Dang, this was what I dreaded. Should I conclude withDon’t freak out, I might’ve defended myself too effectively … Some self-defense and a little homicide sprinkled in. Barely counts.
montana
. . .
The second Zuri looked at me as she sat on the kitchen island and we talked about that deadbeat, I knew she got me. She. Got. Me.
She needed to know I understood her too.
“Finish the story, Zuri,” I ordered, disappointed that she was afraid of some dude.
Big Country popped his knuckles in my head.Point him out.I’ma tag you back in when it’s time to write the obituary.
“Um … So, two years ago, we moved to New York.”
She trembled in my arms. Man, was I doing this? Forcing her to relive something she didn’t want to. “Why New York?”
“You don’t look at anybody. You don’t say anything to anybody.” She scoffed. “I learned not to even stare up at buildings.”
I hated that for her, a lack of fam.
“We’d been there a few months. A man snuck in. The bastard from the hospital. Must’ve used the fire escape. He tried to take Mal—Darius.”
My arms gave her waist a squeeze. Encouragement.
“I gave him one last warning. He had his back to me. I’d been real quiet and grabbed my handgun from beneath my pillow. Hespun on me.” I squeezed her tighter, wishing I could make this easier. Big Country just seethed. “I told him to step back! Told him I’d shoot him in the ass. I was so scared. But he didn’t stop. Reached for me. So, I—” Zuri shuddered in my arms. “I pulled the trigger. It killed me to have his dead body in the trunk as I drove, Darius in the back, all innocent and confused.” Her palms rubbed anxiously over her thighs. “I left him in a landfill.”
Chest tight, I rasped, “Zuri, you sure you killed him?”
She blinked; head tilted like a what-do-you-think meme. “Even used some chemicals to eliminate any potential for DNA transfer.”
“Okay.” I roughed a hand over my beard. “This part stays between us.”
“Allof it, Montana. Because I didn’t want to finish this story. I-I’m trying to keepyousafe.” She started to breathe off-key.
“Zuri.” I placed my hand against her chest, imitating the right way to breathe. After she followed my lead, I had to snatch the Band-Aid off. Didn’t know when she’d open up again. “Why you so afraid?”
“Mr. … Mr. T-Touchy … Feely wascartel, Montana. I’ve treated a slew of men with the same tattoos. Gun wounds. Stab wounds. So don’t say anything!” She glared at me. “This is why I should’ve remained silent, Montana. I killed a guy from theQueso Kings.”
Damn, the Queso Kings were no joke once you got past the name. But why hadn’t the cartel found her already? Couldn’t ask that. She was already shaking in fear. “Dead dude stays between us.” I wanted to throw a lie. Say me and my brothers would scare her baby’s daddy. Maybe mutter something wholesome like Wash would hit him with a restraining order. Nah. She’d sniff that out, like a shrimp po’boy from The Triangle.
I embraced her tighter in my arms. “Lemme think on it. Whenever I bring it up to Wash—he’s still my attorney even if he don’t know it—you’ll be there.”
“Great. He can watch me drown in a puddle of embarrassment. Front row, popcorn, and Milk Duds optional.” She snorted a bitter laugh.
“Zur—”
“No! That’s not self-deprecation! You heard my story, Montana. I don’t pick just bad men. I pick men who come with warning labels. One code blued every time responsibility walked in. Another probably needed a psych eval.” She shook her head. “And the funny part?”
“Ain’t none of this funny,bébé. Dude is an idiot.”Dead.
“Mm-hmm. You probably thought I described multiple men. Wrong! That’s all Dr. Edwin Heine. I wasted myfirsteverything on a man with split personality—who was also old enough to provide the parental role I never had.” Shame dipped her voice for half a breath, then Zuri smirked like she had to heal her own embarrassment personally. “Just so you know, until we got to Paris, I would’ve diagnosed you and your alter ego the same way. Still … I’m an idiot.”
My hands framed her cheeks. “I’ma need you to do me a favor.”
She sighed, averting her gaze.
“Get up.” Done with this, I pulled Zuri to her feet.
