Page 18 of Beautiful Harmonies

Tears easily fell down her cheeks. I lay in bed next to her and turned on my side to wipe her tears. “I’m so sorry that happened to you.”

“Me too. My grandmother used to say all the time that a hard head makes a soft behind. She didn’t lie. For the past six months, Tray had been begging me to leave that nigga alone. Whenever we were in the same city, we would hook up, and within a couple to a few hours, I would be back with Tray, listening to him fuss about how I was letting him use me.”

She slowly shook her head. “I would throw his fuckboy tendencies in his face to get him off my case. He was only looking out for me, but I wouldn’t listen. Look where that shit got me. Drugged, raped, and traumatized.”

My heart was ailing for her. “Mi, you had no idea that something like this would happen.”

“I still should have been more cautious, especially when he took me to that party. I didn’t know any of the people there. Instead, I smoked a joint that he gave me and fucked my life up.”

“You didn’t fuck your life up, Mi.”

She shook her head again. I decided to ask the questions Deontray didn’t know the answers to earlier. “Did the hospital offer you the morning after pill?”

“Yes. What happened on the video was more than twenty-four hours ago though, and I’m not on birth control. What if I get pregnant?”

“I think the pill is effective for more than a day despite its name. Just in case, we will pray that you aren’t, but if you are, we will do what you feel is best. Did you press charges?”

“They said they would, whether I wanted to or not. As soon as FAAFO is back in the country, they will arrest him.”

“Do you remember who the other guy was?”

“His manager. I don’t remember his name though.”

“His manager was in on it?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh, that’s crazy as hell. A manager is supposed to look out for you and your career, not engage in bullshit with you.”

I was at a loss for words. This shit was crazy as hell. I grabbed Mi’s hand and just held it in mine, trying to offer her some consolation. I hated that she hadn’t been able to sleep. “Why were you in this room so long earlier if you weren’t asleep?”

“I wanted to give you and Tray time to yourselves. He’s been taking care of me for the past five and a half years. He deserves happiness. You’re that for him. Plus, I knew he would fill you in on what was going on. The police are hoping the DNA they found inside of me will pop. If they are both in the system, it should. They live in LA.”

“Yeah. They won’t be able to deny fluids. Your blood work will prove that you were under the influence and not in the frame of mind to be able to make decisions like that. Then there’s the video to prove what happened.”

“Did you see it?”

“Only about fifteen seconds of it. I saw that it was nearly five minutes long.”

“I watched it. I passed completely out during the act. I didn’t remember that. It looked like I wanted it. My facial expression looked satiated.”

“No, baby. You looked high. You didn’t seem to be coherent at all. Any judge in his right mind will see that.”

She scooted over and laid her head on my shoulder. We were only five years apart, but it seemed I was so much older than her. It made me grateful that I had parents who were very present in my life. I had a father who gave a damn and made sure his daughter was hip on all the game these thunder cats spit… his words, not mine. The man had an extremely old soul. He acted like he was seventy but was barely fifty. Regardless, I took his words to heart and made sure I applied them when needed.

Mi didn’t have that. Her father left the scene when she was only ten years old. At least that was when he physically left. Tray had said that he was too busy arguing with their mother for the last two years of their marriage than to be worried about them. So technically, Mi lost her daddy when she was only eight years old. To lose her mom at fourteen had to be devastating.

When I heard her yawn, I lifted myself, causing her to sit up as well. I got in a comfortable position and extended my arms to her. She lay back on me, and I wrapped my arms around her and began humming. I hummed until I heard a light snore come from her. I didn’t stop though. I kept right on humming until I’d put myself to sleep too.

The soft kisses on my forehead and cheek caused me to smile in my sleep. “Baby, y’all wake up. It’s six o’clock.”

My eyelids fluttered as I let his words swirl around in my head. My eyes popped open when I realized what time he said it was. “Y’all missed your flight!”

“No, we didn’t. We’re leaving with you. I need more time with you. We’ll get a hotel room when we get there. We could probably use the quietness there.”

I smiled big as I sat up in the bed. “Wow. I’m glad.”

“Yeah. We’re only gonna stay a couple of days. I’ve already arranged a private flight to get us home. We’ll meet you in Houston for your show.”

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