Page 15 of Quasim II: King Inferno

“I wish Simmy was here.” I admitted.

Meer hugged me. “Let him come to you and say something. We keep this between the adults until we figure this shit out, alright?”

“Okay.”

“There’s a special place in hell for people that fucking harm children. My brother is going to lose his shit, B.”

“I know.”

The picture that Elijah drew told us that he was, in fact, abused. A child wouldn't draw something like that if it didn’t happen to them. It explained so much, yet, we still had no clue what was going on with him.

Meer’s phone started to ring, and he looked at the screen, seeing that Capri was calling him. “Sug, I’m heading down to the city now. I stopped to talk with B real quick.”

“Hey, Blair… how are you feeling?”

“Better now that your mother and Gams aren’t shoving that nasty tea down my throat anymore.” I laughed, still feeling uneasy about what me and Meer just witnessed.

Meer continued his call with Capri while I cleaned the kitchen up and ordered some food on UberEATS for me and Elijah. It was just going to be the both of us, and eating dinner on the back porch sounded fun.

My hands were shaky as I washed the dishes and thought about what I saw on that iPad. Meer and Peach hugged me before they left to head to the city, leaving me and Elijah alone. I just wanted to go and squeeze him. God, how could someone hurt a baby as precious as him? Since I met this boy, he has been the sweetest angel.

When the doorbell chimed, I went to the door to grab the food. Elijah looked up from his iPad and smiled. “Red Robins? I wanted to try their burgers so bad!” He screeched.

This was the most excitement I had seen from him since I got here. “Simmy told me that you wanted to try it and since he’s been busy, we can have it here and then go to the restaurant when he’s back… okay?”

He hugged me and took the bags from me to help. I smiled as I pulled plates out and plated our burgers. “Can we eat outside, too?”

“Get out my head, lil boy. I was going to suggest the same thing.” I smiled at him as I poured the garlic parmesan fries onto each of our plates.

“I’ll carry the plates. Sim says that a gentleman always makes sure the lady is taken care of.”

I rubbed my hands through his curls and smiled. “Be careful, okay. I’m starving and I don’t want to eat a floor burger.”

Elijah giggled as he carried both of our plates to the back patio, and we both sat at the table. I had cracked open a bottle of wine while inside and poured myself a generous glass. I took a long sip as I stared out at the view of the lake.

Elijah took a bite of his burger and closed his eyes, savoring the flavors. Quasim had made plans for us to go to Red Robinsthe next day after staying at his house. He wanted to surprise Elijah, and then everything happened with the fire.

This was the least that I could do to make him feel better. “How does that taste, Eli?”

He was chewing and smiling at the same time, exposing the food in his mouth. “So good.”

“Simmy teaches you a lot, huh?”

He nodded his head and choked down the food he was chewing. “So much stuff, and he taught me to pray and be close to God. I wish Sim was my real dad.”

“Awe, baby. He’s an amazing dad… Did he tell you about his daughter?”

Elijah nodded and popped a few fries into his mouth. “Yes. He says she’s in heaven and looking down over us. Sim doesn’t make me feel bad when I wet the bed.”

He hung his head, and I lifted his chin. “It’s not your fault. One day, you won’t wet the bed… when you do, it’s our little secret, okay?”

“Okay.” He offered me a smile. “Ms. Blair, I wish you were my mommy,” he admitted, which hurt my heart.

All babies born into this world deserved to feel and be loved. I hated that the mothers that were blessed with these angels failed them. Thea failed this boy, and then she continued to fail him.

When I was pregnant with my son, I chose to leave because I refused for Tookie to harm my son. He deserved better than what his father could give him. I carried guilt because if I hadn’t left that night, he wouldn’t have pushed me down those steps.

“Aww, baby, I wish that, too… God picked your mommy to be your mommy. For whatever reason,” I mumbled the last part.

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