“I heard he was on that shit. I think she was on it, too.”
“It’s such a sad case. I don’t know how they will ever recover from this.”
The older ladies in front of me talked among themselves as I attempted to gather my thoughts. I stepped around them to get a closer view of the scene. There were cops everywhere, but most of them were standing around. There was no sight of Keynauri, Lyric, or Mrs. Jazzie outside, so I figured they were still inthe house. I tried to get as close to the house without anyone noticing, but it wasn’t as easy of a task as I thought it would be.
My breathing grew labored as I moved up a little further. I stood behind a man and his wife as I attempted to see if I could spot a familiar face. It seemed like time stood still as I watched the EMTs roll out a stretcher with a long black bag on top. While I had never seen one up close, it took no time to figure out what it was. The gravity of the situation worsened once I realized what this meant. Regardless of who was inside that body bag, life was about to change for the worse.
Tears dripped down my face as I imagined Mrs. Jazzie being dead. Not only would Keynauri be devastated, but he also would have to raise Lyric on his own. My eyes scanned the streets again, trying to see if I could find Logic. Since he told Nova not to come, I assumed he was somewhere in the crowd. I glanced behind me to see if Nova made it, but I couldn’t spot her among the group of people. It had grown within the few minutes I had been here.
My body was going into panic mode as I tried to get on the other side of the street from the house. I noticed the coroner’s vehicle parked behind two police cruisers, and it broke my heart. Once I made it on that side, I saw the back of Logic’s head talking to one of the EMTs on the scene.
“Logic!” I called out, pushing through the crowd to get to him. Once he laid eyes on me, I saw how red his eyes were. My eyes glanced back to the coroner’s van and then back to him. I refused to even consider that it could be Keynauri, so that left only three other people.
“Ari, you need to get out of here.” Logic’s voice cracked before he could finish his sentence, sending me into a panic.
“Tell me where he is. I just want to see him and make sure he’s okay. Please tell me he’s okay!” I screamed, not bothering to hold back any longer.
“I’m sorry. I tried to get here as soon as I could. He wouldn’t listen to me.” Tears raced down Logic’s face as he lifted his arms above his head.
“Where is he? Please. Please, tell me.” I broke down completely, forgetting that we were around a large group of strangers. Logic wrapped his arms around me as the two of us cried together. My mind would not allow me to accept that he had been hurt.
“Clear the way!” an officer yelled out. That was when I lifted my head from Logic’s chest to see what was going on. He tried to turn my head, but I broke free from his hold. When the next stretcher came out, it was Lyric. There was a brace around her neck and a mask attached to her face, but I could tell from her braids that it was her.
When I looked back toward Logic, his face was full of sadness and defeat. In that moment, I wished my mother was around because I needed her in a way I had never needed her before. Between the waiting and not knowing what was going on, my mind was drawing its own conclusion. Logic told me he hadn’t been able to get any information since he arrived. All he knew was that there were two injured and one person dead. As bad as it sounded, I prayed Keynauri was one of the people who had been injured.
I would rather have helped him grieve than to bury him. I was sure it wasn’t the right way to think, but it was my truth. Logic and I stood together as we waited for more updates. When the door opened, I held my breath to see who would be coming out next. I felt an instant sense of relief followed by devastation as the police ushered Keynauri out of the house in handcuffs.
My head shook in disbelief as my mind began to piece things together. When I saw the second stretcher carrying an unconscious Mrs. Jazzie, the realization came crashing down. Tone was dead. I must have blacked out for a moment becausewhen I got my bearings, I was in Logic’s arms again. I snapped back to reality as I watched the officers walk him to one of the cruisers.
“Keynauri!”
Logic attempted to hold me back, but I bit his arm to break free. There was no such thing as rational thinking at that moment. I needed answers. I needed to understand what this meant for Keynauri’s future.
“Get back, ma’am, or I’ll have to tase you,” the tall cop commanded. I thought about my options, but when my eyes found their way back to Keynauri, he looked so broken.
“You need to leave. Logic, my keys are in the car.” His voice was cold and void of emotion. My heart shattered, staring at the man I loved with cuffs on his wrists. This wasn’t supposed to be his future.
“I love you. I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m here for you.” Tears fell, but he didn’t say anything back to me. Instead, he nodded for the cop to place him in the cruiser.
Two sets of arms held onto me as I cried my heart out. When the police pulled off, my screams grew even louder. I couldn’t wrap my head around what had taken place. Keynauri wasn’t a criminal, and he didn’t deserve to be locked up. He made a mistake, but Tone wasn’t innocent in any way. Guilt filled my soul as I wondered if things would have been different if I had forced him to stay at my house. Surely, there was something I could have done to stop this from happening. I fucked up, and I couldn’t go back in time to fix things.
“We’re gonna get through this, Ari. I know it looks bad, but he has us in his corner. He needs you to be strong right now.” Nova's voice broke me out of my trance as I realized she had been one of the people holding me. I opened my mouth to respond, but the only thing that came out was a gut-wrenching cry.
“I have all the money he had stashed, plus some of my own. I’m gonna see what I need to do to get him a good lawyer. Even if we can’t get him out, we should be able to prove it was self-defense. Bro was only trying to protect his family.” Logic was just as broken as I was. None of us knew what to do without Keynauri. He was usually the voice of reason for us, so to see him down like that hurt us all.
“Let’s get you home. They probably won’t have any updates until tomorrow, and we can go up there to see what we can do for him. You need a shower and some rest. We can strategize and make some calls this afternoon. Okay?” Nova declared, locking her arm with mine. I was grateful to be surrounded by the people I loved because I wouldn’t have been able to handle this alone.
“I won’t be able to rest knowing he’s locked up, Nova. This isn’t fair.”
“I know, baby. I promise we’re gonna get through this together, but you’ve got to take care of yourself too.”
Logic went to pull the car around. Nova held me up as we walked over to his car, but I paused to look back at the house. My mind couldn’t understand how things had taken such a turn in such a short amount of time. In a matter of hours, the best day of my life turned into the worst.
Seven Years Later
“Damn, baby. You look good as hell.” Quentin whistled as I walked into the living room. I smiled wide because of the way his eyes trailed up and down my body. My man always made sure to compliment or tell me how much he loved me, and I would never get tired of hearing it.
“Thank you, baby. You look handsome yourself. I love that royal blue on you.” My pussy had a mind of its own as I took a moment to admire my sexy boyfriend.
