“Quilla are you okay?” She looked at me and nodded and went back to folding clothes. Today was supposed to be a good day and she was sitting here moping bout something. As a matter of fact she had been actin strange altogether lately. I thought maybe it was the lack of sleep she always had when Shade wasn’t in this house. We had gotten the call this morning that everything had been drooped at court and I was guessing because Jarvis got beat up that he and Erica had a change of heart. I was relieved that my baby would finally be back home every night in her own room. I unfolded the paper and finally Quilla spoke up, “You still readin that newspaper?” I looked at her oddly, “Quilla you know I love the newspaper. I don’t care nothin bout all that internet stuff you know that,” I said turning my nose up at her gigantic phone on the coffee table. I had just learned how to text and I wasn’t fond of that either. I flipped over to the sports page to see who won the game, but realized I forgotten my cold beer so I sat the paper down and went to the kitchen. When I came back Quilla had moved my paper, but I didn’t mind cause the news was coming on. I sat down and sucked the suds off of my beer as my favorite anchorwoman Sheryl Hudgens appeared on the screen. She was light with short, blonde hair, and perfect tits that showed through any blazer she was wearing. I could feel Quilla staring at me so I sat back in my chair. She was jealous of my lil crush but she loved that actor Blair Underwood and I didn’t trip. I had gotten comfortable when a blaze flashed onto the screen. “Police are working in tandem with the fire department to determine the cause of a suspicious fire on the 3600 Block of West Broadway.” I sat up and put my beer down. That area was my old stomping grounds. “Apparently there was suspected foul play and the blaze ravaged 3 business and four houses. There was one fatality which was that of Garret Haynes also affectionately known as Detroit Hustle. The fire chief has yet to disclose any findings and the cause of death for Mr. Haynes has yet to be determined. Channel 32 will stay abreast of the issues of any changes in the investigation. Also, citizens of the West End are being urged to come forward with any information regarding the blaze and the number for Crime Stoppers is listed below.
In looked over at Quilla, “Well I be damned, they killed Detroit.” She looked at me She went to speak, but became noticeably choked up. “You okay baby?” She nodded and grabbed a pile of folded clothes and walked into the bedroom. It was odd to me that she would feel sad considering how Detroit had done her back in the day. I shook it off and polished off my beer watching the rest of the news. I heard keys jingling as soon as the news was going off.
Hey poppa,” Shade said coming in and kissing me on my forehead. “Hey girl, what you doin getting in so late?” She handed me a KFC box, “I was up at the hospital with daddy.” I scrunched my nose up cause she had never called Jarvis daddy so it kinda irked me. “That is nice of you to support your mam like that and go see Jarvis baby. I am proud of you.” She looked at me sideways, “I didn’t go see Jarvis. I went to see Blue.” I sat down the box, “What you talkin?” She sat next to me, “Blue got shot last night, granny ain’t tell you?” A silent alarm went off in my head, “Naw she ain’t tell me,” I said trying to sound cool. “Yeah, he got shot in the chest he is in ICU. “Before I could ask anything else her phone rung and she sprinted towards up the steps to talk in private. I started putting shit together in my mind and this shit just smelled funny to me. I slid on my jacket, grabbed the box of chicken, and hopped in my truck. Detroit dead and now his son is shot. My wife is all upset, yeah a nigga was about to have to give me some damn answers. I flipped through my c.d’s and found “Let’s Straighten it Out,” and played it on repeat all the way to the hospital. When I got there I lied and said I was Blue’s father so they would let me into ICU. I popped in a mint to cover the weed I had just smoked and walked into the room. Blue had tubes coming from everywhere and there was a purse in the chair next to his bed. I figured he had a lady friend up here and now wasn’t the time to get answers. I walked over to his bed and looked down on this man that had paid so many of my bills over the years and took better care of my family than I ever could. A tear dripped out of my eye and down onto his pillow. I felt a hand rubbing my back and looked down to see a beautiful, brown skinned woman with long, black hair. “Are you family,” she asked continuing to rub my back. “Yeah, I guess you could say he was like my son.” She smiled up at me, “I am Veronica, his wife”. I was taken aback; I never knew Blue was married. She caught my surprised look, “its okay nobody really knew about us because it was too dangerous. “I was confused, but she put me up to speed, “I am Mississippi Red’s daughter. My damn mouth dropped cause I had forgot all about Red’s children. I felt the need to get out of here now cause shit had just got real. “What is your name sir?” I didn’t know what to say because I didn’t want to her to be able to trace my name. I was never named a suspect in Red’s death, but his wife was convinced I killed him. I was about to answer her when there was a knock at the door. “Excuse me ma’am your time is up.” She rolled her eyes and snatched her purse, “It was nice to meet you Mr.” “Nice meeting you too,” I said waving bye. As she disappeared down the hall I was about to breathe again. She looked just like her mama. I walked back over to Blue when I heard more heels clicking. When they got closer I saw that it was two young girls. I nodded to them and exited the room thinking that they were really family. I decided to go to the cafeteria for some coffee. As soon as I got my cup and headed back to the waiting room I felt my phone buzzing. I looked down and it was Quilla. I pushed ignore and sat down grabbing a magazine to read. I wasn’t leaving here without answers.
