Chapter 22 #5
“What did the doctor say?”
“That she’s good.”
“I would like to see her.”
I squinted my eyes at Solana. I trusted her with my child more than I trusted her to leave the basement.
The shit had my mind fucked up because it didn’t make any sense.
I’d have to sit on the idea of her seeing Shya, even though baby girl was the most calm she’d been on the plane with Solana.
She was also okay with Solana on the bed when Bahati and I were at the hospital.
The flashback had me scrunching up my face.
When I looked back at her, her face matched mine.
“What is it, Solana?”
“Are we not going to…”
“What… Fuck?”
She nodded all innocently and shit.
I grabbed my crotch, glad that my dick had calmed down. “Nah…”
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t want to. That’s not what I came here for.”
“You still haven’t said why you’re here.”
“Solana, baby…”
“Shio…” She matched my tone, and instead of responding, I just stared at her.
I need to bounce.
“Shio?”
“Is Italian sneaking you cocaine, Solana?” I asked, and she drew her head back, offense written on her face as if she wasn’t in here for being a cokehead.
“What? No! Why would you ask me that?”
“Why you always in the bathroom? At my crib, you were always in the bathroom and the closet… And we know what went down in there.”
“Wow, Shio.”
“A few days ago, you went in the bathroom and was in there forty-nine minutes. When you came out, you were walking funny, and your eyes were red.”
“Wait! How do you know that?”
I stood, not saying shit.
“Shio. Are you watching me?”
I flicked my nose before crossing my arms.
Her arms flew up. “?Estás violando mi privacidad! (You’re violating my privacy!)”
“You don’t have no fuckin’ privacy!”
“That’s a camera. Right there! Am I wrong?” She pointed toward the painting right above the TV, and although I could feel my body rise in temperature, I played it cool.
“You think I’m gonna bring you ’round my people and not keep watch?”
Her tongue clicked, and she swiped the tears from her face. “Okay.”
We sat in silence. She wouldn’t look at me, but I couldn’t avert my eyes from her face. Watching her in person was so much better. I wished like hell I weren’t attracted to her pretty ass.
“Shio, I am tired…”
Shit, me too.
“When… When all this is done, can you help me find my mom’s living family? That is all I ask. Then, I can make my own way from there. I will be out of your life forever.”
Hell nah, I ain’t helping you find shit. Damn, I sound like my fucking cousins.
I ran my fingertips through my beard. “What you want from me right now, Solana? Not on no future-type shit.”
Those dark, round eyes met mine again.
Pretty-ass, good-tasting-pussy-having little sinner.
“Even if it is selfish?”
“It’s okay to be selfish sometimes.”
“I don’t want you to go home.”
Pulling my pants up on my waist, I walked over to the door. I needed to leave before I went against my word. I needed to get in the truck and call the pastor because the voices in my head were not aligning when it came to Solana.
Without giving Solana a backward glance, I grabbed the handle to the door that was keeping her from the outside world.
“So you are going home?”
“Nah. I’m not going home if going there is going to cloud your head and fuck up your recovery efforts.”
I opened the door, realizing I had never locked it. Stepping through it, I closed it. Fishing the key from my pocket, I stuck it in and turned until the lock clicked.
“Shio…?”
“Yeah, Solana, baby?”
“I’m not your father.”
The fuck?
The first thought that came to mind was that Italian had been down here talking too fucking much.
Instead of replying, I walked away from the door before I went against my better judgment and unlocked the motherfucker.
No sooner than my feet hit the main floor, my phone rang.
Retrieving it from my pocket and seeing Essex’s name, I wasted no time answering.
Getting lost in Solana was perfect for the moment, but now that I was out of that room, business was back at the forefront.
“Aye.” Essex’s tone made my ears perk up.
I nodded at Italian and tossed the mask to him. “Get that to Ezio for me,” I said as I continued moving toward the front door before replying to Essex. “Wuz good, E-Block?”
“That spot, yo?”
My nerves tensed instantly, even though I knew he was calling about Bahati’s apartment. “It checks out, right?”
I knew it had. I’d already spoken with the leasing agent, who had confirmed that Bahati and Shya had been tenants of the apartment.
I’d even paid the lease up, telling them they were just out of town on an extended vacation.
I didn’t have many boots on the ground in the city since my people were here in the bay with me, but Essex did.
Not only did he have a business that was still very much booming out there, but he also had people.
Not many, but he had enough. He’d sent one of his customers, a robber who had turned stealing from niggas into a whole business.
He did credit and shit now, but I wouldn’t trust a thief who used to take shit with my information.
The hood did, though, and they’d turned the nigga into a business mogul.
“Answer ya FaceTime, G.”
As I opened the door and stepped outside, I pulled the phone away from my face and answered the call. Essex’s face appeared briefly before he flipped the camera around.
“What I’m lookin’ at, E-Block?”
My truck was turned off, and the keys were on the driver’s seat. I would send a couple of stacks to Italian for looking out because I had left my shit running, trying to get to Solana’s ass.
“Shit, nothing.” He moved closer. “My nigga, Clutch, pulled up to come run through it for us, and when he called and told me the building was on fire, I had to get on a plane and see this shit for myself.”
The giant pile of rubble where the apartment building should have been covered the entire camera.
I knew the building was supposed to be exactly where Essex was because when he shifted the camera to the left and then to the right, I could see that the other two buildings were still standing that it was supposed to be standing between.
Essex rotated the phone again so that I could see the remnants from the fire. There wasn’t shit left.
“Even the fuckin’ leasing office gone, G. They said that shit was in the lobby of this building, so all the paperwork and computers and shit gone. Hopefully everybody got out, but you know how it is in Chicago.” He shook his head.
Alarm and anger rippled through my spine as I hopped inside my truck.
Some shit wasn’t adding up, and a lot of shit was just too coincidental.
Not having the mental capacity to deal with the shit tonight, I turned the car on and drove in the direction of downtown.
It wasn’t shit popping in Jagoda Bay tonight, so I should’ve been able to get a room at one of my favorite hotels.
I’d have to deal with Bahati’s slick ass another day because something wasn’t adding the fuck up.
God first
Make sure the family good
Eye them Cuppacio boys, the little and the big ones
Build a relationship with my brother
Get my brother rich
Health and wellness (ALWAYS) (Shake back)
Stay on top of my mob shit
Keep Hobo alive (DOING… Barely)
Get through the meeting with Ines Ledesma
House a random
Find the true reason Solana is here
Figure out if Solana is supposed to be my wife, again
Find a wife that isn’t Solana
Kill every breathing Rodríguez Cartel member (URGENT)
Fuck Bahati up (TBD)
Get my fucking daughter
Get Bahati’s arm fixed
Get to know my daughter (DOING)
Figure out what the fuck I’m going to do with Solana
Leave the mob entirely or marry Bahati or Solana
Get DNA test
Spend time with my daughter (DOING) (ON PAUSE)
Tell my mama about Shya
Keep Solana in real nigga rehab until she clean (TBD)
Get SECOND DNA test
Check on Bahati’s apartment
Don’t fuck Uriah ANYBODY SOLANA
Get to the root of Shya’s constant crying
Get THIRD DNA test or say fuck it
Marry Bahati IF she is innocent
Pay for that cocaine
Decide if Solana can see Shya
Find out what happened to Bahati’s apartment building