CHAPTER TWELVE
Yatta
I sat in my truck outside her crib with the engine still running, something in my gut was twisting and telling me not to pull off yet. I had learned a long time ago to trust that feeling. That was the same feeling that had kept me alive more times than I could count.
I turned the engine off and leaned back in my seat, my eyes locked on the house. The way she declined that call. The look on her face when that nigga Jamie's name popped up on her screen. And the tremble in her voice when she said "it's complicated."
I told myself to wait five minutes. Just to make sure she was straight. Five minutes turned into ten, and that knot in my stomach only got tighter.
Fuck it.
I grabbed my strap from the center console, tucked it in my waistband, and climbed out the truck. The night air was cold as hell, but I barely felt it. My mind was racing, but my instincts were louder.
I crossed the street and made my way up the walkway leading to the house. The porch light was on, casting a dim glow over the front steps. Something about the house felt off. It was too quiet.
I tried the front door, expecting it to be locked, but the knob turned with ease.
I stepped inside, shutting the door behind me. The living room was dark except for the glow of the television, but nobody was sitting on the couch. A lamp had been knocked over, and one of Zurie's shoes lay near the coffee table.
I moved deeper into the house, every sense on high alert. The sound of voices carried from upstairs. It was a man's voice, and he was loud and aggressive. Then I heard Zurie.
Her voice was high-pitched and she sounded scared.
"Get off me!"
Everything inside me went cold.
I took the stairs two at a time, my jaw clenched and my hand resting near my waistband. This nigga was about to die. when I got to her door, I didn't knock. I stepped back and kicked that motherfucker in with everything I had. The doorframe splintered, the lock gave way, and the door flew open.
The scene in front of me made my blood run cold.
Her bitch ass baby daddy a brown-skinned tall nigga, had Zurie by her hair, bending her head back at a painful angle. Her hands were clawing at his wrist, tears streaming down her face. The bedroom was a fucking mess.
"The fuck you think this is!" the nigga Jamie was yelling in her face. "You think you can just come home whenever the fuck you want?!"
Bitch ass nigga was such in a zone, that he didn't even notice me at first.
I crossed the bedroom in three steps and grabbed him by the back of his neck, ripping him away from Zurie so hard he stumbled backward.
Before he could even process what was happening, I cracked him across the jaw with a right hook that had every ounce of rage I was feeling behind it and dropped his ass.
Bitch ass nigga hit the floor like a bag of bricks, his body going limp, and he was out cold. I stood over him with my gun now aimed at his chest, with my finger on the trigger. Every instinct in me wanted to put a bullet in him right there. I wanted to end his shit permanently.
"Yatta…." Zurie's voice was shaking.
I looked at her. She was backed up against the wall, holding her head where he'd yanked her hair, mascara running down her face.
But what got me was the little boy standing in the hallway behind her.
Her son was standing there with big brown eyes wide with fear, clutching a stuffed animal.
And that's the only reason I didn't pull the trigger.
"Grab yo’ shit," I said to Zurie, my voice deadly calm. "You leaving tonight."
"Yatta, I can't just—"
"You can and you will." I kept my gun trained on Jamie's unconscious body. "Get yo’ son's shit too. Whatever y'all need. You got two minutes."
She stared at me for a second like she couldn't believe this was happening, then something in her clicked. She moved fast, running to the back rooms. I could hear her opening drawers, stuffing things into bags, while talking softly to JJ to keep him calm.
Jamie groaned on the floor, starting to come to. I stepped closer and kicked him hard in the ribs, He curled up, gasping.
"You ever put your hands on her again," I said, my voice was low, "and I won't just stop at knocking you out. I’ll end yo’ fucking life, and that's a promise."
A minute later, Zurie came back out with JJ and two duffel bags in her other hand. she looked at me with something between fear and gratitude in her eyes.
"Let's go," I said.
I backed out of the house, with my gun still on Jamie until we were outside. Then I holstered it and took the bags from Zurie's hand. We moved quick down the stairs towards my truck.
I opened the back door for her to put JJ in the car once he was strapped in, she got in the passenger seat and I pulled off, checking my rearview to make sure we weren't being followed.
Neither one of us said anything for a long time. Just the sound of the engine and JJ's soft breathing from the back seat as he fell asleep, exhausted from crying.
* * *
I pulled up to a Marriott about twenty minutes later and told Zurie to wait in the truck. I went inside, paid cash for a suite, and came back out with the key cards.
"Come on."
I grabbed the bags and led them inside. The suite was nice, it was two bedrooms, a living area, clean and quiet. Zurie carried JJ to one of the beds and laid him down, pulling the covers over him. He didn't even wake up.
When she came back out to the living area, I was standing by the window. She just stood there for a moment, looking at me, her arms wrapped around herself.
"Does Sosa know?" I asked in a low tone. "Does he know that nigga hits you?"
She shook her head, fresh tears spilling over. "No. I never told him."
"Why not?"
"Because Sosa would kill him. And I didn't want my brother going to jail over me. I thought I could handle it. I thought—" Her voice broke and she covered her face with her hands.
I walked over to her, my jaw tight. "Tomorrow we telling him. Fuck all of that. He needs to know."
"Yatta—"
"Nah. This shit ends tonight, Z. You ain't going back ova there. And you ain't making excuses for that nigga no more. And your brother deserves to know what you been going through." I said it firm, but not harsh.
That's when she completely broke down. The sobs came hard and heavy, like she'd been holding them in for months, hell, probably years. Her whole body shook with it.
I didn't hesitate. I pulled her into my chest and wrapped my arms around her, holding her tight while she cried into my hoodie. She gripped onto me like I was the only solid thing in her world right now.
"You good," I said quietly, one hand on the back of her head. “I gotchu’" She cried for a long time. I just held her, letting her get it all out. When her breathing finally started to even out, I tilted her face up and kissed her forehead.
"Get some rest," I said, looking down at her. "I'll be back in the morning to check on you."
"You don't have to leave," she whispered, her eyes red and swollen.
"Yeah, I do. You need space to breathe. And I got some shit I need to handle.
" I wiped a tear from her cheek with my thumb.
"But call me if anything, and I mean anything happens.
You got my number now. Use it." She nodded, I made sure the door was locked behind me when I left, I stood in the hallway for a second to make sure I heard her put the chain on.
Then I headed back to my truck.
Tomorrow was gonna be a long day. Sosa needed to know. Jamie needed to be dealt with properly. And Zurie needed to start rebuilding her life away from that bullshit.
But tonight she was safe. And that's all that mattered.
* * *
I pulled up to the Marriott at 9 AM sharp. I'd barely slept, I kept thinking about Zurie, about JJ, about Jamie's bitch ass laid out on the floor. Part of me wished I had done more than just knock him out, but the other part knew I had made the right call.
I texted Zurie when I got to the parking lot and a few minutes later, she came out with JJ holding her hand.
Lil’ man was clutching the same stuffed animal from last night.
Zurie had on leggings and an oversized hoodie, she had her locs pulled back in a messy bun.
She looked tired as hell, but she was trying to smile for her son.
"Good morning," she said softly when she got to the truck.
"Morning." I opened the back door and helped her get JJ situated in the back seat. Lil’ man looked at me with big curious eyes.
"Who you?" he asked.
"I'm Yatta, and I'm a friend of your mama's."
"You got a big truck." He said and I couldn't help but smirk a little.
"Yeah, I do."
Once we were all in, I pulled out the parking lot.
"Y'all hungry?"
"My ass is starving," Zurie admitted.
I took them to IHOP, nothing fancy, just some quick shit to put on their stomach. We sat in a booth, JJ next to his mama coloring on the kids' menu while we waited for our food.
"You sleep at all?" I asked.
"A little. You?"
"Enough."
She looked at me across the table, something soft in her eyes. "Thank you. For everything. I don't know what would've happened if you hadn't…."
"What I tell you about all that thanking me shit. No need for all of that.”
The food came and we ate mostly in silence.
JJ was in his own world, drowning his pancakes in syrup and telling his mama about some cartoon he wanted to watch later.
Watching them together, the way Zurie handled him, the way she laughed at his lil kiddy jokes, l’m not gon lie, that shit did something to me.
It made me want to protect them both even more.
After breakfast, we got back in the truck.
"You ready?" I asked her.
She took a deep breath. "No. But let's do it anyway."
* * *
Sosa stayed in a nice-ass house in a gated community about fifteen minutes from the club. I'd been here a few times for business, but never this early. I pulled into his driveway and cut the engine.
"You want me to watch JJ while y'all talk?" I asked.