Leigh-Anne and Perrie walked hand and hand Into the hospital where her dad was.
"You think he's dead?"
"No. Don't think like that"
As they were regular visitors they were handed passes and allowed to go straight up to his room.
"Dad?" Perrie let go of her wife's hand walking over to the man.
"Yeah. I'm up."
"Is everything okay?"
"Not really."
"What's wrong."
"You know I'm not getting any better Perrie"
"Yeah. . . What does that have to do with anything? Did they give you a time?"
"not yet but I have something to ask you. It's a big favor and feel free to say no but it's my only wish"
"I'm not going to kill you"
"Not that."
"Then what?"
"You have a baby sister." Leigh-Anne looked up at her wife when she heard this.
"Umm okay"
"I need you to take care of her please."
"Dad, I'm not ready for that type of responsibility. I don't even have a job. I'm still in school. I just learned how to take care of myself"
"How old is she?" Leigh-Anne asked.
"Two, she turns three next year in June."
"Leigh-Anne, We're not ready"
"How do we know if we don't try?"
"We're not ready. I'm always at school you're always at work, we're barely home."
"I can work from home or ask my parents to watch her from time to time"
"That's not fair to them, Leigh."
Leigh-Anne was never a really big fan of children but she promised herself that if the opportunity came that she would take it. Amina and Jamie changed her life and she wanted to do it for someone else when she got the chance. Now was the chance but she didn't realize how selfish she was being. She wanted to take care of a child to make herself feel better about making it a full circle.
"I can take a break from work, Pez. Besides I hate being home all alone when you're at school and now I can have a baby. She's still young."
"Leigh-Anne"
"Come on, it's his dying wish. She deserves to grow up with a family. Doesn't she?"
Perrie nodded. She wasn't ready for this change. But Leigh-Anne managed to talk her way into taking in a two year old.
-
"Mommy?" Leigh-Anne whispered into the phone, it was about four in the morning.
"Leigh-Anne, it better be an emergency"
"It is. Um. I have a baby here with me and she's sick. I don't know what to do"
"Sick, how? What baby?"
"I don't know. I don't know what I'm doing I need help. Can you please come help me"
"Leigh-Anne"
"Please. I don't want to wake Perrie, she has finals tomorrow."
"You're ridiculous. You don't need to have kids until you're thirty. Let this be your lesson" Amina got dressed driving twenty minutes to her daughter's house.
She didn't knock because she had a key. She walked into her house.
"Put this up. Why do you even have it out. There is a child in this house. What is wrong with you."
"It's not loaded" Leigh-Anne came into the living room bouncing the toddler.
"It doesn't matter. Go put it away, now. She could hurt herself." Leigh-Anne didn't think about that. She grabbed the solid gold pistol off the table putting it into a drawer in the kitchen.
"What is her name? How old is she?"
"Jessica but we call her Jesy because Jessica is not a name for a toddler it's weird. She's two I don't know what's wrong with her. She hasn't been eating and she's warm. I found this rash on her." The child held Leigh-Anne's finger as she tried to keep her eyes open.
"Where?"
"Her chest and back."
"Go get the thermometer and some baby wipes." Amina instructed taking Jesy from Leigh-Anne.
"I don't know why your mama left you with her." Amina cooed quietly gently rocking Jesy.
Leigh-Anne came back with the thermometer and wipes.
"Does she speak?"
"Uh no. Do kids even speak at two?"
"Were you speaking at two?"
"I don't know"
She checked Jesys temperature which wasn't too high. She took the child's clothes off and began to wipe her down with the cool wipes before checking her temperature again. It went down a little bit.
"Dress her in light clothes and make sure you give her lots of fluids Leigh."
"Okay. Would you like some tea or something?"
"That would be great. I'll take chamomile with milk. Thank you."
Leigh-Anne made her mother the tea and the woman went up to the guest room. She was trying to decide if she wanted to tell her mother that Jesy was kind of their child or wait. She told her mother everything but she had some questions of her own. She warmed some milk for Jesy and carried her upstairs.
"Mommy"
"I know you're not sleep"
"What do you want."
"Rude. I have a few questions. Firstly, do you know when my dad is coming home?"
"He has about six more years"
"I thought it was five"
"No. Six"
"Can you get him out. I miss him. Don't you?"
"I do Leigh-Anne but it's not that easy. What about my conscience? He lives an illegal lifestyle. He commits crimes on the daily."
"But. . . He's a good guy"
"He's not a good guy Leigh-Anne. He's a great Husband and an excellent father but he's not a good guy. He can't expect me to get him off everytime. I have a big case against the department of Justice that I'm preparing for. I'm worrying about all the people of color that are wrongly prosecuted. Especially the black men and women who are innocent and sitting in jail. Some serving life sentences and some on death row for something that they didn't do. I know you miss your dad baby but I've got bigger fish to fry right now. Once I finish with my supreme court case I will do my best to get him out. "
"Why can't Sairah do it?"
"Do what?"
"Get daddy out"
"She's still in school. She's not ready for such a high profile case. She needs more experience. I will try when I can Leigh."
"I know but. . . I need my dad."
"For what? It better not be anything gang related. I told you I don't want you associating with him and his crew. You told me you didnt want to finish school, I said fine. You wanted to do your little thing with your friends. I said whatever but this is where I draw the line. You're doing to get yourself killed. Your father and uncle have been doing this since they were children. You're doing it because you think it's fun. This is a lifestyle that you're not cut out for"
"Yes I am!"
"You're not. You need to take yourself back to school. I've been trying to be nice about it because I want you to do what makes you happy but I won't allow this anymore. Perries calling me, crying and worried because you don't come home until three and four in the morning. You shouldn't have her home alone worried like that."
"Goodnight"
Leigh-Anne left the room before Amina could say anything else. She was making her mad. She pulled on her jacket and left.
-
". . .The nerve. She said I'm not cut out for this and all this other bullshit. I've been doing this shit since I was little. Before I even met her and my dad. My birth mother was a fucking Crack head. I've been working with my dad since I was twelve." Leigh-Anne vented to her bestfriends.
"She didn't mean it like that."
"Yes she did"
"No she didn't. I think she said what she said about Perrie is how she felt. Late nights she was worried about your dad and now you're doing the same thing to Perrie" Claude sat down in the chair in front of Leigh-Anne's desk.
"I think she's upset because she's done everything to keep you and Sairah safe and away from Jamie's lifestyle and now this. To be fair Leigh-Anne, I know you don't want to hear this but Amina gives you everything you want and all she asks in return is that you go back to school."
"Its not that simple Brenda. She wants me to go to school and forget about all of this. It's not much but I built this, From the ground up. I have an organization. I treat all my members with respect and they all see benefits. I take care of them. There are minors working for me and I take care of them. She doesn't see any of that she just sees me wanting to be a hard gangbanger and that's not what this is."
"That's true but Leigh-Anne you do have violent tendencies and when we have trades you shoot people when-"
"Shut up!"
"Shut up! Get out. Go work with my mom since you two are up her ass all of a sudden. Get the fuck out!"
"Leigh-Anne come on"
Leigh-Anne opened her door slamming it when they left out. She wasn't going to put up with all this questioning. She's going to do what she wants to Do.
She covers everything from Prostitution, organized trade, trafficking, drugs and even hit orders on good days. She has been doing good too. She's sitting on millions of dollars, doing a little more than the bare minimum.