Breeze helped me into my car, then leaned inside to kiss me.
“I love you,” he whispered with his lips against mine.
“I love you too.”
“Text me when you get home.”
I nodded before closing the door, starting my engine, and driving away. I looked in my rearview mirror and noticed he didn’t move to go inside until I turned onto the street, which didn’t surprise me. However, I was surprised when Arielle began to follow him toward the barbershop.
“Do you know anything?”the woman asked, trailing a few feet behind me.
“About what?”
“Did you not hear everything I said?”
“You weren’t talking to me, so I wasn’t listening.”
“I think she did something to him. He said she was pissed when she found out about me, and they got into a fight.”
When I reached the entrance to the barbershop, I turned around to face the woman. I had to stop myself from laughing as I responded, “Oh really?”
“Yes. He was bruised up pretty badly. She got the best of him because he doesn’t hit women.”
I could no longer contain my laughter. I laughed so hard, I had to use the building for support.
“What’s so funny?” she questioned, sounding hurt.
“Nothing,” I managed to say through my laughter.
“Sean didn’t disappear into thin air. She’s the only one who had a grudge against him. You’d better be careful before you end up missing like Sean.”
I couldn’t reply because my laughter had yet to die down. When I gathered myself, I wiped my eyes and grabbed the door handle.
“Thank you for the heads up. Good luck on your search.”
I went back inside, and my client remained at my station, looking frustrated.
“Damn, bruh. You can forget about a tip,” he informed me, obviously annoyed.
“My bad, bruh. This cut is on the house. I got caught up.”
“Who the fuck was that woman you were just talking to?” Shyne asked.
“Someone named Arielle who’s claiming to be Sean’s girlfriend.”
“Sean? Melodie’s ex?”
“Yeah. Apparently, she knew about Melodie, but Melodie didn’t know about her.”
“What did she want?” Adan asked.
“She hasn’t seen him in two months and wanted to know if Mel had. Mel was no help.”
The only people who knew I’d killed Sean were the people who were present. I didn’t tell Melodie or anyone else. I had no choice but to play along.
“Damn, that nigga ghosted her ass,” Zayn commented.
“Sounds like it. It sucks, too, because she’s pregnant.”