“No.” Too soft. Too calm. Too dangerous. “Don’t ‘Khi’ me. I asked a question.”
“I wasn’t?—”
“Why the fuck would you talk to him like that? Everybody ain’t gon’ handle that mouth the way I do?—”
I felt the blush warm my face. “Victim-blaming? Really? This ain’t my?—”
“Farrah, he was sitting in a truck watching.He got out and shot up Steel’s car after that call! He was approaching the restaurant until our guys got out.”
I flinched. I mean, when he put it that way…
“Why didn’t your guys get him? I saw three of them.”
“Because the nigga with Trell got out shooting, giving him cover to shoot up Steel’s shit. And there were people in that parking lot, including kids. I ain’t giving the go ahead to kill no kids!”
He paced, furious.
“You think Trell some goofy little nigga you can clown? The nigga is clearly not all there! You think your mouth gon’ protect you?”
“Mekhi, I’m not stupid!” I yelled.
“Then stop acting like you are!” he snapped.
I couldn’t lie. That hurt my feelings. My eyes stung with sudden, unshed tears, but I refused to look away. “I’m not scared.”
“Yo’ crazy ass should be.”
I threw up my hands. “Why? Because I’m a woman? Huh? It’s alright for you not to be scared, but I’m supposed to be somewhere shaking in a corner? We agreed that I could be bait, so I tried it today. I’m sorry I fucked up, but you yelling at me because?—”
“Because I could’ve lost you!” Mekhi roared. “Fuck that bait plan, Farrah. I’m not losing you.”
Well… that shut me right up. I had questions. He cared if he lost me? I was his to lose? Something told me to tread lightly, to hold my tongue with him for once. He looked wrecked. He took one deep breath, then another.
“When Steel called… in the chaos of everything, it wasn’t clear where the shooting was, where you were. I thought he was calling to tell me you’d been shot.” He swallowed hard. “I started counting exits...”
I froze.
Oh, my God.
“Mekhi,” I whispered.
He stepped closer. Slow. Intentional.
“You know what I was thinking, Little Thug?” he asked hoarsely.
I shook my head, afraid to speak for once.
“That you mean too much,” he murmured. “You meansomuch. And I felt bad for never telling you.”
My pulse jumped. Now wasn’t the time; it seemed so inappropriate, but his words, even during this mess, made me happy. So damn happy.
He lifted his hand, fingers brushing the side of my neck, thumb tilting my chin up.
“Why didn’t you hang up on him?”
“I’m sick of him,” I whispered. “He a weak piece of shit?—”
Mekhi’s laugh was soft, disbelieving. “You don’t know that nigga to tell him shit like that. You ain’t doing a good job, future psychologist.”
