5. Alisha #3
Malik looked at her. “She better not.”
“See?” Shante pointed at him. “He started already.”
I laughed. “I’ll let y’all argue.” I hugged her carefully before heading toward the door. “Call me later.”
“I will.”
I walked out and headed toward the elevators. By the time I made it to my truck, my phone was already in my hand.
I called Mama and she answered. “Hey.”
“I’m leaving the hospital.”
“How’s Shante?”
“She’s good, Malik came back with food, so I left them.”
“Good.”
“I’m about to come back to your house.”
“No.”
I frowned.
“No?”
“Go home.”
“I can come over.”
“Baby, you've been running all day.”
“I know.”
“Go home, take a shower, and lay your ass down.”
I laughed. “Ma.”
“I’m serious, you don’t need to worry about me. Plus my grandbaby is not ready to leave yet.”
I smiled. “Alright.”
“Go home.”
“I will.”
We hung up and I pulled out of the parking lot and headed home.
For the first time all day, I actually felt tired.
I drove with the radio low, letting my mind wander.
I thought about Shante, Deuce and about everything Mama said.
Maybe I did need to stop trying to figure everything out in one day.
Maybe I just needed to breathe. I turned onto my street.
Then I saw a man standing beside my front door.
I slowed down, who the hell was that? He wasn’t nobody I recognized. He was dressed in all black with a long coat, dark jeans, and clean shoes. He wasn’t pacing, wasn’t looking around. He was just standing there like he belonged. I drove past my house then I looked in the rearview mirror.
He hadn’t moved, for some reason my stomach tightened. I grabbed my phone for a second, I thought about calling my Mama. Then I saw him pull his phone out, He looked directly at my truck.
Damn he saw me, I kept driving to the end of the block before turning around. I wasn’t about to pull into my driveway with a stranger standing there. I parked across the street instead. The man watched me get out. I kept my keys between my fingers.
He lifted one hand, “Mrs. Carter?”
I stopped a few feet away. “Who are you?”
“My name ain’t important.”
“Well, mine ain’t either if you don’t tell me who the hell you are.”
He looked at me for a second then he gave a small smile. “I respect that.”
“I asked you a question.” I replied
“I’m with the Skambino organization.”
My stomach dropped, I had heard the name before not from Deuce directly. But enough to know I didn’t want nobody from that world standing outside my house. “What do you want?”
“Deuce.” He answered.
“He’s not here.”
“I know.”
That made me nervous. He slipped his hands into his coat pockets. “I came because Mr. Carter got an outstanding obligation.”
“What kind of obligation?”
“Money.”
I swallowed. “How much?”
“Enough.”
He looked toward my house. “There’s also product that’s supposed to be accounted for.”
I shook my head. “I don’t know anything about that.”
“That’s fine, you don’t have to. I’m not here asking you to explain his business.”
“Then why are you here?”
His eyes settled back on me. “To make sure you understand what’s coming.”
My heart started beating faster.
“If Deuce doesn’t have what belongs to us…” He paused. “…this becomes a problem.”
“What kind of problem?”
He looked at me like he couldn’t believe I had to ask. “The kind you don’t want showing up at your front door.”
I felt my stomach twist. “I don’t know where he keeps anything.”
“I didn’t ask you to.”
“I don’t have his money and I don’t have access to it.”
“Then I’d suggest you figure out who can.”
I stared at him. “You came to my house to threaten me?”
“No, I came to give you a chance to understand the situation before somebody with less patience comes looking.”
That was somehow worse. He stepped away from the door. You tell Deuce…he got a short window. Money or product, one way or another, we get what’s ours.”
I didn’t say anything. He walked past me toward the sidewalk then he stopped. “Mrs. Carter.”
I turned.
“You got a little girl?”
My entire body went cold. He didn’t wait for an answer. “Keep her away from this.”
Then he walked off, I stood there watching him disappear around the corner.
I didn’t move because I couldn’t. My keys were still clenched inside my fist. My heart was pounding.
Deuce ass was locked up. And now some man I’d never seen before had just stood outside my house telling me somebody was coming for money or product that apparently belonged to my husband.
I looked toward my front door. For the first time in my life I was scared to walk inside my own damn house and all I could think about was Brittany.
I sat in my truck for a minute after that man walked away. I couldn’t move, his words kept running through my head. Money or product. Keep your little girl away from this. I looked toward my house. Hell nah I wasn’t staying there.
I pulled my phone out and called Mama.
She answered quickly. “What’s wrong?”
“Is Brittany okay?”
“Yeah she's over here watching cartoons. Why?”
“Keep her.”
There was a pause.
“Keep her?” She asked.
“Yeah please Ma and don’t start interrogating me.”
“Alisha, what happened?”
“I’ll tell you when I get there.”
“Baby—”
“Ma, please.”
My voice must’ve sounded different because she stopped asking questions. “Aight.”
“I’ll be there in a minute.”
I hung up and I kept thinking about that man standing there.
How calm he was. The scary part was he knew exactly where I lived.
I grabbed my purse and went inside. I locked the door behind me.
I went straight upstairs and started throwing clothes into a bag.
I wasn’t even thinking about outfits. I grabbed leggings, t-shirts, underwear, a hoodie and some pajamas.
Whatever I could reach in the little amount of time I planned on being there.
I stopped in the middle of the bedroom and looked around.
This was supposed to be my home, my safe place.
And I was packing a bag like I was running away.
My life was falling apart and I ain’t have shit to do with it!
“Fuck this.” I mumbled to myself. I went into the bathroom and grabbed the rest of my toiletries.
Then I remembered my charger and threw that in the bag too.
I grabbed my bag and headed downstairs. Before leaving, I walked through the house one more time. I checked the doors and the windows. I didn’t know if that man was bullshitting or not and I wasn’t willing to find out.
I got back into my truck. I decided to not go to my mama’s because I didn’t want whoever had been watching my house to follow me there. If they knew where I lived, there was no telling what else they knew. And I wasn’t putting Mama or Brittany in the middle of it.
I drove around for a while before pulling into a hotel.
I parked near the entrance and sat there with both hands on the steering wheel.
I felt stupid, scared and pissed off. I was tired of Deuce’s problems becoming everybody else’s problems. I for damn sure wasn’t about to let his mess put my daughter in danger.
I grabbed my bag and went inside. The woman at the front desk smiled. “Hi. Can I help you?”
“I need a room.” I let her know as normal as I could.
“One night?” She asked.
I hesitated. “For now.”
I gave her my information, paid, and took the key.
When I got upstairs, I unlocked the door and stepped inside.
The room was plain with one bed and one chair with a little table, nothing that felt like home.
Honestly that was fine because I didn’t want home right now.
I double locked the door behind me. I pulled the curtains closed and dropped my bag beside the bed.
The room was quiet, just what I needed so I could think.
I leaned back and closed my eyes. All I could see was that stranger standing outside my house.
I didn’t know who he was. I didn’t know how much Deuce owed.
I didn’t know what product he was talking about.
And I sure as hell didn’t know how deep my husband was in whatever mess had people showing up at my house.
But I knew one thing, whatever Deuce had gotten himself into, I wasn't letting it reach Brittany. Even if that meant I had to get my daughter and get the hell up out of Detroit and divorce his ass. I told him before she was born to let that street shit go! But nooooo a hard head makes a soft ass, now I’m running from my own home and his ass in jail.