Chapter 2 #3
She cried for a few more seconds.
Then finally said, "Okay."
The line went quiet.
Then she asked, "Why did they do this?"
Nobody had an answer.
Not me.
Not Rico.
Not anybody.
And that pissed me off the most.
Because somebody had taken Karl.
Somebody was watching Tammy.
Somebody was sending messages.
And I still didn't know who.
Twenty minutes later, we pulled into Karl's neighborhood.
I hated being there.
Not because of the neighborhood.
Because Karl should have been there too.
Complaining about something.
Talking shit.
Standing in his driveway with a beer in his hand.
Instead, we were there without him.
The lights were on when we pulled up.
Cars lined both sides of the street.
Family.
Friends.
People already showing up.
Word travels fast when somebody dies.
Especially somebody everybody loved.
The second I stepped onto the porch, the front door opened.
Tammy.
Her face told me everything.
She had been crying.
Not falling apart.
Not panicking.
Crying because Karl was family.
Because Keisha was hurting.
Because those girls were about to hear something no child should ever have to hear.
She stepped into me and wrapped her arms around my waist.
I held her.
Just for a second.
That was all we had.
"Keisha's bad," she said.
"I know."
"Ava keeps asking for him."
I closed my eyes.
Shit.
Tammy pulled back.
"And Damian?"
"What?"
"There was a black SUV down the street when I pulled up."
I looked at her.
She kept going.
"Tinted windows. Parked two houses down. Engine running."
"Did you see the plate?"
"No."
"How long was it there?"
"Long enough."
Rico heard that.
So did Tone.
Tammy looked at all three of us.
"I know what I saw."
"I know you do," I said.
Her eyes stayed on mine.
"This is connected."
"Yeah."
"Then stop treating me like I'm standing outside the story."
That shut me up.
Because she was right.
She used to be in this.
She got out.
But she still knew how it worked.
And right now, she was seeing things some of my own people missed.
I kissed her forehead.
"I hear you."
"You better."
I almost smiled.
Then Keisha came into the hallway.
She looked terrible.
Eyes swollen.
Hair a mess.
Face red.
The second she saw me, she broke.
I caught her before she hit the floor.
"Hey."
That was all I could think to say.
Just-
"Hey."
She cried into my chest.
And for once, I didn't have an answer.
Didn't have a plan.
Didn't have a fix.
Because there wasn't one.
Karl wasn't coming home.
Nothing I did was going to change that.
After a minute, Keisha pulled away.
"You lied."
I looked at her.
"What?"
"You said y'all would be okay."
Shit.
I remembered that conversation.
Years ago.
Back when Karl got married.
Back when Ava was born.
Back when life felt different.
"You said y'all would be okay."
I didn't know what to say.
Because she was right.
I did say that.
And now Karl was dead.
"Keisha."
"He promised me."
She wiped at her face and cried harder.
"He promised me he was coming home."
Nobody knew what to say after that.
Because everybody promises they're coming home.
Then life happens.
She stepped aside.
"Come in."
The house felt wrong.
That was the only way I could explain it.
Wrong.
Karl's shoes were still by the door.
His jacket still hanging up.
Pictures of him everywhere.
Family vacations.
Birthdays.
Cookouts.
Life.
A little girl ran into the room.
Ava.
Seven years old.
The second she saw me, her face lit up.
"Uncle D."
That damn near broke me.
She ran over and wrapped her arms around my waist.
I picked her up.
Held her close.
"Hey, princess."
"You seen my daddy?"
Nobody answered.
Ava looked at me.
Her little face was serious.
Waiting.
Trusting me.
Believing I had the answer.
"Uncle D?"
I pulled her a little closer.
"You know your daddy loves you, right?"
She nodded.
"You know he loves your mama?"
Another nod.
"And your sister?"
"Yeah."
I looked down for a second.
Then back at her.
"Your daddy had to go to Heaven, baby."
She frowned.
"Heaven?"
"Yeah."
"With Jesus?"
I nodded.
"With Jesus."
"And the angels?"
"Yeah. With the angels too."
She thought about that.
Really thought about it.
The way kids do.
Then she looked around the room.
Like she expected Karl to walk through the front door anyway.
"When is he coming back?"
Nobody moved.
Not me.
Not Keisha.
Not Rico.
Not Tone.
Not Tammy.
I rubbed her back.
Slowly.
"He's not coming back, princess."
The confusion showed up first.
"What do you mean?"
I looked at Keisha.
She was already crying.
I looked back at Ava.
"Daddy has to stay in Heaven."
Ava stared at me.
Trying to understand.
Trying to make it make sense.
Then her eyes started filling up.
"Forever?"
I nodded.
Slowly.
"Forever."
Her lip started trembling.
"Can I go there?"
I pulled her closer.
"No, princess."
"Why?"
Her voice cracked.
"Because it isn't your time."
The tears started rolling.
Fast.
"That's not fair."
Nobody had an answer for that.
Because it wasn't.
Ava buried her face in my chest and started crying.
Hard.
Across the room, Keisha covered her mouth and turned away.
Tammy wiped her face and walked over to Keisha.
I held Ava.
That was all I could do.
Some things in life you can't fix.
And this was one of them.
The room blurred together after that.
Family.
Friends.
Food nobody was eating.
People hugging.
People crying.
People talking about Karl like he wasn't supposed to walk through the front door any minute.
Then Keisha sat down across from me.
Tammy sat beside her.
Keisha looked exhausted.
"I don't know what I'm going to do."
"You're going to breathe," Tammy said.
Keisha laughed.
One of those broken laughs.
"That's your advice?"
"It's a start," Tammy said.
Keisha shook her head.
"I have two girls."
"I know," I said.
"The mortgage."
"I know."
"The funeral."
"I know."
She looked away.
Then back at me.
"I don't know what I'm going to do."
I leaned forward.
"Keisha."
"What?"
"You aren't paying for anything."
Immediately, she shook her head.
"No."
"Here we go."
"I'm serious."
"So am I."
"No."
"Keisha."
"I can't take your money."
I looked at her.
Then at Ava.
Then at the family pictures hanging on the wall.
Then back at Keisha.
"Karl would have done it for Tammy."
That shut her up.
Immediately.
Because we both knew it was true.
"If something happened to me, Karl would have made sure Tammy was straight."
Keisha started crying again.
Softer this time.
I understood.
Nobody wants help when they're hurting.
But sometimes you need it anyway.
"You aren't paying for the funeral."
Keisha didn't answer.
"You aren't paying this mortgage."
She looked down.
"You aren't paying for school."
Her head dropped.
"You aren't paying for any of it."
Everybody heard me.
Nobody questioned it.
Because they all knew.
Once I said it, it was done.
Then my phone buzzed.
I ignored it.
Keisha needed me more.
The phone buzzed again.
Then again.
Three times.
Back to back.
Rico looked at me.
Then at the screen.
His face changed.
"Damian."
I looked down.
Unknown number.
Again.
I answered.
"Talk."
Nobody said anything at first.
Then a man's voice came through.
Calm.
Too calm.
"You should've answered sooner."
Every conversation around me faded out.
"Who is this?"
The man laughed.
Soft.
Like we were old friends.
"Ask Keisha where Karl hid the ledger."
The line went dead.
I stared at the phone.
Then looked up.
Rico was already watching me.
Tone too.
Tammy was watching me harder than both of them.
"What?" Tammy asked.
I looked at Keisha.
"What's a ledger?"
Confusion covered her face.
"A what?"
"A ledger."
She blinked.
Then shook her head.
"I don't know."
"Keisha."
"I'm serious."
Tone looked at me.
Then at her.
Then back at me.
"I don't think she knows."
I agreed.
If Keisha was lying, she was the best damn liar I had ever met.
And she wasn't.
Keisha couldn't hide shit.
Never could.
Tammy leaned forward.
"Did Karl ever keep a safe here?"
Keisha looked up.
That got everybody's attention.
I looked at Tammy.
She looked at me.
"What?" she said. "If there's a ledger, it has to be somewhere."
I smiled.
There she go.
Keisha looked away.
Then back at us.
"There was one."
"Where?" Rico asked.
"Basement."
I stood.
"Show me."
The basement stairs creaked.
Old house.
Good neighborhood.
Family house.
Karl loved this place.
The basement wasn't finished.
Storage bins.
Holiday decorations.
Old bikes.
Tools.
A workbench.
Normal stuff.
Tammy walked slowly beside me.
Looking.
Not touching.
Just looking.
She pointed toward the back wall.
"There."
I followed her eyes.
A section of concrete near the back wall.
Different color.
Different texture.
Rico saw it too.
"What the hell?"
I walked over and knelt down.
Newer than everything around it.
Much newer.
Tone looked at me.
"You thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Yep."
Rico grabbed a hammer off the workbench and handed it to me.
I looked at him.
"What?"
"You the boss."
I laughed and handed it right back.
"The hell I am."
Tone laughed.
"So much for that."
Rico shook his head and swung.
Concrete cracked.
Dust flew.
Keisha jumped.
Another swing.
More cracks.
Then another.
And another.
Until something metal appeared underneath.
Nobody spoke.
Because Karl's safe didn't sound so crazy anymore.
Rico crouched down and brushed the dust away.
"Well damn."
I stared at the metal box buried beneath the concrete.
Whatever was inside, somebody had killed Karl trying to get it.
And now we were standing over it.
The lock had already been damaged from the hammer.
Not enough.
But close.
Rico grabbed a pry bar from the workbench.
"The hell are you waiting for?" Tone asked.
I looked at Rico.
"Go ahead."
A few seconds later, the lid popped.
The sound echoed through the basement.
Everybody leaned forward.
Including me.
The safe wasn't full.
There wasn't any money.
No jewelry.
No stacks of cash.
Just a few things.
A black notebook.
A flash drive.
And an envelope.
That was it.
Tone blinked.
"That's all?"
I reached in and grabbed the notebook.
Opened it.
The first page had Karl's handwriting.
I knew it immediately.
Big.
Messy.
Impossible to miss.
Across the top were four words.
If you're reading this...
Nobody said anything.
I turned the page.
More handwriting.
More notes.