7. - – Amari
CHAPTER SEVEN
-
AMARI
I tried to pull myself away from the house, but what I saw through the window was too intense for me to go.
I should have called the police, but I couldn't deal with the questions of why I was at her house.
Instead, I sit there and watch everything through the window.
Seeing the way that man attacks her body has a mixture of emotions running through my veins.
When I see Kabrina's body go limp and hit the floor, I'm enraged.
I know I need to keep my anger to a minimum, though, or I'm going to find myself locked up again.
On the bright side, I see this mystery man make his way to the car. It's only 8:00 P.M., so I decide to follow him. I'm sure Kabrina will be knocked out for a couple of hours anyway, so she should be fine without me watching for a little while.
Not like she knows I'm watching her anyway.
I let him pull out of the driveway and head down the street before I begin following.
After getting out of the neighborhood and making two right turns, I see him pull into The Delight Bar.
Shoot, the last time I was in any bar, it ended up with me being sentenced to eight years, so I need to be smart and keep my rage under wraps.
I wait for him to walk in, then I follow behind about a minute later.
The bar is packed for it being a Friday night at 8:00 P.M., so I try to maneuver my way to the seats by the bartender. I have about a month left before my license expires, so I need to get on that ASAP, but luckily, the bartender doesn't bother checking.
“What can I get you today?”
I don’t even know what to try because I’ve been locked up so far.
“Give me a Double IPA, please.”
The bartender heads to the middle of the bar and pours me a beer on draft.
“Would you like to open a tab or pay as you go?”
“Pay as I go,” I say while pulling cash from my wallet for the beer and the tip.
Once I have my beer, I decide to head to one of the barstools near the pool area, where I have a good eye on the guy who was with Kabrina. He's pressed up against some girl while he awaits his turn to play pool.
“We're looking to play another round. Anyone want in?”
Fuck, I know what happened the last time I played. I just can’t let anyone’s words get to me this time.
“I’m in,” I say, causing eyes to look over at me.
“You any good? I haven’t seen you around here before,” the mystery man says, pulling away from the girl.
“I might be a little rusty, but I used to play. I was pretty damn good if I do say so myself,” I say with a grin on my face.
He reaches out a hand to shake mine, “Alright. I’ll take you on my team. I’m Alex.”
“Amari,” I let out while shaking his hand in return.
This is about to be good.
We make small talk with one another, and we ultimately end up winning the round.
“You want another beer before we start the next round? It’s on me.”
I nod, “DIPA please.”
He must be a regular here or something because as soon as he gets up to the bar, his drink is ready, so all he has to do is order mine.
“So tell me, what brings a guy like you to this bar?" He questions, handing me my beer.
Do I tell the truth or do I lie? Maybe I can partially tell the truth.
“I just got out of prison today. I did eight years, and I’m trying to find my footing again.”
He looks at me with contemplation in his eyes like he wants to ask more questions, but he doesn’t. Instead, he raises his drink, "Cheers to getting out today."
“Cheers.”
We finish this round of pool before I decide to call it a night.
“I’m out for the night. Gotta find a place to stay. You hang out here often? I’d be down to play more pool another day.”
“Head over to Hotel Noelle and book a room for the week. Tell them the room is on Alexander Riley. That should help you get back on your feet a little. See you here tomorrow at the same time?”
“Damn, you don’t have to do that for me,” I start to say before he cuts me off.
“Don’t worry about it. We all have to start somewhere again,” he says before racking up the balls to play again.
“Thank you. I’ll see you again tomorrow night.”
When I make my way back to my car, I'm still shocked that he is offering to pay for my stay for a week.
It feels too good to be true, but I can tell by his aura that he's been in similar circumstances as me.
Before I decide to head to the hotel to get checked in, I decide to make a stop back at Kabrina's house to leave her a note. Hopefully, she finds it before he does.
About twenty minutes later, I step foot in the hotel, and I'm in awe. This hotel looks so nice, I can't wait to see what awaits me in the room. I head to the check-in desk.
“Hi, I was told to mention Alexander Riley’s name for a week at the hotel.”
“Yes, we are expecting you. He called ahead to make sure everything was in place for you. Amari, right?” The young lady at the desk confirms.
“That’s right.”
She grabs a key for me. “You’re going to be in room 315.
You can take the elevator to the left and head to the third floor.
There is complimentary breakfast in the morning.
If you need anything during your stay, feel free to use the phone in your room to call down.
Mr. Riley asked me to share his phone number with you since he forgot to give it to you at the bar,” she says, handing me an additional slip of paper.
I nod in understanding before heading up to the room. When I scan my keycard and open the room, my jaw drops. There are a few outfits on the bed and body care items for me. I have no idea how he knows my sizes, but he hit the nail on the head with them.
Once I put my little bag down of items, I decide to hop in the shower before sorting through all the messages filling my phone.
There are so many to sort through, but my brain still keeps going back to the guy at the bar.
I'm still a little confused about why he's taking such good care of me.
When people find out I've done time, they become scared of me.
He didn't show that, though. He wanted to put me on a good path.
There's something about him that makes me feel supported.