Page 112 of The Prodigy

“Where’syourhead at?”

He smiled. “I wasn’t finna leave you out there by yourself. I was gon tell you.” He took a deep breath, and I realized he was nervous. “Grab my bag out the closet for me.”

I retrieved the mysterious black bag and brought it to him. He accepted it with his good arm and I returned to my spot next to him.

“Aight.” He pulled out a short stack of papers. “Niggas don’t like to think about shit like this, but my daddy told me a man always prepares for his death.”

He pulled a sheet off the top of the stack and handed it to me. “That’s a life insurance policy. A hundred racks. If I go, it goes to you. You just call that number up top.”

“Are you serious?” I stared at the paper like it would come alive and fly away.

“I know it ain’t a lot, but on paper, I only make forty thousand. If you get policies that pay out way more than you make, they get to asking questions. You'll get more than that under the table, so don't worry about it. Aight, this right here is your bank account number. Keep that, file that shit away. It’s for emergencies, only. If you need something on a Wednesday or some shit, you use this card.”

He pulled out an American Express card. My name was on the front.

“Eat, shop, whatever the fuck. That’s yours.” He handed me a key. “Now, this right here goes to a storage unit out on Route 86. If shit goes down, you go straight there. It’ll be some instructions, some cash, and a burner phone. Hopefully you never need it, but if you do, it’s there. And this right here…” he reached down under the bed and pulled out a box.

“Sometime next week, I’ma take you out and show you how to use it.”

Inside was a gun. The most beautiful shade of blue, like a Tiffany’s box. I touched it with my index finger, then snatched my hand back.

“You bought me a gun? I hate guns.”

“Not anymore. If you in this, you gotta be able to protect yourself. I ain’t gon be with you every second of every day. Neither will security.”

“Okay.” I stared at the gun, then at my husband’s face. “You did all this for me?”

“Yeah. Cuz while you been riding for me, I been riding for you, too. That’s my motherfucking job now. And it ain’t just cuz the law say we married.”

He turned and stared into my eyes. “I always knew it would come a day when somebody got me, and here it is.” He shook his head. “I’m feeling you, Malika.”

It wasn’t an I love you, but I didn’t mind. I wasn’t ready to say it, either.

“I’m feeling you, too.”

He took the gun box placed it on the floor next to the bed. “I want you to go ahead and start looking for a place for us. Somewhere that takes pets.”

“Our own place? For real?”

“Yeah. Something we can rent month to month, cuz I’m still not sure how long I’m staying here. How longwe’restaying.”

I stiffened at that, and he noticed.

“I know you don’t wanna leave here. And if I decide to go back to Atlanta, I’ll want you with me, but I’ll understand of you don’t wanna go.”

“You know what?” I tilted my head back and stared up at the ceiling. “Maybe it’s time.”

“Yeah?”

“I mean…my sister’s still here. And maybe I just have to accept the fact that my mom isn’t coming back. Whether she left on her own or…something worse, she would have reached out to me by now if she wanted to. If she was able. Right?”

“I don’t know, babe.” He leaned in and pecked my lips. “I can’t really say.”

I nodded.

“I got one more thing for you.”

He stood and walked out of the room, returning with a large brown box. He was struggling to hold it with his good arm, and that’s when I realized the box was moving.

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