Chapter 6 Zainab
ZAINAB
I saw him before my brain caught up to my eyes.
Prime. Standing in the middle of that visitation room, his presence overwhelming. Locs pulled back, jaw tight, looking like he hadn’t slept in days but still fine as hell.
My whole body exhaled.
Camille was there too, off to the side with her designer suit and her paperwork, but I barely noticed her. All I could see was him.
“You got fifteen minutes,” the guard said behind me. “No funny business.”
Prime didn’t even look at him. Just crossed the room and pulled me into his arms like ain’t nobody else exist.
I broke.
All that holding it together I’d been doing? That “I’m fine” face I’d been wearing for a week? Gone. I buried my face in his chest and let the tears come, shaking so hard I probably looked crazy.
“I got you,” he said into my hair. “I’m here. I got you.”
He smelled like home. Like his cologne and shea butter and everything I’d been missing. I wanted to stay right there forever.
When I finally pulled back, his hands came up to my face. Thumbs wiping my tears. Eyes scanning me like he was looking for damage.
“You okay? They treating you right? Anybody put they hands on you?”
“I’m fine.”
“Don’t lie to me, Zainab.”
“I’m NOT.” I almost laughed. “I mean, the food is nasty, and my cellmate snore like a damn lawnmower, but I’m good. We good.”
His eyes dropped to my belly. And his whole face changed. Got soft in a way only I ever got to see.
Then he kissed me.
And I mean KISSED me. Deep. Hungry. Like he was trying to make up for every phone call where we couldn’t say what we really wanted to say. His hands in my hair, my fingers gripping his shirt, both of us forgetting where we was.
I knew the guards were watching. Knew this wasn’t exactly allowed. But Prime must’ve slipped somebody something because ain’t nobody move to stop us.
When we finally came up for air, both of us breathing hard, this man dropped to his knees.
Right there. On that dirty ass floor. Prime Banks. On his KNEES.
His hands spread across my belly, big and warm through the thin jumpsuit. He leaned in and pressed his lips right where our daughter was growing.
“Hey, princess,” he said soft. “It’s Daddy. You being good for Mama?”
I laughed through my tears. “She been kicking the hell out of me.”
“That’s my girl.” He kissed my belly again. “Hold tight, okay? Daddy’s gonna get y’all out of here. I put that on everything.”
The guard cleared his throat. “Ten minutes.”
Prime stood up slow, taking my hand, lacing his fingers through mine. He didn’t let go.
We sat down across from Camille, but he kept my hand under the table. Squeezing every few seconds like he needed to make sure I was still real.
“Alright, here’s where we are,” Camille said, all business. “The extradition is moving fast. You’ll be on a plane to California within a week.”
My stomach dropped. I knew it was coming but hearing it out loud hit different.
“I already filed for a bail hearing,” she continued. “We’re fighting to get you released pending trial. Since you have no prior record, strong community ties, and you’re pregnant pregnant… well that works in our favor.”
“What are the chances?” Prime asked. Voice calm but his grip on my hand got tighter.
“Real talk? It’s a murder charge. They don’t usually grant bail.” Camille flipped through some papers. “But the case against her is weak. Real weak. Circumstantial at best. Somebody wanted her locked up fast and didn’t care about building a solid case to do it.”
Prime’s jaw ticked. I knew that look.
“Before you fly out, I’m getting you a doctor’s appointment,” Camille said. “Standard for pregnant inmates being transported. You’ll need medical clearance, and I want everything documented. How far along are you?”
“Almost eight months.”
“Good. That’s leverage. No judge wants the headlines of a woman giving birth in a prison cell.” She started packing up her stuff. “Let me make some calls. I’ll give y’all a minute.”
She walked away, and it was just us.
I leaned in close. So close my lips brushed his ear.
“I need to tell you something.”
His hand tightened on mine. “What.”
“I think it was your mother.”
He went still. Like all the air left his body at once.
“At the grand opening,” I whispered. “She was in the back. Smirking. Like she knew exactly what was about to happen.”
He didn’t move. Didn’t speak. But I could feel it—the rage coming off him like heat from a furnace.
Then he exhaled. Slow. Controlled.
“I’ll handle it.”
Three words. But I knew exactly what they meant.
“Don’t do nothing stupid,” I said. “I need you out there. Not in here with me.”
“I’m not gonna do nothing stupid.” He pulled back just enough to look in my eyes. “But whoever did this to you—whoever put you in here, away from me, away from our daughter—they gon’ pay. That ain’t a threat. That’s a promise.”
“Two minutes,” the guard called.
Prime stood and pulled me up with him. Wrapped his arms around me one more time. I pressed my face into his chest, trying to memorize everything. His smell. His heartbeat. The way his arms felt like the safest place in the world.
“You’re not having this baby in a cell,” he said against my hair. “I swear on my life, Zainab. You’re coming home.”
“I know.”
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“How’s Yusef? I want to speak to him.”
“He’s strong. Doing aight. Sloane is meeting with him more. Two times a week. He’s back at home with me. I’ve even heard him playing around on his keyboard. Shit, he picked up my guitar.”
It warmed my heart to know that he was doing better. He hadn’t played piano in months.
“I miss him so much. I just want to hug him. Cook for both of you. Hear you both play. I need to be at home. I miss my life with you.”
“I know, baby. We will get the fuck through this. It kills me all day to know you’re in this hell hole. How are you being treated in here? Any bitches fuckin’ with you?”
“No. My bunkie is cool. Like I said. The food is trash and I miss those smoothies you make for me. The ones with the pineapple and mango to mask the nasty-ass spinach and sea moss.”
He let out a laugh. He was so attentive to my pregnancy and wanted our baby to be super healthy.
He was buying organic everything. He didn’t get in the way of my cravings but he made sure I had a nutritious smoothie every morning with my breakfast. God, what did I do to deserve this amazing creature.
Camille appeared next to us just as the guard announced, “Time’s up.”
“Stay strong, Zainab. I’m working very hard. I’ll be in touch about transport.”
Prime kissed my forehead. Then my lips. Soft this time. A goodbye that didn’t wanna be a goodbye.
Then he walked away.
I watched him until the door closed. Until I couldn’t see him no more. Until the guard said my name twice and I finally made myself turn around.
The walk back to my cell felt like it took forever. My legs were heavy. My chest was tight. I kept seeing the way he looked at me before he left. It was like he was trying to memorize me too.
Just a week. Then I’d be on a plane to California. Away from Prime. Away from Yusef. Away from everything.
I was so stuck in my head I almost didn’t see her.
Big Mona.
Leaning against the wall outside my cell like she’d been waiting. Arms crossed. Two of her girls posted up beside her like bodyguards.
Mona was tall as hell and built like she’d been fighting her whole life. Word around here was she ran commissary, made book on card games and fights, and had enough pull to make your life miserable if she wanted to.
I’d been avoiding her all week. Keeping my head down. But I’d felt her watching me. Asking questions about me.
And now here she was. Blocking my path.
“Banks, right?” She smiled but her eyes was cold. “Like the liquor?”
I didn’t say nothing. Tried to move past her.
She stepped in front of me.
“Word travel fast in here. Your man’s family own Banks Reserve. Fancy lawyer coming through every other day. That rock you was wearing before they booked you?” She sucked her teeth. “I heard it cost more than my grandmama’s house.”
I kept my face blank. “I need to get to my cell.”
“See, here’s the thing.” She stepped closer. Close enough for me to smell the commissary coffee on her breath. “You about to fly out to Cali. That’s far from here. And a lot can happen between now and then.” Her eyes dropped to my belly. “Lot can happen on that transport too.”
My hand went to my stomach without thinking.
Mona watched the movement and smiled. “That’s cute. You worried about the baby.” She pulled a slip of paper from her pocket and tucked it into my jumpsuit. “Ten thousand. In my account. Forty-eight hours. Have your fancy lawyer wire it.”
I stared at her like she was out of her fuckin’ mind.
She shrugged. “Like I said. Lot can happen.”
The ugly bitches she ran with laughed.
I still didn’t say nothing. Just stood there looking at her until the smile started to slip off her face.
“Forty-eight hours, Banks.” She stepped aside, finally letting me pass. “Clock’s ticking.”
That slip of paper was burning a hole in my pocket.
I was calling Prime first thing in the morning.
Cuz, if I told him about Mona—if he knew somebody in here threatened me, threatened our BABY—he would set this whole place on fire.
I walked into my cell. Sat on my bunk. Looked at the slip of paper in my hand.
Ten thousand dollars. Forty-eight hours.
Big Mona thought she knew who she was dealing with.
She had no idea.
Prime was gonna love this.