So I Know it’s Real

Prologue

D urk

Liar

Sweat made my hands slip from the steering wheel, and my vision stayed trained on the highway. Street racing had been a part of my life for years, and now it seemed like I couldn’t push my whip fast enough. I weaved through traffic, saying fuck the law. If the police got behind me, they’d have to chase me.

“Durk, slow down. If you don’t relax, you’re going to be a patient instead of a visitor.” My cousin Church huffed from the backseat.

“I can’t slow down. I can’t leave Kehlani to have my baby by herself. Fucking with y’all, I probably missed everything.”

Church handed a bottle of liquor to his brother, Shiloh, like they had something to celebrate. After the way they got on my ass about getting Kehlani pregnant, their joy had to be a result of the successful drop we made in Vegas.

The day I told my family I was having a baby, Shiloh and Church pressed me for being reckless. I had just turned twenty-one, and while I made my money in the streets, the chubby cheek cutie I would kill for was completing her last year in college. Kehlani’s birth family wasn’t around, and my family practically adopted her when she became my girlfriend, so they rooted for her as much as I did.

“Aye!” I shot Church a look through the rearview mirror. “Did you get in contact with my mama and my twin?”

“Didn’t I tell you to relax? Mercy and Auntie are already there with Mama Jo. The squad is en route too.”

“You didn’t need to call anybody else. I don’t want different hands and stank breath on my newborn. That shit ain’t safe.”

Church squeezed my shoulder. “Listen to my little cousin, sounding all grown up.”

“I don’t have a choice. My baby needs a daddy, not a gangsta. I can’t fuck this up.”

“Is that why you’re asking her to marry you?” Shiloh joined the conversation. “You know that’s not a requirement to be a good parent, right?”

“I know, but I love her. I don’t want to be with anybody else. Besides, with the way I live, I want Kehlani to be taken care of if anything happens to me.”

I parked in a spot near the emergency room entrance, grabbed the bouquet of roses and the black box resting on my middle console, then jumped out of the car. Worried and winded, I jogged to the reception desk, avoiding the metal detector.

“Excuse me, sir!”

I ignored the officers, knowing my cousins would take care of them. My burner went wherever I went, and a few dollars always ensured that wasn’t a problem.

“I’m looking for labor and delivery. My girl is having my baby,” I informed a nurse behind a long white counter.

“Congratulations! May I have her name? I’ll also need identification for everyone going upstairs.”

I slid my license across the counter, and Shiloh and Church crept up behind me and did the same. The nurse pressed a few keys on the keyboard and then handed us three wristbands.

“Ms. James is on the third floor—Room 303. The elevator is around the corner. Once you step off, you’ll run into a nurse’s station.”

As we ascended up the elevator, I prayed I hadn’t missed the big moment. I was hours away when I got the call that Kehlani was in labor, and I nearly lost my mind. No matter how much money I made, I would’ve stayed in Silk Hills had I believed I wouldn’t be around when Kehlani needed me. I had bodies under my belt and had handled enough drugs to satisfy Tony Montana, yet the idea of failing my lady and kid made me anxious.

My grandmother, Mama Jo, was the first person I spotted when the elevator doors parted. I hurried over and placed a kiss on her cheek before hugging my mama and pounding my sister, Mercy’s, fist.

“Have y’all heard anything?”

Sadness filled Mercy’s eyes as she looked around the room. “Kehlani is in recovery.”

“Damn!” I grimaced, realizing I was too late. “All right. Let me go check on her.”

“Wait. Let me talk to you before—”

“Ahhh!”

Kehlani’s screams cut off whatever Mercy was about to say and triggered me to sprint down the hallway. I barged into room 303 as a group of nurses walked out. Confused, I stared at them strangely, detecting their somber demeanors even under their mask. I had watched enough YouTube videos to know the energy in the room was too cold for new life to be present.

“Where the hell is my baby?” I snapped at the last doctor in the room.

My voice cast Kehlani’s puffy eyes to the door. Her lips turned down on the ends, and she reached for me like a baby in need of affection. The flowers in my hand plummeted to the floor, and in rapid steps, I hustled over and drew her face into my stomach.

“Kehlani, baby, talk to me,” I pleaded, smoothing away the hair stuck to her forehead. “Tell me what’s going on?”

“They took her away!”

“ Her ?” I muttered between curved lips. “We had a girl. Where is she?”

The pale-faced woman in the white coat opened her mouth to speak, but Kehlani lazily lifted her arm.

“No. I’ll tell him. Go check on my daughter.”

I didn’t have the chance to ask more questions before the doctor disappeared, and a big fool dripping in diamonds invaded our space.

“Wrong room.” I snarled.

“Nah, I don’t think so, blood.”

“Blood? Yeah, you really in the wrong place, slob.”

“You’re funny.” He grinned. “My name is Cowboy.”

I rose from the bed and yanked my pants up on my waist.

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean to me?”

The moment of silence gave me the chance to glance over my shoulder. Kehlani’s body trembled when she pressed her back against a stack of pillows and retrieved the remote attached to the bed. Her tears continued to flow, but the expression of sorrow had switched to fear.

“That’s right, baby. Call security on this loser,” I gloated, examining the room. “I would hate to kill someone in the place my daughter was born.”

“ Your daughter ?”

Kehlani positioned a hand over her heart. “Cowboy. No!”

“Hol’ up. You know him?”

“Of course, she does.” Cowboy chuckled. “Me and KK have history.”

“Who the fuck is KK?” I asked, though the answer was clear.

KK was the bitch who just had a baby and now stared at us like she didn’t know who to acknowledge first. I made it easy for her when I stepped away from the bed and drew my pistol.

“Nah, don’t get quiet now, Cowboy . Tell me what’s so funny. I want to laugh too.”

“Durk, please don’t do this.” Kehlani winced as she tried to get out of bed.

“You don’t need to stand to speak. As a matter of fact, tell me where my daughter is.”

“Okay. Okay.” She patted the air. “The baby is in the NICU. I had her two hours ago, and there were...complications. The doctor said she may need a blood transfusion.”

The devastating news loosened my limbs, yet when Cowboy started toward me, I aimed at him.

“Keep talking, Kehlani. You still haven’t told me how you know this clown.”

“Destin,” she cried out, calling me by my government name. A long drag of air poured through her stubby nose when she shut her eyes. “I love you.”

“I didn’t ask you that!”

“Cowboy is...my daughter’s father! This isn’t the way I wanted to tell you, but I had no choice but to call him. I had to save my baby.”

My chest caved in like the Grim Reaper snatched my soul. Though my gun remained on Cowboy, his face became distorted when the room spun. I didn’t know if I was hearing shit or if this bitch just broke my heart, but I pressed my back against a wall to keep from hitting the floor.

Kehlani claimed to be a virgin when we met, so I thought I was the only man that smelled her pussy, let alone fucked it. Though an eighteen-year-old virgin was unheard of, the soft-spoken beauty never gave me a reason to doubt her. Hell, her loyalty made me try to be faithful. I didn’t succeed, but I was never sloppy enough to get another bitch pregnant.

“Aye, my nigga.” Cowboy shifted in my direction. “I understand you’re hurt or whatever, but we don’t have time for you—”

“Shut the fuck up!” I groaned, smacking him with the butt of the gun.

Reckless was an understatement for my actions, but I didn’t have time to consider the consequences. Any judge I faced had to respect my position when they learned the facts. Otherwise, they could kiss my ass, too.

“Stop, Destin! Please! Don’t do this!”

“Don’t do what? Beat his ass? You should beg me not to kill both of y’all, bitch.”

I started pacing back and forth, damn near stomping a hole into the tile floor.

“Bad enough you cheated on me with an enemy. You fucked him raw? What the fuck were you thinking, Kehlani?”

“I wasn’t! Please, calm down before you get yourself locked up.”

Unable to control myself, I rushed over and balled her hospital gown into my hands. Tears burned my eyelids when I closed them, refusing to look at her.

“Destin...baby. I’m so sorry.”

“I did everything you asked of me, Kehlani. You had me at your baby shower, wearing a Burberry button-down like shit was sweet.”

“No! I didn’t know.” She argued. “I promise. I was unsure, but the blood test confirmed it. If I had it my way, I wouldn’t have said anything.”

I stared at her like she was someone I hadn’t loved for years. “Are you fucking serious? Is that supposed to make me feel better?”

The cadence of heavy footsteps encouraged me to stand upright, but I knew good posture wouldn’t convince anyone we were good.

“Durk! What the fuck? What’s going on?” Shiloh groaned.

“I don’t know. Ask Kehlani and her baby daddy.”

Mama Jo dropped her purse on the floor. “Oh, hell no. Bitch, I know you didn’t try to trap my baby!”

Two officers ran into the room as things grew more intense. I dropped my gun next to Cowboy when they instructed me to empty my hands and face the wall. My chin touched my chest when they cuffed me then escorted me toward the exit. I wasn’t ashamed of my actions, more so embarrassed to be in a situation where bullshit was happening behind my back.

“Wait.” Kehlani sobbed into her hands. “Please, don’t leave me, Destin. Where am I supposed to go with our baby?”

“Bitch, please. That’s you and—” I kicked Cowboy’s limp body. “This nigga’s baby. Y’all better figure it out.”