Chapter 37 Prime
PRIME
I answered before the second ring.
“Grandma?”
“Prentice.” Her voice was calm. Too calm. “Rashid came to my house tonight.”
Everything stopped. The air in my lungs. The blood in my veins. The thoughts in my head. Everything just… stopped.
“What?”
“I handled it. But you need to get here. Now.”
She hung up.
I was already moving. Already grabbing my keys. Already heading for the door.
“Prime?” Zainab was behind me, pulling on a hoodie over her tank top. “What’s wrong? What happened?”
“Rashid went to my grandmother’s house.”
Her face went pale. “Oh my God. Is she—”
“She said she handled it. I gotta go.”
“I’m coming with you.”
I didn’t argue. Didn’t have time. We were in the Bentayga and peeling out of the beach house driveway within sixty seconds.
The drive from the North Beach to DC could take close to an hour. I made it in thirty-seven minutes.
My hands gripped the steering wheel so tight my knuckles ached. Jaw clenched. Eyes fixed on the road. Breaking every speed limit, running every light, pushing the engine to its limits.
Rashid went to my grandmother’s house.
My GRANDMOTHER. This nigga had lost his fuckin’ mind.
The woman who raised me when my own mother couldn’t be bothered. The woman who held me when I cried, who fed me when I was hungry, who loved me unconditionally even when I didn’t deserve it. The woman who was eighty-three years old and going blind.
And Rashid had gone to her home. To threaten her. To use her against me.
“Prime.” Zainab’s voice cut through the red haze in my mind. “Prime, you need to slow down. You’re going over 100.”
“I know.”
“If we crash—”
“We won’t.”
She went quiet. Smart woman. She knew when to push and when to let me be.
I called Justice while I drove.
“Yo.”
“Rashid went to Grandma’s house.”
Silence. Then: “I’m on my way.”
“Get Quest too. Y’all are closer than me.”
“Already texting him. We’ll be there in fifteen.”
He hung up.
I pushed the speedometer past a hundred.
By the time I pulled up to Grandma Rita’s estate, Justice’s Range Rover and Quest’s Maybach were already in the circular driveway. The house was lit up like a Christmas tree, every window blazing.
I was out of the car before it fully stopped. Zainab followed close behind.
The front door was open. I could hear voices inside. Laughter?
I stepped into the foyer—marble floors, chandelier, grand staircase—and found my entire family gathered in the living room.
Justice and Quest on the couch. Serenity perched on the arm of Grandma Rita’s favorite chair.
And Grandma Rita herself, sitting like a queen on her throne, a shotgun resting across her lap.
She was smiling.
“There he is.” She turned her clouded eyes toward me with that unnerving accuracy she’d always had. “Took you long enough.”
“Grandma.” I crossed the room and knelt in front of her, taking her hands. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”
“Hurt ME?” She laughed—a full, rich sound that bounced off the high ceilings. “Baby, I almost took that fool’s head off. Would’ve too if I wasn’t trying to conserve ammo.”
I blinked. “What?”
“That security system y’all got me from those King boys? Works like a charm. Soon as he stepped onto my property, my phone buzzed. Told me somebody was approaching the front door.” She patted the shotgun. “I was ready for his ass before he even knocked.”
Quest was grinning. “She shot at him twice, bro. TWICE. Said he almost pissed himself.”
“He flinched.” Grandma Rita’s smile turned cold. “Big bad man, flinching like a little bitch on my front porch. Then he started coughing up blood. Whatever he got eating at him, it’s eating at him GOOD.”
“Coughing up blood?” I filed that information away. I had a feeling he was sick.
“Mmhmm. I told him to get off my property before I sent him to his maker before that disease does.” She chuckled. “You should’ve seen his face. Man thought he was gonna come up in here and scare me. ME. Rita Banks. I been in these streets longer than he been alive.”
Justice shook his head. “Grandma, you’re a menace.”
“I’m a survivor. There’s a difference.”
Serenity leaned forward. “Grandma, you should’ve called us IMMEDIATELY. What if he’d had a gun? What if—”
“Girl, please. I had MY gun. And I know how to use it.” She waved a dismissive hand. “Besides, I was in the middle of something when that alarm went off.”
“In the middle of what?” Serenity asked.
“I was about to get busy with my rose.” Grandma Rita said it like she was discussing the weather. “Had my Teddy Pendergrass and Barry White playlist going. Candles lit. The whole mood. Then this fool shows up and interrupts my evening.”
Serenity’s face went through about fifteen emotions in two seconds. Horror. Disbelief. Disgust. More horror.
“GRANDMA.”
“What? I’m old, not dead. A woman has needs.”
Quest choked on absolutely nothing. Justice suddenly found the ceiling very interesting. I rubbed my temples, feeling a headache forming.
“Can we PLEASE not discuss Grandma’s… personal time?” Serenity looked like she wanted to crawl out of her own skin.
“You asked.” Grandma Rita shrugged. “Now you know.”
Zainab was standing frozen in the doorway, clearly unsure whether to laugh or run. Serenity spotted her and jumped up.
“Come on, girl. Let’s go get some wine. I need to bleach my brain after that.” She grabbed Zainab’s hand and practically dragged her toward the kitchen. “You drink red or white?”
“Either,” Zainab managed.
“Good. We’re having both.”
They disappeared, leaving me alone with my brothers and my grandmother.
The mood shifted immediately. The laughter faded. The tension returned.
“This war is about to get real,” Quest said quietly. “He came to Grandma’s house, Prime. That’s a line you don’t cross.”
“He crossed it.” My voice was flat. Cold. “Now he’s gonna pay for it.”
“What’s the play?” Justice asked. “We got his daughter, right? Time to use her?”
“I’m about to.” I didn’t elaborate. They didn’t need to know the details. “But first, we need to get Grandma somewhere safe.”
Rita’s head snapped toward me. “Excuse me?”
“You’re going to stay with Justice. Out in Virginia. Away from all of this until it’s over.”
“The hell I am.” She gripped her shotgun tighter. “This is MY house. I’ve lived here for fifty years. I’m not running from some sick old man with a god complex.”
“Grandma—”
“Don’t ‘Grandma’ me, Prentice. I can take care of myself. I proved that tonight.”
“You did.” I knelt in front of her again, taking her weathered hands in mine. “But I can’t fight this war if I’m worried about you. I can’t focus on getting Yusef back if I’m scared Rashid’s gonna send someone else to your door. Someone you might not see coming.”
Her jaw tightened. I could see the resistance in every line of her face.
“Please, Grandma. For me. Just until this is over.”
She was quiet for a long moment. Her clouded eyes searching my face even though she couldn’t really see it.
“Fine.” The word came out grudging. “But I’m bringing my shotgun.”
“I wouldn’t expect anything less.”
Justice stood. “I’ll help you pack. Guest room’s already made up. The girls will be excited to see you.”
“They better be. I didn’t raise boring grandchildren.”
Quest and I stayed behind as Justice helped her up the stairs.
“What do you need?” Quest asked once they were out of earshot.
“Intel. Everything you can find on Rashid. His operation. His properties. His weaknesses. I need to know every move he’s gonna make before he makes it.”
Quest nodded. “Creed King is the best at gathering intel. I’ll hit him up tonight. Have something for you by morning.”
“Good.”
“What are you gonna do in the meantime?”
I stood. Straightened my jacket. “Something I should’ve done the moment he refused to negotiate.”
Quest studied my face. Whatever he saw there made him nod slowly.
“Handle your business, bro. We got things covered here.”
Serenity and Zainab came back from the kitchen, both holding glasses of wine.
“Everything okay?” Zainab asked, her eyes searching my face.
“It will be.” I crossed to her, taking her face in my hands. “Serenity’s gonna take you to pick up Mehar. Then y’all are going to my beach house. Rashid doesn’t know about it. You’ll be safe there.”
“What about you?”
“I got something to handle.”
Her eyes flickered with understanding. She knew. Maybe not the specifics, but she knew.
“Be careful,” she whispered.
“Always.”
I kissed her, deeply. The kind of kiss that said everything I couldn’t put into words.
Then I pulled back and looked at Serenity. “Keep them safe.”
“You know I will.”
Grandma Rita was coming back down the stairs, a small suitcase in Justice’s hand. She stopped in front of Zainab and opened her arms.
“Come here, baby.”
Zainab hesitated, then stepped into the embrace. Rita held her tight, one hand patting her back.
“This isn’t your fault,” Rita said quietly. “You hear me? Whatever you’re thinking, whatever guilt you’re carrying—let it go. That man made his choices. You didn’t bring this on anyone.”
“But if I hadn’t—”
“Hush.” Rita pulled back, her clouded eyes somehow finding Zainab’s. “You’re family now. And family protects family. My grandson loves you. That’s all that matters.”
Zainab’s eyes were wet. “Thank you.”
“No thanks needed. Just take care of that boy when we get him back. He’s gonna need all the love you can give him.”
“I will. I promise.”
Rita nodded, satisfied. Then she turned to me.
“Handle your business, Prentice. Make that man regret the day he stepped foot on my porch.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
I watched them leave. Justice and Rita in the Range Rover. Serenity and Zainab in Serenity’s Tesla, heading to pick up Mehar.
Quest clasped my shoulder. “Whatever you’re about to do—make it count.”
“I intend to.”
The warehouse was forty minutes away.
I drove in silence. No music. No phone calls. Just me and the road and the cold fury building in my chest.
Rashid had crossed a line. Threatened my grandmother. The one person in this world who had never asked anything of me except to be better than I was.
He thought because he’d made me what I am he could take Yusef. That I would accept it. Fold.
He was wrong.
When I pulled up to the warehouse, Thad was exactly where I’d left him. Stretched out on a cot in the corner, laptop balanced on his stomach, some show playing with the volume low.
He looked up when I walked in. Nodded once. Didn’t ask questions.
Good.
Farah was in the chair. Same chair. Same position. But she’d clearly been crying—her face was puffy, mascara streaked down her cheeks, snot crusted under her nose.
The moment she saw me, something shifted. Her whole body perked up. Hope flooded her features.
“Prime.” Her voice was hoarse from screaming. “Prime, oh my God, I knew you’d come back. I knew you wouldn’t leave me here forever. Please, just untie me. I won’t tell anyone. I swear. We can still be together. We can—”
I walked toward her without a word.
“I know you’re angry. I know this whole thing with your son—he’s not your son, right? Your nephew or something? I know it’s complicated. But we can work it out. Together. Once I’m free, I’ll talk to my father. I’ll make him understand. He’ll listen to me. He always listens to me.”
I pulled out my pocket knife. Her eyes went wide.
“Yes. Yes, cut me loose. I knew you wouldn’t hurt me. I KNEW it. We’re meant to be together, Prime. We’ve always been meant to be together. From the first moment I saw you—”
I sliced through the zip ties on her wrists. Then her ankles. She sagged with relief, rubbing her raw skin, tears of joy streaming down her face.
“Thank you. Thank you so much. I knew you loved me. I knew—”
She reached for me. Arms outstretched. Ready to embrace me like we were reuniting lovers.
I grabbed her by the hair and slammed her face into the table.
The impact was brutal. Her nose crunched against the metal. Blood sprayed. She screamed—a sound of pure shock and confusion.
“Prime—PRIME, WHAT ARE YOU—”
I pinned her head to the table with one hand.
“What are you doing?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”
I grabbed her ear. The one with the diamond earring. Probably a gift from her daddy. Probably worth more than most people made in a month.
“No. No no no no NO—”
The blade bit into flesh.
The first scream was loud. Primal. The sound of someone who didn’t understand what was happening to them.
But I didn’t stop. Couldn’t stop. The knife wasn’t sharp enough for a clean cut—I had to SAW through the cartilage, feeling it resist and then give way, blood pouring over my fingers, hot and slick.
Her screams went hoarse. Then silent. Then back to screaming, somehow louder than before.
Thad watched from his cot. Stone-faced. Unblinking. Like he was watching paint dry instead of a woman getting her ear sawed off.
Finally, the last bit of flesh separated. The ear came away in my hand, the diamond earring still attached, glinting red with blood.
Farah was sobbing. Choking. Blood pouring down the side of her face, pooling on the table, dripping onto the floor.
I released her head. She collapsed, sliding off the table, curling into a fetal position on the concrete.
“PRIME—PRIME PLEASE—OH GOD—OH GOD IT HURTS—”
I crouched down. Grabbed her by the throat. Lifted her until her feet barely touched the ground.
She stared at me with wide, terrified eyes. The delusion was gone now. Finally gone. Replaced by the understanding that I was not her savior. Not her lover. Not her anything.
I was her nightmare.
“Your father crossed a line,” I said quietly. Calmly. Like I was discussing the weather. “He came to my grandmother’s house. Threatened her. Tried to use her against me.”
“I didn’t—I didn’t know—”
“I know you didn’t.” I tightened my grip slightly. “But you’re the only leverage I have. And your father needs to understand that there are consequences for his actions.”
I dropped her. She crumpled to the floor, clutching the bloody hole where her ear used to be.
“Thad. Bandage her up. Don’t want her bleeding out before this is over.”
“Got it.”
I pulled out my phone. Snapped a picture of the ear—the diamond earring catching the light, blood still wet and glistening.
Then I opened my messages. Found Rashid’s contact. Attached the photo.
I typed four words.
Your move, old nigga.
Hit send.
Then I pocketed the phone, stepped over Farah’s sobbing body, and walked out into the night.
The war had officially escalated.
And I was just getting started.