Ava Gray
Isat in a cell for four hours, but it literally felt like four months.
The entire time, my mind was stuck on my baby girl.
During the ride to the station, I was in a daze.
Once I realized my fingerprints were being taken, that's when reality set in. I broke down again, feeling like a piece of shit mother to have put my baby in that situation, all because I allowed her dumb ass daddy to control my emotions.I allowed myself to react in a way that I shouldn’t have.
Every ounce of negative emotion I held for that man needed to be released. I blacked out. I should’ve never gone over there, especially while having Savannah with me. But what he did was so low and degrading—I got pissed just thinking about it again.
“Gray!” I heard a guard yell.
My eyes popped open, then I quickly stood to my feet.
“You’re free to go.” He unlocked the cage they held me in.
“What about my sister?”
“She’s already up front.” He replied.
I stepped out, closely following the officer.
When we reached the front, Aja was standing at the front desk with a smile on her face.
This was my first encounter with the law.
However, none of this was new for Aja. I saw the look in her eyes and I could tell that she was happy to see me getting my hands dirty.
She literally got a thrill out of this. When I reached her, she pulled me in for a tight hug and kissed my cheek.
“You okay?” she smiled.
“I’m good. Why are you smiling?” I squinted my eyes.
“You know why.” She laughed lightly.
The lady behind the glass had me sign a few papers for discharge before pushing a bag through the bottom containing my belongings. The officer escorted us to the exit. Aja tried to give him a high five but he ignored her, leaving her hanging.
“We out this bitch!” Aja yelled, as she skipped toward the parking lot.
At a distance, I immediately spotted Ace standing in front of his car with his phone in his face. From the mean mug he gave us, I knew he was OD hot. He didn’t say anything to us until we got into his car.
“Yall gotta be the dumbest muthafuckas I know. What the fuck is wrong with yall? Yall know damn well I don’t fuck with the cops, but yall got me sitting out here bailing yo’ dumb asses out.” He cursed us out as soon as he pulled out of the parking lot.
“Man, we were out here putting in work!” Aja bounced in the backseat. “Bruh, you should’ve seen us. Shit, you should’ve seen Mayweather Jr right here.” She patted my shoulder. “Rob hoe ass didn’t stand a chance.”
“Nigga, you a little too excited for me. It ain’t like yall put a bullet in his ass.”
“Where’s Savannah?” I ignored him.
“Somewhere safe, nigga.”
Again, I thought about how I let my baby down, and a tear slipped. Quickly, I wiped it away and took a deep breath to get control of my emotions.
“I don’t know what the fuck you sitting over there crying for. Ain’t nobody tell yo’ dumb ass to go Diary of a Mad Black Woman on that muthafucka. You lucky Kim called me. She’s the one who got a hold of Savannah.”
In my head, I thanked God for the woman who lived across the street. We weren’t close, but she’d always come through if I needed her and vice versa.
“You know you could’ve fucked around and had her taken away by social services.”
“I know.” My voice was low as I stared out the window.
“You know? Well, why the fuck y’all go over there acting a fool? The same way you called me to bail your ass out is the same way you could’ve called me to handle his bitch ass.”
“Shoulda, coulda, woulda, nigga. We didn’t need you to handle shit. The only reason Vannah was with us in the first place was because mommy wasn’t around to get her.” Aja chimed in.
“So, that means take her with y’all anyway? Get the fuck outta here. Y’all could’ve handled this shit another day. Out here jeopardizing my niece’s safety.” He waved us off.
“Did you tell momma and daddy?” I glanced over at him.
“Momma got enough shit going on to worry herself about besides your bullshit. Ain’t no need to involve them. It ain’t gon’ do nothing but make her worry about you even more.”
We sat in silence for a moment, then it dawned on me.
“How was Kim able to call you to come get Savannah?” I eyed him.
A smirk appeared on his face as he kept his eyes on the road.
“You messed around with my neighbor?” I asked in disgust.
“Girl, that’s not a surprise.” Aja gagged.
“Aye, her old ass started chasin’ after me first. I let her suck me up a few times, but I only stuck her once.”
“You’re disgusting!” Me and Aja said in unison.
“Aye, don’t go talkin’ shit to me. I’m not the one out here making Pornhub videos.”
“Who’s making Pornhub videos?” Aja questioned.
“First of all, the nigga sent photos not videos.” I corrected him.
“Shit, that’s not what I’m talking about.” He shook his head with a disgusted look.
“What? Well, what are you talking about then?” I turned my whole body to look at him.
“You and that nigga EJ, that’s what I’m talking about. If you gon’ be fuckin around with my boy, y’all need to keep all that freak nasty shit to yourselves.” He shook his head again.
“He told you he recorded us?”
“Told me? Nigga, he played that shit for Rob's bitch ass when we had him tied up—”
“What!” I shouted.
“Wait a damn minute. When the hell did all of this happen?” Aja had damn near jumped in the front seat with us.
I sat in shock, speechless.
“Damn near a week ago.”
I felt the steam coming from my ears. I allowed Ethan to record us because I trusted him, and we were having fun.
Never did I think he’d show the damn video to anyone, let alone Rob’s crazy ass.
Most likely, that’s what set him off to send those pictures to my damn job.
Instantly, I grew irritated. All I wanted to do was get my baby, and go back to the house to unwind.
I’d have to deal with Ethan and that situation tomorrow.
Ace had dropped Aja off first before taking me home.
I was so drained, I dozed off and didn’t open my eyes until I heard Ace’s voice.
“Special delivery, nigga.”
It wasn’t until then that I realized we had pulled up to Ethan’s house.
“Why did you bring me here?” I looked at my brother with an attitude.
All he did was laugh and roll down the window. I was about to curse his ass out until my door opened, and Ethan stood quietly, waiting for me to get out.
“I got something for your ass. You just wait.” I cut my eyes at him.
With a whole attitude, I stepped out of the car and looked up at Ethan. He wasn’t smiling, and his body language wasn’t welcoming. His eyes bore into mine, our attitudes matching.
“’Preciate it, bruh,” he finally spoke, leaning in to hand Ace an envelope.
“I’ll holla at y’all.” Ace laughed and chucked up the deuces.
Without a word, Ethan led the way back into his home. His silence felt a bit eerie. Once we stepped inside, he closed and locked the door behind us.
“Go to my bathroom. I got the tub ready for you.”
“Aren’t you going to ask me about what happened?” I wanted to know.
He turned around to face me.
“We’ll talk about it, but I just gave you instructions to follow.” He nodded toward his room.
The way he spoke to me was… different. He was calm, way too calm.
But his eyes told a different story. They weren’t that sparkling blue that I was so used to gazing into.
They weren’t that hard gray either, which happened when he suppressed his anger.
It was somewhere in between, and that made me nervous.
I definitely needed a hot shower. When I stepped into the bathroom, the tub was filled with hot water, rose petals, herbs, and light bubbles.
The lights were slightly dim, and it gave a sexy vibe.
Maybe he wasn’t as mad as I thought. Stripping from my clothes, I slowly eased myself into the tub, then relaxed.
I allowed my mind to wander, but not too far.
I needed to get my shit together; I needed a clean slate.
For a good twenty minutes, I relaxed in the water, then I decided to get out and hop in the shower to actually wash my body and hair.
Ethan had everything laid out for me on the counter, so I was in and out.
I felt refreshed, and I was ready to get this conversation out of the way.
When I opened the bathroom door to go into the bedroom, Ethan was sitting on the edge of his bed, smoking a blunt. He didn’t say anything; he just watched me closely. Standing to his feet, he walked over to his dresser, then back toward me.
“Put your hair in a ponytail.” He handed me a black hair tie.
My hair was still slightly wet and dripping from the ends, but I did as told.
Without another word, he nodded his head instructing me to follow him.
We walked through the house toward the breezeway.
He had never brought me back to the guest house before.
Well, I only assumed that’s what it was because that’s what it looked like.
I watched him use a key to unlock the door but he didn’t open it.
Instead, he turned to face me and waited several seconds before speaking.
“Before we go inside, I want to get a few things understood. You do understand that I would never hurt you, right?”
“Yes,” I nodded.
“You understand that I care about you and respect you, right?”
“Yes,” I nodded again.
That was it, he didn’t say anything else as he opened the door, and motioned for me to go inside.
I did not expect to walk into a sex dungeon.
It took a second for my eyes to adjust as I took in everything surrounding me.
There were all types of shit hanging from the ceiling and the walls.
A huge bed and other erotic pieces of furniture.
The feel of his hand gripping my chin made me return my focus to him.
His expression was still blank but intimidating.