My vibrating phone distracted me from my racing thoughts. I reached for it behind me on the dresser. I sat up when I saw the contact floating across the screen:Bitch Ass Baby Daddy. Swiping the button across the bottom of the screen, I accepted the call.
“Hey,” I said in a sharp tone. I was going for cordial, not friendly. It hadn’t even been a full twenty-four hours yet, so I was curious to know why he was calling. No one responded, but I could hear chatter in the background. “Helllooooooo?Audrey!”
“Um, hey, Grai. There was an accident, and we’re at the hospital.”
I instantly went into shock. “Huh? An accident? What kind of accident? Are my babies okay, Drey?” I yelled into the phone as terror started to creep into my bloodstream. When he didn’t respond, I began to get frustrated. “Drey!What the fuck happened? What kind of accident? Tell me something!”
I tossed the covers off my legs, then hopped up at the same time hot tears began to cascade down my cheeks. “Just tell me what hospital you’re at. I’m on my way.”
His silence was eating me up. I had no clue what to think. What kind of accident was he talking about? Were both of my boys injured or worse? The phone slipped from my hand at the thought of something happening to my children. Drey might not truly give a fuck about them, but those were my babies, my entire fucking world. I would give them everything, even my life, to see them smile.
I didn’t realize I was hyperventilating until Poppa appeared in front of me. I couldn’t even see him through the haze of my tears, but I felt his hands on the sides of my face.
“Breathe, baby,” he coached me with a soft voice.
I shook my head. “I can’t. He won’t tell me what’s going on, and there was an accident.” I sat on the bed, clutching my chest while crying uncontrollably.
He looked at my phone on the floor and picked it up. “Yo, what the fuck is going on? You better tell me something before I break my foot off in your stupid ass. You already on thin ice with me, nigga.” His voice was strong and steady, calming me only a little.
He came back over to me and pulled my head into his hardened stomach. I held onto his shirt, not even caring that I was getting snot all in the fabric. He didn’t care either, as he massaged my scalp while listening to whatever Drey was saying. “What!” He roared so loudly I was sure even the walls trembled in fear. “Why the fuck was he driving?”
“Driving?” I shrieked, hopping up and trying to take the phone from Poppa. He wouldn’t allow me to, and I was forced to continue listening to a one-sided conversation. “Send us the address now,” he commanded, then ended the call.
My tears hadn’t slowed in the five minutes that my world began to fall apart. “What’s going on, Poppa? Are my babies okay? Who was driving?” I continued to rattle off question after question. My heartbeat was so erratic that it was a miracle I wasstill standing. I shook my sweaty palms, trying to calm myself, but it was useless.
He pulled me into him. “I’m going to tell you, but I need you to calm down first, Bubbles. You’re going to pass out if you don’t get your breathing under control.” His arms wrapped around me, and for a while, it was enough to settle my nerves. He wasn’t rushing to the hospital, so maybe it wasn’t dire, but by his racing heart, I could tell he was pissed. That meant it was still bad. My muscles tensed in preparation for whatever he was about to say.
“Please, just tell me.”
He sighed. “Solace tried to drive the car and ran into a tree. Shiloh was in the car with him. They’re a little banged up, and Ace broke his arm.”
“Driving?” I began to fall apart. “Why the fuck was my ten-year-old driving? Please tell me this is a sick joke, Lyrix.”
He ran a hand down his face. “All he said was Ace was trying to bring them home.” The phone pinged, and he looked down at it. “Come on. I’ll drive you to the hospital.”
Poppa heldonto my hand as we raced through the emergency room doors. My eyes landed on Drey sitting beside Brandaisha, who held his hand on her lap. I guessed Poppa hadn’t seen them, because my hand slipped out of his as I ran over there.
“What the fuck did you do? Where are my babies?” I yelled at him before I even made it all the way over there. My blood was boiling, so he’d better say the right thing. With the way I was feeling, I was likely to try taking his head off.
He looked like a deer in headlights for a second before he waved me off. “Man, gon’ with all that hollering. They’re fine,and it’s Ace’s fault this happened. My fucking car is ruined, and you know I can’t afford another one right now.”
I looked at him as if he had two heads. “The fuck do you mean, your car is ruined? Who gives a fuck about your car when my sons are somewhere in this hospital…” I paused, taking a deep breath. “Matter of fact, I’m done talking to you. Where are they?”
His little mistress decided to exercise her voice. “Calm down, Grai. It’s all a misunderstanding.”
I stared daggers at her. “If I were you, I’d shut the fuck up. Maybe when you have that baby, you’ll understand that this isn’t the time or place for you to be saying a muthafuckin’ thing to me. I’ll go to hell and jail about mine because I swear on my life if y’all did something to my children, I’m going to fucking end you.” My voice dipped to a sinister tone, scaring me too.
I was so angry that spit was flying from my mouth. I felt hands on my shoulders and knew it was Poppa. He pulled me away toward the desk. Because I was so wound up, he took charge by talking to the nurse. When she told us that we could go back to see the boys, she shared that Drey had declined to sit back there with them. My heart literally broke because he’d left them scared and alone in an unfamiliar place. I would’ve respected them more if they each took a room, but no, they left my babies to fend for themselves.
I couldn’t think while walking behind the doctor. Without question, Poppa followed the nurse toward Loh’s room, while I was behind the doctor, heading to Ace’s room. They had him in a tiny little room that was down the hall from his brother. Poppa disappeared into a room before I did. I wished like hell I could be in both places at once, but I was thankful to have him holding my hand through this traumatic ordeal.
The door was open, so we walked right inside. Ace was lying back on the bed with a cast and a lot of scratches on his face.My hand shot to my mouth as I raced around the bed. “Baby,” I called out. He instantly began to cry when he saw me. I could tell he was trying to be strong before I got here. But now, he felt safe enough to fall apart as I tossed my arms around him. I cradled him to my body and held on for dear life. I must’ve placed a thousand kisses on his little wavy head. All I could do was thank God he was okay.
“What happened?” I questioned him, needing an explanation for this madness. I heard him gulp when I sat back and looked in his eyes. I palmed his cheek. “You can tell me anything, baby.”
He nodded with this heaviness in his eyes. “Dad was mad at me because I wouldn’t call that girl ‘Mom’. He, um, . . . hit me, so I took the car keys and tried to drive us home.” More tears came to his eyes. “I’m so sorry, Mama. I know it wasn’t right, but I was just trying to get us away from him. I told you I didn’t want to go over there.”
Everything my baby was feeling spilled out of him as he broke down right before my eyes. For a second, I sat frozen in place, but the harder he cried, the harder it was to stay away. So, I wrapped him in my arms and cried right along with him because he was right. He’d voiced more than once that he didn’t want to go.
