Chapter 15 #2
I had no idea if I was intrigued, terrified, or about to have another outburst just trying to imagine her energy in the same room as mine.
“Now, you asked where I was. I was upstairs in Imanio’s room trying on his robe and pretending to fire people. That man got a whole throne in there. I damn near hired myself just to quit dramatically. I also ate half his snack drawer. If I disappear, it’s ’cause he found the wrappers.
And I know you’re probably wondering how I got access to his room—don’t worry about that. Let’s just say locks ain’t ever stopped me, and curiosity is stronger than common sense. Any more questions, lil’ hostage homie?
I shook my head. “This is n-not how I pictured my life ending,” I muttered, dragging my palms down my face.
“ Tomato, tomahto ,” Chi shrugged like death-by-kidnapping was a casual Tuesday. “Now, let’s talk Glitchy.”
Despite the nickname, there was no bite behind it. Chi had this uncanny way of being hilarious and borderline terrifying at the same time—like a sitcom character raised by the mob.
“So,” he said, leaning back with his arms spread across the couch like a therapist with no credentials, “how’s married life treating you?”
“Is… is that supposed to be a joke?” I asked. Another outburst slipped out. “Toothpaste ballerina!”
Chi blinked, then let out a wheeze so loud it startled the air fryer. “Nah, see—that one don’t even sound medically approved.”
Against all odds, I laughed. Not the tired, polite kind I’d been faking for days. Just for a moment, I forgot I was technically a hostage wife married to a billionaire with murder rumors and a security system that breathed louder than I did.
Chi grinned, pleased. “See? I knew you had a laugh in there somewhere. Thought I was gon’ have to call a priest or play some old Bernie Mac clips to get it outta you.”
He reached for the remote and added with a smirk, “Don’t worry, I charge by the laugh. First one’s free. Next one? I’m sending you an invoice.”
I chuckled.
Then his face softened.
“Imanio told me about your teddy bear. I guess we got something in common.”
I studied him carefully, unsure where he was headed.
“He said your grandma left it to you after she passed… with a message.”
I nodded slowly, a tic rising just from the memory. My shoulder jerked once, then again.
“Y-Yeah. She raised me. She was really all I had.”
Chi surprised me when he said, “Mine raised me too.”
Before I could ask anything, he kept going like he needed to vent in that moment… even if it was to a practical stranger.
“My moms was in and out. Pops? Just a name on a piece of mail I never opened. But my granny?” He shook his head.
“She made sure I ate, made sure I had clean socks, and made damn sure I didn’t leave the house without Vaseline on my face.
Had me lookin’ like a shiny-ass glazed donut. But I was moisturized and loved.”
“She… she sounds amazing.”
“She was… the realest woman I ever knew.”
“She’s no longer living?”
Chi’s head dropped for a moment before he lifted it again, eyes steady but heavy.
“Nah,” he said. “She died when I was sixteen.”
I winced. “Oh… I’m sorry to hear that.”
Suddenly, my body jolted. “ Why the funeral fried chicken?!” The words shot out like a firecracker in a church pew.
Chi blinked, then tilted his head. “Damn… that must’ve been some powerful poultry.”
I pressed my lips tight, embarrassed, but Chi didn’t laugh—not in a mean way, at least. He smirked gently and waved it off.
“I forget every lil’ emotion makes ‘em stir up. But nah, it’s cool. Back to my granny. She used to hum gospel while whipping eggs with a fork, made me brush my teeth with baking soda ‘cause we ain’t have toothpaste sometimes. And her hugs? Man, they was loud. Not in sound, but in feeling.”
Chi leaned back and looked up for a second like he could still see her hanging laundry or popping her fan at the neighborhood boys.
I nodded, trying not to cry.
“So who did you stay with after she… she died?” ,
Chi paused for a second, then rubbed a hand down his face like he was trying to press the memory away.
“After she passed… man, I lost it and started slippin’.
Slept on strangers’ couches, in stairwells, even had a week in this broke-down Crown Vic with a trash bag for a window.
There was a time I didn’t eat for three days straight.
My damn stomach was in knots so bad, I thought I was dying.
Some days I’d wash up in gas station bathrooms. I remember this one winter—cold as hell—I slept in an abandoned house with busted windows.
Rats was in there like they paid rent. I used my hoodie as a pillow and my pride as a blanket. ”
I stayed quiet, heart aching at the way he said it—so casual.
“I even remember getting jumped just for having a decent pair of shoes on… shoes somebody else gave me, mind you. Shit like that messes with your head.”
I blinked back the sting behind my eyes.
“That’s… that’s not fair,” I finally said, quietly, a tic jerking my shoulder. “I hate you had to go through that. Lif-f-fe can be so damn cruel sometimes.”
Chi looked at me, and for a brief moment, the usual humor behind his eyes faded.
“Yeah,” he said. “It really can. Because it didn’t give a damn about me during that time. But… hard times also shows you what you’re capable of overcoming. It builds skin thick enough to walk through hell and not flinch.”
“Wh-Where was Imanio during this time? Were the two of you friends back then?” I asked out of curiosity.
“Hell yeah! And remind me to tell you how we met after this. But yeah, he had been gone from the hood by then. But they weren’t ‘rich’ then. Still, he looked out where he could. He never let me drown. I might’ve been swimming with weights on, but he kept tossing me floaties, you feel me?”
Damn.
Chi looked at me directly then, and I saw it—the vulnerability hiding behind all his jokes.
“That’s why I got his back like I do. It ain’t no obligation thing; it’s personal. Loyalty means everything to a person when they have nothing .”
Facts.
The room fell quiet again. I opened my mouth to say something; to tell him that I understood more than he knew, but Chi waved it off with that signature smirk.
“But yeah, that’s my story. We all got one, right?”
“Ri-right,” I murmured, my throat thick with emotion.
“Maybe we’ll have Storytime another day.
Just make sure you keep that lil’ bear close.
A grandmother’s love doesn’t fade easy. Even when they’re gone, they’re still here,” he encouraged before adding with a wink.
“Now don’t go crying! I ain’t got tissues, and I draw the line at comforting folks without snacks! ”
I laughed, and my neck involuntarily jerked forward.
That was Chi—just enough softness to crack the door, but never enough to let it swing all the way open.
“Now… next topic!” he said, snapping back into character a bit.
And just like that, the wall was back up.
"On some real shit, I know you probably hate this whole thing, but I see how he looks at you. And I see how you look at him when you think nobody's watching. He’s different with you. That nigga even took off work… and he never takes off.”
My smile faded a little. "He… he said he wouldn’t hurt me."
The words slipped out quieter than I meant them to, but they carried all the weight pressing on my chest. I wasn’t asking just for the sake of hearing reassurance; I needed to hear it from Chi.
Out of everyone, he knew him best. I’d seen the way they moved around each other—loyal like brothers but honest enough to keep each other in check.
If anybody could call him out on his bullshit or confirm his sincerity, it was Chi.
"And he won’t if he hasn’t by now. But you gotta understand, Imanio don’t know what the hell he’s doing with a woman like you. He’s never even had a real girlfriend. Don’t tell him I told you that. He’s just different with you. He’s trying, in his own messed-up, control-freak way.”
If Chi said he wouldn’t hurt me, I could almost believe it. I wanted to. Because part of me was terrified that I was falling for a man whose world I didn’t fully understand… and trusting the wrong man had already cost me too much in the past.
“So you’re saying I should just… be okay with this?”
“I’m saying you’re the first person I’ve ever seen him slow down for. That man treats time like money, and somehow you convinced him to spend both. Just give it time. You and him come from two different worlds… and I’m from a third one."
I chuckled, softer that time. “So b-basically, I’m Disney, he’s Death Row, and you’re what? Sesame Street?”
Chi barked out a laugh. “Damn right! I’m Big Bird with a burner, Glitchy! Yellow feathers, street cred, and an AK-47 in the toy chest. Don’t let the smile fool you! I done flipped bricks and built block empires off crumbs and chaos.”
That made me laugh harder than I expected. It caught me off guard—how much I needed that laugh, how much I missed feeling normal. But underneath it, the truth still hummed low in my chest. Imanio didn’t know what he was doing with me… and I didn’t know what I was doing with him either.
Chi extended his blunt to me. "Wanna hit?"
My eyes widened. "Oh… no… no… drugs bad!” That was my tic, not a PSA—though it could’ve been both.
Chi cackled. “Not all, Glitchy. Don’t believe everything you hear.
That D.A.R.E. program lied to us. Weed is good for the mental…
might even help with your tics and anxiety.
I’m serious. But nah, this shit right here?
A few hits, and you might stop cussing out pastors and start humming gospel hymns instead.
Yeah, Imanio told me what you said to the reverend.
But for real, this that I forgot I paid rent twice and still ain’t mad type of high and peace.
I’m telling you, Glitchy… one puff and you’ll be apologizing to lamps and hugging the air. Well, shit, you already do that.”