Chapter 8 #2
The sinking feeling that filled me inside was unshakeable.
I already called her phone multiple times.
I knew she was pissed, and she didn’t always call me back, but she typically came home in the end.
My concern grew into dread, then worry, and that was slowly sending me into silent panic.
I prayed, hoping that she walked through that door full of attitude at any moment.
Lock
The bar that Harmonie and I typically met up at was cracking when I arrived.
Chris, the bartender I was familiar with, was on duty.
Bobbing his head, he signaled to the door behind him and moved along mixing drinks and taking orders.
I knew what that meant. She was here. We met here all the time, and most of the time, she grabbed a bottle and went right to the room to wait for me so that we weren’t out in the open for someone to see us.
Cutting through the crowd and thick smoke filling the small space, the scent of perfume, men’s cologne, and alcohol wafted generously through the air.
I ducked behind the bar and emerged into the hidden hallway from the small door.
A red light illuminated the narrow space as I stepped through it toward the last door at the end.
Reaching for the knob, I was about to turn when I heard the distinct, very clarifying sound of a gun chamber being cocked back.
My back stiffened, and a cold chill swept up my spine, paralyzing me with my hand on the door.
I brought my arms up, surrendering to my captor as the steps inched closer to me.
The cold barrel of the gun poked my neck, and goose bumps popped up all over my flesh, raising the hairs on every part of me.
“Step inside,” the voice instructed.
The bass from the music thumping outside these walls was still loud enough to sort of distort it, but something told me that I was dealing with a female.
I turned the knob and pushed the door open.
An amber glow filled the space from the small lamp beside the full-sized bed in the seedy ass room.
It was simple, no character, unless you counted the walls and the many escapades that they witnessed over time.
What caught my attention was Harmonie, propped up in the bed, mouth and eyes wide open.
There was a halo from the bullet that had pierced her temple remaining on her skin.
She stared back at me, completely unresponsive.
“The fuck—” Spinning around, I came face-to-face with Alba.
With a steady hand, she fixed her gun on my chest with her mouth tightened in anger.
“Alba, what the fuck did you do?”
“I didn’t do shit. Dumb bitch did it to herself.” She rocked back and forth on her feet.
I could tell she wasn’t so sure about what she wanted to do with me in this moment. She probably played out an entire scenario of what would become of me once she set her eyes on me, but now the game had changed.
“I started tailing her, found her here a couple of times, waiting at the bar. But you never showed. She brought a couple of other niggas back here in the last week or so. I guess you weren’t that special after all.
” Alba tilted her head and chortled wickedly.
“Stupid ass nigga! I loved you, Lock. More than Harbor, and more than this bitch right here!” she emphasized with the weapon.
“You chose both of these bitches over me, time and time again. I gave you a fucking baby!” she shrieked.
“A baby! And still, I don’t get shit. So what the fuck is the point?
” she asked, helplessness dripping from her tone as her eyes went wild and she shrugged.
“Our daughter is the point, Alba. I fucked up. I never wanted to hurt you. I promise. You my ace, my best fucking friend—”
“And none of that meant shit to you when you were creeping around this fucking dive with this bitch!” she yelled.
“What are you going to do now? Hmm? She’s dead, Harbor could care less about you…
so am I finally the chosen one, huh? Or you going to find some other random bitch to fall into bed with and keep me sitting on the sidelines like some discarded fucking toy! ”
“I love you,” I vowed, but her eyes lit up like two torches.
Her finger pressed the trigger.
Pop! The bullet struck my flesh, blowing straight through my shoulder and knocking me back a few feet. I didn’t lose my balance, but she winded a nigga. Bringing my hand to my shoulder, I immediately pressed a hand against it to keep the blood from seeping out.
“Agh!” Wincing, a nigga was still in shock that she shot me.
After taking in my wound, slowly my gaze met hers.
The gun was still aimed directly at me, and her eyes were as empty as this relationship had become.
We were at a crossroads; that much was obvious.
I could still remember vividly the snaggle-toothed little girl that she used to be, always challenging me, always pushing me when she got the chance.
For so long, she’d been in my life; a nigga expected her to always be there.
“I never thought we would come to this.” My softened voice made her quake.
“But I’m not going to take the blame for everything.
You knew I was unsure about crossing that line with you.
After everything with Harbor, I wasn’t the same.
She was the girl I loved, the one I started picturing a future with, not you.
Then one day she was gone, and I didn’t know how to deal with that.
You were there for me. You didn’t let me wallow.
You tried to force me to keep living my life.
I did start to see you as more than my homegirl, my family after everything we’ve been through.
What happened between us suddenly felt like second nature.
I love you, Alb… but as far as being in love with you—” I shook my head. “That’s never been the case.”
The more I confessed, the less steady she stood with that pistol waving in her hand. Tears stained her face and she bit into her top lip nervously before lowering the gun.
“Yeah, I knew that. While I was following Harmonie around, she and her father rolled up on this big ass estate in the middle of fucking nowhere. Found out it’s where Harbor lives, with Frequency and their family.
” Alba paced in front of me, her heels clicking with each step she took as she told her story.
The resentment building in my chest was becoming a little too heavy for a nigga to bear.
“They could fit your house about five times into that massive home they live in. Got enough garage space for an entire fleet of cars. A fucking carnival was set up in the backyard, like literally, rides and the whole nine. Harbor moved on, but you don’t want to accept that.
Maybe you’re still holding on to hope that one day she will wake up and realize that you are what’s missing from her life, but that’s doubtful.
So you moved on to this one.” She nodded to Harmonie on the bed.
“But she wasn’t Harbor, was she? I realized after catching you two together that is what I was missing.
You are always going to be searching for that bitch in the next.
She’s… ‘the one that got away’, your unicorn, and damn any bitch that dares get close to you.
She’ll always compete, but never compare,” Alba recited somberly.
She lifted the gun impetuously and fired another round right into the other side of my chest. My legs crumbled, and the gunshot rang throughout my ears as I sank back into the bed.
“Alb—” I struggled to breathe, and the words wouldn’t come as my lungs filled with blood and I choked.
“Don’t worry, Lock. You left everything to me and Auri, remember? A token of your love for me.” Her resting bitch face as she wiped the gun clean of her prints and backed up toward the ajar door left me without words.
The last thing I saw was her dropping the artillery at my feet and taking off to the emergency exit of the lounge.
Sirens, loud voices, and a few flashlights shined into the room on me.
Everything went pitch black, and I was surrounded by nothing but the shadows.
When I came to, a nigga’s head banged terribly.
I could hear my fucking pulse pumping through every fucking vein.
Attempting to open my eyes sent a shockwave of pain through me.
“Agh!” I winced, and my back arched on what felt like a cot.
The panicked, beeping noise filled my ears. Finally peeling my eyes open one at a time, I was able to look through them. The iridescent lights stung my pupils, and I blinked rapidly, wishing this pain in my torso would subside.
“Sir, relax. You’re in the hospital. It’s okay.” The soothing voice of a woman slowed my heart rate, and I took slow, deep breaths.
I stared into the prettiest face when I could finally focus on something, and at first, it came in as a blur. Her eyes were tight, like an Asian girl, skin brown and silky like honey, with a set of full lips. Her serious, toasted brown eyes searched mine.
“Are you in pain?” she questioned, her arms resting on the side of my bed while she peered down at me.
When I tried to move one of my arms, I couldn’t, and a loud clanking sound drew my attention to my wrist.
“The fuck is this? Why am I handcuffed to the bed?” I tugged on my shit repeatedly, the rage in me bubbling to the top like water boiling over.
She didn’t seem alarmed or even scared of me. I watched her log into a computer and check in some meds before bringing them over to me with a cup of water.
“The police are right outside that door,” she told me, giving me the meds to take. “They have some questions for you. Take that and swallow,” she instructed.
“How long have I been out?” I tossed back the pills and swallowed the water quickly before dropping my head back into the pillow.