How the Ice Grew #4
Shana called Cory and told him that she was on her way. She made him believe that she went to her house to pack a bag. In her trunk, she kept an overnight suitcase just in case she ever had a dick appointment or had to shoot out of town in a rush.
Cory was in Gastonia at a house that belonged to a distant cousin that he’d housesat for from time to time. When everything happened, he called his cousin and found out that he was out of town. It was the perfect place for him to be since this was a cousin that he never mentioned to anyone.
He sipped on his beer while he waited for Shana. When he met Shana and Blakeney at the club with his homeboy Tron, he wanted Shana. Tron wanted her as well and beat Cory to the punch. Cory wasn’t a hater, and Blakeney was fine too.
As time went on, he allowed himself to become comfortable with Blakeney. He wouldn’t say that he loved her, but he had love for her. She was a strong woman about her business, and he loved that. Cory tried, but he just couldn’t shake his attraction to Shana.
One night of drunken fun, he made a pass at her.
She didn’t reject it altogether, so that gave him hope.
In his mind, he could eventually wear her down.
After a while, there were phone calls between them behind Blakeney’s back.
Shana tried to keep her boundaries, but they were grayed.
She often said things like, “if you weren’t with my best friend” or “in another time and place.”
Welp, Cory solved both of the problems. He was single now. The plan was for him and Shana to go to Florida. That solidified the different place and time. When he called Shana, he wasn’t surprised that she was willing to come with him. He knew she wanted him just as much as he wanted her.
Time was of the essence, and he needed Shana to hurry the fuck up.
He called Tron a few days ago, and the shit was weird.
The only thing Tron asked and cared about was where he was.
That alone told Cory what he needed to know.
There was a hit on his head. It was fucked up that his homeboy seemed to have turned on him, but it was the game.
Cory knew what he did was fucked up, hence his need to hide and get away. His thoughts about the fucked up situation that he had gotten himself into were interrupted by a knock at the front door. He wished his cousin had cameras.
He moved to the door cautiously. A quick peek out the window revealed Shana. Finally! “Damn, I was about to leave your ass,” he fussed when he opened the door.
That was all he was able to get out before he was met with a fist in the face. Cory stumbled back in shock but recovered quickly. Ready to fight, he realized you couldn’t bring fists to a gun fight. He’d left his gun sitting on the kitchen table.
“What’s up, fucktabulious nigga? It’s nice to see you. They always said that pussy would be a weak man’s downfall.” Lo’ak’s words held a venomous tone that would have scared the devil himself.
Cory’s eyes scanned the room as it filled with people he recognized from his team and some from Derrick’s team who were connected to Blakeney’s father. His eyes eventually landed on Shana, whose eyes were filled with remorse. “This is what you do, Shana? I did this shit for you.”
Before she could respond, Travis walked in. Fuck! From the expression on Travis’s face, Cory knew that he would be introduced to the persona he heard about named Grimm.
Travis heard Cory’s words, and it pissed him off even more than he was earlier.
His glare shifted toward Cory and Shana before they landed on Cory.
“You killed your son for a bitch. Is that what you’re saying, bitch nigga?
” His attention moved to Shana. “You might want to leave and get to packing. Forty-eight hours is all you got.”
Shana nodded before she gave Cory a final glance.
The ride over, she thought about the choices that she made that got her to this point.
She allowed her loneliness to consume her to the point that she betrayed her friend to a detrimental outcome.
She loved her best friend and her godson, but she knew that it was her time to leave.
“I’m so sorry.” Those were her last words before she walked out of the house to a future that was undetermined.
This was the first time that Cory heard that the baby died. There was a small twinge because he knew that his action would cause pain, but he didn’t think he had done that much damage. “I didn’t mean to kill the baby. I just wasn’t ready to have a baby.”
Travis’s movements were slow and deliberate.
Cory went over his options in his head. He could make a run for it to the kitchen to get his gun, or he could go straight out the back door.
He would probably get shot in the back. If he did make it out the back door, the house was probably surrounded.
His last choice, which was one that he’d rather not do, was to man up.
Lo’ak laughed. “You sound dumb as hell. If you didn’t want to be a father, then walk the fuck away.” He tittered again before his expression stoned over. “You know you’re about to die, right? Hell is accepting new residents.”