by B. Love
Now, the simplest shit had her looking at Kannon as more than a friend. Or, at least, a friend with benefits. Sure, she’d had a crush on him when they first met, but when Jason claimed her as his, Makayla pushed those thoughts back. Both men were fine as fuck, but the way they moved, treated her, and commanded a room had always been different. Makayla had always related better to Jason, and because of that, she chose him after he’d chosen her. But with growth and maturity, she realized, it wasn’t Jason that she was relating to – it was his trauma, his beautiful bondage, his warrior wounds. Their paired pain gave her pleasure.
Kannon was healthier, calmer, more loving and affectionate. Softer, with her and his family, but just as deadly. In her younger years, that wasn’t what she wanted, but Makayla often regretted her choice now. Though, there was no point in regretting it now. She and Kannon were just friends and would always be that. Nothing would ever be between her and Jason again, but because of their past, she and Kannon would never have a future.
11
Kannon
Kannon needed release. As always, visiting Jason had filled him with guilt. At first, he wasn’t with keeping Austin a secret but it didn’t take much for Makayla to convince him that was for the best – especially since he was still grieving the loss of Kendall. Though they’d taken care of Carmen’s cousins, they still had haters and enemies. He’d never tell Makayla their life was safe enough for her to return to Memphis and not feel the need to keep her son sheltered from their lifestyle.
Jason was locked down, but he was still making moves… just through Kannon. Even in the penitentiary, Jason was the head nigga in charge. He’d started a whole operation behind bars, supplying both inmates and workers.
After five years, they had less static in the streets because they’d gone from dealers to suppliers. When they had issues now, it was because a nigga wanted their territory or was just a hater. Kannon felt it was safe enough now to tell Jason about his son, but until Makayla made the decision to do so, he’d keep it a secret with her. It felt like he was stuck in the middle of them, and Kannon didn’t like that feeling at all.
Kannon needed release. As soon as he stepped into Ariel’s bedroom, he was pulling his shirt over his head. He’d spoken to her when she let him in, and that was all that needed to be discussed as far as he was concerned. Kannon undressed completely, pulling her into bed with him. Ariel giggled as she straddled him, probably thinking she had more power over him because of her pussy than she really did.
If she only knew…
His hand slid down his face as Ariel slid the condom down his dick with her mouth. As soon as his eyes closed, images of Makayla entered his mind. Opening his eyes, Kannon told himself she came to mind because he’d just visited Jason, not because he wished he was in bed with her. Shaking his head, Kannon switched their positions and put Ariel on her hands and knees. He couldn’t take looking her in her eyes right now, and he didn’t have time for all that foreplay, either.
When he slid into her, her pussy wasn’t super wet, but he didn’t stop. It would get wet after a few strokes. Besides, Ariel was clutching his thigh and pushing him deeper, so she wouldn’t have let him stop anyway. His hand went to her clit, needing her to cum quick. The wetter she got and hotter she felt, the better it would be for him. Even when he was fucking and doing quickies, Kannon had never been a selfish lover.
It wasn’t long before she started moaning his name and coating his dick. Keeping her in that same position, Kannon came twice before his dick softened. Sitting on the edge of her bed, he wiped the sweat that had accumulated on his forehead. He took a quick shower, where she joined him for another quick round. This time, Kannon allowed her to suck him off before he picked her up and gave her the dick against the wall.
After their shower, he dressed and tossed a quick, “I’ma holla at ya,” over his shoulder as he left.
“Wait,” Ariel called out, scrambling behind him butt ass naked. “You’re leaving already?”
“Yeah. I got some shit to do.”
“So you just came to fuck?”
Kannon shrugged. “Basically. I’ll hit you up later.”
“Kannon,” she called, grabbing his arm in an attempt to stop or at least slow him down. “When am I going to be able to spend some real time with you? You only come home for business, so I never get to see you when you’re here. And you won’t let me come kick it with you at your place.”
Kannon’s face twisted as he looked back at her. She was saying the shit as if it hadn’t always been that way between them. The fuck was she expecting different for now?
“You know where you fall on my list of priorities, Ariel.”
Her eyes rolled as she pouted and crossed her arms over her chest. “I know the streets and your little readymade family with ol’ girl comes first, but damn, even second place winners get a trophy.”
Kannon couldn’t help but smile. Her line had earned her him pulling her into his frame. Lifting her face by her chin, Kannon looked into her eyes as he said, “You knew I wasn’t the settling down type when you started fucking me.”
“I know, but can we just spend a little time together before or after we fuck so I won’t feel so used?”
“If you feel used, don’t fuck me.”
Her eyes rolled again. “I like fucking you. I’m just saying, can you stay for a little while before or afterwards? Let me feed you something besides this pussy sometimes.”
Kannon sighed, ready to agree to whatever she wanted at this point just to be able to leave. “Coo’. I’ll stop by tonight before I head home.”
“Why, so you can just fall asleep?” she whined.
“So what if I do? You should be glad a nigga feel enough peace in this bitch to go to sleep after a long day.”
Ariel huffed. “Fine. But if you go to sleep, I’m waking you up.”
With a nod, Kannon made the mental note not to come through later. He hated being woken up out of his sleep, and Ariel for sure didn’t want to encounter that side of him since she was already feeling some type of way.
“How about I take you to breakfast or some shit next time I come through? Is that cool?”
Ariel grinned. “Yes. I would like that.”
His head bobbed once more before he smacked her ass and headed out. As always, Kannon checked his surroundings before heading to his car. On his way to the meeting, he called Makayla to make sure she would be able to come through. When she agreed, he headed to scoop her up before heading that way. Now that he’d emptied his sack, he was confident that he’d be able to be around her for a few days without wanting to fuck his best friend’s baby mama and make her his.
12
Carmen
Carmen was convinced this single mother shit was for the birds. What was so fucked up was every nigga she’d had a baby by had money, except the first two. All three of her other baby daddies had money but still didn’t fuck with her like she needed them to. Out of all five of them, Kannon had been the only one to really fuck with her the long way, and he was the one she gave the most hell to.
Having five kids by five different men had never been Carmen’s plan. When she met a man she liked that talked good to her, she wanted to settle down and spend the rest of her life with him. That shit would last for a year, maybe two, before that love turned into hate or indifference and she was on to the next. Well, the next wasn’t going to come again. She’d gotten her tubes tied after her fifth child with no intentions of having any more children.
It didn’t matter if she met and fell in love with a man who wanted more; her pussy was done giving deliveries. Hell, it was hard enough taking care of the children she had.
Carmen felt like she was about to lose her fucking mind as her three youngest kids ran around the living room, fighting and screaming over a toy that neither of them would have wanted if the others didn’t. She needed a break, and since her hours had been cut at Ross, she wouldn’t be able to go to work tonight to get one. Carmen hated when
the summertime came because a lot of students started working there part-time, which meant her hours were cut. She didn’t know how in the fuck she was going to pay all her bills this month and next month, but as always, she would have to make something shake.
When she was unable to take the sound of her children’s screaming anymore, she told them all to go to their rooms and leave the toy behind. After that, she called her third baby daddy, Trevor, to see if he’d be able to help her with her rent this month. If she could get help with that and her car note, she’d be straight.
“Hello?” Trevor answered, and it sounded like he was driving. It wouldn’t surprise her since he was a truck driver. He spent the bulk of his days on the road.
“Are you working?”
“Yeah. TJ good?”
“Yes. Umm…” Carmen paused. “I was wondering if you could help me out with the rent this month.”
When Trevor sighed, Carmen knew what was up. “Did you not get my child support payment this month?”
“I did, but that shit wasn’t nothing. I’ve been nice about not petitioning to have it increased. That little hundred and ninety-eight dollars don’t do shit for me.”
“It’s not for you, it’s for my son. Now, if you can’t pay your rent, I would be glad to bring him home with me. But I’m not paying for shit that doesn’t directly deal with my son.”
“Nigga!” she yelled, leaping from her seat. “You act like I asked you to get my nails done! How does having a place to stay not deal directly with your son? If I don’t pay the rent, he will be homeless.”
Trevor laughed. “Nah. If you don’t pay the rent, you’ll be homeless. TJ will always have a room at my house. Now I gotta go. Bye.”
“Tre—ugh!” Before she could say anything else, he disconnected the call. “Cheap ass mothafucka,” she muttered before pulling up Jaden’s contact.
Jaden couldn’t stand Carmen because he swore she was a bitter baby mama, but he always went above and beyond for his daughter. It was crazy how he saw her handle the men before him, but none of that shit swayed him while she was sucking his dick until it squirted and giving him the best sex of his square-ass life. As soon as he found out she was pregnant, shit changed. She was good enough for a fuck but not good enough to be the mother of his child. There wasn’t shit he could do about it when she decided to keep the baby, and they’d been on each other’s nerves ever since. Honestly, Carmen thought he would sign over his rights like her first baby daddy, Greg, did, but he’d stuck around.
“Attorney Sheperd’s office.”
“Hi,” Carmen spoke, putting on her professional voice. “May I speak with Attorney Sheperd please?”
“May I ask who is calling?”
“Carmen.”
“May I have a callback number?”
“763-0198.”
“One second and I will see if Mr. Sheperd is available.”
“Okay, thank you.”
It didn’t surprise her when she came back to tell her that he wasn’t, so Carmen hung up and called his cell phone. He greeted her with, “What? I’m getting ready for a case.”
“I need some money.”
“I haven’t seen my daughter in two weeks, and you think I’m about to give you some money?”
“I didn’t let her come with you because you let that bitch of yours take down her braids for y’all bougie ass family photo shoot. I told you I’d spent damn near three hundred dollars on her hair, and that shit was supposed to last until the end of summer!”
“Well, I apologized and tried to pay for her hair to be braided again.”
“It’s the principle, Jaden. I would never do some shit like that to your daughter with her, but she feels like she doesn’t have to discuss anything with me pertaining my daughter.”
“Because she discusses it with me.”
“I’on give a fuck what she discusses with you. That’s still my child! And you need to make sure she comes back to me just how you got her unless I give you permission to do otherwise!”
“I’m not about to argue with you. I have to get ready for court.”
Carmen growled as he disconnected the call.
“Mama?”
“What,” she yelled, immediately regretting it when Bella jumped. “I’m sorry, baby,” she apologized with a soft tone. “What do you need?”
“TJ and Chris are fighting in my room. Can you make them stop?”
With a roll of her eyes, Carmen stood. She hated squashing fights between her sons. That’s what their daddies were supposed to be for. But Greg had signed over his rights and Trevor parented over the phone more than anything because of his job. After breaking up the fight and sending them both to separate rooms, Carmen called her last hope… the father of her second youngest child… Kannon. Even with Kendall being gone, Kannon still treated her good. It took a lot of time for the both of them to heal, but eventually, they were able to speak to one another for brief moments.
Carmen couldn’t lie, when she found out that her cousins had done the drive-by that took her daughter’s life, she gladly gave their information over to Kannon and Jason. That was the only thing that made Kannon respect her enough to take her calls. When he came back to Memphis, they grieved together, even fucked a few times… but it never meant anything – for Kannon at least. A part of Carmen wished she would have been able to trap Kannon with another baby.
He was the only man who cared enough about her to try and get her out of the hood.
She didn’t want that at first, but she wished she would have let him now.
“Yeah?” Kannon answered, irritation already in his tone.
“Hey. How are you? Are you busy?”
“I’m good. What’s up?”
“I can’t just want to call and check on you?”
Kannon chuckled quietly. “Nah, not at all. So what’s up?”
“…I um… I know you have no ties to me anymore, but I need your help, Kannon.”
“You’re still the mother of my first and only child, Carmen, that’ll always be your tie to me.”
She smiled. If she couldn’t trust the words of any other man, she could always trust Kannon to keep it trill. “They cut my hours at work. I’m gonna start braiding again at the end of the month at Dede’s shop to help out with next month’s bills, but I was wondering if you could help me out this month. I’m a little behind on my rent and car note and if I don’t pay both soon…”
“How much do you need?”
She was so used to the fathers of her children scolding her or downright rejecting her that Kannon’s willingness to help her caught her off guard.
“Oh. Um. Nine hundred. I don’t expect you to give it all, but if you could just give me the six I need for the rent I could gamble on the car.”
“Nah, you need that to make sure you and the kids straight. I got you.”
Sniffling quietly, Carmen nodded. “Okay. Thank you, Kannon. I really appreciate it.”
“It’s cool,” he dismissed before ending the call.
Not even five minutes passed before she was getting the cash app notification. Carmen cried out at the amount he’d sent her. Somehow, her asking for nine hundred had gotten her nine thousand. It was more than enough for her to make sure her rent and car note would be paid for the rest of the year. Even though she was grateful, Carmen was mad as fuck – at Kannon. If only he would have acted right from the jump, she wouldn’t be in this predicament.
They could be living the good life together with all her kids, and Kendall, safe… but no. He wanted to be married to the streets and hiding his daughter. Now she was gone, and they weren’t together, and she was forced to take care of herself and her kids alone.
Why couldn’t he just act right?
13
Makayla
“I don’t want that shit,” Gina snarled with hate in her tone.
Makayla wasn’t swayed by it. She was used to her mother talking to her in this tone. The only thing keeping them together was Mak
ayla’s love for her and her sister, and her mother’s love for Austin. It seemed, the worst Gina talked to her and treated her, the more Makayla wanted her mother’s love and acceptance. Gina threw the stack of money that Makayla had given her back at her feet.
“It’s dirty money and you got a dirty heart. I want nothing to do with it.” Gina tossed her hands in the air before mumbling, “Barely want anything to do with you.”
Austin tugged his mother’s hand gently, getting her attention. Forcing a smile, Makayla looked down at him, but it turned genuine as soon as she looked into his eyes.
“You okay, Mama?”
With a soft nod, Makayla kneeled to hug him. “I am. Go take your things into your room. I love you, and I will see you Sunday.”
“Okay, Mama. I love you too.”
After kissing her cheek, Austin took his backpack and left the living room. Once he was out of sight, Makayla’s smile dropped. She found her mother in the kitchen, wasting no time to tell her, “You can feel how you want to feel and say what you want to me in private, but you will not speak to me that way in front of my son. I don’t want him around arguing and toxicity. I told you that.”
Gina scoffed as she slammed her oven mitts onto the stove. “You do not get to tell me what to say in my own home.”
“You’re right, but I can keep my son from coming into your home.”
Before Makayla could get out of the kitchen, Gina was stopping her with, “Fine, fine. I’ll be more mindful of how I speak to you when he’s around.”
With a nod, Makayla watched Gina pull the blueberry muffins from the pan. It had been years since she’d had them, and she loved nothing more than her mother’s muffins. Well, besides fries and an ice cream cone from McDonald’s.
“Thank you.” Gina nodded, not even bothering to look at her daughter. “I’ll… see you Sunday.” She nodded again. “I love you, Ma.”