Lovely Lies

by Lashanta Charles

  Chapter 17

  Jaida

  Maybe Mak wasn’t so far off when she was trying to tell me about the possibility of there being more to Kalil and his evil ways. We’re standing outside of the police station waiting for Mak to come out and I’m not sure if he forgot where we are or if he just doesn’t care. I think it’s more of him not caring. It’s like he’s putting a hit out on this Nyeem guy and he’s not being discreet about it. I actually hope the cops can get to him before Kalil does. He’s scaring me and Donte is still a jackass, so I’ll just go back inside and wait. I can see Mak walking towards me when I go inside. I smile at her, but she doesn’t smile back. I guess that’s expected. I wait until she’s closer to say anything. “All done?”

  She simply shakes her head. Kalil is on his phone when we walk outside. He tells whoever he’s speaking to to “find him” before hanging up and coming to Mak. He kisses her forehead and hugs her. He’s a completely different person compared to the one I saw just a few minutes ago. I’m starting to believe Mak’s theory more and more, but it seems as though she’s completely forgotten it. Kalil holds her hand and leads her towards his truck.

  None of us are going to get much sleep tonight. We’re all waiting for Mak to go to bed, but she’s too shook up to sleep. Kalil gave her two pills to take and she’s obviously drowsy, but she won’t even lie down. Every now and then she blurts out some nonsense. Right now she’s giggling uncontrollably. Kalil looks at me then back at her.

  “This can’t be good,” Donte says.

  “What’s so funny?” I ask. She’s laughing too hard to answer. She puts one hand up signaling for me to wait and uses the other to cover her mouth.

  “Baby, you okay?”

  She laughs a little more before she’s able to finally speak. “Rabbits!”

  She’s giggling again. Kalil looks at me as if I should know what she’s talking about. I shrug my shoulders.

  “What’s so funny about rabbits?” he asks.

  “Jay said for us to quit being rabbits.”

  Is she serious right now?! Before I can say anything else she jumps up and looks at Kalil. “Oh snap baby, I know what we need to do right now!”

  He actually looks nervous.

  “Did she just say oh snap?” Donte asks.

  She turns to him and smiles. “Y’all should quit being mad at each other and be rabbits like me and K Daddy Boom.”

  What in the hell is a K Daddy Boom?

  She twirls in a circle twice and says, “I’m a pony! Come on, let’s go be rabbits.”

  Kalil covers his face and shakes his head. She picks up a few pillows from the couch she was sitting on then checks her pockets before going to Kalil’s.

  “What you looking for?” he asks.

  “Where’s KJ?”

  Kalil frowns. I hope she doesn’t think he’s in their pockets! Kalil tells her KJ is with Jasmine.

  “Which one of y’all have my phone?” she asks.

  None of us answer. Her phone hasn’t even crossed my mind until now. Kalil gets up and heads for the door.

  “I think it’s in the car. I’ll get it.”

  She grabs his hand and pulls him back to her. “It can wait, follow me.” She pulls him towards the stairs and looks back at us. “Rabbits Donte. If she ain’t willing it’s still yours.”

  Best friend ever. When they’re out of sight I look over at him.

  “Makynzee has spoken,” he says.

  “Kiss my ass, Donte.” I go to the downstairs guest room and he follows.

  “I’m trying to, you won’t let me.”

  I try to close the door on him, but he pushes it open and pulls me to him. If I try hard enough I can occasionally make myself resist Donte. Right now is not one of those occasions. His lips drive me crazy and when they’re on my neck they drive me completely insane. I’m sure he knows this, which is why he has them there right now. Where is my will power? I quickly snatch his shirt off. He does the same as I try to get his belt open. I let out a frustrated sigh as I look down at it. Why is it so hard to get it open? This distraction reminds me that I’m terrible about taking my birth control. If he doesn’t have a condom on him I swear I’m going to kill him. “Condom?” He takes my shorts off and pushes me onto the bed before grabbing his wallet. He drops the condom on the bed next to me. I only have time to grab it and attempt to open it before I feel him on top of me; inside of me. Sex with Donte is always good, but this time it’s different. He’s different. I feel like I’m falling and he’s the only one who can catch me. If I had any doubts before, he’s stroking them away. Love is blind and there’s no denying that I love him. He rolls me on top of him. His hands are on my waist. His lips and his tongue are on my breasts. I feel an orgasm coming. I’ve never come this quick before and I’m obviously not going to now because he stops moving. My eyes are closed, but I frown as I try to move my hips. He calls my name. Not as though he’s in ecstasy and it slips out, but like he has a question and wants me to acknowledge him so he can ask it. I ignore him and try to push his mouth back to my chest. I was so close. He calls my name again. I take a deep breath and look down at him.

  “What?” My voice laced with irritation. He hesitates. Whatever he wants to say is making him nervous. I can feel him growing soft inside of me. Seriously?! His nervousness transfers to me. “Baby what’s wrong?”

  He looks away from me and rests his forehead against the middle of my chest. I use my hands to bring his face back up to mine. “What’s wrong?”

  He stares at me in silence for a few seconds then flips us over. He’s on top again; stroking deep and slow. He kisses me. Just like that he brings me back to the edge again.

  “Jay?”

  I close my eyes.

  “I need you to do something for me.”

  Right now, anything. I just need him to let me finish this first. Whatever he needs me to do can wait. I pull his mouth down to mine and wrap my legs around him. He goes deeper. Nothing has ever felt this good. I cry out my pleasure. Donte is still rock hard. My whole body is smiling. That means another orgasm is guaranteed. He says something and there goes my smiling body. I open my eyes and look at him. Am I hearing things right? He didn’t just ask me to have his baby, did he? He looks serious, as though he’s waiting for an answer, so that’s exactly what he just asked me. I have no idea when the condom fell from my hand or where it is. This isn’t something we should be talking about in the middle of sex.

  “Donte put the condom on.”

  He frowns. What the hell could he possibly be upset about?

  “Is that a no?” he asks.

  I think we’ve been around Kalil, KJ, and Mak too much. Donte has never given any impression that he even wanted kids. I want kids, but now isn’t the best time.

  “Answer me, Jay.”

  “Do we really have to talk about this now?”

  “I can’t hold it. If you move it’s coming out. Now is probably a good time to talk about it.”

  He’s bluffing right? I can feel him inside me. He’s still hard…and throbbing…and obviously about to come. Without thinking I try to sit up and move away from him. Why in the hell did I just do that? He holds me in place by my waist and slowly pushes himself deep into me. Why does it feel this damn good? I arch my back and thrust my pelvis up to meet his. I can feel his lips moving on my neck. I think he’s saying something, but I’m too lost in my orgasm to try and figure it out. A few seconds later his body goes limp. He pushes himself up on his arms and looks down at me.

  “I’m sorry,” he says.

  I don’t respond to him. I just stare at him in silence. When he kisses me I don’t kiss him back.

  “Jay, I need you to say something.”

  “Let me up.”

  He doesn’t move.

  “I need a minute, let me up.”

  He stares at me for a few seconds then moves. I get up and go in the bathroom. I’m not sure how long I stay in there or why I even go in there in the first place, but wh
en I come out he’s sitting on the edge of the bed waiting for me.

  “Don’t be mad at me.”

  I go to the bed and sit beside him. “I’m not, but I’m pretty sure you didn’t just get that bright idea suddenly. You could’ve come at me better than that.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  I don’t need his apologies. What’s done is done. There’s no turning back now. “Mak thinks Kalil does more than the clubs and the gyms. She thinks there’s something he’s not telling her, something illegal.”

  He stares at me, but doesn’t say anything. I’ve never asked him how he makes his money. He told me once before that he shared ownership of the night club with Kalil. I never questioned that until now. “Is she right?” Complete silence. I guess I’m not getting an answer. I turn away from him.

  “I told you how I make money.”

  “If I’m pregnant I won’t raise a child by myself, Donte. If there’s a chance that you won’t be around to help me, there’s no chance of us having a baby.”

  He gets in the bed with me and pulls me to him.

  “I’ll be here.”

  I leave Donte in bed asleep the next morning. I think I hear someone in the kitchen as I make my way there. It’s Mak. She’s sitting at the table eating bacon. I look at the stove to see what else she’s cooked, but there’s nothing.

  “Where’s the rest of the food?” I ask.

  “This is all I wanted.”

  She grabs another slice of bacon from the plate in front of her. I shake my head and look towards the phone at the flashing light. “Y’all got messages.”

  She grabs the phone and asks, “Which one of y’all grabbed my bag from the car?”

  “None. If it wasn’t Kalil it should still be in there.”

  “Did y’all grab my phone?”

  “No.”

  “Was the car locked when you…”

  Whatever’s being said on the message has stolen her attention. She laughs a little then looks up at me.

  “This day just keeps getting better.”

  She yells Kalil’s name then puts the phone on speaker and replays the message. It’s Jasmine. She’s telling Kalil she’s glad he came by yesterday because she misses hanging out with him and being a family. She wants him to come back tonight and she’ll put KJ to bed early so it’ll be the two of them just like old times. Mak is at the bottom of the stair case now. She yells Kalil’s name again. In the ten seconds that it took me to listen to the message, she’s become a different person. A really pissed off person.

  “You don’t believe her, do you?” I ask.

  “No, but she did that on purpose. She knew I would check the messages. She could have easily just called his cell phone. If she wanna go there, we definitely can.”

  She yells Kalil’s name again.

  “So you’re mad at Kalil?”

  “No, why would I be mad at him?”

  “Well you’re yelling like you’re mad.”

  “Because I am. My bag and my phone aren’t in the car and none of y’all have them so that means at some point Nyeem must have taken them.”

  Kalil appears at the top of the stairs rubbing his eyes and yawning. “I know it’s not often, but I do need a little sleep to function.”

  “Oh, okay, baby. My bad. I’ll tell you what, you go back to sleep and me and Jay will go talk to Jasmine about the message she left on the phone.”

  She goes back in the kitchen without waiting for him to respond. He seems wide awake now.

  “What message?” he asks.

  “Your baby’s mom is an idiot, but we’re not going anywhere. Nyeem has her bag and her phone.”

  He stares at me for a little while then goes back in his room. When he comes to the kitchen where we are Mak is on the phone with a credit card company. Donte comes in behind him.

  “What’d the message say?” Kalil asks.

  They sit at the table with me and I push the plate of bacon between the two of them. Kalil looks at the plate then at the stove.

  “All she wanted was bacon,” I say.

  “What message y’all talking about?” Donte asks.

  I was hoping they would be more focused on the missing bag and phone, but I guess not. “The message where Jasmine is saying how much she misses Kalil and she’s glad he came over and she wants him to come back tonight.”

  “Let’s not forget her putting KJ to bed early,” Mak says.

  I didn’t realize she was off the phone. She’s looking at Kalil. He’s looking at her.

  “We dropped KJ off, that’s it,” he says.

  “If he figures out my password he’ll have my whole schedule, my contacts, my email, everything.”

  I guess she really isn’t mad about Jasmine.

  “He’ll never figure it out. What else was in your bag?”

  “My wallet, my headphones, clothes, shoes…”

  She takes a deep breath as if trying to think of what else could have been in her bag. Kalil pulls her to him and sits her on his lap.

  “We’ll get you another phone.”

  “KJ shouldn’t be with her.”

  So she is mad about Jasmine.

  “It’s her weekend,” he says.

  She shakes her head and says, “She doesn’t deserve to see him. I bet if you called him right now he’d tell you to come get him.”

  “It’s only two days, baby.”

  “A lot can happen in two days,” I chime in. I have nothing to do with that conversation. The looks I get from Donte and Kalil confirm that.

  “She only gets one, Kalil. She disrespects me again and we gone have some serious problems.”

  He watches as she gets up and goes to the sink, but doesn’t respond to her.

  “I haven’t backed up my phone in weeks,” she says.

  I get up and walk out the kitchen.