Book #4 of the Love & Trauma series || 𝗦𝗣𝗜𝗡𝗢𝗙𝗙 to "Threes Company"
Toby is fresh out of prison and ready to relive his second chance out in modern day.
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𝐌𝐀𝐘 ❷ ⓿ ❷ ❷
Toby laid back on the bed with his arms behind his head. He watched the ceiling fan rotate at a decent speed and his facial expression straight. A hand rubbed up his chiseled abs and up to his full beard, tugging lightly. "Hey, what's on your mind?" the soft feminine voice wondered beside him.
He looked to the side and locked eyes with Ishanti. "Not shit..."
Ishanti grunted softly as she repositioned her body to lift herself up on her elbows. "You don't have to lie to me. I can tell something is on your mind by the way you're looking. Is this about your brother?"
Her gentle tone was so welcoming, he couldn't help but to respond by revealing what had him in deep thought on the first morning of the new month. "Ian' spoke to 'em in a few days; since he tripped out last weekend. Som' thing been on his mind but he ain't talkin' bout it."
"Have you asked?" Ishanti wondered, rubbing through his beard.
"Shit, I been askin' since last Sunday." he informed, "He ain't talkin' to nobody. Ian' see 'em. Neitha' have my moms, brotha, or his wife."
"Sounds like he's battling something." Ishanti mentioned, "Did something in his past around this time that would send him over the edge?"
Toby reverted back to his childhood in his mind, pondering on what happened around that time that devastated De. Then, that was when it hit him and the remembrance of that horrifying scream he heard in the middle of the night across the street from his childhood home erupted his mind.
He released a deep, slow breath. "My brotha lost his girlfriend while he was in prison. It happened..." he realized what day it was, "today; May first."
"Working at a prison, I see it all of the time. Inmates lose their mother's, brother's, or any family member and couldn't go to the funeral. That really messes a person up—not being able to get that final goodbye. Was he in love with her?"
"Very," he emphasized and chuckled softly. "He would do anything fa' ha. Shit, he offed da' nigga that raped ha'. If a nigga will kill fa' a woman and risk doin' time, he love da' fuck outchu."
"Yeah, he's hurting. And you never get over the loss of someone you love." Ishanti expressed, "You and your brotha should just pop up on him."
