Chapter 18 Fabe
FABE
“’Bout time you showed up.” As soon as I walked into his hospital room, Rah made me regret being there.
In response, I scoffed as I walked into the room.
Once I got the call from our father that Solae had stabbed Rah, I took my time to visit him.
I was done with him. For my father, I had shown up while Rah was in surgery, but I hadn’t been back since he came to on New Year’s Eve.
I didn’t feel the need to rush to come show sympathy to a motherfucker that had no sympathy for anybody in his life. All he cared about was himself.
But Aaliyah had convinced me that if I didn’t visit him soon, my absence would only make Rah more suspicious. So, for her, I had come.
Rah looked like his old self, as if he hadn’t been stabbed in the leg and twice in the abdomen.
The stab to the thigh had hit the femoral artery and one to the stomach had hit the spleen, both causing a huge loss of blood, resulting in loss of consciousness.
Apparently, from what our father was told by the cops from Solae’s statement, that’s why Solae thought he was dead and took her time calling the cops out of fear.
His lung had also collapsed. He had undergone surgery to repair the artery and remove the spleen.
Yet, this nigga was sitting up in bed with a threatening and cynical look on his face.
He wasn’t worried about getting better; he was worried about getting to that money.
He stared at me with a questioning glare.
He didn’t look like he had almost lost his life.
Not at all. But I was sure that under that hospital gown, there were bandages and staples where Solae had tried to take him out.
He continued to eyeball me as I removed my coat. It was still wet from the snow that seemed to have been falling since the new year.
“Fuck wrong wit’ you?” Rah spat.
“Fuck wrong wit’ you? I came up here to see your sick ass and you comin’ at me sideways. You need to chill out and be glad Solae didn’t kill you.”
Rah sucked his teeth and waved his hand dismissively. “Bitch can’t take me out. She better hope they keep her in prison because, if they don’t, I’m murdering that bitch myself.”
I just shook my head as I sat down in a chair across from his bed.
I started to wish that I had at least come when my father or someone else was there.
I had always known that my brother was an asshole.
I had always known that he wasn’t shit. Hell, I knew he was leaning on the borderline of insane when he wanted to rob that bank.
But killing his own best friend made me look at him in a different light.
Shit, if he could kill Carlos over greed, he would kill me for much less.
“Whatever, nigga. Don’t shake your head at me,” Rah grumbled. “You always soft for these hoes.”
I blew out an irritated breath. “You know what? I’m out.”
Standing, I figured enough was enough. Rah felt like he was this super hard, swagged out gangsta that had the streets on lock, but all he was, was a little ass boy who stole his way through life, and manipulated people with weaker minds than him.
He wasn’t a man, and he for damn sure wasn’t a gangsta.
I wasn’t the type of man to get in between a woman and the man that she loved, even if I loved her, but now that he had put his hands on what was now mine, the gloves were off.
“Hold up,” Rah called himself ordering as I walked towards the door.
I grimaced as I stopped and unwillingly looked at him. “What, man?”
“Did you find Aaliyah?”
I shook my head again. I didn’t know what I felt more for him, pity or anger. Motherfucka damn near lost his life, but he still worried about some fucking money. That’s the first thing he asked about; not about Junior.
“Nah,” I told him.
“Nah?” he asked as if I had the nerve to give him that answer.
“No, nigga,” I pressed.
“She won’t answer the phone?”
“No.”
“Then go find that bitch!”
I bit my tongue, fighting the urge to wreck this nigga in his hospital bed. I couldn’t act out about him disrespecting Aaliyah...not yet anyway.
“She’s not at the crib,” I lied. “There are no signs of her. Considering how much money she has, she probably left town.”
The look on his face was priceless. Rah was so full of himself that he thought he knew everything and had control of everyone.
How dare a bitch get over on him, but Aaliyah had.
I wanted so bad to tell this motherfucka that not only had I fucked his bitch, but she was mine and so was his son, but that would give him the idea that I would help her hide from him.
So, for Aaliyah, I would keep my mouth closed. ..for now.
“Fuck!” Rah barked. “Find out where her aunt stays down there in Texas. I’m on that bitch.”
I held in my laugh. This nigga was going to be in the hospital for so long that by the time he got out, he wouldn’t have enough money to afford to fly his bum ass to Houston.
“Get one of your minions to do it. The holidays are over, so I got real work to do.”
He looked at me like how dare I speak to him like that. But I ignored his self-entitlement and left out of the room, saying over my shoulder, “I’m a grown ass man. I ain’t your flunkie, nigga.”
“You need to get out of here.”
Aaliyah watched me curiously as I closed the hotel room door behind me and took off my coat.
“Why?” she asked. “What’s wrong? What did Rah say?”
“He wants that money. But I told him that I couldn’t find you.” Sitting on the bed next to her as she lay there, I bent over and kissed her and Junior, who was sleeping on her chest. “He told me to find out your aunt’s address. That’s how bad he wants to find you.”
Aaliyah’s eyes squeezed shut, and then she opened them, while shaking her head in disbelief. “He is psychotic. I can’t believe I was in love with such a clown. I wish Solae would have killed him.”
When I got the call that Rah had been stabbed, neither me or Aaliyah could believe it.
We especially couldn’t believe that Solae had been the one to do it.
I had always thought that somebody Rah had stolen from would take him out.
I would have never thought that it would be Solae.
My father told me that she had said she was defending herself because Rah was fighting her, which I believed, since he had done the same to Aaliyah.
He was in rare form, and his losses were making him take his frustrations out on these women.
Pussy ass nigga.
“You need to leave this hotel,” I insisted. “He will be in the hospital for a few weeks, but I know he’ll send one of his dumb ass goons to come find you. And those stupid motherfuckers do anything he say.”
“You’re right. But…” Aaliyah’s shoulders sank as she pouted, “I don’t want to leave you.”
As I stared at my baby, I licked my lips. Damn, she was beautiful. Even in this moment of chaos, her beauty wasn’t overshadowed. I didn’t want to leave her either, especially after I finally got her.
I knew everyone would be shocked and question my loyalty when it got out that I was with Aaliyah, but I gave zero fucks.
From the moment I saw her, I knew I was looking at the most beautiful girl in the world.
Her peach skin was flawless. Her body was phenomenal with crazy curves.
Her face was sweet, pretty, and youthful.
She looked almost innocent, aside from the diamond in her nose.
Her bare face was beautiful, but a man like me was cool with it when she highlighted her beauty with a little makeup.
Her pouty mouth, thick eyebrows, defined cheekbones, pointed nose, and heavy lashed, oval eyes made her an exotic beauty.
She had naively let an ain’t shit nigga in. But I knew that with the right man by her side, she was going to make it through this and be a force to be reckoned with...and that man was me.
Even though it was under some cruel circumstances, she was finally mine. I didn’t plan on losing her at all, so I definitely didn’t want her all the way down in Texas because she was hiding from Rah.
“Maybe you should give him the money back so he can just leave you the fuck alone,” I suggested.
She met my eyes and then quickly looked away. She started to nervously play with her long weave and stuttered, “I–I don’t have it.”
“Huh?” I asked, curling my eyebrows. “What you mean you don’t have it? Where is it?”
Aaliyah’s face turned red. She bit her lip nervously, twirling a curl around her finger. “I–I flushed it.”
I jumped to my feet and spat, “You what?!”
“Shhh! You’re going to wake up Junior!”
“Are you fucking crazy?” I said now, barking in a harsh whisper. “Why did you flush that much money?!”
“It was blood money, Fabe! I didn’t want it! Not even to help me move on. I couldn’t live with myself knowing that I used the money Carlos died over to buy myself a house or car. No.”
Well, when she put it like that, I felt her. So, I sat back down on the bed. I didn’t want any parts of that bread for the same reason. I just felt like after Aaliyah had put up with Rah for so long, she deserved it. But I understood why she didn’t want it either.
“I can’t believe you flushed all that damn money.”
Aaliyah laughed and shrunk in embarrassment. “I was in here spazzing out. I just...I just had to get rid of it. I kept seeing all of those social media posts about everyone mourning Carlos’ death. I just didn’t want any parts of it.”
“I feel you.” Then my eyes widened with a thought. “Well, then you’re gonna have to come stay with me.”
“Huh?” she asked with her head slightly cocked like she couldn’t believe what I had just said.
“Yeah. Why not?” I shrugged.
“Because we just started this thing between me and you. We can’t live together already.”
“We already possibly have a baby together—”
She cringed. “Don’t remind me that it’s only a possibility.”
I sucked my teeth, teasing her, “You wanted him to be Rah’s son at first, so stop it. Don’t play like you embarrassed now.”
She giggled and lightly swung at me. “Fuck you, Fabe.”
“We just started fucking with each other officially, but let’s not act like there hasn’t been something between us for a long time. We already know each other—”
“But we don’t know each other romantically.”
“Well, we are going to get to know each other then and figure out the rest later.” When she continued to sit there like she had another choice, I added, “Or you can sit here and wait for one of those dumb-ass, trigger happy, goofy niggas to figure out you’re here and kill yo’ light-bright ass.
But I am going to take my nephew-son with me, because he ain’t dying behind this shit. ”
Her mouth dropped to her chest. “Nephew-son?! Really? I hate you!”
Laughing, I said, “He is my nephew-son.”
With a slight kick to my thigh, she replied, “I hope he’s your son.”
“We gotta handle that too. We can get one of those DNA tests from .”
Aaliyah nodded with a deep breath and said, “Okay.”
“You look nervous about that. What’s wrong?”
“Because for so long I prayed that he was really Rah’s baby. Now, I pray to God he isn’t that demon’s son.”