Chapter 17 #2
“So, we can report him for stalking and harassment. Technically, it’s your word against his.
You can file a restraining order. Although he threatened you, we don’t have evidence of it .
. . unless K has a Ring Doorbell Camera.
If she does, it recorded everything. I’ll call her in a little bit.
If she does, we can do more. If she doesn’t, all we can do is file a report and restraining order. ”
“She has one. I saw it the first time I went there. So if we get the footage, you can use our conversation to press charges on him, right?”
“Yes. Plus, I believe K has a restraining order on him as well. If anything, he was in violation of that. He was so abusive to her. I just hope she’s okay mentally.”
“I need to call her. Arlie just have my mental going through it. I ain’t been thinking about shit but her. If we don’t make up by this weekend, I’m going to work Monday to give myself something to do to take my mind off of things.”
We’d eaten dinner, and I was in my office with my mama.
Dad, Uncle Shawn, and Aunt Sonya were in the front room talking to Kyla, Nick, Cooper, and Tristan.
Tristan was Uncle Shawn and Aunt Sonya’s son together.
He lived here in Houston and was freelancing as a photographer and artist, just like Uncle Shawn.
Instead of leaving this morning, they stayed later since Kyla was off work today.
Her ass was hardly ever off work. She had her own private practice now, but it seemed she was always at the hospital on the weekends.
She was an OB/Gyn, so I supposed she always had a patient that needed her. They would be leaving in an hour or so.
When we heard loud laughter, my mama said, “I guess we should go and enjoy them for their last hour in town. Umm . . . I know what and how Arlie is doing. Do you want to know?”
“I’d rather know from her.”
“I know.”
“You can tell me.”
“When I talked to Noah earlier, he said she’s been working extremely hard on her album.
She’s recorded four songs already. He just has to put finishing touches on them.
Noah said they would talk to her in the morning, because they could tell she’s upset about something.
The only time she really comes alive is when she’s in the studio.
Other than that, she’s been extremely quiet. ”
I slowly shook my head. “She’s putting us both through unnecessary bullshit. All she had to do was talk to me.”
When my phone chimed, I checked it to see a text from Maj. There was a link there with wide-eyed emojis. I frowned slightly then clicked on the link. The headline read, From Prostitute to Rapper . . .
My eyebrows hiked off my damn face. Prostitute? Ain’t no fucking way. I couldn’t believe what I was reading. There was an entire article from an anonymous source about Arlie’s former life. “Eldridge fucking Owens.”
“What?” my mama asked with a frown.
I handed my phone to her, and her eyebrows lifted like mine had done. “What the fuck? You think this is real?”
“I don’t know. Either it is and that’s why she’s running, or he’s doing what he can to attack her because of me. If this was simply about her, he would’ve done it a long time ago. Why now?”
She kept reading, and said, “They’re saying she did her last trick two years ago. That was after her first album came out. This muthafucka will stop at nothing. If it’s true, it ain’t shit I can do about it either.”
I exhaled hard. “That first album didn’t really do numbers. Her label fucked her over. That was why she wanted to leave. Fuck!”
“Graham, does this change things for you?”
“No. If it did, then her running would be justified. She’s not a prostitute now. I just wish I would have asked if she was clean. We fucked without a condom when I went to meet her in Baltimore.”
She lowered her head, and I frowned. “I’m sorry. We umm . . . Your dad took your box out of your luggage. I was feeling a way . . . triggered as fuck and asked him to wear a condom.”
“I knew I had packed condoms. Y’all niggas had me thinking I was tripping. It’s okay, Mama. I only had the one in my wallet though, so we went without. I would hope that she wouldn’t have done that if she wasn’t clean.”
“She seems to really care about you, Graham, so I would like to think she wouldn’t go there if she knew she had something.”
I nodded as she handed the phone back to me. I slid my hand down my face and texted Kimaji back. That’s some bullshit. I’m flying out there tomorrow evening. I gotta get her to talk to me.
Okay. Noah called me. I told him how worried I was. He said they were going to talk to her in the morning and pray for her too.
She needed those prayers. I was just glad she was with them. She needed someone with a direct line to God. He would probably send my ass to voicemail. I prayed sometimes, but Noah just seemed like he walked with Him daily. I stood from my seat, and my mama stopped me. She hugged me tightly.
“Go see about her as soon as you can. I’ll handle that muthafucka while you’re gone. When she catches wind of this shit, she’s gonna need you more than ever.”
“I just texted Kimaji and told her I would be going out there tomorrow evening. She’s gonna sink more in the shadows if she sees that.”
“Yeah. Okay. Let’s go back up front.”
We left the room to see them having a good time, laughing and talking. I did my best to pretend I was cool. I went to the kitchen and poured myself a drink, then gulped it and poured another round. The alcohol would probably loosen me up. When I sat on the couch next to Cooper, he said, “You good?”
“Yep.”
He nodded, but I knew he wasn’t buying that shit. He knew me better than anybody here, even my parents. I had to get to Arlie before that fucking article did.