Page 24 of Judgments of Fire and Desire

“Baby, you look amazing as always, but umm… you know you’ll probably get dirty.”

“I know. That’s what they make dry cleaners for. Let’s get out of here before you’re late.”

I gave him a soft smile as he grabbed his wallet from the nightstand. We headed for the kitchen for me to grab my keys. I never brought my purse to this event because I didn’t want to have to keep up with it. I just slid my driver’s license and debit card in the back pocket of my jeggings. I turned to him after locking the door and asked, “Are we riding together?”

“No. I need to go check on my mama. I’ll be back at your place tonight, if that’s okay.”

I went to his arms and kissed his lips. “Of course it’s okay. You’re always welcomed to be wherever I am.”

He smiled. “That’s good to know, baby. I’ll follow you there.”

I nodded and kissed his lips again. When I got to my car and was backing out of the driveway, I blew a kiss to him as he waited for me. He smiled slightly. I could tell in that short amount of time, something had happened. When I saw the cop car at the road, I knew he must have gotten a threat. I took a deep breath, praying that he would be able to handle whatever came his way, especially mentally.

I found that since we’d been together, I’d been praying a lot more. I supposed that was a good thing. There was nothingwrong with having a closer relationship with God. My phone rang, so I answered it through the Bluetooth. “Hey, Mama. I’m on my way.”

“Hey, baby. I just got here and didn’t see your car.”

“Yes, ma’am. I’m about five minutes away.”

“Okay. See you soon. Your brother just pulled up.”

“Okay.”

I slightly rolled my eyes. For some reason, Samuel still wasn’t sold on the authenticity of our relationship. Thankfully, his opinion didn’t weigh heavily on the decisions I made formylife. It was like he was hell-bent on trying to persuade me to stay away from Kyrie. He’d only been around us once or twice at my mama’s house when we’d gone to visit and for dinner. My mama loved the mess out of him, so I didn’t understand Samuel’s issue.

When we got to Some Other Place Soup Kitchen, I smiled. Serving people made me happy. Most of the people that were homeless were looked down upon, and I hated that. Most of us were a couple paychecks away from being homeless ourselves. With the way the economy was these days, I barely had enough money to save. Most of it went to bills. I thought I was losing it when the price of eggs and milk skyrocketed.

I killed my engine and got out of my car to see the police officer had followed us here. My brother approached him as Kyrie got out of his SUV. Frowning slightly, I made my way to Kyrie. He looked worried, and I knew that wasn’t a good thing. “Baby, what’s going on?”

I grabbed his hand. He turned to me. “A new threat. Backlash from yesterday’s sentencing.”

“Oh. Are you okay?”

He nodded. Placing my hands to his cheeks, I pulled his face to mine and kissed his lips just as my chief drove up. He still hadn’t formally announced his retirement, and I almost hopedhe didn’t. I wasn’t ready to fight for the position. I needed to be available for whatever Kyrie needed from me.

The chief approached us with a smile. “So there’s been a development between the two of you that I wasn’t aware of. Congratulations, sir. You have a good woman.”

He extended his hand to Kyrie, and he shook it. “Thank you. I’m well aware of that fact.”

Kyrie put his arm around my shoulders as the chief went inside. Kyrie looked over to where the officer that followed us was. He seemed interested in what he and Samuel could possibly be talking about. I grabbed his hand and said, “Everything’s going to be fine, baby.”

He nodded and allowed me to grab his hand to lead him inside. However, shots rang out just as my grandmother was driving up. I quickly pulled Kyrie to the ground and covered him with my body. He practically flung me to the ground and got on top of me. I realized what I’d done, but that was second nature to me. I was a firefighter. My natural instincts wanted me to protect him.

When the shots stopped, he looked around, then stood. After helping me from the ground, he asked, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. What about you?”

“Yeah.”

He walked away from me and went to Samuel and the officer. They were both on the ground, and I realized the officer had been hit. My mama ran up to me with my grandmother in tow. “Mama, y’all need to leave. Please go home. I’m safe, and so is Samuel. If anything happens, I promise to communicate.”

She nodded and grabbed my grandmother’s hand. Grandma pulled away from her and made her way back to me. She hugged me tightly, and said, “Be careful, baby. I’m praying for everyone’s protection.”

“Yes, ma’am. I love you.”

“I love you more.”

They left the scene as I made my way to Samuel and Kyrie. When I placed my hand on Kyrie’s back, he flinched. After seeing it was me, he pulled me close. “Don’t ever do no shit like that again, Genesis. I don’t need you protecting me. It’s my job to protect you. Had you been hit, I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself.”

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