Page 61 of That Fire

I lay in bed, staring at my bundles of joy. Royal had gone home and got the bassinet so they could sleep together, and they were literally clinging to one another all day. There was a soft knock on the door, and Royal told them to come in. It was Nikki and Lareesa with a huge balloon bouquet and a cigar for Royal.

He stood and hugged them both, thanking them, then they came to my bedside, looking confused. Royal wasn’t as happyas they probably expected him to be. He was really quiet and soft-spoken right now. He was trying to be okay, but I knew he wasn’t. He and Crew were always together until these past six months to a year. I wanted to believe the drug usage probably started around the time they started arguing more.

“Baby, you need anything?” Royal asked as he stood. “I’m gonna go get something from the diner.”

“Maybe just a chicken salad if they have any. If not, baked chicken and vegetables will be fine.”

“Okay. I’ll be right back.”

When he left out, I immediately said, “His brother died about an hour before the babies were born.”

They both covered their mouths simultaneously, clearly in shock by what I said. “My God,” Nikki voiced. “What happened?”

“He got beat real bad by some niggas in Liberty. He ended up having a brain bleed. Apparently, he didn’t recover from that.”

“That’s so sad,” Lareesa said as she walked over to the bassinet. “Oh my goodness. They are so gorgeous. They look like Royal.”

“Thank you. They adopted all his genes as their own. I’m not mad about that though.”

“I know that’s right,” Nikki said and giggled.

There was another soft knock on the door, so I said, “Come in.”

The door opened slowly, and Royal’s parents and Ashanni and Asad came in. My heart felt like it was bleeding. I brought my hand to my chest as they all greeted me. Daddy Jasper had huge bags and dark spots under his eyes, and he was so quiet, the total opposite of his normal demeanor. They went to the bassinet and stared at the babies while tears fell down Mama Chas’s cheeks. She turned to me and asked, “Can we pick them up?”

“Absolutely,” I said softly.

She picked up Rasha, and Daddy Jasper picked up Ravi. The way he held him close was tearing me apart. His face was extremely red. “They look just like Royal did as a baby,” Mama Chas said.

I gave her a tight smile as she sat in the rocking chair, holding Rasha close.

“Tell me their names again,” Daddy Jasper said.

“You’re holding Ravi, and Mama Chas is holding Rasha.”

He smiled, then kissed the top of his head. When the door opened and Royal came inside, he damn near froze. It was his first time seeing his parents since Crew had passed away. He set the food on the bed table and pulled out my salad and ranch dressing, then went and greeted them all.

“Did you give them middle names?” Ashanni asked.

I glanced at Royal, and he nodded, then swallowed hard. “Yeah. Rasha Ashanni Henderson and Ravi Crew Henderson.”

Ashanni’s body quaked as she cried silently. Royal went to her and held her in his arms, rocking her side to side. Nikki and Lareesa came to my bedside, and Nikki said, “We’re gonna go, boo. Y’all need this family moment. We’ll come back to see you and your precious babies once y’all go home.”

“Okay. Thank y’all for coming.”

“Of course,” they said in unison.

They both leaned over and kissed my forehead one after the other and nodded at everyone else, then walked out of the door. I watched my in-laws love on our babies, and I even saw a couple of smiles. They began asking a lot of questions about their birth and when I reiterated what Bali had said about Ravi’s cord being wrapped around his neck, Ashanni rolled her eyes as everyone else laughed.

Crew should have been here, loving on his niece and nephew as well. Although, towards the end, he really irritated the fuck out of me by spreading my business to anyone who would listen,I had to believe his illness coupled with his drug usage had to be the culprit. It was easier for me to be angry at those things than him.

The Crew we all knew was kindhearted and would never spread negativity about anybody that way. He was always pretty quiet. That day at the house was crazy to me. He wasn’t himself that day, and I believed that was what was eating the family alive. They knew he wasn’t himself but didn’t know why.

When Bali walked through the door to check on us, Daddy Jasper said, “You got one more time to call my grandson a whiny ass lil boy.”

Bali smiled and bit her bottom lip, then went to him and kissed his cheek. Her eyes were red, so I knew she wanted to cry. She kissed Mama Chas, then went to Ashanni and hugged her tightly. She and Noni were the only two that didn’t see them last night, besides Royal. Everyone else had gone to Beaumont to be with them. After releasing Shani, she asked me, “How are you feeling?”

“I feel fine.”