Chapter 11 #3
“I wanted to tell you for years Amir but your father, was a very smart man who knew exactly what to do to keep everyone around him in check. He funded my mother’s bills, my father’s lengthy hospital stays because of his cancer for many years, and he also made sure I had this house to live in when I wasn’t there with you.
He was supposed to send me back to Cuba once you were born but I begged him to be in your life, even if it was just a little bit.
Even if I had to spend my time cleaning up your messes, I did that to see you every day.
After he got killed, I was just too scared to say something to you.
I feel like I failed you by letting him raise you the way that he did. ”
Her honesty came with tears, and I didn't know what to say.
“But I don’t know what I’m going to do about Khalil. Even with me having a child by Mecca, I still don’t have the money they are asking for, and I know Amelia wouldn’t give it to me if I told her I would work for the rest of my life for free. She has barely been paying me as it is lately.”
The silence in the room and tension could be cut with a knife, but I knew I had the right tool to cut it.
“I have the money, and I’ll make sure he comes back safe. Don’t worry yourself. Do you have the number that they called you from”
“Yes, I do.”
She jumped up from the couch and went over to the dining table grabbing a piece of paper.
“Here is the number that they told me to call once I have the money.” Her hands were trembling as she gave me the paper.
“Okay, call them, tell them I will go and get the money that he stole. I’m sure it wasn’t $400,000, but what they are asking for is a street tax. Unfortunately, we have to abide by it.”
“Will you really do this for us, Amir?”
“Of course. Khalil may not be a Quatar, but he’s still my brother. He’s my blood, some of the only blood that I have left.”
I replied, and she placed her hand over her chest.
“Okay, I’ll call them now.” She picked up the phone and dialed the number on the paper.
“Hel, hello. This is Erika, Khalil’s mom. I found someone that is going to get the money for us.”
She listened on the house phone for a minute and then hung up.
“They said for me to call them back once I have the money in my hand.”
“Okay, I got you. I’m going to run and get it now.” I stood up from the couch and walked to the door.
“I’ll be back.” She nodded her head with her hands clutched in front of her. I could tell that she was hopeful and I wasn’t about to let her down. Not for any amount of money in this world.
As soon as I walked out of the house, I dragged my hand down my face.
My whole world had got heavier in the last five minutes alone when this trip here was supposed to be a lighthearted one.
I shook off the way I felt inside and crossed the street to get into the car with Jasmine.
Once I shut the door, I looked over towards her and saw that she had a face full of tears and just that quickly I was on protect mode.
“You, okay?”
“The hospital just called about Rj.”
I was silent for a moment because I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know what words she was going to say next, and I wasn’t trying to here two words specifically.
“He woke up. He’s asked for me. My baby is up.”
That was the best possible news I could’ve heard right now. Especially while dealing with this shit with my brother.
“Damn, that's good! Alright, I’ll get you up there asap.”
I cranked the car and pulled away from the curb.
RJ had just come out of a coma, which was the best news I'd heard in days, but I couldn't celebrate it yet.
Khalil was still out there somewhere, and if I didn't come up with that money fast, he wasn't coming home.
The whole ride to the hospital Jasmine sat quietly in the passenger seat rubbing the prayer beads she got from my cup holder in between her fingers while staring out the window.
Every now and then she would lift them to her lips and kiss them softly like they carried some kind of comfort she had been searching for.
Seeing her cling to them like that made me realize how desperate both of us had become for peace lately.
We were holding onto anything that made life feel less cruel, even if it was only temporary.
Once I pulled up in front of the emergency entrance, she turned toward me before I could even finish putting the car in park.
“Can I keep these tonight?” she asked softly while lifting the beads slightly.
“I know it probably sound crazy, but I really feel like they helped me.”
I glanced down at the beads for a second before nodding my head.
“Of course, keep them.”
Relief instantly spread across her face, and she leaned over and kissed me on the cheek before grabbing the door handle.
“Thank you for everything. I have to go.”
Before I could respond, she was already hurrying toward the sliding hospital doors almost running to get to her son.
I sat there for a few seconds watching her disappear inside before finally pulling away from the curb, and the moment she was gone, all the pressure I had pushed to the back of my mind came crashing down onto me again.
Khalil was still somewhere tied up waiting on somebody to save him, and now that somebody was me.
The drive home felt longer than usual because my mind wouldn’t stop moving.
Every thought led into another one until my head felt crowded with problems I couldn’t escape.
By the time I made it back to my building, my jaw was clenched so tight it hurt.
I climbed the stairs toward my apartment before unlocking the different locks across the door and punching the security code into the keypad.
The second I stepped inside, silence wrapped around me completely. No television playing in the background. No conversation. Just me standing alone with thoughts heavy enough to make the apartment feel smaller than it was.
I headed toward the closet and moved the clothes hanging in front of the wall safe before entering the code.
The heavy metal door unlocked with a loud click, revealing stacks of money vacuum sealed and lined up neatly inside.
I stood there staring at it for a second thinking about how insane life had become.
Niggas spent their whole lives trying to touch this kind of money, risking prison and death for it, and here I was about to hand over four hundred thousand dollars just so my little brother could make it home alive.
I started pulling the money out, stack by stack before stuffing it into a black duffel bag.
The longer I packed it, the heavier my chest started feeling because the shit was becoming more real by the second.
This wasn’t some threat anymore. This wasn’t some argument or niggas trying to scare us.
Khalil’s life had literally been reduced down to a dollar amount, and if that money didn’t make it where it needed to go, he probably wasn’t coming home.
Once the bag was zipped shut, I grabbed my phone and called my mother. She answered almost immediately like she had been sitting there staring at the phone waiting for me to call.
“I got the money,” I told her while resting the bag beside my foot.
For a few seconds she didn’t say anything. All I could hear was her breathing on the other end before she finally let out a shaky exhale.
“Thank you,” she whispered, and the way her voice cracked made me picture her crying all over again.
“Where do they want me to bring it?”
“They are going to give me an address when I confirm that I have the money. They insisted on me bringing it.”
“Yeah, I bet. They want someone who is not going to try any shit with them that’s why.” I was trying to make sense of this shit.
“But I’m going to still be there. I’m coming with you.”
“No,” she replied quickly.
“They specifically said for me to only bring Rami with me, so they know I won’t try anything. I can’t risk making them angry right now, Amir. So, let’s just do everything how they asked.”
I dragged my hand over my mouth while walking slowly through my apartment trying to think clearly.
“Listen to me, Ma. I don’t like that shit at all. Let me come and stay back somewhere at least. Y’all won’t even know I’m there.”
“No, son,” she said gently, and something about the sadness in her voice made me stop pacing for a second. “I need this to be smooth and clean so neither one of my boys get hurt.”
I closed my eyes tightly because the way she said it sounded deeper than just fear.
“Something about this just don’t feel right.”
“And you think it feels right to me?” she asked quietly. “That’s my baby out there somewhere, Amir. I’m terrified.”
Hearing her voice break like that made some of my frustration soften because no matter what, she was still a mother trying to save her child. I would too do whatever I need to do for the babies that Delilah and Jasmine are pregnant with.
“Okay,” we can do it how they asked. I’m on my way over there now.
When I got back to my mother's house, Rami was already dressed and sitting near the door looking sleepy and confused while my mother stood beside him holding her purse tightly against her chest. The second she saw the bag in my hand, tears instantly filled her eyes again.
“You really came through for us,” she whispered.
“I told you, I got him.”
I replied, before looking down at Rami.
“You good, little man?”
He nodded while rubbing his eyes, not understanding the storm happening around him.
My mother reached for the bag with trembling hands before holding it tightly against her side. For a second, she just stood there staring at me, almost like she was trying to mentally take a photo of my face.
“You sure you don’t want me to come?” I asked.
“No, let's do it the right way,” she replied while shaking her head.
“I need this to go peacefully. Give me your phone so that I can put your number inside to call you once everything is done.”
I handed her the phone, and she typed in her number, saving it under, Mama.
After that, she turned and walked out the house with Rami beside her.
When her front door closed, I looked down at the contact with her named saved and found a smile creeping on my face despite the shit we were going through.
I finally had the name, mama, saved in my phone after all this time. When this is over with, her and I can finally start to make up for the time we lost and just in time for me to become a parent myself.