Rebuilding Our Empire

Nevaeh Lyon

Still in Hakeem's Hospital Room

Cookie felt her blood boiling. Why was it that Hakeem was the only one who didn't understand the word 'protection'? Her nose flared as she breath heavily, trying to figure out what to say to her knucklehead son. "Keem, you better tell me you used protection and this might not be your baby," Cookie growled out. Hakeem looked at her with tremendous fear. He couldn't speak so he shook his head no. Cookie stood and started pacing the room. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. She finally turned to Hakeem and said, "You are going to get a DNA test done. I'm pretty sure with the way Eddie had her head all screwed up and I'll be damned if my son ends up taking care of another man's child." Hakeem didn't dare to argue with Cookie on this. He put himself in this position and he had to make sure that was his baby. Actually, he had to make sure that she was actually pregnant.

Tiana walked back into the room and Cookie stared her down. Hakeem had his head down, trying not to provoke his mom to doing something irrational. Cookie walked to get her purse from the side of the bed and left the room. She couldn't stand to be around Tiana for long. She walked down the hallways, looking for Lucious and trying to calm down. Once she saw him, her train of thought switched. She examined the way her husband was pacing as he held a conversation on the phone. It was a slow pace, like he was mapping something out. A feeling she knew all too well came over her. Her husband was planning someone's death and she knew exactly who's death it was.

Andre's Church

Andre talked to the Reverend about the recent events that have come about in the Lyon family. Reverend Pryce could tell that Andre was scared. He was worried about what he is going to turn into because he feels he is the reason why everything is going so wrong for his family. "Andre, you need to let go and give everything to God. Did you ever stop and think that maybe God had your family lose something so big to them, so that now they have to focus on what really matters in this world? Maybe this will bring your family together and help you heal and deal with your issues," Reverend casually tossed up the thought to Andre. Andre sat back and thought about the words just stated to him. Maybe this was his chance to be a part of the family instead of the forgotten one.

Andre's phone started to go off. He looked down, hoping it wasn't his parents calling him yet again. To his relief, it wasn't, but who was actually trying to contact him wasn't someone he would've wanted to be around either. He ignored the call and looked at the Reverend. "Maybe you're right. I have to go check on my brother. I promised I'd show up today. I'll see you later," Andre told Reverend Pryce. Once he got outside the church, his phone rang again. This time it was Jamal calling. "Hey Mal. What's up?" Andre asked nonchalantly as if their brother wasn't in the hospital. Jamal's voice conveyed extreme anger, "What's up is that no one in my family decided to contact me about my little brother getting shot! I get it, everyone thought that I should've stayed and fought for the same company that was going to take another parent from us, but I thought that I would get informed on my own brother instead of hearing it on the radio!"

It didn't strike Andre to call and make sure that Jamal knew what was going on. He assumed Cookie would've told him everything since she is always running to him anyways. Since Jamal didn't know about Hakeem, it was safe to assume that he didn't know his parents were married. No one was talking to Jamal for some strange reason, so Andre took it upon himself to spill all the beans. "Look Jamal, I thought ma or pop would've talked to you by now. But yeah, Keem was shot, he is awake now and I'm on the way to see him. I don't know if he can walk yet but I'll find out when I get there. And since you haven't heard from anyone since you left, I guess I should tell you that our parents are legally married... again." Jamal sat quietly on the phone. Yeah, he knew about Hakeem, but he wasn't expecting his parents to run off and get married like some love-struck teenagers. "Dre tell me you're messing with me man," Jamal pleaded. Andre let out a slight chuckle. If anyone knew how serious their parents' relationship was it was Jamal and judging from his reaction, it didn't appear like their relationship was at the point of marriage. "Nah brother. It's not a joke. They are married. They seem happy. I guess that's all that matters," Andre explained.