CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Mia

I didn’t know why I felt like Keyon was trying to play me, but it felt like she was. I didn’t need Cash’s permission to tell me who I could bring my child around because he wasn’t my father. He was just my baby’s father. I didn’t have to answer to him. CJ did.

After hanging up the phone with Keyon, I placed it back on the car charger and sat there thinking. I still had about three hours until I reached Tennessee, but it felt like forever. I was tired, and I was pretty sure that CJ was tired also. So I was going to find a little quick hotel to check into until the morning. As I was about to pull off, my phone began ringing. Cash’s name, along with a picture of him and CJ, flashed on the screen. I was more than sure that he was back at the house and noticed that neither CJ nor I nor most of our things were there. Sending his call to voicemail, I immediately began panicking as I looked around. Something about him was beginning to scare me. I hadn’t seen it at first, but Cash was a man I didn’t know any longer. I thought that I loved him and he loved me, but I guessed I was wrong.

The night he choked me for Bundy being at the house was when I finally decided that I had enough. I waited until the next morning, when he left, to pack both my and my son’s things. Since my son was at my cousin’s house, I had to wait until that evening to leave. Once he came home, I placed him in his car seat and hauled ass. It was a good thing that I had previously packed all our things into the car, because that would’ve put us behind schedule. Like always, I didn’t expect him to come to the house until later that night, and he didn’t. That gave me all the opportunity I needed to leave. I knew he was going to call, and I never intended to answer him.

I was about to place my phone on the seat when it beeped, indicating that I had a new alert. I went to my messages and noticed that Cash had sent me a message. Opening it, I was glad that I wasn’t anywhere near him. I was pretty sure that he would’ve beaten me again, but it was a good thing he couldn’t. Once I was finished reading the message, I powered my phone off. Tomorrow I was going to buy another phone. I had plans on starting over, so why not start there first?

Knowing that Cash knew I wasn’t home made me change my mind about rest. I was now on a mission to get to Tennessee. I couldn’t have him finding me and whooping my ass all the way back to Chicago. Hopefully, once I got to Tennessee, I would be able to stay under the radar.

I didn’t know if it was me trying to stay away from Cash or the thought of sleep that got to me, but I made it to Tennessee in the next two hours. Since it was still early, I decided to get a room so that CJ and I could get some rest, but first, I had to stop to get us something to eat. Since McDonald’s was the first place that I saw, I opted to go there. Like I said before, I wanted to stay under the radar, so I drove through the drive-through instead of getting out. After I ordered and received our food, I left. A few miles down the road, I spotted a Days Inn, so I pulled in. Getting both my son and my purse out of the car, I headed inside. I managed to book us a room for a few days, thanks to the money that Bundy gave me from the lick he got from Cash.

Speaking of Bundy, I had been meaning to call him back. I wanted to let him know that I had left Chicago, and in order for him to remain safe, I wanted him to do the same. Well, that and I didn’t want the chance of Cash finding out, or Bundy spilling his guts about my part in the whole ordeal. I needed his ass as far away from Chicago and Cash as possible. That was going to have to wait though. Right now, I had to focus on getting CJ in the room and letting him eat his food. Maybe after that, then I would give him a call.

I made sure that I parked all the way in the back of the hotel. I didn’t want anyone who knew Cash spotting my car and telling him where I was. That was why I also made plans to trade my car in and get another one. My car would be the fastest way for Cash to find me, and I couldn’t let that happen. Maybe I should just go to another state, I thought as I parked. I grabbed CJ and headed to my assigned room. Since I didn’t want the hassle of carrying bags back and forth, I grabbed only a night bag for CJ and myself. Besides, this wasn’t going to be our home, so I didn’t see any need in taking everything out of the car. Once I had the little things I need, I went back for the food, my phone, and my purse. Making sure that I locked everything, I headed back to the room.

CJ was on the bed watching cartoons, where I had left him. I stood by the door, looking at my son. I had to be honest. I hadn’t been half the mother my son needed me to be to him. I was too busy chasing behind his daddy, trying to make him commit to me, making him buy me whatever I wanted and sex me. I neglected him from the beginning. I thanked God for my family, but it was my turn to do what I should’ve been doing from the beginning, and now that Cash and I were no longer together, I was going to do just that.

Shaking out of my thoughts, I grabbed the McDonald’s bag and headed over to the bed. Sitting on the bed, I pulled CJ onto my lap and placed a kiss on his forehead. I then grabbed the bag and removed our food. Placing him back on the bed, I gave him his breakfast, and right away, he started eating. Before I began eating my food, I reached for my phone and powered it on. Immediately my phone began buzzing with a lot of notifications. A few of them were from Bundy, but the majority were from Cash. When I saw a message from my cousin Brittney, asking me where I was because Cash was looking all over for me, I laughed. His ass got it now, I thought as I pulled up Bundy’s number. I took a deep breath before I called him.

I really hated talking on the phone with Bundy because he was plain ignorant and stupid. Like, if I told his stupid ass that he did something stupid, he would try to turn the shit around and make like I was the fucked-up one. I only started fucking with Bundy because Cash was always gone, and I needed someone to be there for me. It was a win-win situation when I came up with the plot to rob Cash, and Bundy was there. I had that nigga eating out of the palm of my hand, and he didn’t even notice it, which was good for me.

“Where the fuck you been? I’ve been calling for hours now,” he said the minute he answered the phone.

“Look, don’t start that shit with me. I’m not in the mood,” I said before he could continue. “I only called to let you know that I was out of Chicago.”

“You’re what?” he all but yelled.

“I left Chicago. Things with Cash have gone to the left, and I couldn’t stay there any longer,” I told him.

“Why the fuck you ain’t tell me that shit before you left?”

“Because I was in a rush.”

“In a rush? I already told you that nigga was getting close, and you go and pull some shit like this? Leaving me to take the heat by my damn self, huh?”

“Nigga, I didn’t leave because of that shit. I left because I got tired of that nigga putting his motherfucking hands on me. That’s why I left, and I told you about speaking on that shit over the phone, idiot,” I said, reminding his ass. Bundy was a special kind of stupid, and it took a real patient person to deal with him. Too bad I wasn’t that person.

“Yeah, spit that bullshit if you want to. I already know what’s up. You just remember what the fuck I told you. I ain’t going down by myself,” he yelled in the phone before I heard the dial tone. I sat there looking at the phone like it had a disease on it. Bundy really had me all the way fucked up if he thought for once that I was going to play with him like that.

I sat there thinking about what had just transpired. One thing was for sure—I really had to put a stop to Bundy before he fucked up and outed me to Cash. I now realized how dumb it was of me to go along with this, well, with the nigga I chose. I had to come up with a plan before Cash had Bundy’s body and mine stinking somewhere.

Putting him and that bullshit to the back of my mind, I placed my focus on CJ, who had made a slight mess. I didn’t even have an appetite anymore, so I placed my food right in the trashcan. I then proceeded to clean up the mess that CJ had made. Once I was finished, I went to the bathroom and grabbed a soapy towel to wash him up, changed his diaper, and placed him in a little T-shirt. After that, I stripped out of my clothes and hopped in the bed. The world was going to have to wait a few hours for me, because I was beyond tired. Hopefully when I woke up, things would fix themselves. Since that wasn’t likely going to happen, I’d just brainstorm and put a plan together. As of now, sleep was calling me.