INTERLUDE

HELLO HELLO MY DARLINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!! ITS BEEN A WHILE! I KNOW YOUVE MISSED ME! I DONT HAVE A LOT TO SAY RIGHT NOW SOOOO...........ENJOY!

4 months earlier…

“So I take it this didn’t go so well?” Karla asked as Dennis climbed in the truck.

“Not at all.” He said rubbing his jaw.

“I bet he’ll come around. I'm sure he's really stressed right now.”

“I know. I just wish he could see that I care. It’s just hard for me. I mean, I am his father. I don’t wanna see my son hurting & there’s nothing I can do about it. I just wish he wasn’t so difficult. I want him to know that I'm trying.”

“I'm sure he knows that Dennis.” Karla said softly as she patted his hand. The rest of the ride was silent. They got to the hotel & she wished him good night before going to her room. She slid off her shoes & rubbed her feet a little before pulling out her phone. She went to her media section & looked over the pictures of Malaki she snapped earlier today when Nicki was distracted. She couldn’t get over how beautiful he was. But the guilt she felt was overpowering. All of this was happening because of her. The magnitude of what she did was hitting her hard & she didn’t know what to do about it. She sighed heavily as she admired the child.

“Is that him?” a voice said from behind her. She turned around quickly to see Maliah sitting in the far corner of the room.

“Yes, it is.” Karla told her.

“Hmph, I guess.”  Maliah scoffed. They were quite for a while before Karla turned to her & spoke.

“I can’t do this anymore.”

“What?”

“This. Like, I don’t wanna hurt people anymore. Especially a child! So listen, I won’t say anything, just let me & my mother go.” Maliah turned her head slowly. It was almost demonic the way she looked at Karla. She rose slowly from the chair & came to sit down next to her on the bed. She stroked Karla’s hair softly with the back of her hand.

“See, this is why I like you. you're really a good person on the inside. But here’s the thing. I don’t trust you. I mean, look at everything you’ve done to Drake. You owe him everything, yet it was so easy for me to turn you against him.”

“But this wasn’t supposed to be about going against him. this was supposed to be about getting Nicki out of the way. And it was NEVER supposed to be about hurting anyone.”

“But here we are. You put the wire around Nicki’s neck, not me. Because of you, that poor baby’s life is hanging in the balance.”

“THIS WAS YOUR PLAN!”

“I didn’t hold a gun to your head & make you do it Karla.”

“But you have my mother!” Maliah laughed softly.

“Karla, your mother’s been dead for weeks now.” Karla backed away. All the breath left her body. She couldn’t believe it.

“But the messages. And you let me talk to her!”

“Pre-recorded my dear. When you came home she was getting suspicious so she had to go.”

“How…….how could you? HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?!?!?!?!”

“Because I need you, Karla. I had to do everything in my power to make sure that you were completely devoted to me. We’re a team & you keep tryin to fuck that up & I………I just can’t let that happen. You understand, right? That we’re a team.”

“Fuck you.” Karla spat. Maliah shook her head.

“See, I was afraid you would react like this.” Karla got up & raced for the door, but she wasn’t fast enough. Just before she could reach her exit, she felt something hard hit the back of her head. She felt dizzy. She touched the back of her head. Blood. Maliah stood in front of her. “I'm sorry, but I just can’t let you go.” Was the last thing Karla heard before everything went black.