Chapter 3
Proctor
“Sir, we will let you know when we have an update on your son. Trust, we are doing all we can to help him.”
“You helping him, but you're not helping me at all. I’m out here playing the guessing game about my son’s fuckin life, and I’m about to go back to jail if I don’t hear something soon.” I walked away from the nurse’s station, which sat behind a door I’m sure I wasn’t supposed to be behind.
After leaving back through those doors, I heard commotion and sped up to reach the lobby. Sure enough, I picked up my speed for a reason because that no good ass bitch Nina was here like she wasn’t a fuckin Opp of my son’s.
When she spotted me coming towards her, she approached me halfway like I hadn’t made a promise while in jail that I would slap a layer of skin off her face. I don’t even like to put my hands on women, but a dirty bitch would always make me rethink that.
“Proctor, please tell me he is okay.”
I stepped in her face, leaning down so she would be the only one to hear what I had to say. I just got out of prison, and I’m really not going back for anybody until I handle the nigga who shot my son.
“You must be out of your bat shit mind coming up here like you haven’t been on snake shit ever since he left you. Get the fuck out of this hospital before they have to take your ass to the back too.”
Her eyes shook in fear, but her crazy ass still grabbed my hand like I wasn’t on the verge of choking her ass out with that very hand.
“Proctor, don’t do this. You know I love Hawk. I came to the hospital as soon as I heard about the shooting.”
Cyn got up from her seat.
“Nina, if you don’t leave, I’m going to drag your ass out of here. Why the fuck are you here! Haven’t you done enough with the lawsuits and threatening emails to me and my husband?”
“Your husband?” She snaked her neck. This cocky ass attitude she was catching with Cyn is why I couldn’t stand her ass from day one.
When I met the bitch, she asked me how long I was going to stay a security guard, like I wasn’t bringing in three hundred grand a year just doing that shit.
That was good money for a hood nigga without a clean record.
All her attitude towards my job did was let me know there was once a time when she looked down on my son, too.
That was until he was her partner in that fuck ass contract her pops set up, and he was just as rich as her.
“Look, I’m here because I love Hawk and far before you knew who he was. That man back there was supposed to be my husband before you snaked your way into his life and took him from me.”
“I didn’t have to snake my way into his life because you handed him to me! Don’t be mad because I take care of him mentally, physically, and emotionally, and I don’t need another woman in our bedroom to help me do that!”
Cyn stepped close to Nina after every word, and I was sure she was going to slap her ass next. As much as I wanted to see Nina get slapped to her fuckin knees, I knew she would call the police, and I didn’t want to see Cyn go to jail.
I turned to Cyn putting my hand behind her elbow.
“Cyn, go sit down. Let me handle this bitch for you.”
Nina scoffed, and Cyn flared her nostrils before walking back to her chair. I noticed both of her friends had stood up, one being the woman who was supposed to be my baby mama. I planned to address that shit soon, but now, I’m worried about my firstborn child and nothing else.
“Nina, I’m going to give you two options, and only one of them involves you breathing past today. So leave and don’t come back. I don’t care if you get in a wreck on the street in front of this hospital, have them take you to another one.”
“Proctor, that’s not fair! I love Hawk too, and I was tired of fighting with him, which is why he should’ve told you that I’ve backed off recently.
Everything I was doing was because I was hurt and frustrated.
I was good to that man, and he swindled his way out of my life with that bullshit ass arranged marriage with a prostitute we hired to suck his dick!
” She looked over to Cyn, who was about to stand back up, before her friends grabbed her.
At this point, she had disrespected Cyn enough, and I wasn’t having that shit, so I jerked Nina by her wrist and dragged her ass out of the hospital doors like she weighed a pound and a half.
I’m not sure if this bitch’s feet even touched the ground as I pulled her ass out.
“Proctor, let me go. Are you fuckin crazy?” She finally jerked away from me because I loosened my grip on her wrist.
“Bitch you know I’m crazy, so that’s a rhetorical fuckin question.”
“Proc, you act like I shot your son!”
“No, you didn’t, but you been trying to sue him and his wife for over a fuckin year now. Giving him hell in every way you can. You think because I was locked up, he didn’t tell me all that shit?”
“I, I told you I was only doing stuff like that because I was hurt.”
“Yeah, and hurt people hurt people, and right now my baby boy is fighting for his life, so imagine how I feel. Imagine what I want to do to our enemies.” She closed her eyes and started shaking her head as I stood in front of her without a lick of sympathy for this bitch.
“Yo, Proc!” I looked towards the door where Sergio was standing.
“The doctor just came out. He wants to talk with us about Hawk.”
My heart dropped into my stomach, and I walked off, leaving Nina outside the sliding glass doors, daring her to follow me. I stepped back into the lobby, and the doctor was standing in the middle of a crowd, but I made my way front and center next to Cyn.
“Go ahead, Doc, his father is here now.” Cyn announced.
“Okay, he lost a lot of blood before EMS got there, and it was touch and go for a while, but he is in stable condition now and in recovery.”
“When can we see him?”
“Let’s give him a few hours in recovery, then visitation will be okay. The doctors and I will then let you know when family may come in.”
“Thank you so much. Thank you for saving him!”
Cyn grabbed my hand and squeezed it tightly.
The Dr. walked away, and everyone standing around went to find a seat among the available chairs.
Cyn and I hugged each other because we were both relieved Hawk had survived this shit.
I don’t even know why I was scared that he wouldn’t live in the first place.
My boy is a survivor, a soldier just like his father.
I’d been shot on three separate occasions, and those pussies couldn’t kill me either.
We all sat around the waiting room in silence, reflecting on our day, when I spotted Ari slipping out of the lobby, phone pressed to her ear. I got up and followed her out because I didn’t give a fuck who she was talking to. Now that I knew my son was going to be okay, it was time to address her.
“Hey, Proctor. Good to see you free.”
Tania spoke up as I passed her, sitting with her legs crossed in that little ass dress that showed her entire thigh.
“Appreciate that, sleeping beauty.”
“Why are you calling me Sleeping Beauty, Proctor? Because I fell asleep at your place that night?”
She giggled, biting her finger like she was trying to be cute. It looked like my reference to her being drugged at my house flattered her ass, but it wasn’t intentional. Maybe if I called her Benadryl Betty, she wouldn’t be as honored as she is now.
“No reason at all but excuse me.”
I stepped away from her, already moving toward what had my attention in the first place.
“Yo, Ari, slow down.” She stopped and looked over her shoulder, dropping the phone to her side with a nervous ass look on her face.
“Hey, Proctor, I’m sorry about what happened. I didn’t think they would have done that to Hawk.”
“What are you sorry for? Did you tell them to do that shit?”
I grabbed her wrist and pressed my thumb briefly against her pulse to confirm she was, in fact, as nervous as she looked standing in front of me. Sometimes, making bitches nervous wasn’t a good thing. It brings out lies and dishonesty from them.
“Of course I didn’t, I’m, I’m just saying I know Jojo and he’s always been reckless like that. I always knew his dumb ass would eventually throw his life away over something dumb. He’s been in and out of jail since I’ve known him.”
The name Jojo that she mentioned stuck out in her rambling like a favorite lyric to a song.
So that was the name of the nigga who tried to kill my son.
Whether in jail or not, he has to die because of that shit—him or somebody close to him.
I’m going to show him how to really commit a murder when you committed.
“Listen, I wasn’t stopping you for that. Good information, but that’s not what I wanted.”
“Well, what is it?”
“Who were you on the phone with just now? Checking in on our daughter?”
“Our daughter Proctor? Who said my baby was your daughter?”
“I’m sure DNA can, plus I hear that she looks like me.”
She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest.
“My daughter looks like me.”
“Then I am sure that she is gorgeous as hell.”
“Proctor, that is not going to flatter me. I know I am torn down right now, so your compliments are a little ironic.”
I dropped my gaze to the sandals holding onto her unpolished feet, up her legs, and all the way up to her edges that weren’t laid the way bitches swore they had to be.
They curled slightly wild, like she hadn’t cared enough to tame them, but I still couldn’t find a flaw that took away my opinion.
Even untouched in her most natural state, Ari is fine.
“Can you answer my question. Was that our daughter or your in laws?”
She exhaled.
“It was my aunt, Proctor. She has my baby and says she has a cough, so I was telling my aunt what medicine to give.”
“Does she need the money for it? I can send it to her Cash App or some shit.”
“No, she doesn’t need the money. We have medicine in our cabinets that she can use.” Ari replied, gazing towards the ground.
“Well, it’s been a minute since we last linked up. How long are you in town?”
“Until tomorrow, but I don’t think you and I linking up can happen while I’m here if that is something you were going to ask.” She glanced away nervously again, but this time I hooked my finger around her chin, guiding her eyes right back to mine.
“Look at me when we're talking. Why wouldn’t it be? Aren’t you single?”
“Yeah, I am, but you know why. And under those circumstances, you and I don’t need to be anywhere near each other.”
She tried to sound firm, but I stepped closer away.
“What circumstances are those. Make me aware, baby girl?” She nervously rubbed the back of her neck.
“I know you didn’t come to see my verdict, but I was proven innocent today, so why isn’t that good enough for you?”
She swallowed, arms folding like a shield.
“It would be awkward, Proctor. Especially with everything going on around us. The distance between us is needed.”
“No, stress relief is what both you and I need. I can see in your eyes that you've been going through it.”
“Stressed or not, I’m not having sex with you again.”
I flashed a smile, probably for the first time today.
“Look at you, playing hard to get like you're not still having flashbacks about when I ate your pussy with my finger slipping in and out of your butt.”
She adjusted the weight on her feet because she was uncomfortable now. I'm sure not because of me, but because of how she felt on the inside.
The night Ari and I fucked, she was yelling so loud, my ego had never been stroked like that before.
Either her last nigga couldn’t fuck, or he had half the dick I was throwing her ass.
I may not be shit when it comes to romance, but sexual pleasure, I was a memory most women have trouble forgetting.
“I tell you what, Ari. I’m going to let you play pretend like a little girl in front of a doll house for a minute, but after a while, it’s going to be time to woman up and do what you and your body wants you to do.
” My eyes dropped down to her pussy, and I instantly knew that she was ovulating.
Don’t ask me how I can tell, I just can.
It wasn’t a nasty scent radiating from her, but that clear scentless discharge all women had around that time, only a man like me could sense.
Ari swallowed the lump in her throat.
“If you don’t mind, I am going to call my aunt back to check on my daughter.”
“Of course, I don’t mind. Do what you need to do.”
She started walking away.
“Tell her to get our baby girl right and anything she needs, let me know, I’ll handle it,” I called out to her, and she took a double take over her shoulder before she continued down the sidewalk away from me.
I went back towards the hospital doors, and her homegirl stopped in front of me before I could step foot inside.
“Hey, did you see Ari out there? I was going to ask her if she wanted to walk to the cafeteria with me to get us all something to drink.”
“Yeah, she’s out there somewhere. Talking to her Aunt.”
“Oh, okay, thanks.” I started walking away before she stopped me again.
“Hey, are you going to be doing anything to celebrate your win in court today? I would love to have some fun again like last time before I go home.”
“I’m going to see what comes up in the next couple of days, and I’ll be sure to let y’all know.”
“Okay, please do. I want another experience like last time. You showed me and my friends much love.”
She walked away from me, swaying her ass from side to side like she wanted me to watch. I shook my head and continued back to the lobby to sit with Cyn. Today I couldn’t think about celebrating being free because right now, I was celebrating not losing my son to those bitch ass niggas.
I took one win earlier but almost had the biggest loss of my had Hawk died by the hands of a fuck nigga.