Page 52 of That Fire

I slid my hand down my face as he and Mama bailed. Crew had gotten his ass whupped by some clowns in Liberty. PJ had somehow known what was going down. I had to assume somebody who knew he was alive was his eyes and ears out there. That nigga was risking a lot by doing that. I just hoped it was someone that truly had his back.

If PJ knew what was going down, I was pretty sure he knew why Crew had been going out there. I just wished we could talk to him without having to go through Ali. Shy and Mrs. Taylor probably knew as well, since Seven’s court date was coming up soon. That shit had Iesha about to lose her mind. Her sisters and mom had been out here quite a bit, trying to keep her calm and just be there for her. Maui and Aunt Aspen spent a lot of time with her also.

I huffed, then went back inside. Mostly everyone stayed to have fun with us and would go check on Crew once the festivities were over. Only my parents, Aunt Tiff, Jakari, and Ashanni had left to go check on him. Aunt Tiff was his godmother, and I justassumed Jakari went just in case they needed anything and to probably find out what was going on.

When I got to Aaliyah, she was smiling and truly looked happy despite the interruption from Kane. He didn’t have to run in here the way he did. He could have just called or walked naturally to tell my dad. But whatever. Crew had inserted himself into some shit he couldn’t get out of, it seemed. I didn’t know why he would do that though. I didn’t understand why anyone in our family would go rogue, unless they were being mistreated, like Uncle WJ.

Crew had it easy. He received love from our parents . . . too much fucking love. The nigga got away with way more shit than I did simply because he was the baby. I sat next to Aaliyah and watched them play games. I didn’t feel like participating, but I forced myself to so Aaliyah wouldn’t be worried about me. Whenever I was angry or my nerves were bad, I tended to shut people out and completely shut down. I didn’t want to be bothered with anybody. I couldn’t do that today.

The only good thing about all this drama was that it kept my mind off sex. The only time I thought about it was when I was lying next to Aaliyah, feeling her body against mine. Last night, she couldn’t get comfortable against me, so I practically surrounded her with pillows. She would probably be that way until the babies were born. All I could do was admire her strength and resilience. Women had my respect for all the shit they dealt with. That was why I did my best to make her load lighter.

By the time we were done with games and opening gifts, I was beyond ready to go home and get Aaliyah to bed. She looked exhausted, but her smile was still ever present. Everyone pitched in to load gifts into my Escalade and Seven’s and Kingsley’s SUVs. Since Kingsley lived next door and SS next door to him, they wouldn’t be going out of their way to get them to my house.

When I got back to Aaliyah, after she expressed her thanks and said her goodbyes to everyone, I scooped her up as she giggled. She laughed at any lil thing. “What’chu laughing at, baby?”

“The way the babies just moved was slightly ticklish. Did you get to hold Majestic? Isn’t he cute?”

“He’s very cute. He gon’ be chocolate like his daddy though. Did you see how dark his ears are?”

“I did. There are gonna be so many babies around Henderson Village. Karima looks like she’s going to drop at any moment as well.”

“Yep. She lives in Cheek though. Rhodes already had a fairly new house out there, so she pocketed most of her Henderson money,” I said and chuckled.

Once I got Aaliyah in the passenger seat, Seven approached and said, “They put Crew in ICU. He has a brain bleed. They beat the fuck out of him, bruh.”

I slowly shook my head. “This shit is fucked up. Why was he out there?”

Seven slowly shook his head. “I don’t know, but I believe our attorneys know, as well as Watchful Eyes. It’s probably going to be presented in court. I just hope whatever he’s doing, it’s not anything shady. Maybe they got his ass undercover like they had me.”

“That’s somewhat overzealous thinking. That has nothing to do with how he’s been treating his family, man. The way he talked to Dad and Mama was unacceptable. If it weren’t for Aaliyah’s health, I would have fucked my house up with his ass. You know he said in their face, ‘fuck y’all’? Man, I wouldn’t even dream of being that disrespectful to our parents. We have great parents, and they didn’t deserve that shit.”

“No, they didn’t. I don’t know, man. Let me know if you’re gonna head up to the hospital, and I’ll go with you.”

“A’ight.”

I slapped his hand and got in the vehicle with Aaliyah. She was knocked the hell out. I couldn’t do shit but chuckle and take a picture of her in all her beauty. Afterward, I quickly buckled up and headed home. Instead of trying to carry her up the stairs, I would just make sure she was comfortable on the couch. I wasn’t a weak nigga, but it was getting taxing carrying her up and down those stares. A nigga was tired today.

When I parked, I noticed Seven and Kingsley had pulled in the driveway right after me. I went and unlocked the door, so they could get started while I got the sofa ready for Aaliyah. It was an oversized couch, and she always talked about how comfortable it was. So hopefully, this would suffice. If not, I would definitely get her upstairs to the bed. I believed I was more mentally exhausted than physically exhausted, but mental exhaustion tended to affect all areas.

I went back outside to kill the engine and carry Aaliyah inside. I was surprised nothing had popped off yet. Bali and Noni were on it though, making sure Aaliyah barely had to move at the shower. When I came from outside, Nikki was feeding her. Aaliyah literally didn’t have to lift a finger if she didn’t want to.

When I scooped her up, she smiled without opening her eyes. I kissed her cheek and took her inside to get comfortable on the couch. She didn’t fully wake up at all. I could only chuckle and then help Seven and Kingsley get all our beautiful gifts inside. Our families had gone overboard with gifts. We would probably have enough diapers to last a month.

Once we were done, I slapped Kingsley’s and Seven’s hands, then went to take a shower and get comfortable. Before I got into the shower, I called my dad. When he didn’t answer, I got a little nervous. As was about to call him back, Ashanni called me.

“Hello?”

“Hey. How did everything go after we left?”

“It went well. We just got home. Aaliyah was asleep before we even left the barn.”

She chuckled. “She was probably exhausted.”

“Yeah. What are they saying about Crew?”

“Just that he took a beating. He’s on a ventilator. He was unconscious when he got here. Watchful Eyes got him here. Crew was doing some questionable shit, Royal. I don’t know what attracted him to those low lifes out there, but he had drugs in his possession as well. I don’t know whether he was using them or intending to sell them.”

“Damn. If he was using, that would definitely explain his behavior. Honestly, that makes the most sense. Before, it was like he worked overtime to be perceived as perfect. I’m not sure why, because no one demanded that from him. He put way too much pressure on himself.”