by A'zayler
“Daddy.” Angel raised his eyebrows. “I don’t have school tomorrow. What are you talking about?”
Vinny sat up in his recliner. “Are you calling me a liar, Angel?”
“No, sir. I just don’t have school tomorrow.” Angel was genuinely confused.
He and his father never talked about his schooling, and he most definitely never spoke to him in that tone. Vinny’s voice sounded a little softer than normal, as if speaking to a child. Angel’s confusion only heightened when Vinny looked at him and his expression went from distress to flat-out anger. He’d even begun to turn red as he looked over Angel’s face.
“Empress, get him away from me. What is he doing here? He chose that damn girl over his own family.” He looked back at Angel. “Get out of here right now! You’re no son of mine,” he fumed.
“Vinny, calm down, baby. Angel’s home. He apologized. He misses us.” Empress rubbed one of Vinny’s hands with both of hers. “Aren’t you happy to see him?”
Angel watched as Vinny looked between him and Empress a few more times before nodding slowly. The entire ordeal was throwing Angel for a serious loop, because Vinny had been fine the last time he’d seen him.
“Ma, what’s going on?”
Empress gave Angel a sympathetic look as she continued to rub Vinny’s hand. “Come help me in the kitchen for a second,” she told him before trying to stand.
Vinny’s sudden grip on her wrist stopped her. “Don’t leave me again, Empress. Stay here please. I won’t get angry like that anymore. I’m sorry,” he pleaded as water gathered in her eyes.
Angel’s heart was breaking as his confusion slowly began to turn into realization. He was almost a doctor—he knew what this was, even if he didn’t want to believe it.
“Okay, baby. I’ll stay with you.” Empress lowered herself back to her sitting position on the sofa and looked at Angel with wet eyes. “Go with Snow, baby. She’ll tell you.”
Angel looked at his parents for a minute, trying to calm the rapid beating of his heart. This wasn’t right, and he could feel it in his gut that whenever his observations were confirmed, he probably wouldn’t be able to handle it. He looked between the two people he loved the most in the world, then over to D’Angelo, but his face was just as sad as Angel’s. Angel was completely lost until Snow stood to her feet and left the room. Figuring it was better to follow her before he broke down, he rose to his full height and left the living room.
When he walked into the kitchen, Snow was leaning against the large island with her arms folded across her chest. Her face was still as hard as it always was as she watched him walk in and stand in front of her. Angel leaned on the counter with his head slightly bowed. He wanted so badly to confirm what was going on, but he didn’t want to ask.
In the back of his mind, he entertained the thought of not listening to anything Snow said. Maybe then whatever it was would go away. All Snow had to do was keep her mouth shut, and he could ignore the inevitable and his life could go back to the way it used to be, with happy and healthy parents.
“Vinny has dementia,” Snow said.
Angel’s knees buckled, and he felt himself get weak. He hurried to steady himself by placing both of his hands on the counter behind him. His head was starting to spin, and it almost felt too hard to breathe. Snow’s one sentence had him on the verge of passing out.
Though she hadn’t told him how bad it was, or any of the specifics, he didn’t need her to. Angel was in his last year of medical school; he didn’t need her to say anything else to him about the disease. He already knew everything there was to know, the most important being that there was no cure.
“It’s gotten a lot worse over the past few months while you were gone.” Her tone soured at that part.
When Angel’s head rose so that they were making eye contact, he could see the hate she had for him in her eyes. It was burning wild and bright. He wanted so badly to be angry with her for feeling that way, but he couldn’t. She had every right to feel the way she felt. He had been gone with people who couldn’t care less about him, when he should have been there with his father.
“Had I been here, I would have caught this.”
Snow sucked her teeth. “Yeah, but you weren’t, Dr. DeLuca.”
Angel ignored her comment. “How bad is it?”
Snow looked away from him for a moment, and blinked a few times. For the first time since he’d seen her that day, he noticed she was in just as much pain as Empress. Her poker face had been disguising the hurt that she was harboring for Vinny as well.
“He’s a little angrier these days as you can see, but that’s about it.” She sniffed. “He left the grocery store one day while Empress was shopping, and we couldn’t find him for hours.”
“Where was he?”
She wiped her eyes quickly and shrugged. “We don’t know. A detective from the police station who recognized him called Empress, and we went and got him from there.”
Angel’s head fell forward as he covered it with one of his hands. Snow’s words were killing him softly, and though he wanted her to stop, she couldn’t. He needed to know these things. Out of all the people in the house, he would know what to do more than any of them.
“You keep saying we. You’ve been here with them?” He raised his head and looked at her.
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Somebody had to be. Empress couldn’t do this alone, and you and I both know that D’Angelo is nothing but an untrustworthy tyrant with no experience. So yes, I’ve been here for them, where you should have been.”
Once again, Angel ignored the anger in her tone. “Why didn’t your mom come?”
Snow stood from the counter and dropped her arms to her side. “Because Zulema doesn’t run dope anymore, Angel, but I do.”
Damn.
Angel’s chest sank. That had been the last thing on his mind. “So, you’ve been working here?”
She nodded once, and her beautiful chocolate skin glistened beneath the light. “And fighting your stupid-ass brother the entire way.” She rolled her eyes and sighed with annoyance.
“You good? He hasn’t been fucking with you like that for real, has he?”
Snow looked all around the kitchen before she looked back at him and smirked. “I ain’t thinking about D’Angelo’s annoying ass. I can handle him.” She gave Angel the once-over while touching her bottom lip. “But if I’m not good, are you going to help?”
When Angel didn’t say anything, she rolled her eyes.
“I didn’t think so.” She leaned back against the counter and crossed her arms again. “Listen, Angel, I know this is a lot to handle at one time, but you have to get your shit together. This is your shit. That’s your damn daddy in there. He can barely remember his own wife some days, so I would advise you to spend as much time with him as you can. Soak up what he might be able to teach, and make you some memories.” Her voice broke. “It’s getting really bad. He doesn’t have long.”
When her tears began to fall, it was instinctive for Angel to comfort her. He was off the counter and in front of her in no time. With his long arms wrapped around the top of her shoulders, he pulled her body against his and squeezed her tightly. Snow’s shoulders relaxed, allowing him to really feel how soft her body was.
Her breasts were pressed into his chest, while her head lay snuggled beneath his chin. Every so often her body would jump from her sobs, and he’d hold her tighter. When the sound of her cries began to get the best of him, Angel even found himself kissing the top of her head and forehead in comfort.
It was natural the way his lips found various places on her head to render his sympathy. “It’ll be okay, Emelia. Don’t cry. Vinny will be all right.”
She sniffed and nodded but didn’t say anything, and Angel was glad that she didn’t. What he’d just said was a lie, and he wanted to keep it that way. It felt better. Right then, that was one truth that he wasn’t ready to acknowledge.
“You’ve been staying here?”
Angel’s hand slid from her shoulders, down her back, and circled her waist. The way she came to him so willingly, wrapping her arms around him in return, gave him a sense of peace. A peace he hadn’t experienced in so long, it almost felt foreign.
“You haven’t been sleeping?” He stepped back some and looked down at her. “That’s not good.”
“Between work and watching your parents, I don’t have much time.” She looked at him, and apparently made herself angry all over again, because she pushed out of his embrace.
Angel wanted to object but chose not to. “Empress? How has she been?”
Snow shook her head. “Horrible.”
Angel figured that. The way Empress and Vinny loved one another was magical, so for her to have to watch the man she’d spent her entire life with vanish right before her eyes had to have been torture. Just thinking about it made Angel feel even worse. She’d needed him all this time, and he hadn’t been there.
“Well, I’m here now. I’ll take care of y’all,” he stated with finality.
Snow’s eyebrows knitted together as she gave him the once-over. “Y’all? Don’t you mean them?”
Angel stared down at dominantly. “No. I said what I meant.”
“I don’t need you to take care of me. I can handle myself, just like I’ve been doing.”
Angel’s eyes traveled from her face down over her stomach and stopped at her hips. Angel had always been fond of thick women, and the way Snow was shaped was knee weakening. If the moment had been different, he probably would have grabbed him two handfuls of her and just held on until he felt better, but they weren’t like that. Furthermore, she probably wouldn’t even let him.
Angel ogled her a little longer while rubbing his bottom lip with the pad of his thumb. “I’m sure you can, but you don’t have to. Like I said,” he stepped closer to her again. “I’ll take care of y’all.”
Snow moved to the side, placing a safe distance back between them.
“That’s cute, but I’m good on you. If you’d run out on your own family, you’d probably throw my ass to the wolves.”
She and Angel stared at one another combatively until she turned and exited the kitchen, leaving him alone. Once she was gone, Angel took a seat on the barstool near the island and put his head down. He had no clue how he was about to get through this, he just knew he had to. As painful as it may have been, he had to. His family needed him.
* * *
D’Angelo had been standing in the hallway listening to Angel’s soft-ass talk to Snow. Like he’d learned a long time ago, Angel was weak as hell and would do anything for a woman. Judging from the things he’d said to her, he was probably about to try and spark their old flame or some boring shit like that, but D’Angelo had other plans.
“Where you running to so fast?” D’Angelo sidestepped so that he blocked Emelia’s path to the living room.
Without uttering a single word, her hand grazed her ponytail swiftly before coming down and slicing the skin on his forearm open. Bright red blood shot out instantly.
“You’d better get your ass away from me if you want to stay alive. I’ve told you one too many times already, I’m not here for your bullshit. I’m tired of saying the same shit over and over to your non-listening ass.” Her bloodshot eyes were cold and dark as she stared at him with her blade still in her hand, clearly ready to slice him to pieces if he didn’t back off.
“Fuck you, bitch.” He held his arm as blood leaked between his fingers. “I know what to do for you.” D’Angelo looked her up and down with a frown on his face.
“I dare you to try it so I can murder your conniving ass.” Snow’s murderous glare stayed on him until he was halfway up the stairs and out of her line of vision.
Once he was back in his room, D’Angelo hurried to the sink to wash his arm. It was bleeding terribly, and the last thing he needed was to have Angel or Empress in his business about what happened. How in the hell would he explain to them that Snow was the one who had cut his arm without giving them a reason why?
It took him a little over ten minutes to get cleaned up and to cover his arm with bandages before throwing on a long-sleeved shirt and joining his family back downstairs. When he walked into the living room, his parents were sitting in their same spots with Snow seated on the floor in front of Vinny’s chair.
D’Angelo dapped into the living room, took a seat on the sofa in front of them, and gave Snow his full attention. Her beautiful dark skin, thick wide hips, big full breasts, everything about her made him crave her in the worst way. Too bad she’d slit his throat if he got within two feet of her.
It had been so long since he’d seen her that when he finally did, it was hard for him to stop looking at her. She was such a beautiful sight to behold that even with her hating the ground that he walked on, she still held a special place in his heart.
“D’Angelo, are you staying in tonight, baby?” Empress looked at him lovingly.
“I have a quick run to make first, then I’ll be in for the night,” D’Angelo replied.
D’Angelo needed to hit the ER and get some stiches for the cut on his arm. It was burning like hell, and he needed to make sure he was good before going to bed. He hadn’t intended on leaving the house again that night because he’d rather sit around and watch Snow switch her thick ass around, but she’d fucked him up.
Empress smiled. “Good. It’s too late to be out anyway, so hurry back. All kinds of people be in the streets this time of night.”
“Him being one of them.” Snow’s voice was like ice.
Empress giggled and tapped Snow’s arm playfully. “Stop that, Emelia.”
Snow rolled her eyes but said nothing.
D’Angelo, on the other hand, scooted to the edge of his seat and smiled at her. “Why you have to be so mean all the time? What have I ever done to you?” D’Angelo taunted her.
Snow grimaced before giving him her undivided attention. “You have some nerve, you ugly bastard.” She moved her mouth and her blade slid to the front of it. “I hate you, now stop talking to me.”
“Y’all stop that bickering.” Empress interrupted them before it could get too out of hand. “Y’all have been doing this since you were kids. I thought you would have grown out of it by now.”
“It’s hard to grow out of something when you still haven’t grown up.” Snow’s remark was humorous to D’Angelo.
After laughing, he smiled and winked at Snow just as Angel walked back into the living room with his face long. D’Angelo looked down at his phone to keep himself from frowning at Angel in disgust. He was so annoyed with the person Angel was. He was too kindhearted to be a part of the drug game.
Why in the fuck their parents continued to try and pass everything off to that nigga was beyond him. He wasn’t even ready for that kind of shit. He didn’t have enough heart, but D’Angelo had long ago given up on trying to convince them of that. If they didn’t want to give it to him, he’d take it. He’d given them more than enough opportunity to see that he was worthy of the job, and they refused to. So now it was time to take matters into his own hands.
D’Angelo sat with his family for a little while longer before gathering his bearings and leaving the house. He was headed down the sidewalk to his car when he felt someone behind him. When he turned around he wasn’t shocked to see it was Snow. She wasn’t even five feet away, and in her hand, she held a small black gun.
“Why you out here fucking with me?” D’Angelo opened his car door but didn’t get in.
“You wish I was fucking with your snake ass,” Snow told him once she was within a few inches of him. “I came out here to give you a warning since I see you think shit’s sweet around here.”
D’Angelo, looked down at her with a smirk on his face. Her dark skin glowed in the moonlight as she stood with her pistol gripped tight in her hand. Her perfect nose and mouth made him want
to kiss all over them, but he already knew how that would play out if he tried it.
“Go ahead, then, warn me.”
“I’m not the same little girl I was back then. If you keep fucking with me,” she stepped closer to him with a deadly look in her eyes, “you will die. I don’t give a fuck about who you are, who your family is, none of that shit. Empress will be burying your ass. Don’t test me.”
“You know this tough shit makes my dick hard,” D’Angelo whispered to her.
“I said what I said.” She stared him down and turned to walk away. “Live or die, bitch. It’s your choice.”
D’Angelo watched the way her ass jiggled with every step she took. It was so big and bouncy, just like some shit a black girl would have. Black women—they were his weakness, and he couldn’t stop thinking about Snow. No matter how many threats she directed at him, she still made his heart move and his dick hard. All he had to do was figure out a way for her to see he was the type of nigga she needed, and not Angel. If she ever gave him a chance, he and she could be the king and queen of the cartel. He just needed to find a way for her to see that.
D’Angelo watched Snow until she was back in the house before hopping into his car and pulling away. He hit the highway headed to the hospital, smoking a blunt along the way. When he finally got there, he pulled into the closest parking space he could find and got out. The waiting room was ridiculously packed and almost made him want to turn around. The only thing that stopped him was the little chick sitting behind the checkout desk. She looked like somebody he could finesse.
“Excuse me, beautiful. How long is the wait?” he asked.
With much attitude, the girl looked up while smacking on her gum. Upon laying eyes on D’Angelo, she lost the sassiness and smiled. “I’m not sure, but what do you need done?”
D’Angelo smiled at her. “I like your hair.” The purple weave wouldn’t have normally been to his liking, but the way she had it styled was nice, plus his compliment had her blushing. “But I need a few stitches.”
She ran her hand over the back of her hair. “Thank you. Just have a seat right there.” She pointed toward a chair. “And fill out that paperwork. I’ll get you right on back.”