Citrine ran his hand over his face, then chuckled. “Nothing, I saw someone from my past that I shouldn’t have,” he answered.
“Who?”
“Ta’lon.”
As soon as he said the name, I understood why Citrine was fucked up. Ta’lon was the one he swore got away. They were together until he was severely injured in a boxing match, and his life changed. Watching my brother fight for his life while fighting for his relationship always pissed me off. Ta’lon’s loyalty was never questioned while he was standing firm. As soon as he was down, she moved differently and disappeared. When he was released from the hospital, he came home to an empty house. No one ever saw her again.
“Where did you see her?” I was surprised as fuck, I couldn’t even front.
Citrine typed something into his computer, then turned his monitor around to show me his screen. Ta’lon sat in the restaurant eating with her daddy and little boy with long curly hair.
“My nigga,” I stood and moved closer to the screen to make sure I wasn’t tripping. This shit was not about to unfold in my lap like this, this fucking easy. I did a double-take when the little boy turned, and I got a better look at him. He looked so much like Ta’lon, but there was something familiar about him, too. “That’s your jit?”
“Nah,” he said, shaking his head. I looked over at Citrine to see his eyes locked on the screen. “Lil homie looks to be about five. I haven’t seen her in almost double that.”
“You sure?” I asked as I reclaimed my seat. “And what the fuck is she doing here after all this time? You think she doesn’t know this is your spot?”
“Yeah,” Citrine chuckled. “That ain’t me, but I ain’t dumb enough to think that she doesn’t know this shit is mine. My fucking name is on the building.”
“You didn’t ask her why she’s here?” I asked, and he shook his head. “Why not?”
“I was stuck,” he chuckled. “I haven’t seen that girl in ten fucking years, she disappeared on my ass, and then she just pops up at my fucking hotel?” He sat back, licked his lips, then shook his head. “I thought that girl was the love of my fucking life. I had a ring and everything.”
“Damn, it was like that?” Hearing him say he had a ring surprised the fuck out of me. I knew he loved her, but not to that level.
“Like that,” he nodded. “Now her ass is sitting in my fucking hotel, with her bitch ass daddy and a jit.” The vein in the middle of his forehead pulsed so hard I could see it. Citrine was holding on by a fucking thread. “I fucking loved her, Amethyst. Like hard as fuck, and she disappeared on me.”
“It could’ve been for a reason.”
Citrine glared at me, and I knew that wasn’t what he wanted to hear. Ta’lon may not have been my favorite person because of how she broke my brother, but I didn’t know her fucking story. The only person who knew why she left was her.
“A reason?” he questioned as if he didn’t understand the words. “My nigga, wasn’t no reason for her to leave. I got hurt while providing for us. She was pregnant and told me the morning of the match. She set up this elaborate surprise, and then we went to the match. Fucking fighting Uri was supposed to be quick. But something set him off. I don’t know what it was, but he snapped during the match. No matter how much Itried to calm him down, he wasn’t hearing shit I was saying. I remember my fucking body breaking, the feel and sound of my bones snapping. But you know what I remember the most? The empty look in his eyes, my nigga was gone.”
“I always wondered why you could be cool with him after all that,” I said, nodding. I respected the fuck out of Uri and my brother’s friendship, but I didn’t understand it. Uri damn near killed him, yet Citrine never held an ounce of hate towards him, and he let Pyrite and I know that we weren’t to go after him on no revenge shit.
“Because I know his story,” Citrine shrugged. “Uri’s life was fucked up. The money, statues, none of that shit mattered because that nigga was in hell. His uncles? They tortured that nigga and made him a monster. I knew what the fuck I was dealing with when I stepped into the ring with him. I can’t fault a beast for reacting the only way it was trained to.”
I nodded, understanding more. “Alright,” I replied. “But what happened with the baby? You said Ta’lon was pregnant, and that jit is too young to be yours. So what happened to yours?”
“She had a miscarriage a few days before I was discharged,” he answered. “I thought it was punishment for all the shit we did back in the day, you know? Like God wasn’t going to let me have any peace for all the hell we raised.” His left hand tapped against the arm of his chair. “I was fucked up by the news, but I kept it cool for her. Asked her what she needed, and she said time and space. A fucking moment. Then she apologized for her part in all this, said something about it wasn’t supposed to be like this, and some other bullshit I don’t even remember now.” He turned his attention back to the monitor.
“I don’t think she had a miscarriage,” I said, shaking my head. Citrine looked at me and lifted his brow. “And I don’t think she’s here as just some random shit either.”
“What are you talking about?”
I nodded at the boxes in front of him. “I was at Yale and Grant’s house looking for something to link Grant to his fucking boss.”
“The boss is Quincy,” he said, shaking his head. “The Kilmores don’t trust anyone else to work with them like that. Grant was saying that shit to fuck with you.”
“I was starting to believe that until I found those boxes,” I said, then pushed them toward him. “The first box was just pictures, shit from Grant’s childhood, nothing I cared about. The second was work shit, but the third one?” I tapped the third box. “Paperwork, shit with two niggas names on it over and over again.”
“Who?”
“Bentley Carver.”
“Ta’lon’s brother?” he questioned, and I nodded. “And who else?”
“Grant’s.”
