I drove in silence. No music. No phone calls. Just me and the road and the cold fury building in my chest.
Rashid had crossed a line. Threatened my grandmother. The one person in this world who had never asked anything of me except to be better than I was.
He thought because he’d made me what I am he could take Yusef. That I would accept it. Fold.
He was wrong.
When I pulled up to the warehouse, Thad was exactly where I’d left him. Stretched out on a cot in the corner, laptop balanced on his stomach, some show playing with the volume low.
He looked up when I walked in. Nodded once. Didn’t ask questions.
Good.
Farah was in the chair. Same chair. Same position. But she’d clearly been crying—her face was puffy, mascara streaked down her cheeks, snot crusted under her nose.
The moment she saw me, something shifted. Her whole body perked up. Hope flooded her features.
“Prime.” Her voice was hoarse from screaming. “Prime, oh my God, I knew you’d come back. I knew you wouldn’t leave mehere forever. Please, just untie me. I won’t tell anyone. I swear. We can still be together. We can?—”
I walked toward her without a word.
“I know you’re angry. I know this whole thing with your son—he’s not your son, right? Your nephew or something? I know it’s complicated. But we can work it out. Together. Once I’m free, I’ll talk to my father. I’ll make him understand. He’ll listen to me. He always listens to me.”
I pulled out my pocket knife. Her eyes went wide.
“Yes. Yes, cut me loose. I knew you wouldn’t hurt me. I KNEW it. We’re meant to be together, Prime. We’ve always been meant to be together. From the first moment I saw you?—”
I sliced through the zip ties on her wrists. Then her ankles. She sagged with relief, rubbing her raw skin, tears of joy streaming down her face.
“Thank you. Thank you so much. I knew you loved me. I knew?—”
She reached for me. Arms outstretched. Ready to embrace me like we were reuniting lovers.
I grabbed her by the hair and slammed her face into the table.
The impact was brutal. Her nose crunched against the metal. Blood sprayed. She screamed—a sound of pure shock and confusion.
“Prime—PRIME, WHAT ARE YOU?—”
I pinned her head to the table with one hand.
“What are you doing?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”
I grabbed her ear. The one with the diamond earring. Probably a gift from her daddy. Probably worth more than most people made in a month.
“No. No no no no NO?—”
The blade bit into flesh.
The first scream was loud. Primal. The sound of someone who didn’t understand what was happening to them.
But I didn’t stop. Couldn’t stop. The knife wasn’t sharp enough for a clean cut—I had to SAW through the cartilage, feeling it resist and then give way, blood pouring over my fingers, hot and slick.
Her screams went hoarse. Then silent. Then back to screaming, somehow louder than before.
Thad watched from his cot. Stone-faced. Unblinking. Like he was watching paint dry instead of a woman getting her ear sawed off.
Finally, the last bit of flesh separated. The ear came away in my hand, the diamond earring still attached, glinting red with blood.
