On The Road to Love

CHAPTER 1

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Kaleasha “Kales”

I had a beautiful night. Me and Quay had a date night, and everything was amazing.

I had been buried in schoolwork on top of working for Bancroft, and I was tired.

Between me trying to keep up with nursing school and him doing his thing in the streets making sure we lived the beautiful life we were living, we barely had time for each other.

“Hey, you, what you thinking about?” he asked when he walked back in the room.

“How you did your thing last night. That was exactly what we both needed.”

“You know I got you when I can. Between these bills and paying for you to go to school, the streets is becoming my other girlfriend.” He chuckled.

“As long as me and the streets are the only two, we good.” I giggled while getting out of the bed.

I had to get ready for class because I had a chemistry exam to do.

I swear nursing school and working full-time wasn’t for the weak, but I was doing it.

Quay was paying for it out of pocket, and I truly appreciated him for that.

When my parents died, Quay was all I had, and he did everything for me.

I hurried and made my way to the shower to take care of my hygiene, and Quay followed behind me.

The minute we got in the shower, we washed each other and conversed about what we had going on for the day.

Then we got out and got dressed. The minute we both were dressed and headed downstairs, the sound of our front door being knocked down had me frozen in place.

I stood there in shock while Quay ran back up the steps.

I was still standing there stunned when all I heard was, “Quay Reynolds, you are under arrest for the murder of Markie Bell!”

Hearing that made my heart crush. Markie had been his right hand at one time, and he was also my friend Ryann’s brother.

Everything after that started happening so fast.

Men flooded through the house like they owned it, guns drawn, voices loud, boots stomping all over my floor. My heart was beating so hard I thought I was about to pass out. I backed up against the wall, gripping my shirt, trying to make sense of what the hell was going on.

“M-Murder?” I whispered, but my voice got lost in all the chaos.

Quay came back downstairs with his hands up, his face hard, but I could see it in his eyes. Even he ain’t think it was gone go down like this.

“Kales, go sit down,” he snapped, trying to look at me while two officers grabbed him.

“I’m not sitting down! What the fuck is going on?” I yelled, my voice shaking. “Quay, what are they talking about?”

He ain’t answer me right away, and that alone made my stomach twist.

One of the detectives looked over at me. “Ma’am, you need to calm down.”

“Don’t tell me to calm down in my house!” I shouted. “Y’all just busted in here talking about murder. What the fuck you mean calm down?”

Quay looked at me then, and for the first time since I had known him, I ain’t see confidence. I seen worry.

“Kales, just chill,” he said, his voice lower now. “I’ma handle it.”

“Handle what?” I cried, walking toward him before one of the officers stepped in front of me. “Quay, tell me this ain’t true.”

He looked away.

That shit right there made my knees weak.

The detective started reading him his rights while I stood there looking crazy, trying to keep myself together. My whole body was shaking. I felt like I was outside myself, like I was watching somebody else’s life blow up right in front of them.

Markie was dead?

And Quay was being arrested for killing him?

None of it made sense.

Markie had been around us. He had been in this house before.

We had all laughed together, ate together, been around each other like family.

Ryann loved her brother down, and even when Markie and Quay had stopped being as tight as they used to be, I never would’ve thought no shit like this would happen.

“Quay!” I screamed when they started walking him to the door. “Quay, please!”

He turned his head just enough to look back at me.

“Call my lawyer,” he said. “And don’t talk to nobody.”

Then just like that, they took him.

I stood there in the middle of the living room, staring at the busted front door, feeling like the whole house had tilted. It was too quiet all of a sudden. Too quiet after all that noise.

I don’t even know how long I stood there before I finally moved.

My hands were trembling so bad I could barely unlock my phone. I called him three times back-to-back even though I knew they probably had his phone by then. Then I called Ryann.

She answered on the second ring.

“Hello?”

The minute I heard her voice, I broke.

“Ryann,” I cried. “They just came and got Quay. They said he killed Markie.”

Silence.

A long, cold silence.

When she finally spoke, her voice ain’t sound like herself.

“What?”

“They kicked the door in and arrested him. They said he under arrest for Markie’s murder.”

Ryann let out a shaky breath, and for a second, I thought she was about to cry too. “Kales… what the fuck?”

“I don’t know,” I sobbed. “I don’t know what’s going on.”

She got quiet again, then said, “I gotta call my mom.”

That made me cry even harder because this wasn’t just some rumor or street talk now. Markie was really dead. Ryann’s family was really about to have to bury him.

And Quay…

Quay was being taken away in handcuffs for it.

“I’ll call you back,” she said, and the line went dead.

I slowly slid down the wall to the floor, still holding my phone, still trying to catch my breath. My chest hurt. My mind was racing. Every thought in my head kept tripping over the next one.

Did he do it?

No.

He couldn’t have.

But if he didn’t, why he ain’t look me in my face and say it?

That question sat heavy on me all day.

I ain’t go to class. I ain’t go to work. I barely moved.

I just sat in that house with my thoughts, replaying every look, every pause, every word.

By that evening, reporters had already started calling.

I guess once the news hit, everybody wanted a statement.

I turned my phone off and curled up in my bed, still dressed, still dirty from the day, and stared at the wall.

That morning, I had woke up feeling loved, secure, and thankful for the life me and Quay were building.

By nighttime, my front door was gone, Markie Bell was dead, and the man I loved was sitting in jail for murder.

And deep down, no matter how hard I tried to fight it, I knew that was only the beginning of my life falling apart.