He stared at her, his jaw clenching. “Yeah. Anything.”
It wasn’t what she wanted to hear, that was clear. And as I sat there watching them, I realized I was the only thing standing between him and his mother. But, like, in a spiritual sense. This woman had hurt him. Traumatized him. And now she had a hold on him, and he respected her too much as his mother to push back too hard.
That night in the hospital, after he got shot, he asked me to ride for him.
So that’s what I was gonna do.
I shifted my body to the side so that I was resting against Jakari, but also slightly in front of him. “What do you need, Gab? We were on our way out.”
“You’re really not gonna talk to me, Knight?” she said. “That’s how you treat your mother?”
“I’m not leaving his side,” I said. “He wants me here. And he doesn’t like that nickname.”
“Bitch, was I talkin’ to you? You’re inmyhouse, little girl. Shut the fuck up until you’re spoken to.”
Even though my blood pressure spiked and pain exploded behind my eyes, I kept my voice even and gave her a tight smile. “I’ve never disrespected you, Gab. Please don’t call me out my name.”
“I’ll call you whatever the fuck I want. Thismymotherfucking house.”
The mask was off. I’d always found her a little creepy, but this right here is who she truly was. Angry, bitter, and mean. I shuddered to think this was the face Jakari’s father saw right before she shot him full of bullets.
“Mama—”
“You gon let this little bitch talk to me like that?”
“You’re the only one talking reckless right now,” he retorted. “Chill.”
“Chill? Did you just fix your lips to tell me to chill?”
The edge in her voice made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Worried now, I jumped to my feet. Just in case. Because she clearly wasn’t above getting violent, and I was a sitting duck.
Jakari stood just after I did, and Gab rolled her eyes dismissively.
“Oh, that’s cute,” she teased. “Y’all supposed to be a united front or something? Yeah, alright. Just wait.”
I frowned at that, turning to look at Jakari. Whatever this little thing was between them, I wasn't in on it.
Jakari shook his head. “This some bullshit, and I ain’t in the mood. I’m out.”
He brushed past me, and I can honestly say me and Gab were both surprised by that. We stared after him, then at each other. The void Jakari left between us was palpable.
Now what?
She turned to follow him, but stopped short when I spoke.
“He told me.”
She whirled around. “Told you what?”
“That you made him your accomplice. With his dad.”
Her face didn’t betray her thoughts, whatever they were. “I see,” she said flatly. “Is that what I did?”
I didn’t react.
“Was that all? It wasn’t no other juicy details about that night?”
“That’s a horrible thing to do to your own child,” I admonished. Where I got the courage from, I don’t know. The bitch could shoot me right where I stood. “He’s still hurting behind that.”
She nodded. “That’s between me and him. You don’t have all the information.”
“I don’t need it.”
She shrugged. “Judge all you want. You’ll learn. You spend enough time in this game, you’ll learn. You think Jakari can’t do no wrong. Got you livin’ good. Lookin’ good.” She turned to walk away, calling over her shoulder.
“I can’t wait till the day you finally get your wakeup call.”