Page 47 of The Prodigy 2: Rise of a Queen

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Malika

Istaredatanannoying ass couple in the corner booth and turned my nose up at the PDA. I mean, they were cute or whatever, but all that kissing and giggling and touching on each other was making me feel bad. Like I was missing out.

Oh, well.

Who wants that perfect love story anyway?

My phone buzzed in my back pocket, but I ignored it in favor of wiping down the bar. The last group in here were some rowdy truckers passing through town. Those types were usually my worst customers, and always left a huge mess, but today’s group actually tipped me well, at least. Could be because my titties were spilling out of my shirt these days.

“Malika!”

I whirled around to face Max, my manager. His face was serious.

“Somebody’s on the phone for you. Says his name is Kari. He said it’s an emergency.”

I jogged toward him, entering the office quickly and grabbing the receiver.

“What’s wrong?”

“Stop what you doin’ and go to the spot!” He sounded out of breath, like he was running.

“Spot?”

“Now, Malika! The storage place.”

“Oh! Okay, okay. Do I—”

“You gotta go now! Drop the phone and go!”

My head swam violently as the phone slipped from my fingers. I’d never heard that sound in his voice before. Fear. Desperation. Panic.

I grabbed my purse and ran out the back door over the protests from my manager calling to me to come back.

I practically dove into my car, my fingers trembling too hard to get the car started. Finally, I was able to get my key in the ignition, cursing myself for not having Cyrus to drive me today. Although that would have likely been worse, because he wouldn’t have been scheduled to pick me up for another four hours.

I sped out of the lot and hooked a right before slowing down enough to dig my phone out of my back pocket. I’d already saved the address to the storage unit in Maps, so I pulled it right up and set my phone in my lap. My destination was eighteen minutes away.

I let out a shaky breath and checked my rearview mirror, not even sure who or what I was looking for. None of the cars behind me seemed out of the ordinary, nor were they driven by some sneaky, shadowy figure with murder on his mind. I relaxed a little, and I was finally able to think.

I never actually thought this day would come. When Jakari gave me the key and address and told me that was where I’d go if some shit went down, I paid it no mind. Well, that’s not true. I saved the address and taped the key to the bottom of my purse, so yeah, I guess I did take it seriously. But still, I never thought it would actually happen. This wasn’t a movie. This kinda stuff didn’t happen to regular folks like me. This kinda stuff happened to Denzel and Tom Cruise and Liam Neeson on a big screen in front of a captive audience.

But this was my life now.

Just like my family predicted.

I’m such a fool.

I made a left turn onto Route 86 and checked my mirror again. Nobody turned after me. Thank God.

The sun was almost at the end of its long goodbye. I switched my lights on and slowed down a bit. I was fine. Everything was fine.

It was dark when I pulled into the lot. I turned off my lights, cloaking myself in the darkness. I wasn’t feeling that at all, but I had no choice. I didn’t wanna call attention to myself in case somebody was watching. But who would be watching? Jakari was thorough. I was sure nobody else knew about this place.

After five minutes, I was sure nobody followed me here. Grabbing my purse and phone, I eased out of the car and closed the door gently behind me. The lights on top of each unit illuminated their corresponding numbers, so I let them lead me down the rows of metal boxes until I got to number 130. After one last look around, I unlocked and lifted the heavy door.

There was a car inside. A beat up Chevy. I flipped the light on and shut the door behind me. On the hood of the car was an envelope, which I wasted no time opening. I didn’t want to be here any longer than I had to be.

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