Page 86 of Smoke

Shaking the thoughts from my head, I climbed out of the car and made my way to the entrance. My mother was already waiting inside for me. She’d offered to pick me up, but I told her I was fine. My incision was healing nicely, and I put a pillow between me and the seat belt for comfort.

After exchanging greetings, we made our way up to the NICU to see my baby. The nurses greeted us with smiles as we passed their station. When we walked into her room, her nurse was checking her vitals.

“Hi, mommy. Hi, grandma. Your little lady has been waiting on you. Why don’t you two wash up, and I’ll get her ready for you.”

“Thank you,” I said, placing my things on the couch.

I smiled, noticing they had put her on the little crochet hat Ms. Allison had made for her. She’d been keeping in contact with me since I’d been home, and I found her to be a sweetheart. She told me whenever I was comfortable with it that she would love to come visit Juri. I’d sent her a text before I left the house to let her know she was more than welcome to come today.

With my hands cleaned and my gown on, I walked back over to where the nurse was waiting with my baby. She carefully placed her in my arms.

“I’ll give you all some privacy. Page me if you need me.”

I nodded, and she left the room.

“Hi, my pretty girl!” I said, cuddling Juri against my chest as I took a seat. “Mommy missed you so much.”

My baby was now a week and a half old and showing progress, which made me happy. I knew she had a long way to go, but I’d been praying for her and over her every day since her birth. I had faith that she would emerge a strong, healthy little girl.

“I can’t get over how tiny she is,” my mom said, touching her hand. “In a few months, I can see her growing into a little butterball, just like Korri was.”

I giggled. “Me too.”

“She can’t wait for her to come home. She thinks she’s gonna have her own little doll baby.”

“I can see it now. When she gets big enough to hold, I’m gonna go looking for my baby, and Korri is gonna have her in her room. I really hope they are as close as me and Nay.”

“They will be. Renay already said she’s moving in once Juri comes home, although,” she eyed me suspiciously, “I think that spot might be taken by a certain someone.”

I blushed at her reference to Devin. He’d been amazing, and I was so thankful for him. Even though he worked, he was never too busy to be what I needed. I had breakfast every morning when I woke up. He brought me and whoever was at the hospital with me lunch. And every night, he’d been right there to help me with simple tasks so I didn’t bust my stitches open. The more he was around, the more I was falling for him. I mean, how could I not fall for him? He’d become part of my everyday life.

“You know as well as I do that your daughter doesn’t care,” I finally said. “Even if Devin is around, she’s going to bombard her way into my house either way.”

“This is true. So…”

“What is it, Ma?”

“Devin. I like him, I really do. He’s been good to you. But—” She closed her eyes like she was carefully choosing her words. “Are you sure about him, baby? I know you’ve heard like everyone else how those Dillingers are… what they’re into. His… other… profession is no better than Patrick’s.”

I sighed. Devin and I had a long conversation in bed a few days ago about his family. We’d been lying there watching TV… well, he was watching TV. I was staring at his side profile.

“You know I can see you watching me,” he said, never breaking his gaze.

“Devin, can I ask you something?”

“Uh-oh.” He turned to look at me. “Are you about to ask me something I’m not gonna want to answer?”

“That depends on how much you’re willing to share.”

“Go on.”

“Your family… specifically you, your siblings, and your dad, what do you do? I know you have the gun shop. I know Deuce has lounges. But what do you do together? I’ve heard… a lot.”

“Can you handle the truth, Ro Baby?”

“I can handle honesty.”

He muted the television and turned to fully face me. “Some people would call us hood vigilantes. For me and my family, it’s protecting those the law doesn’t protect and who can’t protect themselves. There are a lot of vile, disgusting people out here, Romi, many of them right here in this city. There’s a ton of underhanded shit happening because the people with power choose to play dirty.”

---