Page 33 of He Thugged Me First

Quari laughed. “Let’s go, Love. I ain’t finna sit here with his disrespectful Mr. Magoo looking ass when I could be in ya guts.”

“Love!” I blinked a few times, looking at him blankly.

“You keep spacing out and shit. You good?” He looked concerned.

“Yeah. I’m fine.” I smiled at him. As long as I had him, I’d always be fine.

QUARI

Love didn’t understand that she was it for me. Love was love, and she was the love of my fucking life. I hadn’t ever experienced love as pure as what she gave until I met her. Until I got lost in that twinkle in her eyes. Love was the type of female that had you plotting a million different ways to keep her in ya life. For the first few months, shorty had me walking on eggshells because I thought for sure she’d wake up and realize she could do better than me. But then again, she surprised me. Though my craft and the streets was my first love, she was my everything, and she understood that. The life I lived wasn’t one I chose, but it was one that fit. I had been pulling the trigger for dollars since I was fifteen, and I realized I was good at it. At fifteen, I was considered a ward of the state with a foster mama who couldn’t keep her fucking hands to herself. On my sixteenth birthday, I left and I never looked back. I had always been close to and cool with Kasair and Mazz, but I wasn’t working like that until then. Shit was good from there. I rolled the necessary heads, and they clicked with the blocks. I didn’t plan on doing this for the rest of my life, but I was good at it, and the prices went up each time a motherfucker hired me. Now, I was probably one of the most sought-after problem solvers in the state. Nobody could fuck with me, and that was just that. The thing is, a few months back, Kasair hit me up about stepping into the drug game with him when Mazz stepped out. I didn’t have the patience for that shit though. The process was too much, but I agreed and decided I’d only handle shit for a select few.

I glanced over at Love inhaling her ice cream and laughed my ass off. As soon as she stuck her spoon in that damn tub, I didn’t hear shit else from her. She tried to blame all that on my seed, but even before she got pregnant, she inhaled her food. Babywas greedy as fuck, and I wondered where it all went. She was perfect.

“Why are you staring at me, creep?”

“I’m just wondering if I’m getting some tonight after I went and got you ya drugs.” I smirked.

“Maybe. Are you in for the night or—” she started, but my phone started to ring.

When I pulled it out of my pocket, I saw that it was Mazz calling.

“Ya?” I answered.

“Hospital, now.” He didn’t sound right, which worried me.

“Bet.” I hung up the phone and looked at Love. She was studying me like always.

“I gotta go handle something. You good?” I asked, walking around the counter into her space.

She just looked at me with those bright eyes and nodded. “I’ll probably watch a few episodes ofTheOriginalsuntil you get back. Just be safe.”

I smiled. She was always watching that shit like she hadn’t watched all of the episodes. I knew for a fact she did because when she would beg me to come to her dorm, she had me watching the shit with her. That’s when I came to the conclusion that my boy Klause was the realest motherfucker on Netflix. I slipped my phone into my pocket and used the same hand to grab her neck from the side and pull her closer to me. “You know I’mma be safe because I gotta get home to you and my baby. You just stay ya wanna be grounded ass off the floor.” I smirked and pressed my lips against hers. I knew from the moment I left Mazz’s party four years ago with her that she’d have me out here softer than Egyptian cotton. After parting ways with her, I walked over toward the ugly ass painting she insisted we get and took it down. After I set it on the floor, I focused on the safe that I had installed into the wall. Once I had it open, I pulled my pieceout and tucked it on my side. I didn’t know what type of night it would be, but I knew for sure I’d be prepared.

I didn’t knowwhat to be prepared for when I walked into the hospital, but I damn sure wasn’t expecting to see Kasair laid up. He took one to the shoulder and a graze on the neck. Somebody had fucked up royally, and I just needed a fucking name.

“Fuck happen?” I felt Mazz’s presence near me.

“Mecca said they were on their way to get some food when all hell broke loose. Ya guess is as good as mine.”

I nodded. “First somebody took shots your way, and you said to stay cool on it because it was probably a mix-up or something. Ain’t shit mixed up, Mazz. Somebody is deliberately sending a message.”

“Gotti.”

“That low level nigga from Indiana? He ’ont want the heat. Who put him up to it?” I asked. I didn’t put anything past a soul, but I wasn’t dumb by a long shot. Anytime a nigga was bold enough to do something like this, then he wasn’t bold at all. He was a fucking puppet.

Mazz’s hand landed on my shoulder and I glanced over at him.

“We’re a small ass family. Move safe. No need to get smaller.”

I shocked myself when I left the hospital and instead of going to act irrational, I found myself unlocking the door to my place. I just needed to feel her at this point, even if it would only take the darkness in my brain away for a few minutes. When I walked in, all the lights were out, and I heard the television coming from our bedroom. The moment I walked into the room, I startedcoming out of my clothes. Once I was only in my underwear, I climbed into bed, hugging her frame from behind.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, turning around and looking up at me.

I didn’t speak. I pressed my lips into her before pulling back and just looking at her.

“Whatever it is, you know I love you, right?” She knew me well enough to know when something was off.

“I love you too.” I fell back, lying on my back and looking at the ceiling. Just being near her gave me peace.

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