“I appreciate you for stopping by, but you can’t do that.” I took one more look outside. It was almost daybreak, so things were pretty quiet right now. “I told you it isn’t safe.”
“I think that’s so sweet how you worry about me, baby.” She gave me a toothy smile before placing the Waffle House bag on the shaky nightstand. “I’ve never had someone that cared for me the way you do.”
Giving her a tight-lipped smile, I grabbed the small bag of clothes she brought. She believed me when I told her I didn’t want her popping up because the neighborhood I was in wasn’t the safest. I didn’t want her ass here in case she was followed, but if that was what she needed to hear to continue to come through for me, so be it. Although it was nothing but plain tees, sweatpants, and boxer briefs, I was thankful for something new.
“I appreciate you doing this for me.” I gestured around the room as she peered at me from the bed. She’d removed her Circle K shirt, and I knew what that meant. I wasn’t in the mood to deal with this girl today, but I would play nice for a little longer. “When I get back on my feet, I got you.” Giving her a wink that caused her pale skin to turn pink, I clapped my hands together. “Let me go to the bathroom real quick.”
Grabbing the burner, I closed the door behind me, sighing heavily. I needed to get out of this muthafucka to see my girl. I had to ditch my Camaro because it was hot, and now I needed a ride. My hope was that Sara would let me keep her car while she was at work. If I could get my girl to listen to me, Sara would never hear from me again. Dialing Blossom’s number, I tapped my finger against the counter, praying she would answer.
“Hello.” Her raspy voice came through the speaker, making my dick jump instantly. “Who is this?”
“Baby, please, listen!” I begged. “I need to see you?—”
Click!
“Fuck!” I roared, throwing the phone. “I’m sick of this shit!”
Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and tried to reel in my anger. I get it, she was pissed, but she needed to remember who the fuck I was to her. There was only one way to get her to talk to me, and that was happening today.
“Sara, I need a favor, baby.” I opened the door of the bathroom and headed back into the room. “I need to use your car, and?—”
Jumping from the bed at the sound of my voice, she looked at me with wide, scared eyes. With the room phone to her ear, she dragged them from me to the television. My heart fell to my knees once I realized my face was plastered all over the morning news once again. Lunging toward her, she let out a loud yelp as I snatched the phone from her and slammed it back on the receiver.
“You’re a murderer!” she screamed as she tried to run away from me. “I called the police! They’re on the way!”
“Goddamn you!” I bear-hugged her in my arms, wrestling with her to calm down from screaming. “Why couldn’t you have just minded your fuckin’ business!”
With her wrapped tightly in my arms, one hand over her mouth to muffle her screams and cries, I had no time to think about what I needed to do. I couldn’t be here when the cops came, but I had no way of leaving. Looking around the room frantically, my eyes landed back on the room phone. Picking it up, I wrapped the cord around her neck, choking her as best as I could.
“All you had to do is come through when I needed you to.” I hissed, pulling at the cord tighter as she fought for air. “You didn’t have to come here. You didn’t have to do anything but stay the fuck out of my way. This is your doing, and not mine. Now you’re going to die because you couldn’t mind your business!”
Turning blue in the face, her fight weakened as she began to lose consciousness. I watched as her eyes rolled into the back ofher head before her body went completely limp. Cussing under my breath, I placed her on the bed before grabbing my burner and her car keys, dashing out the door. Sirens could be heard in the distance, and I knew I needed to get the fuck out of dodge.
“Fuck! Fuck!” I whispered as I kept my head low and speed-walked across the lot to her beat-up Honda Civic. “I need to get back to the city.”
Milly Grove was hot right now and the last place I needed to be, but I was on a mission for one person. With Rowan in the hospital, I had absolutely nowhere to go and no one to help me. Shaking my head in despair, I turned the key in the ignition and took a deep breath. There was only one thing I could do at this point. I just prayed she listened to me, for her sake and mine.
I needed to go see Blossom.
Glaring through the windshield of Sara’s Honda, I shakily smoked my cigarette as I sat across the street from Blossom’s favorite salon. For two weeks, I’d tried to get her to talk to me, to see me, but she had blown me off at every turn. I thought maybe it was because of what had happened and the things I’d been accused of, but as I peered through the heavy rain as it fell, I knew I was wrong.
Her laugh. Her smile. Her presence. Those things were no longer mine, and I was sick about it.
“He took her!” I screamed as I repeatedly banged my fist against Sara’s steering wheel. Slamming my head into the headrest, I was filled with rage. “That nigga is really fucking my bitch!”
With tears streaming down my face, I shook with anger as I sat and watched her love all over another man. The man whomI loathed with everything within me. She betrayed me, and for that, she must pay.
Blossom and I had our share of problems, but we’d always managed to bounce back. I knew I didn’t give her the time, attention, and loyalty she deserved, but that never discounted the fact that I loved her. I still loved her. I’d broken into her house to see her, but she wasn’t there. I’d even sat outside and waited for her to come home, but she never showed. Was she with him? I didn’t want to believe it but following her around town and seeing her happy with JJ broke my heart. Like now, he was gripping her ass for all to see as she tongued him down with more passion than she had ever given me.
“I could kill you both right here, right now.” I tapped my rifle as it sat in my lap. I shakily lit another cigarette, taking a long drag, allowing the smoke to fill my lungs. “No one would be able to stop me.”
Watching them detach and bid each other farewell, I thought how terrible my life had been. Long gone were the days I dreamed of being the lead detective at the precinct with Blossom on my arm as my wife. She was supposed to bear my children, and we would live happily ever after. Now, I was deemed a murderer, and after what I’d witnessed today, I was going to live up to that name.
“Let’s see if we can have a little chat before I kill you.”
Seeing JJ’s truck leave the shopping center, I pulled my hoodie over my head before getting out of the car and jogging across the street. I had been deemed armed and dangerous for weeks now and had been able to elude the police with ease. Walking into the hair salon may not have been the brightest idea, but I didn’t have anything to lose.
“Welcome to Slayed By Dai,” the receptionist greeted me as I entered the salon. “What can I do for you today?”
