POP, POP.
Cole’s body went backwards, and then he hit the floor, looking up at me with fear, and what I knew was the realization of betrayal in his eyes.
“I’m sorry, Cole, I love Hawk, I always will,” I replied, as his eyes started to sink as the life left him. My hands immediately started to shake, but I knew I had no time to waste. I grabbed the burner phone Proctor gave me and then called him right away.
“Yo, talk to me.”
“He’s gone! I did it, I did it, now what? What do I do?” The panic had me unable to even stand straight. I just couldn’t believe I took a life.
“Alright, alright, calm down. Listen to me. Grab his hands before rigor mortis sets in and scratch your face. After that, place the gun in his hand to get his fingerprints on it and then call the police, but make all of this quick. Him attacking and threatening you has to sound realistic.”
“Okay, okay, but I’m scared, Proctor.”
“Don’t be scared, get this shit done and get rid of this nigga. Once you get done with the police, call me right away, alright?”
“Okay, I will,” I replied, and we hung up the phone. I stood still for a moment, unable to move because of the fear I felt. I know it’s ironic, but I said a quick prayer before I dropped down beside Cole’s body to do exactly what Proctor said.
After I took Cole’s hands with his conveniently long nails down my face, wincing in pain. Proctor coached me to let the cops know that he was about to kill me because I discovered that he killed his family over money they owed him, and Proctor promised me that this would all go away easily because I’m a rich woman who was involved with a gangsta with bodies on his gun.Did I want to be a murderer no, but I wanted to be Mrs. Hawk Proctor more than anything else.
“911, What’s your emergency?”
“I just had to shoot my boyfriend because he attacked me. I confronted him about something terrible he did, and he attacked me and pointed his gun at my head!”
“Ma’am, ma’am, calm down.” The operator spoke into the phone.
“Tell me your address.”
“9593 Summerlin Drive,” I replied, and I heard typing on her keyboard.
Now, because of me, Hawks' father can walk away from this situation free.
Maybe one day, whether it’s ten years from now or twenty, Hawk will love me again for what I just did for him. I just murdered someone who was ready to love me, to wait for the long haul for him to come back into my life.
Epilogue
Ari
It had been about a month and a half since Proctor and I moved to Houston. I didn’t want to live in Vegas anymore after he got out of jail. To me, that city felt like nothing but trouble waiting to pop off again. Too many memories. Too many people who knew our business. Too many chances for havoc.
When Proctor came to me talking about opening a club in Houston, I told him straight up that he should do it and I’d ride behind whatever dream he had.
That man had been through enough, and if building something new in a new city was what he needed, then I was all in. The cases against him for Josiah’s family was put on someone else, he and Tania’s marriage was annulled, and now he was all mine, and I was going to support and build him as much as possible. Proctor talked about starting the club up with his brother, Houston, as a silent partner. I didn’t even know he had a brother until recently, but they have been putting their heads together, wanting to build an empire together in the south, much like Hawk had in Vegas.
Proctor and I had a nice little house tucked away in a small part of Houston, on the south side. It wasn’t flashy like the penthouses he had in Vegas, but it was peaceful. The kind of neighborhood where kids played in the yard, and neighbors waved when they drove past. Sometimes I’d catch myself standing at the window smiling, already picturing my daughter running through the grass with chalk on the sidewalk andscraped knees from playing too hard. This was a vision I never saw for myself in the past. Now it was my reality.
After his and Tania's marriage was annulled, Proctor and I got engaged and married within a week. We didn’t have a big wedding. Just one that was quick, easy, and intimate, because our marriage was about our love, and not a ceremony.
Tania ended up having her baby, and once she was single again, she finally stopped hiding the father. At first, she couldn’t stand that man. Swore up and down, he got on every nerve she had. But slowly, she began to realize what I had come to terms with a long time ago. Love doesn’t always come wrapped up perfectly. It doesn’t always look the way you imagined, or according to her, sound perfect either. Now her and Steve are slowly getting to know one another and coparenting their daughter. One day I hope she has the same happily ever after that me and Cyn have. Too bad we running out of Proctor men for her to get with.
I was now attending Houston Community College and getting my degree in business.
It wasn’t an Ivy League school or anything fancy, but it was a start. Something productive to do during the day while my daughter was at daycare, and Proctor handled club business.
Proctor was the one who told me I should go back. He said a woman like me needed her own foundation, too, and that independence he wanted me to have is why I appreciated him so much.
I walked down the hallway, passing classroom doors with little windows that let you see inside. Students stood in small groups, talking, while others rushed past me, trying to reach their next class before the doors closed.
Clutching the strap of my bag on my shoulder, I stopped when I saw the room number I was looking for. For a second, I just stood there, looking through the small window in the door, knowing that once I stepped inside, there was no turning back. I couldn’t quit this time, and I have to get my degree.
