by Nikki Brown
“WE didn’t want to hurt you or for you to think that we were betraying Nova, it just kind of happened. At first, we were both ashamed and then it became normal and now, here we are.” She searched Sutton’s eyes for some kind of understanding, but she got nothing.
“Baby please don’t be mad; I will always love your mother…”
“We will always love Nova,” Pebbles butted in.
“Yes, but she’s gone, and I still have a life to live and…” was all he got out before Sutton took off running up the stairs.
“Oh no,” Pebbles covered her face and broke down crying while Hudson comforted her. Kahleno hated that Sutton reacted like she did but he almost expected it. Pebbles was her mother’s friend and even though it seemed like it was messed up, Kahleno could see how it happened.
“I’ll go talk to her, give me a minute.” Kahleno took the stairs two at a time.
When he got to the door, he held his ear to the door expecting to hear crying or sniffling, but he didn’t hear neither. When he opened the door, Sutton was sitting in the middle of the bed with the bag of chips that she kept on her nightstand for him midnight cravings.
“He still here?” Sutton asked and Kahleno looked at her like she was crazy. “What?”
“Are you okay?” Kahleno leaned against the door with his hands in his pockets, she was starting to freak him out, she was too calm for his liking. He was waiting for her to scream, throw something or her favorite thing, to cry but she was stone faced.
“Yeah.” Was all she offered.
“You want to talk about it?”
“Talk about what? They’re together and I’m kind of happy for them. My dad deserves to be happy; I know that he’s not going to be alone forever. I get that. I just hate that they felt like they had to lie to me.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I know my dad loved my mother, there is no doubt in my mind and Pebbles loved her too.”
“So why did you run off?”
“Because he gave me all that hell about being with you and here, he was hiding his relationship from me.” She giggled. “I’m making him sweat. I’ll talk to him another time.” She shrugged her shoulders. “It’s his turn to get the cold shoulder.”
Kahleno couldn’t believe what he was hearing, he couldn’t do anything but laugh and shake his head. They were down there freaking out because they thought she was mad and didn’t approve of their relationship and she was fine with it just being an asshole.
“If you don’t get your pretty petty ass down those stairs and talk to your father.” He laughed at the smile that spread across her face. “Pebbles is having a complete break down right now.” Kahleno pointed to the door and Sutton felt bad a little.
“She’s knows how I am, if I was mad about it, I would have flipped the hell out not run to the room.” She shook her head and climbed out of the bed. Kahleno opened the door and Sutton took the stairs to rejoin her father and Pebbles. “Where y’all going?” she asked when she saw them headed to the door.
“Sutton I’m sorry, if you want us to break it off then I will. You know I love you, but I fell in love with your father too, but I don’t want to ruin our relationship. I love you that much.” Pebbles sobbed and Sutton felt like shit for not taking the severity of the situation in to consideration.
“No the hell you’re not, Sutton is my daughter and I love her to death, but life is too short to be anything but happy and I’m happy with you,” Hudson said to Pebbles. He wasn’t trying to disrespect his daughter, but she was grown and starting her own family and he was trying to build one with Pebbles.
“It was a joke,” Sutton said and they both looked at her. “I’m not mad, I just really hate that you felt like you had to hide if from me. I know that you both loved my mother, and you love me. Dad you deserve to be happy and Pebbles so do you.” Sutton smiled.
“We never messed around when Nova was alive and—”
“Stop, I know that.” Sutton stopped her. “Just don’t hide things from me, we’re a family. We we’re before this.” She waved her hand back and forth between the two of them. “We should be honest with each other.”
“I love you baby.” Hudson pulled her in for a hug.
“I love you too daddy.” She hugged her father and then let him go. Pebbles stood off to the side nervously. “Nothing’s gonna change Pebbles, I promise we’re good.”
“I know I will never take your mother’s place and I’m not trying to Sutton—” Pebbles started, and Sutton cut her off again.
“Oh shut up Pebbles.” Sutton placed her hands on her hips.
“Now you wait a damn minute missy.” Pebbles mimicked Suttons’ gesture and Sutton laughed.
“There’s my Pebbles.” She wrapped her hands around her and the two embraced. Hudson stood back and admired the two women that he loved the most.
Differences
“Didn’t I tell yo ass not to hurt my got damn sister,” Vinny said as he stepped aside and let Cassidy in the house. The phone was up to his ear as he glared at Cassidy. “Cami let me call you back, I gotta cuss this nigga out.”
“You said that last time Vinny and never hit me back. Keep playing with me and you gone make me show my ass. Real talk nigga!” she yelled through the phone.
The two had just started back talking. After the whole Trouble situation, Vinny called himself cutting her off until she started talking to another man. He shut it down so quick and here they were.
“Shut yo baldheaded ass up. You sound like a nigga.” Vinny shook his head. “I said I’m calling you back when I get this nigga out my house.”
“Yeah well I’m on my way over there cause I don’t believe you.” She hung up the phone and Vinny looked at it making sure that she really hung up on him. Sliding his phone back in his pocket he gave Cassidy his undivided attention.
“Where she at?”
“Don’t worry about it, I told you if you wasn’t serious then leave her the fuck alone.” Vinny pointed at Cassidy.
“That shit threw me for a fucking loop, had me looking at her side ways. What exactly did you want me to do?” Cassidy said calmly. “What kind of woman keeps a kid from a man?”
“The kind that does what’s best for her fucking child,” Key said walking into the house giving Vinny the side eye.
“Don’t fucking look at him like that, shit I was in here minding my business and he showed up. I was taking up for your retarded ass, I won’t do that shit no more.” Vinny flipped his sister off and started texting away at his phone.
“Since you in my business I’m telling Camila that the Jayla bitch was over here last night,” Key said calling Cami by her real name.
“You do that shit and I’ma fuck you up Key real talk. You on that good ol bullshit. Cassidy please take her back there and give her some dick or something. She’s been a royal bitch since y’all been fighting.”
Key mushed Vinny in the head as he walked by to go in the room. She didn’t really want to talk to Cassidy, but him being in her presence was wearing her down. Dodging him had been her thing lately because she knew the minute that he was in front of her he would wear her down.
“Why are you here?” her harsh tone cut through the silence that surrounded them. She didn’t need him judging her for her past and she didn’t feel like explaining to him why she made the decisions that she made, and she wasn’t going to. She had done that enough.
“I didn’t fuck Piper.” Was the first thing out of his mouth. He felt the need to clear that up real quick. “She was at the bar when I was there, and we talked about you and Saque. We got drunk and she was scared to go home so I offered her my couch. I slept in my room and she slept on the couch. Nothing more, nothing less.”
“You want me to believe that?”
“Whether you believe it or not is not up to me, that’s on you but that’s my truth and that’s all I know.”
“Why were y’all talking about me?” she placed her hand on her hips as she looked in to his chocolate face. She hated how ha
ndsome he was and how the smell of his cologne always gets her juices flowing.
“Because I didn’t understand how you could just keep a man from his child like that.” Cassidy answered honestly. “I didn’t see you like that, so when I heard it, I reacted. In my mind it made you look sneaky and selfish. My Key is none of those things, so I was shocked. She helped me see the other side of things, by talking her through her problems with Saque.”
“I was so scared; you don’t know the hell that man put me through. It was like I was a prisoner in my own got damn relationship. When my mother died, we didn’t have anything, I mean nothing, and he knew that. He came into my life and helped me and Vinny out. He became like a savior to me.” The tears pooled in her eye lids. Cassidy wanted to get up and be there for her, but he felt like she needed him to listen. “So when my savior turned into the devil himself, I didn’t know what to do. I had gotten comfortable with the life that I was living, and I was able to do for Vinny. WE were finally happy and then the first thing I do that he didn’t want me to do he started to dangle it in my face, then when he knew I was dependent on him the controlling stuff came.”
Cassidy couldn’t take it anymore he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her to him. Sliding her in his lap and wrapping his hands around her waist.
“It was like he thrived off of controlling me, I couldn’t take living like that, so I met someone that made me feel free. I ended up cheating on him and he caught us after a while. He shot him and almost beat me to death.” Key sniffled. “When I was in the hospital, I found out I was a few weeks pregnant. I knew that I didn’t want a man like that to raise my son, I know that was a selfish decision to make but I just couldn’t fathom having to co-parent with him.
Cassidy felt sorry for her; he knew the basics of their relationship, but this was the first time that he’s seeing how it affected her. It made him feel like a dick.
“What about the shit he said bout you taking your clothes off for men that could possibly be his dad?” The prostitute thing was bothering Cassidy more than he would like to admit but now was the time to ask to clear the air.
“He said that to piss you off.” She shook her head. “After I had Kane and him and his sister blackballed me, I was struggling to take care of him, but I refused to ask them for anything. This girl whose hair I braid told me about webcamming. It’s like Stripping but it’s on the computer screen. I didn’t get naked, but I just stripped down to my thongs on camera and men paid to see me.”
“Who in the fuck gone pay to see someone strip that they can’t touch?” That whole idea was absurd to Cassidy.
“You’d be surprised. I made hella money. I did that but when Vinny found out that’s when he went out and started working for y’all. I stopped and started doing hair out of the house and we made it work.”
“Why didn’t you say that the night of the hair show?” Cassidy felt like a lot could have been resolved if she would have just come out and talked to him.
“Because at the time I didn’t want to be near Saque and I didn’t want him questioning me about Kane. My son didn’t need to hear that or meet his father under those circumstances.”
“So now what?” Cassidy asked.
“He rolled up on me and the girls eating, we got into it but by the end we realized that we both hurt each other and while we may never like each other, we needed to come to a common ground for Kane.”
Cassidy didn’t know if he liked the fact that she had a sit down with this nigga. He could see it in his eyes that he still had some feelings for Key. Kane was his son thought so Cassidy told himself that he would play the backfield until lines were crossed and then he would step in.
“When you gone let him meet him?”
“After the DNA test comes back. It was gone be before then, but the nigga tried to play me so now it’s gone be on my terms.” Key smirked before she got serious again. “I’m not perfect Cassidy, I told you that before. My past is my past and I grew from it, I won’t apologize for it either and if that’s something you can’t accept then I get it but let me know now.”
“Akiya I’ve just always been a man that didn’t believe in wasting his time. I’ve always known what I wanted, and I went after it. When I met you, you met everything that I had ever asked for in a woman.” He leaned up and crashed his lips against hers. “I just never took into consideration that what made you who you are may not be as pretty as what I see now. For that I’m sorry.”
Tears flew down Key’s face, she felt so connected to Cassidy. She couldn’t fully say that she loved him yet, but she was damn sure moving in that direction. Everything that he is, is everything that she wanted.
“What now?”
“I wanna try this again. Everything is out in the open and I just want us to build from that. I mean that’s if that’s okay with you?” Key stared into his eyes and nodded her head. She didn’t want anything else in this world. “Aight well let’s go, I got to get to Kahleno’s. Mama coming home today and if you ain’t there when she gets there, I will never hear the fucking end of it.” Key giggled.
Siya was everything, she loved the advice she gave them when it came to her sons. Everything she said was right and she would forever be grateful.
“Cool, let me change real quick, Kane is already there. He called Sutton and asked if he could come over with Kahlil and she said yeah.”
“So you just doing drop offs now? You wasn’t gone stay?”
“No I didn’t want to see you, but I’m glad I did.” Cassidy slapped her on the ass and watched as she walked to the back to change her clothes. He had half the mind to go in there with her and get him a make-up quickie, but they had a lifetime to do that. She wasn’t getting away from him again and he put that on his unborn kids. Key was what he wanted, what he deserved, and he was glad that he found her.
“This damn girl gone drive me crazy,” Vinny said casually walking back in the living room.
“Who? Jayla?”
“Fuck naw, if she didn’t suck my dick the way she do I wouldn’t even fuck with her clingy ass but I’m talking about Cami.”
“I meant to ask you what was up with that, I thought y’all were cooling it.”
“We was but that’s my baby. She thought she was going to be running into the sunset with another nigga and I wasn’t having it.” The sneaky smirk that appeared on his face made Cassidy laugh. “Shit I swooped in and shut that shit down.”
“So you gone settle down with her?”
“Hell nah, a nigga too young for that but I’ma keep my shit out of her face until a nigga ready.”
“That’s a dangerous game you playing, you gone end up hurting her to the point where she’ll be gone for good,” Cassidy warned.
“Mind yo muthafuckin business Cassidy and keep that smile on my sister’s face. Cause the next time y’all into it and she come around here with her shit I’m gone shoot her mean ass.”
“You ain’t gone do shit.” Cassidy laughed and leaned back on the couch waiting for Key to get done so they could go and welcome his mom home properly. He was happy he got his girl back, he planned on making their shit solid.
Family Ties
Kahleno, Cassidy, and AD rushed around the house making sure that everything was set up just the way their mother would like it. After complaining and threatening every person on the staff, Siya had finally got her departure papers.
Mega gave the boys the task of planning a welcome home get together for his wife with just immediate family. They had whipped up some food and had Sutton and Icelynn decorate. The only thing they were waiting on was Siya to make her grand entrance.
Ding dong! The doorbell sounded and Kahleno rushed to the door praying that it wasn’t his father. He was supposed to call him before he got here so he could make sure they were ready. When he got to the door, he looked through the peep hole and saw that it was Officer Barrett, one of the officers on his payroll.
Kahleno swung the door open and was almost knocked down by Kahlil
running full force and tackling his legs before taking off in the direction of laughing. When he looked back up Karson made herself known. The worried look on her face let Kahleno know that he wasn’t gonna like what she was about to say.
“Hey, sorry we’re late but Kahlil took all day finishing his breakfast.” Karson smiled nervously.
“The fuck going on?” Kahleno was no fool, he already knew that Barrett was the man that Karson had been dealing with. He just wondered when they were gonna tell him. He wasn’t mad at all, Karson deserved happiness just like he did but he wanted to know that she wasn’t with any shit.
“Kahleno man I didn’t even know that she was your son’s mother,” Barrett said and looked over at Karson who put her head down. “Me and her met at her job, I was called out because someone tried to break in. When I got there something drew me to her and we just clicked. Shit felt good.” He smiled and Kahleno could see that he really cared about Karson, that was a good sign. “She didn’t bother to tell me who she was associated with.” He gritted.
“I didn’t think it was important, DeShawn,” she said calling him by his first name. “Hell I didn’t know you were connected to him. It’s not my place to announce who my son’s father is to every man I meet.” She rolled her eyes.
Kahleno was a very well-known man, which interfered with most relationships she tried to start, and he knew that. SO when she met a cop, she figured that it would be her one chance to be with someone that wasn’t connected to her son’s father. Imagine her surprise when she introduce him to Kahlil all hell breaks loose.
“So what y’all together?” Kahleno asked.
“Look man, you know we good and we go way back.” DeShawn said referring to the fact that he grew up with the Maler Men, they all went to school together. He had gotten in some shit when he was younger and Mega helped him out of it, he left town and went to school to play football while getting his criminal justice degree.