No matter how much I tried to avoid the elite, they were like a plague. I began to pace the floor, more confused than when I was thrown out of Naheem’s fucking car. Bleek moved closer to me, “Don’t move, nigga!” I spat.
Bloaw!
Bishop shot, sending a bullet whistling past my head. “Next one, I won’t miss. Put that fucking gun down!” he shouted. “I want to know where Naheem is.”
Bleek ran his hand through his hair. “How is that nigga alive. I know I killed his ass.”
“Well, it’s clear he’s the goddamn devil because he’s still alive, and for whatever reason, I’m the fucking pawn. All because he got a nigga out of jail,” I muttered.
Bishop stepped forward, and I swung my gun his way. “Kareem, I can’t say I understand what you're going through because I don't; however, I do know I can try to make it better. Let me help you.”
My shoulders bounced up and down in defeat. “You know how many times I’ve heard that shit, and nothing has gottenbetter. I would never kill you, Bop. I wouldn’t because you saved my brother, it’s too bad I couldn’t be saved,” I said as I placed the gun in my mouth.
If I didn’t kill Bishop, then I was dead, and so was Morgan. My brother would go unscathed but be kicked out of school and end up God knows where. People always assume getting back on your feet is easy, but coming from where I did, it was like one in a million. I knew there was no exit to the game but death. I stood in the foyer with the cold steel in my mouth. My hands shook, my heart raced, and all I could do was pray I would find peace after today.
“No!”
Bloaw!
PRESS PLAY
I watched people walk past the restaurant’s window. The family's joyful holiday spirit reminded me of Bobbie. We met when he began law school, and despite a tight budget, he managed to plan incredible dates and even include gifts beyond his means at the time. He courted me throughout law school until his final year. My parents begged me to find a man more suitable to handle my appetite for money, but at the time, Bobbie was different. Not only was he handsome, with a great dick, but he was on his way to being prominent, and who wouldn’t want to be on the arms of someone as such? To me, my parents were wrong.
That was until twelve days before Christmas, when he did something. Something that should have been my inkling to leave. I waited for him outside of this very restaurant in the winter cold. When he asked me to meet him, the anticipation of a whimsical white Christmas played in my head. I knew this wasthe day he would propose, asking me to be his wife. To be able to flaunt my ring in my parents’ faces. To scream “I told you so” was dangling from the tip of my tongue. Bobbie and I were set to be a prestigious power couple.
However, when he walked up, I could tell something was off, but I figured his nerves were bad because of his finals. All of my assumptions were wrong. As the words slipped out of his mouth, everything became a blur. He told me he was having a baby soon, and right then, all my dreams went out the window. I had been trying to figure out at what point I had missed the signs that another woman was around. He swore up and down that things wouldn’t change, that it was something that just happened, and I believed him.
My mind got caught up in the past, and I didn’t realize the waiter was standing there with a nineteen thirty-three bottle of wine. I gave him a slow nod as he proceeded to pick up my glass and pour. When I spotted Bobbie walking in, I lifted my hand and gave him a light wave. He walked over toward the table, unbuttoned his coat, and sat. “Sweetheart,” he muttered.
He tilted his glass toward the waiter, who poured him a drink as well. As the waiter walked away, I turned to glance back out the window. “You destroyed me,” I said before I focused back on him.
Bobbie sat there with the look he had given me so many times before. The ‘I fucked up, and you will never let me forget’ look. “All these years, I’ve been trying to rationalize what you did. No matter how many diamonds you buy, how many lavish trips, fancy cars, or how much money you throw at me, it’s just a temporary band-aid for your betrayal.”
He reached out to grab my hand, but I pulled back. “No, you don’t get to do that. Bobbie, I accepted your child. I didn’t wantany goddamn kids!” I yelled before clearing my throat when people started to stare.
He placed his elbow on the table to allow his chin to rest between his index and thumb. “Fiona, how long are you going to hold that over my head. I’ve apologized. I’ve tried to make up for it. Hell, I even begged. What more do you want from me?”
I rolled my eyes, “It’s not enough,” I muttered.
He scoffed, then took a sip of his wine. “You sit here in all this lavish shit I paid for and have the audacity to talk to me aboutmyson. An innocent kid who has nothing to do withourproblems. You could have walked away, but you didn’t. So, before you go throwing stones, Fiona, check that shit at the door,” he gritted.
Bobbie ran his hand over his beard as he peered at me. “Why?” he asked.
“Why what?”
His brows raised. “If you felt this way, why did you stay?”
I thought about my reasoning for staying so many times. It was the bane of my existence. All the while, the answer was simple. “My parents,” I mumbled.
He leaned forward. “I didn’t hear you, Fiona. Speak up. That’s what you do any other time. You walk around as if the world owes you something, but it doesn’t owe you a goddamn thing. I’ve watched you treat my son like a fucking pawn. At first, it was easy to put a Band-Aid on all his hurts. Now, he wants nothing to do with me because of everything you have done and that I’ve allowed. All of your resentment, your hate, your loveless ass heart. You—”
I banged my fists on the table. “Stop!” I shouted. “You owe me your fucking life. My parents told me,” I paused as a single tear slid down my face. “They told me to leave you alone, but itwas me choosing you. Then you brought that damn baby around, and it changed everything. At first, I thought I could do it, I did, but—”
“You didn’t choose me, Fiona. You chose to prove your parents wrong. The same family that sent your ass to boarding school, the same parents who stripped you of everything you knew because you, Fiona, were fucking with a drug dealer. So, no, you didn’t choose me.”
I quickly wiped my tears. “You cheated on me. I swear, had I known, I would have stayed with Mister and figured shit out from there.”
Bobbie laughed. “Cynthia was right, your mind is just as twisted as Clark’s. My son’s birthday is in a few days, and for once, Fiona, find something to do. Because, as much as you think you’re running things, I will have to show you otherwise. Don’t wait up for me,” he finished, got up, and tossed the black card on the table.
