“You need to leave, Ahbou.”
“I’m not going anywhere until I know where Charlie is,” he replied.
He continued to bang on the door, annoying and scaring Claire.
“Please leave, Ahbou, before I call the police!” Claire threatened.
“Bitch, did you forget? I am the fuckin’ police.”
“And I’ll call the real ones to report you for harassment,” she countered. “Cop or not, I know about you, and it ain’t pretty.”
Ahbou seethed from the other side of the door. He couldn’t chance Claire calling the police and having cops not on the take find him there.
“I’ll be back, and I wanna know where the fuck she is,” he said, making his departure.
Claire exhaled, glad he was finally gone. The stench of Charlie’s mess was starting to stick to her.
Ahbou was unshakeable. Every day, twice a day, he came to the apartment looking for Charlie and seeking out a confrontation. He had become a stalker. He was obsessed, but Claire thought she was safe from him inside the locked apartment.
After Claire got dressed for work, she stared through the peephole to make sure Ahbou wasn’t lurking around in the hallway before she walked out. She didn’t see anything off, so she opened the door. The moment she stepped foot into the hallway, it seemed like Ahbou appeared from out of nowhere. He argued with Claire and pushed his way into the apartment, frantically looking for Charlie.
“Charlie, where the fuck you at?” he shouted.
“I told you, she’s not here!” Claire yelled.
Ahbou pivoted and stormed at Claire with a wild and jealous look in his eyes. Claire was terrified, but she tried not to show it. When a nosy neighbor came to investigate the incident, it spooked Ahbou and he hurriedly left the scene.
The following day, he came back. He banged on the apartment door to no avail and then used his badge to get the superintendent to let him in. He was done playing nice. He caught Claire off-guard. She was about to leave for work, and when she saw Ahbou inside the apartment, she screamed with fear.
“Where the fuck is she? She’s with some nigga, right? She’s fucking somebody else?” he shouted with rage.
“I don’t fuckin’ know!” Claire retorted.
Ahbou didn’t like the insubordination from Claire. He felt like he should be respected. He charged toward her and forcefully grabbed her by her clothes and shoved her against the living room wall.
“You fuckin’ bitch, I’ll bash your fuckin’ face in if you ain’t telling me the truth,” he threatened her. “Is she seeing another nigga?”
“I told you, I don’t know. I’m not in my sister’s business,” she exclaimed.
He glared at her. The frightened and unknowing look in her eyes indicated to him that maybe she was telling him the truth. He knew that Charlie wasn’t close with her sister. So why would she tell her anything? Of course Charlie would disappear for several days without telling anyone where she was. It was her character.
He released his grip from Claire and stepped away.
Claire couldn’t wait for Charlie to get home from wherever she was. She was sick of her shit—sick of her sister’s life colliding with hers.
Ahbou offered no apologies to Claire. He continued to frown and simply said, “When you see that bitch, tell her she needs to call me. ASAP.”
He spun around and left. Claire slammed the door behind him and screamed out in frustration and anger. She wanted to kill her sister for putting her in such a hostile predicament with a jealous lunatic.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chanel sat impatiently by Mateo’s bedside while Nurse Beth gave him a sponge bath. Chanel would often ask if she could be the one to give it to him, but it was against the facility’s rules. If something were to happen, then they could get sued. Chanel thought, What can happen with helping to give my man a sponge bath?
After the sponge bath, she watched Kyle help Mateo move his legs and arms during therapy. His arms were strong and his legs were slowly catching up. Mateo would sweat profusely while trying to walk and do things that most people take for granted. Early on, Mateo was embarrassed, but he pushed those feelings aside because it was all for him and Chanel to get back to normal. He wanted to become a hundred percent whole for her.
He was a fighter. He was determined to get well.
Once everyone left the room, Chanel crawled into bed with Mateo and snuggled against him. He wrapped his arms around her and said, “I know it’s hard right now, baby, but I’m gonna get there.”