“I will,” I promised him.
My mama leaned in one more time and hugged me tight. This time, I held her back a lil’ longer before she finally pulled away, still lookin’ at me like she ain’t like lettin’ me go, but she trusted me enough to do it.
I watched them walk off, then I stepped over to Kelli and stuck my hand out.
When he grabbed it, I gave him a firm shake and looked him dead in his eyes, so he knew I understood exactly what he just did for me.
“You came through,” I said.
He took a drag from his cigarette, his eyes low and calm like this wasn’t shit to him.
“It was light,” he said.
I gave a small nod, lookin’ at him for a second. “Yeah… well, you did that.”
“That’s what I do,” he replied with a grin.
I exhaled through my nose, then tilted my head at him. “Do you even got somethin’ set up out here?” I asked.
“Nah,” he said, flickin’ ash to the ground. “I came out here on a whim. Ain’t really tapped in yet.”
I nodded once, already knowin’ what type of time he was on. “A’ight then,” I said. “You can slide with me and crash out at my spot ’til you figure it out.”
He looked at me for a second, then gave a smirk, like that was exactly the type of answer he expected from me.
“Say less,” he said. “I’m with that.”
I gave him one more nod, then I followed him to whatever ride he came in.
And while I was walkin’, my mind stayed locked on what really mattered, ’cause I knew exactly what I had just done. I made sure my wife was protected and made sure there wasn’t nothin’ out there that could tie her to that night. That alone meant everything to me, especially with her carryin’ my baby and already dealin’ with more than she should’ve ever had to carry in the first place.
But I wasn’t no slow nigga either…
I knew that didn’t mean I was in the clear.
The trial was still sittin’ there waitin’ on me, and them people wasn’t done diggin’ and tryna build somethin’ on me just ’cause they lost one angle. I had handled what I needed to handle for my family, but I still had my own fight sittin’ in front of me, and I already knew it wasn’t gon’ be no easy way through that.
So, yeah… I did what I had to do, but now it was time to make sure I could completely get out of this shit with my life and my freedom.
Trill-Land, ’LoLux Estate
Kay’Lo still wasn’t back home, and I felt like this day had been draggin’ me across concrete by my damn throat.
By the time night had settled all the way over the mansion, my nerves were so tore up, I ain’t even feel like myself no more. Every part of me hurt. My eyes burned from cryin’, my back was killin’ me, and my stomach felt tight and heavy with My’Love sittin’ low like she already knew the world outside my body was in shambles and was tryna curl up from all the stress.
I had been sittin’ on the couch with Sha’Nelle all day in one of Kay’Lo’s shirts and a pair of soft shorts that barely fit over my stomach. I looked a mess, felt a mess, and couldn’t stop thinkin’ about the mess I had made.
Sixteen whole fuckin’ hours passed, and my husband still wasn’t home.
That number kept beatin’ against my head. Every time I looked at the time on my phone, I felt sicker, ’cause it was like time was movin’ and not movin’ at the same damn time.
Mornin’ had come and gone, and the afternoon had dragged its raggedy ass through my livin’ room. Evenin’ had settled in. Then night came, and I was still sittin’ here with no word from Kay’Lo. There was no call, no text, no nothin’. The only thing I did know was that the police had him, and they was probably askin’ him every question in the world about a murder I committed.
Every time that thought came back around, my stomach would twist so hard I’d have to grab my belly and breathe through it.
I kept seein’ Echo laid out on that wet pavement. I kept seein’ the rain hittin’ her face. I kept hearin’ her ugly ass voice talkin’ about my child and my husband and my life like she had any right. Then, right behind that would come the part that tore me up the worst, which was knowin’ I had made everything harder for Kay’Lo when he was already fightin’ for his damn life.
Sha’Nelle had been doin’ everything she could think of to keep me from losin’ it all the way. She had made me eat food I barely touched and forced me to sip water when I said I ain’t want nothin’. She rubbed my feet for a while when my ankles started swellin’ up, and she kept pullin’ soft blankets over me whenever I got cold, even though my body kept switchin’ from hot to cold every few minutes. She had moved my pillows around behind my back at least ten times, tryna make me comfortable, and she kept bringin’ me lil’ snacks I couldn’t even look at.
