Page 54

Liam

“What’s up, my guy?” Sherrod slurred, sitting down on the barstool next to me and never taking his hand off my shoulder.

I shoved his hand off but didn’t say anything at first. I could smell the alcohol reeking through his pores.

“That lil pussy got some power, don’t it, my guy?”

“What?” I snapped.

“I know you hitting that, big guy. I can tell by the way you grill a nigga every time you see him. Then you sucker punched me that night at the restaurant about her little ass. Ain’t no nigga pushing up that strong about a bitch he ain’t fucking. I’m not fucked up about it. I’m just letting you know that I know.”

“Good to know.” I shook my head.

I reached into my wallet and slapped the money on the counter to cover my tab. I knew if I stayed around his drunk ass much longer, I was going to do something I would regret.

“I know some niggas that would pay good money for that shit. That might be my next business venture. I’ll probably even let you have her once we get done fucking and slutting her out.”

I was furious, but I still didn’t react. I left his ass right there going on and on about his future plans for her. I walked outside, but I didn’t leave. I posted up and watched both exits. I wanted to see if he was leaving with somebody or if he would leave alone.

By then, I knew I was going to do something to him, I just didn’t know what. As luck would have it, he walked out of there alone. When I noticed him creeping around to the back of the building instead of to his car, I knew that was my chance. He didn’t hear me coming until I was already right up on him. Turns out his dog ass was out back peeing on the side of a dumpster. Once he finished, he must have sensed my presence because he turned right to me.

“Look, bro, I might be drunk as fuck, but I don’t swing that way.” He laughed until he realized that it was me. “Damn, you waiting out here for me like a little ho about that pussy. I know you ain’t had it yet now. I tell you what. When me and the crew run a train on her, I might let you join. That’ll be the last piece of pussy you get before I have one of them to put a bullet in your head for thinking this shit sweet. Might kill that bitch you so tender for first just so you can watch with your soft ass.”

That was the last thing he said before I grabbed him by the throat and shoved. I didn’t even shoot him at first. I was so livid that I choked him until his body went limp, then I put my gun under his chin and pulled the trigger. Since we were already out by the dumpster, I just put him behind it and left. I could have hidden him better. Hell, I could have put him in the dumpster, but I wanted someone to find him.

“He really said all that?” Divine asked once I was through telling the story.

“Yeah.”

“I hope you don’t think I blame you for me having to deal with Zane.”

Her comment was met with a brief moment of silence. Divine saying she didn’t blame me meant a lot to me, but it did nothing to ease the gut-wrenching guilt I’d been plagued with since the moment she told me the reason she had to carry out their ridiculous plan.

“Don’t worry. I’m carrying enough guilt for the both of us. You might not blame me, but I blame myself.”

“Liam, don’t say that. I know you would never purposely put me in this position.”

“It doesn’t matter. I should have moved smarter. I could have gotten rid of his body and made sure he was never found. I didn’t want to do that. I didn’t want to leave him as a missing person and have you end up getting questioned as a known associate. Even when I wasn’t thinking about you, I was thinking about you. With all the thinking I did, I still fucked up. I’m having a hard time not blaming myself for this shit, Divine.”

“Well, you shouldn’t. As far as I’m concerned, you were defending me. I should have never allowed him to be in my presence. He put up a good front for a while. There’s no telling what he would have ended up pulling.”

“I should have taken care of him the first time he threatened you.”

“He was drunk, though.”

“Don’t defend him. I don’t regret killing his punk ass. If I had to do it again, I would. My only regret is dragging you down with me. I can take care of myself.”

“You’ve proven that you can take care of me too.”

As good as it felt to hear Divine say that, I wasn’t convinced anymore.

“I’m not sure I can protect you from this shit, Divine. I’m going to fix it, though,” I vowed.

I didn’t want to sugar coat things to make her think that I was more confident about the outcome than I actually was. I wasterrified for her. It pained me to think that the best thing she could do was continue to play along in this game.

I didn’t care what happened to me. The retaliation against her was what kept me from walking right up to Whitmore and putting a bullet in his head. I was done being patient and giving him the grace of breathing the same air my baby had to breathe. He was taking up space that could have been better left empty. If he thought he was going to marry Divine, he had what little life he had left fucked up.

“Let’s not talk about him right now. I want to enjoy you while I have the chance,” Divine said, standing from her seat and sitting in my lap.