I walked around, then stepped over her. Her body was between my legs. I squatted down but made sure that my body didn’t touch hers. “Bitch, have you lost your muthafuckin’ mind? You’re out here talking shit like you didn’t just try to sell your fucking daughter.”
Toyala lay on the floor with her grumbles and whimpers. My fist kissed the same eye that my gun’s butt was introduced to. I needed her to respond. I also wanted her to grumble and whimper a little more. The original whimpers didn’t feel heartfelt. Her next grumbles felt better to my spirit.
“Cora was gonna be fine. He just wanted to watch cartoons with her. Y’all act like he was gonna?—”
I couldn’t even allow her to finish the sentence. “Shut up. Here’s what’s about to happen. You’re going to die today. Luckily for you, you’re going to feel good on the way there. Well, at least I think so. I don’t know how it feels to get high.”
My head turned around. My eyes landed on Stitch, who was already out of his seat. He was ready, and I appreciated it. Hishand extended out to me with what I needed. The syringe was ready, and so were her veins.
My manicured nails flicked the side of the needle. “This right here is gonna make you feel good for a little second, then it’s gonna take you to hell. See, LaToyala, I’m not sure how or what got you on this shit, but it fucked up your life to the point of no return. When you were pinching off our shit, we let that shit go and let you live. Now you’re out here talking about a nigga wanted to pay you to watch cartoons with your daughter. That’s unforgivable.”
These were the type of females that God allowed to have children, but He allowed mine to be taken. I wanted to be a mother so bad back then. Even now, I wanted it more than ever, but the niggas in today’s time were sent by demons. I didn’t even think the devil authorized these fuck niggas. If he did, he would have made their deceit harder to see. My daddy always told me that if you let a nigga talk, and shut the fuck up at the first meeting, you would know everything that you needed to know about him. These men found the woman of their dreams, only to be the man of that woman’s nightmares.
I slipped up with Cory, but I knew better. A part of me rebelled against what my father told me because I wanted to prove something. What I was trying to prove, I wasn’t sure. The shit was so bad out here that my ass had laid off the dick.Call me a pillow princess.You can eat this pussy but keep the dick to yourself.
Toyala’s eyes shuffled between the needle and me. My heart broke because I just told this girl that what was in my hand would take her to hell, and it looked like her mouth still watered. There was no reason for me to belabor this. The vein looked like it bubbled up the closer the needle got to it. It was like a magnet to the drugs.
Her eyes rolled back in her head as soon as the hotshot hit her blood stream. Less than a minute later, foam started to build in her mouth, and her body started to shake. It wasn’t long before it all stopped. My stare at her was hard for a moment before I moved. I left the needle in her arm.
“Let me go wash my hands.” I walked to the bathroom toward the back of the house. This house was really nice and, ironically, was used as an Airbnb.
After the door to the bathroom was closed behind me, I leaned against it. I would give myself two minutes to process my emotions. This was the part of it all that I never wanted anyone to see. I was an advocate for these babies. Every time I had to lay someone down and it involved a child, my heart broke.
A tear fell from my eye. I smacked it away, then walked to the sink to wash my hands. The entire time I lathered the soap between my hands, I stared at myself in the mirror. I knew a broken woman when I saw one.
It took me a few more minutes before I finished and went back to the living room. Toyala’s body was already gone, which I expected nothing less. “Seneca, what’s the plan for Cora?”
“You know Q’amie and I are licensed foster parents. It will be worked out to where if she goes into the system, she will stay close to us and be taken care of properly.”
I trusted him and knew that if he and his wife had to, they would adopt her. “Okay, I’ll bring some stuff over this weekend for her. Is there anything else you need me for?”
I didn’t want to give him a chance to tell me that they didn’t need me to bring anything. I knew they didn’t, but I didn’t give a damn. In my house, I had an entire room that was a closet filled with children’s clothes, shoes, toys, and anything else that you could think of. No one knew about the room, because it was behind a fingerprint lock, along with another very sacred room.
Seneca smirked because he knew me. “Yeah, I need you to head over toTouch of Goldand check out the new manager. He’s been there for a little over a month.”
“Oh, you found someone to take over? That was quick,” I said with a raised brow. There were certain parts of this business that were on a need-to-know basis. I knew that the old manager had to take a one-way trip to hell, but I didn’t know that they would find a replacement so fast.
Seneca’s head leaned toward his shoulder as it lifted toward his ear. “You know it don’t take me long. I want you to meet him because you’re going to be working with him directly for a little while. I got something that I need Stitch on.”
My upper lip rose and joined my risen eyebrow. “Why do I need to work with someone? I’ll be fine until Stitch comes back.”
I didn’t like new people, and everyone knew that. There was no reason that I needed to work with anyone else. I was good all by myself.
Seneca’s face stoned over. “Blake, this is not up for discussion, baby girl. You will not be out there uncovered, period. I don’t care how you feel. This is the end of that conversation. Now, his name is Scott or Scotty.”
A Short Time Earlier . . .
I was tired as hell, but Lashonda Winslow was on my line. Today was a long day, and I didn’t feel like dealing with her today. I knew that if I didn’t do it today, she would be in my face tomorrow with chaos. I was a man that didn’t deal with unnecessary chaos, so I tried not to promote situations that encouraged it.
I sat in the driveway of the house that I paid for and just looked at it. I worked hard to get this house, only to turn around and hate the sight of it.Let me get in here so I can get the hell out.
I climbed out of my Suburban and trekked my way to the front door. I knocked before I put my key in the door becauseI didn’t want to walk into any fuck shit. “Lashonda! Where you at?”
There was a shuffling noise toward the living room. I pulled my gun because you could never be too sure with the world today. Just before I walked into the living room, she announced where she was. When I turned the corner, I wasn’t surprised by what I saw. She sat there next to some nigga, and both of their clothes were disheveled.
She glanced at me, then down at my gun. “Scotty, why the hell are you walkin’ in here with your gun out? Put that shit away,” she fussed.
“I’m exhausted. What do you need, Lashonda?” I asked as I put my gun away.