Page 6 of Kobalt

“I swear I’ma fuck up the nigga who did this shit. On God, that’s that nigga’s life!” EJ roared.

I knew he meant it because my little brother was a real YN, and he was always on some hood type stuff no matter how much my dad, Mama Bear, and I had tried to redirect him to an alternate path. He was the complete opposite of me, and if stories were to be believed, he was a replica of my dad from his younger years.

He was an excellent mechanic, and he worked at an autobody shop, customizing cars. His client base was large enough for him to go out on his own because most of the clients came to the shop for his services. EJ didn’t want the responsibility of owning his own business, and he was always somewhere fighting, getting high, or into something he had no business when he wasn’t at work.

The women he messed with were crazy, always stalking the other chicks he messed with, slashing the other females’ tires, claiming they were pregnant, and all types of shenanigans. Several had shown up at our parents’ house begging them to tell EJ to call them whenever he would cut them off. The shop had to call the police on a few of them that popped up there acting a fool. After that, he refused to let the girls know where he worked because he didn’t want to lose his job.

When the police arrived, they searched my townhouse, and I filed a report. They asked the same thing that my brother and Niagara had asked after they learned about the trial: Was it related to Kevin or Norrell?

I honestly wasn’t sure what to think.

“Ma’am, Norrell has done something very similar to this to witnesses in the past, which has caused the prosecution not to have a case. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if this was his work,” Officer Owens, a tall, dark-haired white man, confessed.

“But I’m not a witness in the trial,” I countered.

“Norrell probably wanted to send a message just in case you thought about it, especially if your name has been floated around by his attorney.”

“You should probably leave the house for a while for your own protection,” Officer Rowan, a dark-skinned Black woman, pointed out.

“Can’t you all have someone watch over my house?”

Officer Owens sighed. “The best we can do is have a car patrol the area every three to four hours.”

My shoulders collapsed. “That’s not going to prevent anything.”

“We have some units patrolling the area now and a couple of uniforms interviewing neighbors to see if they’ve seen or heard anything,” Officer Rowan explained.

“Big sis, you can’t stay here. You need to come home with me,” EJ remarked, planting his hands on his hips.

“With all due respect, sir, she needs to leave town if possible.”

“Hell nah. She ain’t running out of town,” EJ declared.

“I can’t run from my home,” I argued.

“I don’t think you get it. Norrell probably has someone watching you all now. This isn’t your run-of-the-mill break-in. You need to get away until after the trial ends,” Officer Owens declared.

The officers wrapped up their visit and left, and the tears I held at bay made my vision watery. “Where will I go?”

Niagara smiled compassionately and rested a hand on my shoulder. “I have the perfect place—my grandmother’s old farm. No one is there, and it’s a beautiful place. Only the caretaker lives on the property, and he takes care of the land, house, horses, and cows. You’ll love it.”

Niagara and Kobalt had inherited it upon their grandmother’s passing.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. It’s in the mountains a few hours north of here—Maple Grove, Georgia.”

I just needed a couple of days to wrap up some projects, and I would head north for the foreseeable future.

Kobalt Leo “Kobe/Furor” Harden

“I never thought Mommy would be out here screaming her head off at violence,” Niagara declared, teeheeing at our mama.

“That’s because it’s my baby out here doing his thang,” Mama declared proudly, giving me a pinch on the cheek.

“Come on, Mama. Enough with the cheek pinching already. You see these cameras all around. You know this pic will be all over social media—probably trending,” I proclaimed, ushering my mother and sister through the arena and toward the parking lot.

I had finished my final fight, and I was officially retired. Retirement had come a little sooner than I originally planned. With all the drama surrounding doping allegations, I was burned out at trying to fight to protect my name and image, so I decided to retire earlier.