Asylum, p.12
Asylum, page 12
“Which means…” I urged, leaning forward slightly and making him laugh.
“Which means I won’t be so hard on her, but I still don’t see us having a relationship.”
“And you’re gonna stop calling her your sister?”
He laughed, and the sound was like music to my ears. I loved the crinkles on the sides of his eyes and those straight, white teeth. Every version of Asylum was beautiful, but him happy was definitely my favorite.
“Bae!”
“Nah, you wrong for that, Asylum.” I didn’t want to, but I laughed. “Stop calling that lady Sis. Call her Amber if you don’t want to call her Mama.”
With a huff, he nodded his agreement as his laughter died down. Sucking his teeth, he grumbled, “Aight, aight. I’ll ease up.”
“Thank you.” I pecked his lips. “I’m very proud of you.”
His eyes scanned my frame. “How proud?”
“Proud enough to put you to bed.”
As quickly as he hopped off the chair and picked me up bridal style filled me with laughter. He may not have been able to get to sleep on his own, but after I catered to his body and let him into mine, Asylum would be sleeping like a baby in no time.
That Weekend
I was too tickled over a drunk Haley. This was the first time I’d ever seen her drunk because she knew her limits. Instead of getting regular mimosas for brunch, we got what the restaurant called Macmosas which was champagne, orange juice, and vodka. She’d called Antonne telling him that she accidently got drunk, and he came to get her expeditiously. Nicole, Denali, and I had offered to get her home safely, but I think my friend just wanted to see Haley in this element.
As we all walked to our cars, we laughed as Haley waved and told us she loved us. Even with Antonne holding her up, she still managed to trip over her own feet and almost fell into a bush. He scooped her up and carried her to the car, laughing just as hard as we were.
“That girl is never going to drink anything other than wine and tequila again,” I said, wiping the tears from my eyes.
“I know, right?” Denali agreed. I was glad she was able to get out. With her new baby, Elite and their kids were her top priority. I felt like I could only see my girl if I went to her house, which was understandable. If I had a new baby with the love of my life that had taken my two other children on as his own, I wouldn’t want to leave home either.
“What y’all about to get into?” Nicole asked.
“You know I’m about to go back home to my baby,” Denali said.
“I might go see my parents,” I replied, looking back at Merc. He was alert and close but far enough away for me to feel like I was alone. “Sy is handling business with his asylums and looking into some old apartment buildings. He’ll probably be gone all day.”
“Apartment buildings?” Nicole repeated.
“Yeah. He’s been talking about opening a couple of shelters in the city to go along with the asylums. Apparently, his intake research is showing him the bulk of the women that come to him are leaving abusive relationships or toxic families. He’s thinking about separating the men and women and using the shelters for women and families.”
“That’s amazing!” Denali said.
“Absolutely,” Nicole agreed. “Tell Bro if he needs help with anything to let me know.”
“Will do.” We all hugged and said our goodbyes before I told Merc about my next location. He jumped into his car, and I got into mine. Merc must have told Asylum we were leaving because about a minute into my drive he was sending me a FaceTime request.
I answered, and the sight of him with True almost made me run into the car in front of me.
“Oh my God!” I squealed. “Truuue!”
She giggled as she waved. “Heeey, Ms. Doe! I miss you!”
Tears were already threatening to fall as I alternated between looking at her and the road. I put my hazard lights on and pulled over into the right lane.
“I miss you too, baby love! It’s so, so good to see you!”
“Come see me!”
“Where y’all at?”
“Her grandparents’ house,” Asylum said. “Merc has the address. Follow him.”
“OK. I’m on my way.”
Once I got back into traffic, Merc got in front of me and led the way. About fifteen minutes passed before we were pulling up, and Asylum was already outside. He must have been done with work for the day because he relieved Merc. Before I went inside, Asylum asked to speak with me and that was cause for concern.
“What’s going on?” I asked, leaning against my car.
“Bobby dropped her off here indefinitely,” he shared. I thought that would have made him happy, but his expression showed a different emotion. “Apparently his girl said she needs to be going to school because she can’t take care of her and feed her all day and do hair.” Asylum chuckled and squeezed the back of his neck. “Their water was shut off, so True was unable to bathe all last fuckin’ week, Doe. And that ain’t the worst of it.” Sy paused and took in a deep breath. “She got welts on her back from a whupping he gave her because she was so upset over the living conditions that she cried and told him she wanted to go back home to her real daddy. Instead of him soothing her and defusing the situation like an adult, he argued with a child and got so upset he gave my girl a whupping for speaking the truth.”
He released a bitter chuckle and ran his fingers down the corners of his mouth. “So she’s staying here for a while, and he claims he’s going to be randomly stopping by to make sure she’s not with me. Selena is supposed to take her to school and make sure she’s straight while Bobby gets some things in order.”
“Wait, so he still plans to get her back?”
“Yeah. He wants her to stay here until the start of the new year. By then, he wants to have her transferred to a school out that way.”
“And what about their living situation? I’m not judging anyone going through hard times but if she’s not being fed properly and they have no water, she doesn’t need to be there.”
“I’m on the same fuckin’ wave. They got roaches and shit too. And I’m not talking about just one. They have an infestation. She ain’t even been able to rest because they be crawling on her and shit.” His eyes watered as he looked away. “My girl has really been going through it over there.” He wiped a quickly fallen tear. “My first mind told me to call CPS. All them kids’ll get taken out that house but I didn’t want to put them in that situation. Instead, I’m going to open the case first thing Monday morning. They will have a caseworker go check the living conditions and she will be removed from the home indefinitely. They may give them a certain amount of time to get it taken care of, but I have to get custody of her before they do.”
“And what about the other kids?”
“By Monday, Selena said they will be staying with his girl’s sister, so they’ll be out the house. They won’t be removed and placed in a foster home temporarily.”
“Good.” I clutched my chest as relief filled me. Though we wanted better for them, I knew he had a thing about kids being separated from their parents.
“Only thing is, I can’t guarantee she’ll be placed with me while the case is open and that she won’t be returned to him. I’m cool with her staying here; I just don’t want her going back there.”
Silence found us for a while as I thought over any possible solutions.
“If I’m not mistaken, I staffed a woman in the juvenile clerk’s office. If I did, maybe she can help.” I pulled my phone out of my purse. “Let me get Regina to go through our files and see.”
Lord knows I needed to have a connection in there that could do us this solid. True needed to be returned home ASAP, and if there was anything I could do to help make that happen, I was going to do it.
Chapter
Nineteen
Asylum
Monday
The shock of my visit was written all over my mother’s face. She blinked rapidly as she stared at me with her mouth hung open. It was the first time since she came back into our lives that I put forth the effort to see or talk to her. Chuckling, I lifted her chin to close her mouth.
“A-Asylum… come in,” she offered, but I shook my head.
“I can’t stay. I just… I wanted to say thank you.”
Her head tilted and brows wrinkled as she clutched the door. “For what?”
“Giving me up.”
Amber’s body swayed as if my words knocked the breath out of her. I never thought I’d come to this moment, this perspective. After watching Bobby struggle to take care of his daughter and another woman’s kids, I finally understood why my mother left me. His pride positioned him to do two things: not change for the better and keep a child he knew he couldn’t take care of. That wasn’t being a good parent; that was being selfish and not putting what was best for them ahead of his pride.
I thought back over my childhood with my mother and I could see her struggle. As a kid, it didn’t faze me because that was my normal. For True, she hadn’t had those struggles for the first twelve years of her life, so leaving me and going to Bobby was a complete shock for her. If I had to choose between the childhood I had with my mother and the childhood I had with my grandparents, my grandparents would win every time.
“I don’t agree with how you did it,” I continued, “But I’m glad you did it.”
“Where is this coming from?”
I gave her a brief rundown of what transpired over the weekend before I ended with, “That’s why I can’t stay. I have to be at the courthouse at ten.”
“I pray it works out in True’s favor. And…” She paused and took in a shaky breath. “I’m truly sorry for how I left you, Sy. I could have put my ego aside and moved in with my parents to raise you and receive their help, but I was tired… and proud. I didn’t want the responsibility anymore. I gave up because I felt like a failure.” Amber took my hand into hers, and for the first time, I didn’t immediately pull it away. “I’m proud of the man you’ve become, and I’m glad you’re fighting for True the way I didn’t have the sense to fight for you. Please let me know how everything turns out, OK?”
Before I could agree, she was pulling me into her arms for an embrace. For the first time since I was nine years old, I hugged my mother. I didn’t expect it to affect me, but it did. The longer she held me, the weaker I felt. And before I knew it, I was that nine-year-old boy crying and yearning for his mother all over again…
“You OK, Daddy?”
I looked over at True and smiled. I was a few minutes late for the hearing, but it didn’t matter. Thanks to Doe’s connections, we were able to get on Judge Wilson’s docket as soon as the caseworker left Bobby’s house. After hearing about the living conditions they were currently dealing with, he ordered the immediate removal of the children from the home. Bobby’s girlfriend, Tamara, was allowed to keep her children at her sister’s house… and True was able to come home with me.
There was no doubt in my mind that Doe was responsible for that. Usually, the kids would have had to be taken in by the state and a relative would have to be approved before the kids could go with them. I wasn’t sure how she got one of her old hires to talk to Wilson on our behalf, but I would be eternally grateful for it.
It was temporary, but it was a start, and I was grateful to God for that.
Wilson gave Bobby and Tamara sixty days to improve their living conditions, otherwise, the children would be permanently removed from the home. He didn’t even bother to show up for the hearing, so I wasn’t sure how dedicated he would be to this process. Either way, I had to ensure that regardless of what he did over the next sixty days that True would be able to remain with me… at least throughout the week.
If he wanted her on the weekends like before, I was OK with that, but there was no way in hell I’d let him have her full-time. She had just started going back to school last week, and now, they were out for Christmas break. She’d missed several weeks of school and would be behind. I planned to go and talk to her teachers after the break to see what all we had to do to get her caught up. Between him not prioritizing her schooling and them not feeding the kids properly, the water being cut back on and roach infestation being taken care of would still make the place unlivable for True in my opinion.
“I’m good, just in thought. I’m happy you’re home.”
“Me too! I knew you would get me back no matter how long it took.”
Her faith and trust in me made my soul smile. “Now this isn’t permanent. For right now, it’s just for the next sixty days, but I’m gonna do everything I can to keep you here. Even if I have to work something out with your father that includes him having you on the weekends. How would you feel about that?”
Shrugging, she looked out of the window and huffed. “I don’t see what’s the point of me going over there. We don’t really spend any time together. It be so many kids over there he never focuses on me. And he always gets mad when I talk about you and Ms. Doe. I love him because he’s my daddy, but I don’t like being with him. I just want to stay here.”
The judge had made it clear True’s desires would be taken into consideration, but the final decision would be made based on what he thought was best.
“Well, I’ll make sure I let the judge know how you feel, and you’ll have the chance to as well.”
She nodded and finally returned her eyes to mine. “Yes, sir.”
We got out of the car and headed to the house. I didn’t tell Doe the good news because I wanted her to be surprised. As soon as we made it inside, True began her search for Doe. She found her in their spa room reading a book.
“Ah!” Doe squealed and stood, pulling True in for a bear hug. “Welcome home, baby love!”
“Thank you!” True laughed as Doe rocked her from side to side.
With both of my girls home, it felt like a nigga could breathe and rest easy after a very, very long time.
Early the Next Morning
Groggily, I checked the time on my phone. I was so at peace now that True was home that I went to sleep early as hell. After dinner, I crashed. What was supposed to be me sitting on the bed for a minute turned into me sleeping until four in the morning. Doe stirred against me. I laid back down, not wanting to wake her up, but she was such a light sleeper that she woke up anyway.
“Hey, sleepy head,” she said with sleep thick in her voice.
“Sorry for waking you up.”
“It’s OK. I’m just glad you finally got some sleep. What time is it?”
“A little after four. Try and go back to sleep.”
“I’ll probably go ahead and get up now. The sooner I get started with pairing clients with jobs, the sooner I’ll be done with work.”
“I was thinking we could go out of town for a little while.”
“You know I’m always down for a trip.” She chuckled softly, and I found myself in awe of how I loved everything about this woman—even the way she sounded when she first woke up. “Where did you have in mind?”
“Somewhere kid friendly with stuff we will enjoy as well.”
“I agree. After everything she’s dealt with, True needs a good vacation.”
“I know I said it earlier but thank you again for your help. If you hadn’t stepped in, she’d be in state custody right now.”
Her hand caressed my cheek. “I’m just glad I was able to help. I love you both, and I’m happy you got your girl back.”
Though I couldn’t see her smile, I heard it in her voice.
“I’m happy I got you back. Even with the craziness going on with Bobby and Trey, having you back has increased my happiness and peace tenfold.” I kissed her neck and cheek as my hand lowered to her ass. “I hope you know I’m not letting you go this time.”
“I don’t want you to let me go ever, babe.”
“I’m glad we’re on the same page,” I told her before connecting her lips with mine.
Our kisses led to me removing my clothes and pulling her onto my lap. As she lifted my shirt off her body, I lifted her frame and slid her down on my dick. The quiet moan she released at our connection was always the start to my favorite song.
Sitting up, I caressed every inch of her body I could touch as she rode me slowly. Licking and kissing her nipples, I made my way up her chest and neck to her lips. As our kiss deepened, her pussy grew wetter and wetter. There was something about becoming one with Doe that felt so intimate it was spiritual. I would never get tired of experiencing her in this way.
Low hums escaped me as she came. Feeling her walls leak and throb became too much to bear. I hadn’t cum inside of her since the first time we reconnected, but that was about to change if she didn’t get up. My toes curled and stomach clenched as my dick throbbed inside of her.
“You need to move, sweetheart.” I moaned as I gripped her waist. “I’m about to cum.”
Her right arm was wrapped around my head as she bounced against me. “I don’t wanna stop.”
“You know what that means, right?” I confirmed, sticking my fingers in her mouth.
Once she wet them, I wrapped my arm around her waist and circled her asshole with my middle and pointer fingers. Her back arched as she whimpered.
“Tell me what you want me to do,” I commanded.
“Cum in me.”
The rasp of her sweet tone was my undoing. I gave her just what she asked for. I released a low growl as I tried to control her movements, but she wasn’t letting up. I let her use me for another orgasm before I laid her down and took control. Putting her legs by her ears, I filled her with deep, hard strokes that made it increasingly difficult to stay quiet. Each ooh and ahh, each whimper and hiss, each moan of my name… that shit drove me insane. We came again before I could even prepare.
“Shit,” I moaned, rolling over so she could lay on top of me while I stayed inside of her.
“That was the start to a very good morning.”
