fingernails . . . everywhere. After we cleaned up, we jumped into the bed. Angel curled up under me, and I could hear her sniffling. I didn’t say anything. That was an experience that we would never forget. I didn’t even think anyone would believe what happened to us. In a weird way, I was glad that we experienced that together. It made our bond that much tighter.
“We almost lost our lives today, Kaylin.”
“Yeah, but you could have avoided the whole situation. That was some dumb shit that you did out there. You should have left when the opportunity presented itself. Jahara could have lost both of her parents. What were you thinking?”
“What do you think I was thinking? I wasn’t going to leave you. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself, remembering how I left you and remembering the last time I saw you. You were being shoved into the backseat of a car. Either way, I was damned.”
“Angel, don’t you ever do that shit again. The only thing I’ll allow you to do is get into a car and follow me. I couldn’t have been able to rest in peace, knowing that I was the cause of your death. Plus, our daughter needs you.”
“Allow me? Allow me?” She sat up.
“Yes, allow. I’m thinking about our daughter, Angel.”
“Well, our daughter needs her father, and I need my husband.” She started bawling. “Why are you making me choose? Our vows said ‘till death do us part.’ I can’t live without you, Kaylin. There is no way in that situation I would have been able to choose.”
I didn’t know what to say. All I could do was hold her tight. I tried to look at it from her point of view, but I wasn’t seeing it.
“They’re gonna come after us again, aren’t they?” she asked me.
“Not if I go after them first.”
“Baby, what have you been hiding from me? Who are they?”
“Nobody. Don’t worry about it. I’m just venting, that’s all.”
“No, you’re not, Kaylin. I know you better than that. You know exactly who was behind this. And you’re going to tell me. Kaylin, you can’t be around me twenty-four/seven. If the enemy is coming my way, I need to be able to identify him. Don’t leave me out here like this.”
She was right, but I didn’t want to tell her just yet. “Red, you’re worrying about the wrong shit.”
“Oh, am I? You know what? Forget it.”
My wife jumped up, snatching all of the covers off of the bed, and stormed out of the bedroom. I couldn’t bring myself to tell her that my own brother was the one who had sentenced us to death.
TRAE
“Macklin! You have a visitor.”
I turned away from the small window that allowed me to see the sunlight and walked over to the steel door. “Do I have to get cuffed up?”
“Just leg irons. In case you haven’t noticed, you are in the hole now. So they are mandatory.”
“Aiight, Officer Smart Ass.” The door popped open, and Officer Smart Ass motioned for me to turn around. I didn’t understand why I needed cuffs on my legs and not on my wrists. Where the fuck was I going to run? To the other end of the tier? He put them on and motioned for me to step out of the cell. I walked down the hall to the small room that housed the window visits and sat in the first booth. Tasha was heading toward me. I picked up the black phone, wiped it against my jumper, and placed it to my ear. Tasha picked up hers and wiped it down with a Clorox wipe.
“From the look on your face, I gather that Benny filled you in.”
“You gathered right, mister. Seriously, Trae, a new murder charge? And the county jail? You know what? It doesn’t even matter, because I’m not bringing your sons to see you at some damn, filthy county jail. I made sure Benny found you someplace decent where you could be comfortable and you wouldn’t have to get into trouble,” Tasha ranted.
“Get into trouble? Tasha, this shit ain’t grade school. And even though that spot was laid-back, it was still a jail, and it still had niggas in it. And niggas are gonna try you. If I got put in that same situation again, I would do it again.”
“Then you know what? You’re gonna do this shit by yourself. Call me at the house!”