Page 9 of Our Mother's Sons

“So doc, tell me somethin’.”

Standing over the doctor who was sitting on a footstool while listening to the stethoscope that he had placed at Girl’s chest, I sucked in a wad of smoke from the blunt pinched in between my index and thumb. When my chest couldn't take more of the exotic weed, I exhaled, filling the air with a potent funk before ashing the blunt.

I watched as Doctor Slater Massey counted the seconds on his Rolex. I’d half a mind to blow his receding hairline further back than it already was the moment he crossed my threshold. But I refrained. I didn't want to traumatize the baby more than I'm sure she already was from being linked together like cattle with the rest of the trafficking ring. I’d paid him to give Girl an assessment because my brother was right when he spoke about it being no telling what she may have been subjected to. I would hope that those sick motherfuckers didn’t fuck with a baby but if they could try and sell her off like she was a puppy, there was no measure to their madness.

“Well, just by my assessment and the fact that the gum around her teeth looks to be a bit swollen, I’d say her teeth just came in not too long ago. There is no real way to give her age without the proper testing or access to her records,” Doctor Massey gave me a sideways glance but if he wanted to walk out this bitch with his life, he wouldn't say shit.

He pulled at the gray polo shirt underneath his white coat and cleared his throat when my response was a cloud of smoke in his face.

“If I had to guess, she is around nine to ten months old. Maybe even less with her height and weight. What have you been feeding her?”

My eyes shifted to the untouched food carryout, resting on my dresser. Last night, when we got home, she slept through the night. I woke up before her this morning and immediately called the doctor because there was no way her ass was still sleeping. Doctor Massey could wake her, but she’d only opened her eyes briefly before she was back asleep. He’d done her entire assessment while she was sleeping.

“Shit regular food. What the fuck else she supposed to eat?”

My grandma had said she fed her table food, and from the looks of it, it had her sleeping like a baby. I was going to ask that ole lady had she put some fucking melatonin in that damn food because this baby wouldn’t wake up for shit.

“If my prediction is right and she’s the age I think she is, table food is fine as long as it is in bite-sized portions. She has all of her teeth, but I’d be cautious. However, she should drink formula until she is a year old.”

Doctor Massey stood, grabbed his briefcase, and handed me a piece of paper.

“This is the brand of milk most of my patients take. While I do feel breast milk is the best-”

“Do I look like I got breast?”

I was shirtless, so the doctor had the nerve to glance down at my inked chest.

“I’m afraid not. I was saying, give her a balance of food and formula. This is the brand I recommend. You should be able to find it at most, if not all, grocery stores.”

“Other than that, she’s good, right? She healthy?”

Doctor Massey nodded.

“As far as I can tell, she is. She’d be even better if you had her medical records. It’s important Jovani. Or at least, bring her into my office where I can get an in-depth examination and run some tests.”

He looked at the sleeping baby over the rim of his glasses.

“You see her fingers and hands?”

Swallowing hard, I nodded.

“It’s nothing to be too concerned with. It can be corrected.”

“Cool,” I replied.

“If she doesn’t wake up in the next few hours, give me a call. There may be some vitamin deficiencies. Ugh-”

Dr. Massey grew red in the face. He’d been jumpy from the moment he crossed my threshold.

“Did you and your brother, uh, handle that?”

Cocking my head, I crossed my hands at my waist.

“Handle what?”

By now, Dr Massey was as red as a tomatoe and looked like he needed to take a shit. As long as it wasn’t on my floors, he would live for now.

“Look, man, Myron, Chen, Andrew, and I don’t want any trouble. We called you and your brother because even though we dibble and dabble in illegal shit from time to time. Human trafficking was pushing it far. If you handled Tony-”

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