Page 103 of Quasim II: King Inferno

She sat the water and medicine down and held onto the dresser with tears in her eyes. “Bina,” she whispered.

My mother smiled at her. “Denim and Bina.”

Jean was going through it, so I hugged her. “She never called me Jean… told me my name was funny when we first met. Always called me Denim. God, I haven’t heard that name in years, and… Bina you do remember.” She went over toward my mother and pulled her out the chair.

Jean sobbed while hugging her and my mother rubbed her back. “Infern...” she sighed, trying to figure out what she wanted to say. “Infernos and Delgatos forever,” she said it slowly this time.

Jean pulled back and smiled at her. “On that beach in Staten Island, we made that promise… the four of us. Life pulled us apart for a while, but we’re back together now.”

The phone rang and she kissed my mom on the cheek and then rushed out the room while sniffling to get the phone.

I stood there watching my mother sit back in the chair as she looked over at me. “meu bebê, venha aqui,” she motioned for me.

I walked over toward her, and she patted her lap. “Mommy, I’m too damn big for that now.” I laughed because she just wanted to hold her first born again.

She paused, then patted her lap and pointed to the ground. “Get down there.”

I obliged and climbed on the floor as she patted her leg. Resting my head in my mother’s lap transported me somewhere I hadn’t been in a long time. She rubbed my hair as she kissed the side of my face.

Tears blurred my vision as she kissed my cheek and rubbed my hair. “Marriage is good.”

“You think so?”

“Sim.”

I loved when she switched between languages. One would confuse her for saying my name, but Sim also meant yes.

I took one of her hands and kissed her hand. “I missed you, mommy.”

Tears fell down my cheeks as she hugged my head. She always smelled like the baby lotion Baby Magic. It was like her scent teleported me back to my childhood when she used to rock me in her arms, and I would smell her signature scent.

On her dresser in my parent’s room, there would be a bunch of rosaries hanging from the mirror with her perfumes and lotions. Baby Magic was always one of the lotions among her others.

“Me too, Pop.”

The door opened and I watched as my father came into the room. He sat on the edge of the bed and looked at my mother and me. He leaned up and kissed her on the head, then kissed me before sitting back down on the bed.

“Nanny!” I heard Ryder, as she ran into the room, stopping when she saw me laying on my mother’s lap.

She got down on the floor with me and cuddled against me. “Everybody is a big baby for their mommy, right Grandpop?”

He smiled. “Yeah, even the biggest and baddest.”

I closed my eyes as my mother continued to kiss and hug my head, while Ryder put her hand around me. “Do you like dirt bikes?”

“Ryder, why are you trying to butter your uncle up when your father said no?” My father called her out.

She sucked her teeth, kissed my cheek, and then left the room. “I’m getting that bike,” I heard her mutter before she left out the room.

My father left the room soon after, as I felt myself becoming sleepy in my mother’s lap. “Love you, mommy.”

“So much.”

Blair

I had found a dress,and it was the most beautiful dress I had laid eyes on. Telly said that it fit my petite body perfectly and didn’t overwhelm me. I even tried dancing in it, because I told Meer that the DJ better had bounce music on his set list because I planned to dance all night long. I’ve been a wife before and that was nothing like this experience.

Everyone in our family was invested in this wedding; it was me and Simmy’s world, and everyone was just living in it.

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