Page 82 of Dr. Bell

He gave me a face that Adir would’ve made at me had he been here. “I’m my daddy’s son. I’on play ‘bout you.”

“Duly noted. Now, get back to shopping and leave people alone.” I tried to be firm. They saw right through it and burst outinto laughter. Smacking my teeth, I left them by the watches to go look at a charm that caught my eye. It was of a mother holding her baby. It was perfect for Haven.

Speaking of Haven, just as the cashier handed me my receipt and purchase, she and Jabari entered the store holding several bags of their own. My friend looked worn out.

Tickled, I said, “You had enough?”

“Yes!” she answered.

“Hell, yeah!” Jabari intoned at the same time.

I laughed at the faces they made. Having my best friends living here now was amazing. They chose to go with building a house versus buying one that was already built. So, for now, they were living in our guest house.

Jabari was offered a position at Bell Oil Enterprises, which was set to pay him three times the money he made with his old corporate job. Once he found that out, he dropped Orlando like a hot potato. Haven was my newest co-manager… Well, once we both dropped our babies. Adir wasn’t having either of us inside the building until then.

Having Haven at my fingertips spoiled the hell out of me and her. We did just about everything together now. Especially baby shopping. Just about every other day we found a reason to be at the store buying baby stuff.

Since Haven’s feet had started to swell a little, we decided to wrap up this shopping trip. Our next destination was to a burger restaurant not too far from the mall.

“I want every single burger on this menu,” Haven commented.

Her husband said, “By the time that heart burn tear yo’ ass up, you gon’ wish you didn’t want the first burger.”

She smacked her teeth, and I cackled behind my hand. Things were back to the old way with the three of us. I loved that for me.

Outsidetherestaurant,nightwas closing in on us. Zel waited for us by one Suburban, and Stacy waited by the other one. The twins, Saar, Peace, and Quilo headed toward the Suburban with Stacy. Haven and I kept in stride with Russ, Jabari, Humble, and DJ to the other Suburban. Zel held the door open for Haven and I.

“Watch ya step,” Russ said, pointing to a small patch of uneven cement along the sidewalk.

With my head down to avoid the spot, I had no warning as loud gunshots rang out. Heart lodged in my throat, I screamed as Russ snatched me up and practically threw me inside the car. He grunted as a bullet hit him in his shoulder, tearing into the area just below his neck. He fell over me.

As bullets continued to pelt the Suburban, I heard chaos going on around me. I heard Haven’s screams, Humble’s and DJ’s shouting, and Quilo’s calls for me. Quilo’s voice was the loudest. Everything moved in slow motion as a haze took over me. It was a haze that had everything echoing and moving slowly. My reactions were even slow. At some point, I felt myself trying to lift Russ’s large body off of me. Blood poured out of his mouth and out of the bullet wound.

“Russ,” I whispered while placing my hand over the wound. It did nothing to stop the bleeding.

“Coco!” Frantically, Quilo jumped into the backseat and used his weight to move Russ enough to free me. Doors slammed and then the SUV was moving. As the haze slowly cleared, I saw Jabari in the front seat, covered in blood.

“It’s alright, baby. I got you,” he mumbled to Haven. She was deathly silent, scaring the fuck out of me.

“Haven,” I called. She didn’t answer. Behind a cloud of tears, I passed out.

What seemed like moments later, I heard Adir’s voice.

“Adir,” I mumbled. I felt myself being lifted. My eyes fluttered open to my husband’s fear-filled, angry face. Fear wasn’t in Adir’s vocabulary. His fear made my heart pound in my chest.

“I got you, my baby.”

In my lifetime, I’d faced many terrifying situations. Topping them all was that of my husband’s tears splashing against my skin.

ADIR

…Shotsfiredonthecorner of Hollywood and A Street…

Ice cold fear shot through me as I reached for my phone to call Russ. My family was on that corner having dinner. When I got no answer, I stood from my desk and snatched my door open.

“Get every nurse on duty down here now!” I barked calmly although my heart raced. Antonias and Micah walked out of their offices upon hearing me. The feeling in the pit of my stomach was no lie. Something was terribly wrong.

Shaking, I placed Pretty’s blood drenched body on the gurney and ignored Quilo shouting behind me. Although Russ’s nearly lifeless body was in the backseat, too, Pretty was my first priority. Stacy snatched Quilo up to keep him out of the way.

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