’s family,” I answer his questioning eyes.
“Yes, if you want to leave your daughter with the in-laws, we can get this done.”
“If you think I’m putting her down, after what she’s been through, then you’re crazy. You can either ask me your questions now and deal with this,” I nod at Brooklyn, who is heaving with each sob as though her heart is truly broken. “Or, I can come down to the station tomorrow.”
The officer looks at me, then at Brooklyn, then at his shoes. He twists his toe into the dirt path and sighs, “I’ll tell you what, my partner and I will meet you at the hospital in an hour. You go tend to your family, Sir. But, I do need to get your witness statement today, ok?”
Surprised at his sudden compassion, relief runs through me. “I do understand. Yes. Thank you, officer.” I turn on my heel and head to the car before he has a chance to change his mind.
Chapter Two
Brianna
Lights are flashing by my eyes as people that I can’t see flank each side of my stretcher. I feel like the entire staff is surrounding me as they wheel me down the hospital hallway. With my neck braced and my head strapped to this board, all I can do is watch the lights. My tears slide down the sides of my head as I pray. The voices of the staff are buzzing around me like bees in a hive, and I try to make sense of what they’re saying.
“Vaginal bleeding and head contusion…”
“Emergency sonogram, possible cesarean…”
“The mother lost
consciousness, fetal distress…”
“Do you have any pain in your pelvis, ma’am? Were you struck in your abdomen?” One of the nurses leans over me as we cram into an elevator.
“I fell on my stomach, really hard. I passed out, so I don’t know what happened after that.” My voice squeaks as I try to tell myself to keep faith that everything will be ok.
“How far along are you, ma’am?” I can’t make out the details of her face with the bright light shining behind her head like a halo.
“I’m twenty-seven weeks,” the buzzing of voices gets louder as the crowd of medical staff discusses my answer. “Is my baby ok? What’s happening?” A chill runs through me and for the first time, I realize that my forehead is throbbing. I just want Bradley here. I want him to hold me close and tell me that everything is going to be ok. I swear, if that bitch hurt my baby, I’m going to go to jail because I’m going to kill her.
