Page 17 of Mr. Calloway

Diamond forced himself between us. “Y’all niggas corny. Come here, Samara. Give your uncle Diamond a hug,” he said as he pulled her away from her friends and into his arms. “We know your nigga is slow. I think he was on that bus. Just remember you is smart, you is kind, you is beaut?—"

Diamond was pulled back by Yana, and all I could do was shake my head. Preach said a small prayer for her before Chevy and Z came closer, holding the twins. Samara reached out, touching her brothers.

“Peace, I love you. Savior, I love you,” she said before pausing, staring at Zaria. “I know it’s only for the summer, but I’m going to miss you, Mom.”

Zaria’s eyes welled with tears, and that shit fucked me up. Her lips began to tremble. “You—” she choked up. “—I can’t do this,” she said and walked off.

It was killing me not to chase after her, but I couldn’t walk away from Mars. Chevy pulled her into a hug and whispered something in her ear. When he lifted, he looked at me andnodded, then followed behind Z. It was now the time for me to say goodbye to my girl, and I didn’t want to do it. She smiled as she gripped my shirt, pulling me closer to her.

“You behave this summer. No killing,” she whispered. “I love you, and I will call you when I land.”

I pinched between my eyes. “I’ll behave, but you better do the same. You know I love you to Mars and back.” I winked.

Everyone said their final goodbyes as Samara disappeared beyond the airport doors. It was something good for her, I just hoped she still fucked with a nigga by the time she got back.

Zaria

“Z! Wait up!” June called out.

Seeing my baby go off on her own tugged at me more than it did when we dropped her off in Covana. Samara coming into our lives had a big effect on me, one I didn’t think would happen. She grew on me so much that no one could tell me that wasn’t my child. However, the truth was she wasn’t. Although she didn’t love June or me any less, it was still her choice whether she wanted to return to her handpicked family.

My fear was her birth mother’s hold on her. Something about the lady was off, and it wasn’t that she was in a cult. It was merely her trying to step in now that someone else was doing all the things she didn’t do.

By the time June caught up with me, I had made it back to the car. He grabbed my arm, turning me to him. “Damn, Z, you could have said goodbye.”

A tear trickled down my cheek. “I know, but June, I don’t want her to go,” I sobbed. “It doesn’t feel right.”

He pulled me into his arms, giving Peace time to play in my hair. “I know, but we cannot hold her hostage. She’s grown, and she needs space. Dio got it under control. She’ll be tracked,” he muttered.

Tracked?My head lifted as I glanced at him. “He has a tracker on her?”

I could tell he knew he fucked up when he said it, but the bigger part of me felt a little relief. That was when it clicked. “Wait, how is he tracking her, June?”

“Shit,” he mumbled.

He looked down at me, then at my necklace. The very same necklace he had Dio give me on Christmas. The same necklace I had snatched off my neck on more than one occasion, thinking it just meant a lot to him, so taking it off was a way for me to strip June out of my life.This nigga put a tracker on me, and Dio followed behind him.

I shook my head. “Let’s go,” I hissed.

“Z, listen to?—”

“Nigga, I said let’s go!” I snapped.

We placed the boys in their car seats, then got in. Before June started the car, he turned to me.

“Zaria, chill yo ass out. That tracker has been around your neck for over a year. Yo ass kept getting snatched up, so I did what needed to be done. I can’t even tell you the last time I looked at that muhfucka. Relax.”

“Since you and Dio want to be on some sneaky shit, y’all better keep track of my baby. Otherwise, my foot is going in both y’all’s asses.”

He burst out laughing. “Oh, so you’re the big bad wolf now?”

“I’m whatever you want me to be. I just know what I feel, and something isn’t right.”

He rubbed my leg. “She’ll be fine. We have a dinner date with Bishop and Indigo. You down?”

“Yeah, I guess,” I muttered.

At this point, my instincts were on high alert. I trusted nobody outside my tribe, and everyone was guilty until proven innocent, but in the meantime, I wanted to know more aboutSamara’s birth mother because the bitch was off and I didn’t trust her.