Page 16 of Delirium 2

Rocc was big as hell. Almost the same size as Exodus. Just a little taller. He wasn’t nearly as intimidating as Exodus though. His eyes were softer, like he hadn’t done or seen as much.

Rocc hesitated a bit. Looked from the door, back at me, and at the door again before he looked towards the kid's room.

“What’s behind this door, Sereia?”

“Their mother,” I blatantly told them, my bottom lip beginning to tremble.

He nodded, turned and with one swift movement, gave the door a hard push, busting it open. Instead of letting me inside, he put his arm up, stopping me. The shower curtain was drawn. The floor, covered with water, puddling off in the corner, near the right side of the tub, explaining the dripping down into mine. The toilet was flooded—feces floated around the bowl— but the water on the floor seemed to be coming from the tub instead.

Rocc stepped into the bathroom and swiped at the curtain. I didn’t see him. I was busy pacing back and forth in front of the door. I heard him open it. You know… the hooks to the curtain, beating against the metal rod. It wasn’t until he muttered ‘damn’ under his breath that I stopped pacing, turned and took in what had caught his attention.

I covered my mouth with my hands, tears building behind my eyes. Damn ‘Brina. The tub was full. A steady stream of water ran from the faucet. Quiet. But prominent, forcing the tub to overflow. The water, stained by blood that seemed to have gushed from her neck. There was a long slit on the side of it.

I stepped into the bathroom. Hands resting on my hips, head tilted to the side, eyes locked on her beautiful face. Sabrina didn’t deserve this. Her children… they didn’t deserve it either. Last night, when it got quiet, my spirit was unsettled. It was sudden. Too sudden. The noise didn’t have that slow decline like it usually did. There was arguing. Movement. And then, suddenly, nothing. I thought it was alarming, but I turned over and went to sleep anyway, happy that they had finally stopped whatever they were doing.

Never in a million years would I have guessed this though.

* * *

Rocc glanced over at me.

I could see him from the corner of my eye as I stared down at the shoes I had on now. A pair of pink Nike slides covered a fresh pair of black socks. When I left Sabrina’s apartment, I went down to mine, snatching my Crocs and white socks in the hallway, pausing after noticing the pink tint to them. Sabrina’s blood.

I was traumatized. Couldn’t get the sound of the kids screams out of my head when the police came. I kept them inside of the room for as long as I could. But… yeah. Cops came and had to remove them. It was horrific. Definitely something that would be talked about at The Woods for a long time.

“You cool?” Rocc asked.

I’d been quiet the whole time.

Ignored my ringing phone.

Ignored the text messages. Everybody wanted to talk. They knew I found her. They had questions. Wanted to check on me. I didn’t want to talk.

Just sat there, eyes on my feet, thinking about the blood. Thinking about the tub. Thinking about my bathroom. Sabrina was leaking from the ceiling.

I was mortified.

I nodded at Rocc, telling him I was okay. But I wasn’t. I wasn’t okay at all.

Words couldn’t fall from my lips. Felt like if I opened my mouth to speak, I’d break down in tears. Finding Sabrina took me back to the time I found my momma. The similarities were too similar. Both victims… killed by the hands of the man they loved.

“You want me to get Big Dawg on the line? I can tell him⁠—

“No,” I said, my vocal cords rattling.

Clearing my throat, I shifted my gaze to the window. We were on the freeway, approaching the bridge. I didn’t want him to get Big Dawg on the line for shit. I could work. I had to work. I didn’t want to go back to The Woods. In fact, I never wanted to go back. I couldn’t go back. That apartment… it was tainted for real now. Once tainted with my mother’s blood, now tainted with Sabrina’s. Lonely. Cold. Empty. I didn’t want to be there. Despite the memories. Despite the connection… it was time for me to leave. So, what if it was without Meech.

The rest of the ride to First Lady’s house was spent in silence, with the exception of Rakim playing at a low level.

Every now and then, I’d catch Rocc looking over at me, but he didn’t say anything. Good. I honestly, truly just wanted to get to work. I didn't know how my mood would be when I walked into First Lady’s house but for some odd reason, I was really eager to get there. To a point where my heart raced the closer we got there and a sense of calmness began to wash over me.

When we pulled up to the gates, they slowly opened and I grabbed my tote bag from the floor, draping it over my shoulder. With a deep breath, I placed a piece of hair behind my ear and stared out of the window as we continued up towards the house. In the distance I could see landscape workers.

Rocc pulled into the circular driveway and shifted his truck in park. He looked over at me and started to say something but before he could, I was out of the truck.

I didn’t want to talk about what happened and I made that very clear when we left The Woods. Literally told him I didn't want to talk about it.

The minute my feet hit the pavement, and I headed up to the house, my attention fixed on the landscape workers. One of them smiled at me. I forced one in return. Hell naw. Landscape workers. It might’ve sounded crazy, but a bitch had only ever seen anything like this in the movies. Like I said before, Marv’s fat ass did a piss poor job tending to the greenery over at The Woods. Landscape workers were something you’d only catch in Wildermere, for real. Here and in the movies.