When I made it to my son’s room, he was still asleep. I wasted no time scooping him up. With my hood secure over my head, I carried him out of the door and straight to the Durango I had been driving.
Once I secured his sleeping body in the car, I closed the doors and locked them, going back toward the house. Once inside, I went straight to the garage and grabbed the acetone she keptthere. I poured it throughout the entire first floor on my way out. I tossed a lighter onto the chemical and closed the door.
When I got to the truck, I hopped in and looked in the back seat at my son. He was still asleep. I pulled away from the curb, not giving Adrian’s house a second look. It would be too burned to process once the fire department made it.
I didn’t bother turning the radio on because something about hearing his light snores calmed all of the chaos I was carrying. I needed that.
“Daddy.” His little voice let me know he’d woken up as soon as I pulled up to Lucky’s house. I knew this nigga had cameras everywhere, so I had to be strategic.
I turned around and looked at my mini. “What’s up, lil man?” He was my spitting image.
“Where have you been?”
I laughed. “Errwhere. Have you been good?”
“Yes. Where are we going?” He looked around.
I shook my head, hating this part. “I gotta handle some stuff. You’re about to spend some time with Cousin Lucky and Granny for a while.”
“You coming back?” he asked, his little voice filled with disappointment. It was tearing me up inside, but I had to do this.
“Don’t I always?”
He nodded. “But Mommy said you weren't there last time.”
I turned my body, looking at my baby boy with the weight of the world on my shoulders, and made a promise I never planned to break. “I’ma always come back for you, Junior. I’ma always be there.”
He seemed to think about my words for a minute before he accepted them. “Okay.”
I got out of the truck and went to the back seat to get him.
“Oh Daddy, you got my car,” he said happily and I laughed.
Once he was in my arms, I hugged him tight as fuck and kissed his forehead like I’d never see him again. Then I let him down and pointed toward my cousin’s door. “Go knock on Lucky’s door. I’ll see you later, aight?”
“Okay, Daddy, I love you.” He hugged my legs and took off running in the footie pajamas Adrian made sure he slept in because he was a sleepwalker.
I watched him knock on the door while I got in my truck, leaving the window down a little. Lucky opened the door and his eyes were immediately on Junior. He pulled him in quick, now looking around outside.
“How did you get here, Junior?” he asked.
“My daddy brought me.”
I pulled away from the curb knowing my son was safe. At this point, that was all that mattered.
Liora Pierce
After getting what my father needed, I didn’t go back to the shop. Exhaustion had me home trying to get some rest, but my inability to do so had me at Dela’s with a gun in my hand letting off shots.
Dela’s was open late most days. When it wasn’t, I went to the bar down the block that my uncle owned. It was on the pier a little ways from the medical district.
I emptied the clip into my target before I set the gun down. I didn’t have to push the button to bring my target closer. I knew I’d hit exactly where I was aiming. The only time I didn’t was when I’d first gotten injured. Even though I wasn’t supposed to be shooting a gun, I’d never been the type to sit back and feel better. I made myself better.
“You know I have Zolpidem in the back if you’re looking to get sleep or anything like that,” Adela said, making me look in her direction. She and I had grown up together somewhat, but she was years older. One could say she was somewhat ofa mentor because we never lost touch, even when I enlisted as well. We ultimately took different paths, but both landed back here. While she had been medically discharged, I was in a limbo of my own choosing. The facts were I didn’t know what I wanted outside of the life I had already built for myself.
I chuckled. “That would be a good offer if I was looking to go home and sleep, huh?”
She laughed. “You come in here three to four days out of the week? Don’t tell me you aren’t tired. Hell, I’m tired for you.”
