Page 69 of His Favorite Felon

“Can’t you use your street connections?”

I felt bad for her, but I wasn’t about to entertain her anymore, so I disconnected the call and powered my phone off.

“Who was that?” Justice asked.

I sat up, not sure what to say or what to feel, but for the first time, I started to feel… bad for what I did to my brother. Not that I’m sure anything would have changed. He still crossed the line when he broke into my house and put his hands on my woman.

I told Justice, and she was in complete shock. I lay down, and she cuddled with me. She rested her head on my chest, and I was sure she could hear my heart pounding fast as fuck.

“Would you like us to hold a funeral? Just you and me?”

I was quiet for a moment because I doubted it would change anything. I still stood by my decision. I just wish I’d known he had a mental illness. I wonder if that’s why my parents focused on him. They knew and wanted to protect him from the world. Even if that was the case, it still wasn’t a reason to give me the bare minimum. After that two-minute phone call, I wouldn’t be surprised if my mother had the same diagnosis.

“Naw. We move on as we been doing. Having a funeral won’t change shit. What’s done is done.”

She nodded, and we remained silent for the rest of the night. I’m not sure if either of us slept. I kept replaying his actions and how he was talking to himself, looping it over in my mind until sunrise.

Justice made us breakfast, and we talked more about my family. I mentioned that I wanted to get our baby tested, if it was even possible. She explained that schizophrenia can’t be diagnosed with just a lab or blood test; instead, it needs a comprehensive clinical evaluation by a mental health professional.

I made a mental note that once our baby could communicate, we would get her or him tested.

CHAPTER 28

Justice

OCTOBER 23RD

It was a bittersweet day for me as I found myself torn between celebrating my birthday and staying home. The year marked my first birthday as a free woman, which made it special. However, my current size, comparable to a fucking cow, also influenced my decision to remain indoors, away from prying eyes.

My due date was January 8th, and I couldn’t wait any longer. Everything hurts—my knees, the area behind my knees, my pelvic region, and my stomach. My baby was kicking so hard, it felt like the baby was hitting my tailbone.

I had nightmares of a dead Chase chasing me through the house for like a month straight, and all I did was kick him, but my dumb ass sprained my ankle in return. Chance was right; if I would’ve been the one to actually end his miserable little life, I’m sure he’d still be haunting me.

Occasionally, I asked Chance how his mental was, and he would reassure me that he was fine and had been sleeping like a baby. Which I knew to be true because he slept as if he was trying to get in my skin. I knew he was fucked up at first when he learned about his brother, but as time passed, I could see that he made peace with it. He even started telling me more stories of their childhood. Although none of the stories sounded fun for Chance, I think it just felt good for him to talk about his brother, so I gave him the space and grace to do so.

We still haven’t heard any noise about my dad since his run-in with Chance, and I was okay with that. I would never be able to forgive him for the situation he left me in. I had officially washed my hands of him.

I vowed to be a better parent than he ever was.

Once I finally had enough energy, I pulled myself out of bed. Chance wasn’t in our bed that morning, so I figured he was likely in his office. It took me a while to go in there because I kept seeing Chase’s body slumped over, but just like every other memory of him, that one was now gone too.

“I knew you’d come looking for me soon. How’d you sleep?” he asked as I wobbled towards him. He opened his legs, and I sat on him and wrapped my arm around his neck.

“Good, considering,” I said, rubbing my stomach. “I can’t wait to push this baby out. The first thing I want to do is sleep on my stomach for a full twenty-four hours. I haven’t had a good night’s sleep in what seemed like forever.” I sighed.

“Come on. Stand up, let’s release some of that pressure.” He stood behind me and reached his hands under my stomach. With his fingers interlocked together, he slowly and gently lifted my stomach.

“Ohhhh. Myyyyyy. Gooddddddd,” I moaned out. “Don’t let go yet. This feels so good.”

“Okay, baby.” He bent to kiss my neck. “Just tell me when.”

“Can you just stay like this for the next three months?” I whined.

“You know I always say anything for you, but I don’t think that’s possible. I’ma look online to see if I can find you one of those stomach-tape things.”

“Oh, yeah, I forgot about those.” I took a deep breath while enjoying the feel of my back not aching. “Okay, you can let go.”

He released my stomach slowly, as if he was actually holding the baby in his hands.