Page 83 of Quasim III: King Inferno

She stood with her phone to her ear, as the one with golds in his mouth stood behind her, towering over her.

I was starting to believe that Detective Hill wasn’t who she said she was, and now I had to deal with the fact that I may lose my job because I allowed myself to crack under immense pressure.

Blair

Graduation scene

Recommendation: Listen To Came Too Far by Fridayy

“Yeah, Aimee! Yeah!” Cappadonna’s large hands echoed through our ears as he clapped and roared, while the graduates walked out to be seated.

“Look at mommy, Ror… you see mommy… Go, Aim!” Capella hollered out while cheering his wife on. “She fucking earned this shit.”

I rubbed his back as he was locked in on his wife. You could see how proud he was of her, and how much Rory was excited to be cheering his mother on.

“Grasshopper, Geeky!” Corleon hollered behind his brother while he held Estella up and she clapped, wearing the same mini version of her mother’s cap and gown.

“Mommy gets to wear her jacket!” Estella hollered right along with everyone else.

Jeffie was clapping and crying at the same time, as she stared at Skyler walking to her seat. She blew a kiss at them and then did a light sprint to keep up to get to her seat.

“Don! Whew! Don!” I turned when I heard Zoya screaming along with Stevie.

Menace, always so quiet and observant, clapped his hands. If I didn’t know any better, I could see a sparkle in his eyes, and he wanted to cry. “He did exactly what you asked… be prepared to open that trust fund up for him.” Zoya joked with her brother.

“Who invited Zenon, Wonder?”

Zoya reached across his wife and swatted him. “You not about to be treating me like Greene! Super nova, bitch.”

Stevie broke out into singing one of the songs from the Disney movie while both Zoya and her brother stared at her. “What? Don’t act like you don’t like that song… whatever… call your sister because she wants us to do facetime when he does his speech.”

Menace went into his pocket and handed her a ginger candy. “You alright?”

She smiled and looked at his hands, which were clasped together tightly. “I am, and you are too… you got him over that stage for the second time… relax.”

As the words left her mouth, you could see his shoulders relax as she put her hands into his. I turned back around and watched as everyone was finally seated. Cherry was fast asleep on her father as he sat beside me.

Capri was running late because she had to go into work today. Since Mercer had been arrested, everything had been busy. Although the case was federal, they were working hand in hand with the DA’s office to make sure their evidence was correct.

I was trying to figure out if she had told her husband that she was with child. Meer wasn’t acting like he knew. Had he known,he would have been walking around here screaming it to the world. She was keeping it to herself for a little bit longer, which was her right.

“Mommy!” Rory screamed out while clapping his hands when Aimee blew him a kiss, and then turned back around.

Her cap was decorated with the puzzle pieces for Rory. “I’m here… I’m here,” Capri came running up the steps with those damn heels on.

Meer removed the diaper bag and puckered his lips, and she kissed them a few times before he looked her over. “You good, Sug?”

“I’m fine, Meer cat… did she just fall asleep?”

He nodded his head and leaned over and snuck a kiss on her neck. “Love you, Suga.”

She smiled. “Love you more, baby… hush, so we can see my girl walk across that stage. I made her break those heels in.”

“You the reason my wife been breaking her neck around the house all damn month.” Capella chuckled.

Aimee, Landon, and Skyler were all graduating in a winter commencement ceremony because they were graduating early. Aimee had taken accelerated classes and busted her ass. If she wasn’t home, she was in the damn books so she could graduate early.

Seeing where she came from to now was something that warmed my heart. I had tears threatening to fall looking at her, because she was the example of resilience. She had the odds stacked against her. She could have quit and became what her family thought of her.

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