“Okay.” Her voice is faint, little more than a whisper, but I follow behind her as she parks her vehicle and gets out. “I uh, you’ll probably need the carseat. Plus, I actually have furniture and clothes at my house, I just… well, yeah, I have no reason for not bringing more other than avoiding it all together.”
“Come on, Phoebe, let’s get this straightened out,” I calmly say as I lead her back into the clubhouse and toward the table that has Rebel, Holly, Data, and Cami.
Rebel, seeing us coming stands and states, “Let’s take this into church since there’s more room.”
“Oooo, the big bad biker president is going to letwomenstep into the sanctity of your meeting room?” Holly teases.
He smirks at her and nods. “Just don’t get used to it, babe.”
I roll my eyes at the two of them as I guide Phoebe toward the room. I’m glad to see that no one is really paying attention towhat’s going on, though, since I hate that my personal life has shown up the way it has.
Where the fuck is Rosa and why am I not surprised that she hid a child from me?
Once we’re all settled in and Data has his laptop open, Rebel looks at Phoebe and states, “Go ahead and tell us what’s going on.”
“Honey, it’s obvious she’s upset,” Holly retorts as she reaches into her pocket and pulls out a packet of tissues.
“I get that, but she walked into our clubhouse and handed Prophet a baby, one who bears a strong resemblance to him, only a helluva lot cuter.”
“Thanks, pres,” I drily retort. Glancing at Phoebe, I say, “When you’re ready, Phoebe.”
She takes a deep breath, then another, and I watch her small frame shudder as though she’s trying to do a mental reset. Meanwhile, I’ve pretty much catalogued everything about her, from her curly blonde hair to the smattering of freckles across her nose and cheeks. She looks like the girl next door in a curvy package that screams she’s the forever kind of girl.
Which isn’t for me, especially after the debacle of Rosa and me. Except… there’s something about Phoebe that calls to me.
“So, Rosa’s my cousin,” she starts before she corrects herself. “Shewasmy cousin, and she was living with me. I knew she had broken up with her boyfriend, but I didn’t know who he was since she never mentioned his name or anything like that. About a month after y’all broke up, she told me she was pregnant, butdespite my best efforts, she refused to tell you.” The look she gives me is apologetic, but she forgets, I know how Rosa can be.
“Obviously something happened, or you wouldn’t have shown up with the baby today,” Rebel states.
“A few weeks ago, I came home from work and found Rosa unresponsive after taking an unknown number of pills,” Phoebe replies. “I called 911 and did CPR on her until they arrived, but even though we brought her back, she had suffered an anoxic brain injury. Multiple tests were done, but her neurologist deemed her to be brain dead.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Prophet
All the anger that’s steadily been building up at how selfish Rosa was to keep Cami from me seeps out when I realize that the reason Phoebe brought me my daughter is because Rosa is dead. Based on what she’s shared, that bitch never planned to tell me, and even though she’s now gone, I’m livid at how once again, she tried to manipulate me and my life.
She takes a few more deep breaths as she mops at her tears which have been steadily flowing and continues. “She had left me a letter, and apparently, she had recently been diagnosed with cancer that had already metastasized to the point it was terminal. Rather than suffer, she chose to take herself out of the equation. She left information about you, Eli,” she says, turning to look at me. “And as soon as her affairs were wrapped up, I came to find you. She was cremated and I have the cremains for Cami once she’s older, of course. Plus, I was the beneficiary on her checking and savings accounts, so I’ve closed those accounts and started one for Cami. All the information for that is in the envelope that’s in her diaper bag, along with her birth certificate,the life insurance policy that Cami’s the beneficiary of, her medical records, and the attorney’s information who handled Rosa’s affairs in case you have any questions.”
I have questions, a million of them, but I truly don’t know where to start. Thankfully, Rebel does, and he asks, “So, Rosa lived with you all this time?”
“On and off, but definitely since she broke up with Eli,” Phoebe admits.
“With you being related to Cami as well, why not keep her since she knows you?” Rebel questions.
“Because she has a father.” Phoebe’s statement is short and succinct. “There’s no way I’d keep her from him, even though he was never told she existed. I’m not like Rosa. She was… well, I don’t want to speak ill of the dead, but she was fundamentally broken in ways I’ll never fully understand.”
I look at Rebel and state, “She was in and out of foster care due to her home life. She spent time at my granny’s house, in fact, which is how I first met her back when she was thirteen.”
Phoebe nods then adds, “But that wasn’t the first time, Eli. She was in and out of various placements from the time she was two or three if memory serves. And to answer the unasked question of why she wasn’t placed with my family, my parents tried their damndest, but my father was an ex-con and that put them in the ‘no go’ zone. Even though what he did happened when he was seventeen, family services weren't willing to take the chance. Instead, Rosa was tossed around like confetti and some homes were obviously better than others. Still, it obviously messed her up.”
I can definitely agree with her account about that since many of Rosa’s issues impeded us having anything remotely close to a healthy relationship. Rosa’s answer was to scream, yell, and throw things, while I was all about talking things through and working on either a compromise or a solution.
“She never really had a chance, did she?” Holly asks, her voice trembling as she swipes at a few tears. “It amazes me how broken our system is sometimes. Especially if she could’ve gone to a family member but because of their rules, she was denied that love and attention.”
Phoebe nods then says, “The best placement she had was with Eli’s grandparents, to be honest. His grandmother was firm but loving, and actually taught Rosa how to comport herself. Still, I think it was too late in a lot of ways. But to ease your mind, Eli, because I’m sure you’re wondering, she was a good mom to Cami. Plus, I was there to help, since she did have post-partum depression pretty bad for the first month or so. Cami’s healthy, up to date on her vaccinations, and a very happy girl.”
I’m going to need help with her, I know this, especially since the tattoo parlor is now officially open and the shop is packed with clients from the moment we unlock the doors until the end of the day when we flip over the closed sign. Holly must see the panic on my face because she speaks up. “Prophet, between me, Marnie, and my grandma, we’ve got Cami covered with respect to babysitting. Plus, you know my grammy, she’ll teach you everything you want to know about caring for a baby.”