Chapter 23 Noni
NONI
Iwas knocking hard on Bali’s door, and she refused to open that shit.
I had a key, but she had the chain on. I yelled through it, but I knew she couldn’t hear me.
She had her music loud to where she wouldn’t hear me.
She had Z-Ro blasting. I slowly shook my head.
Z-Ro was not the right nigga for her to be listening to right now.
He would have her saying fuck everybody.
Whether she knew it or not, she needed somebody to be there for her.
I took a deep breath and gave up. Bali was way more stubborn than me.
I knew I was stubborn as hell. I didn’t know exactly what she and Carter were arguing about, but whatever it was, it was bad.
I’d never seen Carter look so angry. I heard her say that Daddy knew, and Ali knew.
If Ali knew, it could only be one thing.
As I walked to my house, it hit me like a ton of bricks.
She had Ali looking into that pharmacist. I stopped walking and closed my eyes.
She had that man killed. I stooped to the ground in my dress.
I was feeling her heartache from here. I didn’t think she regretted what she did, but I felt like she was regretting it at the same time.
She wasn’t upset that man was dead. She was upset that her actions may have caused her to lose Carter.
Red had dropped me home and left to go check on Carter.
Even he said how angry Carter had to be to leave the way he did.
I didn’t know where this would leave my sister’s mental.
We were supposed to be celebrating Carter and Red this coming weekend and going to the NFR next weekend. God, I hated this.
I stood and walked back to my house to find Maui, Ashanni, and Milana standing there.
We were all worried about her. I didn’t say anything to them.
I just unlocked the door and let them go inside.
We all sat on the couches and just stared into space until I said, “I think she had the pharmacist that approved the wrong prescription for you killed.”
Maui’s eyes widened, and she scooted to the edge of the couch. “What? There’s no way you said what I think you said.”
“I overheard her telling Carter that only Ali and Daddy knew. What exactly was it that Ali had to know? I knew she had him digging up dirt on that pharmacist, because she insisted that he had to know that bitch gave you the wrong prescription.”
Maui lowered her head. “I wish Treasure would have never told us what she said. None of this will bring Indigo back. I shouldn’t have told y’all.”
She started crying, and Milana pulled her in her arms. I leaned over and began rubbing circles on Ashanni’s belly. While I knew it was soothing to her, it was soothing me right now. I needed to be there for my sister, and she wasn’t allowing me to be. God please.
“Noni, did Carter break up with her?” Milana asked.
“He didn’t say he was. He just left. Like, he was talking and didn’t even finish saying what he wanted to say. He left mid-sentence. I want to believe that he was about to call it quits and decided to wait until he calmed down. He was so angry.”
“How did he find out?” Maui asked.
“I don’t know. I just saw them in what looked to be a heated discussion at the barn and ended up following them outside.”
“I wonder what Uncle Mayor had to say to her when they were in the conference room,” Ashanni said. “Asad went to Liberty with Red.”
“So did Mythic and Ferris,” Milana added.
I relaxed against my couch cushions with my eyes closed, doing my best to keep it together while Bali was alone, falling apart.