Chapter 20 #3
Of course not. There was an outsider sitting at the table. Me. Monique let the phone ring until it went to voicemail. Immediately after that, Sanaa’s phone began to vibrate.
“Now he’s calling me.”
Kain shook his head. “Let it ring.”
And she did, allowing the call to go to her voicemail box. Like clockwork, at the other end of the table, Cierra’s phone began to ring.
“Cierra…”
Kain’s sister ignored his request, belting out a, “No, fuck you, Kain. Making Amir do your shit like some sidekick, not visiting Uncle Vance after he spent twelve years in prison, and now you’re putting everybody at risk fucking around with this bitch.
Fuck you, I’m answering my father’s calls.
” Cierra swiped her finger across the screen, pressing the phone to her ear. “Hi, Daddy.”
Kain’s jaw clenched with a frightening type of anger.
The last time I’d ever seen him this angry, he’d broken someone’s face.
I got the sense that something else was going to break tonight, too.
Kain’s tensing muscles conveyed that he had every intention of grabbing the phone out of Cierra’s hand and smashing it.
Not because she answered the call. But because she called me a bitch.
I laid a hand on his lap, shaking my head when his eyes met mine. “Kain, please.”
Silas Montgomery’s voice sliced through the silence of the room. Even though he wasn’t on speaker, we all heard him loud and clear.
“Hey Cici, baby, is your brother around?”
Cierra looked at Kain with the phone pressed to her ear. Kain’s eyes squinted, and he wordlessly dared her to try it. Cierra had found a line, and chose not to cross it.
“No, Daddy. I haven’t seen him.”
On the other end, Silas erupted into a flurry of profanity. “FUCK!”
The exclamation was so loud that Cierra had to pull the receiver away from her ear.
“Dad, what’s wrong?” Cierra’s voice grew worried. I looked at Kain, and even he seemed a little thrown. This was apparently not normal behavior from his father. “What’s wrong!?” Cierra asked the question again.
“He ain’t pickin’ up his goddamn phone!” Silas Montgomery actually sounded like a frantic parent.
I thought back to almost a week ago when Kain told Amir that if Silas calls, let it ring.
“He ain’t picked up for three days now. The housekeepin’ staff at the house swears they ain’t seen him since last fuckin’ Sunday. ”
Something in my stomach twisted as I noticed something. Kain and his father have nearly the same voice. They have the same accent, too. The voice and manner of speaking I’d fallen in love with sounded almost identical to Silas Montgomery’s.
Cierra shot Kain a glare, trying to calm her father down. “Daddy, I’m sure Kain is fine.”
“No, Ci, HE AIN’T!” Silas sounded convinced. “I need you to call everybody. Both your sisters. Call up Marlon, Jay, and Amir. We gotta find him before they do.”
Despite the fact that Kain was sitting right next to me, my blood ran a little cold when Silas said those words. Cierra’s next question was exactly the one I was thinking.
“Who is ‘they,’ Daddy?”
“Cierra, are you listenin’ to me?” Silas was rushing her. “Call everybody and get somebody to tell Kain that Rochelle and Lyle know.”
“Know what, Daddy?”
“That I ordered the hit on their son,” Silas sped past the confession like it was nothing.
“And now they puttin’ everything on the line and comin’ after mine.
Kain can’t make his drop at Poseidon tonight.
It’s a fuckin’ set up! They got at least five niggas armed to the teeth comin’ to shoot up the club, and Kain CANNOT be there.
They’re specifically lookin’ for him, and the kid will not make it out that shit alive.
Call up someone who knows where he is, and tell his ass to lay fuckin’ low! ”
Cierra managed to find her words as the rest of us sat speechless. “Okay, Dad.”
At the end of the table, Cierra’s eyes were already starting to water.
She flipped over her cell phone and dialed a number three times, and each time, it went to voicemail.
“He’s not picking up,” Cierra’s voice broke. “Oh my God, he doesn’t know.”
At the sound of Cierra’s words, Kain immediately started to rise from his seat, his eyes unreadable. It looked as if he were thinking one hundred things at once. I pressed my palm into his lap, hopelessly trying to keep him still.
“What are you doing?” I asked, although part of me knew. Kain ignored my question. The answer was obvious, and he doesn’t answer questions with obvious answers. In his eyes, I could see him working out a plan.
A long time ago, it dawned on me that Kain’s friends would die for him. At the same time, much to my dismay, I realized he would do the same for them as well.
“Sanaa, what time is it?” he asked his sister, completely disregarding me. Kain was calm, but this kind of calm was terrifying. Unlike anything I’d ever seen in him. He was detached.
Like he’s half here, half somewhere else, Sanaa described to me that afternoon when I ran into her and Cierra at Designer Greens. I saw it now. I was seeing the Kain that Sanaa and Cierra were describing that day. It made me feel so insignificant. I sat frozen in my seat.
Sanaa gave her brother the time. “Nine… Nine twenty-two.”
Poseidon, which was in South Beach, was a good distance away from Coral Gables, where we were. The club was set to open at ten.
“Monique, let me borrow your car,” Kain requested calmly.
Kain’s oldest sister seemed to be thinking exactly what I was. “No, are you insane? Did you not hear Dad? They’re looking for you. Now is not the time to puff your fucking chest and take these risks! Stay your ass home.”
“Sanaa,” Kain moved on, everything his oldest sister said going in one ear and out the other. “Your car.”
“No, absolutely not,” Sanaa said immediately. “Stay home. This isn’t a game. Why would you even want to go to Poseidon after everything Dad just said?”
The sound of keys jingling rang from Cierra’s end of the table. Before Kain could even ask, she’d thrown her car keys into his hand, answering Sanaa’s question for him.
“Amir is there. Kain was supposed to be there tonight, but he sent Amir. That’s why he’s gotta go.” Cierra looked at Kain and threatened, “I swear to God if Amir gets hurt because of you—”
“Cierra, what the fuck!” Monique shouted at her younger sister as Kain started to put on his shoes. Panic was rising in my chest. “He’s our little brother!”
“HE WANTS TO GO!” Cierra argued, wiping at her cheeks. “Kain can take care of himself.”
“So can Amir!” Sanaa shouted.
“Amir doesn’t know what’s coming!” Cierra challenged, on the verge of sobbing. “At least if Kain goes, he has a chance.”
“Or they both die!” I finally inserted myself into the argument, shouting this at Cierra. Rising to my feet, I rushed toward Kain, holding my hands out to his chest. “Please don’t go.”
“Lauren,” Kain’s voice was flat, his eyes barely recognizable. “I don’t have time for this.”
Easily, he thrust me aside, making his way toward the foyer. I called after him, following behind desperately. Behind me, I could hear Kain’s sisters following us out into the front yard.
“Kain, please don’t go,” I tried again, my voice becoming squeaky as I fought back tears. “Please don’t leave me.”
Ignoring me, Kain pressed the unlock button for the doors of the red Porsche parked out front. As if I were background noise, his eyes settled on my white car parked behind the red one. It was blocking his way out.
“Move your car,” he demanded quietly, bringing his eyes back to me.
“No.”
“Lauren, move your car.”
“No!” I shouted.
With that, Kain lost his calm, exploding on me for the first time. “You are wasting fuckin’ time on some BULLSHIT, Lauren! The longer we do this, the worse this situation gets! I’m going. Don’t try to change my fuckin’ mind.”
I swallowed hard, drawing in shaky breaths as I tried to keep my emotions at bay. “I can’t let you leave, Kain. Please. Stay.”
“Lauren!” His tone was impatient. “I can’t do this with you right now.”
“Kain—”
“MOVE. YOUR. CAR.”
Swallowing my pride, I used the last bit of leverage I had left, saying for the first time, “I love you. Please don’t go. I love you.”
Pain flashed through his eyes for the briefest second before the anger set in.
Then, with utter sincerity, Kain calmly replied, “I don’t care.” A sob ripped out from my chest, and Kain’s words seared into my skin like a branding tool. “Get the fuck outta my way, Lauren.”
Backing away, I simply shook my head, heartbroken, yet determined not to let him walk into his demise. Even if he didn’t love me back, I was not moving my car.
“Forget her,” Cierra shouted from behind us. “She left her purse in the house. I got the keys. I’ll move the damn car myself!”
Weakened by the force of Kain’s words, I didn’t have the fight in me to wrestle my car keys out of Cierra’s hands. I wasn’t even all that sure I could successfully fight her. Resignedly, I watched through teary eyes as Cierra unblocked Kain’s path, allowing him to drive off.
Alone, I crumbled to my knees, sobs rising out of me so hard that it hurt. On day seven of my week with Kain Montgomery, I told him that I loved him.
And he told me that he didn’t care. And then he drove off.
Possibly driving out of my life forever.