Chapter 10 #5
“This is my fuckin’ heart. You hear me, nigga?
Hunh! This is my fuckin’ baby!” Leader took his attention from me and bent down with his face just inches away from Glee’s.
“You so fucking pretty, Pretty Mama. You know that? You so fucking pretty, baby. I need you to get up. I… I need you to get up. You gotta finish school. You gotta finish what the fuck you started, baby. Baby, baby, please. I-I won’t make it.
If you don’t make it, I won’t fucking make it…
Get up, Glee… Keep giving me a reason to dream. ”
He placed his forehead on hers, not caring about the tubes and cords. He continued whispering words, and when I heard the word God, I knew he was praying.
Waaaaah… Wa… Wa… Waaaaah
“Shit.” I rubbed my hand down my face.
Instinct had me taking a step toward the carrier, but I paused. I didn’t want to overstep. Leader kept his head on Glee’s, but his eyes traveled across the bed. He hadn’t noticed the carrier sitting in the chair. He hadn’t noticed shit outside of Glee lying in that bed.
He watched the baby for a beat as she began sucking on her hands, soothing herself.
“Whose baby?”
Rubbing my hand down my face again, I grunted. “Uhhh… Shit, yours.”
“Nigga, what?”
Leader stretched to his full height, brows crinkling as he looked at me like he wanted to knock me the fuck out. I fucked with Leader, but I’d hate to have to box his ass out while he was chained up.
“Look, I’m new to this shit too. Me and her sister got married on some business shit. Apparently, Glee came home from school and went into labor the day I got married. Her sister didn’t know, her mama didn’t know… Shit, I don’t even think Glee knew. But I do know that’s your jit.”
Leader kept his eyes on me like he expected a second head to sprout from my neck.
Then he took a step, tripped on the edge of the bed as he rounded it, and caught himself before the chains made him hit the ground.
He now stood directly in front of the baby carrier, but was just out of reach.
I could see she was still sucking on her fist, but I knew from that night I stayed at the townhouse, she would need some milk soon.
When she opened her eyes, Leader dropped his head.
His shoulders began to softly bounce, and I knew he was crying.
I looked away to give him some privacy; I knew this shit had to be hard as fuck on him.
He was serving a ten-year bid, and the girl he loved and respected was lying in a hospital bed and had just given birth to his daughter.
That would be a second child whose life he’d miss for a decade.
“Pretty Mama,” his voice croaked. “What the fuck did I do?”
“Aye, Leader. This ain’t on you, mane. I mean, the baby all you, my G, but—”
“I… I kept my distance until my people said they couldn’t contact her. So I pushed myself back in her life. I told her to come see me… No, I demanded that shit. She stopped everything. Knowing she’d just had a baby… I… We…Yesterday at visitation. Fuck!”
He shook his head as the silence swallowed us. I didn’t want to say the wrong shit, so I stood quietly as the machine and his daughter made their natural noises.
“I come around, and she just does what I say. She was good—perfect. My baby was untouched… She had a future, Tune… And I… I fucked it up. Fuck!”
Leader lifted his head when she began fussing again. His chains jangled as he reached for the baby, but he was restricted by the way his hands were chained.
“Fuuuuuck! I… I can’t—”
The door opened again, and Cathy stepped inside.
“Goddammit,” I mumbled.
Her squinted eyes roved from me to Leader to her daughter to her grandbaby, then back to Leader.
His eyes had not left the baby, and tears still flowed down his face while his hands remained in the restricted position.
Her face grew red, and when I thought she was about to lay Leader’s ass out, she stepped further into the room, added foam sanitizer to her hands, and went to the side of the carrier.
Without moving Leader out of the way, she lifted her grandbaby from the carrier, closed her eyes, and hoisted her onto her shoulder.
I stayed put because I wanted to see how this shit was going to play out.
Cathy had proven to me to be a reasonable woman, but people acted funny when it came to black men being in jail or having a record.
She didn’t know about my stint, but Leader was standing here decked in Iron Kinser’s finest, so there was no hiding his shot.
“I’m sorry. I… I fucking ruined your daughter. I stole her future. I-I should’ve left her alone. I’m… Fuck. I’m—” He lifted his hands, pulling the chains. “I can’t even fucking hold her. I… She’s…”
“Hey.” She closed the space between her and Leader, gently grabbing his chin and lifting his face. “What’s your name?”
“Leader.”
“I see… Leader, you did not ruin my daughter. Does she look ruined to you?”
He didn’t answer, but the look in his eyes showed he was not letting his rationale go.
“She looks perfectly fine to me. A few bumps and bruises that will heal, but she’s perfectly fine.
You didn’t ruin her. You just gave her much more purpose.
I don’t know your situation, Leader, and right now I don’t care to.
What I do know is that Glee is going to be just fine.
She has a mother, a father, and a sister who will make sure she and your daughter are well taken care of.
And when you are in a position to step in physically, we will release them to you. ”
She let his chin go and turned the baby so that she was facing him. Even I had to blink away my own emotion as Leader broke down again.
“I knew something was off… Something was different about her.”
“Leader. It’s okay.”
“She’s… She’s so fucking beautiful.”
“She is. I think she’s a perfect mix of you two.” Cathy smiled, and for the first time since Leader walked into the hospital room, his face relaxed.
“Just when I thought Glee couldn’t drive me any crazier, she goes and make a mini her. Shit…” He shook his head.
“Leader, lift your crown. Both of you,”—She nodded at me—“God makes no mistakes. Y’all were brought into their lives for a reason, and it’s not a slip-up or unconventional timing.
They are both stronger than the two of you think.
Trust me… My daughters are built to handle the magnitude of men that you are, but now you have to prove that you are built for them. ”
Damn.
Leader bent down and kissed the baby’s forehead. “You just gave me another reason, pretty baby. I love you… so fucking much.”
He stood and kissed the top of Glee’s head and the side of her mouth. I gagged a little due to the feeding tube because the whole setup was nasty as hell in theory. It was sentimental as a motherfucker, though, and I respect Leader for his love for Glee.
“Take care of them, please. I’ma… I’ma figure this shit out. She won’t be a single mama. I’ma find a way out of this shit. That’s on my life.”
Leader took another look at the baby as the door opened.
Officer Steroids nodded, signaling that it was time for him to go.
I was guessing that Don had gotten him a special furlough.
That nigga’s reach was so long that I was beginning to think it was nothing he couldn’t do.
When I thought back to how he’d put us in a whole-ass Biblical setting, I knew there was nothing he couldn’t do.
Leader began to shuffle toward the door but stopped just shy of it. “What’s her name?”
Don had now come back in but stood to the side, watching the scene with an unreadable expression.
Cathy chuckled lightly. “I never knew girls could be juniors. But she is. Her name is Leader… Baby Leader.”
Leader tensed, rubbed his hand down his face to dry it, and then looked at Don. “Aye, Demise. Can I holla at you alone for a minute?”
Don nodded and stepped back out.
“Aye, G….”
“You ain’t even gotta ask. Dey gone be straight, Leader,” I assured him.
He took one more look at Glee, then at his baby, before stepping out. Though he was no longer in the room, I could feel the heaviness he’d left behind. Just a while ago, we were both in a cell. Now, we were connected by sisters.
Rocking the baby as she rummaged through a diaper bag I hadn’t seen Don holding when he brought the carrier in, Cathy pulled a cooler bag out. When she maneuvered the milk so that the baby could drink it, I figured she had the baby duty shit on lock.
My phone vibrated in my pocket, so I retrieved it just before telling Cathy I’d be back and stepping out.
Leader was being led to the elevators while Don was further down the hall on a call. Bringing my focus back to my phone, I swiped the screen to access my text messages.
Tulscan
Address you sent checks out. Stella lives there. We sliding on this scandalous bitch or nah?
Knowing Stella was in Jagoda Bay had been fucking with my head for the last week. Just like God had come through on her beating cancer, he’d proven she was on his favorites list once again. Glow and Glee had saved her scamming ass, but her luck would soon run out.