Chapter 20
Nina
“Baby, can you hand me a towel?” Cole called from the bathroom. He and I were shacking up in my home in Sumerline since Cole decided it was better because of the space.
“Yeah, I got you,” I yelled back.
I walked over to the towel rack and tossed the warm towel over the shower door. Tonight, he said he was going out to handle some business. I wasn’t sure what kind of business it was, but I had Hawk and Proctor on alert, and I knew that tonight was the night I would prove my loyalty to them.
Sometimes it felt like I might’ve made a mistake making them my allies, but then I thought about what it would feel like to lose Hawk forever. He said he would never be mine again, but it was still hard for me to believe that, and for those reasons, I still wanted to protect him like he was mine.
If I had to live my life holding onto the hope that one day he’d come back to me, that was better than accepting the reality that he never would. Cole was my temporary, but Hawk was someone I wanted to be buried next to, and that's honestly why it was easy to choose this way.
After I handed him the towel, he began drying himself off, and I walked back into the bedroom, slipped on my slippers, and went into the closet.
On the bottom shelf behind a box with one of my Birkins inside, was the case that I needed.
Small, black, locked, and hiding a weapon with enough bodies on it to get anyone a life sentence.
Proctor had given me the gun, which showed he trusted me.
He also promised that if I snaked him, he would break out of jail just to torture and kill my ass and I honestly believed him.
Cole was a neat freak, so I knew he would take forever in the restroom, and even after that, he’d spend another thirty minutes in the mirror giving himself fresh lineups, cleaning his face, and doing plenty of other things to keep himself clean.
He’d explained to me weeks ago that because he was in foster care, he often couldn’t clean himself like he wanted, so he took full advantage of it now, and that gave me time to do exactly what I needed to do.
I took the gun out of the box and hid it underneath the couch in the living room. I needed it to be placed there for convenience since I know my mind will be everywhere once I need it.
It felt like as soon as I placed the gun under the pillow, he was calling out from the hallway, making me jump up in fear.
“Yo! Yo! Baby?”
Cole walked into the living room, as I sat down, trying to act as normal as possible.
“You didn’t hear me calling you?” he asked.
“No, babe, what's up?”
“I can’t find my clippers. Where are they at?”
“I don’t know. Maybe the maid put them somewhere.”
“Bet, damn,” he complained, heading back down the hallway.
Now that the gun was planted, all I had to do was wait for the opportunity, and waiting wasn’t hard for me. I’d been waiting to get back into Hawk’s good graces for a long time.
About an hour went by before Cole finally came out dressed. He had on all black, which told me whatever business he was going to handle probably wasn’t legal. I'd planted the gun just in time, it seems.
“Aight, babe, I’m about to leave,” he said, standing over me while I sat on the couch watching TV with my legs curled underneath me.
“Okay. Be careful, babe.”
“Always, baby. I love you.” He placed a kiss on my lips.
“I love you too,” I replied, letting the lie roll off my lips like it was natural.
Cole walked over to the door, and then I knew it was time to put part two of me and Proctor’s plan together. I was scared, terrified, and honestly ready to get it over with.
“Baby.” I tried to mask the fear in my voice.
“What’s up?”
“Can you come and give me another kiss? I’m going to miss your lips so much.
” I replied, and he smiled before walking back over towards me.
When Cole bent down over me, I hugged him and started to kiss him passionately so that I could slip my hand behind the pillow and grab the gun.
With one swift motion, I pulled it out and placed it to his chest, pulling the trigger twice before he could react.
POP, POP.
Cole’s body went backwards, and then he hit the floor, looking up at me with fear, and what I knew was the realization of betrayal in his eyes.
“I’m sorry, Cole, I love Hawk, I always will,” I replied, as his eyes started to sink as the life left him. My hands immediately started to shake, but I knew I had no time to waste. I grabbed the burner phone Proctor gave me and then called him right away.
“Yo, talk to me.”
“He’s gone! I did it, I did it, now what? What do I do?” The panic had me unable to even stand straight. I just couldn’t believe I took a life.
“Alright, alright, calm down. Listen to me. Grab his hands before rigor mortis sets in and scratch your face. After that, place the gun in his hand to get his fingerprints on it and then call the police, but make all of this quick. Him attacking and threatening you has to sound realistic.”
“Okay, okay, but I’m scared, Proctor.”
“Don’t be scared, get this shit done and get rid of this nigga. Once you get done with the police, call me right away, alright?”
“Okay, I will,” I replied, and we hung up the phone. I stood still for a moment, unable to move because of the fear I felt. I know it’s ironic, but I said a quick prayer before I dropped down beside Cole’s body to do exactly what Proctor said.
After I took Cole’s hands with his conveniently long nails down my face, wincing in pain.
Proctor coached me to let the cops know that he was about to kill me because I discovered that he killed his family over money they owed him, and Proctor promised me that this would all go away easily because I’m a rich woman who was involved with a gangsta with bodies on his gun.
Did I want to be a murderer no, but I wanted to be Mrs. Hawk Proctor more than anything else.
“911, What’s your emergency?”
“I just had to shoot my boyfriend because he attacked me. I confronted him about something terrible he did, and he attacked me and pointed his gun at my head!”
“Ma’am, ma’am, calm down.” The operator spoke into the phone.
“Tell me your address.”
“9593 Summerlin Drive,” I replied, and I heard typing on her keyboard.
Now, because of me, Hawks' father can walk away from this situation free.
Maybe one day, whether it’s ten years from now or twenty, Hawk will love me again for what I just did for him. I just murdered someone who was ready to love me, to wait for the long haul for him to come back into my life.