Love/Fate (29 page)

“Don't start.” Born shook his head slowly.

Jada wiped her eyes quickly. She was an emotional wreck, and she knew it. Seeing Born like this wasn't helping. “Are you all right?”

“I will be. Right now everything hurts.” Born licked his lips. They felt dry as hell.

“She was all over you,” Jada said. She gestured with her chin toward the door. “What's up with that?”

Born cleared his throat. “My lips are dry. She was putting some Vaseline on for me.”

“I bet she was.” Jada sniffed. She snatched the small jar of Vaseline from Born's bedside table and applied it to his lips with her fingertip. “What else has she been doing with your lips?”

“Oh, you care now?” Born tried to move into a more comfortable position, and winced a little at the pain that shot through his right side. He resigned himself to his uncomfortable fate, and looked at Jada standing there with the nerve to be mad. “It's hard to tell if you even know I'm alive.”

Jada's eyes watered unexpectedly when she heard him say that. It was true. “Come on, Born. You know what I'm dealing with. Sheldon is—”

“Sheldon is what?” He sucked his teeth.” He's a fuckin' brat.”

Jada's tears turned to rage then. “What did you just say?”

“You heard me.” Born was done playing. Somebody was out to get him, and he wanted to know who it was. Being so close to death had put things into fresh perspective for him. “Word. That's how I feel. For months I been calling you, texting you. Nothing. You want to blame Sheldon, but you're the parent. He's not in charge.”

“It's not that simple.” Jada shook her head.

“I think we have different definitions of family.”

“He tried to kill himself, Born.”

“Right. So now you give him what he wants for the rest of his life. That's smart.” His sarcasm was evident despite the rasp in his voice. “We're talking marriage and making future plans, and then he does that and—BAM! Silence.” Born's hurt was evident. “You just disappeared on me.”

Miss Ingrid returned with Ethan. Jada greeted Born's mother warmly, but she couldn't help being upset about the interruption.

Born, on the other hand, was grateful for it. He wasn't interested in talking to Jada about their relationship since it was clear that she was still feeding into Sheldon's bullshit. All he cared about at the moment was figuring out who had rung his doorbell that afternoon.

Ingrid sat at the foot of Born's hospital bed. She was still terribly shaken after finding out that her son had brushed with death so closely. Ethan, too, had been so afraid that his father was harmed. It had taken much reassurance from Born to calm him down.

Jada managed a weak smile, and greeted Ethan with a hug. He seemed to have grown in the months since the last time she'd seen him. Jada hadn't realized how much time had passed while she was being held hostage to Sheldon's wishes.

As if reading her thoughts, Ingrid asked, “How's Sheldon doing?”

Jada glanced at Born. “He's okay. Ava's with him now.”

Ethan sat in the chair next to his father's bed. He didn't miss Sheldon one bit, and wished his grandmother hadn't asked about him. Ethan was no punk. But he was smart enough to realize that Sheldon was crazy.

“Tell me what happened.” Jada looked at Born with genuine concern in her eyes. She wished that they hadn't been interrupted. She wanted to tell Born that she thought about him all the time. That she missed him. He was her warrior. Seeing him lying there so helplessly was killing her softly.

He cleared his throat again. “I was home, and the doorbell rang. I went and looked through the peephole and I didn't see anybody. I just got this feeling that something wasn't right. I wasn't expecting nobody. So I went to the closet to get that thing.” He looked at his mother as he said it, because Ingrid knew better than anybody what her son was into. “Next thing I knew … it was just a big-ass blast. The door flew off the frame, and the whole front of the house is blown apart. I'm lucky to be alive, for real.”

“Oh, my God,” Jada said. She thought of who might be responsible, but came up empty.

Ingrid didn't like it one bit. “I called Zion and he's sending some of his friends down here to keep an eye on your room around the clock.”

“Ma—” Born protested.

“Ma, nothing. We don't know who rang that doorbell. I heard the detectives talking about a black suitcase. Until we know what's going on, I want you protected. And like it or not, you're not in the position to protect yourself.” Her tone of voice made it clear that the subject was not up for debate. “And what about that thing you keep in the closet? You know they're gonna mess with you about that now.” Ingrid didn't miss a thing.

Born smirked at her. “You worry too much.”

“We're all worried about you,” Anisa said, as she stepped back into the room. She was tired of standing in the hallway.

Jada scowled at her, and Anisa pretended not to notice. D.J. stepped into the room, too, and stood quietly in the corner.

Anisa filled Born in. “The doctor said you can have more painkillers soon. I told him the last dose was wearing off.” Anisa walked over to Ethan and stroked his well-groomed head affectionately.

Jada was pissed. All of a sudden Anisa was the one speaking to Born's doctors and acquainting herself with the staff. She reminded herself that Ethan was present, that Anisa was his mother. Jada didn't want to make a scene. But she needed this bitch to know that Born was not hers for the taking. “Thanks for filling us in,” she said, her eyes boring into Anisa's. “I'm here now. I'll take it from here.”