Heart of the Hustle

by A'zayler

  Angel was lying back on the small sofa rubbing up and down his son’s back, and scrolling through his social media stories. When he’d read them all, he pulled the phone away from him and recorded a small video of his boy. He was lying peacefully asleep with his little fists balled up. His skin was a little darker than most newborns, but it made Angel happy, because he’d surely inherited that from Empress.

  The thought of his mother pained his chest deeply, so he focused back on his phone. Once he’d uploaded the video to his social media account and sent the same video to Zulema, he immediately began getting messages about how cute his baby boy was, or how sweet he looked. Angel was busy responding to people when his son began to cry. He dropped his phone immediately.

  “What’s wrong, little man?” Angel sat up quickly and turned him over on his back so that he could see his face. He was sucking on his fist feverishly. “I know your little ass ain’t hungry. Your mama just fed you.”

  The baby continued to suck on his tiny fist, so Angel stood to walk to the counter where the bottle Genesis had been giving him earlier was. He was stopped in his tracks when his phone beeped with a text message alert. Since the baby had stopped crying, he turned and went back to his phone. It was Zulema.

  Mama Z: He’s so precious . . . and dark. Let me see his hair.

  Angel: I know, like my mama. Hold on, let me take his hat off and take it.

  Angel sat back down on the sofa and removed his son’s hat. His hair was jet black like Angel’s, and full of tight curls. They were so tight on his head, you could see his scalp. Angel chuckled when the baby squirmed and frowned as he positioned him to get a good picture. Once he snapped the picture, he sent it to Zulema. His phone was beeping immediately afterward.

  Mama Z: Looks nappy. Y’all got that blood test yet?

  Angel sucked his teeth and sighed inwardly. He was the happiest he’d been in months, and he really didn’t want to argue with Genesis right then. She’d been complaining about feeling disrespected pretty much her entire pregnancy. How getting a blood test was disrespectful, he had no idea, but let Genesis tell it, it was the worst thing in the world.

  Mama Z: I know you’re probably over there wanting to play house, but test that baby.

  Mama Z: Your hair too good for that baby’s hair to be that nappy. That shit should be straight.

  He stared at her message before looking back at his son. He stared at him for a minute, searching for any similarities between the two of them, but he hadn’t found any yet. He looked a lot like Genesis, which helped ease his mind, but that was it. A few seconds passed before his phone beeped again with another message from Zulema, this time with a picture. When he opened it, he noticed it was a baby picture of him.

  Mama Z: That ain’t your baby, Angel. Get that damn test before I come up there and swab his little ass myself.

  Angel: Yes, ma’am.

  Mama Z: I love you, and I’ll let your mama know the baby is here. She’s been waiting.

  Angel smiled.

  Angel: Love you too. Tell her I love her.

  Mama Z: She’s not going to say it back, but she does. Ttyl, Angel baby

  The truth hurts was a true statement, because Zulema was right. Empress was most definitely not going to pass her love along. Angel had sent his too many times with no return, so he didn’t even look for it anymore.

  “Why are you looking at him like that?” Genesis’s voice got his attention.

  “No reason. Just thinking about my mama.”

  Unlike she’d been doing every other time he mentioned his mother, Genesis nodded. She had been griping and complaining at the slightest mention of his mother’s name for months, so he was surprised.

  “What about her?”

  “Nothing, I just miss her. I wish she could be here today.”

  “If she wanted to be here, she would be here.” Genesis sounded a little irritated.

  Now, that sounded more like her. Angel sat still not saying anything at first, just trying to build up the nerve to ask her for a blood test, but was cut short when the door to her room opened. He frowned momentarily when he saw Emmanuel, but he was her friend, so it wasn’t surprising he’d want to show his support by coming to the hospital to see that baby.

  “What’s good, Angel?” Emmanuel walked into the room casually.

  Angel looked him up and down because for some reason, his demeanor was off. He seemed a little cockier than he normally did as he sat down on the small chair on the other side of Genesis’s bed.

  “Ain’t shit. What up?” Angel spoke nonchalantly as he watched Emmanuel pick up Genesis’s cup of water and drink out of it.

  Angel’s nose turned up because that nigga had lost his mind drinking out of his fiancée’s shit. They may have been friends, but wasn’t no nigga that damn close to her but him.

  “Ay, my nigga, you good?” Angel asked with his brows knitted.

  Emmanuel smiled mischievously, and for the first time in Angel’s life, his murderous instincts kicked in. For some unknown reason, he felt like he was being disrespected. Emmanuel had never presented a threat before, but right then Angel felt like he was trying him.

  “I’m good as I can be. You?” He grinned at Angel again before looking down at the baby. “Got your new li’l baby over there and shit. Fatherhood feeling any different?”

  “Nigga, don’t ever speak in riddles when talking to me. I said what’s good?” Angel scooted to the edge of his seat while wrapping the baby securely in his blanket.

  “Angel, calm down, baby,” Genesis said.

  He had totally forgotten she was in there, she’d been so quiet. He glared at Emmanuel for a second before standing and preparing to place the baby in his bassinet.

  “Can I hold him before you lay him down?” Emmanuel asked.

  Angel looked at Emmanuel out of the corner of his eyes. “Nah, he’s asleep.”

  Until Angel figured out what the hell was up with that nigga, he wouldn’t lay one finger on his son. He didn’t trust shifty niggas, and right then, Emmanuel was looking shifty as fuck.

  “Genesis, I can’t hold the baby?” He tossed his question to her like Angel hadn’t just said no.

  If that didn’t confirm that nigga was on some other shit, then Angel was blind as a damn bat.

  “Emmanuel, you better get your ass on up out of here. I can see you on some bullshit that’s gon’ make me handle your ass.” Angel stretched his neck while rubbing his bottom lip with the pad of his thumb.

  Emmanuel chuckled lowly, and Genesis looked at him with a distressed look on her face.

  “You need to leave. I don’t even know why you’re here.” Genesis’s voice sounded a little unsteady, but Angel tried to ignore it.

  “You don’t know why I’m here?” He laughed. “That’s how you feel?” He raised his eyebrows at her.

  Angel looked between the two of them and his entire body got hot. He could feel his temper flaring, and though he really didn’t want to cause a scene at the hospital, Emmanuel was about to get his issue, because clearly that’s what he wanted.

  “Genesis.” Angel called her name coolly. “Put your friend out.”

  “Emmanuel, leave!” she practically yelled.

  “Nah,” Emmanuel stood, shaking his head. “I got just as much reason as this nigga to be here, if not more.” He shot Angel a sadistic smirk before looking down at the baby. “Judging by the color of his little skin, I’m thinking more.”

  Everything in Angel’s life went red after that statement. He lunged his entire body over the hospital bed and landed on top of Emmanuel. As soon as he laid hands on that nigga, all rationality went out of the window. Angel’s fists pounded Emmanuel’s face relentlessly. He was so angry that every blow he landed hit harder than the last. He could literally feel the bones in Emmanuel’s face begin to break.

  Blood from Emmanuel’s mouth and nose was everywhere as Emmanuel did his best to gain some sort of leverage on Angel but failed miserably. Angel was angrier; there
was no way Emmanuel would be able to stop him or even get a fair fight right then.

  “Stop! Angel, please!” Genesis’s voice could be heard in the background.

  Angel could hear her, but all he saw was Emmanuel. She had played him in the worst way. Fucking off with a nigga beneath him wasn’t just disrespectful, it was soul crushing. He’d given up everything for her, and the more he thought about it, the angrier he got.

  His hands were moving so fast that every single punch felt like two. His mother’s crying face, his father’s disappointing words, the cartel turning their backs on him, everything that had been paining him for months came out in his rage. He couldn’t be stopped. Nothing would stop him. He’d lost it all, he had nothing else to lose. Fuck being a doctor, what would that mean with no one to share life with?

  “Argghhhh!” Angel yelled as he snatched Emmanuel’s badly beaten body from the floor and slammed him into the wall. “I’ma fucking kill y’all!” he growled out as he slammed Emmanuel’s head into the wall as hard as he could. “You wanna play with me, bitch?” He spun around and pointed at Genesis while still holding Emmanuel in his grip. “I was a fucking fool for you, huh?” He gritted his teeth at her before throwing Emmanuel’s body toward the bed where she was.

  Emmanuel stumbled some and fell over the side, bumping the baby’s bassinet en route to the floor. Angel wanted to care, but he couldn’t. That was Emmanuel’s fucking baby who would get hurt if his weak ass knocked over the bassinet. Angel was breathing hard as he watched Genesis leap from the bed toward the baby. That one action angered him again. He’d been taking care of that bitch for months, playing her fool.

  Angel was furious as he thought about how dumb he must have looked. “I’m the wrong muthafucka to play with.” He hit his chest before marching toward where Emmanuel was trying to pull himself from the floor.

  A swift kick to the chest halted all of that. Angel was about to hit him again but was stopped. “Angel! Stop it, baby. Come here.”

  His entire world stopped when he heard his mother’s voice. Angel spun around quickly with a look of a lost child on his face. When he spotted her at the door, he went right to her. With open arms, she welcomed him to her. The tears Angel had been holding in for months finally rolled down his face.

  “Ma,” he sobbed. “They played me. They fucking played me.” His voice broke toward the end of his sentence.

  Empress was much shorter and smaller than her son, but that meant nothing when he was in need. She held on to him with all of her might, allowing him to vent his feelings to her.

  “It’s okay, baby. You don’t need them.” She rubbed his back as he hugged her.

  Angel nodded but said nothing as he tried to get a hold of himself. It took a little while and a few more people to help usher him and Emmanuel out of Genesis’s room, but after a few minutes, it was all over. He and Empress were seated outside in the waiting room while he relayed to her what had happened.

  “How’d you get here so fast?” He looked at her, and she smiled weakly.

  “I knew that damn baby wasn’t yours, so when Zulema sent me the video of him, I drove straight up here. You’re a sweetheart, Angel, but a fool you are not. I knew once you noticed that baby wasn’t yours you were going to go apeshit.” She covered her face and sighed dramatically. “I’m just glad you beat on that man and not that girl.” Empress shook her head. “I don’t like her at all, and she does need her ass beat, but I didn’t raise you to put your hands on women.”

  Angel looked at Empress before laughing lowly. “I missed you.”

  “I missed you too, baby. You came back to your senses yet?”

  Angel nodded slowly as he took in the stress lines and dark circles near her eyes. Her smile was still as beautiful as it had always been, only it didn’t touch her eyes like it normally did.

  “You look tired, you okay?”

  She nodded. “I’m fine.” Her mouth was saying one thing, but the sullen look on her face was saying another.

  “You sure?” He turned in his seat so that he could look at her.

  “You haven’t been worried about me, have you?”

  Empress patted the top of his hand. “You’re my baby, Angel. Of course I was worried about you.” She cleared her throat. “But you needed to learn your lesson.”

  “I learned it,” he told her exasperatedly.

  “Good. Come on, there’s some stuff you need to know.”

  Angel pulled her arm and stopped her from getting up from her chair. Her tone was too serious for his liking.

  “Like what?”

  “I’ll tell you at home. Come on, before these people change their mind about locking your ass up.”

  Angel nodded and rose to his feet. He bypassed the officers, nodding at them subtly before stopping at the door to Genesis’s room.

  “Hold on, Ma. Let me holla at her really quick.”

  Empress rolled her eyes. “Angel, your father’s grace can only go so far. These cops have let you off the hook once on his behalf, they’re not going to do it again.”

  “I’m good, I promise.”

  Empress waved her hand toward the door, sending him on his way but making sure to follow right behind. When they got into the room, Genesis was holding the baby with tears on her face. When she saw Angel, the tears began to fall faster. Angel watched her for a minute before touching his chin.

  “You were prepared to just let me think that baby was mine, huh?”

  Genesis said nothing, just continued to cry.

  “I can’t believe I was that big a fool. It’s cool, though. You ousted you and your baby out of the best life y’all could have ever had. I loved your dog ass from my soul, and you stomped all over me for a nigga that wasn’t worth the ground I walk on.”

  “I’m sorry, Angel,” Genesis finally choked out.

  “No need, it’s your loss. Take care of yourself.” He walked to the bed and placed a kiss on her forehead.

  Genesis’s body began to rock with sobs as her reality overtook her. Angel lingered in her presence a little longer before pulling away and kissing the baby as well.

  “Sorry about all of this, little man. You deserved better.”

  When Angel stood up, Genesis sat helplessly, obviously realizing there was nothing she could say to talk her way out of the mess she’d made.

  “Angel,” she called out to him as he walked toward the door.

  “Save it, Genny. It’s over. Don’t contact me ever again. Keep all the shit I’ve gotten for you and little man. Y’all need it more than I do.”

  With that, Angel walked out of the room and out of Genesis’s life . . . forever.

  Chapter Nine

  You’ve been gone too long

  The atmosphere in their living room was calm and rich, as it always was when Angel walked in. It had been so long since he’d been there that he’d almost forgotten how peaceful he felt whenever he was in his parents’ home.

  Everything was exactly the same, minus the new locks on the doors and a few other safety precautions that hadn’t been there before. Angel bypassed everything and went straight to his room for a shower. He’d been asking his mother over and over on their ride home what was it that she needed to tell him, but she continued brushing him off. Being that he was already tired, Angel simply nodded and left her alone.

  “It’s about time you came to your senses.” Snow’s voice startled him.

  Angel had just walked out of the bathroom and was securing his towel around his waist when he heard her. She was seated on the bed in a dark gray jogging suit with her hair in a bun at the top of her head. She was just as beautiful as she had been the last time he’d seen her.

  “What are you doing here?” He frowned.

  “Don’t worry about me.” She rolled her eyes quickly. “Empress sent me up here to check on your traitorous ass.” She stood to her feet and switched toward the door.

  Of course, Angel’s eyes went directly to her bottom. It was huge and looked even big
ger in the thin material of her sweat suit.

  “Emelia, get your ass out of my room.”

  “Gladly, traitor.”

  His body grew warm, but not warm enough to make him want to say anything else to her. Not that she left him the option. She’d walked out and slammed the door behind her with no hesitation. Angel didn’t know who she thought he was, but he could see he was going to have to get her ass together sooner rather than later.

  It took him a little over ten minutes to get himself together and get down the stairs. It was quiet, minus the sounds of the television coming from the living room. When he walked in, Empress was seated in her usual spot next to Vinny’s La-Z-Boy recliner, while Snow sat across from them on the love seat, and D’Angelo in the corner on the floor. Vinny was watching the large TV as usual and still hadn’t looked Angel’s way.

  Angel wasn’t surprised in the least. He had known his father was going to be harder to win over than Empress was going to be. The baby not being his probably hadn’t moved Vinny not one bit, because he didn’t care about that kind of thing. If he felt that Angel had been disloyal, it was going to take a lot more than a hospital fight and a DNA test to make things right between them.

  “What’s going on, Daddy?” Angel sat on the stone bench next to the fireplace so that he could be closer to his father.

  Vinny’s head slowly turned in Angel’s direction. He stared at him for a long time with his face frowned in confusion. Angel instantly began to get nervous in anticipation of what was to come next. Whatever it was, he was ready, because he deserved it.

  “Angel, what are you doing out of bed this time of night?” Vinny looked down at the watch on his wrist. “Get back to bed right now. You have to be at the school house in a few hours.”

  Angel wore a confused expression as Vinny waved him toward the door.

  “Did you hear me, boy? Get to bed.”