Chapter 3
I was still at the station gettin’ interrogated. The longer I stayed, the more irritated I was gettin’, but I kept that shit locked behind my teeth ’cause I already knew what they was tryna do, and I wasn’t about to give these bitches nothin’ to work with.
They had been runnin’ me in circles since early this mornin’, askin’ me the same stupid ass questions in different ways like they thought I was gon’ slip up just ’cause they switched the words around, but all they kept gettin’ was the same answer, and that shit was startin’ to get on all our nerves.
“I told y’all already,” I said, leanin’ back in that hard ass chair like I was bored. “I was at the crib.”
The detective sittin’ across from me stared at me like he was waitin’ for me to crack, but I ain’t even blink. After a few seconds, he let out a breath like he was tired of hearin’ the shit.
“You expect me to believe that?” he asked, his tone tight like he was ready to snap on a nigga.
“I don’t give a fuck what you believe,” I told him, my voice calm but heavy enough to let him know I wasn’t scared of shit he was talkin’ about. “You asked me where I was, and I answered you. I’on know what else you want me to say.”
He sat there for a second like he ain’t like how I said that, then he leaned forward a lil’, pressin’ his palms on the table.
“Echo Lennox is dead,” he said, watchin’ me close. “She was shot and killed outside her residence, and you want us to believe you had nothing to do with that after everything that’s been going on with your case, Kay’Lo?”
I ain’t say shit right away, and I ain’t rush to respond either, ’cause I wasn’t about to let him feel like he had me thinkin’, so I just looked at him like he was talkin’ about somebody else.
“That sound like y’all problem,” I said after a second. “Not mine.”
His jaw flexed, and I could tell he was tryna keep his cool. That shit right there told me this nigga ain’t have shit solid.
But while he was sittin’ there tryna read me, my mind wasn’t even fully in the room no more ’cause all I could think about was Toni, my wife, and our baby.
The more I sat there listenin’ to this nigga talk, the more everything in me kept shiftin’ back to them and what I needed to do to make sure they stayed protected no matter how this shit played out.
I knew exactly what kind of situation this was, and I knew how fast this shit could go left if I ain’t move right, ’cause if there was cameras outside ol’ girl’s complex, and I knew damn well it most likely was, then all it would take was one clear angle of Toni walkin’ through there with that stomach, and everything we built would come crashin’ down in one night.
And I wasn’t about to let that happen…
I shifted in my seat and ran my tongue along my teeth while he kept talkin’.
Even though I was lookin’ at him, I wasn’t locked into shit he was sayin’ ’cause my mind had already moved past this room and on to what actually mattered.
And that was the fact that I had already made the call and set everything in motion before these muthafuckas even thought about puttin’ me in cuffs.
Kelli was already on this shit.
I ain’t heard from that nigga since we was locked up together, but I kept his number for a reason.
The moment I hit him and told him what I needed, he ain’t waste time askin’ me questions or tryna get extra details out of me like he ain’t understand what type of time this was.
He just locked in and moved like I knew he would.
So… while they had me sittin’ here tryna read me and build they little story, I already knew the real work was bein’ handled somewhere else. I trusted that more than anything they thought they had on me.
The day until the evenin’ kept draggin’ with them bringin’ up me cheatin’ on my wife and fuckin’ Echo like that was supposed to shake me.
They kept talkin’ about what she said about me publicly and in court, how she accused me of bein’ obsessed with her and sayin’ I forced myself on her, and how all that tied back to what happened to her brothers like they was tryna paint a picture where everything led back to me no matter what.
I let that shit pass right through me.
“That’s what she said,” I told them. “Don’t make it true.”
Buddy watched me for a second like he was waitin’ on somethin’ to crack, then he switched it up again.
“We have footage,” he said.
That made my attention sharpen just a lil’. It wasn’t enough for them to see it, but enough for me to lock in on what dude was sayin’, ’cause I already knew what that meant if they was tellin’ the truth.
“Of what?” I asked.
“Of the murder, Kay’Lo,” he said. “And the person appears to be a larger person. I’m sure you know who this person could be.”
That hit in a way I felt, ’cause I knew exactly what Toni look like right now. She was far from small, but I kept my face the same and leaned back like it ain’t mean nothin’ to me.
“A’ight,” I said, noddin’ once. “Let me see it.”
He watched me for a second like he was tryna figure out if I was bluffin’, then he reached for the iPad or whatever the fuck it was like he was ready to prove his point and end all this shit right there.
And while he was tappin’ through the screen, tryna pull it up, I already knew what was goin’ on behind the scenes without even seein’ it.
Kelli had been workin’ all through the night and into the mornin’, and by now he wasn’t just “tryin’” to get in, he was already inside the apartment’s login system, movin’ through it on some real how-the-fuck-you-even-get-in-there type shit.
As soon as I shot him the address, he ain’t even have to fly out here and go to the buildin’.
All he had to do was trace who actually ran they security, find the company behind the system, and work his way into the account that controlled all the cameras.
Everything at places like that ran through one backend where all the footage got stored and accessed.
All it took was one weak point for him to slip through.
And that’s exactly what he did. I ain’t gon’ lie…
Kelli was a cold white boy. Shit, I could see that back when we was locked up together, just off how he moved.
I done seen that nigga get up out his bunk and disappear like he just walked through a wall, then pop back up later like nothin’ even happened. Next thing you know, we in the back room, passin’ a blunt back and forth.
He was sneakin’ shit in, movin’ around like the rules ain’t apply to him, and the whole time, guards was walkin’ past like they ain’t see a damn thing. I remember lookin’ at him one time like, yeah… this nigga different.
So, when he told me he was a hacker and knew how to get into systems, I ain’t look at him like he was just talkin’ to sound good. I believed that shit ’cause I had already seen how his mind worked and how he moved when he wanted somethin’ done.
By the time they had me sittin’ in this room talkin’, Kelli had already pulled up every angle from that night, found the exact time Toni was out there, and handled it the only way that wouldn’t throw up red flags too fast. ’Cause just deletin’ footage would’ve had them diggin’ deeper right away.
So, he replaced it…
He took clean footage from around that same time and laid it over that window, so when they went to play it, it would look like nothin’ ever happened, like it was just another regular night with people comin’ and goin’ and nothin’ out the ordinary.
The crazy shit about it was, it had the same timestamps, the same cameras and same angles… just no Toni.
The detective frowned at the screen while he was tappin’ through it, then he tapped again like it was supposed to load somethin’ different. When it didn’t, his whole expression changed like he ain’t understand what he was lookin’ at.
“Hold on,” he muttered, tappin’ again.
The other detective leaned over. “What’s wrong?”
“It was right here,” he said, lower this time, like he was tryna make sense of it.
I leaned back in my chair and folded my arms like I had all the time in the world, watchin’ him go back and forth with the screen like it was gon’ fix itself if he kept touchin’ it.
“You good?” I asked, real casual, like I was just sittin’ here watchin’ him struggle with somethin’ simple.
He ain’t answer me. He just stood up with the iPad, then him and his potna walked out the room like he needed somebody else to look at it and tell him he wasn’t trippin’.
When the door closed, I let a slow breath out through my nose and leaned back in the chair, ’cause I already knew what that meant.
Kelli had handled this shit…
By the time the detective came back in, his whole energy had shifted. Even though he tried to keep that same tone, it wasn’t there no more, ’cause whatever the fuck he thought he had when he walked out that room wasn’t there when he came back.
“We’re still looking into it,” he said, sittin’ down slower this time.
I nodded like that ain’t have nothin’ to do with me. “Do what you gotta do.”
The rest of that evenin’ dragged out, and they kept tryin’ different ways to get somethin’ outta me, but without that footage, they ain’t have nothin’ solid to stand on. By the time night came back around, they ain’t have no choice but to let me walk.
When I stepped outside, the air hit different. The first thing I saw was my people.
My pops was right there, grounded like always, and my mama was beside him, lookin’ like she had been holdin’ it together all day, just waitin’ on me to come out.
She came straight to me and wrapped her arms around me tight. My pops grabbed my shoulder right after like he needed to feel me for real.
“You alright, son?” my pops asked, his voice calm, but I could see it in his eyes that he was already runnin’ through everything they might’ve said to me and how far they tried to take it.
“I’m straight,” I told him, and I meant that, even with everything that had just happened.
My mama still had her arms around me, holdin’ on like she wasn’t ready to let go just yet. I could feel it in the way she pressed into me that this whole day had been sittin’ heavy on her.
“You sure?” she asked, pullin’ back just enough to look at my face, like she needed to see it for herself and not just hear it.
“I’m good, Ma,” I said, softer this time, reachin’ up and touchin’ her arm. “I’m for real. I’m good.”
She looked at me for another second like she was tryna decide if she believed that. My pops shifted closer, his hand still firm on my shoulder like he wasn’t about to move unless he knew for sure I was solid.
While they was still right in front of me, I saw Kelli.
He was standin’ a few steps back with one hand in his pocket and a cigarette between his fingers, takin’ slow pulls off it like none of this shit had anything to do with him.
I glanced back at my parents for a quick second, just to make sure they was good.
“You’re riding with us,” he said, not even really askin’, just sayin’ it like that was already the plan.
I glanced back at Kelli and shook my head. “Nah, I’m good.”
My mama frowned right away. “Kay’Lo…”
“I’m straight, Ma,” I said again, lookin’ at them both now, so they knew I wasn’t just brushin’ them off. “I swear I am. I just need to get back to Toni.”
“I’m gon’ be good,” I added, keepin’ my tone cool. “Y’all go home and get some rest. It’s been a long day for everybody.”
My pops looked at me for a second longer, really studyin’ me like he always did when he was tryna see past what I was sayin’, and I already knew what that look meant.
A part of me already knew where his head was ’cause, to him, I was still his son first before anything else. Anytime somethin’ went left, his first instinct was to step in and take control of it. But I wasn’t no kid.
I met his eyes and held it there so he understood it without me havin’ to say too much. I knew he could read me just as good as I could read him.
“I’m good, Pops,” I said, keepin’ my voice even. “I got it.”
He ain’t respond right away, and for a second, it felt like he was weighin’ if he was gon’ push it or let me have it. I could see it in his face that he ain’t fully like it, but he respected it enough not to press me in front of everybody.
“Call me when you get there,” he said finally, his tone firm.
“I will,” I promised him.
My mama leaned in one more time and hugged me tight. This time, I held her back a lil’ longer before she finally pulled away, still lookin’ at me like she ain’t like lettin’ me go, but she trusted me enough to do it.
I watched them walk off, then I stepped over to Kelli and stuck my hand out.
When he grabbed it, I gave him a firm shake and looked him dead in his eyes, so he knew I understood exactly what he just did for me.
“You came through,” I said.
He took a drag from his cigarette, his eyes low and calm like this wasn’t shit to him.
“It was light,” he said.
I gave a small nod, lookin’ at him for a second. “Yeah… well, you did that.”
“That’s what I do,” he replied with a grin.
I exhaled through my nose, then tilted my head at him. “Do you even got somethin’ set up out here?” I asked.
“Nah,” he said, flickin’ ash to the ground. “I came out here on a whim. Ain’t really tapped in yet.”
I nodded once, already knowin’ what type of time he was on. “A’ight then,” I said. “You can slide with me and crash out at my spot ’til you figure it out.”
He looked at me for a second, then gave a smirk, like that was exactly the type of answer he expected from me.
“Say less,” he said. “I’m with that.”
I gave him one more nod, then I followed him to whatever ride he came in.
And while I was walkin’, my mind stayed locked on what really mattered, ’cause I knew exactly what I had just done.
I made sure my wife was protected and made sure there wasn’t nothin’ out there that could tie her to that night.
That alone meant everything to me, especially with her carryin’ my baby and already dealin’ with more than she should’ve ever had to carry in the first place.
But I wasn’t no slow nigga either…
I knew that didn’t mean I was in the clear.
The trial was still sittin’ there waitin’ on me, and them people wasn’t done diggin’ and tryna build somethin’ on me just ’cause they lost one angle.
I had handled what I needed to handle for my family, but I still had my own fight sittin’ in front of me, and I already knew it wasn’t gon’ be no easy way through that.
So, yeah… I did what I had to do, but now it was time to make sure I could completely get out of this shit with my life and my freedom.