Page 3 of A Toxic Redemption

Kissing her on the cheek, I jogged down the steps and made my way back to my truck. As I waited for the oil to flow, I scrolled through my phone to see if I'd missed any messages. I kissed my teeth at the number of times Alicia, Allison, and even Persia called my phone. I kind of fell back from them when I found out about KJ. It wasn't intentional. I just wanted to focus all of my time on him. Deciding not to respond to any of them, I pulled out of the driveway and made my way through town toward our trap spot.

As I made my way through the city, I chuckled as I looked at the workers setting up once again for the holidays. I don't know what exactly God was trying to tell a nigga, but the most fucked up shit happens to me this time of year. From having my brother run off with my bitch to those same two muhfuckas popping up years later with my kid in tow, the holidays have not been that good to me. I will admit that finding out I have a son hasbeen a major adjustment, but I love his little ass more than life already. Lost in the thoughts of my son and how much my life has changed in such a short period of time, I almost missed my incoming call.

"Who is this?" I answered as I looked at the unknown numbers on the dash.

"Is that how you answer the phone for me?" Mia's sensual voice flowed through my speakers. There was a time when my dick would jump at the sound, but now it was taking everything in me not to throw the fuck up. "Where are you?"

"Girl, why in the fuck are you calling my phone?" I frowned as I pulled into the yard of our trap house. It was the first of the month, so the spot was definitely jumping today. "Calling and questioning me like I still won't put two in your chest and in your head. What the fuck do you want?"

"Khalil, I'm sorry, okay?" she cried through my speakers. I felt like a bitch at the way my eyes were rolling. "I made a mistake, and I'm sorry. You can't be mad at me forever. We have a son to raise."

"True," I said as I exited the car.

I threw my head up at a couple of people who were hanging in the streets. The neighborhood was still quiet and decent for the most part, and I appreciated that.

"We do have a son to raise, and that's where it ends with us. I don't give a fuck about any of that other shit you're talking about." I pulled the rolled blunt from behind my ear and lit it before entering the spot. "Say what you got to say. I got shit to do."

"It's been two weeks since I've seen my son, and I want him back!" she yelled through the phone. "Yes, I know I was wrong for keeping him from you for two years. I've let you have your time, but he needs to come back home where he belongs."

"And where is that?" I leaned against the banister. "You think you're about to go back to playing house with my baby and bitch ass brother?"

"Khalil, get over it! The three of us are a family!" she angrily gritted. "You should be happy that I even let KJ know who his real father is."

"You know what?" I angrily chuckled. "I'll call you back and let you know when and where to meet me with KJ."

Without waiting for a response, I disconnected the call. Fuck that bitch and the shit she was talking about. It would be the coldest day in the pits of hell before I let her and Kaine lay up with my baby ever again, and I mean that shit.

"The fuck you out here huffing and puffing about nigga?" Bino asked as he brought his lanky ass on the porch with me. "Who pissed you off?"

"Man, Mia got me fucked up." I inhaled from the blunt and held the smoke in my lungs for as long as possible before I exhaled. "Talking about getting KJ and shit. I'll kill that bitch first."

"We can fa'sho make that happen." He nodded as he grabbed the blunt from me. "Have you talked to Kaine?"

"Nah." I shook my head as I looked out over the yard. "I'm going to get KJ and myself situated at the condo first. I ain't with that nigga coming to the house with us laying our head there."

"I feel you on that. Just know me and Jake got your back, man." He held out his hand to me, and when I accepted, he pulled me into a brotherly hug. "Regardless of how shit started with us, we're family. You need to have that conversation with Unk, too."

"Yeah, man, I know." We detached and took a seat in the chairs on the porch. "I'm going to holler at him this week and see what's up with him—"

Skurrr!

Bino and I both jumped from our seats with our guns by our sides as an old-school, blacked-out Chevy Caprice came speeding down the street. Before we knew what was happening, we were in a shootout in broad daylight, and we didn't even know who the nigga was.

Pop! Pop!

"Oh shit," I hissed as a bullet pierced my shoulder.

I continued aiming and shooting at the unknown vehicle, which wasn't letting up. By now, Jake was on the porch, blasting with us. Bino jumped from the stairs and dodged fire as best he could as he shot out the back window. With that, they sped off, but we continued shooting in their direction.

"Man, who the fuck was that?" Jake asked as he turned to me. "Say nigga, your shoulder is bleeding like hell."

"That tends to happen when you get shot nigga," I griped as I held my arm. I was losing blood pretty fast, and my arm felt as if it was falling off. "I got to get this shit wrapped up."

"Come on." He gestured toward his ride. "Kira is at home, and she will get you right."

"I will shut down shop for the day," Bino chimed in as he made his way back toward the house. "Twelve will be here in a minute, and I want no part of that shit."

He made plans to meet us when he had everything here situated, and all I could do was nod to let him know I understood. My arm was burning like a bitch, and I was losing consciousness. Thankfully, Jake drove with urgency, and being that the house wasn't that far from the trap, we arrived in no time.

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