FREDDY PRINCE

chapter eight

To keep his nerves calm, Freddy smoked weed. Being a philanthropist and spokesperson for the people was hard work that often went unnoticed. Until the person ended up dead or trending on social media for something negative.

On his way home from his sisters that night, he made a pit stop to pick up his monthly dose of ganja. On his way out from there, he spotted a familiar figure walking the dangerous streets of the hood with no regard for her own safety.

"Yo, what you doing out here?"

He spoke through the opened passenger window of his car.

"You shouldn't be out here by yourself right now."

He pulled over at the curb and got out to check on Kalani. After all the write-ups he published about violence against women, he couldn't stand to see any woman walk the streets alone. Especially at night.

"What you doing out here?" he asked again when he caught up to her.

"Conducting interviews."

She gave him a questioning look with a half smile.

"What are you doing following me?"

"Following you?" he chuckled. "I wouldn't say following. I SAW you and thought you shouldn't be out here by yourself. You know?"

Kalani knew exactly what he meant. The streets were dangerous for women at night. She had that thought in her mind while gathering information from people in the area, but people knew not to fuck with her; she was the mayor's daughter and he was a crooked man. Besides, she knew Mack wasn't too far behind.

"I know," she said. "Don't look, but there's a guy following me. He works for my dad and they think I'm too stupid to notice him back there."

"Oh, shit." Freddy laughed at that. "What, Mayor Montgomery got mob ties or something?"

"Yeah right," Kalani laughed. "He just does a lot of fucked up shit so he has to watch his back all the time. That's one of the many reasons I left Virginia. I wished my mom would've done the same."

That feeling of regret crept up in Freddy's gut again. He hated knowing he was holding onto information that could've possibly solved her mother's murder, but his hands were tied and his mouth was gagged.

"Let me give you a ride."

A thought crossed Freddy's mind when he looked at her.

"We can talk about your mom and how to move forward with finding out what happened to her."

"Are you for real?"

Her eyes lit up with excitement.

"I don't want you to give in just because you feel bad for me or anything," she said.

"Nah, it's nothing like that. I just know how it feels to not have answers."

Kalani accepted Freddy's ride that night. She was on her way back to her hotel which was in the direction of his home, so it worked out for the both of them. It also allowed them to get more familiar with each other since they had to work side by side.

She knew all about what happened to his mother, so she knew they shared the same pain. It was the reason she sought him out for help in the first place. That, and she felt like her father played a role in what happened to Elm too.

Kalani didn't tell Freddy that right away, because she needed some kind of leverage or something she could hold on to if he turned away from her cry for help.

"How come you don't have a car?" he asked. "I mean, you're the mayor's daughter and an excellent journalist so I know you got some coins in the bank."

She laughed as she adjusted her seat in his ride. When Tesla first came out she wanted one so bad, she accepted the one her father gifted to her. Time took a toll on that gift though. After such a tragic turn of events, her joy for her favorite gadget slowly faded.