“Hi, it’s Ever. Leave a message, and I’ll return your call when I’m free. Peace and blessings.”
Sickness quickly overcame me as I stood to my feet and began pacing the floor. With a hand over my forehead, I tried her phone again.Maybe she… Maybe it’s dead. I couldn’t form a logical thought because the truth was that the sudden aches of my body told me exactly what I needed to know. Something was wrong. I could feel it. I could feelher. Feelthem.
Brrrrrrrrr.
Brrrrrrrrr.
Brrrrrrrrr.
“Yo?”
All hell broke loose in my head the second a nigga’s voice appeared on the line.
“Nigga, who the fuck is this?” I barked into my cell.
“Nigga, this Cane.”
“Okay, and what the fuck you doing with my bitc— my woman’s phone?” I asked, spit particles flying from my mouth as I searched the room for my shoes. Wherever the fuck this nigga was in the city, I’d be there in under ten minutes and that was a promise. I could feel his bones breaking between my fingers as he began to answer my question.
“CANE. I know you’re seeing red right now, nigga, but I’m not a fucking opp.”
Slowing down once I located my shoes to put them on allowed me to really capture the voice on the other side of the line. Cane wasn’t a dummy and would never test me. I’d been feeding Cane since he was sixteen. He was as loyal as they came. His only goal was getting to the money. Everything else was bullshit to him. He had a bright future ahead of him if he continued moving the way he was.
“Fuck! Cane. What the fuck is going on? Where is Ever? Is she aight?”
“I don’t know, big homie. I pulled up on a nigga rocking her shit. She fucked up, bro. I hopped in her truck, and I’m on my way to the hospital with her.”
“FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!”
Red, thick blood trickled down my knuckles as a result of the hole I’d punched into Ever’s bedroom wall. My heart felt like it had been ripped from my fucking chest as I began to struggle to breathe.
“Is she good?”
“Nah, big homie. I can’t even hold you.”
“FUCK!”
“I’m going as fast as I can. I’m taking her to Huffington Medical. That shit like three minutes away.
“Are the kids alright?”
“The kids?” he questioned. “What kids?”
“Two little girls. Are they not in the truck?”
“Nah. Wasn’t no kids in this bitch when I put her in. What kids, fam?” Cane began to panic as he continued to ask. “Kids, Luca? What kids?”
The revelation that my children had been snatched from Ever’s care had my blood boiling. I was halfway down the street on foot before I realized my truck would help me get to my destination a lot fucking faster. I doubled back into the parking lot and hopped in. As I started the truck, I explained.
“We have two daughters. They were on the way home with her.”
“I swear I didn’t see no fucking kids, man. That nigga wouldn’t have been able to pull off if I did. Kids, fam? This nigga got your fucking kids? Who is this nigga? Let me put this bitch to bed myself.”
“Biologically, they’re his,” I admitted, cringing at the thought. “Drop her off and put word out on the street. Dewayne Starks is his name. I got a million on his head. Bring him to me alive. This one is mine.”
“Say no more.” I heard the engine of Ever’s GLE roaring as Cane tried getting her to the emergency room. It wasn’t surprising that Cane had noticed her in distress. Her license plates read LUCA. I wanted everyone in the city to know that she was off limits, no matter where she was. I also wanted them to know what they’d be getting themselves into if they ever laid ahand on her. Obviously, Dewayne hadn’t gotten the message. He would, though. Soon enough.
“Wait. One more thing.” I choked off my own words.
