BOMAW Vol. 10-12 (151 page)

"Hi son, it's your dad."

"Hey dad, we're getting things loaded up now, be flying out tonight, something you want us to bring back?"

There was a pause, a long deep breath, "Ah son, you all need to get back, soon as you can. Your mom, Vivian, Jake, his boys, Shanna, they're all in Madison, ah - Meribel's in critical condition, she's been in a hit and run. Her and my Sasha, she's gonna be okay, but Meri, they ain't too sure she gonna make it, and Derrick - well - just get home, soon as you can."

Shawn clicked the phone off, turning to look at his family, "FUCK! No fuckin' way!"

Madison...

"We're here to see, Meribel McPherson, we're family." Sylvia informed the receptionist at the front desk of the hospital.

They'd just arrived back in Wisconsin, and due to Angela's bodyguard and security needs - once more Deidre had insisted to rush a few things along. It stunned Shawn and Sylvia just how much power there was behind having billions - because when they landed at the Madison airport, there was a brand new Hummer waiting for them, which would later be replaced by one of high security standards. Once more, it took an absolute steel will for Mundo not to break into dance. Also, the gravity pulling things down with the family emergency helped a great deal. The situation concerning Meribel adding to the stress, had Shawn also irritated by the changes that were forced on him, them - now. He resented the intrusion of not only Angela's bodyguard, but also the driver waiting with the Hummer - he felt the control of space that was once his, being intruded upon. As for the Hummer, regardless of the spaciousness within it, it would not hold all of them and their luggage, thus Shawn ended up renting another vehicle as well. Half the family therefore rode in the Hummer, Angela, Crystal and the boys and bodyguard; while Ben, Mundo and luggage rode with Shawn and Sylvia. All the way from the airport Shawn shot off his irritation with the new set up in their lives. Unfortunately, Sylvia, Ben and Mundo had to sit through his tirade, as he declared and promising, that once all other things were in place, the bodyguard would have to back off and the driver would be sent back. They all sat quiet, giving no comment, letting him hiss and steam. Sylvia had a feeling, part of his irritation was from worry of the emergency. Anything to do with his family, riled him, unsettled him. Before they reached the hospital, they found a hotel nearby to check into, getting a few rooms to drop off their luggage. With all the rushing around to hurry and get to the hospital, Shawn made it clear to the driver and bodyguard, whether they liked it or not, they were not going with them there.

Sylvia kept her mouth closed and let him have his will in that. Even so, the driver and bodyguard, worked for Deidre, and took their orders from
her
, not him. Their job was to guard her daughter, which came before anything Shawn might feel or say. Hence, when all were back into the vehicle he rented, Angela included, the driver and bodyguard trailed behind them in the Hummer, keeping them in sight but staying out of Shawn and families way.

Now at the hospital, the family made their way up to ICU, they could barely speak, still spinning in disbelief from the news. Needless to say, there was a numbness, a fear, mixed with silent prayers of worry and then back to fear again. Shawn held Sylvia's hand, squeezing it on and off. He had been silent for most of the trip, not sure what to say, but it was clear, that he was afraid for his brother. Afraid for his brother's children, afraid for the entire family. When the elevator doors opened, they took a few steps, turned in the corridor, and after a few yards, encountered the waiting room. A small part of the family was present, most had been there late into the night. Derrick's kids were all at home except for Sasha, they'd left late the night before; Shanna, Gert, and Vivian going home with them to rest and return once more in the morning as soon as everyone was up and ready. Jake and his boys had stayed all night with Derrick, until Bart arrived with Shanna's intended, Officer Royce Collier - they were in Meribel's room with Derrick at the present. When Shawn and his family came down the corridor, it was to meet Jake and his sons on the way out to get some rest - however first, they would make another stop to check on Sasha again, as Jake and his sons had been doing all night, under the circumstances, the hospital allowed it.

Jake's eyes went immediately to Ben, and then from him to Shawn, as they all gathered around him to hear what was going on.

Ben stood beside Crystal, holding Darren in his arms, Mundo had Isaac and Angela stood before Crystal, her arms over Angela's shoulders, and Sylvia next to Shawn listening.

"Right now, the doctors say she's stable, but, she's in pretty bad shape, on top of all she suffered, she also miscarried."

"Ohhh nooo!" Sylvia cried out covering her mouth, tears rushing to her eyes.

"Yeah, it's pretty bad, neither of them even knew she was pregnant again and if that isn't bad enough, her injuries were so severe, she was hemorrhaging so they ended up having to perform an emergency hysterectomy on her, so, no more children." All the family could do was moan in despair at what they were hearing.

"And Sasha?" Sylvia asked right away.

"Sasha suffered a twisted ankle, a bone line fracture across her foot, and a fractured wrist from the fall. According to Sasha, her mother must have seen the car coming because she pushed Sasha back, or else she would have been hit full on as Meribel was."

"Oh my God!" Sylvia's hands were in her hair, shaking her head in disbelief, "I just can't believe this is happening."

"How is Derrick holding up?" Shawn asked.

"He hasn't said anything, to anyone yet. Not one word. He hasn't left her side since they brought her up from surgery. I stayed, the boys and I because well, we found out, that the person who hit them, is here at the hospital as well - a police report has been made, and due to everything, she has an officer at her door."

Everyone's ears perked up hearing that, "Her? I thought it was a hit and run?" Shawn repeated his father's words.

Kevin spoke up this time saying, "It's was a hit and attempt to run actually; she tried to take off from the scene, ran a red light and got broadsided."

"When we found that out, I don't know, something told me, don't leave here, don't leave Derrick unguarded. Even so, you and I both know, if Derrick cuts loose, I can't hold him man, chances are, neither will you be able to. The reason both of my boys stayed, just in case." Jake voiced his fear.

"You think he'll go after her? The lady that hit her?" Crystal asked.

"Yeah, I think he will - this has hit him hard." Jake murmured low for only the family to hear. "There's a bit of a back story connected to this event, that woman, hit her gas hard enough to peal her tires with the intent of killing Meribel, if it wasn't for the red light, she might have gotten away, maybe. You see, there's a restraining order out on her."

"I know all about it, he spoke to me about her when we were here before leaving for L.A. Didn't know it was the result of her, now I see." Shawn confessed.

"Well, I'm sure more details of it will come out, the kids know all about it. We're gonna head off now and get some sleep - check on Sasha before we go. Mom, Vivian, Shanna and Derrick's kids will be here soon, as well Meribel's family. Marcus got a hold of them last night. Her mother, sister, two brother's, her uncle and two cousins are all coming up. According to what Marcus said from their reactions, things are probably going to get real ugly."

"Oh my goodness, you do not want to get a bunch of gang-banging, pissed off Puerto Ricans up in here, they do believe in revenge, especially gangers, which her cousins and brothers are." Sylvia shook her head in dread, she knew beyond a doubt, shit was about to hit the fan.

Shawn looked at her and shrugged, "Family is family - and justice must be met, one way, or the other. If they come here feeling they need to do what they need to do, that is none of our business, long as they're not directing their anger at my brother. As for the rest, I don't care, we're here for Meribel, my brother and the kids. Should something else occur surrounding that - teacher, whoever she is, que sera sera."

"They're on their way, should be here in a couple of hours." Paul inserted, having spoken to Luis when he called to update everyone on Meribel's condition through the night and morning.

Crystal looked to her mother and Shawn, "We're gonna follow them to Sasha's room, visit with her a while."

"Yeah, I wanna make sure she's okay." Angela spoke up.

"That's fine, you all go on." Sylvia agreed, nodding them on.

"Well, follow us." Jake directed them, taking the lead heading for the elevator, "See you all in a few hours."

"Yeah, get some rest, we'll be here awhile." Shawn returned, "Oh, her room?" He called out before the elevator closed.

"42b!" Jake called back, the doors closed.

In the elevator, Jake's eyes naturally went to Ben, and then to the fact that he was holding Darren familiarly. He looked away to the back of Crystal's head wondering about the fact that her youngest was so comfortable with him. Regardless of his thoughts, he remained quiet. In fact, most were quiet considering how many stood in the elevator going down. The only sound that kept it from being totally awkward was Darren's baby voice asking Ben, "G'down?" For Ben to answer soft and low, "Yes, elevator, can you say elevator?" for his little voice to come back struggling with the word, "b'ta'?"

Even though Ben's soft voice responded to the baby, Jake could feel his eyes on him as if silently pleading with him to look his way. He wouldn't, even though deep inside, he knew that he should look at him, say something instead of pretending he wasn't there.

Crystal felt and knew what was happening just behind her, and couldn't fight blushing for Jake and Ben in the uncomfortable space surrounding them. She loved Jake, he was apart of the family, however, she didn't see how he couldn't understand why Ben felt he needed to seek the truth once and for all? While she knew that he was hurt by it, why didn't he grasp that Ben too had been hurt all those years, carrying the burden of what existed between him and his older brother? Part of her wanted to turn around, look into Jake's eyes and softly plead not to ignore him, not to hurt him further by taking offense, in truth, due to something that was really his fault. But she didn't turn and say it, because she didn't want to cause a problem between herself and Jake; he was an uncle to her in the truest sense. Besides all of that, she had to also see, that his reactions towards Ben's actions, showed just how much he loved him, how much he saw him as his son and now no doubt feeling he'd lost him, and the place he held in his life. She just hoped that Ben could reach him some how.

Kevin stood with the growing silence humming around him, making him shift uncomfortable. Twice now he'd bitten his tongue, about to say something to his brother about being back home and pass him the look they'd give each other over matters they only knew about between them. He knew about his brother's need to know the truth about his origins, while realizing the risk he took with the distance it could create between him and their father. Also, he was aware of what more lie before him, such as, his feelings for Crystal, that he was in love with her. Kevin wasn't so sure how he felt about his brother's turn. After all, it seemed to be the going trend for the men on the McPherson side. Shawn, Derrick, his father, and now, Ben as well. For some reason he thought that he and Ben wouldn't fall for the plan. He loved his grandmother, but as far as he was concerned, she had no right to impose her feelings onto them about who they should get serious with and marry. Neither did he agree with her thoughts on the matter of why people should mix. Personally, he'd never been attracted to black women, or Spanish women for that matter. It didn't matter if in their roots there existed blacks, and Native Americans; he liked what he liked.

His preference was for what he was, white. Just when he thought Ben would be feeling the same, he'd laid it on him that he'd broken it off with Gail and was now going after Crystal.

'What?! Ridiculous!'
had been his immediate thought upon reading that bit of information. After all, she
was
married with two kids. That was another thing he couldn't do, the ready made family thing - no way! Even with Quincy setting the example - he couldn't see doing it. If he was going to be taking care of anyone's kid, it would be his own. Not that he had anything against Crystal, or her kids, but - he didn't see how this situation was going to work; especially due to her still being married. No, it didn't make sense, he was going to see if he could steer his brother away from her - after all, he figured his feelings were all due to his need to please Shawn, his real father, anyway. Maybe, he figured, if he fell for Shawn's wife's daughter, that would bring him in closer to the family. Kevin had to fight not to shake his head. No one was going to dictate to him who to be with; thank goodness, there was still Paul. By the looks of things, they were the only two not falling for it, and their Aunt, Shanna - she was staying true to herself, to her own kind. She nor Kathy Ann were letting their mother, his grandmother have her way in everything. He didn't understand why his grandfather didn't put his foot down with it? Instead, he let her fill everyone's head with this thing that it was time to mix - for health reasons, and some other nonsense. He kept his true feelings to himself, but there had been times, when he'd wanted to tell his grandmother, that's your opinion, keep it to yourself, I don't wanna hear it. Of course he never had, his grandfather wouldn't stand for it, and his father wouldn't stand for it either. He loved his father, and had hated him being with Doris - it was embarrassing to say the least. While he was so glad that he'd given her up, he couldn't believe that he'd turned around for a black woman. He never thought his dad would fall into that trap - but then, he hadn't even looked their way until his Uncle Shawn had returned and brought Sylvia for everyone to meet. Next thing he knew it, his dad was going for her. He'd teased and played along, him and Ben, only because at the time, it was no big deal. After all, they were talking about his dad, who settled down to no one. He'd honestly thought in the teasing, that it was going to be another hit her, get her, play and go. He figured it might have been just that if once again, his grandmother hadn't pushed him deeper into it. He had nothing personal against Vivian, she was pretty nice - but he couldn't see how they belonged together -
long term.
She was totally black, dark as he'd ever seen except for Africans and of all things to have, an afro! He wished she wouldn't wear her hair that way. Why couldn't she at least straighten it like all the other black women? Not that it would help a whole lot being as dark as she was. Again, he accepted all that was taking place in silence. To get his father to buckle under showed how intense the pressure could be; to be fair to him, he was trying to please his mother, it was the way his grandmother wanted it to be. He would keep his thoughts, his opinion to himself, but never in a million years, would they catch him walking in with one on his arm - no way. Even though his father avoided looking at Ben, he must be proud - Ben was after all, going the way of them all. He figured it wouldn't be long before Ben was back in top favors with his father. He couldn't wait for school to start, just to have a good enough excuse to get the hell away from it all. Until then, he would bite his tongue, bide his time - soon, he would be free.