“Tell yourself whatever you need to sleep good at night, Charisma.”
“What do you want? Why are you reaching out to me?”
“I’ve told you. Relay the message to your boyfriend, and if I can’t get to him, I know the best way to bring him out into the open. I’ll take the two people who mean the most to him. It willbe so easy for me to get to CJ. I don’t want anything to happen to him, but it is what it is. I hope the three of you enjoy your happily for now, because it won’t last for long. Tell CJ he might as well enjoy his daddy while he can because he’ll be gone soon. You will wish that I was still in your life, Charisma. It won’t be easy raising a deaf child alone. I have made so many things easy?—”
“Don’t you dare threaten my child’s life or take credit for a single thing that I did for my child! I did not need your help then, and I don’t need it now.”
After I end the call, I notice that my hands are shaking. I can’t believe that he threatened my baby that way. Fuck that, I’m not protecting him. As soon as I see Chaos, I’ll let him know exactly what he said. Ben took his life into his own hands the minute that he threatened my son. I close my eyelids tight and press my lips together.
The doorbell rings and makes me jump. One glance in the mirror, and I can see that I’m clearly shaken. I blow a breath out through my nose. Stopping by the kitchen, I grab my favorite butcher knife and head to the door.
I pray that it’s Chaos at the door and no one else. I didn’t bother to look at the caller ID, because Chaos is supposed to be picking me up for a date tonight. Chrishanna is watching CJ, and I assumed that it was Chaos calling to say he was running late.
When I see his face in the peephole, relief washes over me. I pull the door open and throw myself into his arms. He wraps his strong arms around me, steadying me.
“What’s wrong, baby?”
I remain in his arms, unable to speak for a few moments. I inhale deeply and exhale slowly for several long seconds before I pull back.
“He called,” I explain, crossing my arms over my chest.
“Who? What’s this about?” he asks, removing the knife from my hand.
“Ben. He just called.”
Chaos’s look of concern morphs into anger. “What the fuck did he want?”
“He wanted to know where I’ve been and to tell me that you will pay for your sins. He says that he’ll place a bullet between your eyes the minute he sees you and that if he can’t find you, he knows how to pull you out by getting the two people who means the most to you. He threatened CJ’s life, Chaos. He said that he would hate to see anything happen to him.” I sob.
He laughs and wipes my tears. “Is that right?”
“I don’t think that you should take it lightly.”
“Trust me, I don’t.”
“How the hell can you be laughing right now?”
“Because he doesn’t know who he just fucked with. His hours are numbered. You ready?”
“Ready? Are you sure you still want to go out?” I ask, staring up at him.
“I’m not about to let that nigga ruin our night, precious, and neither are you. We’ve been through a hell of a lot more than this, and we survived.”
“I don’t want to come back here alone tonight, Chaos.”
“You won’t, baby. You or CJ won’t be coming by here again at all, at least not until he’s taken care of.”
The way that he speaks those words sends a chill of fear down my spine. “Let me grab my things.”
“A’ight.”
He pulls his phone out and starts tapping on it as I go through the apartment and make sure that everything is turned off and locked up. I pack a couple of bags for CJ and me, and I grab my keys, phone, and purse.
“I haven’t done this since we were kids, believe it or not.”
“Me either. That’s why I wanted to bring you tonight.”
“Remember the first time your parents brought us here, and we were in the back of the truck hiding under the covers so your dad didn’t have to pay for us to get in?”
