For the first time all day, Carmelo believed Tyron. Because of that, he spared his life. Now Carmelo’s focus was on one person and one person only, Maliek!
Chapter Three
Carmelo usually wasn’t the type to wear his heart on his sleeve but at this moment, he didn’t give a damn about anything but his niece and his girl. Half of his heart was lying in a hospital bed and the other half of his heart was missing. Dream had just vanished without a damn trace. He had really been down in the dumps and he didn’t care who knew it.
Monica had called him the other day and he couldn’t help but to breakdown and tell her everything that was going on. People say talking about your problems will make you feel better but that wasn’t his case. He was feeling like less of a man because he couldn’t protect two out of the three females in his life.
His mother kept telling him that it wasn’t his fault and that he couldn’t be at two places at one time, but if he had just went to Dream’s boutique and picked her up so they could ride to his mother’s house together, none of this would be happening. He could have protected Dream and prevented Summer from being shot.
There was a knock at his door but he just ignored it, hoping they would go away. He wasn’t in the mood for company. Unfortunately, whoever was on the other side of his door was persistent and wouldn’t go away. He snatched his door open, ready to go off, but his words got caught in his throat.
“Don’t you dare open this door with an attitude when I’ve been standing out here knocking for the longest,” Monica said with her hands propped up on her hips.
“Monica? What are you doing here?” he asked, truly shocked that she was standing on his doorstep.
“You need a friend right now, Carmelo. So are you going to step aside or do I have to knock you down?” she asked.
Carmelo stepped to the side and let her in while helping her with her bags. When Monica walked in and looked around, she shook her head. Carmelo had his ass literally sitting in the dark. The shades and curtains were preventing any sunlight from getting in the house. She walked over to the windows and started opening the shades.
“Carmelo, go upstairs while I clean up down here,” she told him.
Carmelo wasn’t about to dispute with that. All he wanted to do anyways was lay in his bed and sleep the days away until Dream and Summer came home. When he was gone, Monica looked around at the pictures up on the wall. Summer had really grown. The last time she had seen her, she was just a little girl. Her eyes traveled to a picture of Carmelo and some woman she was assuming was Dream.
Monica couldn’t even deny the fact that this woman was beautiful. She was exotic looking and had a natural beauty about her. She shook her head as she went to the kitchen to fix him something to eat. No matter what she and Carmelo went through, they always made a vow to be friends, which was the exact reason she was there.
<><><><>
Caiden sat at home trying to wrap his mind around the fact that his daughter had actually been shot. For some reason, he had a hard time believing that this was just a coincidence or that the niggas was aiming for Carmelo and missed. If they were aiming for Carmelo, he would have at least been hit once.
He wanted to rush up to the hospital and be with her, but he couldn’t. He knew Carmelo was up there and he didn’t want to look him in his eyes knowing he was in on a plan to kidnap his bitch. Caiden called Shaq up and waited for him to answer.
“Hello?”
“Tell me you didn’t have shit to do with Summer getting shot,” Caiden said.
“What? Hell naw! I didn’t even know she was shot, let alone had anything to do with it,” Shaq lied.
He was on a mission to teach Carmelo a lesson and he was going to do that any way possible. He didn’t have a problem with Dream or Summer, but they were just casualties in the war Carmelo had started. Carmelo knew that when you got into it with niggas, they were going to go for your heart and that’s exactly what Shaq did.
“Alright, man. I was just checking,” Caiden said before he disconnected the call.
He didn’t know if he believed Shaq or not, but he didn’t have any proof that Shaq had ordered the hit so he was going to have to take his word for it.
<><><><>
Whap
Shaq’s hand collided with Dream’s face, forcing her head to jerk back and slam against the wall. She thought she was saved by the phone call that had interrupted him. Instead, the phone call only seemed to anger him. Of course, all his anger and frustrations were taken out on Dream.
“Just kill me,” Dream wept.
She was dazed from her head coming in contact with the wall but she was still very much conscious, even though she prayed that she wasn’t.
“Kill you and give up this good pussy? I know firsthand now why you had that nigga Melo nose wide open.”
Shaquille undid the buckle on his belt before dropping his pants. He reached out and grabbed Dream’s legs and pulled her closer to the edge of the mattress she was laying on. She squirmed but his vice grip didn’t allow her much space to move.
“You would think you would stop fighting this shit now,” Shaq barked.
Dream clamped her legs tightly together. She was over being abused and just wanted it to be over. Part of her didn’t want to fight it because she didn’t want to run the risk of losing her baby, but there wasn’t much more of it she could take.
“Fuck!” Shaq barked once his phone began ringing again.
He leaned over and picked it up over the floor. After seeing who it was, he answered expeditiously.
“Yo…”
Dream lay there with her eyes closed and listened to the one-sided conversation. If she had opened her eyes, she would have seen Shaq hurriedly pulling up his pants and making an exit. She didn’t know he was gone until the door closed behind him. She looked up to the sky and thanked whichever one of her angels and God who had saved her from another minute of abuse.
Chapter Four
Carmelo felt as if his life was in a whirlwind. There was still no word on Dream or her whereabouts, Caiden and Shaq were still missing in action, Summer was still in the hospital slowly recovering and Alexandria was still around pretending as if she ever gave a fuck about Summer. The only upside to all this madness was that he didn’t have to go through this alone. He not only had his mother’s love and support but Monica had flown all the way back to New York to comfort him in his time of need. She has really been a great support system. Whenever he felt like he would snap and lose his mind, she would say something to encourage him.
Carmelo was sitting on his bed just staring at a picture of himself, Summer and Dream. They looked like the perfect, happy family and all three were smiling from ear to ear. He didn’t feel complete without his two favorite girls around. The trio had shared so many laughs and good memories together. He loved how Dream came in and was the mother that Summer never had. Dream was the perfect role model for Summer and he could never see himself loving someone the way he loved her.
“Here, Mr. Love. You need to eat,” Monica said as she placed a plate of food on his nightstand.
“I’m not hungry,” he mumbled.
“Too bad. You’re going to eat. Even if I have to shove it down your throat,” Monica threatened.
Carmelo glanced over at the plate of food and memories of Dream dancing around the kitchen while she cooked flashed before him. Monica could tell he was in a daze and honestly, she was tired of seeing him like this.
“Okay, Carmelo. Stop this shit now. Enough is enough! The Carmelo Love I know never allowed anyone to knock him off his square. If he ever felt as if he was disrespected, he had no problems handling the situation. Now I’ve allowed you to mope around for this long because I understand you are hurting, but it ends today. Sitting in this house is not going to bring her back nor is it going to help you find any answers. I don’t know what you did to Carmelo, my Carmelo, but you better find his ass, ASAP.”
And that was all she said before she left the
room, leaving him to his thoughts. She’s right, he thought as he grabbed the plate of food and scarfed it down. After he was done eating, he went to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. He didn’t like what he saw. His hair and beard had grown out, leaving him looking like a mad man. His eyes had bags under them and he looked as if he had lost some weight. All in all, he didn’t look like himself.
After taking a long, refreshing shower, Carmelo felt ten times better. He felt as if he was himself again so it was time to hit the streets and see what was being said. Niggas must have forgot who the fuck I am. His first stop would be to the barbershop, he had to get shaved and lined up because this hobo look really wasn’t for him.
<><><><>
After leaving the shop, Melo was feeling like himself again. His next step was to stop by the hospital to see his favorite girl. After giving some blood and finding out that he was a match, he had a nagging feeling that told him to get a DNA test done. He already knew in his heart that Summer was his, no matter what the trifling being called her mother said. He just wanted to get the test done to ease his mind.
Since they couldn’t just go off the fact that they were a match for her blood transfusion due to him being Caiden’s twin brother, he went ahead and got the test done. When it came back that he was in fact Summer’s father, he couldn’t wipe the smile off his face. He didn’t feel as if he had missed out on anything because he been there for Summer since day one.
He had always been a second father figure in her life. He was there when she took her first step, said her first word, got her first tooth; he basically had always been there. As soon as she was well enough to leave this hospital, he was taking her straight home with him and she wasn’t leaving his sight until he had bodied every nigga that had a hand in the shooting.
When he reached her room, his mom was in there playing with the tablet he had recently bought her.
“You need to go home and get some rest, old lady,” Carmelo said as he walked in the room.
“I got your old lady,” Mama Love said as he bent down to kiss her. “Happy to finally see you. How you doing? You look better.”
“I mean, I feel a little better. I just left the shop and got myself together. I’m more concerned on how’s she doing,” he said as he looked over to Summer sleeping in the bed.
“Daddy?” he heard her whisper before her eyes slightly opened.
Melo looked back at his mom and she just shrugged her shoulders before urging him to talk to her. Feeling like shit because he hadn’t been there to see her since his mom called that damn egg donor Alex, he slowly walked over to the hospital bed and moved her hair from her face. He bent down and kissed her forehead.
“Hey, Sum. H-how you feeling?” he asked.
“You haven’t been here. Where were you?” she asked in a hoarse tone.
Due to all the bullets her young body was riddled with, she had been on the operating table for hours. Her body was left cut open so the doctors could remove all the bullets and she had staples in her stomach and chest. Three weeks later and she was still here, in pain.
“I’m sorry, baby girl. It’s just been eating me up to see you like this, yo. I’m so used to seeing you all bubbly and full of life that I hate to see you like this,” Melo said, explaining the best way he could.
“Where’s Dream?” Summer asked.
Once again, Carmelo looked to him mom for some help with this one. She knew all about Dream being missing and she knew that was another thing that was driving her son crazy. She hated for him to be this stressed out and if she could take it away, she would. Just as she was about to open her mouth to say something, Summer’s nurse walked in. Saved by the nurse, she thought.
Chapter Five
Carmelo would be lying to himself if he said he wasn’t grateful for having Monica around. She’d helped him get out of the funk and depression he was slowly slipping into. She helped him understand that that was exactly what niggas wanted, for him to crumble. By him sitting in the house and not doing anything, he was giving them exactly what they wanted.
Monica was more than a friend, she was his confidant when he felt like he needed to vent or shed a tear or two. She didn’t judge him or talk about him for showing emotions. She would listen instead of talk, threaten him whenever he refused to eat, and everything else.
Niggas might have looked at him funny for having his ex around while his girl was missing, but it wasn’t even like that between him and Monica. She had always been a good friend to him before and after their relationship so he vowed to always keep her around on a friend level.
He had played around long enough, so he felt like it was time to get back to the Carmelo he was before life started throwing bullshit his way. He knew sitting around wasn’t going to get him any answers and obviously his team was once again forgetting how to operate while he was down. It seemed like the only one he had on his team holding him down was his boy Trip.
Trip was stepping up in a major way. He was holding things down on the business front while Carmelo tended to his family problems. He had to deal with Summer’s impending release from the hospital, breaking the news of Monica staying with them to her, and the news that Dream was missing in action.
Thoughts of Dream depressed Melo to no end. He felt like he wasn’t doing enough to bring her home but in actuality, he was doing the best he could. He had little to no information surrounding the details of her abduction; he didn’t even know if calling it an abduction was appropriate. It was possible that Dream had just dipped on him. Even though it was unlikely, it was still an idea that he had to entertain. Shit did happen. She could have gotten to the point where his lifestyle was too much and she wanted out but didn’t know how to tell him. It didn’t make much sense to him but at that point, Carmelo was telling himself anything to help him cope.
Thoughts of Dream had to take a back seat just for a day because he was preparing to pick Summer up. He hated that he had to put one’s wellbeing over the other at any moment, but he was just one person trying to handle everything alone. In his heart, he knew how much Dream meant to him so he didn’t really look at it as him not caring about her. He knew that he would fight until his last breath to find out what happened to her but in the present moment, Summer was there and needed his attention.
Chapter Six
The day for Summer to come home had finally arrived and Melo was rushing to get to the hospital. He had taken it upon himself to go to Caiden’s house and got all of Summer’s clothes and other stuff that she may not have even needed because she had plenty at his house, and put them in her room at his house. Since his bitch ass brother decided to go missing at the worst time possible, he knew Summer would never be stepping foot back in Caiden’s house.
When he reached Summer’s room, his hand immediately went to his gun in his waistband and he had to remember where he was. Not only was Alex, there but so was Caiden. Thinking of the devil and his bitch, Carmelo thought as he made his presence known.
“The fuck y’all doing here?” he asked.
“Dad, please don’t make me go with them,” Summer pleaded with Carmelo.
“Dad?” Caiden asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Sum, you already know you don’t have to worry about that. Get whatever you need and let’s go,” he told her.
“Where are you taking her, Carmelo?” Alex had the nerve to ask.
“If you know what’s good for you, you wouldn’t say shit else to me, bitch,” he sneered.
“Summer, you are coming home with me, your father. Now I’ve had enough bullshit to last me a lifetime, so spare me and let’s go,” Caiden said, ignoring his brother.
“Uncle Melo is my father,” Summer said with an attitude.
Melo hadn’t even told Summer about the DNA test so he was wondering how the hell she knew he was her real dad. He looked at Caiden with a smug look on his face when he saw that he was looking confused.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Caiden asked.
“Oh, I guess Alexandria didn’t tell you,” Summer said.
Alex stood there as quiet as a church mouse. This was something she was not ready for. She looked up and all eyes were on her.
“Alex, what the fuck is she talking about?” Caiden asked.
“You know what? Imma let y’all two figure this shit out. Sum, let’s go,” Carmelo said.
He’d had enough with the shenanigans. He didn’t know why Caiden had decided to show up now all of a sudden when he didn’t care to be around when his daughter, his niece, needed him.
“Hold up, I—”
Caiden started to talk but Alex cut him off. “Cai, just let her go. I need to talk to you anyways,” she sighed.
Carmelo and Summer didn’t even wait around to see how that conversation was going to go. She already had her discharge papers and prescription, so they were set to go. On the ride back to his house, Carmelo wanted to question Summer about how she knew he was her real father but he figured that would be a conversation for a different time.
“I’m so happy to be out of that hospital. I almost lost my mind when I seen those two walk in my room this morning,” Summer said.
“I’m happy you’re out, too. I thought I was going to lose you.”
“Nah, never that. You know you could never get rid of me that easily,” Summer laughed.
When they got to his house, Carmelo had forgotten that Monica was there. He helped Summer out of his truck as she examined the car in his driveway with a California license plate. She wanted to ask him whose car that was, but she was about to find out soon enough.
When they walked through the door, Monica was just leaving the kitchen.
“Hey, Summer. I’m happy you’re here,” Monica smiled.
Summer looked from Monica to Carmelo with a funny look on her face. She hadn’t seen Monica since she was a little girl, but here she was in the house instead of Dream.
“Uncle Mel…Dad, where is Dream?” Summer asked.
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