Page 112 of Quasim: King Inferno

He had this innocent smile that I loved about him. Eli had experienced so much, yet, he had this innocence about him that I wanted to keep with him forever. “I am… Meer let me help him fix his bike, too.”

“Oh word? He never lets anyone but Ry help him.”

He smiled again. “He told me that.”

“Means he likes you… I knew he would, you dope.”

“The dopest.”

I could hear Gams in the background. “Eli, I’m making cookies… who is going to test the dough to see if it tastes good or needs more salt?”

His head snapped in her direction. “Gotta go, Sim.”

I chuckled. “Alright, man. See you tomorrow.”

He hung up before I could get the words out. When I looked out the window, I nodded my head at Kincaid. “What is your plan with him, baby?” Anjo asked while looking up from what she was doing.

“I know I don’t want to send him back to his mother. She tried to send him to some random ass fake uncle like he was a dog. Shit, even Blaze wouldn’t do that to Beretta.” I leaned back in the chair and stared at her from the living room.

She looked over at me. “Are you prepared for what comes with raising a child, Simmy? Especially one that isn’t yours.”

“I’ve been doing it for a whole year, Anjo. You’ll never be prepared for anything; you get prepared for it.”

I watched as she continued to chop the vegetables. “That little boy is so sweet and deserves the world. Makes me think about my own son… well, what he would have been like.”

She tried to shrug her emotions off. I stood up and walked across the room toward her, and wrapped my arms around her, kissing her neck. “He had you as a mother, so I knew he would have been just as amazing as Elijah.”

“Damn onions,” she sniffled.

I took the knife from her and turned her around until she was staring me in the face. “It’s not the onions, Anjo. Feel the emotions and stop shaking them off… I can tell you that your son would be proud of his mother.”

“I’m the reason he’s dead.”

Softly grabbing her chin, I pulled her face up until she was giving me direct eye contact. “You’re not the reason that he’s gone, Anjo. A man who can’t regulate his emotions into words is the reason that he’s gone.” Just knowing we were talking about that nigga had my blood boiling.

“He’s a heroin addict.” She whispered as she stared into my eyes. “Has been for I don’t know how long. When I first foundout, I should have left. I thought I could save him, heal him, and get him clean.”

I leaned my head back and raised my brow. “That nigga do that dog food?”

“Dog food? Baby, I said he does heroin… you know.” She started slapping her fucking arm, and I started laughing because she was so serious while trying to explain what that junkie was on.

“Dog food mean heroin… he on that dog food, doggie… he on that shit, in other words.” I rubbed the side of her face, kissing her lips. “I don’t even like to think about the shit you went through because it’s gonna have me out there going to kill his grandmother.”

“Mrs. Loretta?”

“Hell yeah… took out Harry already.”

She shook her head, standing on her toes to kiss my lips. “And you proud, too, huh?”

I reached into the pocket of my sweats I wore and pulled out a gold pocket watch with a H engraved on the front. “Hella proud… keep ol dirty Harry on me at all times.”

Blair squealed. “Quasim Crazy Ass Inferno! You have his grandfather’s pocket watch?” she couldn’t believe it.

While she was shocked, the shit wasn’t shocking to me. “Israel.”

“Huh?”

“My middle name is Israel.”

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