Chapter 51 Reveal
Reveal
The drive home is calm. Quiet, but not in a bad way. I rest my head on Nickoi’s arm, watching the houses blur past. It’s peaceful. “Babe, when are we going back to the shooting range?” I ask out of nowhere.
“Inna two weeks,” he answers, still focused on the road.
I breathe out.
In yer too quiet..
I glance up at him. “Babe?” I call again, softer now.
He hums. Half-listening “I did something bad,” I say, in the mood to get on his nerves.
His fingers twitch slightly on the steering wheel.
He doesn’t say a word, but I feel it, he’s alert now.
His posture stiffens. His foot presses just a little deeper into the gas.
Perfect.
“Yah guh still love me?” I ask, voice all low and nervous.
He cuts his eyes at me. “Yuh know man head chippy chippy,” he mutters. “So me cya promise nutt’n.”
I almost laugh but I hold it back.
“I was at school… and my ex came by… and… we just… we just slept together.”
The silence is deadly. He doesn’t even blink. My heart races a little, but not from guilt from how damn believable I sound. We pull into the yard. He parks, doesn’t move. Just stares out the windshield like he’s resetting his whole life.
“Yuh ex bulletproof?” he finally says.
I—
“And Zara, me look like the type a nigga yuh ramp wid?” He sounds a bit too serious…
“It’s a prank,” I quickly admit, barely holding back a grin. “I didn’t do anything. I swear. It was for TikTok or whatever. Suzanne did it to Junior and I wanted to see something.”
He turns slowly to look at me. The tension in his jaw doesn’t disappear. “So me must go find one next gyal now?” he asks, dead serious.
I grab my phone and show him the proof. “Look… she did it too.”
He watches the video.
He’s still glaring at me, playfully, but I know better. That look’s got weight behind it. Still, I don’t flinch. I smile, just to see what he’ll do next.
“A everything yuh see yuh wah follow?” he mutters, biting his lip before his hand slides around my throat. Just enough pressure to remind me who’s in control.
I smirk.
Then he spots my cousins coming with the twins and pulls back like nothing happened.
“What a way dem tek long fi carry two babies,” I say loud enough for them to hear. They’re barely reaching the car.
Sash laughs as she opens the door. “Mi think unuh would a come out.”
“We did a go come out, man,” I say, twisting around in my seat.
“Baby dem a problem,” Gavin groans, buckling in. “All gray hair mi bout fi get and mi a only 25.”
Nickoi chuckles beside me.
When we’re ready, Nickoi drives us to Homestead. Our non-stop convos make the journey feel short. I’m surprised when he pulls over in front of my old house.
A wave of nostalgia hits me. I exhale deeply and spot my father on the veranda, surrounded by men his age.
A cookout?
Every man have a plate.
“Mi swear a the bar him deh enuh,” I mutter, stepping out of the car.
“A big thing?” Gavin calls to him as we approach.
He laughs, knocking fists with Nickoi and Gavin before high-fiving Sash.
“No man, nothing too big. A mi bredgrin day and we just a cook and eat,” he explains, laid back.
He looks good, healthy and clean.
“Which one a yuh bredgrin birthday?” Nickoi asks while I turn around to take out the twins.
Gavin helps me, and I have no idea where Sash wandered off to. Zahir is smiling up at me and Zahira’s rubbing her cheeks, she’s teething. No more panicking.
“This time I know what’s wrong. Mommy not unaware this time,” I say softly, poking her cheek.
I lift her while Gavin takes Zahir.
“Yuh naffi drink nuh magnum man. Rest that and try some Hennessy,” Nickoi jokes, handing the bottle to one of Daddy’s friends.
The man perks up. “20 gran fi this, respect mi boss!”
Nickoi nods with a grin. My father walks over smiling, though his eyes are locked on Zahira.
“Get caught up and nuh get fi talk to mi one gyal,” he says, his voice warm.
His gaze lingers on her, pure admiration.
“She pretty bad,” he says finally, eyes still on her like he’s not sure if he’s allowed to hold her.
His attention shifts to Zahir in Gavin’s arms, and his face lights up.
“This bwoy look like Nick,” he chuckles.
Crazy.
Zahir looked like me at birth, but the older he gets, the more he copies Nick’s entire face.
Mi never know dem thing deh possible.
I pass Zahira to him. He hesitates, glances at me awkwardly, then takes her gently. He holds her like she’s made of glass, and she stares at him with those big chestnut eyes.
“That’s your grandpa,” I whisper to her.
She giggles.
Like she understands. Then she starts playing in his curls, eyes drooping shortly after.
“She want sleep,” he says, handing her back to me before taking Zahir from Gavin. I step inside and use my key to unlock my room. I turn on the light and a soft smile spreads across my face.
I spread a blanket on the bed, sit to breastfeed her, and once her back hits the mattress, she’s out.
I slip back outside to socialize. Unlike Zahira, Zahir is wide awake and loving the attention, giggling nonstop.
Maybe he’s the social one? Or maybe his personality will flip just like his face did?
***
An hour passes. I’ve eaten till my belly is full. I sipped a little liquor, checking on my babies in between. Nickoi fits right in with Daddy, his friends, and Gavin.
So down to earth…
I love that about him, but as I watch him, I start thinking about his lifestyle… so violent, so risky.
I sigh.
God, please protect him. He’s a beautiful soul. I can’t imagine life without him.
Daddy comes and sits beside me on the veranda.
“You alright mi girl?”
“I am… are you, Daddy?”
“Yuh know seh mi good though. Happy fi see me grandchildren, my daughter… and her husband.”
My smile widens.
“We were excited to get here too.”
He laughs, genuinely.
I admire how clean and stable he looks.
“I see you making a lot of changes,” I tell him, impressed. Even the house is clean.
Daddy did all this?
Henry Williams?
Yes, Zara.
No sah. Mi nuh believe it. Him affi have a woman.
“Yuh have a woman, Daddy?” I tease.
He bursts out laughing.
So do I.
It’s been a while since we laughed like this. A blessing to let go of negative energy and make room for peace.
“Mi nuh have no woman. Mi just a try change mi life and mek some things right fi some people but it look like mi too late,” he says, tone dipping.
Hmm…
“Who, Daddy?” I ask, more curious than ever.
“You’re 23 now and it took me that long to finally man up. And now your mother has someone else,” he admits, quiet and reflective.
Ah.
Mommy and I are the “some people” he changed for.
My heart warms.
I hug him longer than I planned to. I remember when it was just the two of us. He messed up, yeah. Mommy really loved him, tried with him but he didn’t get it until it was too late.
He’s right. It’s too late.
“Daddy, I’m sorry,” I whisper when I pull away.
“It’s okay man, it’s good to see you.”
“It’s good to see you too… and see the change. I love it.”
“She’d love it too,” I add, quietly.
He smiles, then stands. “Mi a go play the domino game.”
I nod, watching him disappear into the crowd. I sit quietly, deep in thought. I wonder… could Mommy still love him? I remember her rooting for him on my birthday.
Did that mean anything?
I sigh and look out.
Nickoi’s sitting on the back of his Benz, smoking.
OMNISCIENT
Mario glances at his watch. Eight o’clock and still no real progress on either the Constant Spring or Spanish Town murders. But deep down, he knows it’s the same killer. The patterns line up.
The sketch artist got something decent. Not perfect, but close. Mario’s been chasing shadows for weeks now. He won’t sleep until he closes this case.
An hour into the files and his gut kicks in. He slides the Constant Spring folder aside and pulls the Spanish Town one closer.
He calls it the “2 a.m. route.”
He searches for Adonis’ family contact and gets lucky, his brother, Dane, picks up.
“Good night. This is Detective Mario,” he says, voice low and firm.
“Good night, Detective. What yuh want know ‘bout mi bredda Adonis?”
Dane sounds tired, but determined.
Mario leans back, lips curling into a slight grin. “Is there anything you think could help the case?”
“Yeah, Adonis was a Don from Flanka. Nobody nuh ramp wid him. So whoever kill him? Affi be a top killa,” Dane says. Mario thinks of the man in the black hoodie, the one that always slips through the cracks.
“Whenever a Don dead, it’s usually gang retaliation. You agree?” Mario asks.
His wife enters the room quietly and sits nearby, scrolling through Fashion Nova, not saying a word.
“Yeah, mi know. Adonis had enemies. But this happen a town, so it have to be somebody up deh. Plus him have a nephew weh live a town, full a money, and mi not even know wah him do fi a living.”
Now that grabs Mario’s attention.
He leans forward. “Tell me about the nephew. Slim build? Always in black hoodies?”
Dane scratches his head. “Mi nuh know him like dat. Mi not even sure how him look.”
Mario exhales. “Did Adonis and him have beef?”
“Not really… but dem never too talk. The nephew deh a town mostly. But—” Dane pauses.
“But what?” Mario presses. “You love your brother, right? Don’t hold back.”
“Adonis did wah piece a him business. Dem come down fi a funeral and… Adonis did shoot offa dem. Dem never dead. Dem go back a town and somebody kill Adonis after him say him ago link him sister. Mi nuh think a dem though, it just nuh make nuh sense.”
“But what if the nephew knew he was coming? What if he planned it?” Mario says, narrowing his eyes.
Dane pauses. He remembers calling the girlfriend’s phone that night to distract her.
Mario picks up on the hesitation. “What’s his name?”
Dane sighs. “Nickoi Jacobs.”
Mario writes it down fast. His wife coughs softly, then rubs her hand like she’s nervous.
“What exactly does he have, that make yuh call him rich?”
“Big house in some uptown scheme. Benz, Porsche, Range Rover—everything,” Dane says.
Mario’s eyebrows lift. His mind is racing.
“Adonis did a link with the man weh dem dash weh too, that a Carlos,” Dane adds.
“You mean Perez?” Mario asks.
“Yeah.”
“Can I call you tomorrow morning?”
“Yeah man.”
“Thanks,” Mario says, then ends the call. He turns to his wife, smiling. “Nickoi. Could be him. Everything pointing that way. If he had issues with Carlos and Adonis, that would make sense. I’m gonna get to the bottom of this.”
His wife sighs. “I just want to go back to England.”
“You check on the kids?”
“They’re sleeping,” she says, smiling weakly. Inside, she wants to throw up.
“I’ll come to bed soon,” he says.
She nods, then walks out. As soon as the door closes, she opens the safe and dials her brother.
“British?” Nickoi answers.
“We have a problem.”
He goes quiet. “So you a tell mi—”
“Shh,” she cuts him off, keeping her voice low. “He talked to Dane. He’s building a case. Meet me in Liguanea tomorrow. For now… stay home. Be careful.”
Nickoi exhales. “Alright. Respect, sis.”
“Love you always, litto bwoy,” she teases her nickname for him as a child.
He chuckles. “Heart a love.”