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  “Damn, nigga, I don’t even know what to say to that but think positive, and I’m glad I’m not in your shoes. But honestly, you going to have to tell Charlie about this shit with Chantel because if she finds that shit out from anybody else, you already know that she gonna leave your ass for good this time,” Quay told me.

  I heard what he was saying, but shit, it wasn’t that damn easy to do. Did this nigga not know my wife? No offense, but the bitch was crazy. She proved that to me and everybody else when she took her ass to Ma’kai’s shop and beat her ass in front of everybody.

  “Let me call this nigga Dre to see if he wanna ride out. I already know his menace to society ass is ready for whatever,” I said, scrolling through my phone contacts until I came across Dre’s number. I dialed him up and waited for him to pick up.

  “What’s good, nigga?” He answered the phone just in time before it sent me to voicemail.

  “We got a problem, nigga. Me and Quay in the car now coming back from Orlando because niggas want to play games and shit, and hold my daughter up for ransom,” I said into the phone.

  “Are you fuckin’ serious, man? Do you know who would do some bold shit like this?” Dre asked.

  “Honestly, at this point in the game, it can be anybody. Motha fuckas don’t want to see you be great out here in these streets. They don’t want you to overcome shit like living in the projects, still at your mama house. They see I’m out here doing this rapping shit and they know I got money, so they’ll take the most important thing in my life just to get at a nigga’s money,” I said.

  “Wow, that shit is crazy, but you already know I’m down to ride. So, what’s up? What’s the plan?” Dre said.

  With this nigga being home from jail for only a few months, you would think that he would want to sit this one out, but that nigga was ready for whatever. I respected that man for his loyalty.

  “We gonna make the drop at midnight, but I’m supposed to come by myself. We’ll figure this shit out at the hospital, so just meet me over at Memorial hospital,” I told him.

  “Wait, what the fuck is at Memorial hospital?”

  I quickly filled him in on what was going on with Charlie and why we had to meet at the hospital.

  “Damn, man, today just isn’t your damn day. But I’ll be there before you even get there. I’m about to go and get Toya from work and we’ll head straight there.”

  I nodded as if he could see me. “Speaking of Toya, how is my sis? I hope you treating her ass right because Charlie will kill your ass dead if you on some funny shit,” I told Dre, being dead ass serious.

  “That’s my baby, man, honestly. She got me running around these streets looking like a little bitch. I send her ass roses to work every fuckin’ Monday, and I’m dropping by the office damn near every day, bringing her lunch and shit. That woman is changing me, and Lord knows I didn’t think I would ever settle down for no broad. But Toya got me ready to put away my player’s card and make her my only one,” Dre said.

  I knew the feeling all too well.

  “Alright, nigga, just treat her right. That’s all I’m asking. We’ll link up in a few,” I said and ended the call.

  I was trying to find little things to distract me from what was going on right now because the more I thought about a nigga having my daughter with him, the madder I got. I really wasn’t big on religion, and I can’t even remember the last time that I actually prayed. But while we were in that car, I asked God to keep my daughter safe and pure. I don’t know what I would do if and when I got my daughter back, and she confessed to me that a nigga had touched her in there. As a father, it’s just certain shit that I know I wouldn’t be able to hamdled.

  As for the nigga who had the balls to take my daughter, when I catch his ass and whoever the fuck was in association with this shit, I hope their mama is funeral ready because now it’s personal.

  Chapter 3: Dre

  I was parked in the lobby area of Toya’s job, waiting for her to come to the car. I told her over the phone that I would be there shortly, but I didn’t tell her where we were going when I picked her up. I knew the shit that I was about to tell her with Charlie and China was going to send her over the edge, and I didn’t even think a nigga was ready for her reaction. The thought of not knowing if China was going to be okay was a hard pill to swallow.

  I sat in the car, hot boxing, and I knew Toya was going to start tripping about the smell as soon as she stepped inside. I watched as she got off of the elevator, and I kept my gaze fixed on her as she scanned the parking garage for my car. She spotted my car, smiled and made her way over. I put the blunt out and rolled down all the windows, even though I knew that wouldn’t help with the smell.

  She made her way to the passenger’s side door, pulled it open and got inside. “Dre, I hate when you do this shit! You knew you was picking me up and you got the car smelling like weed,” she fussed as soon as she got into my whip. No hello, no kiss, nothing, just straight to the point.

  “Toya, sit your ass back and put on your seatbelt,” I said.

  She turned around and put her purse and briefcase in the backseat.

  “Ooohh, baby, remember you promised that you were going to take me to Benihana’s tonight?” she said.

  I had completely forgotten about that shit. We weren’t going to go anyway because of what was going on right now.

  “We going to have to do that another night. Some shit is going down, and we got to head to the hospital,” I told Toya as I pulled out of the parking garage.

  “What’s going on?” she asked, turning around in her seat to face me.

  “I just got off the phone with Quan, and he was telling me how somebody took China and they asking for a million dollars in exchange for her. Also, Charlie is in the hospital because she fell down the stairs, but we still don’t know if she fell or if someone pushed her,” I told Toya, and watched as her eyes got watery.

  “Oh my God. This shit is crazy. Who would do this?” she cried.

  “I don’t know, but we damn sure are going to find out tonight.”

  “What do you mean by that? What are you and Quan going to do?” she asked with fear in her eyes.

  “What the fuck you think we going to do, Toya? You think we going to ride over there and just hand this nigga a million dollars in cash, just because he asked us to? Hell no, because if we do that, them motha fuckas are going to think that we’re a joke and that they can just go around snatching up our loved ones and we’ll just hand they ass over some money. Nah, shit don’t work like that.”

  I knew she wanted to say something, but in the short amount of time that we’ve been together, Toya had learned when to drop conversations and to let certain shit go.

  We drove the thirty minutes that it took to get to the hospital in silence, mainly because I knew she was mad at me for snapping on her. I parked in the emergency room parking lot and turned the car off then stepped out and waited for Toya to get out as well. We made our way inside and headed over to the young security guard who was sitting behind the desk, checking people in.

  “We’re here to see Charlie Williams,” Toya said as soon as it was our turn in the line.

  The security guard, who’s name read Bianca, looked at me with lust filled eyes. I silently prayed that Toya didn’t see her, but my prayer went unanswered because Toya noticed and she looked at me over her shoulder to make sure that I wasn’t checking Bianca out as well. I wouldn’t even do no disrespectful shit like that in front of my girl. I’ll admit, I’m a nigga and I had eyes, so yes, I was going to look if a bitch walked past me with a fat ass and a small waist, but damn, I wasn’t going to do the shit in the presence of my lady.

  “You know him or something?” Toya asked Bianca.

  I sucked my teeth because I knew she was about to be on some other shit. Every place Toya and I went, if she caught a bitch staring at me, she would automatically assume that I had fucked the bitch. It wasn’t even insecurities, it was the fact that since I had laid th
is dick on Toya, her ass had just gone straight up berserk on a nigga.

  “Excuse me?” Bianca asked her, trying to sound like she had no idea why Toya had asked her that question.

  Bianca looked to be about twenty-one years old. She had a dark skin complexion with long hair that she had pulled back into a high pony tail. Her eyes were hazel, and I didn’t know whether they were hers or contacts, but it actually fit her complexion. She looked like a good girl, but for her sake, she’d better learn how to keep her eyes off of other female’s niggas because she was going to come across the wrong one.

  “I asked do you know him or something? You staring at him like you know him from somewhere!” Toya fussed.

  “Toya, relax, damn,” I said, shoving her behind me and telling Bianca who we were there to see.

  After we both gave her our driver’s license, she handed us our badges to clip to our shirt with our picture on it. She then told us which room Charlie was in.

  “You always try to act like I’m crazy for confronting a bitch when she gets out of line. The bitch was damn near salivating while she was staring at you, and you expect me to just stand there and don’t say shit?” Toya fussed as soon as we got on the elevator.

  To shut her up, I pulled her into me by her waist and wrapped my arms tightly around her.

  “Nah, move, Dre, because that whole situation just annoyed the hell out of me,” she said, trying to get out of my grasp, but I wasn’t letting her go. In fact, I planned to never let her go.

  “Damn, your ass is jealous as fuck, you know that, right? I can’t control these bitches’ eyes. It ain’t my fault a nigga is handsome as shit,” I cockily said.

  She sucked her teeth, and while she was trying to still get away, the elevator doors opened. We stepped out of the elevator and walked down the hallway until we came to room 501.

  Charlie’s eyes were open when we walked in, but she quickly closed them when she heard someone come in.

  “No, bitch, don’t even try it. Wake your ass up,” Toya said to Charlie. She walked over to the bed and gave her a hug.

  This was not what I expected when I walked in there. Since I was told that she fell down the stairs, I just assumed her ass would be all bandaged up, in a coma, and some other crazy shit. But she looked perfectly fine to me, except for the sling that was on her right arm and the knot she had on her forehead.

  “I thought y’all was Quan coming in here. He’s going to kill my ass,” she said.

  I could look into Charlie’s eyes and tell that she was deeply scared for what her husband was going to do or say to her.

  “Calm down, Charlie. What happened in the first place?” Toya asked. She took a seat on the bed with her while I stood over them.

  “I fucked up, Toya. Somebody took my baby, and it’s all my fault. How was I supposed to know that they were going to take her? I didn’t know!” she cried.

  “Charlie, stop crying and tell us what happened because I only heard bits and pieces from Quan,” I said.

  “The little girl Kassidy in China’s class was supposed to be having a sleepover. Her mom talked to me and asked me was it okay if China were to come. After I questioned the mom about everything, she assured me that she was inviting a few other girls from her class as well. Everything seemed legit until I got to the apartment. First off, I got there late, and we were still the only ones there. That was the first red flag, but I ignored it. Then when she showed me around the house, none of the rooms looked to be kid friendly, like it belonged to her daughter, but I didn’t want to speak up on it because I didn’t want to insult her,” Charlie said.

  “What’s the lady name?” I asked Charlie.

  “Her name is Nita.”

  I nodded my head. “This wasn’t some shit that she did on her own. Somebody else is in on this because first of all, a nigga called Quan and told him that in order for him to get China back, he had to give him a million dollars in cash at midnight. What I don’t understand though is why Quan? All these rappers and shit, and dope boys out here, why the fuck would they fuck with Quan?”

  As soon as I said that, Quan walked into the room, looking like a mad man.

  “I just stood by the door and I heard every fuckin’ thing your dumb ass just said. You noticed two fuckin’ red flags, and you still went ahead and left my daughter over there to be with some complete strangers? What the fuck were you thinking, Charlie? Your ass ain’t new to this street shit, and you damn sure ain’t green to it either. You let a bitch play you, and now we got to sit here and hope that we get our damn daughter back tonight,” Quan barked.

  He was trying to make his way over to her, but I wasn’t letting him. He wasn’t in his right mind, and I didn’t want him to hit her.

  “Is everything alright in here?” the nurse said, walking into the room.

  Her tag read, Jackie. She was a middle aged woman with caramel skin and brown eyes. Her hair was pulled back with a black head band and she wore blue scrubs.

  “Yeah, everything is good over here. I’m Quan, we talked over the phone. Can you tell me what’s going on?” Quan said.

  The nurse nodded her head and stepped further into the room.

  “Okay, like I told you over the phone, Mrs. Williams here seems to have taken a pretty nasty fall down a flight of stairs. Any injury during a pregnancy would have to be severe enough to seriously injure Mrs. Williams before it could directly harm the baby. Since she is very early in the pregnancy, the uterus is tucked behind the pelvic bone, which provided more protection for the baby during the fall.

  “Everything is fine, the baby is fine, as well as Mrs. Williams, but her right arm is sprained and she does have a few cuts on her leg. But that’s minor to something that could have been very major. When she fell, luckily there were people outside who witnessed and they quickly called the EMTs and she was rushed here, which is when I called you,” nurse Jackie said.

  “Thank you,” Quan told the nurse after she finished running down everything that was going on.

  “No problem,” nurse Jackie responded.

  “When can I go home?” Charlie spoke up.

  “We want to keep an eye on you and the baby, so you’ll be discharged within a day or two,” the nurse said and then left the room.

  “Y’all give me a minute with my wife right quick,” Quan said.

  Toya stood up from the bed… well, tried to stand up, but Charlie pulled her back down with her good arm. I could tell that she didn’t want to be left in the room alone with Quan, but I knew my nigga, and I knew that he wasn’t about to hit her or no shit like that. He may call her a few names here and there, but I knew for a fact that he wasn’t going to lay a finger on her.

  “Charlie, stop playing around and let Toya get up,” Quan barked.

  Toya raised up and walked over to me. We walked out to give Quan and Charlie some privacy.

  Chapter 4: Quan

  “You know I’ll never forgive you for this if something happens to China, right?” I asked my wife.

  I watched as the tears silently fell from her eyes. I hated to sound so cruel, but how would I be able to go on with the rest of my life without having my daughter with me? This whole situation could have been avoided, and she let something as simple as this just slip right through the middle of her hands. I just couldn’t fathom the fact that Charlie let someone play her like this, especially when she saw the red flags. She should have stuck with her gut instincts, which were to leave and take our daughter with her.

  “But, Jaquan, you’re mad at me like I did the shit on purpose. You’re going about the whole situation like I would deliberately put our daughter in harm’s way. I fucked up, I know I did. It’s killing me right now not knowing where China is, and I don’t need you calling me dumb every chance you get because I already feel like shit,” she said, wiping her eyes.

  I wish she was in good condition for about five minutes so I could just choke some sense into her. I’ve never laid hands on Charlie before, but I could honestly s
ay that had she not been pregnant right now and lying in a hospital bed, I know for a fact that I would have gone upside her head a few times for fuckin’ up.

  “Who the fuck is Nita anyways? How his bitch look?” I stood in front of her bed with my arms crossed against my chest.

  “That’s Kassidy’s mother, the little girl in China’s class.”

  “I’m saying, though, how does she look? I damn near know everybody in Miami or know of them, so explain the bitch to me so I can fully put my finger on this whole situation,” I said.

  “I mean, I don’t know how to describe her. She’s about my height or maybe a few inches taller. Dark skin, big booty, and every time I see her she was coming from work, so I know that she works at Walmart because she always has that uniform on.”

  “What’s her real name? Because I think I know a Nita with a big booty that work at Walmart, but the Nita I know, her real name is Lanita.”

  Charlie sucked her teeth, and I know it was because she probably thought that I had fucked the bitch or something.

  “Yeah, I think that’s her because that’s what it would say on her name tag.”

  I blew out a breath of frustration.

  “What happened?” Charlie asked, trying to sit up in the bed.

  “I think Chantel got something to do with this shit,” I said, pacing the room back and forth.

  “Wait, Chantel as in the bitch you were fuckin’, Chantel? What motive would she have for taking my baby? If memory serves me correctly, isn’t she supposed to be having your baby in a few months?” Charlie’s smart ass asked me.

  “We talked about this shit already, and I already told your ass that baby isn’t mine.” I hoped I sounded convincing enough because hell, I wouldn’t know until the baby was here and we did a DNA test. “Now, the reason I think her ass got something to do with it is because I know Nita through Chantel. I remember chilling at the house with Chantel before and Nita came over, but Chantel only let her stay for a few minutes before she kicked her out. When she came over, she had on a Walmart uniform and the way you described her is pretty much the same woman I saw,” I said.