Devil's Eyes

Chapter 36: Vista

Song recommendation: God's Eyes by Roddy Rich "I overcome obstacles and they still come, I was tryna make a way out, like it was my first day out"

"Ay yo, East." Dave popped his airpods in before crashing onto the chair by the bed.

"Yo," he answered his brother.

"You ain't gon like this but no one can find this little nigga, Jay..." Aubrey let out an exasperated sigh. On the other side of the phone he was laid up with Ella but she was sound asleep, missing the conversation. He was grateful because he needed to notify Dave as soon as possible without interruptions. The only thing holding them back was the fact that Jay was grimey and out to get them and they needed to get him before he got to them.

"Man, we gon have to pull out the big guns..." 

"Bad cop?" That's what Dave and Aubrey referred to the few cops working with them who provided services in exchange for money and drugs. Those services included protection and freedom to run their "businesses" without the fear of being locked up. This time they needed more than the cops to look the other way, they wanted to utilize their tech guys to find him.

"Yeah, man. That's what we gon have to turn to--"

"Dave?" Sage's voice rang through their home, cutting in the conversation at hand.

"Lemme call you back, bro," he said before a giddy Sage trudged into the room with her fluffy slippers. She plopped on his lap, "Finally up from your nap? Who was that?"

"The bro. Why you cheesin' so hard?" Her happiness made him happy even if he wasn't always the direct source. He enclosed his arms around her and waited for her response.

"Well, first, your sobriety mentor called and he said it was normal to relapse," she took his much bigger hand into her own and squeezed it, "but is there anything you need to talk to me about? Anything bothering you?" He didn't expect her to be so calm and understanding about his setback but he should've. She's always had a sense of compassion and tolerance for plenty of his situations.

He released a breath he didn't know he was holding, he knew exactly why he was stressing and it had all to do with protecting her. Jay was his main opp and he was nowhere to be found, which meant there was a large possibility he was ready to hurt them again. He didn't know for sure but Dave isn't that trusting. His paranoia is justified most times when a circumstance arises so it wasn't any different this time. Despite having this strong hunch that drove him to white girl, he didn't want to pass that same worry to Sage, particularly pregnant Sage.

"Not really, baby, we done spoke about the baby. I'm fine," he lied. It stung him when he saw she believed him but it was for the greater good in his eyes. She turned her body and pecked his lips. "You sure?"

"Yeah, baby, everything's fine. Now why was you cheesin'?" He quickly brought the conversation to his original question.

Sage waved her phone in his face and broke out into that wide smile again. "Mom and Ella are planning this beautiful babyshower for us.They basically want full reign but some of our input at a certain point," she said that last part with a playful eye roll.

"Of course I wanna hear all about it," he stated. Dave leaned forward and placed a small peck on her noise as she began ranting about how the guest list shouldn't go past a certain number of guests. Truthfully, he hoped her declaration would distract him for a moment and help him focus on the happiness that is their child. For a minute it did, he got lost in thoughts about how the baby might look or how he or she might act. Dave beamed when he imagined his son loving basketball like he did but instead of just playing in the hood he could pursue it professionally. He imagined if he had a daughter she'd love photography like his mother or maybe modeling instead.