Page 150 of The Love of Priest

"I need to get to him," she sobbed out uncontrollably.

Priest nodded, agreeing with her. He knew Kaymen would have his head for being back on the scene, but at this point, he didn't even care. "I can take you," he offered. "Where are the kids?"

Tasha looked up at Priest. It was evident that her mind had long forgot about her two younger children as she was overwhelmed by the sudden death of Jamari. "They're inside," she croaked while using her shirt to wipe her face of the tears that had taken it over.

"I don't think we should take them, Tash," Priest said to her. As distraught as he was, he had to be the rational one here because as Jamari's mother, no one was hurting more than she was at the moment.

Tasha stood up. "Remy. He'll look after them." She quickly went into the house to retrieve Jamari's siblings. Priest paced the porch, contemplating exactly how he was going to avoid the scene but still be there for Tasha. He couldn't just leave her high and dry. Her son had died in his arms. That would be fucked up.

Tasha returned to the porch, the kids behind her. She was blocking them from seeing Priest with all of Jamari's blood on him. "Go ahead," she encouraged him in a shaky voice. "I don't want them seeing you like this.”

Priest understood, so he led the way across the street to Remy's house. He knew he probably would look like a lunatic to Remy for showing up at his doorstep drenched in blood, but he would understand soon.

Entering the gate to Remy's house, Priest made his way up the porch, knocking on the door. He remained with his body faced forward so the kids wouldn't be able to see his front half covered in blood. The door was answered by Remy, and his eyes widened at the sight of Priest.

"Son, what happened to you?" He hurriedly pulled Priest into the home to see if he was wounded in any fashion. The amount of blood that was on Priest would have fooled anyone into thinking that he had been shot himself.

Priest served Remy no response, causing Remy to shift his eyes toward Tasha and the frightened children. Seeing the look of emptiness in her orbs gave Remy all the information he needed to know.

A heavy sigh seeped from him. "Tasha, take those kids upstairs with Mirsad. Priest, stay here. I'll take her." Remy picked up on the situation fairly quickly.

"I can go," Priest volunteered.

Remy held his hand up, halting Priest from persisting about being the one to take Tasha to the scene. "It won't be good if you go out there like that." He gestured to Priest's blood-soiled clothing. "Stay here," he asserted, not wanting Priest to defy him.

Priest turned the other way, allowing Tasha to take the kids up the stairs without them seeing him. Priest took a seat, an empty look in his eye and a heavy feeling on his heart. Remy applied a comforting hand on Priest's shoulders. "Where's my daughter, Priest?" Remy asked. He couldn't help but wonder whether Britain had gotten caught in the crossfire. He wouldn't have known exactly how to handle it, but he knew he and Priest would have some serious issues.

Priest glanced up at Remy, his mind immediately drifting off to Britain. "She's safe. I sent her home," he assured him.

Remy nodded his head. Britain was kept safe, so that eased him. Eventually, Tasha came back down the stairs. At some point, she had felt her spirit leave her body, and she had now grown emotionless and lifeless. Her beautiful, sweet, charming, and funny baby boy had gotten snatched away from her. The only things she could express were sadness and anger.

Remy couldn't help but to sympathize with Tasha. She was a great mother doing it on her own, and now her baby boy was gone. Jamari was a phenomenal kid. He often came by to crack jokes with Remy and get a sharp line up whenever Remy felt up to bringing his clippers out. Once word circulated, Remy was sure it would shake the entire neighborhood.

Remy grabbed his car keys to take Tasha to the scene in his own vehicle. He let Tasha step out first, and, as he was leaving, he turned around to speak to Priest. "I trust Mirsad here with the kids. Go to Britain," he told him.

Priest simply nodded his head. He rose from his seat and left the home with Remy and Tasha. Priest got into his respective vehicle just as Tasha got into Remy’s. He shot her a look of sorrow that she reflected in her dark brown eyes.

Priest pulled off, heading in the direction of Britain's apartment. His mind continued racing with thoughts. Every so often, he would glance down at the blood that seeped through his clothing. Jamari was gone, and he hadn’t even fulfilled his promise to him. That was what hurt the most. Jamari didn't want money or anything materialistic. All he wanted was time spent with Priest, someone he often looked up to.

Jamari was an example of pure innocence. He had no motives or no strategy. He was just a kid who wanted to do kid things.

Arriving at Britain's place, Priest got out of the car. Two parking spaces down, Cyro sat in his vehicle scoping the area to ensure Britain's safety. Once he got the call from Kaymen, he knew Priest would want him on standby at Britain's spot, so he did what needed to be done. Priest shot him a simple head nod before placing his right hand over his heart to thank him for showing up. Cyro returned the gesture before starting his vehicle and pulling off. Priest made his way to the door of Britain's apartment, reaching into his pocket to extract the key she had granted him.

Upon his entrance, Britain immediately rose from the couch, rushing over to him. She seemed so relieved to see him waltz through the door. He hadn't been answering her calls, and there was no telling where he could have gone. After dropping Jadey off at her and Kaymen's brownstone, Britain was left to pace her apartment in fear and worry that Priest had gotten himself into something. She could tell just by the way his jaws were clenched and his chest rose that he was not only sad but enraged as well.She prayed those emotions he had festering wouldn't propel him into something he had no business getting into.

Britain flung her arms around Priest, grateful that he had made it back to her. For a moment, he didn't wrap his arms around her. He simply basked in her warm embrace. He then wrapped his strong arms around her, burying his head deep into the crook of her neck.

Britain could tell he needed this embrace more than she did. Jamari's death made him realize that life really was as short as everyone claimed it to be. Priest never felt as though he had all the time in the world, but he did believe if his days came to an end suddenly, he would’ve been content with his accomplishments and how he lived. Jamari being snatched away from him before he could fulfill his promise of taking him out for a good time had Priest tripped up. People really were blessings that could be ripped away at any given moment.

"He was just here, yo," he croaked.

"I know, P. I know." She caressed his back, comforting him the best way she knew how.

Priest had finally allowed the tears that had been scorching the brim of his eyes to fall as he found himself in the comfort of Britain's arms. "How can he just be here one second and then be gone the next, yo?" Priest groaned in emotional pain. "He was a kid, a fucking kid!"

With her arms still wrapped around Priest, Britain led them over to the couch where they took a seat. Britain held Priest. He was distraught and lost. Lifting his head from her shoulder, Priest ridded his face of any tears that had fallen and canvased his face. "I gotta figure this shit out." He stood up.

"P, right now you're hurting. You can't go out there," Britain attempted to reason with him. She followed him as he strode to her bedroom to get himself cleaned up to leave. He was ignoring her, continuing to do what he wanted to do. "Priest, are you listening to me?" She stepped in front of him, slamming the nightstand where he kept his gun.

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