“And we gon’ solve it,” Renza said. “Ain’t shit we ain’t never handled.”
The tension slid off me when he said that ‘cause he wasn’t lyin’. When me and Renza stood together, we was a different breed. Pressure was the same way. We wasn’t just family. We was soldiers.
I pulled my phone out then, starin’ at the screen for a second. Just seein’ Toni’s name made somethin’ warm hit me. She had been cryin’ on the phone earlier, tryin’ so hard to stay strong.
I hit call and held the phone to my ear.
She answered on the first ring.
“Kay’Lo?” Her voice jumped up high with excitement and relief and happiness all mixed together.
My whole face broke into a smile so wide it hurt.
“Yeah, baby. It’s me.”
“Oh my God,” she said, breathin’ hard like she couldn’t hold still. “Oh my God, ‘Lo… are you really out? Please tell me you out.”
“I’m out, mama,” I said, lettin’ my voice drop warm and low just for her. “I’m out that bitch for real. I’m in the car right now with Renza. I’m on the way home to you.”
She let out this sound like joy had just burst out her chest. “Kay’Lo… oh my God… I can’t believe this.“
Her words tangled up ‘cause she started cryin’ again, but it was a different cry. It was a happy one.
“I can’t wait to see you, baby,” she said. “I just wanna hold you. I just wanna see your face.”
“You gon’ see me real soon,” I told her. “I’m comin’ home right now. I’m gon’ walk in the house and touch all over you and that lil’ belly, and I ain’t lettin’ go of you for the rest of the night.”
She sniffed again but her voice lifted in that soft smile she always had. “Hurry up, Kay’Lo.”
“I’m hurryin’, mama.”
“I love you,” she whispered, her voice low but full.
“I love you more than anything,” I said.
When we hung up, I sank back into the seat and let everything hit me at once.
Freedom. My wife. My baby. My family. The danger ahead. The enemy watchin’…
But none of that shit mattered in this moment, ‘cause I was free, and I was goin’ home to the only woman that ever made me feel whole.
Renza looked over and nodded slow with a grin on his face. “Nigga,” he said, “we back.”
And he wasn’t lyin’.
We was definitely back, and anybody standin’ in our way was gon’ learn real quick why they should’ve left us the fuck alone.
By the time we pulled up to the crib, I had talked to damn near everybody in my family.
Pressure had called, his voice loud as hell through the phone, talkin’ his shit like he knew I needed that. He told me he loved me, and he couldn’t wait to see me back on my feet. I felt that shit in my bones.
After that, I spoke to my mama and pops on FaceTime. They both damn near cried when they saw me, my mama fussin’ at me while my pops shook his head like he wanted to hug me and whoop my ass at the same time.
Then I called Auntie Abeni. She answered smooth as always, soundin’ like she had already moved on to her next ten power plays while I was still catchin’ up. I thanked her for everything she had done for me, and she just gave me that calm answer that said she had known the outcome long before the judge even opened his mouth. She told me to go home to my wife and rest. I told her I loved her. She told me she knew.
By the time Renza turned toward my mansion, my heart was beatin’ so hard it felt like my shit might bust right through my chest. Each turn brought me closer to Toni. Each second felt like I was walkin’ back into the part of my soul I had been missin’.
When the gates opened and the mansion came into view, somethin’ in my spirit dropped low and warm. I rubbed my palm across my thigh and breathed in deep. I had been gone too long.
