Page 25 of Kissed By the Trillest Thug 2

“You shot him, Malik. What if he retaliates?”

Immediately, I shook my head.

“Tahari ain’t gonna hurt Maliah,” I said in a sarcastic tone.

That boy was soft as fuck. I didn’t think he had it in him.

“You don’t know that.”

“Yes, I do.”

She stared at me like my statement was the craziest shit she ever heard.

“Do you?”

The question sat uncomfortably between us because the truth was that over the last few months, I had taken Tahari under my wing. I would never have thought that he would be a thief. I spent time around him. I talked to him, taught him things, and trusted him enough to let him around my daughter and let him into my home.

Pulling him so closely into my family made me think that I was finding out who he really was. Now? I wasn’t sure of much of anything. Eternity twisted her neck and then folded her arms across her breast. I could feel the attitude seeping from her.

“Where does he live?”

The question hit me immediately, and I hated the answer because I didn’t have one. I was allowing Maliah over the past couple of months to spend time somewhere when I didn’t know where it was. I stared at her then looked away.

“I don’t know.”

Her face fell.

“What do you mean you don’t know?”

“I mean exactly that.”

I didn’t mean to snap at her, but the frustration immediately started building in my chest because she wasn’t the only one who hated that answer. I did too. I was off my game, and that is what got to me most. Unknowingly, I had trusted his ass, and I promised myself that any little nigga after him wouldn’t get thatfrom me. I knew where he worked because his ass worked for me, but his address? I never asked. I felt like I never needed to. Now I stood in my daughter’s empty bedroom wishing I had. If I had followed proper procedures and protocol before hiring him, I would have had his address on file down at the shop, but I didn’t even do that. For the first time in a very long time, I found myself standing in the middle of a situation without an answer. I hated that feeling, always had.

MJ

I was still sitting on my bed when I heard my mother’s voice carrying through the house.

“Malik!”

At first, I didn’t think much of it, but then I heard it again. Something about the way she said my father’s name made me put my phone down. My brows pulled together as I listened. The house had been full of excitement a few minutes ago, but now something felt different. I stepped out into the hallway just as my father disappeared into Maliah’s room. I stood there for a while. I heard them talking, but it was muffled. I wanted to give them their privacy, so I waited for a bit. When neither one of them came out of the room, curiosity got the better of me, so I followed behind my dad.

When I reached the doorway, both of my parents were standing inside. My mother’s phone was in her hand, and my father’s expression was hard to read. The room itself looked normal, everything looked exactly the way Maliah would leave it when she was trying to decide what to wear. The only thing missing was her.

“What’s going on?”

Neither one of them answered me right away. Before they could, small footsteps appeared behind me. I glanced over my shoulder and found Maylee standing there. Her hair was a mess, and she had her phone in her hand. More than likely, she was probably playing Roblox with her friends, although it was early as fuck. She looked at our parents and then at me.

“What happened?” she asked.

My father looked over immediately.

“Baby girl, go back to your room.”

“Why?” Maylee frowned

“Because your mother and I need to talk to your brother.”

The answer earned him an even bigger frown.