Thugs Ain't For Me

67: Who saved Bella?

*Friday*

Bella

I can't eat, I can't sleep, and I can barely breathe. I feel like my life is just crashing down all around me. My sister in the hospital after bein' shot three times, honestly I'm surprised she made it but I am very grateful. My son father is who knows where....probably dead....those thoughts of Preston being dead running through my head right now is making me even more sick. I've been ignoring Wayne ever since I found out how fuckin' crazy his ass was. Not to mention my stomach is growing every second and Dr. Morris wants me to come in for a check up, and I can even find out what I'm having now. He says it could be a girl since I already had a boy but that didn't matter. Sometimes I forget that I'm pregnant again since it came so much as a surprise to me. I start work Monday morning and that was weighing heavily on my mind as well because now I gotta find Camden a daycare to go to, good thing I get off at 1. I reached out to Nicole yesterday in hopes that we could come together and be friends or something because honestly ain't no reason for me to hate her, I was just emotional at Christian's funeral. I called Preston's phone numerous times and no answer. 

"Mama can you watch Camden?" I peered into my mama's room where she was watching TV.

"Why not, where you going?" She doesn't take her eyes off of what she's watching.

"I need to go get him some more....formula." I lie.

"See I told you when you first had him to just breast feed but you ain't wanna listen, now you gotta go spend all that money for some formula, when you making natural milk." She shakes her head and I roll my eyes because she is always doing the most. Apparently she's fine with being forty with them long ass titties and expects me to be fine with that as well all because she breast fed us, no. I already had her grabbed her car keys while she was to busy glued to the TV because I know damn well she ain't expect me to catch no bus. I started up her old piece of shit and let it warm up before peeling away from the curb in front of our apartment building. Luckily I still knew exactly where Wayne lived. 

    I don't know what I was planning on doing honestly but I was willing to do anything. 

    I pulled up next to the side a building further away and got out. I didn't see any lights on as I walked up the pathway. I nervously reached for the door handle to the front of the building and to my surprise it came right open. The hallway was dark but I remembered where the elevator was, the only light was coming from the street lights that glowed through the full glass windows of the lobby. I push the button to call the elevator and it shot down in no time. The first place I wanted to check was the main floor of his condo, and then the basement. Once I made it up I heard the TV playing, the light from the TV lit up the dark living room as I crept inside to see if anybody was here. But nobody sat in front of the TV...it was just on. I went around the counter in the kitchen and searched through the drawers for a knife. I grabbed the biggest one and continued my mission through the rest of the condo. The kids bedroom was empty, all but the glow from the nightlight that was plugged in by the nightstand. I move quietly over to the closet, sliding the doors back only to reveal kid clothes. I close the door slowly behind me exiting the room and going to the next one. The master bedroom was huge, I was for sure he had Preston hiding some where in here. I searched in the big walk in closet only to find shoes and female underwear. I was getting tired and upset that this wasn't turning out to be what I thought it was. My next stop was the upstairs. I lightly walked up the spiral staircase, holding this knife as close to me as possible. I was trying my hardest to be ready for whatever it was I needed to be ready for. There was four bedrooms up here. I walked into the first one flicking the switch but nothing came on. I couldn't see shit.

"Preston...." I whisper. "Preston if you're in here...make a sound. It's me Bella." I use my hands to guide me through the dark room. After realizing that I was just talking to myself I went into the next three rooms....nothing. My trip back downstairs was disappointing but chills started to form on my skin when I made it back downstairs and the TV was off. I swung the knife around making sure nobody try no slick shit. I had a sudden feeling that I wasn't here alone anymore...or if I ever was. I make a run for the elevator, clicking the button but they elevator wasn't coming. I was standing in the dark with a knife as big as my hand with the sudden feeling that somebody was just watching me. Crying was not an option right now so I fought back these tears with everything I got. Then all of a sudden I started to get these strong ass cramps.

"Not now....please not now." I start to beg my fetus. The last thing I needed right now was to be huddled over in pain.

"What's wrong Bell....going into labor so soon?" Wayne's menacing voice strike behind me and I rise up trying to imagine that it was all in my head. "I didn't think you was this stupid to put your own life and your baby's life in danger all over a nigga you claim you don't love no more." He taunts me.

"Neither one of our lives are in danger." I tell him.

"I beg to differ because you're not getting outta here alive if that's what you think." He holds up a timer. I analyze what it actually was before he laughed and put it back in his pocket. "Don't worry I won't start it yet....."

"Why are you doing this?" He starts to walk toward me and everything in me is saying 'plunge this knife right into his meaty chest' so I was getting prepared.

"Preston tried to play me, it's bad enough I got one lil nigga out here like he running shit. He needs to learn his lesson....you can't fool a king at his own game." He comes even closer but my vision gets blurry with tears I keep trying to fight off.

"...Just tell me this one thing....is he dead?" 

"He will be." He lunges at me and grabs me around the neck strangling the oxygen from my body. I stupidly drop the knife trying to get his hands from around my neck but he had a devil's grip and so I just get weaker and weaker. My knees buckle as I try my last attempt to get his hands from around my neck.

POW!

POW!

Wayne's body jerks after each bullet tears through him, blood hits me all in the face and his grip loosens up. I crawl away to a safe area, sucking in as much air my lungs can take right now. The bullets didn't kill him instantly however, he reached into his pocket and pulled back out the little round timer, clicking the start button. It started a countdown from twenty seconds. A hand grabbed my arm and pulled me away from Wayne's now lifeless body. 

"Where are we going to go? He disabled the elevator." I tell the strange man who saved my life.

"Are you brave?" His unfamiliar voice asked in the mist of all the chaos. I didn't answer because I didn't fully understand what he meant. He takes a firm hold to my hand and goes full speed toward the window, dragging me with him.

"WAIT! I'M PREGNANT!" I scream covering my face with my free arm right before we leap out of the full glass window. Glass shatters everywhere, and I land on my back. Feeling like I was paralyze right after I hit the ground I just lay here. But he picks me up and continues to make a run for it and not even a half second later I hear the loudest BOOM in my life. I look behind us and Wayne's condo goes up into pieces. We take cover behind a car as I try and catch my breath, my back still killing me. "Pre...ston...." I still struggle for air, "He was in there.....and now he's dead." I watch the rest of the condo's debris rain down everywhere. "Wayne was willing to take....his own life.....wow he really was crazy." I speak to myself.

"Come on let's get you outta here." The stranger picks me up again and carries me to his car. Under a street light I could now get a good look at his face. My eyes must of been deceiving me after that hard ass fall I just took.

"Christian?" My heart drops.