Page 24

She took a few more steps toward us, and then something changed.

She stopped, before turning around quickly, then took off running.

“What the fuck? This bitch can’t be serious.”

Before he could get the door open, I grabbed his arm.

“I'll go get her.”

I shoved my door open and took off down the block.

Maleka already had a good lead on me because she was hauling ass.

“Maleka!” I yelled as I tried to catch up to her.

But she kept running.

And I mean really running.

The type of running people do when they feel like their life is in danger. Like I was chasing her with an actual gun.

I pushed myself harder trying to keep up, but between not eating, barely sleeping, and stressing over Rj, my body gave out on me faster than it normally would.

I leaned up against the wall near a tattoo shop, trying to catch my breath while holding onto my side because my whole body felt empty and weak. My chest was burning from running, my stomach twisting from not eating, and every deep breath I took felt like it was scraping my lungs raw.

“Yo, where the fuck she go?” Crew pulled up on the curb, demanding an answer.

“I don’t know,” I panted.

“She got away.”

“She got away? What the fuck?” he snapped. “Get in the car, Jas.”

I pushed myself off the wall and walked over slowly before climbing back into the passenger seat. The second I shut the door, Crew sped off again, ducking his head around trying to look up side streets and between parked cars.

“Crew, she's gone,” I said tiredly. “Why are you still looking for her? What do you even plan on doing?”

“What the fuck do you mean, what I plan on doing?” he shot back angrily. “I’m trying to figure out why the fuck she's running like she did something.”

“She’s running because she's scared, and I’m sure she’s somewhere hiding now,” I replied quickly. “I know Maleka, and she's probably just in over her head with some shit. I’ll talk to her by myself and get an understanding with her, but I’m sure she won’t run back to her house right now. I’ll find her and talk to her on my own Crew.”

“Talk to her by yourself?” Crew repeated, laughing sarcastically.

“Jas, I know you're just trying to save this bitch.”

“Save her from what?” I asked, frustrated now. “Why are you acting like she is an enemy?” Crew grabbed me by my chin and pulled me closer to his face.

“She has our fuckin address, which means she knows where I live, she knows where Hov lives, and what’s even worse, she knows where Pernelle, Messiah, Amira, Faith, and Ciara live too. So yeah, we got a fucking problem if she can’t address us and let us know what the fuck is going on. If anything, her running just now told me all I need to know. Maleka knows me, and she’s never been scared of me, but now she fuckin that nigga Troy and she suddenly is? Fuck out of here.”

“But what’s the problem, though, Crew? You said Troy claimed he didn’t have beef with y’all.”

“Yeah, he said that shit,” Crew muttered, “but who the fuck knows if it’s true? All I know is I’m not playing games with anybody when it comes to the safety of my family. Same way I protect you, I protect them even harder.”

I sat there quietly shaking my head because the thought of Maleka doing anything to hurt us honestly made me feel sick.

She was my best friend. The one person outside of family I always felt like I could trust, no matter what. But at the same time, I couldn’t even lie to myself anymore. The fact that she ran instead of simply talking to us didn’t sit right with me either. She had me winded as hell out here chasing her, and maybe she really is guilty of something.

Crew dropped me back off at the hospital, and I walked back inside with my mind still heavy from everything that had happened with Maleka. Between RJ fighting for his life, me hiding another pregnancy, Hov possibly being my son’s father, and now my best friend running from us in the street like she knew something dangerous, my thoughts felt so loud that I barely focused on what was actually happening around me at the moment.