Page 46 of Welcome to the Heart Of A Maniac 3

Liliana and Bishop were still going strong. Solei’s mama was still an issue. She was gon’ stay trouble as long as they keep allowing her to come around. I don’t like that woman. Is it bad that I want her to get hit by a bus or something? She’s nothing like Solei. I don’t know how something so evil can make something like Solei.

Liliana was the best grandmother and mother that a girl can ever hope for. Every time that I need her, she’s always there. I’ve learned so much from this woman from being a mother to even cooking in the kitchen. Messing with her, I’ll be a pro before it’s over with.

After Wicked got stabbed, Aria up and changed her number on the poor man. She sat and thought about it, that life wasn’t for her. I really don’t blame her though because you have to be tough to be with a Saint-Mercier. I hated it for her because he treated her extremely well and I don’t know if she’ll ever find something like that again. In my opinion, she should’ve given him a chance, but I can’t tell her what to do with her life.

As for Maniac, the business was thriving extremely well. He’d come up with another cognac—Mercy. That stuff was flying offthe shelves. Honestly, I think my man was better at selling liquor than anything else.

He was the best father in the world when it came to our daughter. The bond they share is priceless. I love watching them spend time together. Kairose loves her daddy so much that daddy was the first word that she’d learned. It made me feel some type of way, but I’m glad they had a strong bond like that. It’s something that I never got to have with my daddy. Kairose was the light of his world, and he’d literally do anything for that lil girl. We both got him wrapped around our fingers.

My bookstore had finally opened when Kairose was six months old and I loved it. House of Saint Pages was a success. On opening day, people lined the block to be able to get in there and see what it was all about. I found my calling and every day that I wake up and go to work, it doesn’t feel like work.

My book club has a new place to host meetings now. We’d get together once a month at my bookstore and have a great time. Even though my life was much busier now, I still find time to read my books and get together with my girls.

“Ma?” Kairose called out my name, bringing me from my thoughts. When I looked down, I saw her standing there with one of her books in her hand.

“You want me to read to you, huh? Where’s daddy?” I asked her and scooped her up into my arms. Carrying her down the hallway, I took the stairs up to our bedroom and found Maniac lying in bed with his phone up to his face. I snatched it from him and placed it on the nightstand. Kairose leaped from my arms and landed on the bed alongside him. She crawled up to the head and climbed underneath the covers.

Pulling the sheets back, I slipped into bed alongside her. We all were snuggled close to each other as I got comfortable and opened the book. Maniac and I always read her stories together because he was the dramatic one and always good at making thevoices. This is what my life has become, and I love every moment of it. I really slipped into the heart of a maniac, and I wouldn’t give it up for anything in this world.

Wicked

Isnatched down all my posters from the wall and dumped that shit into the trashcan. Everything in here, I was leaving, including the burner phone I had. After the shit had gone down with Aria, the only thing I used that phone for was business. She’d dipped on a nigga when I needed her the most, which let me know that bitches still weren’t shit. My time on the inside ain’t changed a damn thing.

“You ready?” the officer stepped to the door and asked me.

“Yeah.” I grabbed my suit jacket off the cot and slipped the shit on my shoulders. It’s been thirteen long years since this fabric touched my skin. Thirteen years that I’ve been locked up, and a nigga was finally about to roam free.

I followed him out into the hallway and soon as my loafers touched the floor, everyone started cheering for me. People were surprised to see me make it back here after Marco stabbed me five times, but he couldn’t take a real nigga out. Soon as I got back here, I sliced that nigga’s head off and left that shit sitting in the yard. The two niggas that helped his ass, I stabbed them in the throat with a broom stick. I’on know who the fuck they thought they were messing with, but they quickly learned that I ain’t the one.

The guard brought me to a door and it buzzed. We stepped through it, and he gestured toward the woman standing behind the glass. She slid out a clipboard and I signed it. Once I was done, she handed me a bag with all my belongings in there from the night they picked me up. Removing my wallet, I slipped that shit into my pocket and then grabbed my Wicked chain and placed it around my neck. The last piece of jewelry I had in there was my Bulova watch. I clasped it onto my wrist and removed my phone from the bag.

“Y’all can toss the rest of that shit.” Anything else in there was irrelevant as fuck. I hit the power button on my phone and got nothing but the battery. Slipping it into my pocket, I strolled toward the door. It buzzed and I exited.

The sun beamed down against my skin. Lifting my hand, I shielded my eyes from the brightness. The sun shone different on this side of the walls.

I tread down the gravel to the gate and it buzzed for me. My red bottoms touched the concrete and the gate closed behind me. I sucked in a breath that was quickly interrupted by, “Wicked!”

My head snapped in the direction the voice came from and it was Zola. I called and asked her to pick me up. I wanted to surprise my people. Zola was this chick I was fucking with before I got locked up. I’d hit her line from time to time to make sure she was a’ight.

“Oh my God, Wicked!” she screamed again and ran in my direction. She jumped off the ground and into my arms. A nigga was finally free, and I’m back to claim my throne.