The Inheritance Pt. 01-02

"That'll show him," I muttered as I limped into the mudroom.

"The Inheritance," Chapter 19

by c.w. cobblestone

I was alone in the house scrubbing the kitchen floor on my hands and knees when the whole world exploded in a firestorm of deafening blasts and swirling bits of glass, wood and paper. The terror was over in less than 10 seconds, leaving behind an eerie stillness, the scent of brimstone, walls crisscrossed with bullet holes, and shimmering oceans of broken glass everywhere.

On the wall next to where I'd been standing only seconds earlier, a diagonal line of circular holes left no doubt that I'd missed being killed by a hair.

My lap felt cold. I looked down and saw a wet spot on my pants. Falling back into an old habit, I'd pissed myself.

The police arrived within minutes. The fat, chain-smoking detective didn't seem to believe me when I insisted that I had no idea why anyone had shot up the house but I stuck to my story. Inside, though, I knew exactly what had happened, and was cursing Hakim for bringing such violence to our doorstep.

Officers were still at the house processing the crime scene when Amber and the kids returned from their movie. They were horrified, and my wife even displayed a tiny bit of concern for me.

"What the hell happened?" Amber asked, her hand covering her mouth.

"I was in the kitchen doing the floor and someone just started shooting."

Tears filled Amber's eyes. "OMG, if the kids had been home ..."

She grabbed the twins and hugged them. After a few minutes she wiped her eyes and turned to me.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, it just missed me." I sighed. "Luckily, I was scrubbing the floor, so the bullets went over my head."

Amber didn't reply, but instead pulled out her cellphone and walked a few feet away, obviously wanting privacy. A few seconds passed and she exhaled and stuffed her phone in her back pocket.

"He's not answering," she said. "Damn it."

She whipped out her phone and dialed again. Tapping her foot, she waited a few seconds. "You need to call me," she said. "It's an emergency. Call as soon as you get this."

Amber hung up and paced in a circle for a few seconds before her phone rang.

"Hakim! The fucking house got shot up. I don't fucking know; someone shot it up. Yes, the police are here now. No, they can't hear me. We're fine, Hakim. Nobody was home except Tim and he didn't get hit. What? Why? Okay, baby, I'll call you when they leave. Bye."

Amber hung up and leaned in close to the twins and me. "He doesn't want to come home until the police leave. Listen, you guys, if the cops start asking us any questions, don't mention your father living here, you hear me?"

A tear fell down Shanice's cheek. "I'm scared, Mama."

"I'm scared, too," Leesa said and the three females embraced. I stood a few feet from the group hug, feeling left out but also enraged at how Hakim had put us all in danger with his drug-dealing -- just as the DEA agents had warned.

After finishing his work inside the house, the corpulent detective waddled up to Amber and the twins, and asked if they knew why someone would have targeted their house. As their mom had instructed, the kids didn't mention Hakim.

After the cops left, Amber phoned Hakim and told him the coast was clear. He pulled up in his new Mercedes a few minutes later, exited the car and stood motionless in the driveway for several minutes, taking in the damage.

"I'll kill them motherfuckers," he finally said.

Amber stormed up to her lover waving her arms. "Goddamn you, Hakim. We could've been killed. Our kids could've been killed, and all you care about is getting whoever did this back?!!"

I feared for my wife's safety, half expecting Hakim to slap her for her insolence. Instead, he softened.

"Baby, I am so sorry," he said. "I'm so sorry. I didn't want you involved in this."

"Well, what did you think was gonna happen, Hakim? That's the game. We don't need the money. You just got out of prison; why are you--?"

"Listen, baby, I told you I'm sorry, but we don't need to talk about this shit now. I'm gonna make it right, I promise. For now, I'm putting you and the girls up in a hotel. I would send you to your mama's house, but I'm afraid them Folks motherfuckers might find you there, too."

That sent Amber and the twins into another crying fit.

"Daddy, why are those bad people trying to kill us?" Leesa searched her father's face.

"You won't let them hurt us, will you, Daddy?" Shanice wiped a tear from her eye.

"Ain't nothing gonna happen to any of you, I promise," Hakim said, setting his jaw. "I'm gonna get you set up in a hotel and put a couple guys outside your door just in case. Timmy, you'll stay with me."

I blinked. "Um, okay."

The house was abuzz for the next hour as Amber and the twins hurriedly packed while I went around with the broom and dustpan sweeping up glass. It was almost four in the morning when Hakim took the family to the undisclosed hotel with orders that I finish cleaning and then stay put to ensure looters wouldn't enter our house through the glassless windows.

After sweeping up the glass, I sat on the porch and watched the sun rise, questioning every decision I'd ever made in my sad, pathetic excuse for a life.