Chapter 34
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
KAIRI SANCHEZ-MOORE
This was my karma—it had to be. My heart was broken to know that I was the reason why Hell lost his life.
As soon as Makari said it, I knew in my soul it was my fault.
That night, Sparkle and I finally made a plan to get Sony back for all that he’d ever done to me.
At that point, I was tired of being afraid.
I just wanted him to disappear, so I took the bottle she gave me, determined to make it end once and for all.
At first, I was just too scared; even when she said that nobody would be able to find out. I even thought against it until that night when Sony showed me that he would never leave me alone.
That night, he showed me that as long as he saw me, he would make my life a living hell, and I’d hit my brick wall. All I wanted was for him to leave me alone, and I felt like that was the only way.
When he asked me for a special drink—which was liquor mixed with cough syrup—his dirty addiction, I slipped the poison inside.
After that, I assumed he just put it down and didn’t bother to drink it. It never ever occurred to me that he’d given the drink to Hell instead. After he was shot and died in the hospital, I thought that was the cause and not me.
My whole world stopped when those words fell out of Makari’s mouth. I knew how much Hell meant to him—how hard it was for him to move on, and it hurt that much more to know I was the reason behind it.
God knew if I could go back in time or even take Hell’s place, I would! But I knew nothing was going to change what I’d done or bring Hell back.
The look of disappointment that marred my husband’s face haunted me the whole night, making it hard for me to sleep. I couldn’t sleep. How could I when my mind was in turmoil?
He couldn’t even look at me, nor could he bring himself to sleep in the same room as me. All night, I wanted to go to him. Wanted to apologize; I wanted to do anything to fix it, but how do you fix something like a person losing their life because of you?
There was no fixing it or going back.
He hated me, but I hated myself more. There were no words I could say to wipe away the huge mistake I’d made.
I clutched my chest and cried. That was all I could do at this point. I wanted to wake up from this nightmare.
I slowly opened my bedroom door and looked at the spare room door where Makari had gone last night. He’d closed and locked the door behind him, completely shutting me out.
The door suddenly opened, and I stood there frozen, just looking at him. The face of betrayal stared back at me. The words formed in my throat but didn’t go past my lips.
Makari gave me one more look before walking away and going downstairs.
The scent of his cologne was the only thing left behind. A few minutes later, I heard the front door open and close, indicating he was gone.
My head fell, and my shoulders dropped. I felt so defeated. Unsure of what to do next, or how we would ever get past this, or if we even could.
I went back to my room, closing the door behind me, and went to take a seat on my bed. His side untouched.
I expected him to yell at me. In fact, I would have preferred if he yelled at me but his silence was louder to me—it hit me harder.
I huffed, and my eyes landed on my phone. Thoughts of calling him crossed my mind, but then I decided to call someone else.
As soon as I stepped into the store, my eyes were darting all around until I finally located her.
“Sparkle,” I called her as I briskly walked her way. She looked over at me from the dress she was considering and smiled.
“Hey, boo, how are you?”
“Not good,” I blurted. When I called her earlier, I’d only said that I urgently needed to speak to her about something, but I never explained what. She was already out shopping at the mall, but I couldn’t even wait for her to finish. This was something she needed to know now.
“What’s wrong?” she questioned. I gripped her arm and pulled her to a quiet corner in the store.
“You’re scaring me, Kairi. What’s going on?” she asked, her eyes dancing over my face. Her body was rigid with anticipation and worry.
I couldn’t hold back my tears.
“Sparkle, I did something bad—really bad!” I whispered, shaking my head, still unable to believe I had done the unthinkable.
“What?” she asked, gripping my shaking hands.
“That night at the club, when I made the drink for Sony. H-he gave it to Hell instead.”
Her jaw dropped, and she gasped loudly.
“What?” she asked, and I repeated what I just said.
“Wait? But how? Are you sure?” Sparkle spluttered. I nodded my head.
“Sincere had ordered an autopsy to be done, and last night Makari told me. Hell died from a heart attack, and inside his mouth was purple and everything, Sparkle. He drank the drink I made for Sony. I killed him!” I panicked.
Sparkle just stood there shaking her head.
“No, that’s not right. I was careful. We were careful,” Sparkle stuttered. Her eyes were wide.
“Makari won’t talk to me. I don’t know what to do!”
“But I thought he died from the gunshot wound,” she said. I shook my head.
“He didn’t. It was the drink, Sparkle.”
“Oh my god, Kairi, no!” she panicked.
“I know, and I don’t know how to fix this!” I shook my friend.
“Fuck. This is bad. Really bad,” Sparkle said, pacing and nibbling on her thumbnail.
“I know, and he won’t even look at me, let alone talk to me. Sparkle, I’m scared,” I revealed.
My friend wrapped her arms around me in a hug I needed more than anything. For the first time in a long time, I felt afraid and lost on what to do next. I thought all that I’d gone through because of Sony and Ocean was bad, but this was worse because I’d hurt the person I loved.
“I wish I didn’t do it,” I confessed. Sparkle pulled me back and looked at me.
“Don’t say that. It was a mistake, Kairi. We didn’t do it on purpose,” she said. I nodded because we didn’t. Hell was never our target, but I still had to deal with the fact that he wouldn’t have died if it wasn’t for me.
“It’s okay. We will figure it out. Havoc is angry now, but just give him some time to calm down. He must know it was an accident, and it was for Sony. How would we know that he’d give it to Hell?”
“I know, Sparkle. But what if he won’t forgive me?”
That was my biggest fear. Losing Makari’s love and trust because of my wrong decision.
True, I didn’t know that Sony would have given his drink to Hell, but at the same time, if it wasn’t for my action, none of this would be happening.
“Don’t think like that. It’s going to work out somehow, I promise. Even if I have to tell Havoc that it was me.”
“You can’t. Plus, he was there that night. He saw me hand the drink to Sony,” I explained.
“But I was the one who gave it to you, so ultimately, it’s my fault.”
We stood there staring at each other. Both of our eyes full of the words we just couldn’t say. We had more than fucked up, and there was no way of taking it back.
“I will think of something, just trust me,” Sparkle said, giving me another hug.
I stood there staring at her as if she had the power to save me from the mess I’d made. At this point, I just wanted to disappear. The anxiety was killing me.
“Let’s go.” She gripped my hand, and we turned to leave, but I walked right into someone.
“River!” I beamed. She narrowed her eyes at us. My body stiffened.
How long had she been standing there for? Did she hear what we’d said? I thought as she just continued to stare at us.
But then a smile slithered across her face, instantly letting me know that she found out my secret too.