“Did you not start with him first?” I asked. “Hollow, I love you as my brother, and I appreciate you for always protecting me, but it’s not Whodie’s fault that I had a drinking problem.”
“Nah, he said he got rid of everything. So he lied.”
“He didn’t lie. I hid the shit from him. No one would’ve known where I hid that liquor. Shit, I forgot where it was until I started spiraling.”
Hollow being his usual mean self wasn’t taking in shit I was saying.
“When we took that shit to blows, it got personal. Then a nigga got locked up. Yeah, that nigga ain’t got to worry ‘bout me. We can do what we need to do for you, that’s it.”
“If you loved me, you’ll check yourself and realize you were wrong.”
“Shit, I ain’t never wrong. Better ask Love.”
I rolled my eyes. If I asked her, she would tell the truth. Hollow was the problem.
It was almost lunchtime when we walked out of the funeral home. Reese’s car was gone like he was never here. I hugged Hollow and climbed on the back of the bike behind Whodie. They stared at each other and just nodded. That was enough for me. Whodie started the bike and pulled off. I rested my head on his back as he weaved in and out of traffic. I didn’t know if we were nearing the end of this shit or just getting to the surface. Either way, I had to have a face to face with Rico. For him to tell everyone that he knew me was still fucking with my mind.
I knew it was bothering Whodie too, but he hadn’t said anything. He was battling his own shit right now, and I think we both just needed the space to clear our heads. When we got back home, we went our separate ways. He went out back to smokeand I hopped in the shower. There was some tension between us, and I didn’t know how long I could keep acting like it didn’t exist. If it were up to him, he would brush the shit under the rug. I didn’t want us to be like that anymore.
When I got out of the shower, Whodie was getting ready to get in the shower. To give him space, I went downstairs and started fixing us something to eat. We had both been up for hours since we found out that Reese was the rat. Some food and sleep would reset us and then we could talk about whatever it was when our minds were clear.
“Here,” I handed him a plate. “And don’t tell me you’re not hungry because you haven’t eaten since yesterday.”
“‘Preciate that.”
I later came back with my plate and drink and climbed in bed beside him. We ate and watched television in silence. The silence was starting to get to me.
“Are we okay, Whodie? If you’re starting to have regrets–”
“Adore, please! I don’t regret a fuck thang. This is my way of clearin’ my head. A lot of shit has happened over the past few months. Two friends are gone, and now I might lose you. I’m not okay, but we are okay. Can’t nobody fuck up what we got but us.”
“So, when everyone keeps saying that Rico knows me from the past, does that not bother you?”
“Not one fuckin’ bit. One thing ‘bouta nigga, he’ll say anything to get information. Once I saw Sosa’s death certificate and Hollow gave all the information on who had his body and shit, I knew his ass was dead in real life. Whoever the nigga is, don’t matter. I want him dead and then I can start to get my life back.”
“You know what’s crazy? I thought making you my boyfriend was going to cause so much drama. You haven’t brought anything to my door. It’s been all me. I have to say sorry about all this shit.”
“Don’t apologize for anything. When you run the streets the way you do, you gotta kno’ that drama follows. What it was, you thought you were I’ pill poppin’ Whodie. I was reckless as fuck then. I worked hard as fuck to get between yo’ legs, you thought I was gonna bring drama and lose you from it? Hell fuck nah! We locked the fuck in, Adore.”
I smiled and leaned over to kiss him.
“I love you, Whodie.”
“I love you too, ma.”
We finished eating and ended up falling asleep while laughing at TikToks.
A week had gone by and Whodie and I were at the balloon release for Reese like we didn’t watch his ass take his last breath. No body had been found and when his baby mama got to his apartment, she noticed all his shit was there, but he was missing. Right now, they had him as a missing person, but his family thought he was dead. His aunt believed he had gotten hold of some bad weed and walked away from his apartment, leaving behind all of his belongings. We watched the blue balloons float in the sky.
“If you hear anything, let me kno’,” Whodie told his last baby mama.
“I will. Thank you for making sure the kids have what they need during this time,” she replied.
“Yeah, I got the kids for sure. Just hit me or Adore if they need anything.”
She hugged both of us before going to join his family again. Whodie and I left, heading towards his condo. My phone went off from one of my stores.
“Adore, I have a man here telling me I need to shut the store down or the Feds will raid and clear it out,” the store owner said.
