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“I have a hard time believing that when I had a gun to Smoke’s neck earlier, and he told me that him and Brice weren’t the only ones shooting into the crowd that night. He said two cars full of niggas went to that party to clear it out because of some fight earlier that night. Before he could tell me who was in the other car, the little nigga panicked and reached for my gun, and I smoked his ass without getting an answer. That’s why I’m here now.”

“I don’t know why, man. I’ve told you all I know. I knew who was in the red Challenger because I saw them all together in it at the gas station by the carwash an hour before it happened. It was Brice, Smoke, and Loc.”

I grabbed the back of his neck again.

“Don’t fuckin lie to me. One of those two cars you saw leaving shot a bullet that pierced my fifteen year old daughter head and left her in a coma, and I want all of them niggas not breathing! Do you understand what the fuck I’m saying, or should I just kill every little nigga I see until your entire graduating class consists of only females?”

He shook his head, shrugging his shoulders with a helpless ass look on his face. This little nigga even ratted out who he said was his best friend, so I knew I could get information out of him. Fear can do a lot when you apply that pressure right. And I was going to apply pressure on his ass every single day until I get who I want. All of them niggas.

For the past year, I’d been on a rampage. Every day I walk out of that care center where my daughter is lying helpless burns my soul. I always tried to protect her, tried to be there for her in every way I could, being a young father. I was fifteen years old when she was born, so we grew up together. Her mom was now on drugs, and that’s why I took Mirical from her and thought she was safer with me. Letting her go to that party that night was the biggest mistake I’ve made as a parent. For the past year I’ve hoped to undo some of that pain I felt from guilt by watching the niggas that shot her bleed just as they made my baby.

“Duke, I’m not sure who else was out there that night. Look, I loved Mirical too, and I didn’t want to see her laid out like that. I only went to the party because she was there, and I had no idea my boys had just had a fight before I got there. Shit, my main concern was seeing her. Had I known they were coming back with that kind of action, I would’ve gotten her out of there as soon as I could. I never wanted to see her hurt like that. I was in love with her.”

He dropped his head, and I looked out the window to my left because I didn’t want to see no nigga sad about some shit that broke me. He may have liked my daughter because she was the prettiest girl in the school, but I loved her because she was my baby. She was the only woman I ever loved unconditionally, besides my own mother. She was my firstborn child, my baby, my little peaches as I called her. Though she wasn’t good enough to make me the next heir of the Essex empire, she was still my world. Mirical was my empire.

“Listen, find out who was in that other car and get back with me. I don’t care if it was your brother, your sister, your fuckin son; put your ears to the streets and let me know so I can shoot them fuckas in the head. If you don’t find out soon, then you are no use to me and your ass will be disposable.”

“Come on, Duke, you already shot me in my arm, and I been helping you as much as I can. You act like I wanted this to happen to her. The people I know who were involved, I told you about, but I’m not trying to throw no one innocent under the bus because Loc told you it was other people. Shit, I handed you my best friend, luring him to the park that day you shot him. Does that not show you that I been trying?”

I smacked my lips.

“Man, get the fuck out of my car, and I don’t want to hear shit else from you until it’s what I need to hear.” He rubbed the top of his head and looked out the window.

“Get out now? Can you at least take me back to the apartments?”

All I had to do was look over at the nigga, and he grabbed the door handle and climbed out of my truck. He knew the answer. I had no sympathy for him.

I burned off from the street to go to the center where Mirical was. Any time I made moves for her revenge, I needed to see her. Whisper in her ear that her daddy was out here working in her honor.

She wasn’t too far from where I was, so I rode listening to Love TKO on repeat. Something about that beat over the roar of my engine put me at peace. When I arrived at the center, I parked my car in the handicap space and put the tag in the window that I’d taken out of grandma's car. Her ass doesn’t drive that car anyway, so it wasn’t hurting her. Since grandpa got sick, she’d dedicated her life to taking care of his no good ass. When he was home.

Kevin, the security guard, greeted me when I walked into the building.

“How’s it going, Duke? I was wondering if you would be coming in today.”

“You know I was coming at some point today. Gotta see baby girl.” I walked straight past him.

I never had to check in at the front counter because I came here so much. I knew the entire staff on both shifts and warned them all to take care of my daughter as if she were their own.

My heavy footsteps echoed down the hallway as I made my way toward my daughter’s room, and I could tell my presence both bothered and intrigued some because all eyes were always on me. When I got to room 15, I pushed the door open, and the second my eyes landed on the person sitting beside her, I stopped dead in my tracks. It was my baby mama, Jalisa, of all people, sitting in the chair where I usually sat when I visited Mirical.

I stood in the doorway for a moment, staring at her, before finally asking,

“Why the fuck are you here, Jalisa?”

She looked up at me, and I could see the scars, marks, and bruises that covered the once prettiest face I’d ever seen. Jalisa was the baddest chick in our high school and was a good girl. Most people said she was too good to be dealing with a dude like me.

“Duke, my guy friend David brought me up here to see her. I just wanted to come check on my baby since I haven’t heard any updates on her in a while.”

I raised an eyebrow, already knowing exactly who this guy friend was she was talking about.

“Oh, you calling your drug dealer your guy friend now?”

“He’s not my drug dealer, Dukarii,” she snapped back, calling me by my government name.

“Then what is he?”

“He’s my guy friend who’s helping me,” she said, her voice becoming defensive as she looked at me.