Chapter 4 #2
Grabbing her arm, her husband pulled her along toward their front stoop.
Moose watched them until they got inside.
Taking in their nice home and luxury cars, he bobbed his head, and his gaze drifted to a window on the top floor.
Tiara stood between the curtains, looking down at him.
She waved a little, and Moose chucked his chin at her before climbing into his car.
She’d left her cup from Comfort Kitchen in his cupholder.
Settled in his leather seats, he picked it up and studied it closely.
Tulla might not want to cop to it, but he was going to find out one way or another whether that little girl was his.
A couple of hours later…
Heat on blast, weed smoke filling the small space of his car, Moose reclined in the driver’s seat with a bottle of Don Julio resting between his legs and his arm on the middle console, studying his blunt and letting the lyrics to DMX’s “How it’s Going Down” flow through his system.
He didn’t want to go home and wasn’t interested in dealing with anybody from his family right now, so he drove until he ended up on Inari’s street and parked.
He signaled to Irv to let him know everything was cool, and Moose stared up at the darkened house.
The sudden tapping at his driver’s window drew his attention.
Inari stood with her little .22 in her hand, arms tucked over her big, melon-sized breasts and scowling sexily at him through his tint.
Moose lowered his window, low eyes raking over her curves in her robe and boots she’d slipped into.
She even had her bonnet on her head, still sexy as hell.
“Moose, what are you doing here?” she asked, sighing.
“I was just making sure you were good,” he told her, clouds of smoke exiting his car and damn near giving her a contact.
“You need to leave.”
“I can’t even check on you now, Inari?”
“You lost that right when you lied to me!” she yelled. “That doesn’t mean keep coming around like I won’t shoot you,” she threatened.
He simpered and almost laughed before taking another pull from his blunt.
“Yeah, aight. You ain’t gon’ shoot shit.”
“What is wrong with you? Are you a glutton for punishment or something?” she demanded, eyes narrowing when his peered out at her.
“I had a visit today. With Tulla’s daughter,” Moose confessed, catching her attention.
“Daughter? I didn’t know she had a daughter.”
“Eight years old,” Moose filled her in, eyes still focused ahead when he gripped the bottle of Don Julio and tipped it to his mouth.
“Wait… eight years?” she repeated.
Moose nodded but didn’t say anything else.
“So, how did you end up visiting with her child? I know she didn’t invite you.” Inari found herself invested in the conversation now.
It was obvious he had something heavy weighing on him and needed to talk to somebody. Mozzi just had a baby, and like her, Kong was grieving. Yet Moose still sought her out.
“I picked her up from school.”
“You did what!” Inari snapped. “Moose, what is wrong with you?”
“I brought her home,” he replied, shrugging nonchalantly.
“That’s not the point! You took a child from school without her parents’ permission. The child of a detective at that. I know you gotta be high or stupid, reckless as hell.” She called him every name she could think of in that moment.
“You don’t get it.” He turned to her, completely raw when his eyes pierced hers.
This was fucking with him. Inari’s anger and shock faltered, but it didn’t completely disappear as she relaxed her shoulders and took a breath.
“Then explain it to me, Morgan. Why would you do something like that, knowing it could get you into trouble?”
“I had to fucking know, Nari.”
“Know what, if she’s yours?” she guessed, arms folding across her chest. “I get it, but you went about it the wrong way.”
“I needed to see—”
“You needed control,” she voiced. “Because you’re spiraling right now, and you don’t have anything else to hold onto.” The statement landed like a punch because it was true, and she watched it flicker behind his haunted orbs.
“I’m straight.” Moose sniffled and pinched the tip of his nose.
“No, you’re not,” she argued. “And you need to stop pretending you are.”
Moose laughed, but it was hollow. Emotionless. He took another pull of his blunt and flicked the ash in his ashtray.
“Yeah, aight,” he muttered, bringing the blunt back to his lips and letting it dangle there.
Partial concern aligned with resentment lingered in her stare.
“Goodnight, ma.” He shifted his car into drive.
Whipping around Irv’s truck in front of him, he sped down her block with his music on full blast. Moose had no idea where he was heading until he got a message from Trini, asking if he wanted to kick it.
He knew what she meant by that. Blow lines all night and fuck each other senseless.
Since Inari was kicking him to the curb, he figured why the fuck not?
He zoned out on the drive, not caring that he was going at least twenty over the speed limit through traffic.
By the time he got pulled over, he already knew what it was.
It was only right that divine intervention played a part.
He was about to hit the corner to Trini’s apartment building, and he knew he was wilding out.
Red and blue cherry lights flashed behind him.
Moose peeped them but didn’t react at first. When the siren hit, he pulled over slowly.
“Sir, are you aware that you were going eighty-five in a forty zone?” the officer questioned, his bright flashlight shining in Moose’s face.
“Step out of the vehicle, please,” the officer requested, catching the faint smirk on Moose’s face when he looked directly into the light.