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ANDRE: I want you to agree to terminate your parental rights. After the shit you pulled yesterday, I’ve decided to move forward with our lives. Cameron deserves a fulltime mother that loves him enough to want to be here. I’ll have a lawyer draft up the paperwork and get started with the process.
The last thing I wanted to do was wake up to anything from Andre’s bitch ass. He could do whatever he needed to do, though. Hell, one less problem on my plate.
The events of the night before had led to such a bender, I would’ve sworn I was an alcoholic. After being escorted out of the event at gunpoint, I’d wildly driven myself home, rehashing every second of what had gone down.
I wished I could’ve taken a picture of Raven’s face after I announced Havana as Max’s wife. Granted, Havana had called and lit into me something fierce for putting her at odds with Max, but it was all worth it just to knock Raven off her pedestal.
My temples throbbed something serious as I climbed out of bed and stumbled through my tiny apartment. I scrolled through Raven’s Instagram, hoping to see that she’d publicly called the engagement off. Instead, there was only a photo of her and Max from the night before, smiling like shit wasn’t falling apart all around them. Over the entire situation, I sucked my teeth and pressed the home button to close out of the app.
While my coffee brewed, I plotted my next move. I could go back and forth with Max and Raven until I was blue in the face, but more importantly, I needed a new hustle. I had a new mark in mind, so I basically needed to work out the details and avoid all the same mistakes I’d made with Max.
A series of thunderous knocks on my front door jarred me from my thoughts; they were so forceful that I felt my heart running a marathon in my chest. I didn’t know who the fuck it could be because, in all the months I’d lived here in Mahogany Heights, no one had ever visited my apartment. As far as I knew, no one even knew where I lived—including Max. I’d falsified the address on my resume and in my employee file.
Grabbing the largest knife from the block in my kitchen, I crept through the living room. Breath held hostage in my chest, I leaned forward to peek through my peephole when another deafening pound exploded in my face, causing me to stumble back.
“Either you open the door, or I’ll break this motherfucker off the hinges. Your choice, Amy,” Max’s biting voice commanded through the door. My knees trembled and I completely lost my shit.
Shit!
I paced, clenching the knife so hard my fingers pulsated. Another ear-piercing boom and the door shook like the aftershock of an earthquake. Another crashing bang made me wonder if he had a battering ram. If I couldn’t afford my rent, I damn sure couldn’t afford the repairs of my front door if this crazy man brought it tumbling down.
Sucking in the deepest breath my lungs could manage, I said a quick prayer that I wasn’t about to meet Sonia’s fate, or worse. Deciding it was now or never, I opened the door.
“Why—” Before I got more than a single word out, beastly hands captured my neck as Max crossed the threshold and slammed my front door closed.
Tossed me into the wall with a menacing grip still squeezing my throat, I immediately regretted not stealing away out my bedroom window. The knife I’d retrieved for protection fell to the floor as my eyes bulged, staring back at the dark shadows that had replaced Max’s orbs. The vice grip on my neck was relentless, and I could feel the life exiting my body as I slapped and clawed at Max’s fingers. In those last few moments of my life, remnants of my deepest wounds and darkest memories flashed before my eyes.
...I don’t know where mama went. But I know she ain’t comin’ back...
....lil’ girl, how many times I gotta tell you the only thing you can offer a man is your pussy. So make it count for something....
...Aye, I’m goin’ pro. I don’t need no bitch holding me back, so it’s over...
...I want you to marry me, Amy...
....I hate you, Amy....
....Congratulations, you’re gonna have a baby...
....You’re a sorry ass for mother...
...I know bitches like you, I do my research...
As the last signs of life left my body, the clawing at those hands became light, futile taps. Then, almost as if it had all been a figment of my imagination, I felt a release that sent me crashing into the floor. My body convulsed as I coughed and panted, the fresh wave of oxygen a shock to my brain.
“Get the fuck up!” Max bellowed, causing me to scamper away from him.
Stumbling to my feet, I was mostly upright and well beyond his reach when he pulled a thick manila envelope from his inner jacket pocket, tossing it onto the table before returning his attention to me.
“I’ll put it to you like this, and you might want to pay close attention because there will be no second chances after this.” He hadn’t raised his voice, yet it seemed to boom off the walls of my tiny apartment.
“I don’t grant second chances, so consider yourself lucky that you’re still breathing. You take that envelope on the table, pack whatever the fuck you can fit into that bucket you drive, and drive wherever the fuck you wanna go. Far away from here.” He glanced down at his watch before continuing. “You have until 10 PM.”
Shit, that was just half an hour away!
Icy glare set on me, Max helped himself to a seat on my couch and calmly crossed one leg over the other. “Tick, tock,” he mumbled, dismissing me.
I was speechless, but not crazy, so I hauled ass to my bedroom, leaning against my closet door for a few seconds to pull myself together. So many thoughts raced through my head, but of one thing I was certain: Max could end my life right here tonight, and no one would likely miss me.
Thoughts cloudy, I paced the length of my bedroom. At that moment, I was wishing I’d taken heed to Sonia’s warning. Right then and there, I made myself a promise that if I made it out of this madness alive, I’d purge Max Calloway and all things connected to him from my memory.
“Tick tock!” I heard Max call out from the living room.
I’d never packed so quickly in my life. When I began to drag my shit from the bedroom to the front door, I avoided eye contact with Max’s looming figure, but I didn’t miss the gun calmly resting at his side. That visual alone heightened my anxiety, causing a trail of piss to trickle down my leg.
I rushed back into my bedroom and peeled off wet shorts and panties. I didn’t dare waste time washing myself. Instead, I threw on the first pair of jeans left hanging in my closet, grabbed my purse, and panted like I was one step from a full-blown panic attack.
When I made it back into the living room, the items I’d dragged to the door were being taken to my car by a team of the same security who’d led me out of the party the night before. Max stood up, grabbed the envelope, and thrusted it into my chest.
“Your house keys,” he commanded, extending a hand in my direction. I dug around in my purse until I’d retrieved the keys, sliding both keys off the ring.
“Walk to your car, get in it, and drive east for forty-eight hours. That should put you far enough away that I never lay eyes on you again. Understood?” he barked.
I nodded a nervous agreement, ignoring the stabbing pains in my chest. When I turned to cross the threshold of my apartment one last time, I was stalled by Max’s grip at the back of my hair. He snatched me back so my ear was flush against his lips. Chills ran up my spine as he spoke in what felt like a growl.
“I know who you are, Kalina, and I know all the shit you’ve done. If I ever lay eyes on you again, I’ll dismember you piece by piece and bury your body in ten different graves. Just like you did to that poor girl.”
His words awakened a crushing fear, and I swore I felt my blood run cold. When he released my ponytail, I blinked endlessly to shake the dizziness I was feeling. I could only make out blurry figures through my blurred vision as I made my way past Max’s security and what I figured were nosey neighbors.
Finally seated in my car, I threw it into drive and pulled out of the parking lot. There was no way I would ever set foot back in Mahogany Heights. When Max and his security team were finally out of view, I reached over and rubbed my fingers along the envelope.
I made a promise to myself that the next motherfucker I chose to bankroll my life would be nothing like Maxwell Calloway.