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“So you killed the only man who could tell us who finished the job.”

“He was never going to tell me. Q made that very clear. I asked him several times, and he never gave up who it was. Whoever it is, Q was protecting them.”

“Does Shameek know about all this?”

“Grif called him after Q was dead.”

“And how did he act when he arrived?”

“Shit, I don’t know. It was a lot happening. What are you trying to say?”

“Just wanted to know if he was surprised or not.”

“He was pissed that I even handled the situation without him.”

I wasn’t trying to throw the blame on Shameek. I just needed to point the finger at someone. For all I knew, Kyenna could be lying, and she did the shit. I wanted to be alone because now I had to figure out how to tell my kids that Q would never be back.

“You can leave,” I told Kyenna.

She grabbed her purse and walked towards the door and left. I locked the door behind her and stood there with my forehead pressed against it. When I turned around, Kaiden was standing at the bottom of the steps. His face told me he heard everything.

“Why does everybody keep leaving us?” Kaiden’s voice broke down.

All I could do was grab him and let him cry. I had to go through this grieving process with my children all over again. Q left me with two children who had to grieve someone they loved while learning that the same person helped take their father away. It wasn’t until now that I understood exactly why Kyenna had to pull that trigger. I still wasn’t ready to forgive her for doing it. But I understood why it had to be done.

CHAPTER 39

SHAMEEK

“You damn well should’ve told me about that shit,” I told Kyenna.

“I wanted to handle it on my own. It’s been two weeks, Shameek. Can we please move the fuck on? Just like you told me to move on about the Nikki situation.”

Just speaking her name still made my heart sting. After talking to the detectives, I was cleared as a suspect. Her body was still missing, and her flyers were still up all over the city. I still called and kept getting updates from her family. Whatever I had to do to keep them off me, I was doing. I had to meet them at her house later to clear out the house. I was really going to see if her ass had left anything. I know I had my boy do a sweep, but me putting my eyes on things one final time would clear my head.

Since Kyenna had pulled the trigger on Q, I was watching her ass closely. The shit scared me a little bit. She was acting normal, and that wasn’t something I was used to seeing from a woman. Kyenna would get up, go to work, and handle business like normal. Any time I tried to bring up Rah, she would shut it down. That bothered me a little bit. Before Q died, she asked questions about every new piece of information. Now, she had nothing to say. I didn’t know if Q had told her enough to satisfy her or if killing him had made her back away from investigating any further. Either way, I wasn’t asking too many questions.

“I gotta go help Nikki’s family clear this house out. I’ll see you at dinner tonight,” I said, kissing her on the lips.

“Meek, don’t be late. I don’t want to be sitting there by myself, and this is supposed to be an us thing.”

“I got you, baby.”

My mama had been doing family dinner every other Sunday since we were kids. Nobody had to show up every time, but when she said everybody needed to be there, we knew not to argue unless you wanted your phone blown up for the next few days. Tonight was one of those nights. The difference was Kyenna, and I had agreed we were done hiding. That had been her decision more than mine. I was ready to stop sneaking months ago. She was the one worried about how everybody would take it so soon after Rah’s death.

This was my first time back at Nikki’s since that night. I wasn’t avoiding the place; it was just in me not to revisit the scene of a crime. Her oldest sister, mom, and aunt was already here. When I walked inside, they had boxes piled by the door. The furniture was covered and ready for the movers to put it in storage. I fronted the bill for them. I told them it was best to put everything in storage just in case she came home. She would have all of her favorite things. I knew her ass wasn’t coming back, but I had to keep hope alive for family.

“I’m so glad you made it. I packed a few of your things that I found in the closet,” her sister said.

“’Preciate it. What do y’all need me to do?”

“Well, the movers will be here to get everything. I just want you to pack up the kitchen if you don’t mind. She has those high behind cabinets, and me and Mama can’t reach up there.”

“Yeah, I used to fuss at her about climbing on the counter to get plates down,” I joked.

My heart skipped a beat when I walked into the kitchen. My eyes went straight to where her body lay. As I stood there, I could still see her ass lying there. The whole conversation was replayed in my mind. How she sat across from me and cried because I was taking up for Kyenna and not thinking about how it affected her. I swallowed hard and walked into the kitchen. This was the same kitchen where we sat and enjoyed dinner. I opened the cabinet and pulled down her favorite wine glass. This shit was really fucking with me, but I had to keep a straight face. It was like she was standing in the corner, shaking her head at me for faking this shit in front of her family. I shook the shit off because I had other things to do today.

Nikki had crossed a line that night, and as bad as I felt about pulling the trigger on her, I would do that shit again. It was just some shit you didn’t do in the business that I was in. Kyenna was raised by a street nigga, so she knew the lines not to cross. Nikki came from a wholesome family and didn’t know that holding shit over a nigga head would get her ass killed. As long as she had fucked with me, I thought she would have learned the code. I kind of felt like it was my fault that I didn’t teach her more. Clearing the kitchen out took me about an hour. By then, the movers had made it. The rest of the house was packed up and ready to go. I did one final walk-through before saying my goodbyes to the family and grabbing my box with my belongings in it.