Chapter 28
Greystone City
Five days later…
Me and ‘Nelle was still at the Airbnb and to be honest, the shit was smooth as hell, especially considerin’ how everything started.
Them first couple days, I ain’t even look at it like time passin’. I just handled what needed to be handled and stayed locked in on ‘Nelle on some bodyguard, witness protection shit.
Every mornin’ started the same way, with me up before her, movin’ through the house, lookin’ over everything outta habit, then grabbin’ my phone to figure out what we was eatin’ for the day.
I wasn’t no cookin’ ass nigga, so I wasn’t about to be in nobody kitchen experimentin’. I kept it simple and ordered what made sense.
“You ain’t tired of orderin’ food?” she asked one mornin’, sittin’ up in the bed with that look on her face like she already knew the answer.
“Nah,” I said, scrollin’ through my phone. “You ain’t tired of eatin’ it?”
She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Long as it ain’t you cookin’, I’m good.”
I laughed under my breath and shook my head at her, already knowin’ that was gon’ be the answer every time I asked.
That’s how it stayed between us though; just talkin’ shit back and forth, keepin’ it light without tryin’ too hard and findin’ small moments to laugh even with everything that had happened.
‘Nelle still had that same gorgeous energy about her. She was still jokin’, runnin’ her damn mouth and still bein’ herself even with that shoulder botherin’ her more than she let on.
I could see it though, even when she tried to play it off, and that’s why I stayed on top of what I needed to do when it came to her.
Every day, I made sure her wound got cleaned right and wrapped up the way it was supposed to be.
“Sit still, girl, damn,” told her one time when she shifted.
“I am sittin’ still,” she replied, lookin’ at me like I was annoyin’ her.
“You just moved,” I replied, keepin’ my hand on her shoulder. “Relax for a second.”
She rolled her eyes but leaned back anyway, lettin’ me finish, and I ain’t miss the fact that she trusted me enough to let me handle her like this without questionin’ it.
That mattered more than she probably realized.
We stayed in separate rooms the whole time, and I kept it like that on purpose, but I was never fully checked out on her, not even when I was in my own space.
A couple nights, I caught myself wakin’ up and walkin’ down the hallway, just to make sure everything was quiet on her end before I went back to lay down.
I ain’t knock or make it obvious. I just needed to know she was good.
Pressure and Kay’Lo stayed callin’ me. Every time my phone rang, I already knew what they was on.
“Y’all niggas be doin’ too much,” I told them one afternoon, sittin’ on the couch with ‘Nelle while she had a movie playin’ in the background. “She straight. I got it.”
“Make sure you keep it like that,” Kay’Lo said.
Toni and Pluto stayed on her phone the same way. Her phone would go off, she’d answer, talk her shit for a minute, then toss it somewhere like she was done dealin’ with it for the day. She ain’t shut them out, but she wasn’t sittin’ here entertainin’ it all day either.
Outside of that, it was just us in the house.
We watched whatever she pulled up on Netflix. We went back and forth about what was trash and what was actually good.
I realized I ain’t have to overthink nothin’ with Sha’Nelle, and she ain’t make me feel like I needed to explain every move I made.
That alone made a difference, and if I’m bein’ real, that’s part of why I stayed.
It wasn’t just about her gettin’ shot, even though that was enough on its own.
It was the fact that I knew what kind of time this city was on, and I knew what Toni had already told me about her people.
I ain’t trust that shit enough to leave her by herself while niggas who crossed that line was still somewhere out there movin’ around. So I stayed.
By the fifth night, everything felt calm on the surface, but I knew better than to think that meant Sha’Nelle was really good, ’cause I knew she her moments.
I was in my room with the TV low, not really payin’ attention to it, but just listenin’ to the house when I heard ‘Nelle’s voice.
It wasn’t loud, but I could still hear sounds comin’ from down the hall that made me pause and listen a lil’ closer. Then it turned into cryin’, and that’s what made me get up.
I walked down the hallway and pushed ‘Nelle’s door was open. The lamp was on with the light hittin’ the side of her face while she sat up in m bed with tears fallin’ like she couldn’t stop ’em.
She had been holdin’ it together this whole time, keepin’ it light, jokin’ and actin’ like she was good, even though I knew better. This was the part she ain’t wanna show but I seen it anyway.
I ain’t say nothin’ at first. I looked at her for a second, then turned and walked back to my room, and grabbed my gun.
I already knew wasn’t nobody in the house, but that wasn’t the point. The point was what Sha’Nelle needed to feel when I walked back in the room.
When I walked back in, I set my gun on the dresser right beside the bed. It was close enough where I could reach it without even thinkin’.
I looked at ‘Nelle again before I moved any closer. She was still sittin’ up with her shoulders tense, and tears still fallin’ down her face while she tried to pull herself together.
I climbed in behind her, and moved careful so I ain’t brush against her shoulder wrong, then I reached around her and pulled her back into me, lettin’ her settle where she needed to instead of me tryna force it.
Her body eased into mine like she had been holdin’ all that in just waitin’ for somewhere to put it, and the way her hand came up and grabbed my shirt told me she wasn’t fightin’ it… she was leanin’ into it.
I kept my arm around her, holdin’ her close while she cried it out, not sayin’ too much ’cause I already knew words wasn’t what she needed from a nigga right now.
“You gon’ be straight, ‘Nelle,” I said low after a minute, my voice close to her ear. “Ain’t nobody gon’ do shit else to you while I’m out here.”
She tightened her grip on my shirt a lil’ more when I said it, and I felt that shift in her. I felt how she started to come down from that panic and ease into somethin’ calmer. Her breathin’ slowed, her body relaxed against mine, and she stopped fightin’ whatever was runnin’ through her head.
I stayed right here with her. I ain’t move or loosen my hold on her. I just kept her tucked into me until she wore herself out and drifted off like that.
With her laid up against me, my arm around her and my gun sittin’ on the dresser, I already knew one thing for sure.
Sha’Nelle wasn’t layin’ here scared no more.
When I woke up, Sha’Nelle was still in my arms snorin’ like she lost her damn mind, and I ain’t even gon’ lie, my arm felt dead as hell under her, but I let her have it anyway.
I stayed here for a minute, lookin’ down at her while she slept, payin’ attention to how calm she looked compared to how she had been the last night.
She had cried herself out in my chest until she knocked out, and at some point, her whole body just settled into me like she finally felt safe enough to let go.
My arm was numb, my shoulder tight and my fingers barely feelin’ anything, but I ain’t move right away ’cause I already knew what this sleep meant for her.
After a while, I carefully slid my arm from under her, takin’ my time so I wouldn’t wake her up, and when she shifted, I paused just long enough to make sure she ain’t fully come up out her sleep.
When she didn’t, I sat up on the edge of the bed and rolled my shoulder, tryna get the feelin’ back while I glanced around the room.
She woke up not too long after, movin’ slow and careful even though she tried to make it seem like she wasn’t. I caught that quick wince she tried to hide when she sat up, but I ain’t press it. I just looked at her for a second before speakin’.
“You straight?” I asked.
“I’m good,” she said, already slidin’ her legs off the bed.
She made her way to the bathroom, and I leaned back against the headboard, pickin’ up my phone for a second before I heard hers goin’ off from the dresser.
That shit ain’t stop either. It kept buzzin’ back to back, like whoever was callin’ wasn’t about to let it go. I glanced over at it, watchin’ the screen light up again and again while the sound echoed off the walls, and by the time the water cut off in the bathroom, I was already tuned in.
A few seconds later, ‘Nelle came back out, dryin’ her hands on the side of her robe while her phone was still goin’ off on the dresser. She looked at it for a second before pickin’ it up.
“Hello?” she answered m, her voice still a lil’ rough.
I watched her face while she listened, and it ain’t take long before I saw somethin’ change in her expression. Her brows pulled together, her mouth parted and whatever she was hearin’, it had her attention locked in.
“What?” she asked, her tone changin’ quick.
She looked over at me, and without sayin’ it, I already knew she wanted me to hear it too. She tapped the screen and put the call on speaker, settin’ the phone down on the bed.
“Say that again,” she said.
Her friend started talkin’, her voice fast, like she had been sittin’ on some information too long.
“I ain’t even wanna call you with this,” she said, “but I heard somethin’ last night, and I can’t just sit on it.”
Sha’Nelle’s fingers tightened around the edge of the bed.
“What you heard?” she asked, and I could hear that tension creepin’ into her voice.
“I heard Kwest talkin’,” the girl said. “He was talkin’ to my baby daddy, and at first I wasn’t payin’ attention, but then he started sayin’ yo’ name.”
Sha’Nelle froze.
“Kwest?” she asked, her voice lower now. “Yunique baby daddy?”
“Yeah,” the girl answered. “He was talkin’ like he knew what happened in yo’ apartment... Like he was part of that shit.”
Sha’Nelle’s hand came up to her mouth, coverin’ it while she shook her head slow.