Page 48 of On You 2

He stood over me next.

“Damn, I can’t wait until that nigga finds out I’m the one who killed his baby mama and his child. I'll probably tell him right before I smoke his ass too.” He spoke out loud, before he sent two hot bullets into my body, instantly taking my breath away.

Scotty then calmly pulled his ski mask back over his face like he hadn’t just destroyed my entire life in less than five seconds. He and the men he was with rushed out, leaving me bleeding on the kitchen floor beside my dead parents as the sun light shined down on my father and mother’s face reminding me that the day had just begun.

To think I was just praying for peace, but now I was wondering, had Allah ever really been listening?

Chapter 11

Amir

Nurses kept coming in and out of the room all night so every time I felt myself drifting into some real sleep, the door would open again or some machine would start making noise. That still didn’t stop Jasmine from sleeping. She was still stretched out across my lap as we sat beside RJ's bed. I had one arm wrapped around her waist to keep her from sliding off my lap, and my neck was stiff as hell from sleeping upright, but she looked too comfortable for me to move her. After everything she'd been through lately, she deserved at least one night of real sleep.

Delilah had called my phone several times yesterday, but I didn't answer because I knew she wouldn't understand where I was. Telling her about Jasmine and the baby was going to be a conversation I had to handle carefully. The only hope I had was that she understood I planned to be there for both my children equally. The problem was, I didn't know how the hell I was supposed to split myself between two households. In a perfect world, the kids could live with me and their mothers. Not on no polygamous shit or anything. Just both of my kids under the same roof.

When I shifted my leg, trying to put feeling back in it, Jasmine slowly lifted her head looking at me almost as if she forgot I was here.

“Damn,” she mumbled, rubbing her eyes.

“I feel like I been sleep forever. What time is it?” She got up from my lap.

“Noon. But you needed that sleep.” I stretched my shoulders back hearing something pop.

She wrapped a blanket around herself while looking over toward RJ in the bed. For a few seconds neither one of us said nothing and I could tell that she was praying over her son. She motivated me to say my own prayer, which I did before standing up from the chair.

“Now that your sleepy ass is finally up. I’m about to go into the restroom and try and freshen up,”

“Okay.” She looked up briefly to smile before glancing back to Rj.

I stepped inside the small bathroom attached to the room and found a pack of toothbrushes and toothpaste peeking out of Jasmine’s overnight bag. I helped myself to both, brushing my teeth staring at myself in the mirror feeling drained. My eyes looked low and heavy like I’d been up for days, so I splashed cold water on my face a few times, trying to wake myself up mentally more than anything else.

When I stepped back out of the restroom, Jasmine slid past me to go next. She knew that the size of it would keep us both from being able to freshen up comfortably so I’m sure that’s why she waited outside the door.

A few minutes later Jasmine was coming back out of the restroom, and she climbed back into the chair, pulling one leg under herself while fiddling with her fingers. She kept glancing at me like something was on her mind until she built up enough courage to say it.

“So, what are you about to do?” she asked.

“I have a few places I need to run to today. Shouldn’t take up a lot of my time though.”

“Oh, okay.”

She tried to play it off, but I caught the slight disappointment in her voice. Her eyes dropped down to her hands, and she started picking at her nails. I know I have to go and see Delilah today, but this morning I can give to Jasmine. I had a little catching up to do with her.

“I mean, you can come with me if you want to. Get some air outside of the hospital again today.”

“Mm, I don’t know if I should.”

“But I think you should. I can have you back before noon. You wouldn’t be gone too long. It might be good for you. And we can feed you and my baby while we are out.”

My smile spread onto her face and she looked almost shy about it afterward.

“Okay, that’s fine, Amir.” She replied, before standing up from her seat.

I grabbed my keys off the tray near RJ's bed, and a few minutes later we were riding the elevator down toward the parking lot.

I found my car parked in a handicap spot that I planned to move last night when I left, but because I didn’t, there was a pink parking ticket pressed against the windshield under the wipers.

“Oh, they got you I see. Crew got a parking ticket a couple of weeks ago too.”