He ain’t answer me. He just stood up with the iPad, then him and his potna walked out the room like he needed somebody else to look at it and tell him he wasn’t trippin’.
When the door closed, I let a slow breath out through my nose and leaned back in the chair, ’cause I already knew what that meant.
Kelli had handled this shit…
By the time the detective came back in, his whole energy had shifted. Even though he tried to keep that same tone, it wasn’t there no more, ’cause whatever the fuck he thought he had when he walked out that room wasn’t there when he came back.
“We’re still looking into it,” he said, sittin’ down slower this time.
I nodded like that ain’t have nothin’ to do with me. “Do what you gotta do.”
The rest of that evenin’ dragged out, and they kept tryin’ different ways to get somethin’ outta me, but without that footage, they ain’t have nothin’ solid to stand on. By the time night came back around, they ain’t have no choice but to let me walk.
When I stepped outside, the air hit different. The first thing I saw was my people.
My pops was right there, grounded like always, and my mama was beside him, lookin’ like she had been holdin’ it together all day, just waitin’ on me to come out.
She came straight to me and wrapped her arms around me tight. My pops grabbed my shoulder right after like he needed to feel me for real.
“You alright, son?” my pops asked, his voice calm, but I could see it in his eyes that he was already runnin’ through everything they might’ve said to me and how far they tried to take it.
“I’m straight,” I told him, and I meant that, even with everything that had just happened.
My mama still had her arms around me, holdin’ on like she wasn’t ready to let go just yet. I could feel it in the way she pressed into me that this whole day had been sittin’ heavy on her.
“You sure?” she asked, pullin’ back just enough to look at my face, like she needed to see it for herself and not just hear it.
“I’m good, Ma,” I said, softer this time, reachin’ up and touchin’ her arm. “I’m for real. I’m good.”
She looked at me for another second like she was tryna decide if she believed that. My pops shifted closer, his hand still firm on my shoulder like he wasn’t about to move unless he knew for sure I was solid.
While they was still right in front of me, I saw Kelli.
He was standin’ a few steps back with one hand in his pocket and a cigarette between his fingers, takin’ slow pulls off it like none of this shit had anything to do with him.
I glanced back at my parents for a quick second, just to make sure they was good.
“You’re riding with us,” he said, not even really askin’, just sayin’ it like that was already the plan.
I glanced back at Kelli and shook my head. “Nah, I’m good.”
My mama frowned right away. “Kay’Lo…”
“I’m straight, Ma,” I said again, lookin’ at them both now, so they knew I wasn’t just brushin’ them off. “I swear I am. I just need to get back to Toni.”
“I’m gon’ be good,” I added, keepin’ my tone cool. “Y’all go home and get some rest. It’s been a long day for everybody.”
My pops looked at me for a second longer, really studyin’ me like he always did when he was tryna see past what I was sayin’, and I already knew what that look meant.
A part of me already knew where his head was ’cause, to him, I was still his son first before anything else. Anytime somethin’went left, his first instinct was to step in and take control of it. But I wasn’t no kid.
I met his eyes and held it there so he understood it without me havin’ to say too much. I knew he could read me just as good as I could read him.
“I’m good, Pops,” I said, keepin’ my voice even. “I got it.”
He ain’t respond right away, and for a second, it felt like he was weighin’ if he was gon’ push it or let me have it. I could see it in his face that he ain’t fully like it, but he respected it enough not to press me in front of everybody.
“Call me when you get there,” he said finally, his tone firm.
