Page 116 of Mia

Everything in me wanted to be reckless and shoot that muthafucka right between the eyes in front of all those people. I held it together, but it was a struggle. It was the reason I was sitting outside his house right now.

“What are you gonna do?” Quaid asked from the passenger seat.

Of course, my nigga was up with me. When I came downstairs to leave, he was in the kitchen. He didn’t ask any questions, just told me to let him put his shoes on and he would ride with me. He’d gone to his room and came back with his backpack. As soon as we neared the neighborhood, he did his shit and blocked the nearby servers so we could be undetected on any doorbell or security cameras while we were here.

“I want that bitch, Q. So bad I can fucking taste his blood.”

I passed the blunt back over to him, my eyes never leaving the house. It was almost two in the morning, and every light in his house was on. There were four blacked out SUV’s sitting outside the house, no doubt his so-called goons. I could only imagine that he was trying to come up with a plan.

His wife and children had been snatched up.

He had to know he was next. There was nothing he could do but strategize, and even that wasn’t going to save him. We were ten steps ahead of him.

“You know we can’t just run up in there,” Quaid said. “I mean, we could, but Mia wants him just as bad as you do.”

“I know, man.” I put my seat back and took a deep breath. “Every time I closed my eyes tonight, I saw my baby’s face. I was back in that hospital holding her cold little body swaddled in the big ass blanket. To see the nigga that did that to her… that’s a different type of rage. Q, man… I hate myself for not speaking up about Mia’s pregnancy. I thought I could get through to her, and I did. It was just too late.”

Quaid sighed. “You and Mia have to stop holding onto blame. Not just blame for each other, but blame for yourselves. You made mistakes.”

“Costly mistakes, Quaid.”

“Yes. But you learned from it. Losing Eden hurt y’all like a muthafucka, but she brought you two back together. She has y’all learning to communicate, listening, and openly loving each other, man. I won’t say she wasn’t supposed to be here… but she left you with something beautiful too.”

I sniffled. “I wanted my baby, man.”

“I know, T. I know.”

He reached over and squeezed my shoulder before pulling me into a brotherly hug. Quaid and I had had many conversations over the years. While I wasn't ready for kids during those conversations, I never denied wanting to be a father. From the moment I saw that pregnancy test, I mentally prepared myself for the day my little one would come into this world.

Even with that being said, I didn’t do all I could to protect her, even inside the womb.

Quaid and I parted, and I wiped my face. Just then, the door to JacQues’ house opened and men dressed in all black started filing out. I reached in for my bag in the back seat and pulled out my gun. After screwing on the silencer, I rolled down the window just enough to aim it at the men.

“What are you doing?” Quaid asked.

“Taking away his sense of security.”

He muttered under his breath. “Fuck. You got another one?”

“It’s in there.”

He grabbed the bag and fished out the second gun and silencer. After pushing open the sunroof, he looked over at me. I nodded, and he maneuvered out of his seat and through the sunroof. The men, including JacQues were all standing on the front lawn talking.

I aimed my gun and fired the first bullet. The body of the first man dropped with a headshot, and before they knew what was happening, Quaid and I took out everyone who followed. That’s why this was my nigga. He didn’t get in the field, but he’d forever hold me down. Every shot he took was one of precision, and I was so fucking proud of him.

JacQues had dropped to the ground to take cover. When he looked up, he was covered in blood splatter.

I cranked up the car just as Quaid slid back into his seat and smoothly pulled off. I rode past his house with the window down and a smile on my face. Simulating a gun with my fingers, I pointed it at him.

“You next, bitch.”

Rolling up the window, I sped out of the neighborhood and back to the house.

When we got back, I headed upstairs, and Quaid headed to his room. The moment I opened the door, the lamp flipped on. I found my wife sitting up in bed with her knees to her chest. She looked at me with tired eyes.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

She shook her head. “Where have you been?” she asked.