Chapter 10
BANG. BANG. BANG.
I jerked out of my sleep, heart jumping out of my chest. The hotel room was dark except for the weak glow from the TV I never turned off. Sheets twisted around me. “King?” I called out, voice hoarse.
Silence.
“King!”
Nothing.
The air was still cold like he’d just been there, but his presence was gone. No heat, no weight beside me. Just emptiness and somebody was damn near beating the door off the hinges.
BANG. BANG. BANG.
“Skylah, open the fuckin’ door!” Rome hollered from the other side, and my whole body stiffened. “Sky, stop fuckin’ playin’ with me!” he shouted, fist pounding again.
My heart raced so bad it hurt. I quickly threw on my tank top, hoodie, and leggings, then crept to the door.
My hands shook so bad I could barely twist the lock.
I cracked it open, just enough to see his face.
His eyes were bloodshot, hoodie half-zipped, chest rising fast. He smelled like weed and liquor, and I knew he was on one.
“What the fuck are you doin’ here?” I asked, voice low and sharp.
He pushed the door open all the way and walked in like he owned the place. “You think you can just dip on me after that bullshit last night? I checked every hotel in the fuckin’ city. Got me out here lookin’ crazy.”
I stepped back, clutching my arms. “You need to leave, Jerome.”
He ignored that, pacing. “Your friends hittin’ my line accusin’ me of hittin’ you. My niggas sayin’ you losin’ your fuckin’ mind. And you really tried to say I lined King up? What kinda shit is that, Sky?! You lost your fuckin’ mind?”
I stared at him, heartbeat pounding in my ears. “It’s true though, right?”
He stopped mid-pace. “What?”
I took a step forward. “You did have somethin’ to do with King’s death.”
His jaw flexed. “I told you to watch your mouth with that shit.”
“Stop tellin’ me that!” I snapped. “Admit the shit!”
Rome laughed once, no humor at all. “You really think I needed to set that nigga up? King had enemies everywhere. He was reckless. He got himself killed.”
“Fuckin’ liar,” I whispered.
He pointed at me, voice rising. “You don’t know what you talkin’ ‘bout! He ain’t tell you how many people he crossed? You was just his lil’ soft spot. His fuckin’ weakness!”
My chest burned. “And you wanted that weakness, didn’t you?”
He stepped closer, eyes dark, teeth clenched. “I wanted everything that was his. That’s what you don’t fuckin’ get.”
The words hit me like a slap. My stomach twisted. “You really sayin’ this to my face right now?” I asked, trembling. “Wow. I can’t believe I been layin’ with a snake ass…”
He sneered. “You ain’t goin’ nowhere, Skylah. You mine now. Been mine.” Before I could say a word back, the lights flickered. Rome froze. “…The fuck?” he muttered, looking around.
The air went thick again, and the curtains moved though the windows were closed. The mirror by the bed cracked down the center. Then that voice came low, steady, and unmistakable.
“She was never yours, nigga.”
Rome spun around, eyes wide. “What the fuck?!” King stood by the dresser, eyes narrowed into slits. Rome stumbled back. “Nah. Nah, this some bullshit.”
King smirked. “Don’t stop talkin’ now. You wanted her, right? Wanted my spot, my money, my life. Go ‘head, bro. Tell her what the fuck you did.”
Rome’s chest rose fast. “This shit ain’t real.”
My voice cracked. “Kamari…”
King didn’t look at me, just kept his eyes locked on Rome. “Tell her how you dropped the location. Told them niggas where I’d be. Tell her how you stood outside my mother’s house the next mornin’ actin’ like you ain’t know shit. You know, me dyin’ broke her heart so bad now she gone too.”
Rome’s face twisted. “Bro, I didn’t…”
King cut him off, voice hard. “Don’t lie on the dead, pussy ass nigga.”
Rome backed up, hitting the wall. “Man, this some fuckin’....” The lights cut off completely, and the room went pitch black. He started shouting. “SKY, TURN THE FUCKIN’ LIGHTS ON!”
The lamp flickered once, then burst, glass hitting the carpet. The TV flashed static, and King’s voice came through it low, deep, and echoing like thunder.
“You think death makes me blind? I saw you. I watched you crawl up in my spot… hold my wife while she cried in the same bed I used to beat that pussy out the frame. You dirty as fuck for that.”
Rome was sweating, breathing hard, shaking his head. “You can’t prove shit!”
King appeared right in front of him, chest to chest, face cold. “Don’t need to. You already confessed.”
Rome’s knees buckled. He slid down the wall, gasping. “I didn’t mean for it to happen like that, bro.”
King leaned closer. “You did. You just ain’t think a nigga would be here to make you choke on it.”
“King!” I yelled, grabbing my chest. “Stop! Please!”
King looked over at me. “Nah, baby. He gotta feel it.” Rome screamed as his body jerked when he grabbed his throat. He clawed at the air, eyes bulging. “Say it,” King growled. “Say what you did!”
Rome gasped out the words between wheezes. “I… I gave them the drop… you had… every fuckin’ thing. Thought you… was… untouchable. I had to… do it…” King’s face didn’t change. He let go, and Rome collapsed to the floor, coughing with tears streaming down his face.
I covered my mouth, crying. “Oh my God…”
King stood there, looking down at him. “Now you know it for real.”
Rome looked up at me, eyes wild. “Shorty, he ain’t real… don’t… don’t believe this shit. I love you.”
“Shut up,” I whispered. “Just shut the fuck up.”
Something in me snapped quiet. All the pain, all the years of lies…
it was like it burned away until there was nothing left.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something on the nightstand.
The metal gleam caught the light—old, familiar.
King’s piece. The one that never left his side when he was alive.
My breath caught, and Rome’s face fell when he noticed it too. “Sky…”
King stepped between us, solid, calm, his voice dropping low. “You got choices. But whatever you do next, it’s yours to live with. Just know, you ain’t crazy and you damn sure ain’t weak.”
I quickly picked up the gun as Rome charged at me, and I let that bitch ring.
He flew backwards onto the bed, blood leaking from his neck as he screamed.
I stood there shaking, chest heaving, eyes burning as the gun fell from my hands.
King came toward me. His hands were cool and steady as he touched my face like he used to.
“It’s done,” he said softly. “It’s over, baby.”
I collapsed against him, sobbing. He just held me tightly. “I’m so fuckin’ tired,” I cried, snots everywhere. “Tired of pretendin’ I’m okay. Tired of everybody acting like I’m supposed to be over you already.”
“You ain’t gotta be over me. I ain’t askin’ you to forget me.”
“Then what are you askin’?” My voice cracked as I looked up at him. “’Cause I don’t know how to breathe without feelin’ you, Kamari.”
“I’m askin’ you to try, baby.” His voice was low, gentle, but still firm like always. “You deserve to smile for real again. To wake up next to somebody who gon’ love you out loud and fuck with you heavy and not halfway. Not on some guilt shit. Real love.”
I shook my head, chest breaking open. “That was you, King. You was that love. I ain’t got it in me to feel like that for nobody else.”
He cupped my face. “I’ll always love you. But I don’t wanna hold you hostage no more.” His eyes glistened. “You think this shits easy for me? Watchin’ you cry over me all the time? That shit cut deep. I want better for you. I want peace for you.”
“But what if I don’t want nobody else?” I choked out. “What if I can’t?”
“You can,” he said softly. “You might not ever love the same, but you can love again. And baby… I want that for you. That’s what real love is. Wantin’ somebody to be happy, even if it ain’t with you.”
My whole body trembled as I glanced over at Rome’s still body, and King placed a finger under my chin to turn me back. “I’m scared I’ll lose you for good if I move on.”
“You’ll never lose me,” he promised, standing back up, voice strong again. “I’m in your heart. On your body. In every beat. In every breath. But you gotta live, baby. For me. For you. You still got time to have it all.”
I looked at him, eyes swollen. “You really want me to try?”
He nodded, the faintest smile curling at his lips. “I want you to live. Try. Laugh again. Love again. I’m dead ass. Fuck with a real nigga who earns your heart and don’t just wanna hold it ‘cause I used to.”
We stared at each other for what felt like forever. “I love you, Kamari Harris,” I whispered.
He stepped back, fading into the shadows. “I love you more, Skylah Harris. Always. But now… It’s time to let go, Sky Pie.”
The lights steadied, and suddenly, people were banging on the door.
“Ma’am! What’s going on in there?”
Voices stacked on top of each other—hotel staff, guests, somebody shouting for help down the hall. My body wouldn’t move.
King’s voice came first. “Breathe,” he said lowly. “In through your nose, out your mouth. You hear me?”
More pounding came at the door. “Ma’am, we’re calling the police!”
“King,” I whispered, voice cracking. “What the fuck do I do?”
His voice dropped even lower, that mix of command and comfort only he had. “Listen to me. You gon’ be straight. When they come in here, you tell ‘em he came at you. You was scared. You defended yourself. Don’t fold, don’t stutter. You keep your head up.”
Tears kept sliding down my face. “He’s hurt, King. He’s probably…”
“I know,” he said. “But so are you. You been hurt. He did this to himself. Just breathe, baby. You gon make it outta this shit.”
The door burst open. Two hotel attendants froze in the doorway, one covering her mouth.
Someone yelled for an ambulance. The hallway filled with noise—radios, footsteps, voices, panic.
I just stood there, arms wrapped around myself, shaking.
Everything moved fast—hands pulling me aside, people crowding around Rome, someone shouting instructions. I couldn’t hear a word of it.
King’s voice cut through all of it. “Don’t look at him. Look at me.”
So I did. Even when they brought in a stretcher, even when blue lights flashed outside the window, I just kept my eyes on him. He moved closer, wrapping an arm around my shoulders, solid like he used to be.
“Remember what I said,” he murmured near my ear. “Self-defense. You was protectin’ yourself. That’s the truth, you hear me?”
I nodded, tears still running. “I hear you.”
They were asking if I was hurt. King’s hand stayed on the back of my neck, thumb rubbing slow circles like he used to when I couldn’t stop crying.
The rain started outside, hard and cold, beating against the glass.
One of the cops walked over to the window, talking on his radio.
I barely saw him. All I could feel was the storm moving in.
King looked out at it, then back at me. “That rain? That’s a cleanse. Let it fall. Let it wash it all off you.”
When they finally led me outside, wrapped in a blanket, the sirens and flashing lights turned the parking lot into chaos. People were pointing, whispering, phones out. I didn’t say a word. I just looked up, face wet with rain and tears, and felt King beside me.
He leaned in, voice smooth and certain. “You did what you had to do. Hold your head high. They gon’ spin the story, but you gon’ tell the truth. That’s all that matters.”
I looked at him through the blur of rain, and for the first time since everything went wrong, I felt still. He pressed his forehead to mine.
“You gon’ be okay, baby,” he whispered. “I promise you that. I love you.”
And as they guided me toward the police car, I felt King let go of my hand, and I knew it was for good this time.