Chapter 6 #3
I was in traffic at a stoplight when a big ass truck hit their bright lights behind me.
Squinting in the rearview mirror, damn near blinded, I tried to make out any movement.
I didn’t hesitate to go for my gun, just in case this was an ambush.
I saw a dark figure leap from the driver’s seat and remain parked behind me at the red light.
He was tall, with muscles underneath the all black ensemble.
He took slow strides toward my door, and I made sure to keep an eye on his hands and everything going on behind me and to my right.
He paused right at my window. When I rolled my window down, I already had my pistol aimed at his chest.
“The fuck you want?” I demanded, brows scrunching down in a frown.
My finger was already on the trigger, waiting on him to try me.
“I heard you were trying to get a message to someone.” He implied, hands resting in his pockets. My cold stare pierced him. “Tell me what you need and I will let him know.”
“That’s not how this works.” I countered, eyes roaming his large frame.
“Actually, it is. He sets the rules.” The henchmen declared.
“Oh yeah? Bet.” A wicked smile spread across my face and I squeezed off twice into his chest.
I watched his body blow back before he hit the street. The light turned green and I pulled off through traffic like nothing had happened. If this was the kind of game he wanted to play, then it was go from here. My phone rang and it was Knowledge.
“You got anything?” He didn’t even greet me.
I knew he was anxious and probably sitting somewhere ready to pop off. The nigga was never good with sitting around waiting for anything to happen.
“Nah, but I’m sure I will. Stay off the radar for now. I just sent a message.”
“What kind of message?” Knowledge queried.
“The kind that you ain’t got a choice but to respond to. I’m done fucking around. You with me on this, or you want to sit back and keep letting this sadistic mothafucka run this shit?”
Knowledge didn’t respond right away. “I’m with you, bro.” He agreed.
“This is going to turn into war. I’m sending a few of our crew over to keep an eye on Chevy and the kids.”
“Thanks, Free.” The line hung up and I focused on the road home.
I had shit to live for and a new outlook on life.
I didn’t want anything looming over what I was building for myself.
Looking over my shoulder wasn’t ideal. I knew it was always going to be that way, but I would be able to relax a little easier knowing that a mothafucka like Arrow wasn’t coming back.
Harbor
After viewing the home in its entirety, I guided the couple onto the back terrace overlooking the back yard.
It was big, with enough room for whatever their kid could ask for.
Lock was tense and quiet most of the tour, but Alba couldn’t stop running her mouth.
Lethargic, I crossed my arms and raised my head to the sky as a breeze blew by.
Lock seemed like he had something on his mind the entire time.
I thought Alba probably picked up on it too and that was why she was trying so hard to lighten the air between us.
“So, what do you think?” I asked, facing her.
“I think this is perfect, just like he said. I hate it when he’s right.” Alba responded comically while taking in her baby’s father.
“Well, as soon as the check clears it is all yours.” I chimed in.
“I guess we will take it then.” She shrugged and inched closer to Lock. “Kind of crazy how this is coming together. I didn’t think we would ever see you again.” Alba implied, and I blankly stared back at her.
“Clearly.” I muttered, taking her by surprise.
Lock studied me. Alba intervened, hands on her expanding hips when she soaked me in from head to toe.
“Okay, so… I guess we should all just clear the air now.” She spoke up.
“Alba—” Lock piped up.
“No, Lock. This is between us. We never did get to finish that conversation we had last year.” Alba said, shushing him with one hand up.
“Before you just disappeared. You got a lot of nerve, Harbor. How is it that you can take off without a word to anyone, leave everyone in your life thinking that the worst had happened to you, and then just pop out living your best fucking life? Please, explain.”
“You wouldn’t understand any of it if I told you.” I mumbled.
“I think it’s all bullshit, I won’t lie. Lock here thinks there is more to the story. For some reason he still thinks that he knows you better than anyone.”
“I don’t care what you or anybody else thinks. And I don’t have to explain a damn thing to the mothafuckas that just wrote me off.”
“Wrote you off?” Lock’s brows dipped angrily. “You know how much time and how many private investigators I had on this, not to mention all the homies in the street keeping their ears out. I spent plenty of nights not even able to sleep because the shit felt like my fault.”
“And I’m sure that Alba here was more than willing to help put you to sleep.” I uttered, eyes rolling.
This entire situation was starting to irk me and I was hungry.
“Considering how you just left—”
“I didn’t just leave! Okay! Something happened… and let’s just say… everything ain’t what it seems.” My eyes misted and something shifted behind his stare.
Alba was left with part of her mouth hanging open, speechless.
“Harbor, if you need some help—”
“I don’t.” I insisted. “What I need to know is do you want this house or not?” I asked, sighing.
“Yes, we do.” Alba spoke up before Lock could. “Right?” She checked with him.
“Yeah.” He agreed, but he never took his eyes from me.
Alba caught on and kept going back and forth between us like she could read between our gaze.
“Great. So get us the papers so that we can take care of this and hopefully never see one another again.” She forced a big smile on her lips, but there was resentment built behind her scrutinizing orbs.
“Let’s hope.” I muttered, peering down at the ground. “I’ll get you everything you need by the end of the week. I will need the down payment or however you’re footing this by that time as well. Is there anything else that I can assist you with?”
“That should take care of it.” Alba nodded.
“Great.” I put on my resting bitch face and strolled past them back into the house.
I had more than enough of this entire situation.
My head was spinning and my bed was practically calling me.
Fatigue submerged me the minute Dr. Lane told me I was pregnant.
We all met up out front and Deviance was perched outside the car waiting.
He had both of his arms, which were like the size of my damn legs, draped across his puffed-out chest.
“If you want, you can just send me the check by mail or messenger. And I can have the papers for the house delivered the same way, marked for you to sign and send back. We definitely don’t need to do this again.”
“You know what’s funny? You acting like we wronged you. Lock didn’t know where you were or what you were into. And now he finds out after all this time that you weren’t in any danger at all, but in the arms of another man. How do you think that makes him feel?” Alba questioned.
“I don’t know. Why don’t you let him do the talking?” I quipped, and that got her to shut her mouth.
She cut her eyes at Lock, and when he didn’t respond or jump to her defense, she became agitated.
“Alba, can you wait in the car for me?” Lock requested.
“Are you serious right now?” She scoffed.
“Yeah, I am. I need to talk to Harbor.” He articulated.
“Fine.” She pierced me with daggers before stomping off like a little ass kid that didn’t get her way.
“I don’t have time for this, Lock—”
“Then make time.” He cut me off, stepping closer so that he towered over me.
My breathing hitched under his grimace of disappointment.
“Stop giving me this rehearsed bullshit and tell me what happened to you. This is me. The nigga that caught you breaking into the dance studio when you had barely hit puberty. We used to sit up on the phone together until the wee fucking hours. I would be on the block and you would be in bed watching some educational shit that you made sound interesting as fuck. Where is that girl? What happened to us?” He asked, damned near pleaded.
With my hormones in overdrive, I could barely take the desperation in his voice.
He had reminded me of so much that we had shared in such little time.
True we had dated for only two years, but we had built a friendship off that long before.
Sniffling and blinking so that he wouldn’t see the tears threatening to fall, my head lowered.
I put on my game face, which was basically an empty mask when I gaped back at him.
“Time has passed. We aren’t the same. I know I’m not. You’ve got Alba and a baby on the way. I’ve got—”
“Frequency.” Lock stated, bitter.
The sound of his name reminded me of his place in my life.
At this point it had surpassed whatever Lock and I thought we had.
It didn’t stop me from feeling for him or recalling that warmth he always gave me.
Even now it was there between us. His anger overpowered it in this moment, but I knew that he felt it too.
Maybe whatever it was, it would always be between us.
We would always wonder what if because of how we were ripped apart.
“That’s what this is about, right? Him?” Lock prodded, both brows raising curiously.
“This is where we are, Lock. There is no turning back. So, let’s just both move on.”
“Tell me how we go from being in love, wanting to spend our lives together, to you now attached to a man like that?” He frowned with discontent.
“At this point, it doesn’t even matter.”
“It matters to me!” He went to snatch me by the arm when I tried to walk away from him.
Within seconds, Deviance was at my side, taking up space. His hand went to his hip instinctively while he grimly took Lock in. He released his grip on me and bowed his head while taking a few steps back. My cavalry was with the shit, and Lock didn’t want any parts of it.