Page 58 of A Kingpin's Weakness
“Baby no. I’m here. I’m here, baby. You okay. I got you.”
“It hurts, Rich,” she whispered.
Her voice didn’t even sound like her. It was soft. Fadin’. That shit scared me more than the blood.
“I know, I know. Just breathe. I’m gon’ get you help. You gon’ be good, baby.”
“I think—" She choked on blood before she could get the words out. “I think I’m dying.”
“Nah,” I said, my whole body tremblin’. “Don’t say that I got you. I got you, Lia.”
She blinked real slow. Her lips quivered. “I love you, Rich.”
I held her face in my hands like she was the only real thing left in the world. “I love you too. Forever, baby. You hear me? Forever.” I picked her up, and her blood soaked right through me. I ain’t care. Her eyes were closin’. Her breathing was shallow.
“Somebody help me!” I screamed so loud, birds flew out the trees. But the campus was dead silent. Cold.
I laid her in the seat, ran to the driver’s side. One hand on the wheel. One on her chest. Feelin’ for the rise and fall.
“It’s forever, baby,” I whispered. My voice cracked and I kissed her hand. “Just stay. Please stay.”
But then. Her chest stopped movin’, and her eyes stopped blinkin’.
“No. No! No!” I slammed the steering wheel with both fists.
“LIA!!!” I roared so loud it felt like the sky should’ve split open.
Then I leaned over. Closed her eyes. Kissed her lips one last time. Still warm. Still hers. And just like that, she was gone. Gone, and I ain’t just lose my girl. I lost everything.
She was months away from her Master’s. She had plans. Real ones. She talked legacy. She talked clean money. She talked about takin’ me with her into a better life. And I let this fuckin’ life take her instead.
Nah. Nah, fuck that. Ronnie took her from me. Now I’m takin’ everything from him. Blood, family, and loyalty. All of it.Burnin’ this whole fuckin’ city down if I have to. He want a war? He just declared one.
Now it’s on me. Literally. I looked down at my shirt. Her blood dried dark across my chest. Like a reminder. Like she was still there, tellin’ me to never forget. I drove in the direction of Seth’s house with Lia’s lifeless body sitting next to me. She was supposed to be safe. That’s all I had to do, just get her to Seth’s crib. One job. One fucking job. Get her there, and she’d be alright. Forty-five minutes later, I was pulling into Seth’s estate.
This nigga had security everywhere patrolling the grounds, strapped up with ak47s, like the president and his family rested their heads behind those walls.
I hit Seth’s name on my phone, hand damn near shakin’.
He picked up after one ring.
“I saw you pull in, bruh. Y’all come in.”
“Where S3?”
“In his room playin’ the game. You comin’ in?”
“Yeah. But I don’t need S3 to see me.”
That made him pause. “What’s up, bruh?”
“Meet me in your office. We need to talk.” I ended the call. Didn’t wait for a response.
Got out the whip, walked around, and opened the passenger door like I wasn’t carryin’ the world’s biggest weight in my chest. She was still there. Still warm. Still beautiful. And still gone. I scooped her up in my arms bridal style. Like I was carryin’ her across a threshold. But it wasn’t no ceremony. Wasn’t no new beginning. This was the end of somethin’. Maybe the end of me. She felt light. Too light. Like a body without a soul.
Security saw me as I stepped into the courtyard. Two dudes I knew from the block who watched too much, but never said enough.
“Rich, you good?” one of them called out.
