Page 6 of Quasim II: King Inferno

I liftedmy head from my prayers and kissed her on the forehead as I left the room. The minute they rushed her into the hospital, I felt numb. They had her hooked up to IV’s and oxygen machines.

My house was burned to the ground, and I didn’t give a fuck about none of that. It was the woman in this bed that had my heart about to burn in my chest.

My woman.

It was morning and I hadn’t slept since we came in. I remained on my knees, praying for her to open those beautiful eyes and say Simmy. I needed her to be alright and I wasn’t going to be good until she was.

As I turned the corner, I saw the Gods posted in the waiting area. Yasin, Kincaid, Kiki, and Hassan all stood up when they saw me.

“Is she straight, Quasim?” Yasin was the first to speak as I posted up, leaning my head back onto the wall.

I closed my eyes as I took a breath. “I don’t know… they got her doing some oxygen treatment shit.”

I just needed God to toss me out a lifeline or something for her. She had been through so fucking much, and this was the reason I was hesitant on loving her. I didn’t want to bring more pain into her life. Blair didn’t deserve to be in that bed. It was me who brought her to my home, because it was safe and had always been safe. There had never been any problems at my home.

“The fuck happened?” My eyes opened when I saw my brother running down the hall. I could see shit wasn’t good in his face, but he was more concerned with me.

I leanedup off the wall as he stood there and pulled me into his arms. “Blaze, you straight?”

One look in his face and I could tell that something happened. Blaze had never been good with concealing his feelings, and just by staring into his eyes, I knew there was a reason he didn’t come when I called.

“You straight? Where’s, B? Elijah?” He ignored my question, looking behind me like he was going to see her sitting in the waiting area.

The Gods sat back down as I stared at my brother. “She’s in the room… they got her hooked to a bunch of shit because of the smoke… Elijah is at the Lakehouse. I had the Gods and Reapers escort Havoc.”

Blaze paced the small space between us. He checked his pockets and then gave up once he realized he didn’t have a spliff on him. “They broke into my crib, Sim… fucking shot Peach’s bed up.”

My fucking heart dropped, and he held my forearms as he stared into my eyes. “Where’s my niece, Blaze?”

I could feel my blood singe my insides with how hot I became hearing that something could be wrong with Ryder. When hedidn’t respond to my text, I assumed he was asleep and would get back to me when he woke up.

“I got them all out the house before they could do some shit… Pops came and got the girls and he’s bringing them to the lake house. He stayed at his condo, so he was close by, thank God.” He took a breath and then leaned on the wall. “Cops had their fucking guns pointed at me and Wylie.” He was saying a bunch of shit and none of it made sense.

I allowed him to reel, because he was trying to process everything that had happened. Eventually, he would fill me in on the missing pieces, and it would all come together and make sense.

“Sug don’t fucking listen, but I’m glad she didn’t listen this time… she had to stand in front of me and protect me. I’m her protector and my baby put her fucking body in front of mine with all those cops aiming guns at me… fuck.” He kneeled down and I watched him, knowing my brother.

He didn’t need me to swoop in and hug him. Meer never been like that and always needed his space when figuring out his shit. “Capri would fucking die for you, Blaze. That woman is in love with you and would put her life on the line when it comes to you. Just like you would do the same for her.”

I heard shoes squeaking on the floor and we turned our heads to see Cappadonna, Capone, and Capella coming down the hallway. As serious as this moment was, I couldn’t help but shake my head.

Cappadonna had on a pair of pajama pants with his kids’ faces on them, timbs, and his motorcycle vest. Capone still had his durag on and wore a pair of Ugg slippers as they rushed down the hallway. Capella was the only one dressed, wearing a pair of sweats and a hoodie. His hands were in the front pocket of his hoodie, so I already knew he was gripped up.

“Papa dropped Cherry and Peach off to my mom’s crib… the fuck happened?” Cappadonna asked, as he looked down at Blaze.

“Niggas burned your crib down, Sim?” Capone questioned, both of them looking between me and Blaze to find out what happened.

I leaned back on the wall while folding my arms. “Blair and Elijah was caught in that shit. She got him out before herself, and now she’s been unconscious.”

Capone shook his head and paced. “Who the fuck would set your crib on fire?”

His guess was as good as mine. “Tookie little short ass.” Capp was the first to answer, as he posted on the wall next to Blaze, who was still in his own world. “Where’s my sister?”

“They ran in my fucking crib with my wife and daughters… had I not fucking heard the sound of the alarm tripping…. Peach could have been fucking dead.” He was speaking out loud, but I knew he wasn’t talking to anyone in particular.

Blaze showed up alone, so I was wondering the same thing. “My fucking daughter is gonna be traumatized seeing police aiming guns at her father… I ain’t never wanted her to see that shit. I fucking froze and couldn’t even do what they were screaming at me.”

Cappadonna leaned down next to Blaze and looked at him. “Ryder knows that her father would do anything to protect her, and so does Baby Doll. This ain’t on you… but we gonna make sure we get that shit back in blood, though.”

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