Chapter 8 #4
His gaze narrowed slightly—half a smirk, half seriousness.
“Makes me wonder…” he drawled. “Are you sure I’m not the one being kidnapped?”
“Th-this isn’t that!” I said too fast, the words tumbling over each other like dominoes. “I— peppermint panties! Sorry, I didn’t mean?—!”
I broke off, stirring my grits just to have something to do with my hands. My face was hot. My whole body tensed.
“I can assure you, this isn’t that,” I mumbled again, more quietly. “I just… I read a lot. And… and watch too much TV.”
Imanio nodded, studying me like a puzzle he’d already solved but wanted to take apart just for fun.
“So, you’re like… rich-rich?” I asked, prying a bit.
“Yeah,” he simply answered, like it wasn’t even worth expanding on.
My hand spasmed without warning, clanging the spoon against the side of the bowl. It was the tic again—always crashing in when my nerves got loud. I inhaled slowly, trying to steady the chaos running under my skin.
“Can I ask… why? Why you did that to Blu? And where does the name Gatez come from?”
My stomach twisted violently, and my breath hitched so hard I thought I might throw up.
My lips parted on reflex. “Don’t snitch, b-bitch!”
“If I tell you…” Imanio’s pause felt like a held breath. “I’ll have to kill you,” he said, too calm to be joking.
The threat didn’t rise in volume, but it hit like a sniper shot—precise and deadly.
I gasped. “Murder muffins! Don’t kill the muffins!”
My heart skipped a beat—then slammed back into rhythm so violently, I could hear it in my ears.
“Say you understand,” he said, eyes locked on mine with terrifying clarity.
“I—I understand,” I whispered, my voice trembling. “If I disappear, it was the toaster. Don’t ask why, just avenge me!”
“Nah.” Imanio shook his head like he was correcting a child. “Say it like you mean it.”
The slight forward tilt of his frame sent a silent signal—my muscles tightened instinctively, bracing for whatever came next.
“Say, I swear on my life I won’t repeat what you’re about to tell me.”
My throat burned, my fingers twitched against the fabric of my pants, and my head tilted to the left. I felt the tic flare, and the words spilled out like acid.
“My left sock knows too much! S-Sorry!”
He still didn’t move… just waited.
My tongue felt like cotton, and my brain scrambled… but I forced the words out.
“I swear on my life…” I choked, voice barely there. “I won’t repeat what you’re about to tell me.”
Imanio studied me in silence, like he was deciding whether or not to believe me—or bury me.
Another tic rattled through me, and I muttered, “Kale smoothie! No backup! I’m alone!”
I wanted to cry.
Not because of the threat. Not because of the fear that was suffocating me. But because I didn’t know if he believed me. And if he didn’t… then what?
Imanio leaned back again, sporting a pleased grin… for the time being.
“Good,” he replied. “Because now you’re in it.”
My fingers flexed slightly around the spoon, but I nodded.
Imanio inclined, resting his elbows on the table.
“Gatez is who people call when debts get too big and loyalty gets too thin. I’m not a bank. I’m not a street collector. I’m the last option before the lights go out.”
He let that sink in for a beat before continuing.
“A year ago, Blu’s spot was about to be seized by the bank. He was already a breath away from losing everything. He came to me desperate. I gave him enough money to keep the doors open, save face, and stay in business… and he agreed to pay me back on a schedule.”
A muscle in Imanio’s jaw jumped, betraying the calm in his voice.
“But after that? All I got was excuses, lies, and stall tactics. Blu had people calling me in his place. He even stopped answering his own damn phone at one point. Blu played with my time, my patience, and my money. I don’t chase people, but that nigga had me doing laps.
I gave him more chances than I should’ve, and he still spit in my face. So yeah… I ended his life.”
Imanio took another sip of his drink, as if he’d just explained why he canceled a business deal—not why he was the cause of someone’s brain being splattered against the wall.
Then he looked at me again, his tone shifting slightly.
“How’d you know Blu anyway? Why were you staying there?”
I took a breath, forcing myself to stay composed.
“I—I was l-looking for a place,” I stammered, my neck twitching to the side as my fingers tapped against the table in an erratic rhythm. “Something… temporary…. safe.” My left shoulder jerked suddenly. “And… and cheap.”
I blinked hard, squeezing my eyes shut for half a second before forcing them back open.
“My friend—she saw an ad in the paper. Blu had posted about a r-room for rent. Weekly payments… no deposit.”
A small, bittersweet smile tugged at my lips, though my fingers clenched tightly in my lap at the thought of her.
“I asked about the room, and he s-said—” my chest jolted with a sharp hiccup of air—“‘If you don’t mind a few rowdy, loud and drunk people every now and then, it’s y-yours.’”
My jaw twitched once, then again. “He didn’t even ask for a background check,” I finished with a soft, nervous breath, as my knee bounced rapidly beneath the table.
Imanio leaned back, his brow quirking just slightly. “How did you even live there with all that music? Wouldn’t that have triggered you?”
I gave a soft, almost amused breath. “Surprisingly… the room was soundproof.”
That caught his attention.
“I’m guessing that’s what he spent my money securing,” he muttered, shaking his head. “Blu always did have his priorities backwards.”
“Maybe. There was an older lady… staying there before me.” I whistled through my teeth without meaning to, then sucked in a shaky breath. “She probably couldn’t… couldn’t handle the music either. I guess Blu had it—had it fixed up so he wouldn’t lose another tenant.”
Imanio snorted, more to himself than to me. He didn’t speak—just listened.
I kept going, even as my fingers tapped the side of my thigh. “Blu always looked out for me. He—he never made me feel weird when I… when I ticced.”
I paused, breath hitching as another whistle slipped out of my lips, followed by a quiet, unexpected outburst. “Toe-sucking bitch! “Dumbass casserole!” My hands clenched in my lap. “S-Sorry,” I whispered quickly, before pushing on.
“He… he joked, laughed, and shared food.” My voice softened with emotion.
“No, he wasn’t perfect. None o-of us are, but…
but he never judged me.” My foot stomped once under the table.
“He even stopped—stopped asking me for rent money six months ago. Just said, ‘You good, Nija. You be minding your business… and you stay out the way.’”
I looked up at Imanio, my voice barely steady now.
“I didn’t know he owed you. I didn’t know he was running from something.” My lips twitched, and I slapped my thigh twice under the table. “All I know is— cake batter in the bathtub! —he made me feel seen… and safe.”
A long silence settled between us.
I didn’t expect any form of sympathy from Imanio. I wasn’t stupid. I knew what world I’d wandered into. But I still needed him to know that Blu wasn’t just some name on his hitlist; he was somebody to me.
I took another bite of the buttered biscuit, but my appetite paused when I saw the way Imanio was looking at me—steady, with that signature silence that always made me feel like I was missing part of the story.
“Wh-Why are you staring at me like that?”
He leaned back in his chair, arms crossing. “You think he was innocent?”
I hesitated. “I… don’t know what I think. I just—he never gave me any problems. That’s all.”
“Naji, I hate to be the bearer of bad news… but Blu wasn’t who you thought he was. The man was heavy into gambling; he owed money to people I don't even fuck with. He got desperate—that’s when he started trafficking.”
“Trafficking?” I echoed, voice fragile. My shoulder gave a hard jerk. “Like… like drugs?”
“No… people. Pretty females like yourself, to be exact.”
“No, the hell he didn’t! Ass-sniffin' liar! Piece of shit!”
My fingers tapped wildly on the table like I was typing out a panic attack.
“Y-You’re lying! Blu wouldn’t—he?—”
Imanio’s voice stayed quiet, level. “The girls he let stay in that upstairs room? That wasn’t kindness; that was business. He’d rent it out, charm them, get them comfortable... then sell them off. You were staying right next to a trap and didn’t even know it.”
“ Dick-breathing bastard! Shady-ass Santa Claus!” I shouted, tears springing to my eyes.
I smacked my palm on the table, eyes darting everywhere like I was trying to find a hole in the story to crawl through.
“Are you serious?” I gasped, the words trembling.
“As serious as your heartbeat right now,” he replied.
“And Naji…” he added, eyes fixed on me like a quiet truth was about to break.
“I hate to tell you this, too, but there was never an older lady staying there before you. That was the bait… a lie. Something I’m sure Blu told you to make it sound safe; to make you lower your guard. ”
My mouth opened, but no sound came. Then—“I hope your karma got a pit bull with rabies!”
I slapped my chest twice, like the truth was trying to crawl out of me.
Imanio just watched.
Not a single grin. Not a trace of mockery. Only silence.
And the weight of a truth I wished I had never learned.
“Son of a—chicken-fried damn Baboon! That motherf?—!”
I clapped my hands together mid-laugh, my knee bouncing like it was trying to run from the truth.
“I lived u-under the same r-r-roof as a sex… sex trafficker, and… I thought I was safe because he offered me g-ginger-ale and kept the music low?!”
My head ticked sideways and my fingers flexed like claws.
“Snatch his balls and roast ‘em! ” I roared without meaning to. “He lied to me! He lied!”
Then something hit me.
“Wait—how… how d-d-did you know about the other girls? Or even that there wasn’t an older lady staying there before me? H-How do you know that unless you?—”
My voice broke off, but my body didn’t.