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“Different how?”
“Being controlling. I couldn’t wear certain things, I couldn’t go certain places, and I couldn’t hang out with certain friends. Then when I would try to do things anyway, he’d lock me in the house, turn off my phone, and did shit to fuck up my self-esteem, like talk about my weight. The only time I really got to go outside was when he wanted me to. I was his prisoner, so you’ll have to forgive me if I’m giving you hell. It’s triggering to be held against my will.”
“I told you, you can leave—”
“I know what you told me, but I’m miles away from California. Even if I did leave, I can’t go back there. He probably had his goons ransack my place by now, so now I have to start all over. I don’t even know why he’s looking for me after all this time. How the hell did he happen to find your brother, anyway? You guys live in two different states, right?”
“My brother’s firm rings bells everywhere, sweetheart. It’s been his goldmine since his third year in college.”
“Hm, I guess.”
“Look, I can imagine how you may feel, but I got your back. I know you don’t trust me, and you have every right not to, but trust me when I say I won’t let him touch you.”
“Was this before or after he threatened you?”
“Believe it or not, I started having doubts the same night y’all got here. I don’t really fuck with women and children—they’re off limits. Now, if you were some hoodrat, didn’t have a kid, and looked like a man, I would have offed you for sure.”
She sputtered a laugh and that shit put a crack in the ice on my heart.
“That is so mean.”
I shrugged. “It is what it is.” There was silence for a spell before she cleared her throat.
“I meditate too… You want to do it together?”
“I don’t trust my eyes to close around you.”
“My baby wants us to be nice to each other, so I’m not going to knock you over the head if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“I’ve never had a woman try to kill me as many times as you, so you’ll have to forgive me if I have trust issues.”
“Touché. I wasn’t going to kill you, though. Just injure you enough to get away.”
“So the plane ride don’t count as attempted murder?”
“Oh, I was for sure going to kill you then.”
“See.”
“But in all fairness, we didn’t have this much dialogue between us, and you were stranger danger. So death would have become you.”
“Touché… I guess we can give this shit a go. But the moment you move, I’m on yo’ top.”
She laughed as she slid to the floor next to me and folded her legs as far as the boot would allow. I stared at her profile for a second then closed my eyes and envisioned a life with her and Rabbit.
13
Lila (Nala)
Icouldn’t believe I was playing nice with this man.
There was a shift in the atmosphere once we got into our meditation session. It was the calmest I’d seen Play, who I now knew as Ahmad, since we encountered him. In his Zen-like state, he seemed almost normal. I’d stolen a few glances at him. Damn, he was fine. This man was going to give me a serious case of Stockholm syndrome if I got close enough to him.
I felt like closeness was inevitable. We were stuck together in the middle of nowhere for God knows how long. He said he had a plan to take Slim out, but how long would that take? If he’d been watching me to know when to take me, I could only imagine he was watching Slim too.
Slim was never alone. He always had a gang of his goons surrounding him. To get to him, Ahmad was going to have to go through them. They were loyal and willing to die behind that man. That was some shit I could never fathom. The only person I was willing to die for was my baby.
The feeling of little lips on my cheeks caused a smile to break out on my face. I was laid out on the couch with my foot elevated. Kari had been in the kitchen with Ahmad preparing lunch. Somehow, I’d drifted off to sleep.
