Page 39 of Quasim: King Inferno

“My neighbor’s son… I got him for the summer.”

Capri looked at me like she hadn’t heard what I had said. “Youhave him for the summer? Is he your secret son or something?”

“Why the fuck y’all acting like I don’t know how to take care of a child?” I looked at my sister, and she laughed. “He’s not my secret son, either… ain’t busted a nut in nobodyyet.” I stared Blair right in the eyes, and she quickly looked away from me.

“What’s the tea with his mom, Sim?”

“She on that shit and she neglects him. I take care of him because he don’t have anybody… he’s a good ass kid and needs someone.”

Capri came and hugged me. “Aww Sim, you are such a good person… I’m going to meet him.” She skipped down the block toward the barbershop to continue her investigation.

I looked at Blair and she stared at me like she had something to say and didn’t know how to say it. “I wasn’t running after pussy last night. He called me, and I told him I would always be there for him… only pussy I’m trying to run after is yours, Anjo.”

I turned and headed into the restaurant to get the kids’ food, and she was right behind me. “You should have told me that.”

“Why do I have to tell you that? You should know that I’m not worried about no bitches.”

“I don’t know that.” She whispered.

The food would be another ten minutes, so I stood near the counter next to the door. I leaned on the counter while Blair stood in front of me.

“You don’t have nothing to say to that?”

“What you want me to say, my love?” I yawned, because I was tired and didn’t get much sleep. One half of the night I spent babysitting my drink and thinking about Blair, then when I finally got into the bed, I tossed and turned, thinking about her and how we left things.

“You look tired, Quasimmy.” She noted.

I smiled at her. “Oh, I’m Quasimmy again.”

She rolled her eyes and smiled at me. “Why didn’t you tell me about your neighbor’s son? This what I mean, you don’t tell me anything and I tell you everything.”

I raised my brow and looked at her. “Everything?”

She looked at me, and kept her arms folded. “Stop switching the subject… this is on you, not me.”

It was hard for me to open up because that required letting someone in. I had to be vulnerable, and I always had to be the strength within my family. There was never any time for me to be vulnerable and share my emotions. A bridge never gets to rest; it must always stand tall, no matter how heavy the load it carries.

Even when Cherie was murdered, life kept moving on because I had a daughter to raise. It was crazy because life continues, even when you lose the people most important to you. The ball still dropped to signal a New Year, meanwhile, you were still stuck in the year you lost your people.

“Come here.”

She moved closer to me, and I pulled her even closer, kissing her on the lips and easing my tongue into her mouth. She held me around the neck as I carefully sucked on her tongue, while grabbing her ass; Meer was standing there staring at us and quickly turned around like he was a child witnessing his parents kissing.

I broke our kiss and kissed her on the chin as she looked into my eyes. That love that I spoke about was oozing out of her as she stared up into my eyes. I kept her close to me, my hands still around her.

“W…what was that for?”

“Because you keep questioning how I’m feeling about you. I need you to be easy… shit not easy for me, Anjo.”

Her phone was ringing, and she was too busy blushing as I kept her close to me. “I need more than that, Quasim… I deserve more than that.”

I kissed her neck, sucking on it while she giggled and tried to pull away. I was sucking the shit out of her neck while she was swatting me, laughing like this was a game. When I was satisfied, she looked in the mirror behind us.

“Quasim, why would you give me a hickie?”

I looked down at her through low eyes as she tried to rub it out like it was an ink stain or some shit. The bass from a car had pulled me and Blaze’s attention towards the window. A Ferrari pulled onto the block and Blair looked at me like she was sorry.

It was homie, coming to pick her up, and I assumed it was him who had been hitting her line while she was in here sucking on my tongue. “I have to go… I would love to meet Elijah, though… soon, maybe?”

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