“Now that you’re off work until after the Christmas break, I don’t have to worry myself into insanity during your work hours. I’m just glad he bought the emergency leave story. That’s one less thing we have to worry about.”
“Well, I don’t like having to lie, but I know it’s for the best. I just can’t believe all this shit is happening. Everything was going so smooth, and then the shit just hit the fan out of nowhere.” I furrowed my brow as I thought about how things had changed in a matter of a few days, and how I longed for things to go back to the way they were before the explosion at Red Lobster. I missed not having to worry and be scared for my life.
I’d called my boss, Principal Wayne Justice, and told him that I was going to have to take some emergency vacation time because of an illness in my family. I felt terrible about it, but with the way things were going, I didn’t feel comfortable going to school and failing to hide my apprehension in front of my class and my coworkers. Plus, I didn’t want there to be any chance of anyone I knew getting caught up in this mess and getting hurt. We were only three days away from the start of Christmas break, but taking the extra days made me feel better. I just hoped that after the New Year, I could go back to work and all of this craziness would be over.
It was only seven o’clock in the morning, but Kelvin and I were both wide awake in his bedroom, and unable to get back to sleep. After the huge blowup last night at the Royal Flush, and Deshaun’s peculiar behavior afterwards, both of our minds seemed to be racing about the same thing. There were just so many questions that we didn’t have the answers to, and I could tell by Kelvin’s body language that the unknown was starting to eat away at him. He wanted so badly to have access to all of the information, but his own father was standing in his way.
“I just don’t get all of this shit,” he said as he sat up in the bed and leaned his head back against the black headboard. “The Russians had backed off. I mean, I know Ivan was talking all that shit that night we saw him at Applebee’s, but he basically disappeared after that. Nobody has seen or heard from him since. Now, all of a sudden, I’m supposed to believe that Ivan is the one behind everything? With no proof, at that? It just feels so wrong.”
I scooted over and laid my head on Kelvin’s bare chest, breathing in his unintentionally sexy scent. “But, it’s really the only thing that makes sense, Babe,” I said. “Ivan had your brother killed and you shot. You retaliated by having his son shot, and he was obviously not over that when we saw him at Applebee’s. I mean, the guy threatened you outside of the restaurant that night. He basically admitted that he was gonna be after you and your father. It only makes sense to look in his direction when something like this goes down. Who else could it possibly be?”
“My father.”
My eyes bulged. “What? You think your dad would try to kill you?”
Kelvin took a deep breath, causing my head to rise and fall with his chest. “My dad’s not a nice man, Lilliana. I’ve seen him do some pretty terrible things to people. Things I’ll never forget. He and I aren’t exactly on the best of terms either, as I’m sure you can tell. I blame him for my brother’s murder. He thinks I should’ve done more to try to save Fab after he was shot, so he blames me. It’s a never-ending cycle. And I know he doesn’t want me around because I’m not Fab. When my parents divorced, my brother followed my dad, and I went with my mom, and my dad hated me for that. He still does. So, knowing him the way I know him, it wouldn’t surprise me if he tried to pull some shit like this, just to get rid of me.”
“That seems really extreme, though. Couldn’t he just ban you from The Family?”
“I guess he could, but he won’t because Uncle Mikey wouldn’t allow it. He’s my godfather and
“Well, I don’t like having to lie, but I know it’s for the best. I just can’t believe all this shit is happening. Everything was going so smooth, and then the shit just hit the fan out of nowhere.” I furrowed my brow as I thought about how things had changed in a matter of a few days, and how I longed for things to go back to the way they were before the explosion at Red Lobster. I missed not having to worry and be scared for my life.
I’d called my boss, Principal Wayne Justice, and told him that I was going to have to take some emergency vacation time because of an illness in my family. I felt terrible about it, but with the way things were going, I didn’t feel comfortable going to school and failing to hide my apprehension in front of my class and my coworkers. Plus, I didn’t want there to be any chance of anyone I knew getting caught up in this mess and getting hurt. We were only three days away from the start of Christmas break, but taking the extra days made me feel better. I just hoped that after the New Year, I could go back to work and all of this craziness would be over.
It was only seven o’clock in the morning, but Kelvin and I were both wide awake in his bedroom, and unable to get back to sleep. After the huge blowup last night at the Royal Flush, and Deshaun’s peculiar behavior afterwards, both of our minds seemed to be racing about the same thing. There were just so many questions that we didn’t have the answers to, and I could tell by Kelvin’s body language that the unknown was starting to eat away at him. He wanted so badly to have access to all of the information, but his own father was standing in his way.
“I just don’t get all of this shit,” he said as he sat up in the bed and leaned his head back against the black headboard. “The Russians had backed off. I mean, I know Ivan was talking all that shit that night we saw him at Applebee’s, but he basically disappeared after that. Nobody has seen or heard from him since. Now, all of a sudden, I’m supposed to believe that Ivan is the one behind everything? With no proof, at that? It just feels so wrong.”
I scooted over and laid my head on Kelvin’s bare chest, breathing in his unintentionally sexy scent. “But, it’s really the only thing that makes sense, Babe,” I said. “Ivan had your brother killed and you shot. You retaliated by having his son shot, and he was obviously not over that when we saw him at Applebee’s. I mean, the guy threatened you outside of the restaurant that night. He basically admitted that he was gonna be after you and your father. It only makes sense to look in his direction when something like this goes down. Who else could it possibly be?”
“My father.”
My eyes bulged. “What? You think your dad would try to kill you?”
Kelvin took a deep breath, causing my head to rise and fall with his chest. “My dad’s not a nice man, Lilliana. I’ve seen him do some pretty terrible things to people. Things I’ll never forget. He and I aren’t exactly on the best of terms either, as I’m sure you can tell. I blame him for my brother’s murder. He thinks I should’ve done more to try to save Fab after he was shot, so he blames me. It’s a never-ending cycle. And I know he doesn’t want me around because I’m not Fab. When my parents divorced, my brother followed my dad, and I went with my mom, and my dad hated me for that. He still does. So, knowing him the way I know him, it wouldn’t surprise me if he tried to pull some shit like this, just to get rid of me.”
“That seems really extreme, though. Couldn’t he just ban you from The Family?”
“I guess he could, but he won’t because Uncle Mikey wouldn’t allow it. He’s my godfather and
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