Chapter 20
Orion
Iknew something was off the second I pulled back up home.
The house was quiet, too damn quiet. There were no baby sounds, no Cayla humming like she always did when she was cleaning or cooking.
I stood in the foyer for a bit and listened to the silence.
When this nagging gut feeling came, I climbed the stairs, skipping two at a time.
I went straight to our bedroom and saw that the bed was made, and the space was quiet.
Next, I went to Oriana’s bedroom and checked the crib.
And it was empty. Her closet door was slightly open, and when I pulled the door, I saw that it was cleaned out, and a couple of bags that were on the top shelf of the closet were gone.
My chest tightened. I snatched my phone out of my pocket and called Cayla, but there was no answer.
I breathed deep and then called again. My hand tightened around the phone as the ringing played out in my ear. No answer.
“Man, what the fuck…” I muttered while pacing the room.
My heart started hammering in my chest. I shot off texts back-to-back. My fingers were flying across the screen.
Where you at?
You at the crib?
Where my daughter at?
Still no answer. I searched on Instagram and saw that Zynea was in Atlanta for the Nets and Hawks game that was playing tonight.
I knew she didn’t really have the bread for a flight and hotel.
I paced the floor, trying to think of where she could have gone.
That’s when it clicked. I remembered that old apartment of hers that she never let go of.
Over the years, she would complain about how her landlord would tell her that the person she was subleasing to was too noisy.
I wasn’t even sure if she would be there, but I had to try.
I grabbed my keys. Rage was boiling over as I drove like a demon until I pulled up outside.
And there it was, her Jeep parked out front like she wasn’t hiding.
Like she wasn’t running from me. I was out of the car before the engine even cut off.
Luckily, someone was coming out of the building when I was walking up, so that was my way in.
I stormed up the steps with my fists clenched so tightly that my knuckles cracked.
I pounded on the door hard enough to shake it.
“Cayla!” My voice echoed down the hall, “Open this damn door!”
I put my ear to the door and heard nothing, so I hit the door again, harder.
“Don’t play with me! You got my daughter in there, Cayla! OPEN THIS DOOR!”
My chest was heaving, and my blood was running hot.
Every second she stayed quiet, every second she thought she could keep Oriana from me, the anger within me dug deeper.
How dare she? I knew her ass was in there because of that muthafucking Jeep parked downstairs.
Her license plate was customized and unique.
4YOUCAY. Another thing I had put effort into because it was a gift from me to her.
I pressed my forehead against the door, breathing hard and whispering to myself through clenched teeth.
“You're not taking my daughter from me, Cayla. You're not gonna do me like this.”
I stepped back, fists still clenched, fighting the urge to kick the door in.
One way or another, she was gonna see that I wasn’t letting go that easily.
The silence behind that door was eating me alive.
My jaw locked, blood boiling until I couldn’t take it anymore.
I stepped back, braced myself, and kicked the door with everything in me.
The door started to cave in under the pressure of my boot.
But one kick didn’t do it. I braced myself again, and the last kick gave me access.
The lock gave, and the door flew open against the wall.
Cayla was standing in the middle of the living room, clutching Oriana to her chest, eyes wide with fear.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I barked, storming in, the rage pulsing through my veins. “You think you can run off with my daughter? Huh? Hide from me?”
She tightened her hold on Oriana. Tears didn’t fall down her face yet, but I could see them building in her eyes.
“Get out, Orion! You don’t run me! Not anymore!”
That made something snap. I closed the space in two steps, grabbed her arm, and yanked her closer. She stumbled, almost losing her balance with the baby in her arms.
“Don’t you ever play with me like this again!” I shouted, my face inches from hers. “You think you're taking Oriana from me? You're out of your damn mind!”
She tried to twist away, screaming back.
“You don’t care about her! You don’t care about me! You only care about yourself!”
Her words cut, but the anger drowned out the sting. My eyes darted to the table. Her keys were right there, the ones to that Jeep I had bought her. Without thinking, I snatched them up and shoved them in my pocket.
“This is mine. I paid for it. You're not riding around in shit I bought while you're trying to run from me.”
Tears streamed down her face as Oriana wailed in her arms. Cayla backed up, shaking, but her voice was steady.
“You can take that shit, Orion. You can take everything. But you will not take my baby.”
For the first time, I froze. My fists clenched at my sides, chest heaving, torn between rage and disbelief.
But all I could think was… she really thought she could stand up to me.
And that? That wasn’t going to fly. My eyes shifted from her face down to Oriana.
My daughter. Mine. Instantly, I thought about that night at Christos and how she was trying to play house with the next nigga.
I wondered if she thought she was gonna take my daughter and live happily ever after with the next nigga.
She was no Ciara, and I was no Future, so I hoped like hell she wasn’t sitting around thinking a Russell Wilson would come along and give her everything she had wanted.
That Ciara’s prayer bullshit had these women out here losing their fucking mind.
If she thought she was about to have any nigga around my daughter, I would kill that nigga first.
“You really think I’m leaving my baby with you after this?” I growled, reaching out.
Cayla’s grip tightened instantly, her whole body curling around Oriana like a shield. “Don’t you dare, Orion!” she screamed, her voice cracking.
Oriana was screaming her head off, and honestly, I hated that she had been doing this more than ever before.
It was because her stupid ass mother always wanted to bring on these dumb ass arguments.
I lunged anyway, my fingers gliding over Oriana’s blanket, but Cayla twisted away, clutching her to her chest so tightly I thought she might crush her.
Oriana’s cries grew louder. Her screams were filled with panic, and I hated to hear the shit.
“Give her to me!” I roared, grabbing for her again.
Cayla shoved me back with her shoulder as tears streamed down her face.
“You’re not taking her from me! I swear to God, Orion… if you touch her again, I’m calling the police!”
That word right there was the magic word.
I froze. Cayla had never played those police games before.
She had to be bluffing, right? But she meant it.
I could see it in her eyes. That wild, desperate look said she had nothing left to lose.
And I knew what it meant if she made that call.
Once 12 got involved, it was over. My grip on her and on this little family I had built was now gone.
The streets would always have eyes on me.
I couldn’t afford cops sniffing around my business and my home.
I backed up. My mind was racing, and my feet were pacing.
The keys clinked in my pocket. At least that was mine.
That was something. As she stared at me, I couldn’t shake her threat to call the police on me.
“You really going to do me like that?” I muttered while shaking my head. “After everything? You gon’ threaten me with the police?”
Cayla didn’t flinch. She just held Oriana tighter; her body was trembling, but her eyes locked on me.
She opened her mouth like she wanted to say something, and when she did, I took a step further.
In a swift move, she held her hand out, showing me that she had her phone.
She meant business, and now I knew I had to mean it too.
I turned and stormed out, slamming the busted door behind me so hard that the frame rattled.
I stood outside her building in the cold for a bit.
I knew we had fallen off, but to get here, to this point, was mind-blowing to me.
Once the police were brought up, the relationship was over in my eyes.
I thought back to the night I killed Fresh.
She was there; she had washed his blood off my damn body.
A bitch knowing my skeletons like that could never call the cops on me.
She knew absolutely too much. I was walking down the concrete outside of her building.
I didn’t know how she was going to take care of herself with no income, but she would have to figure it out.
I was done with her ass, for real this time.
I called my brother to come and grab my car while I drove her Jeep.
Shenell needed something new anyway, so this shiny ass black fully loaded Jeep was hers.
Cayla
Last night I barely slept. After Orion stormed out, I had a locksmith come through to fix the busted door.
He worked quietly while I rocked Oriana, my hands trembling every time his drill buzzed against the frame.
When he handed me the new keys, I felt a little safer.
Not whole. Not healed. Just safer. I even had his ass toss two additional locks up there just in case.
By morning, I was still running on fumes. Oriana fussed for her bottle, and I was in my robe when a knock echoed through the apartment.