Page 52 of Mr. Calloway

“Give it to me straight. You know me. I don’t beat around the bush.”

She nodded, and my breathing became labored. I knew it was coming, but I needed to hear it.

“I’m broken, Dio. I was broken when I met you and still am. I thought that with you being my savior, it would help me heal, but I still have open wounds, and what happened to me just opened them further. I love you. I love you very much, and because I do, I will admit that you need to be set free.”

My lip trembled because I knew Mars was leading to it. “So, what you're saying is you want to part ways?”

She dropped her head, and I stood and walked into my room. The sound of her crying did what it did best—fuck with my emotions. I headed out of the room, then out of the house.

“Keep talking, Mars. Don’t stop now. Tell me how you feel,” I told her. My pace picked up as I headed to Chev’s as she continued.

“I talked to Chevy, and he made me understand that the problem is that I am searching for something I will never find. I-I’ve got trauma, and you got demons. Dionysus, I?—”

I knocked on the door and waited. “You what, Mars?” I asked.

The sound of the locks clicked, and when the door opened, we both stood there. Samara was in tears, and my heart shattered into a million fucking pieces.

“Tell me to my face. No hiding behind this phone. You’re a fucking Calloway, and Calloway’s don’t hide. They stand on business.”

“I still want to be Mrs. Jackson, but I need time. I need to heal, and if it means letting you go, then so be it. I’m sorry,” she sobbed. “Dionysus...”

I knew Mars was broken, and I knew what she was saying was right. It just hurt because in my heart, I thought she was the one, and every move I had made was for her when it should have been for me. I didn’t hate her; I still loved her, and I knew a part of growing up was understanding and not projecting.

I tugged at her shirt, pulling her into my arms. I hugged Mars tight as hell because I didn’t want to let her go, but even love had to be set free. A tear rolled down my face as my lips took to her ear.

“You’re free.”

After everything that I’d been through, I learned a lot from the Zoo and from my brother. However, the main thing I learned was that a king’s crown falls sometimes, but he can always pick it up. June Chevy fucking Calloway taught me that.

June

Since Cynthia’s visit, I'd debated whether to open the letters she gave me or burn them. However, my reasons for disliking her had nothing to do with my sons. While they were still minors, it was my decision whether to allow them to get to know her, but once they were old enough, if they wanted that relationship, it would be their choice. When I read the letters, I realized she had put their house in the names of their great-grandchildren. Money and wealth were all they thought about. She had missed the mark yet again.

When she said he knew no other place but home, I decided to see for myself. I stood at the door, ready to knock, but then chose otherwise and shot at the doorknob, sending it popping open. As I stepped inside, the aura of evil filled me. This house was exactly what I thought it was—pure fucking evil. I could only imagine the type of monstrous things Clark did here.

As I moved further inside, I spotted a door cracked and walked over to it, pushing it open.

The dark office sat quietly screaming the secrets that were held here. I found myself scanning everything in the room until I came across a photo. I walked over and picked it up. It was a photo with Indigo, Tania, my mother, and that nigga Myers,who was supposed to replace me. It was supposed to be me in this photo, but instead, I was across the world being tortured. Oddly, the photo didn’t have the same pull because I knew that, although my life was hard, God had saved me from something. He saved me from a life that would have been much worse than what I experienced.

I went to set the picture down, and the sound of his voice made me go still. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Home is where the heart is. Isn’t that right, Clark?” I said as I turned around.

I could see his mouth sizzle a little, and a grin eased on my face. “You scared?” I asked.

He tried fixing his fucked-up tie. “Of you? Ha. You’re mistaken. I’m not one of your animals.”

I nodded as I moved closer. “You should be. I can kill you right here and now if I wanted to. But I’m going to show you what animals do,nigga. I’m going to hunt you like prey. I’m going to give you a head start. Clark, you should be scared. Very. I’m going to skin you alive, and then I’m going to cut your fucking loveless heart out. It’s not a threat. It's a promise. So run,nigga, run.”

I looked him up and down as I walked past him. Clark was going to make a move, and when he did, it was coming with something, something he didn’t expect.

***

“I can’t believe after all that you let that nigga walk,” Bishop said as he handed me the blunt.

The shit sounded crazy, but shooting him would have been too easy. If he wanted to see the animal come out of me, I was going to give it to him. However, I also had a feeling thathe wasn’t making his moves alone. Clark knew too much. The way he had been able to navigate, his pop-ups, his knowing information, it was all something that stood out. Just like the night I left the hospital. How did those muhfuckas know I was there?

Turning to Bishop after releasing the smoke in my lungs, I posed a question. “I know you and Indigo are engaged and shit, but have you seen Navanna?”