He tapped the roof twice, then walked off like a man who refused to beg for a place he already earned. The truck pulled off slowly and for the first damn time in a long time… I felt guilty, like real guilty. My chest got even tighter until it hurt because I realized I wasn’t battling him at all; I was battling myself. Battling the fact that I liked him more than I should and I didn’t want a man I cared about ending up on a T-shirt because of my last name.
I put my phone face-down on my thigh and stared out the window as the city passed by, all sirens and traffic and chaos, because Miami never slept no matter what time of day it was always some shit going on. By the time we turned onto the hospital street, I could already hear the noise and bullshitwith the cameras clicking. The News vans were double-parked; people were yelling asking questions nobody was gon’ answer. The lights from the lenses flashed like fireworks, and every reporter looked hungry, waiting for a Royal to show up so they could spin a story or a new narrative or hoping one of us would talk.
Our people were in the front and greeted me when they saw me. “Miss Royal,” one spoke without glancing back, “we got you.”
I nodded even though my pulse was going super-fast. I saw people stepping back with wide eyes like they’d just spotted a damn celebrity. Then I heard it all the whispers.“It’s her… It’s the Royal Princess… That’s O’Shynn Royal.”
I closed my eyes for half a second, took a long breath, and wore the game time mug on my face. It was the one that said I wasn’t scared of shit even when my whole world felt like it was spinning. The door opened and everything hit me at once. Cameras flashed immediately in my face, but I stepped out anyway, with my shoulders squared, chin up, and eyes forward. My family was inside and nobody… not reporters, not gangs, and not threats was keeping me from them.
DOMINIQUE ‘DIQUE’ ROYAL
Iwasn’t sitting down for shit. They had chairs lined up against the wall like this was some regular hospital visit, like people came up here to wait on good news and hold hands and be patient. I wasn’t one of them people. I’d been walking this same hallway so long the rubber on my J’s probably knew the floor better than the fucking staff did. Every time I passed that door where Carmen was at, I slowed down just a little without meaning to, like my body needed to confirm she was still in there and okay before I kept moving again.
My phone rang in my hand, and I already knew who it was before I even looked. Keondra had been calling nonstop since that shit hit the news. I let it ring one more time, then answered while I was still walking because if I stopped too long my mind was gone go somewhere I ain’t need it to go.
“What?” I snapped.
She came through the phone sounding all loud, talking fast, already halfway worked up. “Don’t ‘what’ me, Dique! I just seen the news and they talking about a shooting and Carmen name all over the damn screen. What happened? Is she okay?”
I slowed my steps down but I ain’t stop completely. I kept moving, just not as fast. “She ain’t get shot,” I told her. “Relax.”
“That is not me relaxing,” she shot back. “Why she at the hospital then? Why they keep saying her name like that? I don’t like how they saying it. That sound like some serious shit like she’s a target!”
I glanced toward the door again. I could see Dom through the little glass, sitting close to the bed, not moving much. That alone told me everything about where his head was at. He was just staring at her and the monitors. My brother loved Carmen, but I could see the look in his eyes, he was in love with her looking at her how a husband looks at his wife.
“She went into shock,” I told her. “It was too much at once. They got her in there, she straight though and the baby straight too.”
Keondra didn’t say nothing for a second, then I heard her breathe out like she’d been holding it in. “Oh my God… Amour right here keep asking me what’s wrong what’s wrong and I don’t even know what to tell her. Kids always know when something is wrong with their mommy. I probably stressed my poor baby out.”
That made me stop for real this time. I had a daughter and I couldn’t imagine what I’d do if somebody played with her life. “She good, she okay?” I asked.
“Yeah, she fine,” Keondra said, softer now. “She just know something wrong. You know how she be. She keep looking at me like she trying to read my face.”
I nodded even though she couldn’t see me. “Keep her in the house tonight. Don’t go nowhere, don’t have nobody pulling up. Just chill.”
“Dique,” she hissed, “Why you saying it like that? I can’t move around like I want to anyway without a damn shadow watching my every move.”
“I’m not saying nothing extra,” I replied, keeping my tone calm. “I’m saying be still. Let me handle what need to be handled and I’ll be there.”
She was quiet again for a second, then sighed. “Okay, but you better call me if something change. Don’t do that thing where you say everything good and then disappear Dique, cause I know how my baby daddy moves.”
“I got you.”
“And tell Carmen I said I’m praying for her.”
I almost smirked at that because Keondra don’t say shit like that unless she really feeling it, but I kept it to myself. “I will.”
“And Dique?”
“Yeah.”
“Be careful.”
I ended the call and slid my phone back in my pocket, then stood there for a second longer than I meant to. It’s crazy how fast shit changed. One minute everything is regular, next minute shit is pure chaos in our world. I pushed off the wall and started walking again. The elevator dinged and I looked up automatically. The doors opened and O’Shynn stepped off.
She didn’t ask nobody nothing. She came straight down the hallway like she already knew where to go, but I could tell by the way she was holding herself that she was forcing that calm face. Her face was together, but her eyes wasn’t as still as they usually be. Anybody else probably wouldn’t catch it, but I know my sister.
I stopped walking and met her halfway. “You straight?” I asked.
