“Aye!” Logic rushed over and yanked Keynauri back, pushing him to the ground.
“Nigga, are you crazy? You have too much to lose to be out here fighting. I heard the sirens, so the laws are on their way. Get your ass in the truck and get the fuck out of here!” Logic demanded. Keynauri’s chest rose and fell as he attempted to get back to the fight. I couldn’t even call it a fight because East was beating the shit out of the man. His face was so bloody, you couldn’t even see his facial features from where I stood.
Nova raced over to Lyric and wrapped her arms around her. My head was spinning, and my nerves intensified when the sirens grew closer.
“Keyz, get out of here!” East roared, but Keynauri refused to walk away. The last thing he needed was for his name to be attached to another headline, but no one could get through to him. Logic was able to separate East and the other man. Surprisingly, even battered and bruised, he was still talking shit. The familiarity hit me like a ton of bricks, and I found myself walking closer to the scene.
“All of you ingrates are going to rot in jail! Then you won’t be able to keep me away from what’s mine,” he boasted, leaning over to spit blood on the ground. When he lifted his head up, the two of us locked eyes, and my stomach twisted.
“Daddy? W-what are you doing here?” My father stood there like a deer caught in headlights, but my body shook in disbelief. My brain started doing the math, and the shit wasn’t adding up. Noodle was turning six, and Lyric was twenty-three, which meant she was pregnant when she was still a teenager. My father was well into his forties and had no business looking in her direction, let alone getting her pregnant.
“Fuck!” Logic shouted as the police parked their cruisers. My mind instantly took me back to the day Keynauri got arrested, and I found myself panicking. Keynauri remained calm, his face blank. He tossed his keys to me, which told me that he knew his fate.
“I don’t want my kids to see me get arrested. Get them out of here, now,” he demanded. As much as I wanted to give him push back, I had to think of the kids.
“Lyric. I need Noodle’s car seat.”
She heard my voice, but she was too distraught to respond.
“There’s one in my car,” East spoke up, handing me his keys.
“I want to press charges on these hoodlums for assault,” my father called out the moment the officers stepped out of the car. By then, a few neighbors were standing outside. I shook my head because my family couldn’t seem to catch a break.
“Lyric, you need to go with them,” East insisted.
“I’m not leaving you. I can’t,” Lyric uttered through her sniffles. My heart broke for her because it was clear there was much more to her story than we knew. The police tried to give me a hard time about leaving, but they finally agreed. I got Noodle settled in her car seat, but the rest of the kids were up and visibly upset.
Nova promised to come by the house when they found out what was going on, so I headed home. Tears flowed down my face as I prayed for God to spare Keynauri. We couldn’t afford to lose him, especially after we just got him back.
An hour passed before Nova made it to the house. I managed to get the kids bathed and into bed, promising ice cream for breakfast. Noodle cried for East until she wore herself out. My heart broke for her, and I prayed the outcome would be in his favor.
When I heard the sound of someone knocking, I leaped off the couch to answer it. Nova’s face greeted me, followed by a distraught Lyric and a stone-faced Logic. I stepped back to allow them all to enter. My heart shattered when I noticed the absence of Keynauri and East.
We all walked over to the couch and took a seat. Lyric broke down in Nova’s arms. Her cries were so raw, and it was clear she was releasing pain from her past.
“Lyric, you need to calm down. You heard what East said about you stressing out his baby. They will be home first thing in the morning, so try to relax,” Nova reassured her.
“What happened? Did my father press charges on them?” I directed my questions to Logic.
“Yeah, he did. He’s gonna be dropping them in the morning, though,” he replied confidently.
“I’m still trying to wrap my head around everything. I haven’t seen him since my graduation, and I never thought I would run into him like this.”
“Man, this shit is crazy. Fatima keeps blowing up my phone, and I don’t even know what to say. It will only be a matter of time before their mugshots are leaked, and Keyz doesn’t need this right now. I tried to get his stubborn ass to leave, but with the way your bitch ass daddy was acting, I doubt it would have made a difference. He wanted to be vindictive until he realized he didn’t have the upper hand the way he thought he did.”
“What do you mean?” I asked him, remembering that he mentioned my father dropping the charges.
“I told him that the statute of limitations isn’t up, and if he didn’t drop the charges, I would press charges on him for rape. Symphonee is all the proof I need to put him away. He agreed to recant his statement, and we’re gonna pick Nauri and East up in the morning.” Lyric spoke up, lifting her head from Nova’s lap.
“Why didn’t you tell me about this? I know we haven’t been close in a long time, but I would have never judged you.” I focused my attention on Lyric because none of this made sense to me.
“What exactly did you want me to say? There really isn’t a good time to tell someone their father was raping you. Besides, youpacked your bags and left me just like Keynauri did. Why the fuck would I tell you anything?” Lyric spat.
I sat there stunned as I tried to gather my thoughts. She had every right to be upset, but I had been so caught up in my own feelings that I never considered how Keynauri’s arrest affected her.
“Lyric, I-”
“Don’t. I don’t want to hear that you’re sorry because it won’t change how I feel. I thought you loved me, but when Keynauri cut you off, you said fuck me too. You were like a big sister to me, and you abandoned me as if I meant nothing. You blocked me on everything and went on with your life as if I didn’t exist. It’s one of the reasons I didn’t fuck with you when you came back around. Nathan took advantage of me because he knew all the people who were supposed to love me threw me away like trash.”
