Page 119 of Rah

My heart was still beating out of my chest. I was out of the house, but I was still hyperventilating. Just the sound of Rah’svoice was fucking scary. He had only put his hands on me once, but learning all that he had done had me so scared of what he could do to me now.

Back at my car, I hurriedly put Junior back into his car seat. Then I rushed around it and jumped into the driver’s seat. I pulled out my phone to text Fabe and curse him out for not warning me. But after I opened my text message inbox, I noticed that I had missed messages from him that were doing just that.

I shook my head and groaned. I was mad at myself for not being more cautious and not paying attention. As I turned on the engine and backed out of the garage, I was done.

I was leaving.

An hour later, Fabe had let me know that it was okay to come back home because Rah had finally left. So, I left the Starbucks parking lot that I had been sitting in and flew home, ready to pack my things and get out of this city.

As soon as I got into the house and slammed the door shut, locking it behind me, Fabe rushed into the living room from the kitchen.

“Babe...” He called for me with sorrow in his eyes as he rushed towards me.

After placing the baby’s car seat on the couch, I allowed him to throw his arms around me. My heart was still beating fast with fear, and Fabe’s comfort wasn’t helping any.

“I have to get out of here,” I told Fabe. “I’m sorry, but I have to. I’m going to Texas–”

“No,” Fabe insisted as he let me go andlooked into my eyes. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know he was coming. He popped up on me–”

“You told me it was safe to be here!” I spat as I pushed Fabe in the chest. “You told me that he never comes out here–”

Fabe came towards me, closer, grabbing my hands softly and insisting, “He doesn’t! But apparently, he doesn’t like the fact that I’ve been dodging him. He wanted to see what was up with me–”

“And get you to find me, right?” I pressed.

Fabe’s shoulders sank as he admitted, “Yeah. He kept trying to get me to call you–”

“See?!”

“But, of course, I told him that I wasn’t doing it.”

“He probably knows I’m living here. Me and Junior’s stuff is all over the place!”

“When I saw that it was him pulling into the driveway, I ran around the living room and kitchen, hiding everything.”

I paused for a bit and looked around the living room. There were no traces of me or Junior. But, still, I wasn’t convinced. “I can’t stay here! It’s not safe. It’s been weeks and he is still obsessed with finding that money. If he killed his own best friend, what do you think he is going to do to me if he knows that I stole three-hundred thousand dollars from him?!”

I imagined what would have happened if I had blindly walked into that house. I imagined what he wouldn’t have hesitated to do to me, even in front of our kids. Just the thought made the hairs on the back of my neck stand straight up. I looked at my baby and knew that I had to do everything I could to protect him, even if that meant walking away from my own happiness and a good man.

But Fabe wasn’t going to allow me to leave, however. “You’re right. I agree with everything you’re saying, except youleaving. I want you here with me. I gotta be the one that’s protecting you, and I can’t do that with you all the way in Texas. I already told myself that I had to move. It’s already done.” He squeezed my hands tighter. “I already called my movers and a rental agent. The agent’s looking for something for me ASAP, somewhere out the way, and the movers are coming in a couple days.”

“But this is your house.”

He shrugged. “I can rent it out. We can rent another place, since we’re in a rush. But we’re not staying here, even if we have to go to a hotel. I’m gonna protect you. I’m not gonna let anything happen to y’all.”

All this time, I’d been thinking about running and leaving him behind. And here he was, moving his whole life around to keep me safe. Tears burned the corners of my eyes. “Fabe…” My voice trembled as I whispered it. “I love you.”

His lips curved upward, while his eyes stayed locked on mine. He pulled me in, wrapping me up so tight I could feel his heart against my cheek. “I love you too. Ain’t nothing in this world gonna stop me from loving you.”

The way he said it, the way he held me, made the fear in my body finally subside a little.

27

KAHLANI

Two weeks after recording that song, Moses and I were in a rented-out mansion surrounded by a videography crew, Eli, Ill One, and a bunch of Instagram model chicks.

Eli had gotten Moses a stylist who had laced Moses in diamonds and Gucci. I cringed as he sat on a plush leather couch with a bottle of Cristal in his hand, these phat booty chicks all over him, rubbing on him, and kissing his cheek as he lip-synched to his own lyrics.