He tried to straighten when he saw me. “Khi?—”
“Where’s Farrah?” I asked.
“Khi, your mama?—”
“Where. Is. She?”
Jarell limped into view, blood on his forehead and his shirt ripped down the side. The sight made my world tilt. My heart dropped.
Seth cursed, coming to stand beside me. “The fuck happened?!”
Ajani’s hand hovered near his gun. “Who hit you?”
I didn’t move. I couldn’t. Somewhere deep inside me, something cold had already settled.
“She left with your mama,” Steel said, gaze locking with mine. “Ms. Gillian said it was an emergency. Said you were in the hospital and needed Farrah immediately. We couldn’t get you or Seth?—”
My brain snapped in half.
“My what?”
Steel didn’t flinch, just kept explaining. “She said they had taken your phone. That you kept asking for Farrah. That she needed to come?—”
“You let her leave with my mother?” My voice was too calm. Too flat. Like it was coming from someone else’s throat. Ofcourse he had. He didn’t know what I knew about Gillian. It wasn’t the kind of shit you wanted to tell anyone.
“We followed, knew something was wrong when we walked into the lot. Someone was there, waiting. They drugged us,” Jarell said. “Sprayed something in our faces. We tried to fight, but that shit was strong. I woke up twenty minutes later. She was gone.”
“We just got back here,” Steel picked the story up. “We couldn’t get you?—”
“We didn’t have our phones. Then they died,” Seth said.
Something in my chest tightened until it felt like my heart might break my ribs.
Seth stepped closer. “Khi… breathe, bruh?—”
I wasn’t worried about breathing. I moved quickly into the house. Her blanket and textbooks were on the couch. She never left messes. She must’ve been worried out of her mind. I gripped the back of a chair, my knuckles losing color.
My mother.
My own mother handed her over.
The betrayal hit so fast it almost buckled my knees. She kept doing that, had apparently been doing it all my life. Gillian was a traitor, and Farrah was paying the price. I knew without a doubt Trell had her. The room blurred for a second, then came back together with a sudden clarity.
Seth came in behind me. “Khi… say something.”
“What you want me to say?” I asked quietly. “That I’m good? That this ain’t the worst fucking thing that’s ever happened to me?”
He swallowed hard. “We gon’ fix this.”
“No.” My voice dropped, low and lethal. “I’mgon’ fix this.”
I closed my eyes, just for a second. The last time I saw Farrah, she’d been laughing with Mekhayla over a Spades game.She looked unbothered despite everything going on outside my doors. Because she trusted me. She trusted me to keep her safe.
And I failed. Again.
“This my fault,” I whispered.
“Don’t do that,” Seth snapped. “Don’t start that shit. You ain’t put her in nobody’s hands.”
