Page 9 of Kairo

For two hours I laid in the same spot. As soon as I walked through the door of my house, I went to my bedroom and locked myself inside. The lifestyle I was born into drained me. Tonight reminded me that no matter how far I went and no matter how much I ran I would always be affiliated with this life.

My father, my brother, uncle Belt, and Conqueror were downstairs. I knew my brother called my father immediately after he hung up on me. They were downstairs questioning and grilling Conqueror on tonight’s events.

Conqueror was only doing his job. It was me who gave him the okay to drop me off. If he didn’t trust his instinct and listened to me, he wouldn’t be going through it with my brother and father downstairs. All this fell on me. If it had not been for him, there was no telling where I would be.

I finally found the energy to head downstairs. I could no longer take the torture he was experiencing. Once I made it to the bottom of the steps, I made my presence known.

“Relax, y’all.”

All eyes darted toward me, except for Conqueror. He had a stale expression on his face. It was as if the men in front of him didn’t faze him. He looked unbothered.

“Bug,” my father said, running over to me and wrapping his arms around me. He hugged me tightly and placed a kiss on my forehead. He pulled back and scanned my body. “You okay?”

I nodded. “I’m good, Dad.” I glanced over at Junior. He scanned me from head to toe. I knew he was making sure there wasn’t a hair out of place on my body. “Is it handled?” I asked.

Junior was met with a mess because of Conqueror and me, but I knew Junior would get everything cleaned and not traced back to us.

He nodded. That was all the confirmation I needed. I walked past my brother and sat across from Conqueror. He didn’t look defeated or sad. My father could do the most. I was shocked to see him so calm after the brutal tongue lashing he got.

“Junie, I want to ask you a question,” my dad said.

“Yeah?”

He sighed. “What the fuck were you thinking? Getting yourself involved with the chief of police’s son! You don’t mix business with pleasure.”

I rolled my eyes. “Dad, it wasn’t even like that. The way Keith described their relationship, it didn’t exist.”

“And you fell for that bullshit?”

“Are you here to check on me or to harp on me about what happened? I fucked up but I refuse to sit here and be scolded like a child. It’s done with.” I folded my arms over my chest and crossed my legs.

He shook his head. “That’s beside the point, Junie. You’re vice president now! You need to be thinking smarter. This shit is real. Your ass could be somewhere dead.” He glanced at Conqueror. “Then what kind of bodyguard are you? You weren’t supposed to take your eyes off her.”

He didn’t answer. He kept a straight face. Them blaming Conqueror didn’t sit right with me. If anything, he saved my life.

“Dad, Conqueror saved my life. Instead of sitting here jumping down his throat about it, you need to be thanking him.”

“It shouldn’t have even got that far. If he wouldn’t have let you out of his sight, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

I sighed. There was no getting through to my father. Once his mind was made up on a situation that was it.

I stood from my seat. “Look, I’m tired. Today has been long enough. I’m home, and I’m good. Y’all can leave.”

“Junie, this is not done.”

“Sure it is. There is no reason to keep talking about it.”

I hugged my dad, my uncle Belt, and then tapped Junior on the shoulder. Conqueror stood up to leave.

“Nah, you ain’t going nowhere,” my dad said. “When I said twenty-four seven, I meant that. After what happened to my baby girl, I can’t trust no one. You’re staying here.”

My eyes jumped between the two of them. Conqueror’s brow raised from confusion. That was the only expression Conqueror had showed during this conversation. From the scrunch of his eyebrows and the tightening of his jaw I could tell he was pissed off.

“Dad, that’s unnecessary. I’m fine.”

“Goddamn, Junie! Whether y’all like it or not, he is staying. You got four bedrooms in here. Pick a damn room.”

“But, Dad?—”

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