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At the sight of his fist coming toward me, my eyes ballooned, and I quickly slithered against the carpet toward the wall. I couldn’t believe he was actually going to hit me. That realization turned my anger into sadness. I didn’t think anything could top finding out that he’d cheated on me and gotten someone else pregnant… but that was it.
The moment temporarily discombobulated me, allowing Peyton to choke me until I was almost unconscious. When things went dark and I started seeing stars, his hands unraveled from around my neck. He picked me up and carried me outside. As I coughed and tried to push air in and out of my lungs, he stormed back into the house and locked me out of it.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and reserved an Uber. Even if I could get back in the house, it was for their good that I didn’t. There was no doubt in my mind I’d try to kill them.
12
Aspen
When Enjell invited me over to taste what she planned to cook for Thanksgiving, I wasn’t expecting Malaysia to come over crying. She was leaned against the wall sobbing, and I didn’t know what the fuck to do. Dejvi and I looked at each other as I awaited details and marching orders. If her nigga had done anything to hurt her, I was going to bring her his head on a fucking platter.
“What’s wrong, sissy?” Enjell asked, kneeling in front of Malay and pulling her into her arms.
“He lied, sis. He brought that bitch in our house, talking about she was his cousin and didn’t have anywhere else to go with her baby. But he lied! That wasn’t his cousin. It was his side bitch. And that was his damn baby.”
She cried harder, and Dejvi and I looked at each other with widened eyes.
“I tried to beat both of their asses, and this nigga had the nerve to swing on me. He picked me up and put me out the house. All I had was my phone to Uber here.”
“That nigga put his hands on you?” I confirmed, pushing Enjell out the way and lifting Malay to her feet. “Take me to him. Now.”
Her mouth opened and closed as she looked from me to her sister.
“I-I…”
“Now, Malaysia,” I repeated, leading her out of the apartment.
“Fuck. He’s going to kill him,” Dejvi said as I slammed the door behind us. As calm as I was, my brother was right. I was going to kill him. Not just because he’d violated her physically but because he’d broken her heart too. Her hand was wrapped around her neck absently as we walked to my Camaro.
“Did he choke you?”
She blinked back tears. “Yes,” she said so quietly I almost didn’t hear her. “I almost blacked out. When he stopped, he carried me outside.”
My head bobbed once as I rolled my tongue over my cheek. I handed her my phone and told her to put the address in. When she was done, nothing else needed to be said. I didn’t think she would try and spare him, but on the off chance she did, it was best if we didn’t even speak.
About fifteen minutes later, we pulled into the driveway of what used to be her home. I didn’t give a fuck about cameras or none of that shit. If I got arrested, I had the money for bail and a lawyer. Without waiting for her to get out, I went to the front door and kicked that ho down.
The sound of a woman’s shriek led me in that direction. It didn’t surprise me to find them together in the bedroom.
“Aye, who the fu—”
My fist silenced him instantly. I didn’t stop hitting him. I couldn’t. Not even after he lost consciousness. With my hands wrapped around his neck, it took Malaysia yelling in my ear and clawing at my wrists for me to let him go. When I stood, I looked around the room, trying to ground myself in the present moment. Ol’ girl was in the corner crying with her knees pulled into her chest. The baby was in the center of the bed crying. Malaysia was standing next to me with her chest heaving as she looked down at Peyton.
“Pack as much shit as you can in the next five minutes,” I told her. As I walked over to the girl, she cried harder. “Relax. Ain’t nobody finna hit yo’ young ass.”
“I’m s-sor—”
“When your boyfriend wakes up, tell him if he reaches out to Malaysia that I will come back and kill him. If he calls the police and tries to press charges, I will kill him. Might do that anyway. Do you fuckin’ understand me?”
She nodded adamantly, pressing herself into the wall as her tears fell rapidly. I felt my face twisting into a scowl from the disgust that was consuming me. Not just because of what they’d done to Malay but because of Brooklyn being with Peyton in general. Whether she lied about her age or not, the man was ten years older than her. She was a fucking minor with a baby by his twenty-seven-year-old ass. And they had my girl in here to make the shit look normal… lying to her about them being cousins. The more I thought about it, the angrier I became.
I kicked his ass for good measure then went into the closet and helped Malaysia pack a few things before putting them in her car. When we were done, I told her to trail me to my place. She agreed without any pushback, which I appreciated. I needed to keep her close and make sure she would be okay, because this was a lot to process, and she didn’t deserve to deal with this alone.
Enjell was looking so pitiful as she stared at her sister through the patio door. From what Enjell told me, Malay’s pride was what had her sitting outside by herself. I could understand that. Who would want to talk about that kind of fuckery if they’d just gone through it?
While I respected her desire for solitude, that wasn’t going to work with me. She had nothing to be ashamed of, and I refused to let her feel weighed down because of that situation. It may have taken a while for the truth to come out, but now that it had, how she moved would determine how I viewed her. How I respected her. What I did to help her come out of this.
“I’ll tell my parents that she’s okay and safe with you,” Enjell said quietly as Dejvi took her hand into his. He was going to have to gently force her to leave. She wasn’t trying to be away from her sister, but I had her.
