Chapter 44 MAJA
MAJA
Jarring awake, the first thing I noticed was that I was laying on a gurney, dressed in scrubs, with an IV hooked up to me.
Frantically, my eyes darted around the room until they landed on Adir, who stood in the corner of the room, leaned against the wall.
He looked unbothered and watched me quietly.
Sitting up, I snatched the IV out of my hand and nearly toppled over when I tried to get off the gurney.
“Easy,” Adir said. He was by my side and placing me back on the gurney.
“No! I need to get to…to…” I couldn’t say Von’s name. He was dead, and I couldn’t save him!
“Von is down the hall. He’s on life support, May—”
“No!”
“—Which means he’s alive,” Adir continued. He held me to his chest as I broke down crying. “He’s alive, sweetheart. Calm down so we can talk.”
“Where’s Heir?” I asked, instead, turning my fears to her. “What the hell was Mama talking about? Who took Heir?” I fired off question after question.
The door opened and Poppa walked in. I rushed into his arms and broke down again. Poppa looked worn out, which only made me terrified for Heir.
“Who has Heir?” I asked him.
“Heir is down the hall. She’s safe,” he said. That offered me some relief, but I was back to worrying about Von. I had to see him!
“How long was I out?” Everything seemed like it just happened a minute ago and forever ago at the same time.
“It’s Tuesday afternoon,” Poppa informed me.
“Tuesday?” I was out for three days! That was impossible! Glaring at Adir, I asked, “What did you give me?”
He studied me, then his eyes dropped to my abdomen. “Your body needed the rest.”
I read between the lines and gasped. My heart felt heavier than it ever had. I rushed towards the door.
“We need to talk,” Adir stated as I stormed out of the room and down the hall. My feet felt like bricks assailed them the closer I came to the room where Carmen’s soft cries permeated from. Heartbroken, I stopped walking.
This was all my fault!
Rushing back the other way, I ran into the room I’d just vacated and to the nearest garbage can. I emptied my stomach into the trash, then stood at the sink to rinse my mouth. All while shedding tears of fear, anger, and more fear.
“If you wouldn’t have let your guard down, this wouldn’t have happened!” I hissed at myself.
“Maja,” Adir mumbled from the doorway. “We need to talk.”
“You keep saying that!” I fumed.
“We found who took Heir and handled them.”
Whirling around, I glared at him. “Why do I hear a but?”
“Lucían Augustín was the leader of the Augustín Cartel. He was also Kody’s blood brother.”
“Blood brother?” I questioned as my mind raced. “Katrice?”
“Listen,” Adir commanded lowly. “Lucían is dead and so is Katrice.”
In disbelief, I asked, “What the hell is going on?”
“While Alli was digging up information about Lucían, he discovered that Lucían and Katrice were in communication with Jerell Franklin,” Adir explained.
My heart nosedived. Jemell, I thought. He was coming back to haunt me. The dream! It all made sense.
“We believe Jerell orchestrated the shootout to distract us from Lucían kidnapping Heir.”
Incensed, I growled. “I’m going to kill everything attached to him!”
“Wait!” Poppa grabbed my arm, but I snatched away.
“I won’t let you stop me!”
“I don’t want to stop you, May,” Adir mumbled. The look in his eyes caused my breath to stall. I stood there staring at him, staring at me. “In fact, I want you to be as ruthless as I know you can be.”
“No,” Poppa interjected, lowly. He glanced at Adir like Adir was crazy. “We can’t let her get involved with this shit, Adir. We’re talkin’ about the fuckin’ cartel!”
Adir peered at Poppa. “Father to father,” he said, “I understand. We both want to protect her. However, we both know what she’s capable of.
” Adir glanced at me. Standing there, I knew that they knew exactly who I was.
Only, I couldn’t find it in me to feel sorry for who I’d become over the years.
The mask was off, and two of the closest people to me knew the damage I’d done.
“On the other hand, we want to protect her,” Adir added. “I want to protect her and save her because I couldn’t do that for Nina.”
My heart was too weak to accept anymore crushing news. However, Adir mentioning my mother touched a sliced open a wound that was already bleeding for the man down the hall, tied to life support.
“What are you saying?” I asked Adir.
“One night, Nina came here covered in bruises. I offered to handle the situation. She refused to let me.”
“You should’ve made her let you!” I hissed angrily. “It’s your fault—”
“No!” Poppa barked. “You won’t stand here and blame anyone for that nigga’s wrongdoing. Be angry, yes. But that anger is not reserved for the one muthafucka who tried to help Nina.”
Tears fell unchecked down my face. Poppa was right, but I was too upset to care who was right.
“You should’ve made her,” I whispered tearfully.
Adir smirked. “Funny thing is, I’m lookin’ at the carbon copy of Nina Storm.
Last I checked, she for damn sure doesn’t let anyone tell her what the fuck to do or how to do it.
Matter fact, she’s big on boundaries and handling shit the way she sees fit.
There’s no bullying her into submission or none of that shit. Am I right, May?”
Being confronted with the truth caused my eyes to drop to the floor.
“I couldn’t save ya mama. I’ll be damned if I don’t save you. I’ll be damned if this family loses you.” Adir touched my chin and brought my gaze back to his. “Now, you ready to walk alongside me? Or you want to let this anger consume you?”
“You were there?” I questioned Adir. How else would he know what the hell I was doing?
“Every time, baby.”
And he never tried to stop me.
“I want to be angry that you went against my wish to be without security,” I replied. “But I’m thankful that you never let me out of your sight.”
“Never,” he assured me. “I would’ve handled Jerell on my own, but I didn’t want to rob you of the opportunity.”
Peering at the only father I would ever acknowledge, I said, “I love you, Poppa. Give me your blessing…please.” I didn’t want to hurt him. His blessing allowed me to move without the heaviness of his disapproval. Now that he knew what I was, it mattered to me that he accepted this part of me.
“Mama would be devastated if something happens to you. I’ll be devastated if something happens to you.” I’d never really seen Poppa fighting tears.
I walked into his arms and laid my head on his chest. I didn’t offer him any words of encouragement. This life was dangerous. There were no encouraging words for the shit I was capable of, or the shit that could happen to me.
However, I was putting it all on the line to avenge my man.
***
Finally gathering the courage, I wiped the remaining tears from my face and made my way down the hallway.
Mr. Gunner, Carmen, Junior, and Amaré were positioned outside of Vonshae’s door, offering me some time with him.
I hugged his parents and offered a tiny smile to his brothers.
The tears flowed again, though, and I was unable to stop them as I walked into the hospital room and peered at Von’s body.
For a second, I broke my gaze away and stared at the floor.
Hearing the beeping sounds of the heart monitor, the whooshing sound of the breathing apparatus pumping air into Von’s lungs, and the sniffles coming from outside, I nearly broke and ran out of there, but I let my feet carry me to Von’s bedside.
Without a second thought, carefully, I climbed onto the gurney and laid against his body. I ran my hand down his unshaven face and over his closed eyelids. Since the day I met him, he’d grown more gray hair. It made him sexier than he already was.
“We made promises to each other,” I wept softly.
“You proposed to me. Don’t you even care?
You can’t leave me.” No matter what I said or how much I cried, his eyes didn’t open.
I must’ve laid there for a while because I fell asleep.
When I awoke, I was still stuck to his side.
My eyes were sore and gritty from crying, and my throat hurt, too.
My face felt swollen, and my body ached. Still, I had work to do.
Leaning up, I kissed Von’s cheek.
“I have a secret to tell you, Von. I’m not who you think I am.
” I touched my fingers to his lips. “You see, I used to be a very happy kid. Then, my father decided to destroy all of that. One day he turned into someone I didn’t know.
Several times, I watched him beat my mother.
She tried getting away.” I broke down, recalling the day my mother decided she was going to take me and make a run for it.
“We almost got away, but he found us. He used his badge to inflict trauma on us.” And because of that trauma, I almost missed out on the best thing that ever happened to me. ”
“I tried, Von. I tried to leave the pain of losing my mother behind me. I went off to college, met new people and became really close to someone. Her name was Cassidy. She was older than me, but we hit it off from the beginning. With my track record concerning officers, I was upset to find out that Cassidy’s boyfriend was a police officer.
She went home for the summer and wasn’t there a full day before he took her life.
That was when I became…me. Losing her triggered me.
It thrust me back to the time I lost my mother.
. So… I killed Raphael. With a thirty-eight.
Afterwards, I positioned his body to look like a man tied to a firing range.
Truthfully, that was what I feel he deserved. I let him off easy.”
I kissed Von’s lips and sighed. “Jemell was my seventh kill. I let him off easy, too. As for his brother, Jerell… He won’t get the same leniency. By hurting you, he hurt the very thing that I’d been trying to protect since I met you. My heart.”
I laid back on his chest and said, “You once told me that you were close to catching your suspect.. I hate to burst your bubble, baby.” Giggling, I added, “You were never close to catching me.”
Leaning up, I kissed Von’s forehead. “I have to go to work. When I get back, you better be up.”
It took strength to leave Von’s bedside. However, as I exited his room, there wasn’t a tear for me to shed. All I smelled and tasted was blood. All I cared about was avenging the man I loved.
As I walked down the hallway, Lewis and Shyah approached me. I hugged Shyah tightly and wiped the tears she shed.
“I love you, Sis,” she said to me.
“I love you, too.” I hugged her once more, then hugged Lewis. He looked like he’d seen better days. He and Von were close, so he was handling things just about as badly as the rest of us.
“Don’t go too far,” he said. “I’m sure my bro can feel you near.”
I smiled and replied, “I’m never leaving Von’s side. The both of you are stuck with me.”
Lewis chuckled. “That’s alright with me.”
He and I dapped, just as Adir appeared.
“Can we talk?” Lewis asked Adir.
Adir nodded. “Of course.”
I hugged my big cousin, then made my way to my next destination.
Heir’s hospital room was covered in fresh flowers, teddy bears, and balloons.
Kody sat in a rocking chair with a sleeping Heir in his lap.
He had her covered in a blanket, and his eyes were on her face as he rocked her.
I couldn’t believe the two ended up so close.
One day I would come to know what happened to Heir.
Right now, I just wanted to ensure that my sister was safe.
Kody glanced at me and motioned me over. I shook my head.
“Let her sleep. I’ll be back.”
He dipped his head.
I left Heir’s room only to see Kwamé stepping off the elevators.
“Why are you up here?” I questioned, heart tripping inside my chest.
She hugged me and said, “I’m just sitting with Carmen. She’s not doing well.”
“Oh…” I peered down the hall at Von’s room. His parents had gone back inside with him.
“She’ll be okay,” Kwamé assured me. “You go handle what needs to be handled. Antonias, Bianca, and I have everything under control here.”
“Right. Thank you, Kwamé.”
She waved me off. “Family sticks together, and Von’s people belong to us now.”
Grinning, I seconded that.
Stepping onto the elevator, I took a deep breath.
The ring on my finger felt heavy, taunting me with the fact that I’d found love and that it wanted forever with me.
It taunted me with a life that a woman like me could never have.
This was a slap in the face, and maybe even a little bit of karma for going against my vow to turn over a new leaf.
“Fuck that!” I sneered to the four walls of the elevator. If Jerell wanted to join his brother in hell, I would gladly send him there. Fuck turning over a new leaf. Nobody respected when I tried to let go of the woman inside me. Therefore, she would do what she knew best. She would shed blood.