Chapter 34 Prime
PRIME
I walked through the front door with a smile on my face. First time in weeks I’d felt this light. Vivica was done. India was gone. Zainab’s case was going to be okay. I had good news to share, a woman I loved waiting for me, and a future that finally looked like something worth living for.
“Yo! I’m home!”
Silence.
The smile started to fade.
“Zainab? Baby?”
I walked further into the house. Living room, empty. Kitchen, empty. The TV was off, the lights were dim, and the only sound was the hum of the refrigerator.
Something was wrong.
“Yusef?”
He appeared at the top of the stairs, phone in his hand, face twisted with confusion. “Uncle Prime? Where’s Auntie Z?”
My stomach dropped.
“What you mean where is she? She’s supposed to be here. She can’t leave.”
“I know, but…” He came down the stairs slowly, looking around like she might appear out of thin air. “I just got home like twenty minutes ago and she wasn’t here. I texted her but she didn’t respond.”
“You just got home?” I felt my blood pressure rising. “Where the fuck were you?”
“I went to the mall. She said I could go.” His voice was getting defensive, his shoulders squaring up. “I wasn’t gone that long. Like an hour and a half.”
“You left her here alone?”
“She’s a grown woman! She told me I could go!”
I was in his face before I could stop myself. “And now she’s GONE, Yusef! She’s not here! Do you understand what that means? She’s got an ankle monitor! If she left this house—”
“That’s not my fault!” Yusef didn’t back down. Didn’t cower. Didn’t shrink away like he used to. He stood his ground, chin up, eyes blazing. “I didn’t do anything wrong! She wanted me to go! She was happy for me!”
I stared at him. This kid who’d been silent for months. Who used to flinch at loud noises. Who couldn’t even look people in the eye.
Now he was standing up to me. Matching my energy. Refusing to be intimidated.
Something in my chest cracked.
“You’re right.” I took a step back, forcing myself to breathe. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled at you. This isn’t your fault.”
Yusef’s shoulders relaxed slightly, but his eyes were still wary. “I’m scared too, Prime. I don’t know where she is. I’ve been texting her and she won’t answer.”
“I know. I know.” I pulled out my phone, my hands shaking slightly. “I’m gonna find her. Just… stay here, aight? Don’t go anywhere.”
He nodded.
I tried calling Zainab. Straight to voicemail.
Again. Voicemail.
Again. Voicemail.
“Fuck!”
I called Camille next. She answered on the second ring.
“Prime? I thought you were flying back—”
“I’m home. Zainab’s gone. She’s not here. I need you to call the courts, call the monitoring company, call whoever the fuck you need to call and find out what happened.”
“What do you mean she’s gone?”
“I mean she’s not in this house! She’s got an ankle monitor and she’s not here! Something happened, Camille. Find out what.”
“Okay. Okay, I’m on it. I’ll call you back.”
I hung up and grabbed my keys.
“Where are you going?” Yusef asked.
“To find her. Stay here. Lock the door. Don’t let anybody in except me or your aunt. You understand?”
He nodded, and I saw the fear in his eyes. The same fear I was feeling.
I stopped at the door and looked back at him. He was standing in the living room, clutching a shopping bag in his hands.
“What’s that?”
He looked down at the bag like he’d forgotten he was holding it. “I… I bought something. For the baby. A stuffed elephant.” His voice cracked. “I wanted to surprise Auntie Z.”
That hit me harder than anything else. This kid, who’d been through hell, went to the mall to buy a gift for a baby that wasn’t even born yet. Because he loved Zainab. Because he loved our family.
And now that family was falling apart.
“That’s real sweet, Yusef.” I kept my voice steady even though I was breaking inside. “She’s gonna love it. I promise.”
I left before he could see my face crumble.
I drove like a maniac.
Running red lights. Weaving through traffic. Checking my phone every thirty seconds, hoping for a call, a text, anything.
Less than twenty-four hours ago, I was in a cigar bar with my brothers, toasting to our mother’s downfall. Feeling like a king. Feeling like I’d finally won.
Checkmate, I’d said.
What a fucking joke.
I called every hospital in a twenty-mile radius. No one matching Zainab’s description had been admitted. I called her sister, but Mehar didn’t answer.
Nothing. Nobody knew anything.
I was losing my mind.
“Come on, baby,” I muttered, trying her phone again. “Pick up. Please pick up.”
Voicemail.
I slammed my hand against the steering wheel. “FUCK!”
My phone rang. Unknown number.
I answered so fast I almost dropped it. “Hello?”
“You have a collect call from an inmate at the Los Angeles County Jail. To accept the charges, press one.”
My heart stopped.
I pressed one.
“Prime?” Her voice was small. Broken. Nothing like the strong woman I’d left a few days ago.
“Baby. Baby, I’m here. What happened? Where are you? Are you okay? Is the baby okay?”
“I’m in jail.” She was crying. I could hear it in every word. “They arrested me. I violated my bail.”
“What? How? Why would you—”
“Someone sent me a text.” Her voice cracked.
“A picture of Yusef at the mall. They said they’d been watching him.
Said if I didn’t come to this motel alone, they’d hurt him.
I tried to call you but you were on the plane.
I tried Quest, Justice, Mehar—nobody answered.
I didn’t know what to do. I thought they had him, Prime. I thought someone took him.”
The pieces clicked together in my head. The text. The photo. The trap.
Someone had set her up.
“It was a setup,” I said, my voice flat. “They lured you out.”
“I know that now.” She was sobbing. “I got there and the room was empty. And then the cops showed up. And then Yusef texted me saying he was home. He was fine. He was never in danger. And I’d already—” She couldn’t finish.
I wanted to punch something. Wanted to kill someone. The rage was building in my chest like a volcano about to erupt.
But I couldn’t let her hear that. She needed me to be calm. To be strong.
“Listen to me.” I kept my voice steady, soothing. “You did what any mother would do. You thought Yusef was in danger, and you went to save him. I’m not mad at you. You hear me? I’m not mad.”
“But my case—”
“Fuck the case. We’ll figure it out. Camille’s already on it. She’s flying to LA tonight. We’re gonna get you out of there.”
“What if they don’t give me bail again? What if I have to stay here until the trial? The baby’s due in—”
“I’m not gonna let that happen.” I meant it with every fiber of my being. “I will burn this whole city down before I let you have our baby in a jail cell. You understand me? I’m gonna fix this.”
She was quiet for a moment. Then, softly: “I love you.”
“I love you more. Now get some rest. Take care of yourself and my baby. I’ll be there first thing in the morning for visitation.”
“Okay.”
“Everything’s gonna be okay, Zainab. I promise.”
We hung up, and I sat there in my car, parked on the side of the road, trying to keep from exploding.
Someone did this.
Someone followed Yusef. Took pictures. Used them to lure Zainab out of the house. Knew exactly how to manipulate her, exactly which buttons to push.
Someone who wanted her to suffer.
I pulled back onto the road, driving aimlessly now, my mind racing through possibilities. Who would do this? Who had that kind of access, that kind of information, that kind of—
I stopped at a red light on Sepulveda.
And that’s when I saw her.
She was sitting in the outdoor section of an In-N-Out Burger, eating a Double-Double like she didn’t have a care in the world.
Her hair was tucked under a baseball cap, but I recognized her profile immediately.
The soft jawline. The way she held herself.
And when she turned slightly to grab a napkin, I saw it—the side of her head where her ear used to be.
Farah.
Rashid’s daughter. The woman I’d sent a message through in blood. The woman whose father and brother were dead because of me.
She was here. In LA. Eating a fucking burger while my fiancée sat in a jail cell.
Everything clicked into place.
This wasn’t random. This was revenge. Farah had been watching us, stalking us, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. And she’d found it. Used Yusef as bait. Used Zainab’s love against her.
My hands tightened on the steering wheel.
The light turned green. Cars behind me honked. I didn’t move.
I just watched her eat. Watched her wipe her mouth with a napkin. Watched her check her phone like this was just another Tuesday.
Enjoy your meal, I thought. Enjoy every bite.
Because it might be your last.
I pulled into a parking spot where I could keep eyes on her and pulled out my phone.
Quest answered on the first ring.
“Yo. You back in LA?”
“Yeah.” My voice was calm. Cold. The voice I used when I was about to do something that couldn’t be undone. “I need a favor.”
A pause. Quest knew that tone. He’d heard it before.
“Name it.”