📍Manchester, Jamaica | Cross Keys
A Few Days Later | Friday, September 16th
5 PM ⏰
"Why yuh neva bring Lailah wid yuh?" My mother asks, entering a key into that lock that was set on her grill gate.
She love when me repeat miself enuh.
"Mummy, me already tell yuh seh Sarai nah mek me see her unsupervised" I reply, stepping through the gate and into her yard.
"Unsupervised? She really still have yuh up?" she exclaims, kissing her teeth.
Yea, and a bout time fi she get over it now.
"She a act childish now mummy, and grudgeful like wah" I shrug, walking behind her as she leads us towards the house.
I won't act like I didn't put Sarai in an uncomfortable position.
But it had been over two months since everything had unfolded, and she refused to work on a way forward.
The solution she wanted was not possible.
Me nah leff me ooman.
So we had to find some way to live cohesively, without me being separated from my child.
"She cyaa keep yuh from Lai Noah, dat nuh legal. Mind me drop dung out yah..." Mommy declares, finding a seat on one of the outdoor chairs on the verandah.
Sarai a wah undercover criminal.
She nuh care bout legality.
"One a me girlfriend from high school, her big son a lawyer, me can get him fi call yuh and gih yuh some advice enuh" she says, locking eyes with me.
Mussi mad.
"No Mummy, me and Sarai aguh figure dis out between di two a we, me nuh wah nobody inna me business"
Me can handle Sarai, juss haffi hit her where it hurts.
I was hesitant at first to escalate things on my side, not wanting to show all my cards too soon, but she's pushed me to the point of no return.
First, it was cutting off my contact with Lailah, only allowing me to see my daughter on her own time.
Then when me find out seh she have man round me likkle gyal pickney, me get dawk immediately.
Who she think she be?
Worse me nuh like dah bredda deh, him arrgoant yuh fuck, nuh trust di fucka.
"So weh yah guh do son? Cause Lailah need her daddy..." Mommy asks, releasing an exasperated sigh as she rubs her hand over her heart.
She dramatic morewhile enuh.
Mommy had never really taken a side over the past few months, choosing instead to stay neutral unless she had something to gain from choosing a side.
As of late she's been on an anti-Sarai hate train.
Rightfully so.
She was upset that Sarai was keeping Lai and me separated, especially since the issue had nothing to do with my skills as a father.
Me being with Sevana nuh seh nothing bout my fatherhood.
I never had a close relationship with my father when I was younger, and it greatly affected the ways in which I've developed as a young adult.
My father has been in prison, since I was a young boy.
Sumn me aguh haffi deal wid forever.
Nah mek dat happen to Lailah, especially when the situation should've been over.
"Me have sumn fi Sarai man dont worry yuhself mommy" I announce, leaning back into the patio chair.
Watch me and bloodclaat her.
📍Mandeville, Manchester | 9 PM ⏰
Pulling into the parking lot of KFC, I sigh as I scope out the scenery of the cars filling the space.
Cars were lining the drive-thru, with little to no space for others to park their vehicles.
Me nah get nuh food fi now enuh.
An incoming phone call grabs my attention, my phone vibrating as it stands upright in the center cup holder.
Scanning the screen, I noticed that Mr. Daley's contact name was on the caller ID.
Why him a call me dem time yah?
On a Friday?
I accept the call, allowing his voice to come through the car speakers.
"Hello, Mr. Daley" I state, awaiting his reply.
"Yes, good evening Noah, how yuh doing?" he answers, his voice projecting louder than necessary.
I rush to turn down the volume on the speaker's settings.
"Me good enuh, juss heading home for the evening, you?"
Why we a do de small talk ting?
A weh him want?
My relationship with him had drastically changed over the past week or so.
I was assigned to work with him one-on-one for one of the company's upcoming projects for this quarter.
Even though we had worked together on other business deals before, our communication was sparse, and I knew little to nothing about his personal life outside of the office.
Which was perfectly fine, until now.
Suh imagine how me surprised when me find out seh a fimi son Sarai deh wid.
Manchester too fucking small fimi enuh.
Everybody know everybody.
The worst part about all of this was that the discovery was made after we got into it at a party the weekend before.
Suh now me and him inna malice.
But me nuh care, cause it involve me daughter.
My one pickney.
"I'm doing good Noah, just wanted to check in to see if you were able to close out the deal this morning?" he replies to my earlier question.
"Yea, everything is good to go, we'll be receiving their invoice sometime next week" I tell him, looking out at the parking lot once more.
Hungry a kill me enuh.
"Okay yea that's good, having friends in the US is always good for business, especially in Florida since it's so close to us geographically"
I hum my response, completely uninterested in what he had to say at this point.
Man juss a chat fi chat right now.
Cause dis could've been spoken about via text.
"Yuh know me son, Alex, he actually works for a mortgage company out in Miami"
The mention of Alex, brings my focus back to the conversation immediately.
Haffi gather me intel pon di dutty fucka.
Bout him a step to me bout my pickeny...
"Oh, he's a contractor?" I ask, trying to hide how curious I actually was.
"No, he's actually a Software Engineer, but he's very familiar with real estate so he's a big asset for them"
Ahh I see...
The wheels in my head are working overtime as I listen to him speak, detailing the work that Alex does, opening up Pandora's box for an idea to begin brewing.
Watch dis now.
"Would I be able to get his number? I've been interested in expanding my personal network in the Floridian real estate scene for some time now, and would love to connect with him" I declare, my brain eagerly pricing together how I could use this to my advantage.
My beef was never with Alex until last weekend, when all of a sudden he had a personal vendetta againts me.
Him big, bad, and bold, but he wasn't as mentally calculated as me.
My tactics were my strength.
Now, while Sarai was my current target, I knew there would be a way to put them together, ultimately manipulating the situation for my ultimate benefit.
I missed my daughter, and I wouldn't allow her mother to keep her away from me anymore.
Suh times nuffi run at all, much less fi dis long.
"Yes, of course, I'll send his phone number over to you right now" Mr. Daley calls out, and I can hear him already typing on the other end.
Shit just got messier than it needed to be.
But a suh it haffi guh sometimes.
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📍Manchester, Jamaica | Porus
The Next Day | Saturday, September 17th
3:00 PM ⏰
I was very familiar with the feeling of my life being in danger.
That was the lifestyle I've lived for all of my adult life, and most of my teenage years.
It was this feeling that I had to endure to provide for myself and my family, to take care of business, as the man of my household.
Me did haffi sacrifice me safety, fi mek sure seh dem neva did want fi nothing.
Over the years, what used to feel like anxiety, has now transformed into a deep paranoia.
It started after we lost my mother and heightened after I met Amina.
Me fraid a loss.
My life was a minor detail in all of this, it was the life of those whom I loved that I greatly worried about, every day.
Especially me baby, cause muma inna di dark.
She naave nuh clue a wah gwaan.
With the recent threat on my life, I've had to beef up security, especially for Amina.
A part of me wanted to let her in on everything, but I didn't want her to worry, especially when I would everything under control soon enough.
Me baby nuffi a stress bout nothing.
"Yo Rico, a weh yah do yasso bad bro?" Jalani calls out as I step out of my car.
"Ah yuh me come fi talk to enuh dawg, have an issue me need help wid" I tell him, walking towards where he stood.
I was visiting him at one of his many warehouses across the parish, Jalani was a well-known man in the organized crime business.
He's always hated being referred to as a Don, but that's exactly what he was.
We were friends from high school days, both of us attending DeCarteret College in Mandeville.
Suh Jalani nuh dunce, di bredda was top of our graduating class and had the opportunity to study abroad for university.
Bright sparks.
But he chose another life, one that guaranteed his immediate survival, and that of his family.
Something I completely understood.
"From weh day, you've been taking a step back, suh wah? Yuh wah back inna di game" he asks, pressing up againts the large metal entrance door of the warehouse.
The parking lot was empty except for both of our cars, there was no one else here on the property.
"Me neva leff di game, juss nuh wah nuh wah be too involved in shit..." I reply, pressing against the roof of his BMW.
I had never had my hand too deep in any of this when I was younger, yes, but as I got older I've taken a more backseat kinda role, managing things rather than executing.
If anything, my work was more geared toward, financial management.
Leader of di choppa society.
Me nuh three inna di badness ting, not anymore, too much duppy pon me already.
"So a wah gwaan?' he asks, pressing his brows together.
"Weh day some man pull up pon me a Mandeville, somebody send dem fi kill me" I explain, still shocked that what had happened had even occurred.
"Only reason why dem nay dweet, a cause me did have me niece wid me"
A Lailah save me enuh.
Sarai one pickney.
"Wow, dats fucking crazy nah lie" he chuckles, but he wasn't amused, more so surprised.
"Yea, fucking crazy" I put forth, pinching at the bridge of my nose.
One problem after the next.
"The worse part a seh me not even know a who order di hit, I've been trying to scope out some information on my own but me nah come up wid nothing"
He leans off the door, making his way towards me, his steps are heavy enough to shake the gravel on the ground underneath us.
Jalani was a big guy, he's always been like dat since we young, and that was one of the reasons why I think some people feared him.
He towered over other people, making them feel small.
Key words, "some people".
A God alone me fear.
"A dat alone yuh come to fi fah?" he questions pressing his weight down the trunk of his car.
"Yea bro, me wah know if yuh look into if fimi, find out who di threat a come from"
I wanted to be prepared for anything that was to come, but I felt like I couldn't even plan because I had no idea of which direction the danger would come from.
Me nuh like feeling out of control.
Worse ting ever.
"Okay bro...two a we know each long time enuh, suh yea me can do dis fi yuh" he replies, nodding his head.
We had over ten years of friendship.
Far from close, but we had experienced a lot together, especially when it came to shit like this.
"Aguh link yuh when me find out sumn" he adds on, his eyes locked on me.
Alright, one step closer.
Dats all I needed.
📍Newport, Manchester | 4:30 PM ⏰
Sarai runs out to meet before I can even put the car in park.
She had called me just as I was leaving from over Porus in tears, her voice distraught as she explained everything to me.
Our sperm donor had finalized the sale of the house.
"Samir, yuh can beelive seh di dutty drancro really dweet" she screams out.
I walk towards her and pull her into my embrace, her tears streaming down from her face and onto my shirt.
"Ah weh me do di man? Like mighty God, all I asked him to do was be a father" she sobs, her body shaking.
There was a lot of news I was expecting to hear these days, but this was not one of them.
I knew Samson had felt strongly about the idea, but I thought everything was going to be handled when Sarai was supposed to get help from those real estate people.
But den dat fell threw.
Now what I thought was impossible, has been actualized to the fullest, and he felt no remorse about what that would mean for Sarai and Lailah.
Neva yet hate nobody like how me hate Samson.
Deadbeat yuh fuck.
"Doh worry Rai, yuh and Lailah can come stay wid me inna di spare room bredda" I reassure her, rubbing circles on her back.
Me nuh like see her like dis.
I've seen Sarai cry only a handful of times, she rarely showcased this emotion, we were alike in that for sure.
She typically could keep it all in.
Suh me know seh dis a tear her apart inside.
"No, me cyaa do dat, especially when me have di money fi rent we owna place" she objects, pulling her body away from mine.
"Me juss neva did wah leff yasso...a di only thing me have leff a mommy" she cries, hugging herself as she rocks back and forth.
Aiii sah.
I understood her more than she knew, that's why I came up here as often as I did.
Even though mommy was no longer with us, I could feel her spirt and soul in the walls of the house.
The memory of her was alive here, everything that she did for us, everything that she meant to us, it lived here.
Samson was aware of that though, and he intentionally took this from us.
A dead him fi dead now enuh.
"Cyaa believe seh me fada a me biggest enuh to raatid" she exclaims, releasing a puff of air.
He was the greatest enemy of progress, working againts us from the start.
But me soon ketch him man.
Have sumn fi di fucka.
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A/N
new developments & some new characters 🫣
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