Page 81 of Kissed By the Trillest Thug 2

“Boy, out of all places.”

Some things never changed. No matter how old he got, he’d always find a way to leave me cleaning up behind him. I made my way into the kitchen and opened the drawer beside the sink. A nearly empty box of latex gloves sat exactly where I’d left it. I slipped a pair on before grabbing a large garbage bag from beneath the cabinet. When I walked back into the living room, I carefully picked the hoodie up between two fingers.

Although I had so many questions, I didn’t ask any more. Not tonight. I wondered what had happened to the person whose blood this was, but I wasn’t ready to know. I tied the hoodie tightly inside the garbage bag before carrying it straight out to the dumpster behind the apartment building. I took off the gloves and tossed them in the trash too. The cool evening air hit my face as I stood there for a moment with my hands shoved into my pockets. I looked up toward the dark sky and whispered a quiet prayer.

“Lord, please don’t let me be too late. They are brothers, and I can tell that they need each other right now.”

With one last glance toward the parking lot, I headed back inside, locked the apartment door behind me, switched off the living room light, and turned off the television. Tomorrow… everything might change.

TRIGGA

The drive from my apartment to Doral took a little over forty minutes, but I didn’t mind.

When Ms. Gia texted saying she wanted to talk, I already knew where we were going: Red Lobster. She’d always loved their cheddar biscuits. I couldn’t remember a time when we’deaten there and she didn’t leave talking about them. By the time our food came, she’d barely touched the shrimp scampi sitting in front of her. Instead, she just kept looking at me. Not in a strange way. She was just studying me. It was like she was trying to read me. I finally set my fork down and smiled.

“What?”

“Hm?” She blinked.

“You keep staring at me.”

A small smile crossed her face.

“I know.”

“So, what is it?”

She leaned back in her chair before letting out a quiet sigh.

“You look so much like your daddy.”

“I appreciate that,” I smiled.

I really did. There wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t miss my father. He wasn’t perfect. None of us were, but he loved me and raised me right, and I never questioned that. She smiled back, but something about it felt forced. Her eyes drifted down to her untouched plate before finding me again. She still looked like she wanted to say something. So, I pushed for it.

“You ain’t ask me to drive all the way out to Doral just to tell me I look like my daddy.”

A quiet laugh escaped her.

“No, I didn’t.”

I watched her facial expression change, and instantly I thought of something happening to Ghost. After knowing what he had going on last night, I had called him and texted him a couple of times, but he didn’t respond.

“Then what’s wrong?” I asked.

She took a slow sip of her mixed drink before setting the glass back on the table.

“Giovani came home last night. He had blood all over his hoodie.”

I wasn’t shocked. I knew exactly where he was last night, and I knew that he wasn’t there to ask Reemo to leave him alone. He was there to make a statement. Ghost had been carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders lately, and every time I talked to him, he looked like he was sinking a little deeper.

“I know you don’t approve of him being in the streets,” I said.

“I never have and I never will.” Her answer came without hesitation.

She paused for a moment before continuing.

“But I used to worry a little less.”