Bacardi and Butch exchanged a look. They didn’t want anything to do with God, and they certainly didn’t want to identify his body. They were glad that he was dead, and they hoped he was rotting in hell. Bacardi’s mood shifted, and she became upset that the detectives came to their door with this shit.
“We’re not his fuckin’ parents and that muthafucka raped our daughter. So fuck him!”
The detectives were shocked by the revelation and right away started to take notes, as if they were going to arrest a dead man. They left shortly after, but Butch was mad he didn’t get to kill God himself.
“I can’t even get revenge for my daughter’s rape,” he grumbled. “I wanted to feel his life drain from my own hands.”
“It’s karma, Butch. That nigga is gone and he’s never coming back,” Bacardi said.
Bacardi immediately got on her cell phone to tell Chanel the good news. She no longer had to worry about God and she could come home now.
***
Chanel felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Her mother’s phone call with the unexpected news about God made tears drop from her eyes. The evil monster was dead. God was gone—murdered. She didn’t know by who or why, but he was no longer a threat to her. She needed to tell Mateo and Pyro and let Pyro know that it was safe for her to go home.
She wanted to tell Pyro right away, but he was preoccupied with female company in his bedroom at the time. She heard them fucking. It was one of his main females, and she knew not to disturb him. She got dressed and left the apartment to visit Mateo at the hospital. She figured by the time she came back, Pyro wouldn’t be too busy to hear the news.
Chanel sat by Mateo’s bedside and exhaled. She took his hand into hers and looked into his eyes with a smile.
“He’s gone. He’s dead, baby,” she said to him. “God is dead.”
She could tell that it registered. Mateo had heard every word she said. He gently squeezed her hand and almost had a look of relief to him.
He managed to squeeze out one word. “How?” His voice was extremely low and raspy.
“Someone murdered him in New Jersey. We don’t have to worry about him anymore,” she added.
Chanel knew that even in his condition, Mateo was still worried about her. It was a bittersweet visit despite the news. God was dead, but Mateo was still on a long road to recovery. There wasn’t much Chanel could do but sit at his bedside and talk to him and pray for him and show him love and support.
She spent nearly two hours with Mateo, talking to him and feeling nostalgic about how they first met. She wanted to feel his arms around her again and see his bright, wide smile. Mateo’s love for Chanel was evident and undeniable. Every time Chanel would walk into a room, he would light up.
With it getting late, Chanel decided to end her visit. She smiled down at Mateo and kissed him lovingly on his forehead and then his lips.
“I love you, Mateo. Get well, baby. I need you.”
An hour later, Chanel made it back to Pyro’s apartment just as he and his girlfriend were finished eating Chinese takeout. Pyro was in a good mood. She figured pussy did that to a nigga. He was glad to see Chanel.
“Hey, where did you go?” he asked.
Chanel was all smiles. “I went to visit Mateo. It was good. We talked.”
“How is he?”
“He’s gonna get better. I know it. I can see it in his eyes. As we were talking, I saw so much life in them,” she said, nearly bouncing around with an upbeat attitude.
Pyro could tell that something was different about her. He figured it had to do with Mateo’s progress.
“I’ma slide through tomorrow and bring him some food from La Madres.”
“Thanks, Pyro. He loves your visits.”
“So, what’s good? You look and seem different right now,” said Pyro. “I mean, I’m not complaining. It’s good to see some life coming back into you.”
“It’s just—I’ll tell you later,” she said, looking past Pyro and gazing at his girlfriend Dior, who was standing behind him with her arms folded across her chest.
Dior rolled her eyes at Chanel. To her, “later” meant when she wasn’t around.
“So our party just gonna stop the minute she comes here, Pyro?” Dior asked him with her lips twisted up.