Page 58 of Session 25

“Or maybe-” her words were cut off when gunfire erupted. Koi ducked down as I used my body to shield her. “Roman,” her voice cracked.

“Shh, we good. I’m gonna get you to my car. It’s over there.” I looked up to see just how far we were from it.

“But my friends.” More gunfire sounded as yelling continued. “Don’t leave me.”

“Where am I going?” I asked with a slight attitude. Koi not feeling secure with me was pissing me off, but right now I couldn’t dwell on that. I needed to figure out where the gunfire was coming from and get her to the car safely.

This must have been a sign or God because she was just iggin’ me and now she was telling me not to leave her. Whatever it was, I appreciated it. Outside of her and I trying to figure out what was next with us, I had a full life, family, and friends that I needed to make it home to.

“Yo, Rome, this way.” I heard Aaron’s voice as I looked over my shoulder. Koi was crouched down when I scooped her up in my arms, carrying her to where Aaron was. “Well, shit, tell us how you really feel,” he chuckled.

Koi’s eyes were bucked as she looked away. “Roman, really.” She didn’t know I had carried her over to where my boys were, near the car.

“I told you that you were good. Now call ya girls when I put you in this car.”

She pulled out her phone as soon as she got in the backseat. Happy that the shooting had ceased, but now the crowd was moving in all different directions. Her safety was all I was worried about.

I listened to her explain to her friends that she needed to meet her in the parking lot until my phone rang.

“Hello.”

“It’s mama. You need to come, quick.” Rae sobbed into the phone. “Please, Roman.” She didn’t need to say anything else.

“Okay,” I ended the call, conflicted. We hadn’t been seeing eye to eye since the bomb was dropped, but she was my friend. Koi ended her call first, looking at me with eyes that let me know she was concerned. “You spoke to them?”

“They’re coming now.”

“Good, who drove?” I couldn’t make it obvious that I was about to break her heart by leaving, but this was a situation I couldn’t avoid.

“Me. My truck is over back.” She pointed out the window.

“Aaron, drive over to the Audi truck,” I told him. He hopped in without question. “You aight?”

“I grew up in the hood, I’m fine.” She looked out the window. “You?”

“I’m good.” She yelled for Aaron to stop.

“Ima walk her to the car.”

“You didn’t have to,” she tried to walk ahead of me, but I grabbed her forearm. “What’s the problem?”

“I know you’re gonna leave. I’m not slow, and I heard her.” She puffed out her cheeks. “It comes with messing with a married couple, right?” She tried to laugh off the hurt in her voice.

“Don’t do that,” I lifted her chin. “It’s an emergency, Koi. I'd rather fix this with us, but I have to go check on my family.”

“It’s fine. I need this time anyway.” She swallowed hard. “Thank you for protecting me tonight.” She kissed my cheek, rubbed in her lipstick, and turned to leave.

For some reason, watching her leave felt like the last time I would be seeing her. I watched the car drive off before I slid into the passenger seat of my whip.

“Where to?”

“Rae’s parents' house.” The ride was silent. Rae texted me to see how far out I was. I responded quickly, asking her if it was serious. She texted back with an upside down face emoji.

I still had Koi on my mind when we pulled up to Rae’s parents’ house, fifty-five minutes later. There was an ambulance parked out front. Aaron stopped me when we stepped out of the car. “You want to check on shorty first? Make sure she made it in? I can stall Rae.”

“Ima just text.” I tapped on Koi’s name.

Roman: You home?