Page 37 of Quasim III: King Inferno

“Speaking of the baby… I had Ramos reach out to a colleague of his that is an OBGYN. She’s gonna come to check you and the baby out,” Hassan stood in the doorway.

He was dressed in his scrubs, which meant he had just come from work. Although he took time away, he eventually had to return. “I don’t want to know anything without him, Hassan.” My voice cracked.

“That’s fair… I just need to know for my mental that everything checks out with the baby, Blair. You can’t ignore your pregnancy because he’s not awake. I know Sim, and I know he would want you taking better care of yourself and not stressing out because of him. B, every baby is a blessing, but this one that you’re carrying is the biggest blessing to King and us Gods.”

I folded my arms. “How does anyone expect me to eat, sleep, and thrive when there’s a chance that all of this could be over within seconds. There’s that chance that he won’t wake up and I have to make the tough decision to end his life. How am I supposed to suck down a steak and go on with life… I’m really trying, Hassan. I promise I am.”

He removed himself from the doorway and walked into the room, extending his arms. I hugged him, as he rubbed my back while I sucked up the tears before Elijah came back. Life was so unfair, and now I had to think about not one, but two kids.

Elijah needed me, and this baby did, too. How could I go on if Quasim was taken from us? It was something that I didn’t want to think about. I actually became sick when I thought about it,so pushing it out my mind was much easier than sitting around thinking of what my new reality could be.

“Corleon got me Mercer’s schedule and the sick fuck like to shop at GoodFoods every Wednesday.”

I pulled my head back and stared at him. “Hassan, please don’t tell me that’s some code word for the freaky shit he’s into.”

My heart was already broken having to hear the trauma and pain he inflicted on Elijah. I didn’t think my heart could take anything else. “It’s an expensive ass grocery store in Jersey City. He and his wife own a condo in the same neighborhood.”

“What is the plan?”

Hassan shrugged his shoulders and took a deep breath. “Honestly, I’m just winging this shit. I can’t ignore the shit that he has done to Elijah… knowing I could have prevented what happened to that boy and he gaslit the fuck out of me about what I knew I saw… can’t ignore that shit. This is one thing that I can do for King… one thing that I can handle, so leave it in my hands and know I’m working shit out.”

“You have to be careful. Berkeley is still missing, and we don’t need you going missing, too. This is messy and a lot of powerful people are connected, Hassan. This isn’t the streets, so you need to be careful stepping into this.”

“Menace Caselli is powerful, if not more powerful than most of them. Both of his sisters are in high positions. Corleon already told me to give him the word… Menace isn’t happy that Mercer is a client of his, and he has done this shit. I’d be more worried about Mercer than me, B.”

“And Lucia?”

“Capri is going to have that meeting with Lucia… see what she has to say. We have to play this safe and wing this shit. I’m not stupid enough to think one man can take them down… I’m smart enough to know that I can take that one man down, and the people that he surrounds himself with will push him tothe front to save themselves. Lucia will sell her mother to save herself, so once she sees Mercer is going down, I can promise she won’t be a problem.”

I paced the room and ran my hand through my hair. “No loose ends.”

“Just because she won’t be a problem doesn’t mean she won’t be handled. Too much is at stake keeping her alive.”

His phone rang and he quickly answered. “Yeah… stop fucking with me. Fuck… shit… I’m on my way.”

“What happened?”

“B, that body they found was fucking Berkeley.” He dropped his head and ran his hand through his locs.

My heart dropped to my toes when he looked over at the breaking news that came across the screen, interrupting the daytime talk show that had been on previously.

“We’re back with a heartbreaking update from the scene this morning in Red Hook. Authorities have now confirmed that the victim discovered earlier this morning is Media News journalist, Berkeley Tate. This is still a developing story, but emotions are running high here at the scene. Just moments ago, Tate’s family arrived, and as you can likely hear behind me, her mother is overcome with grief. Investigators remain on site, piecing together what led to this tragic loss. We’ll continue to follow this story closely and bring you the latest updates as they become available. Stay with us.”

I lowered my head and prayed for Berkeley and her family. She didn’t deserve what had been done to her.

God, protect her family.

Quincy ‘Red’ Deville

Tossingthe keys on the counter, I kicked my sneakers off and yawned. I’ve been on go since Polo put the pieces in motion. I allowed him to think he put all of this into motion because my plan was to remain neutral with my brother and make him believe I wanted to fix things before my early departure from this earth.

With both Quasim and Quameer down, I knew he was somewhere spiraling because his precious psychopaths were now sat down, one of them possibly permanently. Quameer, I could live with, though he was just as touched as his brother and father.

It was Quasim that needed to rest in dirt. As much as Papa taught his boys the game, Quasim had morphed into something different. Fear didn’t exist when it came to that man, and he proved it when he dismantled common grounds. Sent the cities in a spiral, and everyone was trying to get their lick back for shit that happened years prior.

Polo had told me that Quasim was dead, but I needed to hear it from my brother. Since he hadn’t made a call or a visit, I knew it couldn’t have been true. Papa was good at hiding his emotions and being cold. With his son dead, it would be nearly impossiblefor him to remain neutral and cold. The cracks would start to show because he loved his boys.

“Baby, where you at?” I knew my wife was home because her truck was parked in the driveway.

---