Insecure (Completed)

24

Yazmine

"Who the fuck is Malik?" I whispered to Devonte. Just from the look on his eyes when Amari said his name, I knew that he knew who Malik was.

Trey was talking to the nurse who was discharging her. Amari ended up refusing to speak to the officer they brought to her, but that didn't surprise me at all. She was terrified of whoever this Malik nigga was.

"Man." He dragged his hand down his face. "A nigga my brother beef with heavy. He's a drug nigga. And he crazy as fuck, so if Mari say he want her dead, he probably do."

"Oh my god, Devonte. Is she in danger or something?"

"Maybe."

Amari and Trey finally came over to us, ready to go. "They said I can go," Amari said. Her bruises were starting to turn yellow on her face, and it was hard to look at.

"She can ride with me," Trey offered. I appreciated him saying that, because I didn't know how I felt about driving Amari. I wanted to repair our relationship, but baby steps. Plus, I wanted to talk to Devonte alone.

"Aight then I'll ride with Yaz." Devonte pulled me to him.

"Can you drive?" I asked him. I really didn't want to. He nodded.

When we got in the car, I finally voiced my concerns.

"If Mari is in danger do you think it's a good idea for her to be in that apartment by herself? And you think he knows where she lives? Or where we live? What if we in danger?" I was out of breath.

"Slow down, Yaz." Devonte touched my leg. "One thing at a time. Like I said, she might need to be careful. I'm a talk to Dre, about Malik."

"Can't he like, I don't know, rough him up a lil? Like why would he do that?"

"Yaz, this ain't a damn movie. Can't nobody rough Malik up, the nigga never moves alone. And fighting his ass ain't gonna do shit. That nigga need a bullet in his skull."

I felt sick. "You talking about ending someone's life, Tae. And you acting casual about it." It was easy to forget that Devonte didn't have the easiest past. Yeah, I knew he had grown up around the drug game, but he chose a different path. So it shocked me that he would talk about killing someone.

"Nah I ain't being causal. Some people aint no good. The nigga a killer. If he want her dead, he's not gonna hesitate so if you care about her life, he gotta die."

"What the fuck was Mari doing messing with that nigga?" I wanted to know. Why she always found the most ain't shit niggas? "Maybe we have to go to the police, Devonte. This is serious."

"You must not know how the streets work, girl. Snitching would do way more harm than good. The last thing you wanna do is go to the police." He shook his head. "This shit not good at all. Ima hit Dre up, I got y'all."

I touched his arm. "I'm sorry I'm always bringing the drama. I'm sorry I'm bringing Amari's shit into our relationship."

"It's aight. I know despite that shit y'all been through, you care. And I respect that, caring don't just go away because shit goes down."

I still felt bad. But there was no way I was about to let Amari die. All the shit we been through, from losing our first tooth, to our first kisses, to losing our virginity. She used to be my confident, my supporter, my cheerleader. We were tight.

I'll admit, it had been weird not talking to her all these months. Granted, my blooming relationship with Devonte had distracted me from thinking about our lack of a relationship. But even if we never went back to being besties, I wanted to recover from the fight we had.

We arrived at the apartment complex, and got out. I wanted to help Trey get her settled in the apartment. I still didn't want her over there alone, but it wasn't like I could offer her to come to Trey and Devonte's.

I watched Trey help Amari out of the car. She gasped a little and grabbed her side.

"Yeah the nurse said be careful of yo ribs," Trey told her. She just nodded. She led us to her apartment, walking slowly with a slight hunch. Unlocking the door, she allowed us to enter. The apartment was cold, since the heat was obviously off.

It felt weird being back in my apartment. Well, now it was Amari's apartment. But it was all good, because the place never quite felt like home.

Now that I was inside, I didn't know what to do with myself. I eyed the living room, and decided to take a seat on the couch. The couch we had picked out together.

"I know I keep apologizing, but I really am sorry," Amari said. "And I'm sorry if you felt caught in the middle Trey and Devonte. I ain't expect y'all to take my side anyway."

"Just tell me one thing: do this nigga know where you live?" Trey asked, arms crossed. Since Amari showed up at our door, I had seen an almost protective side of him. And in the beginning, he seemed to like Amari, but I figured he just liked sleeping with her.

Now, I wondered if there was something more. I honestly hoped not, because I wasn't even sure if Amari was capable of caring for a man. People who cared for her seemed to always end up hurt. In the past few months I had come to see Trey as like a brother and I didn't want to see him hurt, especially when I was trying to fix me and Amari.

"No, I never brought him here. And that night...after he did this to me...I crawled to my car and drove to y'all place."

"That's something then." Trey seemed to relax.

"You gonna be okay over here by yourself, Mari?" I studied her.

"Yes, I'll be fine."

Trey cleared his throat. "I mean, if you want some company, I gotchu. I can keep watch and shit."

"I don't wanna inconvenience you, though."

"Nah, it's nothing."

Knowing she wouldn't be alone made me feel a lot better. "Okay then. I'm right across the street if you need anything," I told her. I gave her a hug, being careful not to touch her ribs.
"Be safe," I whispered.

Then, I went back to what I now considered home.

"Trey being over there makes me feel a lot better about her," I told Devonte as I undressed . The whole day had been stressful, and I finally felt like I could breath a little. Devonte eyed me, as I stepped out of my clothes, and stood in my bra and panties. I rummaged through the drawers for a towel. "Devonte, did you hear me? I said I feel better now."

"Yeah." He licked his lips. "This shit ain't necessarily over yet though. Malik still out there, with his deranged ass."

Damn, I didn't want to think about Malik. I wanted to just be glad Amari was fine and we were speaking again. Now I was worried all over again.

Devonte moved to behind me, and grabbed my ass. I knocked his hand away. "This ain't the time, damn!" How was he just gonna remind me that Amari could be in danger and then think I would be in the mood to fuck. "I know she be doing shit, but I don't want this nigga to find her. I don't want to lose her."

"If you care about her, I won't let nun happen to her, Yaz. I promise."

I saw the sincerity in his eyes, and I knew he meant it. But sometimes, it's hard to keep promises when you're not in control.

And neither one of us knew it at the time, but that promise would come back to haunt both of us.