Quasim II: King Inferno (Season Four: Inferno Gods #2)

18. Blair

Blair

They say never meet your idols, and I was learning why that statement was so true. I usually extended grace because having a baby wasn’t an easy thing. Your hormones were all over the place and you had a little human that was new to the world, depending on you for everything.

You weren’t yourself after becoming a mother, so all the grace should be extended to moms. It was a lot trying to get back to the old you and I had been part of many women’s journey of self-rediscovery.

My best friend was currently going through it because although she loved her baby, she wanted to feel like the old Capri again. It felt like you were just sitting around, waiting for it to finally kick in.

For some women, that took time, but for others, it simply never happened. They usually spent time trying to find ‘her’ or trying to learn the new version of themselves. So, when I came into a new mother’s life, I never took anything personal.

You just pushed out an entire human, experiencing blood loss and your hormones being out of whack. You were getting all the grace and patience from me.

Lilac Washington didn’t deserve any grace or patience. She presented herself as this laid-back woman who enjoyed her blog, and recommending organic products, but she was really a bitch. When she originally reached out through her assistant, I just thought it was normal protocol. It made sense to me; she was busy and had an assistant, so why not have her handle booking her doula?

When I arrived, the bitch didn’t speak or introduce herself to me. She sipped her coconut water and made a head gesture to the assistant, who then took me to the living area and proceeded to take out her notebook and pen, waiting to take notes.

Laquita, because her real name wasn’t Lilac, took the baby every so often and smothered her with kisses before she handed it back to the nurse and took calls in her office. She wore this long, silk kimono with her hair pulled into a curly, messy bun, and big black prescription glasses. The bitch had one of those kimonos in every color and design.

She wore a stomach binder faithfully, and she was always making head gestures. I was teaching this young assistant, who looked like she didn’t want children, how to care for a baby that wasn’t even hers. Pregnancy and birth was complicated and a stressful experience to some. Still, wouldn’t you want to bond with your baby? Learn how to take care of them, since this was your first child?

I complained about Ivory, and I had no clue how bad it could get. At least Ivory had conversations and actually tried to learn what I was teaching her. She just kept getting doula confused with nanny.

These basketball wives were a whole new world with the way they acted. You would have thought that they were the actual talent, and not just leeching off their husband’s success. Lilac had rebranded her entire life to be this organic, rich, black woman who came from money. In reality, she came from the hood and clawed her way up a 6 '5 basketball player until she got where she needed to be in life.

I left my damn man to be here for two weeks and all she needed me for was four hours. The original contract stated that I would be with her for at least nine hours a day, lightly caring for the baby while she napped or took time for herself.

The assistant was the one that told me that I would only be there for four hours, but I would still be paid for the nine hours. After I heard the money would remain the same, I was running out of there to that black car that she sent to pick me up.

Almost every time I was leaving, her husband was coming in at the same time. I was starting to feel like she didn’t want me around her man. I’d never spoken to him or been formally introduced to him, yet, I’ve held his new baby and been showing the assistant everything that needed to be learned.

Weird.

“A gruesome scene has unfolded in this small town of Grimville, New Jersey. What started as a house party ended in a horrible mass killing. Dozens of bodies now litter this street that was once filled with happy partygoers, making this one of the most horrific acts of violence the town has ever seen. Authorities haven’t released much information on potential suspects, and there are no live witnesses. The investigation is as chilling as the crime itself. Authorities are encouraging anyone with information on last night to come forward.”

Kiki was leaning up with her iPad, listening to the news back home. I could tell from the way she was all the way tuned in that this had something to do with the Inferno Gods. I didn’t pretend to know everything that went on with Quasim and the Inferno Gods, but I knew some things. I was smart enough to remember that city’s name, and that it was mutual ground.

Nobody brought beef to mutual ground, you handled that shit outside of that city. Every biker gang knew it, and everyone respected it. Kiki moved her fist to her mouth as she kicked her feet happily.

“Oooh shit… they really woke him up… he fucking spit on mutual grounds.” She hollered and continued to kick her feet. “Yasin!”

He looked from the sandcastle that he was making with Elijah, told him he would be back, and jogged across the beach.

Hassan had headphones on and had his head in a book. He lifted his headphones and then snatched them off to come over to where me and Kiki were relaxing.

“What happened, baby mama?”

Kiki paused, and then she rolled her eyes. “I told you that I am not your baby mama.”

Yasin sat down on her pool lounge, close to her. “Then be my everything, my love, my heartbeat and rib.”

Kiki’s breath was caught in her chest as she handed him the phone, and he looked down at it. Even while he was fully tuned in, she was still staring at him. “Oh fuck… he sent that message loud and clear. Do you know what the fuck he just did?”

“I wonder if Papa knows what he did. Do you know what the fuck this means? He made it free game for all gangs.”

I got chills as I sat there and watched them talk about what Quasim did. “Fucking King.” Hassan nodded his head.

“Is Papa going to be upset?”

“A few times Quasim wanted to break those rules, and Papa held him back because he knew what it would mean. There has to be some order with all biker crews, and mutual grounds was it. King kicked that bitch down and burned it to the ground… Polo bout to shit his pants.” Yasin explained.

As if he knew that we were discussing him, his name popped across the screen. I slid my finger across the screen. “You’re going to live a long time, Simmy.”

“You the reason my ear ringing,” he chuckled.

“How are you?”

He cleared his throat. “Better now that I’m talking to you. What you doing right now?”

“On the beach with Elijah… I’m going to have to comb all that sand out and wash his hair a bunch of times.”

“You love that, though, Anjo.”

I smiled because I did enjoy spending time with Elijah. During bath times, I sat on the toilet while he talked about everything. Motorcycles were at the top of his conversations. He let me in on how he, Ryder, and CJ were going to ask for dirt bikes, and for Capone to put a dirt pit on the compound for them. It was their compromise since all three of them were too young to ride motorcycles.

"I do. Everything good there, Sim?”

“Didn’t call you to talk about that, my love.”

I leaned back on the pool lounge and sheltered my eyes from the sun. “I miss you, Simmy.”

“I miss you more… how my boy been?”

I smiled. “Good… we’ve been having fun in-between me working .”

“Why that voice?”

“She’s a bitch.”

“Shit.”

I broke out into laughter. “She is, though… doesn’t even speak to me and does everything through her assistant. Then the fact that she doesn’t want me to stay the full hours, and I always arrive when her husband is gone, and leave when he’s coming in. I think she’s scared of her man wanting me, or they got some kind of secret going on in there.”

“Long as you not included in they secret, I don’t give a fuck. I’ll light that house up if something funny going on and they involve you.”

“Only you… what you doing?”

He yawned. “Bout to take a nap before having to run somewhere later. If I don’t answer, then you know why.”

“Quasim?”

“What, Anjo?”

“Nothing.”

“Tell me.”

“Nothing… I trust you.” It was hard to not place another man’s problems on the next man. I don’t know how many times Tyshawn told me that if I called and he didn’t answer it was because he was handling business.

He was handling business; however, it was never the kind he should have been handling. It was always a woman.

“Want only you, Blair. Never got to worry about that when it comes to me, right?”

“Yes. Which is why I said nothing. I trust you, and I just had a moment of being insecure…sorry.”

“Never apologize for feeling how you do. Talk to me about it before you hop out my trunk or some crazy shit.”

“I would never hop out of a truck… maybe do a drive by, but not a trunk,” I muttered the last part, and he laughed.

“Crash out.”

“Takes one to know one,” I teased.

He laughed. “The biggest one behind you. I’ll call you later… I love you both.”

“We love you, too.” I ended the call and looked over at Kiki, Yasin, and Hassan. “What? I got ketchup on my face?”

“Nah. You good.” Hassan replied.

By the time I finished the conversation with Quasim, they had finished theirs. Hassan went back to his book while Yasin ran over toward Elijah, picked him up, and ran to the water with him as he laughed.

“He know his big-headed ass is fine as hell,” Kiki bit on her nail as she watched him and Elijah playing.

Yasin had his shirt off with a pair of Gucci swim trunks. His locs were held back with a rubber band. His caramel skin shone as his body glistened from the water, sand sticking to him. Kiki was about to gnaw her damn finger off with the way she was biting down on it.

“You need all your fingers,” I snatched her hand from her mouth as she tossed herself back onto the pool lounge.

“Why can’t he wear a shirt like Hassan?”

“I know what the sun does to the skin… that nigga a showoff.” Hassan snorted, letting us know that those headphones weren’t playing a damn thing.

Kiki cut her eyes at him, and he showed us him putting his music back on. “Why don’t you just admit that you like him?”

“Cause then it makes it real.”

I got comfortable and looked at her. “What scares you when it comes to him?”

“Everything…. His age.”

“And yours?”

“I’m not old.”

“Girl, nobody even said that. He ain’t worried about your age, so why are you so worried?” I questioned.

It was clear that the feelings weren’t one-sided. I could understand why she was nervous about exploring something with him. He was a God, and she was a Goddess, which meant if things didn’t work out, she would always have to be around him.

“I promise I’m not worried about my age; I’m worried about his . He’s younger than me… and I want serious shit. I want marriage, children, and to be loved without any games.”

“How do you know he’s going to play games?”

She paused. “Alright, I don’t know if he’s going to play games, but shit… I don’t want to be the one that he decides to play games with.”

I looked at Yasin, and then at Kiki and smiled. “I don’t think he’s going to play any games when it comes to you. Age ain’t nothing but a number.”

She looked at me. “I’ve been in love before, and the shit hurt like hell. B, I don’t think I want to feel that again.”

“Who says that you would feel pain with him? One of the things I told myself when I left Tyshawn was that I wouldn’t hold the shit he did against the next man. Literally caught myself about to do it with Quasim a few minutes ago. It’s easier said than done because every date I went on, or man I was talking to, I couldn’t help but to look and see if I could spot what I missed with Tyshawn. They don’t get to win for breaking our hearts, and allowing them to keep us from finding love is letting them win, Kiki.”

She looked down at her hands. “It’s so damn scary, B.”

“Girl, so scary. The minute I met Quasim, I knew he was different. I just felt something good in my soul about him, and it had been so long since I felt that about anyone. What do you feel in yours about Yasin?”

“A good feeling. I had the flu last winter, and this man came to my house and made his mom’s infamous chicken soup for me. Went to the grocery store, cooked it, and then cleaned my room and did my laundry,” she giggled.

“These men.”

“He folded my clothes better than me… I had to snatch my panties because his ass tried to take them with him,” She fell back laughing.

“Stop lying.”

“So serious… he told me that was payment for taking care of me. I never felt taken care of, even with my ex. He always had something or someone more important and I fell to the back. I allowed it because it became normal. Yasin actually made me feel taken care of… I like feeling that way.”

I could relate with Kiki about not feeling taken care of. I’ve always been the one having to be strong because I only had me. Even when I was in a relationship, I still only had me, myself, and I. Having a man care so much to do things that made you happy was a foreign feeling for me. Tyshawn paying for my studio when I first opened it wasn’t because he wanted to make me happy. It was guilt because of what he did to me, and he didn’t know how to open his mouth to make it right.

Not that he could.

From the first time I laid eyes on Quasim, I felt different about him. It was how he looked at me, knowing my secret without me ever having to tell him. Ever since, I always felt like someone was watching me, protecting me, and making sure that I was alright.

Other than Augusta Mae, I never had that before. He wouldn’t allow love to find him because he carried so much guilt in his own heart. I wanted to love him past all his pain and restore him again.

A great man.

When he rescued me when Tyshawn kidnapped me, that was when I saw it. He wanted to love me, too, and was too scared to trust his heart to love me.

“Allow him to do that for you… we deserve to have a second chance at being in love and being fucked right.”

“Blair!” she snorted.

I shrugged. “It’s the truth… I enjoy King having his way with me.”

Kiki covered her ears. “He’s like a brother to me… gross.”

“Give me a reason to cover my ears and say gross.” I nodded toward Yasin who was assisting in helping Elijah dig a huge hole on the beach.

She sighed. “Maybe.”

We both fell into silence as we watched them continue to dig a hole. “I’m pregnant.”

Kiki gasped and tears instantly filled her eyes. “Seriously?”

“Yeah. I’m so damn nervous. I’ve been pregnant before and it didn’t end well with me… so I’m nervous about everything.”

Kiki leaned forward and grabbed my hands as tears fell down her face. “I know the last time didn’t end well for both of you. I can’t imagine the bittersweet feelings and emotions you both are feeling. This time it will work out for you both, and you will have a beautiful baby. You and Quasim deserve this more than anybody. He loves so hard, B. The commitment he has made when it came to taking over as the leader was more than just stepping in for his father. He’s protected and loved us each like we were Meer. When my ex-boyfriend tossed me out of our apartment because my name wasn’t on the lease, he allowed me to stay with him. Beat the shit out that ex, but that’s neither here nor there. He’s always been there for everybody but never lets anyone be there for him. You are that someone for him.”

“He’s that somebody for me.”

Kiki pulled me up and we hugged. “Girl, we out here being emotional, but I love this for us.”

“Oh shit, we giving hugs,” Yasin came over and hugged Kiki from behind and kissed her on the cheek.

“Yasin, move yourself now because why is it like that?”

“You in that bathing suit… shit. I always knew you were thick, but damn, Ki.”

She shoved him away, snatched her iPad and beach bag. “I am going to shower and get ready for dinner tonight.”

I laughed as Yasin was about to bite his lip off while he watched her stomp through the sand. “B, I want you to remember something for me.”

“What’s that?” I asked, gathering my own things so I could make Elijah take a shower, then take a quick nap before dinner.

“On this date, I told you on this beach, that she’s going to be my wife. Need you to add that into your speech you give at the reception… ight?”

I smiled. “I got you, Yasin.”

Elijah ran over when he saw me leaving, and we made our way back to our condo. Sim booked two condos, one for Hassan and Yasin, and then the one next door for me, Kiki, and Elijah. Both units shared a huge wraparound balcony.

“Can I call Sim?” Elijah asked as he shook the sand all over the lobby of this building. His tanned skin was toasted from being out in the sun for hours.

I handed him his phone and he hit Quasim’s contact. The FaceTime call continued to ring out and he tried to call him again, and the call ended on him. “He’s not picking up. He always picks up his phone.”

I could hear the slight panic in his voice. “Eli, it’s alright… he told me earlier he was going to take a nap.”

“Sim sleeps with his sound on, he always hears. When I stayed at his house that burned up, he always picked up, even if he was sleep.” He started speaking fast and breathing faster.

I was pretty sure this baby was having a panic attack. As Yasin and Hassan entered the lobby, I sat my beach bag down and kneeled down to hold his face. “He’s very tired, baby. You know the same thing applies. What did he tell you?”

“That he’ll always come for me.”

“Exactly. Does he ever break a promise?”

Elijah shook his head and hugged me tightly around the neck as I rubbed his back. “No. I don’t want him to leave me.”

Elijah had formed a bond with Quasim, and he was his safe space. He was the one person who he could trust that hadn’t hurt him. “He’s never going to leave you, cause guess what?”

He pulled his head up. “What?”

I rubbed his face and smiled. “You are the best kid in the world, and you are so loved by all of us, Elijah.”

“Really?”

“Hel… yeah,” Yasin corrected himself and rubbed his head, sending a bunch of sand into my face. “My bad.” He held his hands up when I gave him the stank eye.

“We’re going to take baths and then rest a bit before going to dinner. By then, Simmy should be awake, so we can prop the phone up and have him eat dinner with us… sound good?”

“Sounds good,” he smiled.

“Are you okay now? It’s alright if you’re not okay, Elijah.” I continued to rub his back as he took a deep breath.

He put his head down. “I’m a God, and I don’t look down… what we do?”

“Look upon,” Elijah answered Yasin.

He held his two fingers out and Elijah hit the IG shake and smiled with so much pride. “My guy.”

I softly pulled his face in my direction. “You didn’t answer me, baby.”

“I am okay… I promise.”

“Well, now I am missing Simmy, too… think you can give me a hug?”

He smiled widely and hugged me tightly before going to run behind Hassan as I stood up. “You handled that better than I would have. Both you and Sim are good to him.”

“I see a lot of myself inside of him, especially when my mother passed away. There was a time when I used to become so attached to foster parents, only for them to give me up to the next home. I never want him to lose that innocence of wanting someone; children need and want the people they love, and I never want him to lose that. I lost mine way before I should have, and don’t wish that on nobody.” I replied, and headed back to our unit, feeling a bit emotional, thinking about all I had been through.

There was never ever room to sit in my feelings when I was growing up. I was always on to the next thing, because I had to be. There wasn’t an adult telling me how great I was or allowing me a minute to process my feelings. Never telling me that it was okay not to be okay. It was the reason the first person to show me the wrong kind of love felt right.

I knew Quasim had no plans on ever allowing Thea to get Elijah again. He was ours, and I wanted to right all the wrong he had experienced in his short life.

“Make sure you shake off in that tub, Elijah… you’re gonna get sand everywhere.”

“Okay!” he hollered back as I collapsed on the couch and closed my eyes for a second. The sun and the beach drained the hell out of you.

Recommendation: Listen to Walk Through The Fire By Yung Bleu ft Neyo

“I told you the pink looks amazing on your tanned skin,” Kiki said as she fixed my hair, which she insisted on doing.

I washed my hair, so I was going to slick it back and wear large earrings. We were only going to dinner, and then some ice cream shop that Elijah insisted we visit.

“Ms. Blair, I lost my chain on the beach.” Elijah came into the bedroom as Kiki finished my hair.

I fought her on the makeup because I didn’t feel like putting any on with this heat. Plus, my skin needed to breathe. “Relax, we can go and check where we were earlier.”

“I’ll finish up here and meet you guys downstairs,” Kiki said and cleaned up the slight mess we made while doing my hair.

I don’t care what anyone said, having short hair was a lot of upkeep at times. Elijah held my hand as we made our way downstairs. “Did you snag it on something earlier?”

“Umm.”

“Elijah, are you thinking?”

“Yep.”

I held his hand as we made our way onto the beach and walked down where we were hanging earlier. Elijah let go of my hand and ran off as I stopped in my tracks at the sight before me.

In the middle of the beach, there was a piano with Quasim sitting behind it. Elijah ran and grabbed a rose from the piano and ran it back over to me as I walked slowly toward the piano. On the right, near the water, were dozens upon dozens of red roses with glass candles in front of a sign in cursive that said ‘walk through fire with me?’

It wasn’t until I stopped walking because the tears were overwhelming that I heard what he was playing. He was playing the song that I played for him in the hospital, staring right at me while his fingers moved across the keys.

Meer was a little right, he did move his head slightly, but it was cute.

As he played, he briefly looked down and continued the melody; when he looked up, I saw the tears in his eyes. My feet were planted in the sand, and I couldn’t move because I was sobbing hard. My chest filled with so much love and pride.

Proud.

Proud to belong to such a man. A man that would love me like I deserved to be loved. Elijah took my hand and pulled me toward the piano, as I swiped away my tears while he sang the words.

I held the rose with one hand, the other hand placed over my heart. Elijah leaned his head on me, and I smiled down at him.

There had been times in my life when I felt like I would never get there. Never reach a place where I would ever feel love or be able to give a child all the love I had to give. I’ve given up on it more times than a few, even settling with the thought that Tyshawn was my future.

He was all I deserved.

As I stood on this beach, as this man played a piano and sang to me with tears in his eyes, I knew that wasn’t true. I knew that every moment God had taken me through the darkness, he was preparing me for the light, and how bright it could get for me. He was showing me that my darkness was temporary, and it was up to me to want the light.

Quasim Inferno was my light.

He finished playing as he took my hand in one of his, Elijah’s hand in the other, and walked us next to the sign. We both allowed him to lead us into the circle of roses, as he turned to look at us. The melody of the song continued to play and that was when I realized a pianist had taken his spot and picked up where he left off.

He wore a taupe two piece knit set that matched the knit in the dress that I wore. I watched, my face continuing to leak, as he got down on his knee and took my hand, and then he took Elijah’s hand.

His head dropped and Elijah lifted it back up. “Gods don’t look down, they look upon.”

Quasim smirked, as he wiped a tear from his eye. “You right, Eli.”

I took a deep breath because I felt like I had been holding my breath since I walked out onto this beach. “There was a time when I never thought I would strike gold again. I lost my family, and I thought I would never have that again. Started to make peace with it because what else was I going to do? Never prayed for it, because why would he bless me with the same thing that he took away from me? Then both of you entered my life, just as broken as I was. Fear stopped me from doing this a lot sooner, so forgive me for that, my love. I’ve always known you were the one, just was too stupid to admit it. I’m never allowing a moment of time slip that you don’t know how much I love and cherish you. How I respect the woman you are, because despite how harsh life had been to you, you never held it against anyone.”

He turned to look at Elijah. “When you came to my garage, I knew you needed love. We both needed love, and we found that in each other, right?”

“Right.” He smiled at Simmy.

“We’re broken apart, but when we’re together, we’re fixed. The cracks are still there because nothing is ever perfect, but we’re whole. I promise to protect, love, and lead this family. I promise that neither of you will ever have to cry yourself to sleep, because I’ll be there. Anjo, I need you more than I ever needed anyone in my life… Will you marry me, baby?”

I held onto his forearm as I got down in the sand with him and held his face. “I’ve loved you from the moment I met you. Baby, becoming your wife is an honor I don’t take for granted. Yes.”

He kissed my lips as I held his face, then pulled away as he looked at Elijah. “I heard that you were worried today.”

“Yeah.”

Quasim pulled him into an embrace. “I promise I’m not going anywhere, Elijah. I wasn’t there in the beginning, but I promise this ends with you never leaving my side, okay?”

“What if they come and take me?” I could tell this was something that kept him up at night, worried about when someone would come take him.

“They gotta get through me first… who are we?”

“Infernos,” he had this huge smile on his face, excited that he was included in that powerful last name.

“We go down easy?”

“Hel… nope!” He quickly corrected himself when Quasim lifted his brow and stared at him and then laughed.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a velvet ring box and opened it. When he opened the box, I gasped as I looked at the ring. “Simmy, it’s beautiful.”

The emerald cut red diamond sat on a gold band with six diamonds on it. Three on each side. “Each diamond holds a place. One for your mother, one for your son, and one for this baby. The other side is one for me, one for Elijah, and one for Harley.”

As if I wasn’t a mess already, when he explained the significance of the ring and diamonds, I couldn’t breathe. I fanned myself with my hand as I tried to calm down. “I…I… this… I…” I couldn’t get the words out because I was such a big mess.

He kissed my lips a few times, as he hugged me. My hands shook as he slid the ring onto my finger, and it fit perfectly. “A red diamond is the rarest diamond, and you, my queen, are rare.”

I kissed his lips and hugged him tightly.

Fireworks let off from behind him, and I looked up at the sky. That was when I saw Capri, Quameer, Ryder, Gams, Cappadonna, Alaia, Aimee, Capella, and Jaiden.

Kiki, Hassan, and Yasin stood on the balcony as they cheered, while Kiki wiped her face. “Pri…”

Meer removed his arms from around her, and she rushed through the roses and hugged me tightly. “You deserve all of this, Queen Inferno… welcome to the family, B.”

I hugged her so tight because we had been through some shit, and here we were. We found our way back to each other, and now we were both going to be married to brothers, sharing the same name. I’ve always felt like Capri was a sister, and now she was really about to be.

Meer came over and hugged me, kissing me on the cheek. “Queen Inferno.”

“Meer.”

“All you, B. This is your moment, and God, do you deserve this more than anyone that I know.” He hugged me tightly.

“Congratulations, Auntie Blair,” Ryder hugged me tightly, and I kissed her curls.

“Thank you, Ry.”

“Uncle Simmy, you’re crying. You never cry,” she rushed to her uncle, and he picked her up. She wiped his face and kissed his cheek. “Thanks, Har.”

I looked at her and smiled, as Sim hugged his niece and kissed her head. Elijah leaned his head on me, and I looked down at him. “Never leave me, Ms. Blair?”

“Never ever.” I promised and squeezed him.

“All I’m saying is, even though we family… I need you to book me through my assistant, since you need my services as an officiant… we charge for last minute shit, too.”

“Roy, please!” Alaia yelled and laughed at her husband.