* * *
I pulled up to the Marriott at 9 AM sharp. I'd barely slept, I kept thinking about Zurie, about JJ, about Jamie's bitch ass laid out on the floor. Part of me wished I had done more than just knock him out, but the other part knew I had made the right call.
I texted Zurie when I got to the parking lot and a few minutes later, she came out with JJ holding her hand. Lil’ man was clutching the same stuffed animal from last night. Zurie had on leggings and an oversized hoodie, she had her locs pulled back in a messy bun. She looked tired as hell, but she was trying to smile for her son.
"Good morning," she said softly when she got to the truck.
"Morning." I opened the back door and helped her get JJ situated in the back seat. Lil’ man looked at me with big curious eyes.
"Who you?" he asked.
"I'm Yatta, and I'm a friend of your mama's."
"You got a big truck." He said and I couldn't help but smirk a little.
"Yeah, I do."
Once we were all in, I pulled out the parking lot.
"Y'all hungry?"
"My ass is starving," Zurie admitted.
I took them to IHOP, nothing fancy, just some quick shit to put on their stomach. We sat in a booth, JJ next to his mama coloring on the kids' menu while we waited for our food.
"You sleep at all?" I asked.
"A little. You?"
"Enough."
She looked at me across the table, something soft in her eyes. "Thank you. For everything. I don't know what would've happened if you hadn't…."
"What I tell you about all that thanking me shit. No need for all of that.”
The food came and we ate mostly in silence. JJ was in his own world, drowning his pancakes in syrup and telling his mama about some cartoon he wanted to watch later. Watching them together, the way Zurie handled him, the way she laughed at his lil kiddy jokes, l’m not gon lie, that shit did something to me. It made me want to protect them both even more.
After breakfast, we got back in the truck.
"You ready?" I asked her.
She took a deep breath. "No. But let's do it anyway."
* * *
Sosa stayed in a nice-ass house in a gated community about fifteen minutes from the club. I'd been here a few times for business, but never this early. I pulled into his driveway and cut the engine.
"You want me to watch JJ while y'all talk?" I asked.
"Nah, he can play in Sosa's living room. He got toys there for him." Zurie unbuckled her seatbelt. "Let's just get this over with."
We got out and headed to the front door. Zurie had a key so she let us in.
"Sosa!" she called out.
"Kitchen, Zu!" his voice came back.
We walked through the living room, and when we turned into the kitchen, I stopped dead in my tracks.