Page 38 of Quasim: King Inferno

“You got your own life, Blaze. I’m not gonna come to you for every little thing.” The words came out harsher than I intended them to come out.

He looked down at the spliff in his hand and then back up at me. “I come to you for everything, though.”

“As you should… I’m big bro. I don’t need to involve you in every part of my life.” We both looked toward the door and saw Kincaid bolting down the block with both Ryder and Elijah running behind him.

“Uncle Kin, you cheater… you didn’t give us a head start!” Ryder hollered as Kincaid laughed.

Kincaid came over laughing. “Ain’t no head starts in life, Ry.”

“You supposed to let the kids win.” Capella laughed.

“Nah… my girl tougher than the rest, right?”

Ryder laughed and hugged him, and Kincaid held his fist out to bump Elijah’s fist and opened the door for them. “Uncle Simmy, is Elijah coming to the lake house with us this summer?”

Somehow, the Delgato’s tradition of going to their lake houses every summer had rubbed off on the Infernos. I’m not going to front like we didn’t have a good time last summer, and my mom’s loved it.

Gams enjoyed having everyone around, and it was the reason I purchased a house there. Our family needed to be around each other more, and spending the summer at the lake was the perfect time.

“Yeah… he’s gonna be there.”

Elijah’s mouth dropped. “I get to swim in a lake?”

Ryder was so excited. “Yes! My cousin CJ’s daddy has a boat, and he takes us out on it sometimes… we’re gonna have so much damn fun!” Ryder alloweddamnto slip, and her father gave her that look.

“Sorry, Daddy.”

Me and Brandon laughed because she was so excited, and it made Elijah just as excited. Other than our conversations in the morning when he was talking about a million things at once, I hadn’t seen him this excited.

Brandon finished me up and Elijah had got in the chair while I went to the Chinese spot to get their food. Ryder remained in the shop with Elijah while they both had eighteen different conversations with each other.

Before I left, they were playing twenty questions.

Me and Blaze walked to the restaurant, and I stopped when I heard that laugh. It was a giggle with a slight snort, and only one person laughed that way.

MyAnjo.

“Suga, you want something to eat from the Chinese spot,” Blaze called across the street where Capri and Blair were.

They quickly crossed the street, and Blair avoided eye contact with me. I hated that last night happened. I knew how her mind got, and she probably thought I went to see some other bitch, but that wasn’t the case at all.

It was my fault because I should have explained it to her. Why make shit more complicated than it needed to be?

Then at the same time, she knew me, knew how I was, so she should have known I wasn’t on it like that. “Anjo, you can’t speak?”

“Hey Quasim,” she smiled at me.

She was so fucking beautiful without even trying. Dressed down in a pair of leggings, crop top, and Nike Airmaxes, she was still the most beautiful person walking. Her hair was slicked back, and she wore a Yankee dad hat.

“Can you get me some shrimp egg foo young, baby,” Capri said, as she kissed her husband, and he went into the store.

“No sticky wings?” I teased her.

When Capri was pregnant, all she wanted was some damn sticky wings. She ate those shits so much that I didn’t even want any, and I wasn’t even the one that was eating them.

“Suga, you have to meet Elijah.” Ryder stuck her head out the barbershop door and waved for Capri to come to her.

“Who?” Capri looked at me.

---