Once I dropped King off with my mom, I went to one store for one item, then another store for another, and then another, so I wasn’t getting everything from one place. I’d watched enough crime episodes to know that a trail of receipts was mistake number one when trying to commit a crime.
Once I got back to my place, I shut myself in the kitchen and went to work, cracking a window because I didn’t need the chemicals to cause me to pass out. My heart was beating fast, but my hands stayed steady. The whole time, I kept thinking about how wild it was that I was in my apartment tonight trying to make a homemade bomb to blow something up.
By the time I was done, the sun had already gone down, but I waited it out, contemplating my decision up until night really settled in, and at that point I knew for a fact I was going through with this.
I changed my clothes, grabbed my keys, and headed out. It took me a minute to get on that side of town, but it gave me time to think of all the details. Arson is a serious charge and being outed to Crew would be an even more serious one. That boy will probably kill me if he finds out, so I have to be smart, sneaky, and efficient if this is going to work.
I parked a few blocks away from the facility so that I could run up on foot. I learned a lot just by listening when Hov and Crew would be talking, and they thought I wasn’t paying attention.
I was wearing all black, my face covered with the Ski mask I’d worn on a ski trip a few years ago.
I ran all the way to the front of the clinic, and within seconds, I was throwing the bottle through the window along with the flame coming behind it.
BOOM!
The explosion was so big that it shot my body back like I came out of a cannonball.
“Fuck!” I yelled once I got up, feeling my face hot, almost crispy in a way. I ran back towards my car, and when I got inside. I hurried the mask off and saw that the front of my hairline was gone, as well as portions of the ski mask and every ounce of my eyebrows. It looks like the bomb I made worked a little too well because not only did it blow the clinic up, but it also took all the hair off my face and my edges away in the blast.
“Oh no, no, no!”
I whimpered looking at my appearance. After I am in the clear for this, I am going to kill Alana. Had she just made sure everything went through correctly, I wouldn't be in this position to begin with.
.
Chapter 7
Pernelle
Two weeks later
When we were released from the hospital two weeks ago, Ciara, Hov, and Crew packed us into the car like we were some top-secret celebrities and pulled off like we were running from something. They said we weren’t, but the way they moved said otherwise.
Amir did not actually drop me off in Hov and Ciara’s yard that night. I had him let me out about two blocks away, and I walked the rest of the way, collapsing by the time I got there. That was something they didn’t know at the time, but once I told them, they were happy I’d thought it through.
When we got to Hov and Ciara’s place, they already had a room set up for me across the hall from the restroom. The room smelled clean, like fresh laundry, and the scent of baby powder filled it even before we settled in. They had a bassinet that sat right next to the bed, already lined with tiny blankets, folded neatly, as if someone had taken their time to place them there. It was a small changing table tucked against the wall, stacked with Huggies brand Pampers underneath, along with wipes, rash cream, and extra onesies organized by color. They even had abrand new phone waiting on the dresser for me since the Quatar family had taken mine.
It looked like Ciara had been preparing for this baby even before she knew that she needed to, and that’s why I would lay down and die for my best friend. I could’ve gone home, but being alone didn’t feel right, and going anywhere Crew owned was out of the question. Deep down, I still didn’t feel safe, but I did know how much Hov cared about Ciara, and I trusted that kind of love. He was genuine with his so I’m sure he would actually protect her, which means I will be protected here too.
When my mother reached out about the baby, I told her to come up to the hospital to see her. She came doting over my baby like there was no tomorrow, and was completely over me embarrassing her at that baby shower. Princeton came up there, too, calling my baby “little chicken head.” I told my baby, right in front of him, that she had to excuse her Uncle Princeton, but I know he was just poking fun. He kept staring at her and asking questions about her. I even caught a glimpse of a photo he took of her on his screensaver, which really touched my heart.His screen saver had been LeBron James for years.
Thus far, everyone was treating my baby like a princess, but especially Ciara, who was there for me, morning, noon, and night.
I was currently sitting on the bed holding my baby with Crew not even two inches away from us, on the edge, staring out the window like he was on guard.
He wanted to hold the baby every five minutes since we got here, and he was probably the most hooked on her. It was actually cute to see, but nothing he did was supposed to be cute to me right now. I wasn’t being as mean to him as I was at first, but I still felt a way about how everything had gone down.
“Do you need me to get her while you go to the restroom or anything?” Crew asked.
“No, I’m fine. I’ll let you know if I need you. I mean, you can go home if you want to. I’m sure Ciara and Hov don’t mind helping me.”
“Why would I want them helping you? I’m her father.”
“You don’t have to keep saying it. I know who her father is.”
“Well, it seems like you’d rather have any nigga on this earth be her father than me. Shit, I didn’t even have any say in naming her.”
I shrugged my shoulders because he was bringing up the same issue he brought up once a day.
