𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙽𝙴𝚇𝚃 𝙳𝙰𝚈

𝚂𝚄𝙽𝙳𝙰𝚈

𝙳𝙴𝙲𝙴𝙼𝙱𝙴𝚁 𝟷𝟿𝚃𝙷

𝙼𝙸𝙳𝙽𝙸𝙶𝙷𝚃

The pungent smell engulfed Cherish's house, awakening her from her deep slumber. It took her a minute to open her eyes from the sleep paralysis she was experiencing. If you ever experienced sleep paralysis, you'd know it's a little scary not being able to wake up when that's what you're trying to do. It took about a minute or two to finally wake up. The moment her eyes unlatched, the thick smoke burned them. Forcing them closed again, she started coughing before jumping out of bed, realizing her kids were home.

"MOMMYYYYYYY! MOMMY! MOMMY, THE DOORKNOB IS HOT!" She could hear Malaysia screaming loudly while crying, following by violent coughing.

"MALAYSIA, GET AWAY FROM THE DOOR AND DON'T TOUCH IT, SNUGGLE-BUG! NOW!" Cherish yelled while coughing.

"OKAY, MOMMY!" Malaysia and Honesti's cough filled her body with panic.

Quickly grabbing two dry towels, she slid her feet into her slides while throwing on a pair of shorts and a crop top, since she was in her underwear. Sprinting out of her room, her chest rose up and down rapidly as the flames was making its way from the living room, to the kitchen and in no time the girls' room would be next. The living room and the kitchen as of now was engulfed in flames.

Lord, please let get us through this. Cherish bit her lip.

Grabbing their doorknob, a sizzling sound filled her ears. She instantly snatched her hand back and yelped out in pain. Tears blurred her vision, but she wouldn't let them fall as she realized the doorknob was scorching hot. She noticed when she snatched her hand back, the knob had taken some of her skin. So, she used one of the towels she held. The knob was still hot, but the towel help lessen the heat. Her hand was already throbbing, but she didn't care.

Malaysia and Honesti were both crying, but were already dressed in nightgowns and slippers. She wrapped the towel over Malaysia's mouth and nose as she did the same with Honesti. "Listen to me, Snuggle-Bug." Cherish held her tears, not wanting her kids to see how afraid she was.

Malaysia nodded as tears fell from her eyes. "I'm scared, mommy." Malaysia expressed.

"I know, baby. Mommy won't let anything happen to you both." Cherish said, being strong for her daughters. "Once we leave this room, keep your arms down to your sides. Don't reach out and touch anything. Hold my hand and that's it. Okay?"

"Okay, mommy."

"Okay, mommy." Honesti mimics. Not knowing what was going on.

Cherish picked up Honesti and tucked Honesti's arms in the crock of hers. She held Malaysia's hand as she, herself, coughed up a lung. Quickly leaving out, she ran to her room. The fire was moving, and she knew nothing in her living room or kitchen was salvageable. She didn't care as long as her kids were okay. Since the windows in her room were high, she was going to have to improvise.

She sat Honesti on the bed, tossing another towel underneath the crack of the door. She looked around for something to break the window with after noticing it wouldn't open. She looked closely and noticed something was preventing it from opening.

What the fuck? Cherish frowned, but didn't let that stop her from using her elbow to break the window. Glass was still stuck in her elbow as blood dripped.

"Mommy! You're hurt!" Malaysia sniffled.

"I'm okay." Cherish coughed while grabbing clean sheets from her closet. "Grab my phone and call 911. Tell them our house is on fire and to send help." She didn't know if her aunt was back since Rissa and Ben were supposed to be on a cruise. Malaysia did as her mother asked while Cherish tied sheets together as quickly as possible while keeping her eyes on Honesti who is a busy body. She thanked God for Malaysia being smart, since she didn't have to talk her daughter through what else to say. Malaysia knew their address and was telling what her mother was currently doing.

"Cherish." She heard her uncle's Ben's voice by the window she had broken.

"Uncle Ben. Thank God you're back." Cherish grabbed Malaysia's hand and picked up Honesti. He helped Cherish get her daughters out, then helped Cherish climb out the window.

Her aunt was crying as she hugged them. It wasn't long before sirens were heard as they made their way to the front of the house. Cherish's hand and elbow were throbbing, but she kept her kids close. Hugging them as if it was the last time. They could've died or at least been seriously hurt in that fire. Cherish didn't know how a fire started.

"I want my daddy." Malaysia cried.

I want your daddy too. Cherish looked upward to hold in her tears. The whole Von situation had Priest not even talking to her if it wasn't about their kids. Not a moment too soon, they heard glass shattering and a big commotion, indicating that the fire was at its next phase. Two fire trucks, along with an ambulance, pulled up.

Cherish was still coughing, but her daughters had stopped. The paramedics gave Malaysia and Honesti a mask before the woman paramedic turned to Cherish. "Ma'am, are you hurt?" The paramedic asked.

"I burned my hand and cut my elbow." Cherish coughed as a mask was placed over her face. The paramedic wrapped her hand and cleaned her elbow before wrapping it. The glass didn't damage anything.

"Sir, we can't let you in right now. Just give us a minute." A firefighter told Priest.

"My fucking family lives her! My daughters and my wife! Let me the fuck through." Though priest told himself that he called Cherish his wife again solely to get by, he knew that wasn't the truth.

"Daddy!" Malaysia took off her mask before running to Priest. Honesti tried to do the same, so Cherish helped her down. He hugged both tightly.

Priest looked over his daughters himself, just to give him peace of mind before handing them to Truth and Shooter. Rissa had called Priest and since he was at Shooter's house with Truth, he was close by. He stared at Cherish as her tears finally fell. She didn't care if he hated her. She snatched off the mask, then ran to him as he caught her before lifting her off her feet while hugging her. She smelled just like smoke, but he didn't care. Their moment was short-lived, as that wall he now had over his heart for Cherish was coming back up.

"I'm glad you good." He spoke with no emotions. She stared at him before nodding.

Truth wrapped his arms around her. She needed that hug so badly. Then Shooter hugged her before they started questioning her.

The lieutenant on Squad told Cherish they suspect arson. Not to mention all her windows being tempered with which she didn't notice, of course. Whoever set the fire was trying to kill her. Nothing in the living room, kitchen, or bathroom was salvageable. Certain things in the girls' room were salvageable, and the fire hadn't reached Cherish's room since they caught it just in time.

Cherish jumped out of her sleep. Realizing she had fallen asleep while watching the tv series Chicago Fire, which prompted her to dream about the day her house was caught on fire. She looked down to see that her iPad was still in her hand since she was reading a news article about Von as the television brightness illuminated her room. She saw it on the news earlier, but the story was still developing at that time. She couldn't say that she felt bad for him. After what he did to Priest, she believed that was his karma.

She called her brother right after seeing it. Even though she was mad at him, she wanted to be nosey and find out what happened. But Nehemiah sent her to the voicemail, then texted saying, I think I need to focus on the life I built. It's a lot of drama with you, and I don't want my freedom to be on the line again. I love you, lil sis, and I can't thank you enough for always looking out for me, but I can't be around you.

Normally something of that nature would have made Cherish cry, but she laughed and shook her head. After texting Nehemiah, fuck you, you gaslighting bastard. I don't need you. My kids don't need you. Hell, they don't even like you. So stay where the fuck you're at. She felt lighter. She just no longer cared who was in her life. He really tried to gaslight her, and she didn't like that. Then saying it's a lot of drama with her, as if she brought drama his way, which she hadn't. If anything, he's the one bringing drama her way.

She took a big risk asking Shooter for his help, who then discussed it with Ricardo. Especially against a cop was a very big ask. While the cop was brought up on attempted murder charges, he was found not guilty. As he was leaving the courthouse with a smile on his face, Shooter stood on the roof of a building across from the courthouse. Reporters were bombarding the cop with questions when the shot came out of nowhere, from their point of view. He died on the scene, and that was the day Nehemiah got his life back.

They couldn't try to connect Nehemiah with the cop's death, since he was still inside the courthouse talking to the lawyer Cherish got for him. She must've hugged Shooter for ten long minutes later that day as she thanked him profusely. Aside from Priest and Truth, no one else knew that Shooter and Ricardo helped Cherish. When Shooter mentioned it to Nehemiah, that was the first time he heard about it.

"What are you doing up, mama?" Priest asked, startling her.

"Are you trying to give me and your sons a damn heart attack? I didn't even hear any footsteps. And to answer your question, I had fallen asleep briefly and just woke up. What are you doing here?" Cherish held her chest.

"I didn't mean to scare you. I was going to sleep in one of the guest rooms, so Malaysia would know I came back. I thought you were asleep, but still wanted to check on you." Priest stepped into the room. He has a key to Cherish's house and came right after leaving Asia's.

"Oh my God! What happened to your face?" Cherish got out of her bed and walked over to Priest. He couldn't help but compare. Asia saw the same but made no attempt to help him. Cherish instantly got into protective mode. Her thumb tracing underneath his cut that was not minor and that he never bothered to clean. She grabbed his hand and noticed his knuckles. Grabbing his other hand, she noticed both knuckles looked the same. "Who did this? Tell me exactly who I need to fuck up."

Priest's smiled was so big. "Oh, so you coming ten toes behind a nigga?"

"Most definitely." Cherish told him while inspecting his hands. "Just because you had me in my feelings yesterday doesn't mean I won't ever have your back. As weird as it sounds, you have some nice ass hands. Nails are always cleaned and freshly manicured. Now? Well, now they're ugly." She shrugged as he chuckled.

After getting a first aid kit, Priest sat on a couch that was in her room as she sat on an ottoman while cleaning his knuckles. Despite the blood being dried, he still could've gotten an infection for not cleaning it. As she cleaned the cut on his face, he stared at her. She wore reading glasses and her natural hair was in a messy ponytail. Strains of hair hung from the ponytail, and he couldn't stop his movements from brushing it out of her face. Her eyes connected with his.

"Want to tell me what happened?" She never broke eye contact. "I seen on the news and have been reading what happened to Von. Did you go fight him or something?"

"Nah, but I had some people pay his ass a visit. Ended his career. Trust me, that's not one of those injuries athletes makes a comeback from. I'm sure they'll leave out that he's more than likely paralyzed. I could've tortured him to the point he wished I'd kill him, but a warning would do for now." Priest shrugged as she looked at him. He spoke with no emotions and no remorse, but she didn't care what happened to Von if she's being honest.

"I'd hate to be on the receiving end of Soul." She chuckled while shaking her head. "So, what happened then?"

"I beat your brother's ass. Malaysia called me crying about what he said, and I snapped." He added, as she dropped her hand. She was waiting for him to say that he was joking, but knew he was serious. "Cut his fucking finger off and almost cut that nigga tongue."

"Priest!"

"What? He had it coming. I could have killed him, but I didn't. Just for you I'm sparing enemies now and shit." Priest shook his head. "You're mad at me, huh?"

"Maybe a little bit, but not really." Cherish shrugged with a sigh. "He deserved it after the way he talked to me this morning. Made my baby cry and scared her. She doesn't want him over here anymore, and he won't be. I tried to call and be nosey about Von, but he texted that he needed to focus on his life. It's drama with me, and he can't be around me. Like, nigga what? I'm tired of people acting as if I'm bringing drama into their lives when it's the other way around." Priest wanted to smile at Nehemiah, taking heed of his warning, but decided against it.

"Second time a conversation went differently than I expected. Why don't you care? Or more importantly, why aren't you mad about what I did? Something is different about you compared to this morning."

"My therapist told me back in the summer to write down everything I had been through in a journal. To continue writing things that happen as the months go by as a way to not hold my emotions or feelings in, then when the clock strikes twelve on January 1st; burn the whole journal. You know, as a cleanse. Letting go of the past. Moving forward. I ended up doing it yesterday, and I feel so much lighter."

"I wrote so much, I had to resort to another journal. I have even been writing about us. Reading over all I have been through made me realize I'm one strong ass woman, but it's the people around me who make me stronger. I couldn't get through half the things I have been through without those of you who I love. I wrote about what my brother said today before burning the journal. I won't repeat it because I'm over it. I cried. Let myself have my feelings about it and now ready to move on. I won't keep letting people take me to that dark place again. Yesterday taught me that our oldest baby girl is watching everything her mommy does, and I never want her to think she has to hold certain things in. She's too young to be bottling up emotions. Despite what I said this morning, I'm ready to move on from you as well. I just needed that push reading then burning my journals gave me."

"That's my girl." Priest smiled.

"I'm not your girl, but I get the sentiments." Cherish smiled back at him.

"Nehemiah really hurt me earlier, but it made me realize something I noticed before yesterday. My brother isn't the same brother I remembered. Of course, the brother I was remembering was 18. Now he's 29, since the year about to be over and his birthday is coming up; might as well say 30. I know he's changed, but I feel more close to Truth than Nehemiah. Hell, I feel more close to Marcus, who isn't in my life anymore; than Nehemiah. I didn't want to face the truth when it was right in my face. It's not just that he's changed... I just don't really know who he is anymore. When he was in hiding we'd talked on FaceTime a handful time for less than a minute. Phone calls didn't last either, which is why Von used to drop the money off to Nehemiah for me. And I haven't seen him since he left. The hospital was a first. He tried to get me to come visit, but I couldn't take that chance."

"You know his woman pregnant?"

"Damn, I don't even get to know he has a baby on the way? I really should be hurt, but I'm not."

"I was going to tell you this, then after yesterday I changed my mind, but..." Priest ran a hand down his face. "I did some digging after you asked Shooter for some help. He had told me the story you told him about your brother. He never saw a drug deal go bad between the dirty cops and the drug dealer, mama. He never saw the same cop who shot your brother kill that drug dealer. Von saw it. They claimed it had to be mistaken identity, right?"

"Yeah." Cherish said as she listened.

"That was a lie as well. All the cops saw was a black boy. Von fitted the description and they approach him. His bitch ass was scared and threw your brother under the bus. Lied and told them that his best friend saw the deal go down, and that he was told about what happened. Von couldn't mess up his dream of playing basketball. Too much was on the line. So, he set his best friend up. Gave him the hoodie he wore that night. The same hoodie Von was spotted in when the cops caught a glimpse of him." Priest informed as Cherish's lips slightly parted.

"T-That means—"

"He tried to have your brother killed. I guess when he survived and y'all got him away safely, Von felt guilty, which is why he befriended you and stayed in contact with your brother over the years."

"How could I have been so stupid? I trusted him. Marcus trusted him. Nehemiah trusts him."

"You could tell him or don't tell him. It's up to you."

"Nehemiah will never believe any of that. Not even coming from me." Cherish shook her head.

"I don't give a fuck about him. You felt like there was more to the story. That's why I'm telling you. I just wanted to ease your mind." Priest told her. She kissed his cheek, then thanked him.

__

Two hours had gone by and Cherish fell asleep while talking to Priest about an hour and a half ago. After carrying her to the bed, he pulled her comforter over her before kissing her forehead and leaving. While Cherish and the kids were asleep, he was downstairs, sitting in the dimly lit living room while letting his thoughts get the best of him. The fireplace is what gave the living room some light. Cherish had woken up and went downstairs for some water when noticing Priest sitting alone. He was so consumed with his thoughts that he hadn't even noticed her.

She sat on the coffee table before leaning forward.

Cherish placed her hands on Priest's face. So much pain in his eyes, she couldn't stand how much pain was staring back at her. This was pain that Priest managed to mask perfectly, since this isn't the first time she's stared into his eyes. He looked broken down. Tortured by something. Vulnerable.

"Priest." Her thumb caressed her face. "What's wrong? Talk to me."

"I thought you were asleep." He reached out and rubbed her stomach for comfort. His deep and raspy voice was low and held a lot of pain.

"I was, but then I woke up thirsty. That doesn't matter. You matter. I'm glad I woke up when I did. Please, talk to me."

"I broke up with Asia." He started as she stared at him.

"Is that what has you upset? The breakup?" She asked.

"Nah. Plus, it was something I had to do for myself. I'm not ready to be in a relationship with anyone because of these demons I try to keep buried. After that bitch drugged me and shit, I felt less of a man. Those first two weeks were hell. With you being gone, just magnified things. I had men out searching for you, and you couldn't be found, so my anxiety was up even more. I never realized how much being ra—it just fucked my head up in ways I never saw coming. I had no control over my body, and I'm used to being able to control my actions. My mind felt paralyzed. Even calling out your name was hard as hell." Priest vented.