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“The fuck is July 14th?” I said as I rushed back downstairs.

That wasn’t any of the kids birthdays, our anniversary, or my birthday. I picked the phone up and put the four numbers in, and the phone unlocked. There were no apps on the phone. The call log was clear, but there were messages. There was a recent text thread from him and somebody named West.

Rah: I told you I was tired of passing that shit down

West: That ain’t just yo decision to make

Rah: When it comes to my kids, it is

That was the day before he was murdered. I went through the messages, and everything was vague. The phone calls were only about thirty seconds. Then I scrolled down further.

West: Your dad built this shit before you were old enough to count money. You make this move and everybody tied to the old structure takes a hit.

Rah never said anything back unless it was deleted. So I went to the next text thread, which was labeled ‘D’.

Rah: Same place and time. No Meek or Pops.

D: You sure

Rah: If this shit go left, I need them clean

That was the end of their messages. This shit wasn’t telling me anything. One last text thread was on the phone.

Rah: I’m done with this shit. Meek can keep distribution. Pops can hold whatever he wants to hold.

Old Man: You think you can pull your name out and the rest survive untouched?

Rah: I’m not asking permission.

Old Man: Then be ready for what comes with that.

Rah: Been ready.

For months, everyone told me there were no leads on what happened to Rah, but the leads were in the damn phone. I had no idea who any of those people were. This was something I had that Meek had no idea about. Thinking of Meek, he started calling. Usually I would answer, but right now my mind was clouded.

Meek: You home?

Me: Yes, I’m handling paperwork right now. What’s up?

Meek: Just checkin up on you.

For once, I had something of Rah’s that belonged to me before the Kings. Until I figured out what the hell my husband had been trying to do before somebody killed him, I was keeping this from everyone. Even Shameek.

CHAPTER 24

SHAMEEK

Ididn’t do what I told Kyenna I was going to do when it came to Nikki. It was easy for me to say I would handle the shit. Nikki had given me years of her life with no commitment, and to cut that off cold turkey wasn’t going to be easy. I thought of how I was going to do it every day and still hadn’t got the courage to tell her we got to chill. She was a woman, and the first thing she was going to think was it was another woman. Since I had been under Kyenna a few days, I decided to give her a break and come and see how Nikki was doing. We had only texted here and there since our last disagreement. Since I had been here, Nikki had been acting too normal. I mean, that is what I asked for. She always complained that I never made time for her. I had been missing for days, and when she opened the door for me, she didn’t complain once. She had dinner cooked and kissed me. I stood in the kitchen eating straight from the pot while she wiped down the counters. Something was off.

“You ain’t gon’ fuss at me ‘bout eatin’ out the pot?”

“What’s the point? You’re grown. If you want to stand over there and eat like somebody never taught you table manners, that’s on you.”

“See, that’s what I’m talking ‘bout. You been calm lately and I’m used to the bullshit.” I laughed and kept eating.

“Maybe I got tired of arguing with somebody that does whatever the hell he wants anyway. At some point, I had to decide if I was going to spend all my energy being mad or just let you be who you are.”

I stopped chewing for a second. The way she said it was calm, and it concerned me.