𝙸𝚜 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚆𝚊𝚢

Nɪɴᴇ.

The next morning Amani woke up with Kareem out of the bed. The last few nights she had been having nightmares so she slept with Kareem and hadn't left his house since Ariyah's kidnapping. She was enjoying her time there. Amani reached for her phone and a message from Kaia and Terah appeared on her screen but nothing from Kareem scaring her.

Whilst she took care of her hygiene and decided to curl her hair, she heard the door unlock instantly calming her down.

" Mam-, wow you look good", Kareem spoke, eyes trailing her whole body in the white robe she wore, he licked his lips as he caught her eye. Amani's face was hot, she couldn't stop blushing and smiling. "Imma go before I make you bend over but there food downstairs", Kareem joked and Amani's jaw opened widely both laughing before he went into Ariyah's room.

"Your birthday next month Reem, what you wanna do?", Amani said to Kareem while she fed Ariyah some strawberries.

"Spend time with you, we can go to Hawaii with Terah and Ro too", Kareem suggested making Amani nod. Terah was due in 2 days with baby Saxon everyone was so excited to meet him and after what happened Amani was especially happy Roman was alive to see his son.

"If Terah wants to go, Sax will be too little to-", Amani began before her phone started ringing making her quickly stand up moving to the bedroom to answer the call.

"It's Amani, who's speaking?", She said in her most professional voice.

"Detective Rebecca is it alright to talk", the woman on the other side of the phone spoke as Amani nodded as if she could see her. "In our most recent investigation into the kidnapping of Ariyah Sarai Davis by Mr Silas Jones", she continued making Amani's stomach turn with the sound of his name. "The woman, Chloe has been charged with a role in her kidnapping and possession of cocaine, there is also enough evidence to suggest she played a role in his children trafficking acts."

Amani remained silent trying to take all the information, but she could only be thankful for her daughter's safety.

"A full investigation is going into Imagination Station Preschool", Amani was very sceptical to allow Ariyah to return to school, it gave her anxiety every time she taught about it. She decided to teach Ariyah from home whilst she also worked at home until she felt ready to go back.

"Before Mr Jones's funeral last week, we found belongings connected to a Miss Jamila Eshe Anderson. She testified to having sexual relations with Mr Jones, which began approximately 2 weeks before his death", Amani was shocked.

Other than Kaia and Terah, Amani didn't have many people she considered friends with, Jamila had been there for her since she was 14, she never thought she would betray her in that way. She didn't know what to say.

"Ms Perry", the detective repeated until she caught Amani's attention again. "So as I was saying, we have no reason to believe that she was involved in anything but we will be monitoring her for a while, thank you for your time and enjoy the rest of your morning." Amani ended the phone as tears began to build up in her eyes, she quickly wiped them before joining Kareem and Ariyah at the table.

"Mommy, why you crying", Ariyah pouted, running to hug her mom, making Amani smile.

"Riri, leave your mama, you can give her cuddles after let me talk to her okay", he spoke to Ariyah.

"Yes sir, bye mommy", she waved at Amani before running into her playroom.

"Mani", Kareem pulled her to the chair next to him. "Talk to me I'm listening".

Amani's eyes began to water again telling him every detail, especially with Silas and Jamila. As much as she didn't want to admit it, it hurt her a lot.