Hades
Kégo drove to Alexis’s crib so I could woosah. I was supposed to be on a high from gaining a new soul but couldn’t. Alexis said my woman was on her way to her crib. It was a statement I would’ve wrote off if she didn’t say it with her chest. Her words were meant to upset me, which they did.
Now that I had time to talk to Journei, I called her phone. She let my call get picked up by her voicemail. If it was any other night, I could say it went unanswered because of her sleeping.
That night, I didn’t put shit past nobody. I squeezed the phone tightly. Alexis’s words wouldn’t stop ringing in my fuckin’ head. If Journei was at that house when I showed up, I knew somethin’.
I checked to who the incoming call was from. Abuela. Granny knew what I was out there doin’ and knew only to hit me if it was an emergency.
“Hel—”
“She’s gone, son. She took the Audi and left. I don’t know where she’s headed, but you have to find her. It’s not just about her anymore. She’s goin’ to stress that baby out and lose him,” she said, cutting me off.
“I got it, Ma.” I hung up and punched the window, shattering the glass.
My actions caused Kégo to swerve, then slam on brakes. I was infuriated. She could be headed to Alexis’s, or she could be leaving me for real. I called her phone again, and it did the same as before.
“Hablar, mijo,” Diego spoke.
“Journei’s gone. Kégo, how far are we from that bitch’s shit?”
“Twenty minutes, bro, but I can make it ten,” he answered.
I nodded and looked out the shattered window. She was sleep when I asked her for a few days, but I expected for her to understand. The talk we had should’ve told her I was doin’ what I had to for them.
Me leaving was so that our enemy could get handled. I never left her to leave her for freedom. That woman meant everything to me.
It had been her for me since I met her. Her beauty was finally mine, and it wasn’t a muthafucka alive that could take her away from me. I denied our soul connection for as long as I could. She brought my truth out of me.
Mama was made for me and was goin’ to be with me until one of us parted. That shit she had with Alexis was mere child’s play. The love I had prepared for her was matured and uncomplicated.
I thought we were on a new path to experience life together and grow. With her leaving, she was taking away more than just my son. She was leaving with my heart. How the fuck did she expect me to live without that?
Kégo was flying through the city, swerving in and out of traffic. Chattanooga didn’t sleep on the weekend. Everybody in that muthafucka was outside and live. It was an ongoin’ party.
We entered a neighborhood that supplied some nice ass houses. A bunch of mini mansions filled the land. He pulled into a driveway that held Granny’s Audi. I chuckled and shook my head.
That woman had me fucked up entirely. Christian had her fooled with that holier than thou shit, but when poking the devil, anticipate some fuckin’ flames, bitch.
I got out before the truck could come to a stop with Diego tryin’ to level my thoughts out, which I ignored the fuck out of. There wasn’t an ounce of tranquility in me at the moment. I was there for all the bullshit though.
My pistol was pulled from behind my back and checked for ammunition. I didn’t know what I was walking into, but a nigga was goin’ in prepared for whatever.
The sight of candles and rose petals pissed me off even more. The door was wide open, and that was the first thing I noticed before stepping foot inside. Seemed like somebody was tryin’ to rekindle some shit to me.
My arm was caught by Kégo, stopping me in my tracks. I snatched my arm away and stood, waiting for him to speak. He stopped me for a reason.
“She don’t know you the way we do. Don’t kill her, Hades.”
I heard him, and that truly depended on what I walked in on. I wasn’t the nigga you wanted to play with. Journei could act dumb all she wanted, but she knew like everybody else. I took a deep breath and entered.
Outside of the candles, there was a light on where the rose petals ended. I quietly approached and listened. Someone was talking, but it wasn’t the voice of my woman.
“Alexis was supposed to be mine. Hades was supposed to be mine. Why the fuck are they so in love with you? I built Alexis, and what she do… marry your 101 dalmatian lookin’ ass. Hades gave you his kid when that was my dream. With you gone, I won’t be second to shit.”
That voice belonged to Galleria. I relaxed a bit and turned the corner. That relaxation was only held for a split second.
I saw mama laying on the floor with blood seeping from her body. Galleria stood over what seemed to be her lifeless body with a gun aimed at her stomach. I cocked my gun, startling her.
She turned around with her gun pointed at me and mine at her. It was either her or me. Diego and Kégo stepped from behind the wall once I filled the chamber. How they felt right now didn’t matter.
“Man, what the fuck? Twin, what you do to her?” Kégo went to help Journei when Galleria’s target changed.
“Don’t touch her! I love you, twin, but I will put one in ya chest if you take another step. She deserves to die.” Galleria stood there with the meanest scowl etched on her face.
“Papa, if my woman and son die, you might as well kill me too,” I spoke lowly.
“Y’all are familia. Stop this, mija.” Diego tried defusing the situation.
“Nah, that’s my family,” I said, nodding toward mama behind her. “That bitch put that gun over my son again, I’m goin’ to forget whose daughter she is.” My threat was heard loud and clear by everyone, but she wanted to test the waters.
The most she could do was drop her arm a smidge before I gave her what she wanted. With every step I took toward her, I pulled the trigger. Her body jerked the way Cleo’s did in Set It Off.
“Hades!” Kégo shouted.
I didn’t give a fuck about Galleria being his sister. The bitch was playin’ with my family’s lives like she was up seven and couldn’t lose. The underworld gained two new souls in an hour. I was on a muthafuckin’ roll if you asked me.
I ignored his screams and went for my woman. Her body was drenched in blood, and I had no clue if she was alive or not. I stepped right over Galleria’s body and proceeded out the door.
Granny’s Audi was keyless. Whether the key was in the car or on mama, it was goin’ to crank. The car started with no problem, and we were out of there. The nearest hospital was ten minutes away.
I broke every traffic law there was. They weren’t dying on my watch. All that killing would have been for nothin’ if they did. Journei needed to see I was the only one who could protect her.
Pullin’ up to the emergency room, I grabbed mama and ran in yelling for help. “She was attacked. She called me for help, and when I got there, she was on the floor bleeding.”
A nurse came running over with a gurney. “We got it from here. Another nurse will be with you in a second to get more information.” She walked off with my baby, and for the first time, I didn’t know what to do.
“Sir, do you need medical assistance as well?” the receptionist asked. I shook my head and eyed the door my family had been taken through.
I was tapped on my shoulder for attention. I turned around to a nurse waiting to speak with me. “I’m Nurse Diane. I would like to ask you some questions about your visit. What’s the patient’s name and date of birth?”
I gave her Journei’s information and was left in the waiting room alone. My phone had been ringing back-to-fuckin’-back since I got there. I never pulled it out to answer it or screen it. My mind was on mama.
I loved her more than I did myself. Her happiness had become more important than my own. Hell, her life became more important than mine the minute love was developed for her. It was all about her.
Every day she changed a nigga. Every day she challenged me to love her properly. She wasn’t a woman looking for a man to take care of her. I just so happened to be the one to that could do it.
Annie Mae interrupted my thoughts by running up on me and wrapping her arms around me. I was covered in Journei’s blood, but she didn’t seem to care.
“Son, what happened?” Her eyes were glossy with tears on the brink of her eyelids.
“Galleria, Ma. She…”
“Don’t you say it. She’s not dead until them doctors say she is. How long has she been back there?” she asked.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. A lil’ ova an hour, I think. I can’t lose her, Ma. I can’t.”
“Stop. If they haven’t come out yet, then she’s still back there fightin’. Let’s have a seat and pray.”
GILLS
I sat in Journei’s hospital room thanking God for keeping her alive. My better half was almost taken away from me along with my child, and I knew the only person who had the last say-so was Him.
Her surgeons let us know that she came in with a weak pulse and was on the line of being done. It was her coding on the table and them having to bring her back that did it for me.
I heard those words and broke down. Granny had to get me to calm down after that. Journei was very much alive, but to know that she was almost gone took me out.
As a man, I loved and showed affection for her proudly. My feelings for her weren’t hidden, so the way I loved her privately was shown publicly. There wasn’t room for anyone to second-guess anything.
Throughout the events she endured, my son was unharmed. She was put on bed rest for a few weeks, but she was in the clear.
No major arteries were hit from Galleria’s bull junk, so the time she needed to heal was goin’ to be used for bed rest. Her grand opening was gettin’ pushed back whether she wanted it to or not.
Alexis and Galleria both were out of the picture, so there was no one gunning for either of us. I could be there for her in any sense she needed me. I didn’t plan on leaving her side ever again.
Her head moved from side to side slowly. She was starting to wake up for the first time since her surgery. I grabbed her hand and waited for her to gain consciousness. I couldn’t release the breath I was holding until I saw her brown eyes.
It took her a minute to get them open, but when she did, I wasn’t her favorite person. She snatched her hand away and glared me down. I was confused on what I did wrong.
We exchanged no words. There was pure silence surrounding us outside of the baby monitor. She reached for her call button, alerting a nurse. One walked in shortly, avoiding eye contact with me.
“Yes, Ms. Evans?”
“I would like this man removed from my room please. If he has any visitation rights, take them away as well. The only person allowed in here are Hunz and Belle Air Sinclair. Thank you,” Journei spoke as if I didn’t mean a thing to her.
“Mama, I’m not leaving.”
“Oh, you gettin’ the fuck up out of here today. Leaving is what you do best. No need to stop now,” she sassed.
She was upset. She only wanted me gone because I left to handle her now-dead wife. Having me removed from her room was her way of teaching me a lesson. It hurt, but I went with it.
I bent down to kiss her stomach, then pecked her forehead before placing my lips on hers.
She didn’t push me away like I thought she would.
I gently cuffed her neck and kissed her as if it was my last. Technically, it would be until she was ready for my love again. Mama was worth the wait and then some.
“This is your request. Whenever you’re ready for me again, you know where to find me.”
Those steps were heavy as I walked away from the only thing that made sense in my life. She wanted space, but I wasn’t goin’ to give her much.