The Queen's Shadow

Respect

~~~Apollos March 14th, 1951

'Hello son,' I heard her voice pierce my thoughts. Why was she here? I had just finished training, what was so important for her to talk to me? I found her periodically checking on me, which was weird. She did it a lot, but I'm a vampire now haven't I proven my worth? I took on an army of fucking vampires for god sake. She's not critical of me, but I don't want her worrying about me. She has other things to deal with, she can worry about me later. I also need her out of my business, I don't need these men to worry about her. On top of that, I'm trying to see how far her people are going to take it.

I want to have ample evidence to present them. They control their hostility when I'm around. Jeane is the main target did the most damage with her betrayal. I even hear of brutal training sessions. Not seriously hurting me, but definitely brutal. I have intervened a few times, though sometimes these men want to test me too. They feel like they're in a prison and I have to alleviate that stress. I have figured out what most of them want from Jeane, it'll take more than that though. 'Can I come in?' Right, I was so focused on my thoughts.

"Yes, mom." She walked in with a smile on her face. What could be the occasion? She wore a white dress shirt and a red blouse. 'It's your birthday she said with a smile.' I remembered I would have been 30 this year. I smiled sincerely and said, "Thank you." I didn't think she was being considerate. 'I hope I'm not bothering you.' I thought about it and realized this was the first time I celebrated my birthday with her.

I remember how I wished she was there when I was a kid. How my dad would try to make a cake and fail miserably. How no one would even bother to sell a negro a fucking cake. I then remember how we still made it work, how the graysons next door made one.

She brought a small gift in with her, it was a ring box. What was he doing? 'This is the ring that I wore when me and Michael got married.' I felt a wave of emotions. "I remembered that my father was buried with his ring. I couldn't take it from him, I couldn't take the suit from him, I couldn't take anything from him." My emotions began to flow, I felt a red tear coming down my cheek. That ring was a reminder of her. He talked about buying 2 platinum rings, I didn't know what was in the box but I did recognize it. I recognized it because I recognized my dads. I remember picking it up and him yelling at me. I remember him being upset with me and not talking to me for a few hours. I just wanted to the box, I just wanted to hold it.

'When you get married, I want you to give her this.' This was the first physical gift I had gotten from my mother, I didn't request it. She had given it to me, a platinum ring. Why were these tears flowing down my face? I missed out on a mother, she could have given me this when I married Wendy. These were not tears of sadness; these were tears of happiness and love, something I rarely ever felt.

'I'm sorry Apollos, I know I wasn't a mother. I know everything you're doing for me is a facade,' was I that obvious with my intentions? 'I just wanted you to know there wasn't a day I didn't miss you.' I don't know what came over me but I hugged her, I hugged her and said 'I love you, Mom.'

I then heard a sound, I knew what it was. It was skin making contact with skin. Someone was being hit, I stopped hugging her and went for the door. I gestured for my mother to stay, if she's here then there's a chance no one knows she's here. Lilith was always personal with me, she never had other people around. I wasn't a secret, she is quite proud of me in fact. 'Where is Lilith?' It was that girl, Lilith's girlfriend? I couldn't remember her name for the life of me, though I didn't care either. I looked forward and saw Jeane, she smacked my subordinate. What gave this girl the right? 'Like I said she's not here, ' Jeane stood her ground. It was a good thing she wasn't going to hurt her. Jeane knew she was in hot water and knew if she did anything hostile she would die. That didn't excuse this girl though. 'I saw her come in here why are you lying you traitorous bitch?' It was time I interfered now, I wanted to see if she was going to go away but she wasn't. Others began to come into the hallway, and tension began to rise. 'You tell me where she is right now, ' she raised her hand and I already grabbed her wrist. "That's not how you treat my subordinates." She tried to break my grip, the problem was she was much weaker than me. I could rip her in half. She needs to understand that's not how you treat other subordinates. I let her go, and Lilith came out of the room.