Chapter 20 #2
“He said that he’s put a word out and they’ve been combing the streets, checking everywhere that he could possibly be. He hasn’t used his name for anything so it’s taking longer than expected but nearly the entire Channing is on the case, even my father.”
“Sergio Thomas. Tell them to look into Sergio Thomas. That’s most likely who he’s with. I saw him yesterday. I didn’t get a chance to tell Luca before everything happened. I was on my way to but–”
“It’s OK. It’s OK. I will call and share this new bit of information with him. Anything else you can think of that might help, let me know as it comes to you.”
Lyric unlocked her cell and dialed Luca’s number. While we waited for an answer, she put it on speakerphone. It rang out until the automated voicemail was activated, prompting us to hang up.
“He’ll call us back,” she told me as if I didn’t already know.
Before I could open my mouth to respond, there was another knock at the door as it opened. This time, the voice behind it I recognized.
“Hey, babe. It’s me,” Baisleigh stated as she entered the room.
She rounded the corner, and with sad eyes, made her way to my bedside. Lyric made room, leaving me only for a brief second to allow Baisleigh to air hug me from close range. She repositioned herself right after.
“I hear a heartbeat,” she cheered. “We’re expecting a bundle of joy soon.”
“We are,” I agreed.
“How have you been, Lyric?” she turned and asked.
“I’ve been well. What about you?”
“Crazy busy. And thanks to this woman, my brunches are picking up. Everybody wants the brunch cakes at Baisleigh’s.”
The mention of cakes brought Scar’s face back to the forefront of my thoughts. It was when I was dropping off a cake to Baisleigh’s House that I’d seen him. That’s what had set everything off. It was the very moment things began to spiral out of control.
“That’s where I saw him,” I shared with Lyric.
“Huh?”
“That’s where I saw Scar. That’s where I saw Sergio. Dropping off the cake yesterday.”
“Who is Sergio and where does he fit in this equation?” Baisleigh wanted to know.
“He’s Dewayne’s best friend, and I passed him up on the way out.”
“Oh, wow,” she responded.
“Try calling Luca again. He has my girls, Baisleigh. Anything helps. Do you recall a guy with a large scar from one side of his face to the other?”
“I do. He was a gentleman and wanted my number, but I took his instead because I don’t date customers.”
“Do you still have it?”
“No, but I have camera footage of the parking lot that’ll probably reveal the car he was in and the tag number.”
“A black Yukon,” I said to Lyric. The details were coming to me so vividly now. The previous night, everything was a big fog.
“A black Yukon?” she repeated as a question.
“Yes. That’s what Dewayne was in. His black Yukon. It’s registered in his name.”
“Let Luca know I can give him access to my cameras. The man with the scar didn’t eat alone. About fifteen minutes after he sat down, another man joined him.”
“Brown-skinned? A thicker build? Hairline pushed back two inches or so?”
“He wore a hat, but definitely brown-skinned and a bit on the thick side. Not big at all though.”
“It was Dewayne. Call Luca back.”
This time, Luca picked up on the second ring. Hearing his voice sent me spiraling, but I knew I had to keep it together. There were a few important things that he needed to know. I missed him and my girls so much it hurt even worse than my physical scars.
“What’s up, Lyric?”
“It’s me,” I responded.
“Hey. How are you feeling?”
“Far from good. Yesterday, I saw Scar, Dewayne’s best friend, when I was leaving from Baisleigh’s House.
That was right before I got the call about Em and the reason I freaked out about the ice cream situation.
I was on my way to tell you that last night before everything happened.
He must’ve followed me from my mother’s house.
It’s the only location in Channing he knows for me.
He’s driving his Yukon. It’s registered in his name. That’s all I remember.”
“That’s good, baby. That’s good enough. Any other details you come up with, let me know.”
“You can go to my office and review the footage if that helps.”
“Baisleigh?” he questioned.
“Yes. I came as soon as I heard.”
“Appreciate that. I’m about to head to your shit now. Anybody there to let me in your office?”
“No. But I can let you in from where I’m standing. Just let me know when you’re there.”
“Bet. Stay by the phone, on my way now.”
“Alright.”
Luca ended the call, leaving us all silent. Everyone was processing the progress we’d just seemed to have made in getting my girls back. My growling stomach broke through the quietness, making us all shake our heads. Me, not so much because it hurt to move at all.
“I think I’m hungry,” I admitted.
“We know.” Lyric chuckled.
“I don’t want anything they give me.”
“Don’t worry. I’m going downstairs to the cafeteria on my own and grab you something to eat. Anything in particular?”
“French fries with ketchup. No salt. It’ll only burn my lips.”
“You sure you want chewable foods and not any type of soup?”
“Right now, soup would only tease me and the thought of it has me ready to barf.”
“Please don’t.”
“Bring me some soup while I’m starving, and I promise I will.”
“Baisleeeeeeeeeeigh?”
Her speech slurred as she turned in my direction and bucked her pretty brown eyes.
She motioned toward the door with her head, prompting me to look in the same direction.
When I saw the dark-skinned man I’d learned to be Ken come from around the corner, confusion sank in.
I wasn’t sure why he was in my room or how he’d slid through the door without either of us hearing him.
Of course, he was Luca’s best friend, but his presence was still baffling.
“Ken.” Lyric greeted him with a hug when he joined her at my side.
“What’s good, Lyric?”
“What are you doing here?” She asked that was at the tip of my tongue.
“I’m here on uncle duty and the little nigga ain’t even got here yet. I’m just here to make sure nothing and no one interferes with his debut or they’ll meet their end. Expeditiously.”
His presence made more sense now. Luca had sent him to the hospital in case Dewayne was dumb enough to come up.”
“Thank you,” I spoke, finally.
“Na. No thanks needed.”
“Well, uh. I’m, uh… I’m going to head to the uh, cafeteria,” Lyric struggled to get out.
“French fries. No salt. Ketchup.”
“Got it. Baisleigh, you running downstairs with me or are you staying?”
“I’m going to join you just in case Luca calls you and needs me to let him in.”
“OK. I’m ready.”
The two filed out quickly, leaving Ken and me alone.
“Is there anything you need?” he asked.
“No.”
“Aight. Let me know if that changes. I’m here until you leave this motherfucker,” he informed me as he slid the chair that was on the side of my bed to the opposite side of the room where he had a clear visual of the door.
“You don’t want to watch television or anything?” I asked, noting his awkward position. He was against the wall with the television. There was no way he’d be able to see it. The only thing he could see was the door and me, of course.
“I’m not here to watch television,” he responded.
“Well, I’m sure it would make your stay much better.”
“A pleasant stay isn’t the goal, Ever. A meaningful one is. Again, if you need me, I’ll be right here… watching the door. That’s all the entertainment I need.”
I understood why Luca and Ken were friends, and I also understood why Lyric was smitten by the deep-tenured, midnight black fella.
Just like Luca’s, Ken’s focus was always intact.
And just like his brothers, Ken seemed to have a protective nature.
He was possibly the only man she could actually trust to have her best interest at heart.
“Maybe there is one thing that I need,” I cleared my throat to say.
“What is it?”
“Luca.”
“Luca is working on finding y’all’s children. I don’t think he can or even wants to put a pause on that for nothing – not even you .”
His brutal honesty was refreshing. I was going to be fine.
I knew it. Luca knew it. And so did everyone around us.
His head was in the right place. He wanted our girls home as much as I did and didn’t want anything interfering with his search, but I needed to see his face.
I needed to hear his voice, and I needed him to look me in the eye as he told me that everything would be OK.
Hearing it from anyone else just didn’t mean to me what hearing it from him did. And, at the moment, I needed that.
I was in and then I was out. In and then out again.
My body only allowed me to stay awake for an hour or less at a time before I went to sleep again.
I’d never felt so tired in my life. But as much as I wanted to stay asleep, I couldn’t with the familiar scent lingering in the air.
There was nothing else like it. I recognized it so easily and so vividly each time it was in my presence.
“Luca?” I stirred.
There was movement immediately and then his hand slid into mine as he stood over me. His hand rested on my head as he began to stroke my messy head of hair.
“Hey,” he responded.
“Hey,” I managed, while my nose flared and eyes suffered from a burning sensation.
“Shhhhhhh,” he coaxed, but it was a little too late and a little too much to ask of me at the moment.
My chest rattled as I inhaled loudly, tears crowding my eyes before falling down my cheeks.
My heart was broken. Broken for me. Broken for my girls.
Broken for Luca. Broken for my unborn child.
Broken for my mother. Broken for Lyric. Broken for James.
Broken for Baisleigh. Broken for everyone in my life that I’d plagued with Dewayne’s presence.
I was sorry. So sorry. Sorry for me. Sorry for my girls.
Sorry for Luca. Sorry for my unborn child.
Sorry for my mother. Sorry for Lyric. Sorry for James.
Sorry for Baisleigh. Sorry for everyone whose lives my poor decision had affected in any way.
With every ounce of strength in me, I lifted my right arm and hooked it around his neck. I pulled him closer until his face was flushed against mine. My safe haven. He was exactly that.
“I love you,” he whispered in my ear. “We’re going to get through this shit, baby. Just stay strong for a nigga, aight?”
“Okay,” I rushed out through the tears. “Okay.”
“You’ve got this. Everything is going to be okay.”
“Can you stay a while longer?” I requested, although I knew that he’d much rather be out searching for our girls.
“I can do that for you, Ever. I have everybody onboard and looking for the girls. It’s only a matter of time before I get the call.”
“Okay.”
“You need anything, baby?”
“Just you.”
He lifted, gently kissed my swollen and busted lips, and stood tall at my side. When I felt his hand on my stomach, I closed my eyes and savored the feeling.
“What we gone do with three of these things and a fucking dog?”
“The same thing we’re going to do with four and five and six,” I told him.
Luca and I had the conversation often. Both of us wanted as many kids as I could deliver before I became too exhausted and ready to give up my childbearing days.
Because I’d always been the only child, I’d known for a very long time that I would have a big bunch so that none of my children ever felt the loneliness I did growing up.
“Where is everyone?”
I noticed the room was dark and eerily quiet.
“Ken is right outside, and Lyric went home to get some rest. She’ll be back up here in a few hours. For now, it’s just you and me. Is that alright with you?”
“That’s perfect.”
We’re just missing our girls , I thought, but didn’t voice.
“How are you doing, Luca?” I wanted to know. Since I’d known him, he’d always managed to compose himself well. Nonchalantly, almost as if nothing in the world had the power to sway his mood. For once, I knew that his composure was masking something deeper.
“I’m feeling like any man whose children have been ripped from his arms would feel. I’m sick to my fucking stomach, Ever,” he admitted.
Swallowing the painful lump in my throat, I tried nodding. It only resulted in pain.
“But, they’ll be home before the night ends. I’ll bet my last dollar on it.”
“I know they will be.”
We fell into a comfortable silence, both of us preoccupied with our thoughts. Visions of the girls being loaded into Dewayne’s Yukon continued playing in my head, making me feel ill. I wanted to blame myself for leaving them alone in the car, but I knew it wasn’t me to blame for Dewayne’s actions.
He was a coward, and he’d wait in the shadows for however long he needed for the opportunity to take them so it was only a matter of time, regardless of what I wanted to believe.
He’d come to Channing for one reason. He wanted to hurt me and hurt me badly.
Without a doubt, he’d succeeded, but unfortunately, I wasn’t the only one he’d hurt.
“I can’t risk losing you, Luca. I can’t risk you going back to prison. I just want the girls back,” I broke through the silence to tell Luca. The last thing I wanted was him leaving his family again because of my bullshit, neither did I want him leaving us. Our little family needed him, too.
The thought of raising our children without him was repulsive. He deserved his freedom, and I refused to believe that Dewayne was worth losing it. He was a peasant that didn’t deserve anything, not even my daughters to call his own.
“I can’t overlook it, Ever, and I’m not going to explain myself to you. Whatever happens, happens. He’d already signed his death certificate when he crossed my city’s limits with hurting the ones I loved on his agenda.”
As he concluded, his cell rang. Without even answering it, he looked over at me and smiled. It was the first time I’d seen him smile since the day prior when we parted ways in the early hours before taking the girls to school.
“It’s time to go get our girls. Get some rest,” he told me.