Page 5 of Back in Blood

I couldn’t breathe. My chest was so tight, I ran my hand back and forth over it roughly as if that would soothe the discomfort and make it so that I could breathe again. The first time I tried to speak, no words came out prompting me to clear my throat and try again.

“Who did you hit?” I rasped.

Sintonio went back to pacing back and forth. I wanted to jump up and slap the shit out of him. The stress he was causing me wasn’t fair. I had enough going on. Had he just listened to me and stopped hanging out with Tay…

“This shit is bad,” he mumbled. “I don’t know if anyone dropped my name. I need to pack a bag and be out for a few days. You can come with me.” Sintonio never stopped walking as he mumbled a bunch of nonsense.

My chest caved. “You need to leave? What about me? What about the baby? I can’t just up and leave with you. Who did you hit?” It felt like the room was spinning. My blood pressure had to be sky high.

“A little girl man. I hit a little girl.”

My entire world went dark.

CHAPTER 3

CAPRI

The momentmy jog slowed down a bit, my phone began to vibrate in my pocket. I had just run two miles and was dripping sweat. It was the day after I took the paternity test for Caprice, and my anxiety was at an all-time high. My anger wasn’t lifting at all, and I had to talk myself out of rearranging Dolph’s face one too many times. If I approached him with the current anger that was taking up space in my body, I would kill him with my bare hands, and that was a fact. I was Caprice’s father. I didn’t care what a DNA test said, and I didn’t want to leave her out in the world without me because I chose to murder a nigga for playing with me. What would be the point of killing him if I didn’t kill Robin’s hoe ass either? They had both done the unthinkable.

The past played in my mind like a movie. Various scenes stayed flashing through my mind. The times when Robin was pregnant, and Dolph would come around smiling in my face knowing he’d had sex with her. When Caprice was born, and the fuck nigga took me out for celebratory shots. He and Robin both really played in my face. My light jog slowed to a walk as I neared my home. When my phone vibrated again, I pulled it from my pocket and kissed my teeth. I wasn’t sure why Robin’s motherwas calling me but if it was to plead her daughter’s case and get in my business, she could go to hell with her daughter. I ignored the call and went straight to the shower. I wasn’t going to keep neglecting my businesses because I was in my feelings due to two snakes.

It was late in the day but better late than never. When I was done with work, I’d more than likely stop by a bar for a shot or two. There was alcohol in the house, but I didn’t want to sit in the house and drink alone. That was another thing that made me feel weak. Suddenly wanting alcohol when I hadn’t drunk any in years. The situation with Dolph and Robin was taking me way out of character. I’d never go out sad behind a bitch, but them playing with my daughter was something that I couldn’t get past.

After a long hot shower, I got dressed while my stomach growled reminding me that I needed to eat. While I was running a brush over my coal black waves, the doorbell rang, and I set the brush down with a frown. People popping up at my crib uninvited was a great way to get on my bad side. Being that I was already in a foul mood, I wouldn’t mind cursing somebody out. That idea went out the window when I saw who was at the door. It was my sister, Bianca, and she’d been crying. My brows snapped together.

“What’s wrong, B?”

Bianca didn’t speak. She walked over to me and wrapped her arms around me. I hadn’t seen her cry since our mother died when I was eighteen, and Bianca was twenty-eight. Without knowing what was going on, I hugged her back. Bianca was tough, so if she was crying it was something serious. I wanted to be patient and let her get it all out, but I was a little antsy. The fact that she showed up in person versus telling me over the phone spoke volumes. Whatever it was, it was serious.

Finally, she took a step back and looked up at me with sad eyes. Bianca was damn near 5’9, but I still towered over her slightly. “Capri, Caprice was shot. She didn’t make it.”

Never in life had my knees buckled. My grown ass dropped to the floor like a sack of potatoes. Bianca was my blood sister, and we were thick as thieves. There was no way possible she’d bring me something like that if it wasn’t true. It felt as if my heart had been ripped from my chest. I looked up at her with a racing heart. “Fuck you mean she got shot? How? How did she get shot?” My voice cracked.

“Her and Robin were at Robin’s sister’s house, and some guys across the street started arguing and fighting. One of them went and got a gun and,” Bianca choked out a sob.

The animalistic howl that left my throat pierced the room and made my throat burn. God couldn’t be this cruel. There was no way in hell. Caprice? Nah. Hell nah. Hell fucking no. Bianca got down on the floor with me and hugged me as I cried from my entire gut. Life had been beating my ass lately, but this took the cake. Getting myself together was imperative because I needed names. I needed details. I got my ass up off the floor and scrubbed my hand down my face wiping the tears away.

“When did this happen?” I sat down on the couch and grinded my teeth together.

“Last night,” she whispered, and my head shot up.

“Last night? And I’m just finding out about it?” I roared. It wasn’t her fault, but the anger in me could no longer be held at bay.

“From what Robin’s mother told me, she knew if she called you that you wouldn’t pick up. She was inconsolable for a while, and everything was just happening so fast. Her mother said she tried to call you twice, and you didn’t answer.”

“That bitch called me twice today with the last time being about an hour ago! If she would have called me continuously,I would have known something was up, and I would have answered. I just found out that Caprice might be Dolph’s child, so of course, I wasn’t answering for them! Had I known it was about Caprice, that would have changed, and those bitches know that shit.”

Bianca’s face crumpled. “Wait a minute. What did you say?”

I didn’t even care to repeat it. A release was needed. I punched the wall so hard that it left a hole. Bianca gasped, and I had to force myself not to do more damage to the wall. I could get it fixed easily. That wasn’t the issue. It felt like I was losing my mind.

“Where is she?”

“The funeral home picked her up from the hospital.”

I was suffocating. I walked over to the door and yanked it open. Stepping out onto the porch, I begged God to open my lungs. It literally felt like I was choking. Where did I go? What did I do? I leaned against the house and stared into space. This shit was foul. It was foul, and it wasn’t fair. If God wanted to take somebody, He could have taken me but Caprice? Her loud giggles and smiling face flashed through my mind making me clench my fists. As hard as it was, I needed to know everything that my sister knew. I was officially about to become the literal walking definition of the phrase crash out. At that point, I didn’t feel like I had anything left to lose.

The person that was responsible for shooting Caprice might as well go ahead and take their own life because I was going to make it my mission to make sure they suffered. Fuck eye for an eye. It was going to be some lives for a life. I was going to take everything they loved and cared about before I finally took them. Dolph and Robin’s betrayal had already hardened my heart. They turned me into a vengeful bastard, but there was still some light and love left, and it was all for Caprice. She was no more. My reason for being a somewhat decent person was no longeraround, and that sealed the deal. There would be no effort on my part to contain the beast that had been born and was about to be unleashed. And the sad thing was, I gave zero fucks about what hell he may cause. In fact, it was the only thing keeping me sane.

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