“Wait! He didn’t do anything! Officers! Please, just let me explain!” Charlie asked as she rushed over to the scene.
The officer who wasn’t trained on Demi brought his aim to Charlie, and she froze, raising her hands.
“This is a misunderstanding! He hasn’t done anything!” Charlie just wanted to get to him. She was panicking. For a week, all she had wanted to do was see him, to touch him, to hug him. She just wanted to breathe a little bit of Demi’s air, to spend a little of the nigga’s time. Finally, he was within reach, and he was about to be carted off to jail.
“Bird, go home!” Demi barked. It was the way he said it that broke her heart. She would be walking away from this night, while he would not have the choice. They both knew it. “My man, she’s pregnant. Put your fucking gun down!” Demi’s temper was barely controllable as the officer forced his hands behind his back and cuffed him.
“No, you don’t have to put those on him! He didn’t do anything!” Charlie cried, nose running from the freezing cold.
Justin waltzed out into the night, and the look of satisfaction on his face infuriated Charlie.
“Justin, please! This is too far!”
“Thanks, officers. We hate to call you out in this weather, but we want everybody to make it home safe. You know it’s been a few shootings in the area. We just want tonight to end with everybody alive,” Justin said. “I’m pretty sure he’s armed.”
Demi scoffed as the officer began to pat him down. Sure enough, they pulled a 9mm Ruger off his waistline.
“It’s registered. Paperwork is in the dash, and I got a license to carry,” Demi said sternly as he stared Justin down. Demi was always strapped, but he was no dummy; it was registered. “Pussy,” he said with a deadly smirk. “I’ma see you, my nigga. Don’t even worry about it. These cuffs gon’ come off, then what you gon’ do?”
“Demi, stop!” Charlie pleaded. She knew he was in another zone. Not even the cops could filter the threats coming out of Demi’s mouth, and she knew more than anyone that he meant every word.
“We’re going to take you down to the station while we figure all this out,” the officer informed. “You might want to listen to your wife and stop talking before you get yourself in more trouble.”
Demi’s sneer was locked on Justin as Charlie broke past the second officer.
“Officer, please. He lost his son a week ago. The funeral was today. Please, just let me take him home.”
“If all of that is true, ma’am, then he’ll be fine. We’re taking him downtown. You can follow us if you’d like,” the cop responded. Even in handcuffs, Demi wasn’t easily rattled. He stood, head up, biting the inside of his jaw in irritation while thoughts of murder filled his mind.
“Go home, Bird. Just wait for me there,” Demi instructed.
She nodded, stomach in knots and heart racing as she watched them put him in the back of a squad car and carry him off into the night.
The look of vindication wearing Justin infuriated her.
“When he gets out and I can’t stop him from coming to see you, remember you could have stopped it,” Charlie warned. “Making him think this is something it’s not is lame as fuck.”
Charlie never saw the slap coming. Justin hit her so hard that her lip split and the impact sent her to the ground. To add insult to energy, he hawked up as much bile he could muster and spit on her before stepping over her like trash and leaving her in stun. Charlie was shaking as she crawled to her feet. Her blood stained the snow, and her legs trembled as she rushed to her car.
When she pulled down her visor, she saw the damage. His ring had cut her nose, and her lip was bleeding from the inside.
“Bitch-ass nigga,” she shouted angrily. She had never pegged Justin as the type to hit women. His aggression had blindsided her. She didn’t know how she even made it home, but as soon as she walked through the door, she peeled herself out of her clothes and hopped in the shower. The moment his spit touched her, she was taken back in time to all the abuse she had endured at the hands of men. She felt low and dirty as she let the water run so hot it turned her skin red. By the time she felt clean, the water ran cold. Charlie stood in the mirror, wrapped in nothingbut a housecoat, and she didn’t recognize herself. Her scars would heal. The swelling would go away, but this past week had created emotional wounds that she didn’t know how to heal.
She reached for her phone. Demi hadn’t called. She wondered if she should dress and go get him, but he had given her clear instructions. She was home. He had said to wait. So, she did. It was all she had been doing for days, and she wondered if she was waiting for nothing.
Chapter 12
Yo, I don’t really appreciate the strong arm,” Day said as he followed Kiara Da’vi inside her home studio. “Today of all days.”
“I know it’s bad timing, Day, but it can’t wait,” Kiara said. “My album comes out in a week. You haven’t even listened to it all the way through.”
“The team says it’s strong. Just cuz my eyes ain’t on you, don’t mean my eyes ain’t on you,” Day responded. “I’ma always keep tabs on my money.”
“Well, the plan was to give me leverage,” Kiara combatted. “People don’t really care about good music these days. They want to support the girl that’s wearing the most exclusive shit, the girl that’s with the flyest nigga, and who’s on the scene. That was your plan. We popped out at a few little events, and I got some traction, but then you just stopped calling altogether. I see you all in the blogs with this new bitch, then she showing up at my shows bossing me around. Meanwhile, you sending me a company car. What was that? A consolation prize? Like, what’s really good with you?”
He had known it had been a mistake to gift her one of the Hondas. She had been trying to force her way into his space. She would do whatever was needed to gain clout, and it was starting to annoy him.
“Look, man, I know the album’s coming. I ain’t go ghost on you, my fucking nephew died,” he stated harshly. The distastebuilding in his mouth was strong. She was worried about something trivial on a day when he could care less. “I sent you the car because you earned it. The pre-orders went crazy. Consider it a gift from the company.”
