If Only You Knew

Clutching Death

Lee's POV

My peaceful and serene slumber was interrupted by my phone ringing next to my head on the nightstand. I was too comfortable sinking into the plush mattress to even think of answering, so I promptly clicked my side button to silence the ringer. Once again, the house was filled with the silence that came in the dead of night.

Just as my mind began to cease all thought and relaxation took over, the ringing started again. I groaned into my silk sheets before finally lifting my head. Keeping my eyes closed, I raised my chest from where it lay on the mattress, grabbed the device, and brought it to my ear as I answered.

This better be important.

"Hello?" I murmured, sleep heavy in my voice.

I was startled awake by the incoherent cries of my best friends on the other line. Aniyah spewed a bunch of gumbled nonsense which I wouldn't have been able to understand even if I was awake right now. A sense of urgency washed over me as I sat fully in bed and reached over to flick on my bedside lamp.

"Aniyah, slow down. What's wrong?" I rubbed over my bonnet.

"ISAIAH GOT SHOT!!" She sobbed as my heart stopped after hearing her words.

I pulled the phone away from my ear to check the time and saw it was almost 3 am. The whole time I could hear her continue to yell over the phone as I climbed out of bed.

"What?! Where are you?"

I put the phone to my ear as I exited my bedroom and went across the hall to check on the twins. As I hoped, they were knocked out in their cribs.

"I'm at Central downtown." She wept.

"I'll be there soon. Is Lester there?"

"No."

I chewed my bottom lip hearing the line click. The fear in me doubled because I knew Lester was with Zay earlier and I hadn't heard from him since. It wasn't unusual for Lester to be out at all hours of the night but I always assumed he was safe.

"Breath." I tried to calm myself as I felt my heart racing.

There was no need to overthink things. I'll call him. Lester had to be alright. Right?

My heart was beating out of my chest the longer I heard the ringing. It seemed to go on forever as I held the phone tighter in my sweaty hands.

"Pick up!" I whispered as I typed a message asking where he was.

Legend began whining which made me spring into action. I said a small prayer to myself asking God to protect me and all my loved ones and to make sure my fiancé was safe. I shuffled over to his crib to see him tossing in bed. Scooping him up, I held my whinny child close to me and bounced him a bit to soothe us both.

"Hey, baby! What's the matter huh? Why you crying?"

"Mama." He wiped his tired eyes and laid his head softly on my shoulder.

Legend began to doze off and I breathed a sigh of relief as we left the room and I entered back into mine. I took a seat on my bed as I waited for Tina to answer. After the third ring, her voice was heard sounding as worried as ever.

"Leeyah! Did D'arrica call you?!"

"No why?"

"She just dropped Elijah over here and said that something happened to Isaiah. Is everything ok?"

I sighed. "I'm not sure ma, Aniyah just called and told me he got shot but that's all I know. I was calling to see if you heard from Lester. I'm about to get the twins dressed so we can meet them there."