Page 106 of Rah

As I pulled off, I heard my phone ringing in the pocket of my Pelle. But I was too shook to answer. I wanted to kill him, but I couldn’t believe I was actually about to in a club filled with witnesses. I had almost just broken my promise to Kahlani and her heart.

My phone was ringing again. Thinking it was Rah with threats, I took it out, answering without looking at the Caller ID.

“What, nigga?”

“Moses?” I heard a familiar voice ask fearfully. “This is Eli.”

My foot eased off the gas. “I’m sorry. Thought you were somebody else. What’s up, Eli?”

“Aye, man. I’m sorry that your manager sent you off like that. But after we got off the phone yesterday, I listened to your catalog of music, and you’re really dope. I wanna get you in the studio to see what we can do.”

See what we can do? Nah, I had been seeing what we could do for years.

“I’m straight. I don’t have time to keep trying. I got mouths to feed,” I told him, reaching for the driver’s side door.

“But–”

“Thanks for calling, Eli, but I’m good.”

I hung up. I had no more time for dreams, and what ifs.

I shut the door behind me harder than I meant to. My hands were still ringing from the rage that hadn’t burned out yet. Kahlani looked up from the couch with narrowed eyes. Looking at me, she instantly knew something was off.

“What happened?” she asked as I took my coat off.

I ran a hand over my head, growling inwardly. “I fucked up, bae.”

She looked like she stopped breathing for a second. Then she asked reluctantly, “What did you do?”

I cringed as I began to pace. “I tried to kill Rah.”

She gasped. “Youwhat?! Moses!”

“The gun jammed,” I admitted, staring at the floor because even saying it out loud made me feel like the universe was laughing at me.

Her hands started to fly as her voiceclimbed. “Oh my God! Oh my God! Why would you—Moses, do you know what that means? Do you know what he’s gonna—”

“Baby!” I barked, harsher than I intended. She froze, looking at me wide-eyed, so I took a breath and forced myself to calm down. “I’m sorry… He had it coming. He provoked me. He’s been treating me like I’m a punk, like I’m not a grown ass man, like I’m supposed to bow down to him. I ain’t bowing to nobody!”

Her chest rose and fell hard, but slowly her face began to soften, like she understood exactly what I meant.

Finally, her anger and shock subsided enough for her to ask, “So what now? You know he’s gonna want payback. You’re the only one that saw what happened with Carlos.”

I nodded grimly. “Exactly. And now that he knows where I stand, he ain’t gon’ let me live. If the cops ever put two and two together about that night, I’m the one that can put him in the dirt for real. He can’t risk that.”

As she chewed her lip, I could see threatening tears starting to surface. “Maybe… maybe he won’t kill you. Maybe he still needs you. You’re his meal ticket.You’rethe music. Without you—”

I cut her off with a humorless laugh. “Nah. That nigga don’t think like that. Loyalty don’t mean shit to him. If he feels threatened, even a little, he’ll take me out and figure the rest out later.”

Kahlani gripped her arms, and her eyes darted around like she was searching for an escape out of all this chaos. “Then we should go. We should move somewhere far away, out of the city. Somewhere he can’t find us.”

I shook my head. “We can’t. I make my money here. These streets are how I take care of y’all, so I ain’t running. If we run once, we’ll be running forever. That ain’t no way to live, andthat ain’t no way to raise Trent. I’m not a punk. I’m a man. And I’ll protect you and my son against anybody, even Rah.”

Her tears finally fell, but she met me where I stood, and wrapped her arms around me anyway, pressing her face into my chest. I held her tight, as I started to mentally prepare myself for this battle.

If Rah wanted war, then I’d be ready for it.

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