My hand started shakin’ so hard I had to put the phone on the table.
A rapist? This bitch was really out here callin’ ‘Lo of all people… a rapist.
Kay’Lo might have done a lot of wild shit in his life, but rape wasn’t one of them. He ain’t play like that. He ain’t even joke about shit like that, which was why my uncle’s head ended up in a box. And for this bitch to record him durin’ one of his most private moments, a moment he trusted nobody to see, then blast it online like it was entertainment, like she wasn’t the same bitchbeggin’ him to stay with her when he stopped fuckin’ with her and like her own actions didn’t lead to her brothers gettin’ killed ‘cause she tried to set him up.
I felt sick.
My chest tightened and my stomach turned so fast I grabbed the edge of the table to steady myself. I ain’t wanna look at the comments. I knew there would be people draggin’ him, people laughin’ and sayin’ he looked crazy or dangerous or unstable.
She was really speakin’ on my daughter too.
My’Love…
Our baby who wasn’t even born yet.
I covered my mouth with my hand ‘cause somethin’ heavy was crawlin’ up my spine. It was anger but not just regular anger. It was somethin’ dark and cold and patient. It was somethin’ that said if Echo didn’t stop pokin’ at us, if she didn’t stop playin’ with Kay’Lo’s name and my family, she was gon’ find out exactly who the fuck she was messin’ with.
Kay’Lo might have been the one who slept with her, but she was the one who couldn’t let go. She was the one still stalkin’, still obsessin’ and tryna tear him down ‘cause he chose me.
I closed my eyes and took a breath, but it ain’t help. My hands was shakin’, my chest felt hot, and all I could think about was how far I was willin’ to go to protect mine.
If Echo kept this shit up, she was gon’ see just how ugly shit could get.
And I meant that with my whole soul.
Meridian Estates in Nzuri Hall
One week later…
Treasure had been away for two weeks and to stop myself from going crazy another night, I decided to come to Kojo’s to blow off steam.
Kojo’s study had always been a place where things slowed down. The lights were low and, jazz played soft through the speakers, and the smell of good cigars hung in the room. The three of us sat around the card table the way we had a thousand times before, and for most people it might have looked like three brothers passing time. But the truth was that nights like this usually meant something was weighing on one of us.
Tonight, that man was me.
Kojo sat across from me with a glass of expensive brown liquor in his hand and Asa leaned back in his chair with his cards resting against the table. The smoke from our cigars drifted toward the ceiling while the music hummed lowly behind us.
I stared down at the cards in my hand even though I wasn’t really paying attention to the game. My mind had been somewhere else all night and both of them knew it.
Treasure had been gone for two weeks…
Thirty years of marriage and we had never once separated. Not for a night, for a week, not for anything. My wife had always been in our house, in our bed and in my life. Now the mansion felt wrong without her and every room reminded me that she wasn’t there.
The worst part was that I knew exactly where she was.
Finding my wife had never been difficult. The problem wasn’t location. The problem was that she did not want to come home yet and I had been trying to respect that even though every part of me wanted to go get her from our lake estate and bring her back. But tonight something else was eating at me too.
I looked over at Kojo and Asa before finally saying what had been on my mind.
“Kay’Lo could’ve called me,” I said. “If nothing else, he could’ve picked up the phone and invited me to my grandchild’s gender reveal.”
Neither of them spoke for a moment. Asa lifted his cigar and took a slow pull before leaning back in his chair.
“Or maybe you could’ve called him, Brother.”
I exhaled slowly and looked down at the table.
Kojo took a sip from his glass and watched me for a moment before speaking.
