“There’s nothin’ to say, sis. It is what it is,” Kailo replied.
“Look, you guys don’t have to leave. I’ll go talk to Ja’Rel and we can smooth this over in the mornin’,” Ke’yoko said, not wanting to take a chance on losing her brother again. Gay or not, she still wanted her brother in her life. It would take a lot of getting used to, but she was willing to do so in order to keep him from disappearing for good.
“No, sis. It’s cool. I’m not about to cause conflict in your household. Plus, you’re pregnant and you don’t need any added stress. We gon’ be good.”
“Kailo, promise me you’ll stay in touch,” Ke’yoko said desperately.
“I promise you I will stay in touch. Plus, I wanna be around for my niece or nephew,” Kailo said, rubbing the top of Ke’yoko’s head.
Ke’yoko wrapped her arms around her brother’s waist and nearly squeezed the breath out of him as she held on to him for dear life. “I love you, Kailo. Do you need any help finding a room?” Ke’yoko asked.
“I love you too, sis; and, no, we will just get our things packed and be gone shortly. Go to bed. You need your rest,” Kailo replied while kissing his sister on the top of her head.
Ke’yoko let go of her brother, took a step back, and looked over at Chad. “I really don’t know what to say right now, Chad. We’re just surprised, I guess. It was nice meetin’ you though.”
Chad was afraid to respond; instead he just smiled.
Ke’yoko shook her head. She couldn’t believe her brother was gay. She turned and walked out of the room and joined Ja’Rel in the bedroom. He was already asleep. Ke’yoko lay down and cried herself to sleep.
Chapter Sixteen
Ke’yoko had to fill in at the shop for Tamika because she had called off once again. It had become quite frequent that she missed work every payday. Ke’yoko sat at the desk, deep in thought. She couldn’t get her mind off of Kailo. There were so many unanswered questions about the night he’d left. She wanted to call and talk to him, but decided to give him some time and space. She definitely didn’t want to push him back out of her life so she decided for now to just leave it alone. She didn’t have a choice.
“Wassup, sis,” Ka’yah said, walking in the office and breaking Ke’yoko’s concentration.
“Oh, hey,” Ke’yoko looked up and said with a smile. Ke’yoko loved having her sister back in her life. They were tighter now than they’d been before. They’d started calling each other every day just like old times, going out to lunch, getting mani’s and pedi’s, and going on shopping sprees. Ka’yah had been buying the baby all kinds of gifts, and was already planning one of the biggest baby showers ever.
“Here’s your mornin’ cup of tea,” Ka’yah said, handing her sister the hot cup.
“Thank you.” Ke’yoko smiled while taking the cup from her hand and setting it down on the desk.
“Now drink up. I keep tellin’ you the green tea is good for my nephew,” Ka’yah said.
“Just how do you know it’s a boy?” Ke’yoko asked.
“Believe me, I just know,” Ka’yah said. “Plus, we got enough girls in the family.”
“There’s only two of us.” Ke’yoko laughed.
“Three countin’ Kailo,” Ka’yah said, cutting her eyes and twisting up her lips.
Ke’yoko didn’t even respond. She acted like she hadn’t even heard her sister’s snide comment. Kailo’s sexual choice was a topic Ke’yoko wasn’t mentally prepared to discuss yet. Hold the fuck up. Ke’yoko’s instincts kicked in again! She wondered how Ka’yah even knew about Kailo being gay. The only people who’d known or been told were Ja’Rel and Nadia; and she knew for a fact Nadia hadn’t opened up her mouth. That left no one but Ja’Rel!
“Oh, well, sis, I’m about to go pick Aiko up from his dad’s house, head home, and take a nap. I’m a little tired,” Ka’yah said, yawning.
“Okay. I’ll call you later on,” Ke’yoko said slowly. She was still trying to figure out when Ja’Rel could have told Ka’yah and why he hadn’t mentioned it to her.
“Okay, and make sure you drink your tea.”
“I will.” Ke’yoko picked up the cup and took a sip. “Ummmm, this is so good.”
“I told you. Well, I’m out. Love you.” Ka’yah smiled as she headed toward the door.
“Love you too,” Ke’yoko replied and continued sipping on her tea.
Ke’yoko sat for a few more minutes sipping on her tea and staring at the wall. Her mind continued racing about Kailo, and also why Ja’Rel would tell Ka’yah about their brother instead of giving her the chance to tell her. He didn’t know if she was even going to tell Ka’yah or even if Kailo wanted Ka’yah to know yet. If Ke’yoko had decided to tell Ka’yah she would have done that in her own time and in her own way. She would have eventually gotten around to telling her. Ja’Rel was way out of line.
Tired of sitting with her mind idling, Ke’yoko decided she would take the rest of the day off. If Tamika could do it, shit, she could too. It was a beautiful day out and the last thing she wanted was to be cooped up in the office. Ke’yoko finished off the last of tea, and threw the cup in the trash before calling Nadia and Ka’yah and telling them to get the kids ready because she was coming to get them. Ke’yoko had been promising them for months that she would spend some time with her nephew and goddaughter, but never got around to it. What better day than today? Ke’yoko sent the calls to voice mail, put the closed sign on the door, gathered her things, and headed to the car.
* * *
Ke’yoko sat on the park bench, catching up on the latest gossip in the Sister 2 Sister magazine as Aiko and A’Niyah ran around like two wild geese, yelling and screaming.
“They gon’ be good and tired when I drop they asses off wit’ they mommas,” Ke’yoko looked up briefly and said.
“Look, Auntie, no hands,” Aiko yelled as he and A’Niyah played on the teeter-totter.
“Boy, you better hold on before you fall and hurt yourself,” Ke’yoko warned.
“I’m a big boy,” Aiko replied.
“A’iiiight, when ya big boy ass laid out on the ground don’t say nothin’,” Ke’yoko mumbled.
Ke’yoko had finished her magazine and looked up at A’Niyah and smiled, and then looked over at Aiko and instantly got spooked. She looked as if she had just seen a ghost. Aiko was the spitting image of Ja’Rel. Ke’yoko had tried to brush that thought aside but it had been bothering her since the night of her birthday party. She had already accused Ja’Rel and Ka’yah of messing around once before and had been wrong about it, so they made her think. She hadn’t had any solid proof. This time, if her instincts were right, she would have the proof she needed. Ke’yoko threw her magazine in her purse and stood up from the bench.
“Ouch,” she said as she got a sharp pain in the lower part of her stomach. She had been having slight cramps for the past two weeks. Ke’yoko closed her eyes and said a quick little prayer. “God, please don’t be lettin’ me get ready to have another miscarriage. Please just let it be gas or somethin’. I know what my thoughts were before but, Lord, I want and need this baby. In the name of Jesus. Amen.” Ke’yoko opened her eyes and called out to the children. “Come on, y’all, let’s go.”
“Awwwww, do we hafta leave?” A’Niyah whined
“We not ready to go yet. Just five more minutes,” Aiko whined as well.
“We’re about to go get some ice cream,” Ke’yoko said, hoping that would get them to calm down.
“Yeeeeeah, ice cream,” the both of them cheered.
Ke’yoko got the kids into the car, buckled them in their booster seats, and pulled off. She kept glancing back at her nephew in the rearview mirror as he and A’Niyah held a conversation.
Ke’yoko pulled into the CVS parking lot.
“Hey, this ain’t the Dairy Queen,” Aiko said.
“Nope. It says CVS,” A’Niyah said, reading the letters on the sign.
“No, it’s not the Dairy Queen, but Auntie nee
d to run in here and grab a few things. And how about when we come out I take y’all to McDonald’s?”
“And the Dairy Queen?” Aiko asked.
“Yes, and the Dairy Queen.” Ke’yoko smiled.
“Yessss.” The children smiled as they unbuckled themselves from their chairs and got out of the car.
Both children asked a million and one questions as they headed into the store.
“Auntie, do you really got a baby in yo’ belly?” Aiko inquired.
“Yes, baby,” Ke’yoko replied as she scoured the aisles.
“Who put it in there?” A’Niyah asked.
“God put it there, dummy,” Aiko snapped.
Ke’yoko had a surprised look on her face, wondering where he’d gotten his information from. She had to admit, he was pretty intelligent to only be five years old. He was constantly holding a grown man conversation.
“Boy, you are too much.” She laughed. “And don’t be callin’ people dumb.”
“I’m not too much. I’m only five.” Aiko laughed too.
Ke’yoko laughed and continued with her search. “Here it go.” Ke’yoko grabbed an at-home DNA paternity test. “Buy one get one half off,” she said aloud. “Shiiiit, I don’t need but one but I can’t pass this up. This a good deal.”
Ke’yoko read the back of the box to see how to use the test. After reading the instructions she looked down at the kids. “Y’all ready?”
“Yes, about time,” Aiko said smartly.
“Boy, you betta watch yo’ mouth,” Ke’yoko warned as they headed toward the checkout line. “Shit! I forgot my prenatal vitamins.”
“Oh, boy,” Aiko huffed.
“Boy, shut up and come on.” Ke’yoko laughed as she and the kids headed over toward the vitamin aisle. The smell of all the different vitamins was starting to make Ke’yoko nauseous. “Prenatal, prenatal,” Ke’yoko said as she quickly searched for the vitamins.
“Look, this is what Mommy puts in your tea to help make you feel better, and this one too,” Aiko said excitedly.
Ke’yoko glanced down at the two bottles her nephew held in his hand and took them from him. She nearly fainted when she read the labels. She couldn’t believe her sister was putting dong quai and blue cohosh in her tea. Her grandmother told her on her deathbed that after their mother had gotten raped, their grandfather was trying to get their mother to take these two herbs. Supposedly it was used to induce a miscarriage. Some Japanese called it an herbal abortion.
Devastated, Ke’yoko gathered the kids and headed to the checkout line. She thought back to how adamant Ka’yah had been that she drink all of her tea, and how she and Nadia had thought it was so nice of Ka’yah to bring her tea every day. Ka’yah never missed a day bringing her a cup of tea during any of her pregnancies no matter what. For some reason it had just dawned on Ke’yoko that Ka’yah only brought her tea when she was pregnant. Ke’yoko was furious, but mainly hurt. Why hadn’t she realized this? She felt so stupid. Once again she thought, I really am my mother’s child.
Ke’yoko got the kids in the car. All she could think about on her way to McDonald’s was killing her sister and not thinking twice about it. Tears streamed down her face as she drove. So many questions were racing through her head. How could her sister do her like that? Why? What had Ke’yoko ever done to Ka’yah to warrant such a betrayal? Was Ja’Rel involved? Over and over: what was the reason behind her doing that? Ke’yoko was thinking so much, she literally got sick to her stomach. The heavy feeling in her chest and stomach would not subside, causing her to pull over twice to throw up.
Ke’yoko felt like it hurt to even breathe she felt so betrayed. Ke’yoko wanted to go straight over to Ka’yah’s house and put a bullet in her head, just as she had done to Bo; but she decided to take another approach. She was going to give Ka’yah the rope and let her hang herself.
Chapter Seventeen
After taking the children to McDonald’s and the Dairy Queen like she’d promised, Ke’yoko stopped by the house to brush her teeth and put some water on her face before dropping the kids off at home. She wanted to make sure she was fully composed before seeing Ka’yah. The pain and deception of what she was feeling was going to make looking at Ka’yah hard. Her own sister was responsible for her miscarriages and the heartache she had experienced repeatedly behind the loss of each child. And each time she had miscarried and mourned, her sister had looked her in the face and pretended to console her knowing she was responsible and had intentionally inflicted this pain on her.
Ke’yoko pulled up in the driveway next to Ja’Rel’s car. She stuck the CVS bag in her purse, got out, and opened the back door to let the children out. “Come on, y’all.”
Ke’yoko and the children walked up to the front door. Ke’yoko unlocked the door, held the screen door open, and waited for the children to walk in, and walked in after them.
“Y’all come in here and watch TV until I come back downstairs. And don’t touch nothin’,” she said, turning the channel to Cartoon Network. “I’m goin’ upstairs to change my shirt.”
“Okay,” the children said in unison.
Ke’yoko walked out of the living room and headed up the stairs. She could hear Ja’Rel snoring all the way in the hallway. It clicked in her head that this would be the perfect time to swab Ja’Rel’s mouth. He had been out all night drinking and doing God only knows what else, so she knew he would be in a deep sleep. She quickly dug in her purse, pulled the DNA test out, and opened it up.
“Shit, I might as well use the other one so I can get rid of all the evidence,” she said, opening the other DNA kit as well. She pulled the tops off of the oversized swabs, pushed the half-cracked bedroom door, and peeked in. She waited a few more seconds before creeping in.
Perfect, she thought as she looked over at Ja’Rel, who lay on his back with his mouth wide open. She would have rather put a .38 in his mouth than these two cotton swabs.
She tiptoed over to the bed and continued to stare down at him. She was nervous as hell. She didn’t know what she would have done if Ja’Rel woke up and caught her. She quickly collected her nerves and held a swab in each hand. Then, she stuck both swabs in his open mouth, one on each side, and scraped the inside of his cheeks about ten to fifteen times. She pulled them out just in time. Ja’Rel closed his mouth and began smacking his lips.
Got it! she thought excitedly before slowly walking back and sneaking out of the bedroom. She rushed back downstairs to the living room while the kids sat quietly watching cartoons. She put the two swabs in their envelopes, sealed them so they couldn’t get contaminated, and placed them in her purse.
“You got the same shirt on,” Aiko looked at his aunt and said.
“You always got somethin’ smart to say, li’l boy. I got somethin’ for smart-mouth little kids,” Ke’yoko said.
“What you got for me?” Aiko inquired.
“This,” Ke’yoko said, pulling the other swab out of her purse.
“Is it candy?” he asked.
“Nope. It’s better than candy. It’ll help little kids with smart mouths not have them anymore. So open up,” Ke’yoko said.
“How come I ain’t never heard of this?” Aiko asked.
“Boy, you only five. It’s a lotta stuff you ain’t never heard of.” Ke’yoko laughed.
“Well, is it gon’ hurt?” Aiko frowned.
“Nope, it’s gon’ tickle.”
“Okay.” Aiko opened his mouth and waited for Ke’yoko to swab his jaw.
“Now, your mouth won’t be smart no more.” Ke’yoko laughed as she put the swab in its designated envelope.
“I don’t know if I believe that, but we’ll see.” Aiko laughed too.
“I wanna do it too. I don’t wanna have a smart mouth,” A’Niyah said while bouncing up and down.
“Are you sure?” Ke’yoko asked. She didn’t have anyone else to test so she might as well use the extra swab on her goddaughter for shits and giggles.
A’Niyah vigorous
ly shook her head yes.
“Okay, open wide,” Ke’yoko said.
A’Niyah opened her mouth and giggled as Ke’yoko swabbed the inside of her cheek. Ke’yoko placed A’Niyah’s swab in the other envelope.
“Come on, y’all, let’s go,” Ke’yoko said, rushing the kids out the door and to the car. She was not trying to chance Ja’Rel waking up. Ke’yoko put the kids in the car, got in herself, and backed out of the driveway. Ke’yoko then pulled out her cell phone and called Ka’yah.
“Wassup, sis?” Ka’yah answered.
“I’m about to drop Aiko off. Be watchin’ out for him.”
“You don’t wanna come in and talk and have cup of tea?” Ka’yah asked.
It took everything in Ke’yoko not to flip gangsta on this phone. Instead, she kept her composure. She would definitely make Ka’yah pay right along with Ja’Rel.
“Girl, naw. A cup of your green tea sure does sounds real good right about now, but the kids really wore me out today. So I’ma drop A’Niyah off to her momma and go home and get some sleep,” Ke’yoko said.
“Well, do you want me to make you a cup and bring it out to the car? It might give you some energy,” Ka’yah said.
Or kill my unborn child! The nerve of this dirty bitch. “Naw, I’m cool,” Ke’yoko said with an attitude, not being able to conceal it any longer.
“Dang, why you say it like that? You are tired, ol’ cranky heffa,” Ka’yah said, laughing.
Ke’yoko laughed too to play off her anger. “My bad, girl. I am tired.”
“Okay, well, just drop Aiko off. I’ll be sittin’ on the porch waitin’ on him. You go home and get some rest. Are we still on for tomorrow for our pedicure?”
“Heck yeah, I need to be pampered.”
“Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow,” Ka’yah said.
Ke’yoko let out a fake yawn. “Sorry. Okay, see you tomorrow,” she said before hanging up.
Ke’yoko pulled up in front of Ka’yah’s house. She saw red when she saw her standing on the front porch. She waited for Aiko to get out, said good-bye, waved at Ka’yah, and pulled off before she changed her mind about whooping her ass.
Carl Weber's Kingpins Page 9