“Don’t touch me!” Orielle hissed, trying to yank away from him.
He only held onto her tighter. “Come on, Ori, you know it ain’t like that. Just let me explain, baby.”
She smelled the liquor on his breath, and she cringed. Drunkenly, he bearhugged her, trying to walk her toward his car. Purses went upside his head, and punches landed against his arm. Orielle struggled to break free from his embrace, all while hollering for him to let her go. He pulled up to make a scene, but it wasn’t about to last much longer. Bobby’s grip loosened once he heard Najee’s voice. He was out of the truck, walking around the front of it with his jaw tight.
“Aye, cuz. You heard what she said. Let her go.”
Bobby scowled, sizing him up. “Nigga, who the hell are you?”
“Don’t matter who I am. Let her go or get yo’ ass beat. I’ma decide for you in a few seconds.”
Without thinking, Bobby shoved Orielle away from him, almost making her fall to the concrete. “You must be her new nigga, huh? Bet. You gon’ throw hands behind her ‘cause I will.”
“She’s not yours!” Zoey reminded him.
“And didn’t youjusthave an ugly ass baby! Ain’t no way you should be checking for my friend!” Cheyla added.
Ignoring them, Bobby stepped to Najee, who hiked his pants up. His days of throwing hands were long gone, but he’d never back down from a fight. He wasn’t the one to get in the middle of a dispute between a couple, either, but this wasn’t the case. Orielle was single, Bobby was manhandling her, and now his ego was bruised all because she didn’t want to fuck with him anymore. Had Najee thought for one second that this is what Orielle and he did on a regular basis, he wouldn’t have intervened. The real man in him wasn’t about to sit by and let her be handled like this.
Najee hiked his jeans up and smirked. “You ain’t trying to take it there, cuz. Gon’ ‘bout your night.”
“Nah. Let’s take it there,” Bobby said, swinging.
He missed and that was his fuck up. Ducking it, Najee caught him with a nasty right hook that sent him stumbling. Najee had only lost one fight in his life, and that was his first one, at the age of eight. Since, he’d been putting niggas on their backs and in caskets,ifthere was a body to identify. For Bobby’s sake, he hoped he didn’t have to take it there. The blows he landed were so vicious, Orielle gagged when she heard bones crack.
Cheyla screamed for Najee to beat his ass, while Zoey pulled her phone out.
Orielle stood frozen as the two men scrapped in the driveway. Her breath hitched when Bobby reached for his waistband, but Najee was quicker and drew his piece first.
“Pull it, bitch ass nigga,” Najee taunted as sirens echoed in the background.
Bobby flexed his bruised jaw. “You ain’t worth it. Neither is this bitch.”
His nostrils flared as he looked at Orielle. The cop cars swooped onto the premises just as they lowered their guns. Najee tucked his and cursed under his breath.
“Fuck,” he mumbled.
He was on probation and wasn’t supposed to have a weapon on him or be around one at all. Orielle didn’t know that, but it didn’t stop her from trying to grab it from him and hide it in her purse.
“Give it here,” she insisted.
Without protest, Najee slid it to her just as the cops hopped out. Discreetly, she slid the gun inside her purse and stepped away from him.
“Everyone, hands up!” an officer shouted.
All hands went in the air. A neighbor had called them to the scene and had already let them know guns had been pulled out. Orielle watched in horror as they roughly searched Najee, pulling him away from the driveway.
“You got any weapons on you?” the officer asked.
“Nah,” he grumbled.
“Yeah, he does. He got a gun on him, but it’s in her purse,” Bobby snitched without remorse.
The officer stopped walking, pivoted, and glanced at Orielle, whom Bobby was pointing at. He looked back at Najee.
“Is that right?” the officer asked.
With his eyes and a head gesture, he told Orielle to just remove it. Getting searched and manhandled wasn’t worth it. Especially when he’d gotten himself into this predicament in the first place. The officer took the gun and cuffed Najee right in front of her. Emotional and pissed off, her heart felt like itcracked down the middle when he was walked to the back of the police car.
