Zailia

Forty-six

Akeem 'Reaper' Jones

I sat down and listened to Zari repeat the events of her running into Zailia at the supermarket.

Zailia Harvey was supposed to be dead.

I had mourned her death for six fucking months only to now come to the realization that her so called death had only been a ruse with James being the executioner and my father being the mastermind behind it all.

He could've taken anything else away from me and I would not even miss it for a second but in reality, she had been the only thing that had been worth more than my life and he knew that.

Could it have been just a coincidence or was it merely just luck?

Was God granting this poor sinner his heart's desire?

Every day that I had wished to see her walk through the door and smile.

Every single tear I had shed.

Every single day that I had begged God to take me instead and bring her back but it was real life and I knew such things only happened in movies and in books.

But she was alive and had been all these six torturous months with a baby but whose baby was it?

I would kill him for laying his dirty fucking hands on her.

No wonder Senior hadn't made a fuss when I had told him that I was coming back to Town to live.

"Yuh sure seh a Zailia yuh si?" I was brought out of my thoughts by Xave asking the question I had asked when we walked into the house and she had blurted it out.

"She put on likkle weight yes but mi know mi sister Xave suh yes a she mi si."

"An she did ave a baby wid her?"

"Yes." She looked at me before she spoke again. "She looks just like Akeem." Could she have been pregnant again but we didn't know?

That would explain her having a baby that favoured me.

"And the woman she was with?"

"I didn't get a chance to take her picture before they put on the hats but I got a picture of their license plate so hopefully unnu can find some information."

"Link speaks an mek him run di plates dem." I told Xave and Zari gave him her phone. He left the room and I drew closer to her because Chelsea and Dia didn't know. I didn't want to get their hopes up, especially Chelsea because what if we were wrong and Zari had been mistaken but I still asked the question that was on my mind. "How she look?"

"She looked tired." The aching in my heart returned and if not for that sometimes I forgot that I was alive because I had been running on autopilot since that day.

"Mi si James yesterday."

"What? How?" She asked in complete shock as she scooted closer to me. "Tell me?"

"Mi guh duh a job fi di old bwoy an mi si him." I saw the look in her eyes change when I mentioned a job. "It wasn't to kill anybody Zari."

"Oh good."

"Yeah but mi did so confused cause y mi father ave mi a drop smthn tuh a man weh him know mi afta an y him a duh business wid my enemy?" Senior was really a two faced fucking demon because he had taught me growing up that his enemies were my enemies and vice versa. "Smthn a gwaan an mi need fi get tuh di start a it suh mi can end it but Senior betta hope seh him deh pan di right side a dis or all hell aguh bruck loose."

"Yuh think it connected tuh yuh father?"

"Mi nuh know enuh Z." While it felt good to have somewhat of a lead, we had to think of the possibilities that it might not have been Zailia that she had seen. "Yuh know wi might wrong bout dis right?"