Chapter 5
Zelle was convinced I’d robbed him, and although he was right, he still had no proof.
Proof or not, the longer he connected my name to the money he was missing, the higher the chance his bosses would do the same.
If that happened, not only would they be after me, but my mother’s and sister’s lives would be at risk.
My mother wouldn’t let up on the idea of me moving to Onyx City to work in her brother’s shop. Since my name was hot in the streets, I would only consider leaving if her and Ramina came with me. Leaving them would put them in danger with no one to protect them.
“Ro, I’ve been at my job for twenty-two years. I can’t just up and leave,” my mother said when I shared the only way I’d consider leaving.
“Maybe you can transfer to a hospital in Onyx City,” I suggested. “But I’m not leaving unless you and Mina come with me.”
“I’ll go. I need a fresh start. Maybe I can make some friends,” my sister said.
“You could have friends here if you didn’t have such a bad attitude,” Ma told her.
“True, but it’s too late for all that now. When are we leaving?”
“Slow down, Mina. Are you sure you want to transfer schools before your senior year?” I asked.
“It’s not like I have connections with anyone here. There’s really nothing tying me to Savannah.”
I had to make an executive decision to keep them safe and prayed my mother didn’t fight me on it.
“The lease is up for renewal next month. Let the landlord know we’re leaving. We have nothing keeping us here,” I reasoned.
My mother studied me for a few minutes before responding. “What did you do?”
“What do you mean? I didn’t do anything but think about working at Uncle David’s shop like you wanted,” I lied.
“No. I don’t believe you. Something had to have happened because you’re pressing this too hard. What did you do?”
I looked back and forth between my mother and sister as I contemplated whether or not I wanted to rat my sister out since her actions started this shit.
“I can’t tell you everything because it might put you in danger.”
“Rowdy! What did you do?” Ma shouted. “It’s that money I found the other day, isn’t it?”
“My last hit was a big one, and even though there’s no proof, my name has been mentioned.”
“Oh my God! I told you to stop taking those people’s money.”
She popped me on the back of my head.
“Ow! What’d you do that for?”
“Because you’re stupid. I’ve been telling you for years to get a real job, but you refuse to listen. Now our lives are in danger.”
“Ma, I got it under control.”
“That’s a lie, Ro, and you know it. If these people find out where you live, all of us could die.”
“I keep a low profile, Ma. Nobody knows where I live because nobody knows I’m the one taking their money.”
“Not low enough if your name is connected. I knew this shit would happen. You’ve gotten away with so much shit, and now it’s catching up with you. I knew it would happen eventually.”
“You act like I’m being arrested or something.”
“This will be worse if they catch up with you, or us, and kill us all. Let me find out if I can get a transfer. Y’all go get some boxes and start packing. Rowdy, call your uncle and tell him we’re coming.”
She marched angrily from the kitchen into her bedroom, slamming the door. I looked at my sister and shook my head.
“You know this shit is your fault, right?”
“How is it my fault?” she questioned innocently.
“You fucking around with that old ass nigga is what got us here.”
“You were supposed to just beat him up. Nobody told you to take that bag of money.”
“What’s done is done. Maybe this is God’s way of telling us it’s time for a change. Let’s go get some boxes.”
About an hour later, after buying boxes from one of the local packing and moving companies, we were at a gas station a few blocks from our house.
I needed some snacks for the munchies I knew I’d have later after I rolled up.
Ramina waited in the car while I went inside.
I’d parked in one of the spots near the door and could see my car when I went to the register to pay.
I happened to look outside as I waited in line, and thank God I did. Without a second thought, I dropped everything in my hands and ran outside, catching Zelle by surprise as he tried to pull Ramina out of the passenger side window.
“Muthafucka!” I shouted as I wrapped my arm around his neck and pulled him away from the car.
He released Ramina and grabbed my arm with both hands, trying to pull it away from his neck. I didn’t release him until I was several feet away from my car. While he held his neck, gasping for air, I kicked him repeatedly in his stomach.
“Don’t you ever in your miserable ass life touch my sister again. What the fuck is wrong with you?” I yelled angrily.
“I know you took my money,” he accused, barely loud enough for me to hear him.
“Until you can prove that shit, keep my fuckin’ name outta your mouth. Dumb ass nigga!”
I kicked him again for good measure before walking away.
A small crowd had gathered, and a few people held their phones up recording, I assumed.
I shook my head, irritated as hell by the entire situation.
The items I’d come to the gas station for were long forgotten as I hopped behind the steering wheel.
I wasn’t 100 percent sold on us leaving Savannah when I spoke to my mother about it a few hours prior, but now, I didn’t think we had a choice.
Zelle attacking Ramina, who sat in the passenger seat crying as if her actions weren’t the catalyst to this mess, solidified my decision.
As much as I wanted to go off on her, I held my tongue.
“I’m sorry, Ro. I didn’t know he was crazy.”
“Did you know he was almost thirty? You know what? None of that shit matters. You’re safe now, and I’ll make sure you’re always safe.”
Before leaving Savannah, I left more than enough money to finance this summer’s block party with Morgan, one of the neighbors I trusted.
I’d already put down deposits for the food trucks and bouncy houses, so she would use the money to pay the balances, and also purchase school supplies and backpacks.
I planned to come back for the event if time permitted.
We hit the road with me behind a moving truck filled to capacity and my car attached.
My mother and Ramina followed me in her car, and we’d arrived at the address my uncle gave us in just under three hours.
He was nice enough to look into a place for us to live but informed us that there weren’t many options.
“This was the best I could find on short notice. It’s three bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, has a nice big kitchen, and a large family room,” Uncle David said.
“It’s nice,” Ma said.
“I have no complaints,” I added.
“Me either,” Ramina agreed.
The house was nothing special, but everything was clean and in good condition. We couldn’t be picky, considering we’d only given my uncle a week to find something.
“So, this will work?” Uncle David asked.
“Yes. Thank you for finding something so quickly,” Ma said.
“A good friend of mine and his wife own a few rental properties. This one became available two weeks ago, so the timing was perfect. I’ll let him know he can bring the lease over.”
“Appreciate you, Unc.”
I left my mother alone to talk to her brother, and I explored the rest of the house. My mother would take the primary bedroom with the bathroom, Ramina could have the one closest to the hall bathroom, and I’d take the one in the back of the house.
When I went back to the front of the house, my uncle was standing near the front door. He’d moved from Savannah to Onyx City about twenty years ago and opened up his shop. He was my mother’s only sibling, and they weren’t extremely close, but their relationship was solid.
“Some of my guys from the shop are headed over to help you unload. Let’s get what we can until they get here,” he suggested.
“Thanks, Unc. Mina, you and Ma can start unloading your car.”
We spent the next several hours unloading our furniture and our other belongings.
The landlord came over and we signed a year-long lease.
He only asked for the security deposit and first month’s rent, but I paid him for six months, much to my mother’s dismay.
She claimed to hate how I made most of my money, but she didn’t have so much pride that she refused my help.
With the help of the guys who worked with my uncle, things moved quickly. I was grateful for their help and tried to pay them, but they refused, only taking beer and pizza as payment. Once they were gone, we still had a lot of work to do unpacking boxes and organizing.
My mother had two weeks before she started at the new hospital, and it was summer, so Ramina was out of school. My uncle said I could start next week, so we had plenty of time to settle into our new home and our new life.
When I finally showered and turned in for the night, I had several text messages and missed calls from Myra. I hadn’t told her I was leaving, but based on the number of times she’d reached out, she might’ve gotten wind of it. Instead of texting her, I called.
“You left town and didn’t say shit? I thought we were better than that,” she answered.
“It was kinda sudden. How did you find out?”
“There’s a video of you and Zelle fighting—”
“Fighting?”
“I mean, well, you were beating his ass. A few videos from different angles are circulating on social media. People in the comments are speculating about why you went after him like that. Some mentioned that they heard you, your mom, and your sister left town.”
“You know I don’t do that social media shit. Does the video show him trying to pull Mina from the window of my car?”
“No, it started with you behind him with your arm around his neck.”
“You know that nigga is a pedophile. I was in the store for two minutes, and he tried to pull a fast one. He’s lucky I didn’t kill his ass.”
“Yeah, I hear a lot about him messing with young girls.”
“He tried that shit with my sister, but I wasn’t having it. I’ll go to jail behind her and my mama.”
“I also heard someone stole a large sum of money from him.”
“I heard that too.”
“And your name was mentioned as a potential person.”
“I heard the same, but it wasn’t me.”
“So, why the sudden move?” she pressed.
“It was time for a change.”
“Where’d you go?”
“That information is being shared on a need-to-know basis.”
“And you don’t think I need to know?”
“Nah. Not right now. You just told me my name is being mentioned in connection with some shit that could put me and my family in danger with some dangerous people. I don’t want to put them at risk.”
“Did you take Zelle’s money?”
“I just told you I didn’t. Zelle drives around town like he’s really that nigga when he’s actually one of the lowest on the totem pole.
The money that was stolen probably belongs to whoever he reports to, which is why he’s so pressed to find out who took it.
He’s in hot water and doesn’t want to take the blame for being a piss poor ass drug dealer. ”
“You might have a point. Do you think you’ll come back to Savannah?”
“Maybe for the block party. I left one of my neighbors in charge just in case I don’t make it back. If I do, you’ll be the first to know.”
Myra sounded genuinely sad and worried when our call ended, but I didn’t trust her enough to tell her the truth.