Page 48 of Forced Into Your Arms
Her attitude was coming back, which I took as a good sign.
One of the officers started asking her questions about who had access to her apartment, whether she’d given anyone a spare key and if there was anybody in her personal life who might want to scare her. Milan answered everything, but I paid closer attention when he asked about an ex.
“My ex lives in Florida.”
“How long have you been separated?”
“We broke up a few months ago.”
“Was it a bad breakup?”
She hesitated a minute. Not long, but enough for me to notice.
“It wasn’t good.”
The officer wrote something down. “Has he threatened you?”
“No.”
“Contacted you recently?”
“No.”
“Would he know where you live?”
“No. I moved back to Atlanta after we broke up.”
I stayed quiet, but the questions stuck with me. Until that moment, I hadn’t known anything about Milan outside of the fact that she was a nurse and had recently returned to Atlanta.
Apparently, there was a nigga in Florida who had enough history with her to make her hesitate before calling the breakup bad. I didn’t know why that bothered me. I guess because I didn’t like loose ends, but either way, the shit shouldn’t have mattered.
I was only here because she got caught up in a mess connected to my family. If Sam hadn’t crossed paths with her, if my name wasn’t tied to any of this, I would’ve never been here dealing with her stubborn ass.
…at least, that’s what I kept telling myself.
The officer moved on to the shooting, asking Milan to go over what she’d witnessed again. She answered without getting irritated this time, explaining that she hadn’t known Sam, hadn’t recognized either shooter and hadn’t seen their faces clearly enough to identify them.
When he finished, she looked at me before turning back to the officer. “So, what happens now?” she asked.
Before he could answer, I spoke.
“You’re not staying here.”
Her head slowly turned in my direction, revealing the frown that covered her face.
“I was asking him.”
“I know.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Then why are you answering?”
“Because the answer’s the same.”
She stared at me for a second before letting out an irritated sigh. It was obvious she wanted the officer to tell her something different, but he didn’t.
Instead, he looked between us before taking a step back, making it clear he wasn’t about to involve himself in whatever this was.
I folded my arms across my chest and decided to play her little ass game. I asked her, “So, you tryna stay here tonight?”
