Page 17 of Trading In A Broken Heart

I kept running, not knowing exactly where I was going, but if I had to try every single door in here to get out, I would. The first knob I turned was locked, so I kept sprinting. Soon as I bent the next corner, I was grabbed by the neck and slammed into the wall.

Savion stood there calmly as he stared into my eyes. “Where the fuck you think you’re going?”

My teeth clenched and chest heaved as I gazed back at him. “I was going home.”

“This is your home, wifey.” He thumped me on the tip of my nose, and I frowned.

“No, it ain’t.”

“I tell you what. Since you’re so fucking eager to leave, I’ll cut a deal with you.” My heartbeat kicked up a notch, not knowing what to expect to come out of his insane-ass mouth. “Give me sixty days. Give me sixty days for you to fall in love with me. I probably won’t even need that many . . . but sixty days. If you don’t, then I’ll kill you.”

My eyes expanded. “Are you out of your fucking mind? Why would I agree to something like that?”

“Don’t tell me that you’re afraid of a lil challenge.”

“I ain’t scared of nothing,” I quickly shot back.

“A’ight. Do we got a deal?”

“Will you fight a lion? We’ll have a deal if you’re willing to go out there and fight a lion for me.”

Savion released me and took a step back. He wasn’t stupid enough to do no shit like that. I knew that; that was exactly why I brought it up.

“A’ight. Let’s go.”

“Huh?”

Now that was a response that I wasn’t expecting.

“Let’s go.”

Taking me by the hand, he led me down the hallway ’til we made it to a door. Opening the door, he flipped on the light, and that was when I realized we were in the garage. Savion grabbed a pair of keys and hit the fob. The lights on a black G-Wagon lit up.

“Where are we going?” I questioned him.

“You said you want me to fight a lion. I’m finna go fight one.”

I erupted in laughter. Tears filled my eyes. “And where exactly are you gon’ find a lion?”

“The same place anyone would,” was his response as he opened the passenger door for me. “And don’t think about running away. I always got eyes on you.”

Goosebumps coursed my frame. Shit was kind of creepy, but I left it alone for now. I slipped into the passenger seat, and he shut the door behind me.

The light appeared at the end of the tunnel. Savion drove out, and the sun would’ve blinded me had he not had illegal tint on his truck. People took the lil things for granted like being able to see the sun and having it touch your skin. This was the first time that I’d seen sunlight in days.

We finally arrived at Savion’s destination, which was the Montgomery Zoo. This man had lost his fucking mind. Those people were not gon’ let him anywhere near their lion, let alone let him inside to fight it.

“You’re really out of your mind,” I told him as he got out the truck.

“Maybe so,” he said when he opened the door for me.

Climbing out, I followed him up to the entrance of the zoo. This man paid our way inside as if he wasn’t about to go in here and commit a crime. We walked around ’til we found the lion’s den. People were standing out here, watching it as it lay out there basking in the sun. It’d been so long since I’d stepped foot in the zoo. The last time I came was when Kairose was younger.

“Wait right here,” Savion said as he slipped away from my side.

“Your ass going to jail,” I tossed behind him. I wouldn’t have to worry about going back with him to his hole in the ground if they arrested his ass. That was a win for me.

Crossing my arms over my chest, I watched through the glass to see what the hell he was about to do. A few moments later, I saw the door open on the lion’s den, and Savion crept inside. Silence washed over the den. Every single lion in there had gone still.