Capri 3

1. Capella

capella

. . .

“Chubby, your phone keeps going off,” Shante moaned, as she pulled the covers over her head. “Stop ignoring her calls and speak to her.”

I was laid on my back looking up at the ceiling, not able to sleep because of what I had done. I knew when I went to Fern, I was going to leave with Shante. I was man enough to admit that I didn’t go there for the drinks, and Quasim wasn’t there to stop me from what I knew I shouldn’t have been doing.

He wasn’t my father or babysitter, and as a grown ass man, I should have known right from wrong. In that moment, I wasn’t thinking about what was right or what was wrong. I was being selfish on what I wanted.

It wasn’t even about sex when it came to Shante. All she had to do was touch my face, and the gentleness of her touch made me feel like a fucking baby. One drink led to three, and then I was driving her home to her condo. All she had to do was give me that look, and I was finding parking and heading upstairs with her.

It was stupid of me to even do some shit like that because I had a family at home. Aimee said she wanted to breakup, but she wasn’t out doing her. At least I didn’t think she was because the way she was moving was still questionable.

I didn’t know what she was up to, and I still didn’t know where that fucking money went. Aimee’s ass was tight lipped, too, never wanting to have a conversation about where the money was. I didn’t trust her family as far as I could throw them, but when her aunt looked into my eyes, I knew her ass was telling me the truth. She wouldn’t hide the chance to gloat to me about having my money and using it to fund her underwhelming ass life.

“Yet, you tooting that ass over here… don’t look like you too mad,” I grabbed Shante up, and she busted in a fit of giggles, while I pulled her on top of me.

Every time I saw Shante, she always gave me this look like she wanted to say something more than hey to me. I never paid her too much mind, but a nigga wasn’t blind. She was fine as shit, and I may have looked at her a time or two.

She looked down at me with this look that I knew was dangerous. Whenever a woman looked at you like she would do whatever for you, that was when you knew you fucked up. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I had fucked up royally, and knew the consequences were gonna fuck me over.

“You should stay in bed with me today. I don’t have to be to the bar until later,” she kissed me on the lips, as she rotated her hips and rubbed that pussy on my already hard dick.

I was supposed to meet with Aimee to take Rory because she had some shit to do. When it came to Aimee, I never knew what the fuck she had going on. Some days she had that internship with Morgan, and then other days she was still taking that class to keep up appearances. On rare occasions she went out with Skyler and Landon, but she never spoke much about whatever they did.

“Nah. I got to get my son so my baby moms could go handle her business.”

Shante looked sad and I reached up and touched her face. “Don’t look all sad and shit, Shante.”

“I’m not sad… I know you have your relationship with her. Think it was a bad ide—” My phone blared loud as shit, causing Shante to jump off me and duck for cover.

I ain’t never heard that fucking sound come from my phone in my entire life. Sitting up, I grabbed my phone and saw an emergency alert, like it was an Amber Alert, but the screen was different. I exited out of my phone, chalking it up to the update on my phone and was about to put the phone down.

My pops’s name came across the screen, and I answered. “What up?”

“Your girl fucking calling you and you don’t fucking answer acting like a petty fucking bitch… my fucking grandson and daughter was in a fucking shootout and you answering what up ?”

His voice and tone sent a fucking chill bigger than fucking Antarctica up my spine as I sat on the edge of the bed frozen in fear. “Wh…what the fuck you mean? Aim…Aimee is supposed to meet me later.”

“I pray to Allah you were doing something useful and the reason you weren’t answering isn’t because you was in some pussy that wasn’t your girl’s!” he barked and ended the call.

The same alert popped on my screen with an address, and I realized it was Corleon who sounded that alert on my phone. My legs felt stuck for a minute before I jumped up and started tossing on my clothes from yesterday.

“What happened? That alarm on your phone… my phone ain’t never did that.” Shante sat in the middle of the bed watching me make my way around the room, stepping over condom wrappers and Casamigos bottles, trying to quickly get dressed.

Looking at her as I pulled my sweats on, I promised her, “Don’t worry about it. I’ll hit you up when I can.” I was not sure I could keep that promise.

My fucking heart was in my ass thinking about the words my father said to me. I grabbed my wallet, gun, and keys off the night table before Shante put her arms around me and kissed me on the lips.

“Be safe and call me when you can… okay?”

“Yeah,” I replied, heading out the front door and taking the stairs down to the bottom level, while trying to catch my breath.

I quickly left out the building and Quasim was leaned on my whip. He stood there shaking his head. “How the fuck you knew where I was at?”

“You Cappadonna’s son, there ain’t too much you can do without someone knowing. I saw you leave with Shante last night when I was in the back counting money.”

I stood on the step and looked at him. “You didn’t come out there and stop me from leaving with her.”

“Grown ass man, Chubs. We shared our words, and you did what you were gonna do… just hope that shit was worth it… give me your keys.”

I tossed him the keys and he went around to the driver’s seat and hopped in, rolling the window down to look at me as I stood there stuck. “You know what happened?” I asked, scared to hear the truth. “Pops said Aimee and Rory were in a shooting… he fucking with me, right?”

Quasim shook his head and looked at me with slight disgust. “Why the fuck would he play like that?” He whipped away from the curb, and I held onto the damn door because he was whipping around the blocks with one hand, comfortably.

It was probably best his ass stayed on a bike and not behind a damn wheel of a car. I’ve driven in Quameer’s truck with him, and I felt the same way about his ass. The Inferno boys needed to stick to two wheels instead of four.

“She called for you… needed you and you ducked her calls, nigga.”

I hung my head because I watched her continually call while I was balls deep inside of Shante this morning. The voicemails and text messages went unanswered because I was fucking angry with her.

“I fucked up, Sim.”

“I been in this situation… getting a call that someone I loved was shot… she didn’t fucking walk out that hospital and left behind a baby. Shante fam’, but why the fuck would you do this shit to yourself?”

“Do you know what’s going on? What happene?—”

My questions were cut off when Quasim answered his phone. “Yeah… got him. Heading there right now… nigga, it’s fam’, you never have to thank me… Bet.” He finished the call, and then made a right and stopped at the light.

“Sim, what the fuck happened to Aimee and my son?” It was like the more I sat in this car as this nigga whipped onto the highway the more I felt this pain in my chest.

My father’s words had set in before, but now those shits were fully absorbed and I felt like I couldn’t breathe. Quasim looked over at me as I struggled to breathe, and he rolled my window down.

He reached his hand out. “Hold my hand, squeeze… breathe… in…” he directed, and I did as he said while trying to catch my breath. “Stop overthinking it… in and then let it out… squeeze my hand,” Sim continued to direct me, and it was helping the tension that I now felt in my chest.

I continued to hold onto his hand as I steadied my breathing, and he continued speeding in and out of traffic with ease using his other hand.

“Are…are they good?” I almost didn’t want to know the answer to his question because my heart couldn’t take it.

“Your father asked me not to speak on it until I got you to him… he and Alaia happened to be in the city because they were leaving tomorrow for the baby moon that he was surprising Alaia with before the twins come.”

“Fuck.”

Quasim whipped over the Verrazano bridge into Brooklyn, and then hopped on the BQE expressway with ease. I sat there, still holding his hand like a fucking lame. “I can get my hand back?” he looked at me.

The rest of the ride, I was quiet while in my head. Why the fuck would anyone shoot at Aimee while she had my son? That had to be the reason she kept calling me, and I ignored her call when she needed me. How the fuck could I ignore her when she needed me. Aimee always told me that I was all she had, and in the moment when she needed me the most, I let my pride and pettiness get into the way.

We pulled into the front of Kings County hospital, and Yasin was waiting in front of the emergency area. He came over to the car, as Quasim got out, and he dapped him, taking the car for him. Quasim walked in front of me as I trailed behind like a fucking child about to be barked on for skipping school to hang with their friends.

Instead, this was about the fact that I didn’t answer Aimee in her time of need. I could never forgive myself. Soon as I walked into the waiting room, my father was pacing the area while Alaia was sitting on the edge of her seat nervously shaking her leg.

“Where the fuck were you?” he roared when he laid eyes on me.

I’ve never been on the receiving end of Cappadonna Delgato’s wrath, and even though I knew he would never hurt me, that shit was scary. His eyes were wide and red, as he looked over at me like a fucking wild ass beast.

His voice carried throughout the emergency room, gathering stares from the passing by staff and those waiting to be called back for their vitals.

“I got caught up,” was the only lame ass excuse that came out my mouth as I looked at my father. “What happened, Pops?”

“What happened, Pops?” he mocked, continuing to pace the fucking floor. “Your fucking girlfriend and son was in the middle of some shit. Rory was fucking in a car accident… the fucking bus pushed the fucking car down the block with him in the backseat. If that’s not enough, they shot in the fucking car.”

Quasim held my shoulder because I felt lightheaded when he mentioned my son was in the back of the car when it was rammed with a bus and the car was shot at. “Is…is he alright?”

My father stopped pacing, and I saw the tears in his eyes. “A concussion and bruising… he unstrapped himself because he was scared… he was on the fucking floor under the seat. Thank God the bus hit on the opposite side he was fucking on, and he was already on the ground when the bullets hit the truck… his fucking car seat had fucking bullet holes, Capella… the driver was dead on the scene. They didn’t know he was in the truck until the lady that Aimee passed out on told them that was what she was screaming before she passed out.” He wiped away the tears in his eyes before they could fall.

I dropped to my knees and cried. Rory hated loud and sudden sounds, so he was always quick to hide. Me and Aimee were constantly telling him not to take his seatbelt off when he was in his seat.

He was so quick with his little fingers, too. There was a few times that I was lost in the music and happen to look in the mirror, and his ass was leaned up out his car seat and trying to reach the iPad that was inside the holder on the back of the seat.

“Ai…Aimee?” My tears fell down my face as I looked up at my father, who was staring at me, disappointed.

“Aimee wasn’t the driver, Capella. She passed out chasing behind the car and managed to call me before she did. I tracked her necklace and knew where she was… the EMT’s were already putting her and Rory into the back of the ambulance… he threw up on the way, and they said that’s a sign of him being concussed.”

“Where’s my boy… I need to see him.” I pulled myself off the floor and was ready to run toward the back, and my father stood in front of me.

“They are running tests on him and Aimee… she still hasn’t woken up. Where the fuck were you when she called you?”

“I was with a friend.” Being in this emergency room was triggering the fuck out of me and I was starting to feel like I couldn’t breathe, and my father was on my ass.

He nodded his head as he looked at me. “You did some lame ass shit… right?”

“Why the fuck does that matter right now? My son and Aimee are my concern right fucking now.”

“So, where the fuck were you when they needed you! Your girl fucking needed you and you failed to protect her! Had she not fucking called me, we wouldn’t even know what the fuck would have happened!” he barked, spit flying from his mouth. “I didn’t fucking raise you like that!”

“You didn’t fucking raise me at all!” I barked, shoving him, and he didn’t even move an inch as he looked at me. “I’m a grown ass fucking man, you ain’t raise shit!”

Capri ran into the waiting room dressed like she just got word when she was at work. “What happened? What fucking happened?” she was hysterical as she looked between me and her brother.

Quasim pulled her into him. “Relax yourself… I don’t need you stressing out my niece or nephew, and Blaze in here going off because you passed out or some shit.”

Capri held onto Quasim as she waited for her answers, but me and my father were too busy in a standoff to answer her question. Alaia came over toward her husband and gently slipped her hand into his.

Instead of having a rebuttal like he always did, he nodded his head and turned to walk away, while still holding Alaia’s hand. I watched as they continued down the hall while I stood there trying to catch my breath.

“Walking the fuck away instead of facing the truth!” I yelled to his back, and he didn’t turn around, he kept walking.

Capone stood up, and that was when I noticed he had been here the whole time. “Pri, I need you to relax for me.”

Erin rushed over toward Capri, and made her sit down because she was panicking. I felt like she was having a flashback of Naheim and Kincaid being shot, and her having to wait to hear if they would make it or not.

“Always preaching that Pops shit but don’t wanna talk about it… he don’t fucking love me,” I continued spewing, not even sure of what the hell I was even talking about.

“He didn’t knock your fucking head off and walked away… that’s how you know a father’s love. He didn’t raise you because that was stolen from him, but he’s been here with you since finding out and you say some sucka shit like that ‘cause you scared and in the wrong… you wrong and corny, B,” Capone said as he pointed at me.

“You not even on good terms with his ass and you trying to school me.”

Capone laughed and went to leap at me, and Quasim quickly jumped in the middle. “I’ll beat yo’ ass, Capella.”

“Capo, this your nephew… chill,” Quasim stood between us as he looked at him, trying to get him to understand that fucking me up wouldn’t be the answer. “He in shock… don’t even know what he saying right now.”

“Don’t speak for me, Sim… I know what the fuck I’m saying,” I lied, knowing I had gone too far and couldn’t stop because I was hurting and punishing myself.

“Stop fucking playing with me, Chubs… I let his ass go, and then you gonna be in the next room next to your seed.”

“That ain’t no fucking nephew of mine with the way he speaking crazy. He didn’t raise you because of yo’ bum ass mama, but he been leading you to not be a fucking scrub ass nigga. Accepted you without question. Would fucking give his life for you and yours without a question. We don’t ever gotta be on speaking terms for him to know how I step behind him… I’m always gonna have my twin’s back because I already know he gonna hold down the front… matter fact, go glue them fucking locs back in yo’ head and get some common sense and fucking apologize. Our birthday is this weekend, and you think he gonna give a fuck about that? Nah… he gonna be out there looking for those niggas!” Capone barked, as Erin pulled him away.

“Sim, I feel like I can’t breathe,” Capri admitted, and he rushed over toward her. He held her hand and rubbed her back as she struggled to breathe.

Capone rushed toward his sister, kneeling down in front of her. “Pri, I need you to calm down…. Please relax.”

Quasim had her squeezing his hand as she tried to calm her breathing down. “You got it… you good… in and out.”

I had a feeling that Quasim had panic attacks often, which is why he knew tricks to helping someone calm down and steady their breathing. Capri looked at him and gave him a weak smile as Capone squeezed her knee.

“Sorry, guys. Being in this waiting room just gives me a feeling I never want to feel again,” she shook as if she had the chills. “I need Meer.”

“Me too,” I admitted, thinking about my aunt and the last time everyone was in an emergency room. “She came in and never left,” I spoke while staring straight ahead, not even sure if they were even hearing me.

I didn’t care if they heard me or not because I was just speaking out loud anyway. “Bring yo’ stupid ass here.” Capone rose from Capri and walked over toward me, grabbing the back of my head and pulling me into a hug. “Imagine what your father fucking felt getting that call from Aimee, not knowing where you were, and knowing his grandson had been in a car that was part of a shootout, and then an accident?” he spoke directly into my ear. “You’re a father now, Kid… put the pieces together. Don’t hurt him because you’re fucking scared… feel me?”

My vision was blurred as I cried and he hugged me, kissing the top of my head. “I can’t lose ‘em, Capo.”

“You not losing them, but you need to do better. I’m always hearing you telling your pops how you a grown man… a grown man handles his shit, and protects his famil?—”

“Rory Delgato’s family,” the nurse came from the back door, and I turned to face her. “You can come to the back, he wants pizza and a Quack-Quack,” she gave me a smile, and my heart settled in place knowing my boy was up, alert and wanted pizza.

His favorite.

“I’ll go get Alaia,” Erin ran down the hallway to wherever my father and Alaia was, as I walked toward the nurse.

“Quack-Quack is here, Rory boo,” Alaia was running down the hallway with my father and Erin behind her.

The nurse looked at us. “Only two people are allowed in the back.”

My father looked at the nurse and continued with me and Alaia, daring her to say something. She looked up at him, and then turned to take us to where Rory was. When I pushed the door opened, Rory was in a hospital crib, and he had dried up tears and snot as he produced more with the tears he was crying.

When he saw me, he tried to lunge himself out the crib to get to me, so I put more pep in my step and grabbed him up, hugging the hell out of him and kissing him while he held onto me like he would never see me again.

I couldn’t even imagine what was going through his head when everything was going on. He trembled slightly in my hands as I stood there rocking back and forth while still kissing him on his head.

Alaia wiped her tears as she stood at the other side of the crib. Rory looked at his grandfather and reached for him, so he abandoned the doorway and took Rory from me. Kissing him and hugging him while tears fell from his face.

How a man could be so soft when it came to his family, and a savage in the streets was something I was slowly learning. As the tears fell down his face, I could see the evil swirling around in his eyes.

“I’m sorry, Pops.” He stared at me, never saying anything before going to sit in the corner with Rory, who was now sucking on his three fingers while lying on his grandfather’s shoulder.

I walked out the room, and Alaia was right behind me. “Let’s find the doctor and see what’s going on with Aimee.”

“He didn’t say shit to me, Joy.”

She grabbed my hand. “Just leave it alone, Capella… not right now. You said some fucked up shit to him. He has so much guilt when it comes to not being there for you as a child. To hear you say it,” she paused. “It just hits different and sometimes saying sorry doesn’t fix things right away.”

Alaia rubbed my back as we went to find the doctor. He explained to us that Rory had a concussion, and they were keeping him overnight for observation.

“Mr. Delgato, your son was very lucky.” He looked down the hall, and then leaned closer. “Your son has an angel looking out for him. I’ve heard the man that was found in the car was dead on the scene.”

“It was your aunt,” Alaia looked up at me and gave me a weak smile, as she turned her attention back to the doctor. “What about his mother? Is she awake?”

“She’s awake… we are admitting her as well. She says she was involved in a fight, which explains the bruising on her face. However, with further testing, her blood sugar is dangerously low, which caused her to pass out. Also, added with the height of emotions, that can also be why she passed out as well.”

“C…can I see her?”

He waved for me to follow behind him a little bit further down the hall. When he opened the door, Aimee was trying to pull the IV out her arm and was hysterical. Her entire side of her face was bruised.

“Aimee, honey,” Alaia gasped as she rushed over toward her side. Aimee collapsed into her arms crying as I walked closer.

“Aim, come here,” I tried to touch her, and she jumped back like I had a disease or something.

“No… please, no… get the fuck away from me!” she screamed, and the doctor looked at me like he was second guessing even giving me all the information he had given me.

“Bab—”

“Don’t fucking call me baby !” she hollered, I could see the saliva extending from the root of her mouth to the bottom as she sobbed while pointing at me. “I called you… I fucking called you and you lef… left Rory! I told you that you’re all I had, and you said fuck me!” she continued to sob as Alaia hugged her.

Seeing how shaken up and scared she was made me feel sick to my stomach. She trembled in Alaia’s arms as she looked at me with such hurt in her eyes, and it made me feel even more guilty about where I had been when I was ignoring her calls.

“I’m sorry, Baby,” I said, as I remained near the door, because it was clear she didn’t want me anywhere near her.

“Aimee,” I heard my father’s voice, as he walked into the room holding Rory. The doctor looked up at him, and I could tell he wanted to tell him to take Rory back to his room, but he saw the size of my father and his somber behavior and decided that Rory wasn’t in immediate danger. It wasn’t like they had him hooked to IV’s or anything.

“Pops,” Aimee broke down further while holding onto Alaia, while I stood there not knowing what to do.

My chest was tight one second and then I felt relief when I saw my son laying on his grandfather’s shoulder. He was fucking alive and that wouldn’t have been our reality had Rory not been scared and got out his seat.

Something we were always on him about had saved his life. Aimee held onto Alaia as my father looked at the doctor. “Give my family some privacy.”

The doctor nearly tripped over his clogs trying to get out the room. I closed the door, and watched as my father took a seat in the corner chair while rubbing Rory’s back and patting his butt, the only way he felt calm and soothed.

“What happened?” Before she could speak the tears started and she started explaining shit and none of us knew what she was saying. He held his hand up. “Slower, and make sure I understand you, Aimee.”

“Khalil got out of prison, and I used his money he told me to hold for him. He wanted his money back, but he wanted more than the twenty thousand dollars, so I took money out to pay it back, but he wanted more or he was gonna tell my secret.”

“What’s your secret, Aimee? You were selling ass when you were fucking with him?” Pops asked, and I looked at Aimee, seeing the truth in her eyes as she looked down, ashamed.

“Yes.”

“Let me get this right… you got a man who would lay anyone out for you, and you decided to take this in your own hands, hmm?”

“Roy, pleas?—”

“Joy, not now,” he sternly replied.

Alaia realized that her husband didn’t need her input, and she remained quiet and allowed my father, the head of our family, to continue running lead in the conversation.

“Why the fuck didn’t you tell me that he was back out and blackmailing you? I fucking asked you, Aim, and you made dumb ass excuses!” I was no longer feeling sorry for her, but was livid at her decision-making skills. ‘Cause why the fuck would she take all of this on her own?

My body felt hot as I looked at her giving me that stupid ass expression, not knowing what to say. “I…I thought I could handle it.”

“How the fuck did you think that, Aimee?” my father questioned, still poised and calm as he looked at her. “A nigga with nothing to lose is a dangerous nigga. If he was asking you for bread, that was a clear sign that he came home to nothing. Seeing the chick he left behind riding in a brand-new truck with money, you didn’t think he would feel some kind of way? Wouldn’t it have been smart to come talk to your man? Don’t scream how he didn’t answer the phone when you needed him… you probably had no fucking plans on telling him you were going to meet with that nigga, right?”

Aimee lowered her head. “No. I really thought I could fix things and be done with him… I didn’t know he would have stolen my…God, my baby… can I hold him, please?”

My father didn’t make any movements to move from the place he was in. “I give you grace because you lost your mother and sick ass brother, then your living family ain’t shit. However, you act like this family hasn’t been solid and standing behind you since you and bozo got together.”

I deserved that.

The door pulled us from our conversation. Skyler rushed inside the room with Core behind her. “Aimee, what the fuck? I told you to tell them… why would you ever,” she hugged Aimee, and then pulled her away to look over her before hugging her again, “trust that nigga?”

“Skyler seems to be the only one that fucking listens to me around here… told her ass once and she got her fucking life together.”

“Hey Mr. Capp,” she smiled.

He wanted to correct her but had more pressing issues than to tell her to stop calling him Mr. Capp. Core leaned on the door and looked over at his brother. “Pulled those cameras… let me know when you ready to spin some shit.”

“What the fuck did you get yourself into, Aimee?” I asked.

She looked at me. “Why the fuck do you give a fuck, Capella? Don’t sit here and act like you care now!”

I watched as the tears and spit flew while she screamed at me like she had the fucking right. Everything went red and I darted across the room to beat her ass, and Core grabbed me while Skyler stood in front of Aimee’s bed. “I should have fucking snapped your neck when we were in Barbados, bitch!”

“Geeky, you not holding nothing back if I let him go after her,” he told Skyler, and she stood her ground, determined to protect her friend.

“He’s not about to hit her, I know that much.” She folded her arms and looked over at my father, who was shaking his head.

“Everybody calm the fuck down… go take a walk if you need to, but you not about to beat her ass in front of me. As much as I wanna beat yo’ ass, Aimee, and I really do… this shit is on you.” He handed Rory to Alaia and stood up. “You fucked up and put not only your life but your fucking son, my grandson’s life in danger. Fuck the tears and all the shit you got going on right now… I’ve been here and have always told you to come to me. You decided to take things into your own hands, and almost had your fucking baby killed, stupid ass!” he roared, causing Aimee and Skyler both to jump.

Alaia held Rory, unfazed by her husband’s anger that had been brewing since he got the call. “How could someone be so fucking smart and be so fucking stupid? That nigga Khalil would have been handled before he could become a problem. Your fucking man is a Delgato, his father a fucking Inferno God… that comes with a bunch of niggas that are willing to put their life on the line for me and mine… niggas snatched my wife and niggas lit they fucking block up behind her. You didn’t think telling somebody that Khalil was trying to blackmail you, he wouldn’t have been handled? Capella could handle that nigga in his fucking sleep, Aimee!”

Aimee was inconsolable as she looked at Capp, scared. “I didn’t want him to get mixed up again. He was arrested because of me… I thought if I gave him the money he would go away.”

“Did he not handle yo’ pussy ass cousin when you told him about it, Aimee?” It was the way he manically kept saying Aimee that made her ass move closer to Skyler.

“I asked you about your fucking past and would have accepted that shit because I love you. I didn’t give a fuck about your life before me…I’m an understanding ass nigga.”

“Aim, if he accepted the abortion, then Khalil would have been nothing… he would have handled him.”

I paused when the word abortion left Skyler’s mouth and Aimee’s eyes widened with even more tears falling down her face. I cleared my throat. “Abortion?” Folding my arms, I stood with my legs shoulder length apart as I watched Aimee avoid eye contact with me.

“I’m going back into Rory’s room… he doesn’t need to be around all of this.” My pops kissed Alaia on the head, as Core held the door open for her.

I laughed as I looked at her. “Abortion, Aim… what abortion, Honey ?”

“Shit. You said you were telling him, Aimee,” Skyler whispered, and ran her hands down her face. “I’m so sorry.”

“I had an abortion… we didn’t need another fucking baby!” she hollered. “All you give a fuck about is me being a mother, and newsflash, the hood of motherhood hasn’t been easy for me, Capella. You never noticed, and I’m sick of the shit… sick of always having to be alright when I’m struggling. Being a mother has been a fuck?—”

Core nor my father were fast enough to grab me as I flew across the room and wrapped my fucking hands around her neck, choking her ass out. “You killed my fucking baby because you fucking overwhelmed! I’m gonna fucking kil?—”

I felt my body leave the floor as my hands slipped from around Aimee’s neck, and I was hauled near the door. My father pushed me out the door, pissed he had to even break up our fight.

“I let you shove me once, next time I’m gonna show you why they call me Big Capp, Capella,” he warned because I was thinking about shoving past him to continue choking this bitch out like Bart Simpson.

“You dead to me, Bitch!” I hollered.

“Likewise, Bitch!” Aimee screamed. “Putting your hands on me, you crazy as fuck… fuck you, Capella!” she continued screaming. “I was fucking scared and didn’t know what to do. I’m always called stupid or ditzy, y’all don’t think I know and I fucking do! My brother already made Pops leery of me, and I didn’t want to give him another reason not to trust me because of my past. I literally have nobody… no fucking family and I’m out here on my own!” she sobbed as Skyler hugged her.

“You both belong together because y’all both say some dumb shit out your mouth. From the minute you fucking called me, I been there. You like a fucking daughter to me. Like I would ride to protect my own daughter, you are fucking included in this family. I know you got some mental shit to fucking deal with, but we all been here for you, Aimee! Been solid behind you since I made that promise to your father!” my father roared, and then shoved me out the door because I was giving Aimee the look like I wanted to rip her fucking face off.

Security came down the hallway and my father looked at him, and he turned his ass back around, and went back to wherever he came from. The nurses and doctors were all surrounding the nurse’s section trying to act normal.

“This goes without saying… call the cops and I’m routing all your paychecks into my account… cool?” Core looked at the doctors and nurses as they slowly nodded their heads.

“I’m gonna fucking kill that bitch,” I punched my hand, wanting to go back into the room and finish beating the shit out of her. “My fucking son… she so fucking stupid, I swear. Why the fuck would she do that with my fucking son with her?”

“You wrong, too, nigga,” Core spoke, as he leaned against the vending machine. “She fucking called you, and you ignored her shit… I had to do a fucking alert so you could answer the phone. Don’t get me wrong, she wrong as shit, but you play a part in that shit, too.”

“Core, who the fuck was those niggas? They were after Aimee or what?” my father asked.

“Nah… her ex-boyfriend owed some money to some crip niggas, and they happened to come to collect at the same time she was there… Aimee was at the wrong fucking place at the wrong time.” He shook his head.

“You got all of that from a fucking street security camera?”

Core smirked. “Nah… I just know people, and people fuck with me, so I find information out.”

“I want ‘em.” My father looked at his youngest brother.

Core nodded. “My pleasure… we gonna handle ‘em. I know they hang out at that fucking lounge over on Pitkin Avenue. How you wanna handle the shit, fly by spraying?”

He shook his head. “Nah. I want them to know it’s me.”

I walked down the hall to my son’s room. Alaia was rocking in the chair with him as he sucked on his fingers, looking at the blank TV. She offered me a weak smile, as she continued to rock with him.

“Sit down and take a breath before you pass out or something,” she warned, and I looked at the empty chair, unsure if I even wanted to sit down.

My heart was beating a mile a second, and I couldn’t catch my breath because all I kept thinking about was my son. The thought of coming to this hospital and having them tell me that my son was murdered made me sick.

As I was about to speak, I held my hand over my mouth and ran to the trash in the corner. I emptied the food and liquor that me and Shante had consumed. I held the side of the trash as I continued to empty my stomach while dry heaving.

“Reality has hit you,” Alaia calmly stated, just as fucking eerily calm as her damn husband. “I’m not saying that Aimee is right, because she’s so fucking wrong. I’ve been in her place before, and I don’t know… the thought process one goes through in that situation isn’t a smart one. I allowed Taz to beat the shit out of me pregnant knowing that Cappadonna told me to call him if I needed him.”

“She aborted my fucking baby, Alaia,” I grabbed a napkin and wiped my mouth before washing my hands in the corner sink.

“Rory is autistic, right?”

We hadn’t told anyone about the doctor’s appointment with him. I didn’t know how Alaia knew, and as she continued to rock him, I realized that she was close to Rory. His Quack-Quack was his favorite person in the world.

“Yeah.”

“Aimee has had plenty of conversations with me about her fear about Rory being autistic. She was scared, Capella.”

“You knew she aborted my baby, Alaia?”

She rolled her neck and looked at me. “I’m the only person you have being nice… especially cause you hurt my baby’s feelings. He may not tell you, but you fucking hurt him with the fuck shit you said out your mouth. Emotions are high for everyone, but saying something like that, Capella… you are foul. And no, I didn’t know she aborted the baby. I didn’t know she was even pregnant.”

I hung my head and leaned on the sink. “I don’t even know why the fuck I said that to him… you know how I feel about my pops.”

“Fear.”

“You think he’ll forgive me?”

She kissed Rory’s head. “It was forgiven before the words left your mouth. Your father loves the shit out of you and your siblings. The twins aren’t even here yet, and they are already included in his prayers in the morning. He prays for all of us and protects us. Do you understand the amount of pressure that is for anyone, and he walks around like its nothing.”

“I choked the fuck out her,” I said out loud as my actions settled in. “Fucking hurt her when I promised I would never do that to her.”

I could tell Alaia didn’t know how to respond or to fix the space that me and Aimee found ourselves in. “The one thing I know is that we need to be thanking Allah because Rory is alive. This could have been a different outcome for both of them.”

“You right.” I looked at my son who held onto his Quack-Quack while being so calm when not even a few hours ago his life was shaken upside down. “You think me and my father can fix this?”

“I know that you need to make it right. He’s turning forty this weekend, do you think he’s going to celebrate that? Cappadonna Leroy Delgato is many things, but selfish isn’t one of those things. I have to live with the fact that my husband is on go for our family, and there is always a chance that he won’t return back to us. He didn’t raise you but he’s doing everything to make up for that.”

“Why the fuck is shit always happening to me?” I sat in the chair in the corner and watched Alaia with my son.

“Capella, I could see that look. The same one your father has; you need to be careful… promise me that.”

“I got you.”

“No, I need you to promise me this. Don’t try and make moves without your father… promise me that.” She stared at me.

“I promise.”

“Put it on your sister,” she forced me.

I sighed. “I put that on Promise.”

Satisfied, she leaned back in the chair and continued to rock Rory while I sat there thinking how today could have turned out differently.