Jay
"Don't be nervous, sweetheart. I'm sure it won't be anything too bad, okay?" Beyoncé told Blue while we waited for Dr. Sydney to return. She had to step out for a few minutes to consult something with another doctor so we're just chilling right now. Bey was doing any and everything possible to keep Blue calm, since she was nervous about what her doctor would tell us in a few minutes. Honestly I'm nervous as fuck too, but I'm not showing it. Bey and I gotta stay calm for the sake of our baby girl. If we're calm, she's calm. That's how it works.
"Blue, guess what?" I asked once I heard her rambling again. We were doing our best to keep her distracted but she's too damn smart to fall for our shit. Bey kept trying to talk to her about some girl group she likes and was even promising to get her tickets, but Blue wasn't having it. I don't blame my baby girl for being worried but shit, she's making me even more stressed than I already am.
Blue looked away from Bey and over at me. "What?"
"I wasn't gonna tell you this yet, but I figured now's the best time." I said shrugging. Blue looked slightly intrigued and I mentally gave myself a pat on the back. "Once they approve for you to get outta here, I'm taking you on a trip to Disney World."
"What!!!" Blue nearly yelled. Beyoncé raised her brow but I ignored her. She could yell at me later. I had to make baby girl happy right now.
"Yeah. Don't tell your brother or sisters though, it's confidential information." I winked. She happily agreed and I smiled. See? That wasn't hard.
"Sorry for the wait. Dr. André is one of our new hires and I had to explain something to him." Dr. Sydney apologized as she walked back into the room.
"It's fine." Bey told her. She sat up and so did Blue. "I don't mean to rush you, but can we please discuss what's been going on with my baby?"
Dr. Sydney nodded quickly. "Of course." She smiled. She held up her clipboard and started flipping brought it. "I want to begin by assuring you that Blue isn't carrying any diseases, which we're all very grateful for. I even ran another series of tests just to be sure." She informed us.
"Thank God." Beyoncé whispered. I nodded in agreement.
"What's causing the pain, though, is some internal damage mainly located towards her cervix, which is severely bruised. There also seems to be some mildly severe damage to her fallopian tubes. When we checked earlier this week the area was still inflamed, so we weren't able to see as much as we are now. But now I can confirm that this is what's causing the pain." Dr. Sydney explained. "We're going to prescribe you some medication that should help lessen the pain as you recover. If you aren't feeling a difference in the next two or three days we'll look into other options."
"Okay. But what does all this mean?" Blue asked quickly. Beyoncé and I both looked at her with a frown. We could tell she was getting upset again. Shit.
Dr. Sydney sighed. "Well, sweetheart, it means there's a 99% chance you won't be able to carry a child full term. Your cervix is weakened, which means there's a bigger chance that any pregnancy you have will result in a miscarriage." She said softly. I closed my eyes after hearing Bey gasp and took a deep breath. Fuck.
"What?" Blue said shakily. "I- I can't have kids?"
I shook my head and felt my leg bouncing up and down as I got angrier. I wanted to kill that nigga. He better be thanking the fucking devil that his ass is already dead. I would've killed his ass in the worst way possible.
"I'm afraid not, honey." Dr. Sydney said apologetically. "But of course there's always other options, if you're interested in having children in the future." She added quickly. I took the chance to open my eyes and look over at Beyoncé and Blue. Bey had Blue in her arms, and it looked like she was crying. I couldn't see her face but I still got mad as hell.
"Imma be back." I mumbled and stood up. I ignored Beyoncé's questions and stormed out of the room. I couldn't listen to her talk about Blue being raped anymore. I physically couldn't. Anytime she talked about the damage I saw red and had the urge to throw up. It upset me too fucking much to hear it again.
Now Blue can't have kids because of this shit. Fuck this. I don't know how, but imma get that nigga back. I don't give a fuck if he's dead, I'm getting him back.
On my life I will.
*****
Jeremiah
9:45pm
"Blue or yellow. Or maybe red. Shit I don't know." I frowned at the box of popsicles sitting in the freezer and groaned loudly. I was craving a popsicle but I ain't know what flavor I wanted.
After a few more seconds I shrugged and grabbed a red one. It really took me a whole three minutes to decide what kind of popsicle I wanted but oh well. I'm lucky my grandma ain't here or she would've beat my ass for keeping the freezer open that long. Talking about "letting all the cold air out" like the food is gonna go bad if the door is open for a couple minutes. I mean I guess.
But thankfully my man Richard took her and Brooklyn out to dinner tonight, so I don't have to worry about her watching every little thing I'm doing. I can chill cause I've got the place to myself. Well, minus Bella, but she's been hiding out in her room so I'm not really counting her presence. She's still pissed at me and I don't blame her. I lost my shit earlier. I'm not justifying me putting my hands on her cause that ain't cool, but in my defense I did warn her, she just doesn't listen. But regardless I still feel bad and I really tried to apologize to her but she wasn't here for my shit. Imma just have to give her time I guess. And pray to our good Lord that she doesn't tell our parents, cause then my ass is really done for. It doesn't matter what the situation is, my parents take violence serious as fuck. Trust me, I know I was in the wrong, but I don't think I deserve a punishment as severe as the one they'd give me.
Give a brother some mercy, I'm going through it right now aight?
I hobbled over to the island and took a seat on one of the bar stools. I popped my popsicle in my mouth and opened up Snapchat on my phone. I fucking hated this new update, but it wasn't gonna stop me from using the app. Honestly I haven't even posted on my story in some weeks, obviously I've been dealing with some shit, but I still like to keep up with everyone else. Especially Madison, cause she likes to mess around with other niggas too much. I know she ain't officially my girl, but she is carrying my baby, and I don't want my child around these broke ass niggas. Whether she's still in the womb or not, it doesn't matter to me. I'm not trying to control her or anything cause that's not my place, I just don't like that shit.
I laughed at a few of my boys' snaps and slid up on some others before closing out the app and locking my phone. I set it down on the counter while I got up to throw away the popsicle wrapper. I finished that hoe quick. I wasn't even that hungry either, but that popsicle was hella good. I'm ain't even mad.
"Damn I gotta pee now." I mumbled to myself. I don't know what popsicles have to do with my bladder, but every time I eat them I gotta pee. Yeah I know, it don't make sense to me either. But hey, when Mother Nature calls, it calls.
I left the kitchen and headed to the closest bathroom to handle my business. I did what I had to do before washing my hands and checking myself out in the mirror for a second before walking out. Even though I was a little cut up, I still looked good.
"The fuck?" I froze. I was heading back to the kitchen when I heard something shatter. Like glass, or something real similar. But I knew it couldn't be a vase or plates or some shit because nobody was here except me and Bella. And Bella's upstairs.
I moved quickly to the foyer because that's where the nearest staircase was and I climbed up a few steps before stopping. I needed to make sure I wasn't just hearing shit before I did something, because sometimes that happens. I think I hear or see something when it's actually just my head being dumb. I swear to God I heard glass shattering though. Ain't no way I could make that up. It was too clear.
"Oh shit." I said after hearing it again. The hell was going on?
I quietly ran up the stairs and made a right after reaching the top. I had to get to Bella, and I was praying to god she wouldn't start cussing me out all loud and shit. If someone's breaking in our house, I doubt they know exactly who's home right now. Maybe if we hide quick then there won't be any proof we were ever here, right?
I bolted down the hallway and walked into Bella's room without even knocking. She was chilling at her desk, typing something on her laptop while playing SZA's album through her speakers. It was loud, but not loud enough to be heard from downstairs. I didn't waste any time turning it off anyways.
She turned around fast. "What the hell?"
"Shhh." I quickly shut her door and walked over to her desk fast as hell. I needed to explain everything before she started cussing. "I know you're pissed as fuck at me but please just listen to me right now B. I think someone's breaking in and we gotta hide."
Bella stared at me with a blank expression for a few seconds. "What?"
"Bella, someone is in this house." I rushed out. She wasn't moving and that was pissing me off but I stayed calm. "We gotta hide. Now."
She frowned for a second but chuckling and shaking her head. "Yeah, ok. Someone's breaking in but our thousand dollar alarm system didn't go off. Sounds legit." She nodded. She tried turning back around but I quickly grabbed her chair.
"Bella I'm not fucking playing." I snapped, looking her dead in the eye. "I don't know why the fuck the alarm didn't go off but do you wanna fucking die? Because I swear to God somebody is in this house right now that shouldn't be. Can you not be stubborn for once and just listen to me, shit."
"Oh my God." She muttered. I guess she's realizing this is real and I'm not messing around. Great.
"Come on. We gotta hide."
Bella got up and followed me out of her room. My plan was for us to hide in our mom's closet because she has a hidden room in there, and you wouldn't be able to find it unless you knew it was there. The only struggle would be making it there before we got caught, if we got caught.
"Hold up, hold up." I whispered and held out my hand so Bella would stop moving. We were standing at the top of the staircase right above the foyer with a perfect view. We could see the back of the house, which is where I'm 90% sure the glass breaking came from. My guess is that someone broke in through the kitchen or dining room, since there's hella windows in there.
"I don't think standing here is exactly the best idea." Bella whisper-yelled.
"I'm just trying to see if anyone's down there. Maybe they left." I whispered back. We stood still for a few more seconds before we heard voices. As in not one voice, but TWO or THREE. Fuck.
"There's more than one?" Bella hissed. I looked at her face and saw her eyes getting glossy. Shit, I can't deal with crying right now.
"Come on." I grabbed Bella's hand and we bolted to our parents' room. I closed their door behind us but didn't lock it because that would be too obvious. The idea is for these people to assume nobody's home. If I go around locking doors then it's obvious somebody's trying to hide. Get what I'm saying?
"Where's the little door again?" I asked Bella. I waited a few seconds for a response and looked back at her when she didn't respond. "Bella? Where's the door?"
"What door?!" She yelled. I shushed her real quick and looked at her like she was fucking psycho. Did she want us to die? Shit.
"The little door that's in here. You know what I'm talking about? It has that hidden room. We gotta get in there." I said fast. We had to hide first and then we could panic. But there wasn't time for panicking right now. We gotta stay focused.
"Jeremiah, I don't know what you're talking about." Bella said with tears in her eyes. I heard the knot in her throat and knew she was about to start crying. "I didn't know a hidden room was in here."
"What?" I looked around the closet quick and couldn't find it either. What the fuck? I know I didn't make that shit up. "I don't understand. There was a hidden room, Blue's the one that showed me it. It was when I first moved in and–" I paused. I stood up slowly and looked at Bella. "Holy fuck. That room was in our old house. I got them mixed up."
Now it was time to panic.
"We're gonna die. Holy shit. We're gonna die." I started pacing and rubbing my head at the same time. It was taking my literal all not to start crying.
"We haven't even called the police yet!" Bella cried quietly. I stopped pacing and looked at her. Shit, how fucking dumb can I be?
"Okay, calm down. I have my phone, I'll call them." I said and Bella nodded. I started feeling around the pockets on my sweatpants and froze when I remembered I left my phone on the kitchen island.
"What are you doing?" Bella asked. I took a deep breath and shook my head.
"I don't have my phone."
"You WHAT?!"
"Isabella, do you want us to fucking die? Because you keep yelling like you do." I hissed. She mumbled an apology while I tried to control my breathing. "My phone is downstairs. I set it down when I went to the bathroom."
Bella nodded and leaned back against the wall. "Awesome. I don't have mine either. It's sitting on my bed."
"B–"
"Don't." She shook her head while chuckling. She was laughing and crying simultaneously and it wasn't helping my own anxiety. "This is golden. I don't know what we're going to do now."
"Look, all we have to do is make it back your room, right? It won't be hard. We just have to be quiet and careful and–"
"Jeremiah, they could be up here already." Bella snapped, standing up straight. "We don't know where those people are or what they're capable of. They could be anywhere. We can't just go wandering around the house assuming they're not armed and dangerous. I'm sure if they have the balls to break into this big ass mansion assuming we would have some hi-tech alarm system, then I'm sure they have the balls to shoot us if they see us. Let's think with our heads here."
I slumped because she was right.
"Fuck." I rubbed my face.
"Yeah." Bella agreed. We looked at each other for a second before she started shaking her head again. "I don't understand why this shit keeps happening to us." She whispered.
"Me neither." I mumbled. She started crying again and I fought off the tears as best as I could. We can't both be in here crying. One of us gotta be strong.
"The irony." Bella laughed angrily while wiping her eyes. "I don't know why everyone wants us dead."
"It's something bigger than that." I said shaking my head. "Somebody wants revenge. I think we both know who, too."
We made eye contact and she sighed.
"Then I wish she would just kill me already and leave y'all alone." Bella said shakily. "I don't know why Gina's doing this, if it is her. She doesn't need to terrorize y'all. I'm willing to take that bullet."
"Man, don't say that." I said quickly. Bella just shrugged. "B, that ain't funny. You're not dying, and neither am I. Ma can't handle anymore of us dying, aight? We gotta live for her. We're not gonna die tonight. We just gotta be smart. Ok?"
"Ok." Bella said, but she didn't sound convinced.
"Ma and pops gotta landline in their room, right?" I asked her. She thought for a moment before nodding her head. "Ok, see? All we gotta do is make it to that phone and make the phone call. Two minutes tops. Then we come back and hide until the police get here." I told her. "It'll be easy."
"Okay." Bella blew her breath and stared up at the ceiling for a second. "Are you making the call or am I?"
"I can do it." I said quickly. "All you gotta do is listen out. If you hear something, let me know so we can get back in here aight?"
"Ok." Bella nodded. I nodded too.
"You ready?"
"No, but we don't have a choice." Bella sighed. "I have some faith in us, though. Like you said, we gotta live for mommy."
I nodded and took a deep breath. "No matter what happens, I love you ok? I don't care if we beefing right now or you're still pissed, I love you. You're my sis and imma always look out for you." I told her. Bella smiled a little.
"I love you too bro." She said. We bumped fists real quick before I grabbed the door knob.
"Aight, come on. We got two minutes."
"It's all we'll need." Bella said confidently. "We got this." She smiled.
"We do." I agreed and smiled back. We quietly walked out of the closet and quickly got down to business.
No time to waste.
*****
Beyoncé
"Mommy, your phone keeps going off." Blue said while nudging my arm. I sighed and rolled my eyes a little because I was doing my best to ignore it.
"I know. I don't know who keeps calling me." I said while climbing off her bed. Jay had gone down to the cafeteria to grab something to eat so it was just us chilling right now. We were watching some show on Disney that Blue seemed to be into. I didn't know what the hell it was though, but as long as it made her happy I didn't care. Today was rough for us and I just wanted my baby to be happy again.
"Give me one second Blue."
I grabbed my phone off the little table and scrolled through the missed calls I had. One was from an unknown number, eight were from my mama, and seven from Jeremiah. I frowned. What the hell was going on?
I went to call my mama back when the unknown number called again. I sighed and did something I usually wouldn't do– I answered it.
"Hello?" I said softly. I walked over to the big windows and glanced at Blue to make sure she was focused on something else. She was still into that show, thank God.
"Hello, is this Beyoncé Knowles-Carter speaking?" A woman responded. I raised my brow, wondering who the hell this could be. With everything that's happened recently I honestly don't know anymore.
"Yes, this is she." I said slowly. I folded my arms across my chest as I waited for her to say something else.
"Hello, Mrs. Carter. I'm calling on behalf of one of our inmates, Gina Johnson."
My heart rate sped up quick and I stood up straight. "Why the hell are you calling me about her?" I whispered harshly.
The woman seemed taken aback by my tone, and for a second I felt a little bad for snapping the way I did. How the hell did she expect me to react though? That woman has caused me hell.
She continued. "Well, Mrs. Carter, I understand you have close relations to her regarding the case involving your daughter, ma'am. I thought it was only appropriate to inform you of the recent news before it was made public."
"What news?" I repeated.
I heard her sigh a little. "Ms. Johnson committed suicide this evening."
My heart stopped.
"What?" I asked dumbly. I leaned against the wall and rubbed my forehead. What?
"Gina is.... dead?" I asked softly, feeling a sense of shock and relief wash over me. It felt like a weight was lifted off my body and I could breathe again. I blinked away my tears and glanced back at Blue. She was still watching that show.
"Yes ma'am." The woman confirmed. "She was found in her cell about two hours ago." She proceeded to say something else but I wasn't listening. I was too focused on the news I just received. I had to tell Jay asap.
I mindlessly hung up the phone and set it aside. I stared out the window as my mind raced. "Oh my God." I mumbled. I know it's terrible to be so happy about the death of someone else, but I feel like I have every right to rejoice over this. I've been waiting for this moment for years. Nobody could take this away from me.
With almost perfect timing, Jay returned from the cafeteria a few minutes later. I spun around as soon as I heard the door open, assuming it was him. I was so happy to be right.
"Jay," I smiled and quickly met him at the door. My excitement didn't last long– my smile quickly fell when I saw the look on his face. "What's wrong?"
Jay rubbed his head before shaking it. He avoided my eyes as he spoke. "Somebody broke into our house. A group of people. Mama Tina just called and told me what she knew. Apparently she was at dinner with Richard and Brooklyn tonight so she wasn't there. J and Bella were home alone."
My heart dropped.
"What?" I looked at him with tears in my eyes and frowned deeply, searching for some sort of explanation. "Who? Why? My babies are okay right? They're okay?"
Jay didn't respond.
"Shawn." I cried. "My babies are okay right? Tell me they're okay. Please." I begged.
"Beyoncé," Jay looked at me for the first time since he came in and I saw the same look he had when I told him Sienna was dead,
"Isabella is missing."