A finger of unease tapped my spine, twisted to the front of my body, and firmly embedded itself into my belly. I would have to learn to trust him, but I didn’t want him getting hurt or into trouble.
HARLEM
I drove Baby home in her car, and JC followed us in my truck. The last thing I wanted was to leave her car behind and something happened to it. I doubted that it would, but I wasn’t taking any chances. Niggas wanted to act like fools tonight, so I would play my part. I checked her house to make sure that it was safe, as I always did, kissed her, and immediately left.
As badly as I wanted to stay to bathe her and put her to bed, I had to go handle this shit right away. I couldn’t let anotherminute pass by without checking the situation so that it never happened again.
I dropped JC off at the shop where he had left his car, and he warned me not to do anything that I would regret now that life was looking beautiful for me. JC and Eli were the only two who knew me in my former life when I was wildin’ out.
I took the ten-minute drive to the apartments just outside of our business community. When I arrived, I pulled out my phone and dialed a number.
“Hello?”
“Aye, I need to holler at you.”
“Now?”
“Yeah. I’m downstairs. Meet me out here.”
I ended the call and waited.
When Hollis came down a few minutes later, he stopped on the driver’s side and leaned down. I bobbed my head to the passenger side and ordered, “Get in,” without taking my gaze off the windshield.
“Where’s your pops?”
“Working his shift.”
“Everett?”
“At my grandma’s house for the weekend. He’s going to school from over there in the morning. He’ll be back tomorrow. Wassup?”
I remained quiet and pulled out of the parking spot and drove out of the complex.
“Where are we going?” Hollis asked.
I didn’t say anything as my fist clenched around the steering wheel, and my jaw ached from working it back and forth. He shot several glances at me before he realized that I wasn’t going to respond. He sighed loudly and stared out the window.
Fifteen minutes later, I pulled onto a dark street around the corner from the jail and a couple of blocks down from theunderpass where the homeless settled in for the night, and I stopped. I reached under my seat and removed my gun.
“What’s that for?” he asked, looking at the gun in my hand.
“Nigga, if I still ran with the niggas I used to run with and did the stupid shit I used to do, you would’ve gotten one of these in the head without the luxury of an explanation for that bullshit you pulled.”
“What you talking ’bout, H-Town?”
“I’m talking about the stupid shit that you do that could land your dumb ass at the jail over there or living like these niggas on the street. I’m talking about the dumb ass muthafuckin’ choices you make when niggas keep trying to help ya black ass out. And if you don’t end up in jail or prison, this is your next stop if you don’t get your shit together. Stankin’ over there in that field.” I pointed to an empty field across the street from us that was notorious for dead bodies being found in it. “The fuck kind of example are you setting for your kid?”
“If you’re gonna keep hollering at me, the least you could do is tell me why,” he grumbled.
“Why the fuck I gotta remind you of the stupid shit you been on? You make a habit out of threatening business owners out here? Because if so, this the first I’m hearing about it.”
He smirked, and I couldn’t help myself; I hit him in the chest and smacked his ass across the back of the head.
He instantly threw his fists up. “What the fuck? Nigga, is you crazy?”
“Nah, but you are with that bullshit you were on earlier. Oh, you wanna fight now? Come on.”
I hopped out the car, taking my keys with me, stowing my gun in the back of my jeans, and I walked around to his side of the truck. I jerked the door open.
