Chapter 8
Chapter
Eight
STORMI
“Stormi, can we go to my mom's house real quick? I left the cheat code.”
I glanced over my shoulder and gave S3 the classic "you serious?" look.
Cheat code? The last thing I wanted to do today was be around Seth’s baby mama slick mouthed self.
Imani always had a way of pretending we were cool while lowkey snatching my edges with shady comments and a fake smile.
And I wasn't in the mood. The police had been questioning Seth for the last two days.
They were slowly approaching the forty-eight hours and they either had to release him or charge him with something.
I was praying they released my husband today.
S3 leaned forward between the front seats like he knew he was already pushing it.
“I need it for the game this weekend,” he said, eyes wide, head tilted, puppy dog mode activated. “It’ll be quick, promise.”
Ugh. Those eyes. He got that look straight from his daddy. And just like with Seth, it worked every damn time. Only difference is, the rest of the world had caught on and stopped falling for it. Me, I’m still soft. Always will be soft for my boys.
I turned to Josh, who was driving, and gave him the nod to reroute.
“Head toward Imani’s house. Let him grab it so I can get dinner started when we get home.”
S3 clapped. “Let’s goooo!”
I sighed and shook my head, resting it against the window as the houses rolled past. The sun was low now, golden and warm across the beach stretched streets.
I’d spent the whole day out with the boys.
Toes in the sand, waves wrapping around our bodies, and a cooler full of juice boxes and sandwiches.
I needed the space outside of our room, the ocean wind bringing me peace and a little calm.
Jo had meetings, Serena was caught up in some church event, and I knew Seth and Rich were handling whatever the hell was going on with the police.
War still hung over us like smoke, and this fire didn’t seem to be coming to a calm anytime soon.
So, I took my sons and made a memory. We laughed today. We were normal for a little while. That’s what mattered.
We punched in the gate code, cruised through the quiet community, and turned past the houses. I already felt my mood dropping, like I’d just pulled up to the energy drain.
My phone lit up with a FaceTime just before we turned onto Imani’s street.
I didn’t even check the name. I already knew who it was.
“Rich” I answered, voice soft as I looked at the screen.
Rich’s face filled my phone, jaw clenched, hoodie up, eyes serious.
He skipped the hello.
“Where you goin’? I don’t see you headed home.” Straight to the point. No chaser.
I raised an eyebrow, already half-smiling. “You see I’m not headed home or you see I’m headed to your favorite person house?” The words rolled off my tongue before I could think. A little slick. A little spicy.
He didn’t flinch. “Both.”
I sighed and leaned my head back against the seat. “S3 wanted to get some cheat codes for this weekend’s game.”
Rich’s face didn’t soften, not even a little. He knew Imani’s house wasn’t a place I ever voluntarily pulled up to. But I was trying to be cool about it. Keep it light.
Then I looked up. And everything in me froze.
“Oh my God…” I whispered, voice cracking. “Is that Imani… hugged up with Dre?”
The second I said it out loud, I regretted it. Because Rich’s voice dropped into that tone I only heard when something in him broke loose.
“What the fuck you say?”
I didn’t even answer him. I turned to Josh calm, but urgent. “Don’t pull in. Drive off.”
I didn’t raise my voice. I didn’t want to scare the boys in the backseat. But Josh knew me. He knew that tone. And he didn’t ask any questions. I turned back to my phone, heart racing.
“Rich… Imani and Dre were just hugged up on her porch. Arms around each other like they been locked in for a minute. And I’m pretty sure they realized who the car belonged to before we could pull off.”
Rich didn’t respond right away. I heard him breathing. Always controlled and calculated, just like Seth.
S3 leaned forward from the backseat. “What happened, Mommy Stormi? Why did we leave? Mommy was right there.”
Before I could answer, Rich’s voice came through the phone, sharp but loving.
“S3. Put on a movie. Disney Plus. Headphones Now.”
“But Rich—”
“S3. Do what I said. Right now.”
There was no room for negotiation in his tone. It wasn’t fear. It was protection. S3 did exactly what he was told. Slipped on his headphones, pulled up the movie app, and pressed play without another word.
I turned around and checked Shiloh was still out cold, mouth slightly open, little fists curled up under his blanket. He had no idea the storm we were driving away from. And just like that my fear turned into focus.
Rich’s voice came back through the phone, low and locked in. “Sis, the boys strapped in good?”
I nodded. “Yeah. Both of ‘em.”
“Josh, anyone followin’?”
Josh hit a hard right, tires gripping the curve. I grabbed the side of the seat to keep steady.
“We got a follow,” Josh said, checking the mirror. “Black Audi. Been on us since we left Imani’s block.”
Rich’s voice didn’t shake. “Aight. Stormi, listen to me. I’m meetin’ y’all on 31st. Josh, take MLK. Once y’all cross LaFayette, I’ll intercept and take care of the tail. Just stay with the route.”
He was already moving. I could hear the keys, the door slam, his boots hitting pavement. Rich wasn’t just my husband’s best friend. He was a soldier. A protector. And when it came to us, he moved like war.
Then his tone changed. “Sis, look at me.”
I did. Even though his voice was calm, his eyes showed the evil that ran through his mind.
“You, okay? Y’all gonna be okay. You hear me? Nobody will ever get the chance to try y’all again. I promise you that. I’ma handle this.”
I should’ve been scared. But I wasn’t, because at that moment, I remembered exactly who I married and the people he kept around us. I married a man who finished things. And Imani standing on that porch hugged up with the same man who tried to take everything from us had just chosen a side.
I glanced out the sideview mirror and spotted the black Audi Q5 trailing us.
The same car that had been parked outside Imani’s house.
You couldn’t see who was in either vehicle.
My truck had the darkest tints you could see out, but no one could see in.
The Audi’s tints were dark too, but not enough to hide everything.
You could make out one person. The driver. A man. I knew it was Dre.
I wondered how I’d feel seeing him again.
Would I be afraid, scared, or nervous, but I felt nothing.
No fear, no panic. It felt like I was just driving home to my house, to my family.
I was making it home to cook dinner, get my boys ready for bed, watch TV with Jo, and end the night lying on my husband’s chest once they finally released them.
Dre wasn’t allowed to take anything else from me. Not anymore. I’d promised my son I wouldn’t miss another moment of his life. And I meant it. Dre wasn’t winning this war, even if I had to fill his body with lead myself.
As soon as the Audi caught a glimpse of the ambush, it backed off hard slamming into reverse and disappearing down the road.
That’s when we saw Rich’s Charger and Southside on his motorcycle.
They pulled in behind us, forming a wall between us and Dre’s retreating car, and they followed me and the boys the rest of the way home.
The moment we pulled into the driveway, everything moved fast.
Rich was already at my door, yanking it open. “Come on,” he said, voice low but urgent, guiding me and the boys inside like we were under siege.
Josh took S3 straight to his room, promising to find that picture of the cheat code he’d been asking about. Shiloh was all smiles, clueless to what was happening around him... Serena swept in behind us, scooping him up with practiced ease.
“I got him,” she said. “I’ll get him cleaned up and ready for his next feeding.” She disappeared down the hall, her voice soft, humming something familiar.
I barely had time to exhale before Rich was in front of me again, eyes sharp, voice serious. “Stormi… you sure that was Dre at Imani’s house?”
I met his eyes and didn’t blink. “I’m fucking positive. It was them hugged up on her porch like shit was sweet.”
“That’s some wild ass shit,” Southside muttered, his jaw tightening as he paced the floor.
I crossed my arms, still standing in the middle of the living room. “So… what? His baby mama was in on my shooting this whole damn time?” I asked, turning to Rich now, voice colder than I expected.
“I don’t know,” he said, and I could tell he meant it. But the way his voice dipped? This wasn’t a shocker to him.
“I wouldn’t put it past the bitch,” Southside chimed in, shaking his head.
I felt my throat tighten, a quiet rage settling in. “How am I supposed to move on from that? Even if she didn’t help pull the trigger, everybody knew who shot me. And she just randomly hugged up with him like it’s nothing?” I laughed, bitterly. “Nah.”
“I’ll handle Imani,” Rich said calmly, too calm.
“How?” I snapped. “She’s S3’s mother. That means the enemy has full access to our home now. Our safe space. Where my son lays his damn head. Hell, where her son lays his head.”
“Slimy ass bitch,” Southside muttered again, stepping out the way just as Jo and Noah walked in, talking low between themselves.
She had been trying to get us to talk for weeks but I didn’t need an apology. I just needed him to get his life together and stop blaming everybody else for the problems he created for himself.
Jo clocked the tension immediately. Her brows knit together. “What’s going on?” she asked, eyes darting between me and Rich like she already knew something was off.
“We saw Dre today,” I said finally, my voice flat.
“Where?” she asked sharply.