Page 8 of Nothing Without You

“I don’t recall askin’ you to speak, but since you got so much to say, how ’bout you tell me why she gotta pay for some shit that you’re responsible for?” he asked. His voice was calm . . . too calm.

“She break it.” Mr. Chang pointed at me. I rolled my eyes. His argument was getting tiring.

“He said he was going to call the insurance company earlier, and we would meet to go over the plan. I’m assuming they told him the price to fix the damage, and now he’s trying to put it off on me,” I clarified.

Keegan didn’t turn to look back at me. All I saw was his broad back, and what a fine-ass back it was.

When he finally did turn to look at me, I looked up into his light brown eyes. His creamy brown skin was a shade lighter than mine. I couldn’t remember a day where his short beard and goatee weren’t lined. Currently, his thick brows were drawn in, making him look menacing. But I knew the look wasn’t for me. He never looked at me like that. Not once.

“Where did the pipe break?” he asked.

“I-in the bathroom.” I pointed toward the front door of my house.

“Can you show me where?”

He’d never been inside my house before. Only in the backyard or on the front doorstep. I had a feeling that if I showed him where the bathroom was, something bad would come out of it, so I remained mute. When it was clear I wasn’t going to show him where the pipe had burst, Icelynn spoke up.

“I’ll show you,” she said happily as she skipped toward my front door.

Keegan looked at me for another second before he followed her inside. Mr. Chang glared at me, but I ignored him. I suddenly realized that I hadn’t asked about Liam at all. I glanced around and noticed he was nowhere to be seen. Noticing Keegan’s car, I ran over to it and tried to peek inside, but his windows were too tinted to see anything. The doors were locked, so I couldn’t get in, and fresh frustration filled me. There was no panic. If there was one thing I knew about Keegan, it was that he would never play about KJ or Liam, but I did want to know where my damn son was.

Just when I was about to run inside the house, Keegan walked out with a big ass pipe over his shoulder and Icelynn giggling as she followed behind him.

“What . . . Keegan, how the hell did you get that pipe out of the wall⁠—”

My eyes ballooned when Keegan lifted the pipe over his head and lazily let it hit Mr. Chang in the head.

“Aw shit.” Icelynn doubled over, laughing so hard she snorted.

Mr. Chang didn’t get hit hard. Not nearly hard enough to knock him out, but he would definitely have a nice-sized knot on the top of his head by morning.

“Now tell me again what Chyna gotta pay?” Keegan asked as Mr. Chang rubbed his head.

“I call police!” Mr. Chang shouted. He dug around in his pants pocket, and Keegan swung the pipe at Mr. Chang’s hand.

“Focus, nigga,” Keegan grumbled. “Answer my damn question.”

“Noting. She not have to pay noting.” Mr. Chang cried.

“I see you a fast learner, and guess what else? You’re gonna let her live here rent-free until she finds a new place to live, because best believe she can do better than this place. No offense, Doll,” he said as he glanced at me.

“N-none taken,” I replied, completely stuck in place. I was somewhere between turned the fuck on and scared as hell that the police would show up and arrest Keegan.

“And you ain’t gonna call the police because I have lawyers . . . real good fuckin’ lawyers.” Keegan took a step closer to Mr. Chang, who cowered under his height. “And they’ll only fuck you up after my niggas get to you. You understand that?”

Mr. Chang nodded. “I don’t want trouble.”

Keegan smirked. “Yeah, I bet the fuck you don’t. Get the fuck out of here.”

Mr. Chang tripped as he tried to get away. Keegan swung the heavy pipe back and forth, taunting the old man.

When Mr. Chang finally got into his car and drove away, Icelynn shrieked with laughter.

“You are a nut, Keegan,” she shrilled.

Keegan nodded at her before he turned to me. “Go pack a bag. You and Liam gonna stay wit’ me.”

My eyes widened. “What? No. I was going to stay with Icelynn.”