I walked away from Loraine and the detective in a hurry, heading around a corner and down a deserted hallway where no nurses would tell me to turn off my cell phone. I wanted to stay and hear what evidence they had against this guy Michael, but Big Poppa’s ring tone threw me for a loop.
My hands were shaking when I answered the call.
“Hello?”
“Hey there, Lover Boy.”
The voice sent chills down my spine. It was Peter.
“Didn’t I tell you I’d find out who Big Poppa was?”
It took me a minute to gather my senses and ask, “How the fuck did you get his phone?” He had me so shook that my voice came out sounding breathless and weak.
Peter laughed wickedly. “That’s for me to know and you to find out. I’ll be in touch.”
He disconnected the call, and I stood there flabbergasted, staring at the phone. For a second, I tried to convince myself that maybe I hadn’t heard Big Poppa’s ring tone after all. Maybe Peter was calling me from some other number. But Peter’s words still rang in my ears—Didn’t I tell you I’d find out who Big Poppa was?—and I knew that this was more than a bad dream. This was really happening. Peter was truly in possession of Big Poppa’s phone, and in my bewildered state, I didn’t yet grasp all the ramifications of what that meant.
I headed back down the hall toward the ICU. What was I going to do about that call? For a second I thought about getting in my car to find Peter and strangling him with my bare hands. But it wouldn’t do any good. That motherfucker was probably long gone by now.
Maybe I could pull the detective aside and talk to him about Peter, but he was too amped up about this guy Michael now, and it was too late anyway. When I arrived, Tyndale was already gone, and Loraine was in Leon’s room, crying beside his bed.
I pulled up a chair and sat next to her. “You all right?”
She wiped her tears, then turned to me, releasing a long sigh. “I’m gonna go take a walk. I’ve got to get some air.”
“You want me to go with you?”
“No, I think I need a little time alone.”
“I know that’s right. I’m feeling pretty tense myself. You go ahead. We’ll talk when you come back.”
I watched her leave the room, then spent a few minutes just staring at Leon. The whoosh of the ventilator pumping air into his lungs competed with the beeping of all the monitors he was hooked up to. I followed one set of wires that went from his chest up to a computer screen above his bed. This was the monitor that mattered the most. It measured the beating of Leon’s heart. As long as that kept pumping, he was still with us.
“I know you think I hate you,” I said when I finally found the strength to speak to his motionless body. “But I don’t hate you, man. I never have.”
The machines droned on, but of course there was no response from Leon. I kept talking, because there was always the chance that he could hear me. Even if he couldn’t, I felt the need to un-burden myself of all the things that weighed so heavily on my soul right now.
“Man, I really want you to pull through this. You know you’ve been pretty lucky so far. You’ve beat the odds and made it through the night. Now all you got to do is prove these doctors wrong.”
I wiped away my tears. “I will make you this one promise, though, because I know in your heart you really love Loraine. In spite of everything, I know you’ve always loved her.
“No matter what happens, you don’t have to worry about her. I will take care of her for you. And if by chance another man comes into her life, I’ll make it my personal responsibility to make sure he does her no harm.”