Carl Weber's Kingpins

by Brandi Johnson

  “Where you gon’ go?” Ka’yah finally found enough nerve to ask her sister, breaking the silence, as tears filled the rims of her eyes.

  “Ja’Rel said I can come live wit’ him,” Ke’yoko replied.

  “Good, you can be somebody else’s burden. But I’ll tell you what, when his black-ass gets to disrespecting you, putting his hands on you, or when he goes to the penitentiary because I’m sure he’s going, they all do, don’t come crawling back this way, because once you leave here you are never to return, do you hear me?”

  “I don’t give a fuck!” Ke’yoko frowned.

  “Please, don’t leave,” Kailo said, sadly.

  “I got to, Kailo, and if y’all had any sense, y’all would come wit’ me,” Ke’yoko said.

  “They’re not going anywhere with you! You won’t corrupt these two. They will turn out nothing like you! They have a future. You bring shame to the Cho name!” her father spat.

  “I won’t be a Cho for long, you just watch and see!”

  “This Ja’Rel will never marry you. He’ll just keep you barefoot and pregnant while we hardworking taxpayers take care of all of you!”

  “I don’t give a fuck what he does to me. It can’t be no worse than livin’ in this hellhole!” Ke’yoko said.

  “Are you done?” her father asked. He stared at the daughter he had raised as his own for all these years. Ke’yoko was spoiled and ungrateful. He was sick and tired of all the heartbreak and disrespect she brought to them. He had tried and failed. All the lies, not coming home for days at a time and now running around with a thug, he was done!

  Ke’yoko didn’t respond. She just looked at her mother with pure disgust on her face, then over at her father and wanted to spit on them both, but decided not to. She then looked over at Ka’yah and Kailo, and shook her head. The looks on her siblings’ faces tore her up on the inside. Knowing there was nothing she could do for them right now, she turned and walked out of the front door.

  Chapter Two

  Seven Years Later

  Ke’yoko was awakened by a tender kiss on the side of her cheek. She slowly opened her eyes and looked up at her husband with a smile.

  “Mornin’, baby.” He smiled back.

  “Mornin’,” she replied through a yawn as she sat up and stretched out her arms while looking out the patio doors at the beautiful light blue Turks and Caicos water. “Man, I wish I could wake up to this view every mornin’.”

  “It is breathtaking, ain’t it?” Ja’Rel replied, taking in the beautiful view as well. Ja’Rel was a thin, clean-cut dude. He was average height, not quite six foot, with a dark complexion and brown eyes, and he sported a fade with a nicely lined-up goatee. There was nothing spectacular about Ja’Rel’s looks; it was his swag and personality that had attracted and kept Ke’yoko as well as all the other women he messed around with. Ja’Rel stayed dressed from head to toe and smelling good at all times. He had beautiful white teeth, kept a smile on his face, and got a compliment on his thick, sexy lips from all the ladies he came in contact with. Ja’Rel was the type of man who could keep you laughing and make you feel protected: two traits women love in a man.

  “Just think, if business keeps boomin’ the way it is, we will be wakin’ up to this view every mornin’ in no time.”

  “Do we have to leave today?” Ke’yoko whined.

  “Yes, baby, we have to leave today. I got a empire to run.” Ja’Rel smiled at his wife as she pouted.

  “You left Ka’yah in charge of the business, so I’m sure everything is runnin’ smoothly,” Ke’yoko said, hoping to get at least one more day on this beautiful island.

  Ja’Rel walked over, grabbed his suitcase, and tossed it on the bed. “Look, baby, don’t take this the wrong way: I know Ka’yah is ya twin sister and all, but she ain’t too bright when it comes to certain things and runnin’ a business is one. The only reason I left her in charge is because you begged me to, remember?” Ja’Rel said, opening up the drawers and grabbing some of his clothes.

  “That’s not nice, Relly. How hard can it be to answer the phone, take orders, and send the men out to do the jobs? I do it every day.” Ke’yoko laughed, knowing that her sister did act like a straight blonde at times.

  “It might not be, but remember the truth ain’t always nice. And here I thought all Japanese people were smart,” Ja’Rel said jokingly as he continued packing.

  “That was such a stereotypical and racist comment.” Ke’yoko smiled as she tossed the blankets back. “But don’t forget, our biological father was a black man, so maybe she got her brains from him.”

  “Oh, and that comment wasn’t racist and stereotypical?” Ja’Rel asked as he zipped up his suitcase.

  “Maybe a little.” Ke’yoko smirked as she climbed outta bed.

  “Damn!” Ja’Rel snapped as he looked over at his wife, who was wearing only a teal lace panty and bra set. “Come here, girl,” Ja’Rel said while grabbing Ke’yoko by the arm.

  “I thought we were about to leave,” Ke’yoko said as she enjoyed the kisses her husband planted on her neck.

  “We are, but not before you give me some of this wet-wet.” Ja’Rel wrapped his arms around his wife’s waist, grabbing a handful of her ass.

  “Okay, but don’t forget Ka’yah is runnin’ the company,” Ke’yoko reminded him.

  “Oh, yeah, let’s get the fuck up outta here before we won’t have no business to go home to,” Ja’Rel said, quickly composing himself.

  “You somethin’ else.” Ke’yoko smiled as she headed to the bathroom to shower.

  * * *

  After the long flight home, all Ke’yoko wanted to do was shower and get some rest, but instead Ja’Rel drove straight to his office to check and make sure everything was running how it should have been.

  “Look what the cat dragged in.” Ka’yah smiled as Ke’yoko and Ja’Rel walked into Barne’s Pest Control.

  “Everything seems to still be intact,” Ja’Rel teased, looking around the office.

  “Oh, shut up, nigga.” Ka’yah laughed.

  “Fo’ real,” Ke’yoko agreed with her sister.

  “Look at’chu, girl, you done got yourself a tan lyin’ out there in all that sun,” Ka’yah said, walking over to her sister and giving her a tight hug. “How was your vacation?” Ka’yah asked, standing back and gazing at her twin sister.

  Ke’yoko and Ka’yah were both truly stunning women. Born identical twins, no one could tell them apart when they were little. You could only tell them apart as they grew older and their figures developed. Their mother was full-blooded Japanese, and their unknown father had been African American. The mixture of the two races had blessed both young ladies with beautiful features. Both sisters had beautiful long, silky jet-black hair, clear and flawless complexions, and beautiful light-colored eyes.

  Ke’yoko was slightly taller than Ka’yah and used to have a perfect hourglass figure, until she got married. You couldn’t pinch an inch if you had wanted to; she was still stacked and tight in all the right places, with just a little more to hold on to now. Ka’yah had always been thick. She had a shapely waist, followed by a plump tail and thick legs.

  “Girrrrl, let me tell you. We stayed at the Seven Stars Resort on Grace Bay. You talkin’ about heaven.”

  “Well, I’m quite sure that’s the closest Ja’Rel gon’ ever get to heaven,” Ka’yah joked.

  “Ha ha ha, very funny,” Ja’Rel said with a smirk.

  “For the record, I made his body feel like he was in heaven several times a day. So, anyways, like I was saying, our room was the bomb. We had a panoramic view of the water, heated marble floors . . . Oh, and let’s not talk about the sandy white beach. It was so sexy,” Ke’yoko replied.

  “I bet,” Ka’yah replied, slightly enviously.

  “Excuse me. I gotta take this call,” Ja’Rel announced before walking into his office.

  “Okay,” Ke’yoko replied and continued bragging to her sister about the resort.

 
“Well, I’m glad you enjoyed yourself. You needed it.” Ka’yah smiled.

  “Who you tellin’, girl. It was nice to get away. I needed to get the miscarriage off my mind,” Ke’yoko said, sullenly.

  “Don’t worry, sis, it’ll happen one day. You just have to remember everything happens for a reason,” Ka’yah said, hoping to lift her sister’s spirits up.

  “Yeah, I know. Until then I guess I can just keep spoilin’ my nephew.” Ke’yoko smiled. “Speakin’ of Aiko, where is he?”

  “He’s wit’ his stupid-ass daddy,” Ka’yah said, rolling her eyes.

  “He still trippin’?”

  “Yes! Now he talkin’ ’bout his momma said Aiko ain’t none of his son and he needs to get a DNA test done on him because all his other kids look just like him, and all kind of crazy shit!”

  Ke’yoko and Ka’yah shook their heads simultaneously.

  “As long as I was wit’ him, he claimed Aiko, but soon as I decided to leave his punk ass, now all of a sudden Aiko ain’t his child.”

  “Typical nigga.” Ke’yoko frowned. “Aiko looks just like that bum.”

  “Just like him,” Ka’yah replied. “But it’s all good. He gon’ be well taken care of wit’ or wit’out Daron in his life.”

  “Without a doubt! Me and Relly wouldn’t have it no other way,” Ke’yoko stressed.

  “Thanks, sis,” Ka’yah said.

  “You ready, baby?” Ja’Rel stepped out of his office and asked.

  “Yes, I’m tired,” Ke’yoko responded.

  “A’iiiight, Ka’yah. I’ll get up wit’ you in the mornin’ to go over all the work orders and whatnot,” Ja’Rel said, yawning.

  “Okay. Y’all have a good night,” Ka’yah said, waving to her sister and brother-in-law.

  Ka’yah finished up the little work she had left over, locked up, and dropped the money off at the night deposit box before heading home to get herself a much-needed drink.

  Chapter Three

  Ke’yoko was in the shower when Ja’Rel walked in.

  “I’m out, baby. I’ll see you at the office in a coupl’a hours,” Ja’Rel said.

  “You leavin’ already? It ain’t even eight o’clock yet,” Ke’yoko said as she rinsed the soap off her body.

  “I know. I need to get down to the office and make sure everything is in order,” Ja’Rel replied as he looked at his reflection in the slightly steamed mirror.

  “Well, aren’t you gon’ at least eat some breakfast?” Ke’yoko asked as she stepped out of the shower.

  “Ain’t shit here to eat. I thought you was goin’ to Walmart when you left last night. I’ll just grab somethin’ from ya ancestors at Koko’s bakery.” Ja’Rel smirked while grabbing Ke’yoko’s towel off the sink and handing it to her.

  “I did go to Walmart, but I forgot my wallet at home so I had to put everything back; and, nigga, that’s an Asian bakery.” Ke’yoko laughed, snatching the towel from Ja’Rel’s hand.

  “Asians, Japanese, Koreans, y’all all the same to me.” Ja’Rel smiled.

  “You ignorant,” Ke’yoko said jokingly as she wrapped the towel around her body.

  “But you love me though,” Ja’Rel said, leaning in and giving his wife a kiss on the lips.

  “Yes, I do.”

  “All right, baby, I’m ’bouta go.”

  “Baby, I need to talk to you about somethin’ before you leave,” Ke’yoko said nervously.

  “What is it?” Ja’Rel asked, sensing the hesitation in Ke’yoko’s voice.

  “Ummm, never mind, it can wait until tonight,” she replied.

  “Naw, tell me now!” Ja’Rel said in a somewhat raised tone, hoping Ke’yoko hadn’t found out about any of the other chicks he’d been messing around with.

  “Hold on, nigga! Don’t be yellin’ at me!” Ke’yoko frowned.

  Realizing he was being defensive, Ja’Rel calmed himself down. “I apologize, but you know I hate when you do that to me. Now what you wanna talk to me about, baby?”

  “Ummm, okay, well,” she stammered. “I know it’s only been about a month since the last miscarriage I had, but I think I’m ready to try again.”

  “Ke, I don’t know, baby. I don’t think we ready just yet,” Ja’Rel said.

  “How you figure that we ain’t ready?” she snapped.

  “Look, I don’t like sittin’ back watchin’ you go through all these miscarriages. Baby, we’ve had four already. When God is ready for it to happen, it’ll happen,” Ja’Rel said, hoping his wife understood where he was coming from.

  “You act like you don’t want a baby by me!” Ke’yoko said.

  “You know I want a baby just as bad as you do. I would give anything to be a father, but it tears me up on the inside to have to sit back and watch you cry for days after you miscarry. I feel like less of a man knowin’ there is nothin’ I can do to erase or ease your pain. That’s all I’m sayin’, Ke’yoko, damn!”

  “Whateva,” Ke’yoko said, waving her husband off as tears began to fill her eyes.

  “Don’t do this, Ke,” Ja’Rel said sadly.

  “Do what, Ja’Rel? All I wanna do is have my husband’s firstborn. Is it somethin’ wrong wit’ that?” she asked sarcastically.

  “Naw, not at all, but damn, baby, ya body ain’t even healed all the way from the last miscarriage you had,” Ja’Rel said.

  “Oh, so that’s what the real problem is? It’s my body, huh? Since I’ve picked up some weight you ain’t attracted to me no more!”

  “Come, on, baby, I love your body,” Ja’Rel said. “So, what, you done picked up some weight. I still love you!”

  “Yeah, a’iiiight, that’s why you always checkin’ out all them other bitches while we walk through the mall, ’cause you love my body!”

  Ja’Rel had been caught. He’d thought he’d been discreet about all the women he’d been checking out while out with his wife. He knew Ke’yoko was feeling some type of way about the twenty pounds she’d gained since they’d been married. It didn’t matter to him; he still loved her the same. “Now, how did we get on the subject of your weight? We was just talkin’ about us havin’ another baby,” he said, hoping to steer their conversation away from his reckless eyeballing.

  Hip to what Ja’Rel was trying to do, Ke’yoko gave up. “I’ll see you at the office in a few,” she said as she brushed past her husband with a straight attitude.

  “Where you ’bouta go?” he asked, grabbing her by the wrist.

  Ke’yoko snatched her arm away from Ja’Rel’s grasp and continued toward their bedroom. “To get dressed for work, where else?”

  “Come on, baby, I don’t wanna fight,” Ja’Rel said as he followed his wife.

  “Neither do I! I’m done wit’ the conversation,” she said and continued into the bedroom.

  Ja’Rel stood still and watched as his wife got dressed. He could tell by the way she aggressively put on her clothes she had an attitude. As bad as he needed to get to the office, Ja’Rel knew he couldn’t leave the house without making up with Ke’yoko first.

  “Okay, baby, you win,” Ja’Rel said.

  Ke’yoko turned to face her husband with a huge smile on her face. “What?” she questioned to make sure she heard right.

  “Take ya clothes off,” he demanded in a sexy tone.

  Ke’yoko didn’t hesitate to strip down to her birthday suit and lie in their king-sized bed. She then spread her legs and watched anxiously as Ja’Rel began removing his clothes.

  “I’m ’bouta tear that pussy up!” he said as he watched his wife run her fingers up and down her clitoris.

  “Come tear it up, chichi,” Ke’yoko said seductively.

  It drove Ja’Rel bananas when Ke’yoko spoke Japanese to him during sex. Even though he could only make out a few words that she’d taught him, listening to her made him want to knock the bottom out of her caramel cave.

  Ja’Rel walked over to the bed and replaced Ke’yoko’s fingers with his face.

  “Oyamaa,” K
e’yoko moaned loudly.

  “You like that, baby?” he asked.

  Ke’yoko shook her head yes, grabbed the back of her husband’s head, and tried her best to push it all the way up inside of her dripping wet cave. “I wanna feel you inside of me,” Ke’yoko said.

  “Let me hear you beg,” Ja’Rel stopped what he was doing and said.

  “Please, chichi,” Ke’yoko said.

  Ja’Rel got up on his knees, grabbed Ke’yoko by the throat, and put just the right amount of pressure on it. “That wasn’t good enough! Now beg for this dick, bitch!” he demanded.

  “Fuck me, please, chichi! I need it,” she replied all while trying to breath.

  Ja’Rel took his free hand and slapped Ke’yoko across the face as hard as he could, making his wife moan in ecstasy. “Now that’s more like it,” he said before sliding his fully erect manhood inside of her soaking wet cave.

  After giving his wife what she was looking for, Ja’Rel climbed out of bed and jumped in the shower.

  Ja’Rel smiled at his wife as he walked out of the en suite bathroom.

  “What you smilin’ about?” Ke’yoko asked as she still lay in the same spot Ja’Rel had left her.

  “You,” he replied as he got dressed again for work.

  “What about me?” Ke’yoko asked, sitting up.

  “I love you and I feel like I’m one of the luckiest men in the world. I got a beautiful wife, a nice-ass crib in one of the nicest neighborhoods in Cleveland, I own my own business; what more could a nigga ask for?”

  “Besides a baby, nothin’. Our life is perfect,” Ke’yoko said, thinking about where she came from.

  “It sure is, baby,” Ja’Rel said while fixing his tie and walking over and kissing his wife on the lips.

  “Enjoy your day. I’m callin’ off work,” Ke’yoko said, smiling.

  “Shit, you betta get yo’ ass up and get dressed before I fire you,” Ja’Rel said jokingly, while slapping his wife’s ass.

  “I don’t care nothin’ about you firin’ me. Shiiiit, you been tellin’ me for months that you was gon’ hire the neighbor’s daughter, Tamika, as your secretary,” Ke’yoko said.