Soon as we got on the interstate, they blocked me on both sides again. I got an uneasy feeling when I saw a black van shoot ahead of us. There was no way I was going down without a fight. I slowed down, then swerved to the left to get away from them. It worked, but only for a minute before they were back on me.
At the same time, they pulled guns from their waists and pointed at my tires. Thinking quickly, I veered to the left and bumped into Lauren. There was a car to her left that she nearly crashed into, but at least she dropped the gun.Pow!The other girl took a shot and missed by the grace of God.
I saw two 18-wheelers up ahead and raced to squeeze between them. I slowed down so that I was cruising right in the middle. It felt like I could catch my breath, but only for a second because I heard someone coming up behind me. I shot off once again and nearly pissed myself when I saw a sea of bikes up ahead.
My heart only slowed down when I saw Dior come up on the side of me. He nodded his head forward, and I understood he wanted me to follow him. He took the lead with me right behind him. I heard more bikes behind me and realized CCB was boxing me in the middle because not all the bikes belonged to us. I was still being pursued with full force.
Up ahead, Drez gave a signal, and the formation shifted. I didn’t know them all, but I understood we were about to get offon the next exit. Qua still led the way, and since I trusted him with my life, I made sure I kept my eyes on him. All the bikes racing off the exit sounded like a plague of locusts hitting the city, and no one let up off the gas.
Two bikes closed in on me, and I almost panicked until I realized it was my father and Keem. Both had their guns drawn. Keem lifted his visor with his eyes trained on me. “When we get to the clubhouse, pull inside the garage. We’re going to close you inside. Stay low; it might rain.”
My heart fell into my stomach. That meant they were prepared for a shoot-out. I nodded to let him know I understood. We were about a block away from the clubhouse, and I saw more bikes racing toward us from the opposite direction. The orange paraphernalia told me who it was.
The clubhouse appeared in the distance, and I focused on the open floor inside when I saw the garage door lifting. I raced inside, like I was instructed, and skidded to a stop inside. My father pulled in beside me as the door began to lower. Before it could hit the ground, bullets started to fly from out front.
I was tackled to the floor and covered by my father, as it did more than rain outside. It sounded like a fucking thunderstorm, and I was worried about Quadior, my brother, and the others. For a while, all I heard were my labored breaths and gunshots before the sound of tires peeling off filled the air.
My father didn’t move until there was nothing but silence. I didn’t realize I was crying until he lifted off me, and I released the breath I was holding. My tears were hot on my cheeks when I lifted on my knees. Before I could even move an inch, the door at the side of the garage was snatched open, and my man filled it completely.
He raced across the room to me. Kneeling in front of me, he checked me for injuries while I did the same for him. “Thank God,” he whispered when he was certain that I was whole. Wefell into one another’s arms, and I felt him rubbing small circles on my back when the sobs came.
That was so unexpected and proof that Emir still wasn’t ready to let go. “Is Keem okay?” I asked through my cries.
He nodded. “Yeah. He got grazed on his ear, but he’s fine.”
“His ear?” I shrieked because that was a little too close to being a headshot.
“Shh, shh.” Dior started to shush me. “Calm down, it’s all good. We’re all good, mama.” I allowed my eyes to drift close as he tightened his grip on me. He kissed my third eye, and for a second, I allowed tomorrow’s problems to be their own, because today was heavy enough.
Harlo snored softly, sleeping on my chest. She was definitely drooling, and I could feel it trickling down the side of my body, but I didn’t care. I wanted her to stay planted on my chest forever. I couldn’t even sleep these days if we weren’t lying exactly like this.
I used my fingers to gently stroke the length of her spine. Not enough to disturb her or anything. Mostly I did it to bring myself some comfort. I was replaying the events of yesterday in my mind, wondering how I could’ve been a better leader.
The necklace was a smart move, and I was thankful I trusted my instincts, but we should’ve been ready for that ambush at the clubhouse. They shouldn’t have even been able to get close, but they had, and some CCB members suffered because of it. No onehad lost their lives, but plenty walked away with bullet holes in them. Not just from my camp either. Everybody was fucked up, and it was because of one grimy ass nigga.
I lay awake imagining me breaking his fucking face. No one had been bold enough to go against CCB like this in a very long time. Them FBA niggas chose the wrong side for sure. They violated by hijacking the race and putting Lo’s life in danger. I would always have beef with them because of that. They could all burn in hell with their governor because I was going to end that nigga soon. I was at my breaking point, where I gave not two fucks who he was, because to me he was nothing.
Out of nowhere, Lo started mumbling in her sleep. I stopped touching her in case that was the reason, but then she jumped up with a gasp as if she was choking. “Calm down, calm down. It’s just me and you in bed, mama,” I assured her when I heard her frantic breathing.
Leaning over to the nightstand, I flipped on the switch so I could see her. She was sitting on her knees, holding her neck. Tears stained her cheeks, and I didn’t even want to know what was going through her head. “I need to go home,” she croaked out, catching me off guard.
“You talking crazy now. Go back to sleep.” I pinned her in place with a glare because she had to be sleep talking. The only home she had was here with me, unless she was trying to tell me something else.
After a few deep breaths, she tucked her feet under her and allowed her eyes to fall on my face. “I had a secret phone where I kept pictures every time Emir hit me. I need that phone. That’s the key to my freedom.” Her last few words came out as a sob. “I can’t do it anymore. I’m tired of being haunted by him. He needs to go to prison. He’s a terrible person.” She shrieked, scaring me into wrapping her in my arms.
It broke my heart to hear such a phone existed. I palmed her face, wanting to make her forget the past altogether, but also knowing it was a part of her story whether I liked it or not. “Okay, okay, I hear you, but there’s no way I’m letting you go there.”
“I want you to come with me,” she blurted just as quickly. “I know exactly where it is. I will be in and out in no time.” She leaned her forehead against mine. “I’m telling you, we have to do this. And if you don’t go with me, I’m just going to go alone. I need that phone, Quadior. I’m going to ruin him the way he’s been trying to ruin me for years.”
I could tell she was not going to budge on this, and since there was no way I was going to allow her to go alone, I knew I would have to be her backup. I didn’t care for this idea of hers, but if it was what she needed to feel like she was fighting back, then to hell with it. We were getting that fucking phone.
“Okay, follow me,” Lo whispered, even though we were the only two people in the house. We had Drez and Keem trailing that bitch ass governor nigga, while Quick and Mo were standing watch at the front gate. I was not taking any chances with this. By the time he got back home, we were going to be long gone.
Lo raced up the stairs with me right on her ass. If this wasn’t a mission, I would’ve bent her over the banister because her ass was looking scrumptious in the leggings she wore. But now was not the time nor the place. I knew she was nervous about being back in this house, so the quicker we got her phone, the better.
She went into what looked like a spare bedroom and lifted the mattress. She patted the surface between the mattress and bed spring until she found what she was looking for. She looked so proud when she pulled the phone out. She stood there trying to power it on, but my voice stopped her.
“You can do that at home, mama. Come on.” I waved for her to follow me. She slid the phone in her fanny pack, then did just that.
