Page 100 of Rah

“Those are my kids! I’ve never done a damn thing to them–”

“Except lie on their mother, which put them in custody of the state and some little boy fucking raped your daughter because of it!”

“Aye, in the eyes of the law, I think you are the fucked-up parent, not me. Let me see my fucking kids or I will get full custody of them. I’m sure I will win since their mother is fighting a fucking attempted murder charge. Don’t play with me, Solae. You better make sure you keep me happy so that I won’t find more incriminating things to say when I testify against you.” Then I ended the call, while roaring in sadistic laughter.

PRIEST

The cigar lounge was smoky, dark, and loud as we watched the Nuggets vs. Lakers game.

I leaned back in my chair with a cigar between my fingers. Blu was drinking something dark while smoking on a stick as well.

Blu leaned forward with his eyes glued to the TV over the bar. “Aye, look at that boy Jokic. Lakers don’t know what to do with him.”

I smirked. “Still don’t matter. You know Bron gon’ flip the switch in the fourth. Nuggets up now, but that don’t mean shit.”

Blu cut his eyes at me. “You disrespectful, man. That’s the MVP. You act like he ain’t carryin’ the whole damn squad on his back.”

“Bronbeencarryin’ squads since before Jokic knew how to tie his shoes,” I shot back. “When it’s crunch time, my money stay on the King.”

Blu barked a laugh. “You old-head loyal. Nuggets gon’ run it. Watch.”

I was about to clap back when I caught movement out the corner of my eye. A woman slid up to our table. Her hair was long, and her skin was glowing under the lounge lights. Her lips were glossy enough to catch the reflection from the TV. And her slanted eyes were locked dead on me.

She leaned in, purring. “Aren’t you gonna let me sit with you?”

Then she actually tried to sit on my lap.

“Nah, shorty,” I said, easing her to the side. “Not tonight.”

She bristled, offended like I’d insulted her. “Wow, really?”

“Yeah, really.” Then I chuckled, offending her even more.

As she stalked off, Blu snorted and pointed like he’d won a bet. “Man, you see that? You got it bad. You swooning over Solae.”

I laughed, but it came out as admission. “I’m fiending for her, man.” I breathed the smoke out slow. “It’s stupid. She got me messed up. She’s been avoiding me.”

“Why?”

My fingers tapped the ash into the tray. “She claims she has a lot going on, but I started asking around when she got distant to make sure she didn’t get back with that weird nigga. I heard she stabbed Rah in self-defense.”

Blu’s eyes bulged. “Whoa. For real?”

“For real.” I rubbed at my jaw. “I want to gut Rah. I’d slit his throat with my teeth if it came down to it. But it ain’t that simple. If I kill him, it’ll make everything worse for Solae. It won’t help her case; it’ll give the cops a reason to dig. They’ll say she had something to do with it. She don’t need that.”

“Just give me the word if you want him smoked.”

“Nah. Like I said, it wouldn’t be good for her case.” Pausing,I took a sip of my tequila. “I want to tell Solae I know what happened. She ain’t gotta be embarrassed. I heard enough about Rah to know he’s the kind of nigga who makes monsters out of men.”

Blu started to squirm, like he was being held back from the best nut of his life. “Pleaselet me murk that goofy ass nigga.”

“Killing Rah won’t make her case go away. It’ll muddy the waters. Cops love chaos. They love a motive that ties people together. If Rah goes missing or gets hurt, they’re gonna look at everyone close to him first.”

Blu grunted, understanding. “So, what you gon’ do?”

“I just want her to know that I know and that I’m not judging her, so she won’t feel like she has to keep avoiding me.”

He nodded. “You serious about her, man. I see it.”