Page 151 of When a Soul Cries

My hands were shaking so bad I dropped the damn keys the first time.

That only pissed me off more.

I snatched them off the pavement, yanked my car door open, and climbed inside before slamming it hard enough to make the whole car shake.

For a few seconds, I just sat there, chest rising too fast, jaw clenched tight.

And that man’s voice was still ringing in my ears.

*Get the fuck away from her.*

“Who the fuck he think he is?”

Big motherfucker had stepped between me and Soleia like I was some stranger bothering her on the street. He’d looked down at me with that calm-ass expression that somehow felt more threatening than if he’d been yelling.

Like if I took one more step toward her, he was going to forget I was a woman.

And Soleia?

Standing behind him holding that baby, letting him defend her like I was the fucking enemy.

I started the car and jerked away from the curb.

“Ungrateful ass bitch.”

By the time I hit the highway back toward Pinehaven, Mississippi, I was still hot. I shut the radio off, called Denise, tossed the phone into the cupholder, and put her on speaker.

“Hello?”

“Girl, you ain't gon’ believe who the fuck I just ran into.”

“Who?”

“Soleia.”

A pause.

“Oh.”

My eyebrows shot up. “The fuck you mean, *oh*?”

“I mean… okay. You saw Soleia.”

“And the bitch still got that same damn attitude. Then she got some big-ass nigga with her acting like he her damn bodyguard. Stepped dead in my fucking face talking about, *get the fuck away from her.*”

“Hmm.”

“Denise, stop fucking saying *hmm*.”

“What you want me to say, Trice?”

“That his ass was out of line!”

Another pause.

“Was he?”

My mouth fell open. “Bitch, whose side are you on?”