Sapphire Westlock
I wake up to Jah's breathes getting heavy against my chest and his body moving around uncomfortably.
"Jah? Jah" I call out and he wakes up with a sad look. "Nightmares, again?" I say defeatedly. "Yeah. They came back a couple days ago but I woke up quickly" he buries his head into my neck and tries to sleep again.
We both drift off until Nile starts crying. "Fucking hell" I mumble and tap his head, telling him to get up. I was asleep on the couch and Nile was in his stroller, on the kitchen table.
I turn the light on and give him a tired look which stops his crying. "You such an attention whore, Nile" I laugh, heating up a glass of milk.
"Jah, where's your pen?" I ask. "In my coat pocket" he mumbles with his head in the couch cushion. I get the glass out of the microwave and concoct his food.
I go back over and pick him up, sticking the bottle in his mouth and rocking him back and forth slowly. "Nile I have school. You can be waking me up like this" I sigh and he smiles at me.
"You have no teeth lil boy. You should stop doing that" I laugh and stick the bottle back in his mouth. He falls back asleep halfway through me feeding him and I place him back down.
I get Jah's pen and hit it a couple times so I can go back to sleep.
"Sapphire?" my dad calls me, waking me up. "Oh. Hi Dad" I hug him. "Hi baby. Where's the infant? I'm taking him to Ms. Florence's house" he asks.
"Wait, no. I can take care of him. I swear" I nod and he laughs a little. "Yeah, Jah told me he's a little attached to you" my dad laughs and Jah peeks his head out of the dining room, holding Nile.
"I'll tell you what kiddo, you can see him everyday before and after school. He can even sleep here. Ms. Florence and I work at an office building with daycare and I can take him home from there. Sound good?" he asks and I get excited and nod.
"Yes yes yes! Thank you Dad!" I hug him tightly and he laughs a little. "It's a big responsibility, Sapphire. Are you sure you can handle it?" he asks and I nod. "Okay. It's just temporary until his mom comes back" he reassures me and I nod again.
Jah hands the baby and towel to me. "He throwing up again?" I ask and he nods. I place him gently on my shoulder and tap his back until he lets out the smallest burp.
I wiggle my finger in Nile's face and he grabs it with his whole hand. "Alright baby, I gotta go to work" he reaches for Nile and I hold him closer to me. "Right now?" I ask and he nods.
"Okay. He likes his milk warm and he will cry if he doesn't get enough attention. Usually that's the reason he cries unless he has to burp or he's hungry or something. He laughs at people's faces so if you want him to go to sleep you have to cover his eyes or give him a bottle. And he hates Teyanna" I kiss him on the forehead and hand him to my dad.
"That's a lot to learn in two days" my dad observes and smiles at me. "I guess so" I shrug and Jah sits next to me.
"Okay. I'm out. Have a good day you two" he waves and exits the house with Nile's car seat. "Think you can handle a single second away from him?" Jah asks and leans in. "Maybe" I smile and kiss him twice.
"I had fun last night" he smiles and I agree. I lean up to look at the digital clock in the kitchen and see we have to go to school in a couple hours.
"I'll see you later?" he asks and I nod, kissing him one more time. He leaves too, which leaves me alone with no Nile, and no boyfriend.
I get off the couch and climb up the stairs so I can get ready but I end up crashing on my bed for fifteen minutes.
I get up again and put on some sweats before Teyanna opens the door to my room. "I'm so tired" I rasp. "I bet. Babies be cryin all through the night. Speaking of, where's your son at?" she asks and sits next to me on the bed.
"He's with my dad. He's going to daycare" I mumble and put my head into a pillow. "Well damn. Unfortunately, we have to cut the conversation short cause I have to pick up the twins. Let's go" she starts dragging me out of my room and into her car.
"Can we get coffee" I ask and spread out in the very back seat. "Yeah I gotchu. After we pick up the twins tho" she starts driving and I fall asleep.
"Jah, wake her up" I hear Destiny say. Jah taps me until I wake up. "Whatchu want from Dunkin?" he asks and I give him my order.
"Come sit with me" he taps the seat next to him and I shake my head. Jah climbs out of his seat and sits in the one next to me.
We get to school together and Destiny runs off with Zion. "She's beyond whipped" I laugh and Teyanna nods. "Is that Kooda?" Jah asks and point over to him walking with Dia. She runs over there and Jah grabs my hand.
"What's wrong?" he asks and I shake my head. "Nothing. I'm just really tired" I yawn and he wraps his arm around my shoulder.
"You wanna dip?" he asks and I look over at him. "I can't. My dad checks attendance" I sigh and put my head on his shoulder as we walking towards the A building.
"I'll see you next period" he kisses my forehead and runs off. I'm almost to the door of my building when someone pushes me from behind.
I turn around to see Skylar, with a mug on her face. I know Teyanna's already in class, so I have to be the messy one and handle this.
"If you have a problem, say it to my face" I cross my arms as a little crowd of students surrounds us.
"You're such a bitch. You made me loose all my friends just because Jah got into your pants" she suggests and I laugh in her face. "You obviously have zero clue what you're talking about and it shows" I laugh and turn back around.
She pushes me again and the door handle hits my stomach. I turn around and push her down the stairs. "OH SHIT" the crowd says and I look over to the one who was recording.
I roll my eyes and walk to class.
The next period, I'm getting weird looks and everyone is looking at their phone and pointing at me. Teyanna runs up to me with Destiny. "Bitch! You pushed that hoe down the stairs?" Teyanna asks and shows me the video.
"Uh. Yeah she pushed me. I didn't know the stairs were behind her I just pushed her back" I lie and Destiny starts laughing.
"She went tumbling" Tey laughs and I try to contain mine. Jah walks up and grabs my hand, pulling me away from both of them. "The fuck is wrong with you bae? I told you not to fight ha" he says and I shrug.
"She pushed me for no reason and then said that I took all her friends because you wanted to get in my pants" I tell him and his face goes straight.
"How the fuck does that even make sense? Triflin' ass bitch" he facepalms. "I know, right!" I agree and we go into our classroom.
"Sapphire?" my teacher stops me just as I was going to sit down. "They need you in the principal's office" he hands me a pass and I walk back out the door.
I go to student services in the A building and one of the student aids points towards a door at the end of the hall. I walk in and Skylar is sitting there with bruises all over her face.
"Ms. Westlock, please sit down" the principal says and points to the seat next to her. I sit down and he explains the no tolerance policy for violence.
"Since you did react violently Ms. Westlock, we're going to have to temporarily suspend you from campus" he nods and I roll my eyes.
"I'm not just gonna sit there and do nothing if someone attacks me for no particular reason" I shrug.
"Yes, that why Skylar will be getting a longer suspension that stays on her record. You won't. I can call your guardian if you have no means of travel to go home. You both are dismissed." he shoos us out of his office and Skylar scowls me and leaves.
I get out of student services and Jah is standing there with mine and his backpack. I smile and go over to him, grabbing my backpack.
"You got suspended?" he asks and I nod. My dad starts calling me. "Oh hell. Hey Dad" I greet him. "Hello Daughter. I heard you pushed a girl down the stairs?" he asks and I laugh nervously.
"Yeah, but she pushed me first for no reason so she had it coming" I shrug. "True. Alright, I won't be mad if you come and get this baby. He's been giving the workers in the daycare a hard time" he says.
"Alright. We're on our way" I say. "Who's we? Jah?" he asks and I say yes. "Okay. See you in a second" he hangs up.
We both take an uber to his house to pick up his car.
"Hi, are you Sapphire?" A small latina woman asks me, holding Nile in her arms.
He was crying, almost choking on tears. "Oh my god. Give him to me" I say and she hands Nile to me. I fix the little blanket he's always wrapped in and he stops crying.
"Why you giving them a hard time? Huh Nile" I ask and he starts giggling. "I'm sorry. He just really like attention" I laugh and she reassures me that it's fine. "Is that your son?" she smiles at me and I shake my head.
"Let's go?" Jah asks, coming behind me. "Oh is this your son?" the little latina lady asks. "Nah. My friend's. Let's go Sapphire" he turns me around and we head towards the door.
Nile starts clapping and I smile at him, tickling his face. "Here, hold him for a second" I hand him to Jah and look in my backpack for his toy. I find the colorful rattle and wave it in his face.
"You really love that baby huh?" Jah asks, getting into the drivers seat. I nod and put my seatbelt on.
We go back to my townhouse and I place Nile on the ground for tummy time. He immediately starts crying but I ignore him.
Someone knocks on the door. I start walking over but Jah stops me. He looks in the peephole and cusses to himself. "Hammer, the fuck are you doing here" he says, opening the door.
Nile was still crying so I pick him up from tummy time and wipe his tears. "I'm sorry" I whisper and kiss his cheek. "Is that Isiah baby?" Hammer asks, coming into the house.
"Yeah. I named him Nile" I hand him to Hammer and he surprisingly stays calm. "Aye folk he look just like Isiah" he says, rocking him a little.
Nile starts crying and reaching out to me so Hammer hands him back. "Oh he don't like me" he says. "Nah, he just hungry" I laugh and take him into the kitchen.
"Cousin, why you here?" Jah asks in a low voice but I can still hear him. I start making Nile's milk while listening to them.
"G, Isiah snitched" Hammer whispers and Jah cusses out loud. "What is we finna do foe?" Jah asks. "I don't know. Get a lawyer though. And I have your money from that job you did a couple weeks ago" Hammer says and pulls out a stack of money.
"All four?" Jah asks and Hammer reassures him before walking out the door. "I gotta go to New York soon bae" Jah sighs. "You're running?" I ask, my voice breaking.
"I'm not running, Sapphire. I have to talk to my uncle. Face to face" he says and picks up his coat.
"You have to go right now?" I ask and he nods. "Please, let me come with you Jah" I beg and Jah sighs. "It's not only affecting you. You have to think about me and Kooda. We're both involved and know what's going on" I yell at him.
"Get your shit. And hurry the fuck up. We can leave Nile with Destiny so grab his shit too" he says and shoos me up the stairs.
I hand Nile and his car seat to Jah and run upstairs to pack. My phone starts ringing and I look over at it. 'Mom is calling you' "Fuck" I cuss and put her on speaker phone. "What do you want, Mom" I snap at her. "Oh, my baby. I'm so sorry. I'm so, so, sorry" she cries and I roll my eyes.
"We can talk later if you do a favor for me" I say and she agrees. "Tell Dad I'm going home for a while because we smoothed things out. And I'm leaving tonight" I say and hang up on her.
I pack two weeks worth of clothes and go downstairs where Nile is crying. "Give him" I unstrap him from the car seat and hold him until he stops crying.
"Are you ready?" Jah asks. He had just gotten off the phone. I sling my backpack onto my shoulder and nod. "I'm bringing Nile" I look down at him and Jah shrugs.
"I don't care. Let's just please go. The flight leaves in two hours. I get into his car and we drive back to his house.
Detective Joshua Cruz
"Amanda, what's the update on the Atlanta case? The one with the man with the kid?" I ask one of my uniformed officers.
"Our surveillance found Kenzo McCoy at an unnamed suspect's home less than three hours ago" she hands me a file with pictures of a kid opening the door.
"Who is this?" I point to the kid who's seen opening the door and Amanda hands me another file. "His name is Jahbari Micheals. He lives a couple blocks over. He lives with his stepsister, Destiny and his stepfather" she says.
"Hm. Who's house is this" I ask. "Alexander Westlock. He has a daughter named Sapphire Westlock. Jahbari, Sapphire, and Destiny all go to school together so I'm guessing they're dating" she says and hands me another picture.
It was a picture of a teenager girl holding a baby. "She has a child?" I ask and Amanda shakes her head. "That's Isiah Warnar's child. The one we took in" she nods and I stare at the photo.
"Where's Becca?" I ask. "Becca Warnar" she asks back and I nod. "She's off the grid. We can't find her anywhere. She left her child at Kenzo's office" Amanda says and I nod.
"Bring the kid in. And the girl" I wave her off but she stay standing at my desk. "What?" I question.
"They were seen leaving the state half an hour ago" she says lowly and I slam my fists on my desk.
"Shit. Where did they go?" I ask and she tells me New York City. "We also have a picture of him at Hammer's office thirty minutes before Amir Florian's suspected time of death" she says.
"Amanda, once they come back, I want you to bring them in. Do you understand?" I ask and she nods. "Watch Kenzo's office. He's the target. Okay?" she nods again and walks out.
A/N: hey yall 👋🏾
if u a lil confused hammer real name is kenzo
these chapters gettin a lil heateddddd
got some plot twists otw 😏