I rose swiftly, getting in her face and snatching her up by the throat. Wrath brewed behind my stare, and her shaken irises searched mine frantically.
“You want to know what happened to my first wife? The answer to that might not be what you expect,” I told her through gritted teeth. “You want to go out there and live your best hoe life? You go right ahead and do just that. My son won’t be a part of it. Your visits with him will be supervised from now on. Try me, bitch.” I snatched away from her, knocking her down to the ground during the exchange.
She hit the floor with a loud thud, and when she finally gaped back at me in silent disbelief, her chin quivered and her eyes filled to the brim with her tears.
“Where am I supposed to go? You know that I don’t have anyone,” she whimpered, scrambling away from me while staggering to her feet.
“Try that nigga you been fucking behind my back,” I clapped back, turning away from her before I smacked fire and knocked her back down.
Something on the TV caught my attention. The hotel that she’d been creeping at was on the screen. Reaching for the remote, I turned the volume back on and listened to the story. A picture flashed on top of the hotel footage, and I’d be damned in the same nigga she was fucking popped up.
“The victim was last known to be staying at this hotel. Kemper Evans is a detective with the Mount Calligan Police Department. Hotel staff say that he had a woman visitor tonight, but she left not long after he did. She is a person of interest. Security is accessing footage now so that she can be brought in for questioning. Channel 8 with more to this story coming soon.” The reporter nodded to the camera, and my head swiveled toward my wife.
She trembled as if she had been walking through a rainstorm and suddenly stepped into an air-conditioned room.
“Looks like the list of people that fuck with you just got shorter,” I countered playfully.
Satisfaction filled my face, and I wouldn’t pretend that it didn’t please me. Mothafucka got what he deserved as far as I could see.
“Harold, please—” she whined.
“Goodbye, Chaya. Considering everything, you got off easy. I’ll let you know when we can arrange a visit between you and Junior.” My back remained turned to her.
I was sincere with it. Too many times I allowed a bitch to step into my realm and wreak havoc amongst my life. My son was young; I didn’t want to put him through the same things as his sisters. I wasn’t going to leave room for that bitch to put salt on my name either. I knew how bitches got when they were bitter.He was better off with me. Harmonie would help too. She just needed some time to get out of her feelings.
My daughter was a hothead, and she thought the world revolved around her; that was true. However, I didn’t doubt that she loved her baby brother immensely. Harbor was another story. I got the feeling that the rift between the two of us would never be bonded together again.Chaya fled our home with her head between her legs. It wasn’t long after her car pulled off that another wheeled aggressively into my driveway. I went for my gun in a nearby drawer and approached the front door. I couldn’t tell who it was because the jackass left the lights on as they came up to the porch. Yanking the door open, I came face-to-face with Lock, and his gaze immediately drifted to the pistol in my hand.
“Lock, what are you doing here?” I asked, checking past him to see if he had company. He seemed to be alone.
“I’m looking for Harmonie.”
“Well, she ain’t here. I haven’t seen her since earlier today. She and Harbor got into it, and she took off, pissed at everybody. I thought she would have called you.” I waved the gun toward him casually.
“Nah, she’s tripping right now.” Lock shook his head. “But I can’t find Alba, and she’s flashing since she found out about us. She dropped my daughter off at her cousin’s place, and nobody seen her in like a week.”
“You think she’s going to come after Harmonie?” I questioned, both brows knitted together.
“I don’t know.” Lock shrugged. “And the fact that I can’t find either one of them is fucking with me.”
“Let me call in a few favors. Come in.” I welcomed him inside and called Ohan.
Lock sat with me for a few hours, but we came up dry with everything. He searched both of their social media pages, andit gave away nothing. The last thing I did was have Ohan run a search on Harmonie’s phone. Lock damn near worn a hole in the floor from all of his pacing. I could see that he was becoming more restless the longer he sat here. After stretching, he shook his head and rose after a brief session of scrolling through his phone.
“I gotta go. I got a few more spots I can check. I got a feeling if I find Harmonie, I’ll find Alba,” he assured me.
“Call me if you do, and I’ll reach out and do the same.”
The sinking feeling that filled me inside was unshakeable. I already called her phone multiple times. I knew she was pissed, and she didn’t always call me back, but she typically came home in the end. My concern grew into dread, then worry, and that was slowly sending me into silent panic. I prayed, hoping that she walked through that door full of attitude at any moment.
Lock
The barthat Harmonie and I typically met up at was cracking when I arrived. Chris, the bartender I was familiar with, was on duty. Bobbing his head, he signaled to the door behind him and moved along mixing drinks and taking orders. I knew what that meant. She was here. We met here all the time, and most of the time, she grabbed a bottle and went right to the room to wait for me so that we weren’t out in the open for someone to see us. Cutting through the crowd and thick smoke filling the small space, the scent of perfume, men’s cologne, and alcohol wafted generously through the air. I ducked behind the bar and emerged into the hidden hallway from the small door. A red light illuminated the narrow space as I stepped through it toward the last door at the end. Reaching for the knob, I was about toturn when I heard the distinct, very clarifying sound of a gun chamber being cocked back.
My back stiffened, and a cold chill swept up my spine, paralyzing me with my hand on the door. I brought my arms up, surrendering to my captor as the steps inched closer to me. The cold barrel of the gun poked my neck, and goose bumps popped up all over my flesh, raising the hairs on every part of me.
“Step inside,” the voice instructed.
The bass from the music thumping outside these walls was still loud enough to sort of distort it, but something told me that I was dealing with a female. I turned the knob and pushed the door open. An amber glow filled the space from the small lamp beside the full-sized bed in the seedy ass room. It was simple, no character, unless you counted the walls and the many escapades that they witnessed over time. What caught my attention was Harmonie, propped up in the bed, mouth and eyes wide open. There was a halo from the bullet that had pierced her temple remaining on her skin. She stared back at me, completely unresponsive.
