It had been 24 hours since she last saw Ariyah, she could only pray for her safety. Amani's mind wandered to the worst but she hoped she was alive. She wanted to see her again.
"You want water, or I can cook for you sis", Layla spoke to her sister, Amani shook her head gently as tears formed in her eyes again.
The plan was to go to Silas' house and try to get Ariyah back. Amani didn't know what to expect. Everything that man told her turned out to be a lie, she didn't know what to believe, she didn't care, she would do anything to get Ariyah back.
"You ready to go Lil sis", Roman spoke to Amani. He had been Kareem's best friend since they were in elementary school. He took his Godfather role very seriously and anyone could tell he was breaking from the news of Ariyah.
Amani nodded, "Where's Kareem", she spoke in a low voice.
"He is in the car sis, come on", he held his hand out for her. Amani hugged her mother and sister before stepping outside.
Amani smiled when she saw Kareem sitting in the front seat, he waved at her and she waved back.
"We will get her soon, I promise Amani", Kareem said as she smiled, she wanted to believe him but fear ran through her body. The fear of never seeing her baby again.
The drive was silent, except for Amani giving occasional directions. As they approached his neighbourhood there were no cars in the driveway making Amani's stomach sink.
"Me and Kareem are gonna go inside the house, and we will see if Riyah is in there and bring her back, we will find her Amani," Roman spoke to Amani; she didn't reply, instead nodded her head hesitantly.
Roman messaged his wife about his whereabouts and swiftly got out of the car.
"I'll be back Mani", Kareem bent his head and kissed her cheek twice.
"Be safe Roman and Kareem", Amani spoke quietly as both men nodded, grabbing their guns from the glove compartment as they walked towards the door, and breaking it open.
It had been 3 minutes. 3 minutes and 14 seconds.
Amani's leg bounced as she stared at the time on her phone. It was now 4 minutes.
From her peripheral vision she saw Kareem, and Ariyah in his arms.
"She isn't waking up, Amani," Kareem said clearly out of breath. "S-she is breathing, we checked her pulse, she is okay B-but she isn't waking up", he continued as he put her weak sleeping body on her mother's lap.
"It's okay Kareem, she is here we can go to the hospital, where Roman let's go!", Amani spoke panicky as Kareem entered the car rubbing Ariyah's hair and rubbed over the visible bruises on her arm.
As Amani was about to speak again, a car pulled up on the drive. It was the black range rover she had sat in many times. Her heart began beating uncontrollably and the sound of six shots ran through her head.
"Roman!", Kareem screamed running out of the car to attend to his friend.
To Amani, it was like everything had slowed down. Amani nor Kareem had seen what had happened, they both just heard the shots outside the car. The only thing going through Amani's head was whether Roman was alive. He had a child on the way. A daughter who would grow up without her father. Amani blamed herself, guilt ran all over.
As Kareem ran over to his friend, on the floor an almost dead Silas and a woman kneeling next to him showing no emotion.
Kareem made it over to Roman, he clearly had a bullet in his hand, Kareem said a silent prayer as he helped him to the car arriving at the ER.
6 hours later
"Thank you, officer, have a good evening", Kareem spoke to the black cop.
Thankfully Roman was okay, however, he suffered from some minor hand fractures.
Ariyah had been drugged and had a dose of Temazepam in her system, doctors gave her medication and some fluids to give her when she woke up in the next hour.
Amani sat in silence, watching Ariyah sleep.
"I don't know what I would have done without her, I'm sorry Kareem", Amani spoke avoiding his eye contact.
"Amani, stop it. She is here now, none of it is your fault, okay, Ariyah is okay, we can book her a therapy appointment tomorrow but I promise no one is blaming you for this." Kareem said, making Amani smile a bit.
Both Amani and Kareem knew the next month would be stressful, but they wanted to do everything in their power to make it safe for their daughter.
"And daddy, Ava said Saxon is going to be born soon", Ariyah continued to ramble talking about Terah and Romans baby, she was currently 7 months pregnant and everyone was so excited for the new addition. She had been going to therapy once a week since her kidnapping but since she was drugged she didn't remember most of it however her parents just wanted to allow her to express herself.
The investigation was taking longer than planned, Amani's lawyer had said that he was in a gang but also participated in child trafficking. Her lawyer believes it was always a part of his plan to target Amani and Ariyah. Chloe was a woman who worked for him. He used Amani and it made her feel sick.
"Riri, go and wash up mamas so we can eat", Amani shouted to Ariyah as she ran up the stairs.
"Kareeemm, stop", Amani playfully whined as Kareem wrapped both arms around her waist kissing the side of her cheek repeatedly.
"I'm sorry ma, you look good", he chuckled making her blush, as he pulled her down on his lap sitting on the barstool waiting for Ariyah to come back downstairs.
"Kareem", Amani spoke as he put his phone down to give her his undivided attention.
"Mama", he replied, making her giggle as he rubbed her sides.
"What you thinking 'bout, you hard Kareem", she laughed looking down when Amani got up to make Ariyah's plate.
"You did this Mani", he laughed back as Amani pointed to herself making him nod and continue laughing.
: I think I like Kareem again...
Kaia🦋: Girl we been knowing this, and he wants you too, this is Riris dream come true go for it bae.
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hey loves💕 Hope we all enjoyed this chapter, and i can't have our baby gone for that long sorry lol. But there will be more drama soon👀 Ignore any errors.
OUR BABY IS BACK, Silas dead.
Amani blaming herself?
Roman is the definition of a ride or die.
Mani likes who?????
Thanks so much for reading, I'm so so grateful for all the support. -Elysia.
