Page 17 of Quasim III: King Inferno

She held her hand up, rotated her wrist with her fist closed, then let two fingers out that signaled ahead. The sounds of the bikes could probably be heard from miles away. Capri remained, and we all waited until we saw Kincaid fly down the block on a wheelie, holding a flag of Ellis’ face as Capri took off behind him.

Capone and Cappadonna were right behind their sister on bikes, while the rest of the Gods followed them. Our truck pulled out behind the limo with the triplets’ grandmother and family. Each member of a biker gang locked down block after block as we bypassed traffic signals.

“How you feeling back there, B?”

“Angry.”

“Feel you,” Papa said.

I looked over at Capella who had his hand over the chair, holding Aimee’s hand with his gun in his lap. Capri peeled the corners on her bike with everyone following behind her. I knew her mind was racing a million miles per hour.

You would never know it because she kept her demeanor calm and cool. I also knew her enough to know that she wasn’t going to stop until there was blood on her hands. Quameer didn’t play when it came to Capri. Capri really didn’t play when it came to Meer, and it was because she said he saved her.

He was the one who showed her what it was like to be loved, and for that, she would always go hard behind him. She signaledsomething to Kiki, and she and Yasin rode ahead of her to make sure the light was cleared so we could breeze by.

I watched as Kiki was on one side of the intersection making sure traffic didn’t come through, and Yasin was on the other. She saluted when we rolled through the intersection, even though she couldn’t see me behind the tint, she knew I was in here. All the bikes followed, surrounding the cars as we continued toward the highway.

When we buried my mother, I remember staring up at the sky and wondering why it decided to rain that day of all days. I was already sad because my mom was gone, then it started to rain and that made me feel worse. Like today, it started raining as we stood in the cemetery in New Jersey.

The rain drops pelted down on the umbrella that Havoc held over me. I held my purse as I watched everyone toss roses on top of his coffin. I stepped forward, the last one, and closed my eyes. Bringing the rose to my lips, I kissed it and tossed it into the grave while bowing my head and saying a prayer.

Havoc remained next to me, and I roped my arms into his as we walked back to join everyone. “You alright, Queen?”

“I’m not, Hav.” I admitted.

Quasim still hadn’t opened his eyes, we were burying a God, and I was carrying a child that I was the least bit worried about. I wasn’t sleeping well, and I barely could eat anything. My mind was on everything else, and our time in Barbados. Everything was good, so fun, and then we came home, and life fell apart.

Ms. Magnani let out a loud scream and tried to launch herself into the grave. “Not my Boogs… please lawd, not Boogs!” she screamed while Ezra held her back.

She sobbed into his chest, hitting him while screaming that everything was his fault. He stood strong, allowing her to hit him in the chest while tears fell down his face. Evan finally grabbedhold of his grandmother, and she broke down in his arms, while Ezra walked away.

I was quick on my feet and followed behind him while Havoc caught up with me. “Ezra!” I called toward him.

He turned around. “Thank you for coming, Queen.”

“Blair… you can call me Blair, Ezra.”

He hung his head. “Nah, I call your husband King, and you’re his Queen, so I’m gonna call you Queen.”

I saw so much pain in his eyes that I had come to realize in my own life. He was always meant to be strong. There was no time for him to break, because he was the foundation of his family. Ezra was what kept them together and made sure they were good.

As much as it had always been the three of them, it was no question who the leader was. His brothers followed behind him because Ezra was a natural born leader, and that was what Quasim saw in him. It took one big brother to recognize another one, and all that came with being the oldest. His grandmother wasn’t blaming Evan; she blamed Ezra because he was the oldest.

“You never have to worry about anything. We take care of our own, and we’ll get everything taken care of for you.”

“Nah. I’m good.”

“You’re not good… don’t lie.” Havoc said.

He looked over at him. “Any of us would have done the same to protect Meer and King… we would give our lives for the Infernos. He took us under his wing and gave a way for our grandmother to live comfortably. It would have been any one of us… shit just hurts.”

Havoc placed the umbrella into my hand and walked over toward Ezra who was trying to stand tall. He wanted to be strong, but the more he stood there, and everything ran throughhis head, I could see it fall down, and the emotions enter his chest.

The minute that Havoc made it over to him, he fell into his arms and cried. “He wanted to go to college… wanted to be a fucking a social worker and followed me because I didn’t want to go… always followed behind me,” he continued to break down.

Havoc held him up and rested his chin on his head while holding one of his fellow Gods up. “Ellis wouldn’t want you blaming yourself. You ride for your brothers like no other, Ezra… you would give your own life for them, just like I would for Yasin.”

We stood to the side and allowed Ezra to have his moment. When he pulled himself together, he came and gave me a hug. “Thank you, Queen.”

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