AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“At the apartment the night of the robbery. I broke up with you to have an excuse to leave the apartment. Just in case some shit went down, I wanted to make sure me living next door to her wouldn’t be a reason for the police to implicate me.”
“Are you saying you were involved in Ashley’s attack?”
“Yes,” he answered casually. “You know my money was tight, so when I linked up with Deandre and saw the quick money he was making hitting licks, I told him to put me on. In order for him to help me, I had to give him an easy take. It was supposed to be Ashley. She was always posting her money and jewelry and bags, so I decided we would relieve her of some of it. I was going to break up with you and leave the apartment so I wouldn’t have to be questioned. If Deandre was caught and tried to snitch, that would also be my way of proving I wasn’t involved because I no longer lived there. We had cameras up, so I wasn’t worried about that because I knew they would show me never entering or exiting her apartment.”
He took a step in my direction. “But you fucked up the plan, trying to play hero. You were supposed to be at work that night.”
“I-I would have been, but Saint told me to take the night for myself. I was still upset and confused about you talking about we needed a break.” I chuckled and shook my head, knowing I should have trusted my intuition. From the beginning, I felt like Raven’s story was bullshit and not adding up. Now it made sense. If he was setting Ashley up to be robbed, of course, he’d want to get away from the scene. That was why he asked for a break instead of a full breakup—he wanted a way back in once he cashed out and everything died down.
“Yeah, well, you saw his face, and you snitched. Now, I have to kill you. If I don’t and you go back to Cali to finger him, he’s going to say I set this shit up, and I’ll end up serving more time than him.”
“Raven, listen to me,” I pleaded as he walked behind me. I quickly hit send on the message because I wasn’t sure if I’d have time to do anything else for that matter. At least that way, Hosea would be able to have an idea of what happened and why. “I don’t have to go back. I can stay here and…”
He laughed and pressed the gun into the back of my head. “Do you really think I trust you to keep this shit to yourself?”
“You know I didn’t want to get involved to protect myself. I only agreed to go back to Cali because Deandre is in custody. You can trust me to not say anything. Please, Raven.”
Raven thought about it for a few seconds before saying, “Walk to the edge.”
My eyes watered as I walked to the edge on weak legs. I’d learned to value life. Not once did I think Raven would be who God allowed to take it from me.
“I’m sorry, Cartier. This isn’t how I wanted this to end. I was trying to protect you. You should have gone to work.”
“Just do what you have to do,” I said.
“I don’t even have to shoot you. You can’t swim, can you?” He chuckled as he lowered his hand. “You just made this even easier for me. Jump.”
“Raven, I…”
“Jump!”
I jumped at the sound of tires screeching and gun shots blasting. As my body hit the water, I thanked God for Hosea, yet again. Not just because I assumed it was his car that was pulling up, but because he’d taught me how to swim. The river was nothing like the pool, but thankfully, the waves weren’t rustling, and it was easier for me to manage.
With a laugh and tears falling, I swam down before climbing out of the river. I didn’t know whose gun had been fired and if it was safe to go back over, but I had to make sure Hosea was okay if he’d pulled up.
“Fuck it,” I muttered, running back in that direction.
At the sight of Hosea pacing, my heart damn near gave out on me. I fell to my knees. He had his phone in one hand and his gun in the other. My eyes shifted to find both Carlos and Raven on the ground. It appeared Carlos was only bleeding out of his side, but Raven was bleeding out of his chest. His body lay against the muddy patch of ground lifelessly.
Covering my mouth, I released a sob that garnered Hosea’s attention. He rushed over to me, dropping the gun and pulling me into his arms.
“Are you okay?” he asked, holding me tightly.
“I’m fine,” I replied. “You saved my life. If you hadn’t taught me how to swim, I’d be dead right now, Zay.”
Hosea rested his forehead on mine. “I’m so glad you’re okay, Tink. I would have died and gone to hell just to kill that nigga over and over again if something had happened to you.”
I couldn’t even say anything. All I could do was kiss him. He was truly my holy hoodlum. My warrior. My safe haven. My gift from God.
* * *
Hours after everything went down and we left the police station, we made it back home. I didn’t want to do anything but shower and crawl into the middle of our bed. I still couldn’t believe Raven was behind the burglary, and it was even harder to believe he wanted to kill me to cover it up. He proved you really didn’t know someone until they showed you their true selves.
Everyone had been calling and texting to make sure I was okay, and Saint tried to cancel his next three shows to come and see me, but I told him that wasn’t necessary. Swimming in that river intensified my personal strength.
The night of the burglary, my power felt like it was stripped from me. Today, I felt like it was returned. Plus, I had Hosea, and he’d more than proven he was going to take care of me.
“What do you need?” Hosea asked as I headed straight for the bathroom.
