Page 27 of Kissed By the Trillest Thug 2

“Okay.”

She turned toward the hallway and then stopped.

“Don’t forget y’all still gotta tell Maliah about the baby.”

The comment caught everybody off guard. For a second, nobody said anything. Then she disappeared down the hallway. And the second she was gone, the room felt heavy again. The excitement from earlier vanished completely. Now it was just me, my mother, my father, and Maliah’s empty bedroom. The second Maylee disappeared down the hallway, the room fell quiet again. Not the comfortable kind of quiet either. I looked between my parents, waiting for somebody to explain what was going on.

Instead, my father rubbed his hand across his face and stared out the window for a second. When he finally started talking, I realized almost immediately why neither one of them wanted Maylee standing in the room. By the time he finished explaining that Tahari was responsible for both robberies at the auto shop, I was staring at him. By the time he admitted he shot him, I wasn’t even trying to hide my shock anymore.

“Damn.”

The word slipped out before I could stop it. My mother sat quietly on the edge of the bed while my father paced near the window. The whole thing sounded crazy. Not because I thought he was lying but because I knew he wasn’t. The story was just that wild.

“So, Maliah knows?” I asked.

My father shook his head.

“No.”

That made me frown.

“What do you mean no?”

“I just told her she couldn’t see him anymore.”

I stared at him.

“And that was it?”

His eyes met mine, and inside of them I could read the regret. For a second, neither one of us said anything. Then he looked away. I let out a slow breath. That sounded like somethingMaliah would’ve ignored. Especially if she thought somebody was keeping information from her. My eyes drifted toward her empty bed. She went somewhere. And there was only one place that made sense.

“If she left because of Tahari,” I said slowly, “then she probably went looking for him.”

My mother immediately nodded.

“I think so too.”

The room fell quiet again. I’m sure we were all thinking the same thing. The problem was nobody knew where to start. Then a thought crossed my mind. I frowned slightly. There was a dude I used to play basketball with. We weren’t close, and we hadn’t talked in months, but I was pretty sure he knew Tahari. At least enough to know where he hung out and maybe where he stayed.

I looked up at both my parents because what I was about to say was a long shot, but it was worth a try. At least it would be a start.

“I might be able to find out where he lives.”

Both of my parents looked at me immediately. My father’s expression changed first.

“How?”

“There’s this dude I used to hoop with,” my mind searched for his name, but now I couldn’t pull it together, “he knows Tahari.”

My father stopped pacing.

“You think he knows where he stays?”

“I don’t know,” I answered honestly as I pulled my phone from my pocket, “but if anybody I know would know, it’d probably be him.”

My father nodded his head because I possibly had handed him a possible answer to this crazy ass situation. Not a good one, and it wasn’t a guaranteed one, but it was something. And right now? Something was better than nothing. I stepped outinto the hallway and pulled my phone from my pocket. For a second, I stared down at the screen before finding the number I was looking for. I barely saved contacts, but one thing I was good at was memorizing numbers. I got that from dad. It had been months since Tiq and I had talked. Shit, maybe even longer. Still, I hit call.

The phone rang a few times before he finally picked up.