“Kay’Lo,” I said softly, my hand touchin’ his arm. “Please don’t do this shit. Let it go!”
He ain’t even look at me. He just grabbed his gun, stepped out, and walked right back toward the club like he was takin’ a casual stroll.
“Kay’Lo!” I called out for him, my voice breakin’, but he didn’t turn around.
The next few seconds felt like a blur. The sound of gunfire ripped through the night, sharp and loud, mixin’ with screams and chaos. People was runnin’, duckin’, and pushin’ toward the exits. I jumped out the car, holdin my chest, tryna see him through the crowd.
When I finally saw him, he was walkin’ back out the same doors he went in, his face calm and his gun hangin’ low by his side. He looked untouched, and unbothered, like he’d just finished a job. I rushed toward him, grippin’ his arm tight so I wouldn’t get swallowed up in the stampede of people rushin’ out.
He opened the car door for me the same way he always did, then walked around and slid into the driver’s seat. He started the engine, his hand steady on the wheel, and drove off like it was just another night.
The lights ofPort of Cartierfaded behind us while the sound of sirens grew somewhere in the distance. I sat there silent, my heart still poundin’, realizin’ that no matter how calm Kay’Lo got, that edge in him never went away.
When it came to me, this nigga didn’t play.
I still couldn’t believe Kay’Lo shot that fuckin’ club up and God knows what the fuck else. The streets was still lit, and people was still outside laughin’ and drinkin’, but inside the car it was just me and him, our thoughts ridin’ right there with us. He ain’t say nothin’, and I knew better than to ask him anything right then. His face was calm, like he ain’t just shook an entire club.
When we pulled up to the resort, the valet walked over, but Kay’Lo waved him off and parked the car himself. He moved like it was just another night out, like he ain’t just turned a whole scene into chaos. I sat there for a minute after he cut the engine, lookin’ at him, tryna read him, but I already knew it was no point. He was gone somewhere in his head.
He got out, came around, opened my door and I followed him inside. The second the door shut behind us, that island quiet hit different. You could hear the waves from the balcony and the low sound of the ceilin’ fan, and for a minute, it almost didn’t feel real.
Kay’Lo peeled his shirt off and kicked off his shoes, and pants until he was just in his briefs. His tattoos moved with every muscle, that same calm look sittin’ on his face while he lit another blunt. He walked out to the balcony, left the slidin’ doors open, and the night air drifted in with the smell of weed.
I stood there in the room for a second, watchin’ him. His body was all shadow and gold from the light on the balcony. His head tilted slightly as he looked out over the water. He looked too calm for somebody who’d just let off rounds like that. I changed into my short silk gown, brushed my hair back, and took a deep breath before steppin’ out to him.
He didn’t turn around. He just exhaled smoke slow and watched the lights from the yachts blink out in the water. His voice then came low. “You gon’ just stand there or you gon come over here?”
I crossed my arms and leaned on the railin’ next to him. “You not gon talk about what happened?”
He glanced at me, his eyes low behind the haze. “Talk about what?”
“Kay’Lo, you shot up a club.”
He looked back at the water like I’d said somethin’ small. “And?”
My mouth fell open a lil’, but he just took another drag from his blunt, unfazed. I sighed, tryin’ to keep my cool. “Why did you do that? You know how hard you been workin’ to get right. You been doin’ good.”
He turned his head slightly and gave me that look, the one that always shut me up without him havin’ to say too much. “You know why,” he said simply.
“I really don’t,” I replied, even though deep down I did.
He flicked the ash from the blunt and leaned back in his chair. “Baby, I’on wanna hear all that shit. Come sit on my lap and let’s chill.”
“Kay’Lo…”
He patted his thigh, still calm, still unmoved. “Come here, Toni.”
I wanted to fight it. I really did. But there was somethin’ in the way he said it that made my body move before my mind could catch up. I walked over, slow and slid right onto his lap, feelin’ the warmth of his skin under me. His arm wrapped around my waist, firm and possessive, while he took another drag from his blunt. We sat like that for a minute, watchin’ the waves crash under the moonlight.
“You ever gon grow out of bein’ impulsive?” I asked after a while, my voice low.
“That wasn’t impulsive.”
“Kay’Lo, you literally?—”
“Nah,” he interrupted. “Impulsive is when you do some shit without reason. That nigga disrespected me about my wife. That ain’t no impulse. That’s principle.”
I stared at him for a second, tryna figure out if he even heard himself. “So, shootin’ up a club is your version of handlin’ disrespect?”
