“You right,” I said, throwin’ my hands up. “You got it, bitch.”
I walked her to the door, gave her a quick hug, and told her I’d hit her tomorrow before she stepped out. Once she left, the apartment got quiet again, and that same lil’ emptiness crept back in.
I locked the door and started straightenin’ up, pickin’ up behind us, washin’ the dishes and cleanin’ the kitchen like I always did before I got ready for bed.
I took the trash out, ironed my clothes for the mornin’, then headed to the bathroom to shower, runnin’ through my routine like it was just another night.
After I got out, I threw my robe on and dropped my phone in the pocket just in case Couture called me while I was in the bathroom. Then, I stood at the mirror and started pressin’ my hair, movin’ slow and careful so it came out right. I wrapped it up once I was done, brushed my teeth, washed my face, and went through my facial routine, tryna settle my mind down before I laid it down for the night.
I had just patted my face dry with the towel when I heard a knock at the door.
I ain’t think nothin’ of it. I walked out the bathroom and down the hall, still in my robe, and when I opened the door, my whole body froze.
Three niggas stood there in dark clothes with ski masks on, and for a second, my mind couldn’t even process what I waslookin’ at. It felt unreal, like I had stepped into somethin’ that wasn’t mine or like I was havin’ a fuckin’ nightmare.
Then it hit me all at the same damn time…
I tried to slam the door, but they was too fast.
They pushed through the shit like it wasn’t nothin’, and the force of it sent me flyin’ backwards, my body slammin’ hard against the floor while the door flung wide open behind me. The sound echoed through the apartment, and before I could even catch my breath or push myself up, they was already inside.
For a second, I just laid here on my back, starin’ up at them, my heart racin’ so fast it ain’t even feel real.
As I laid frozen from shock and fear, it dawned on me…
I done let these niggas in…
And just like that… I knew this shit could go either way.
One of them stepped forward and shoved the door closed behind him, lockin’ it like he had all the time in the world, while the other one moved closer to me. My chest started risin’ and fallin’ too fast, my body tryna react, but my mind still stuck, tryna catch up to what was happenin’.
I opened my mouth to say somethin’, to scream, to beg or do anything, but nothin’ came out. The only thing I could hear was my own heartbeat poundin’ in my ears while I laid here, lookin’ up at three masked faces and realizin’ I was really in this shit.
“Bitch, where the money at?” Ond of ’em snapped, and before I could even answer, his hand came across my face so hard it made my head snap to the side.
“What money?” I finally got out, my voice shaky and confused.
He slapped me again, harder this time, and somethin’ in me reacted without thinkin’. I swung back, but it ain’t do nothin’. He grabbed me up and threw me back to the floor so hard it knocked the breath out my body, and before I could even catch it, he was draggin’ me by my hair across the floor.
“Stop playin’ with me, bitch!” He yelled, yankin’ me so hard it made tears fill my eyes. “Where the fuck the money at?”
That’s when it clicked…
Somebody had been talkin’, ’cause ain’t no way these niggas just popped up askin’ for money they wasn’t even supposed to know shit about.
Kay’Lo had gave me fifty thousand in cash before I came back home. I had took twenty thousand of it and put it in my bank account, tryna move smart, and after spendin’ about five, I still had a full twenty sittin’ in the safe in my closet.
And now these niggas was in my house… askin’ for it.
My stomach dropped all over again, but I ain’t have time to think about who set me up or how they even knew. That shit ain’t matter right now. All that mattered was stayin’ alive.
“Okay, okay,” I said quick, my voice breakin’ while I tried to push myself up. “I’ll give y’all the fuckin’ money…just… don’t shoot me. Please…”
They followed behind me while I crawled toward my bedroom, my body shakin’ and my hands barely steady enough to hold me up. I kept prayin’ under my breath the whole way, askin’ God not to let this be how I went out.
When I got to my closet, I grabbed the safe and dropped it on the bed, my fingers tremblin’ as I tried to remember the code. My mind went blank, and panic hit me all over again.
“Bitch! Open that muthafuckin’ safe before I shoot you in yo’ shit!” One of ’em yelled, cockin’ the gun.
