Page 57 of Quasim II: King Inferno

Blair

They say never meetyour idols, and I was learning why that statement was so true. I usually extended grace because having a baby wasn’t an easy thing. Your hormones were all over the place and you had a little human that was new to the world, depending on you for everything.

You weren’t yourself after becoming a mother, so all the grace should be extended to moms. It was a lot trying to get back to the old you and I had been part of many women’s journey of self-rediscovery.

My best friend was currently going through it because although she loved her baby, she wanted to feel like the old Capri again. It felt like you were just sitting around, waiting for it to finally kick in.

For some women, that took time, but for others, it simply never happened. They usually spent time trying to find ‘her’ or trying to learn the new version of themselves. So, when I came into a new mother’s life, I never took anything personal.

You just pushed out an entire human, experiencing blood loss and your hormones being out of whack. You were getting all the grace and patience from me.

Lilac Washington didn’t deserve any grace or patience. She presented herself as this laid-back woman who enjoyed her blog, and recommending organic products, but she was really a bitch. When she originally reached out through her assistant, I just thought it was normal protocol. It made sense to me; she was busy and had an assistant, so why not have her handle booking her doula?

When I arrived, the bitch didn’t speak or introduce herself to me. She sipped her coconut water and made a head gesture to the assistant, who then took me to the living area and proceeded to take out her notebook and pen, waiting to take notes.

Laquita, because her real name wasn’t Lilac, took the baby every so often and smothered her with kisses before she handed it back to the nurse and took calls in her office. She wore this long, silk kimono with her hair pulled into a curly, messy bun, and big black prescription glasses. The bitch had one of those kimonos in every color and design.

She wore a stomach binder faithfully, and she was always making head gestures. I was teaching this young assistant, who looked like she didn’t want children, how to care for a baby that wasn’t even hers. Pregnancy and birth was complicated and a stressful experience to some. Still, wouldn’t you want to bond with your baby? Learn how to take care of them, since this was your first child?

I complained about Ivory, and I had no clue how bad it could get. At least Ivory had conversations and actually tried to learn what I was teaching her. She just kept getting doula confused with nanny.

These basketball wives were a whole new world with the way they acted. You would have thought that they were the actual talent, and not just leeching off their husband’s success. Lilac had rebranded her entire life to be this organic, rich, black woman who came from money. In reality, she came from thehood and clawed her way up a 6 '5 basketball player until she got where she needed to be in life.

I left my damn man to be here for two weeks and all she needed me for was four hours. The original contract stated that I would be with her for at least nine hours a day, lightly caring for the baby while she napped or took time for herself.

The assistant was the one that told me that I would only be there for four hours, but I would still be paid for the nine hours. After I heard the money would remain the same, I was running out of there to that black car that she sent to pick me up.

Almost every time I was leaving, her husband was coming in at the same time. I was starting to feel like she didn’t want me around her man. I’d never spoken to him or been formally introduced to him, yet, I’ve held his new baby and been showing the assistant everything that needed to be learned.

Weird.

“A gruesome scene has unfolded in this small town of Grimville, New Jersey. What started as a house party ended in a horrible mass killing. Dozens of bodies now litter this street that was once filled with happy partygoers, making this one of the most horrific acts of violence the town has ever seen. Authorities haven’t released much information on potential suspects, and there are no live witnesses. The investigation is as chilling as the crime itself. Authorities are encouraging anyone with information on last night to come forward.”

Kiki was leaning up with her iPad, listening to the news back home. I could tell from the way she was all the way tuned in that this had something to do with the Inferno Gods. I didn’t pretend to know everything that went on with Quasim and the Inferno Gods, but I knew some things. I was smart enough to remember that city’s name, and that it was mutual ground.

Nobody brought beef to mutual ground, you handled that shit outside of that city. Every biker gang knew it, and everyonerespected it. Kiki moved her fist to her mouth as she kicked her feet happily.

“Oooh shit… they really woke him up… he fucking spit on mutual grounds.” She hollered and continued to kick her feet. “Yasin!”

He looked from the sandcastle that he was making with Elijah, told him he would be back, and jogged across the beach.

Hassan had headphones on and had his head in a book. He lifted his headphones and then snatched them off to come over to where me and Kiki were relaxing.

“What happened, baby mama?”

Kiki paused, and then she rolled her eyes. “I told you that I am not your baby mama.”

Yasin sat down on her pool lounge, close to her. “Then be my everything, my love, my heartbeat and rib.”

Kiki’s breath was caught in her chest as she handed him the phone, and he looked down at it. Even while he was fully tuned in, she was still staring at him. “Oh fuck… he sent that message loud and clear. Do you know what the fuck he just did?”

“I wonder if Papa knows what he did. Do you know what the fuck this means? He made it free game for all gangs.”

I got chills as I sat there and watched them talk about what Quasim did. “Fucking King.” Hassan nodded his head.

“Is Papa going to be upset?”

“A few times Quasim wanted to break those rules, and Papa held him back because he knew what it would mean. There has to be some order with all biker crews, and mutual grounds was it. King kicked that bitch down and burned it to the ground… Polo bout to shit his pants.” Yasin explained.

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