COMPLICATED

by Chenell Parker

  “Where are you, Rylee?” Mekhi asked his wife.

  “I’m riding with Amber. We’re about to go to Zyra’s house.”

  Mekhi frowned even though his wife couldn’t see him. He promised her that he wouldn’t trip over her being in Zyrian’s presence, but that was easier said than done. Knowing that his wife was constantly around a man who he knew had feelings for her was messing with him mentally. He didn’t know if Rylee was pretending or not, but she seemed to be oblivious to how Zyrian reacted to her. Mekhi often wondered if he openly flirted with his wife when he wasn’t around. It got so bad that it was starting to consume his thoughts day and night.

  “Mekhi,” Rylee softly called out shaking her husband from his trance.

  “Yeah, I’m here,” Mekhi answered.

  “What did you need?” Rylee asked him.

  “Oh, I’m at MJ’s waiting for a delivery truck to get here, and I need a favor. My mama needs eighty dollars to refill her prescriptions, and I can’t get to her right now. You think you can swing by and bring her a few dollars for me?” He asked making Rylee roll her eyes up to the sky.

  Carolyn was only fifty years old, but she was the laziest woman that Rylee had ever met. Sara was over seventy and got around better than she did. Carolyn always used her failing health as a reason why she didn’t work, but Rylee knew that was bullshit. As long as she had Mekhi to take care of her she never had a reason to lift a finger. Mekhi didn’t pay attention, but Rylee noticed a few things about his mother. She was always asking for money for medicine when she never used any of the medicine that she already had. Most of the bottles that lined her dresser were still half full and some had never been used. She claimed to have arthritis in her legs and hands, but that never stopped her from going places that she wanted to go. She also complained of having shortness of breath when she walked too far, yet she smoked a pack of cigarettes a day. Rylee didn’t know what Carolyn needed money for, but it damn sure wasn’t for medicine.

  “Yeah baby, I’m not too far from her. I’ll swing over there right now,” Rylee agreed before she hung up.

  Amber knew the way to Carolyn’s house since Rylee once lived there and they were pulling up in the driveway about five minutes after. Both women got out of the car and walked right into Carolyn’s house just like always. Rylee looked around in disgust at how nasty the house was. The adults were lounging around like they always did while Mekhi’s nieces and nephews played with their toys. Clothes were all over the place and a few empty dishes littered the living room table and floor. Carolyn had an overflowing ashtray on the arm of the sofa that she accidentally knocked down the moment she saw Rylee walk in.

  “Hey Rylee,” she said appearing to be nervous about her daughter-in-law’s presence. “I didn’t know that you were coming over today.”

  “Yeah, your son asked me to stop by and bring you some money. Whose baby?” She asked referring to a little girl that she had never seen before. She knew all of Mena and Kendra’s kids, but the little girl was a new face in the crowd. Rylee didn’t miss the looks that passed between her in-laws, but she brushed it off.

  “Oh, that’s Kendrick’s daughter. We’re babysitting,” Mena spoke up with a small smile.

  “Kendrick!” Rylee shrieked in surprise.

  “Yeah,” Carolyn agreed.

  “When did he have a baby and who is the mother? How old is she?” Rylee bombarded them with question after question. She and Kendrick ran into each other all the time, but he never mentioned that bit of information.

  “It’s some girl that he used to mess with. We just found out about her, but she’s two,” Mena answered.

  “Oh, she looks just you and Kendra’s girls. I can’t wait to mess with him about this. He was the main one saying that he didn’t want kids,” Rylee laughed.

  “Where’s Mekhi?” Carolyn inquired.

  “He’s at MJ’s waiting for the delivery truck,” Rylee answered handing her the eighty dollars that she requested.

  “Thanks, Rylee,” Carolyn smiled.

  “No problem, but I’ll see y’all later. I need to get going,” Rylee replied.

  She and Amber were barely out of the door before Kendra started yelling.

  “Why the hell would you tell her that the baby belonged to Kendrick? You know she’s going to ask him when they see each other again.”

  “What did you want me to say? Oh, Rylee, this is your step-daughter that you’ve never met and didn’t know anything about,” Mena replied sarcastically.

  “Shit!” Carolyn hissed. “Mekhi is going to flip the hell out. I better call and tell him before Rylee does.”

  “I am so not for the bullshit that I know is coming,” Kendra worried.

  “Neither am I, but he has to know,” Carolyn sighed as she picked up the phone to call her son.

  ***

  “Shit,” Mekhi hissed. “Go all the way down Angel,” he commanded as he sat at his desk while Angel kneeled down before him.

  “I can’t, it’s too big,” Angel mumbled with half of Mekhi’s dick stuffed down her throat.

  She was pissing him off with the constant complaining, and he was ready to be done with her whining ass. She should have made good on finding another job because she damn sure wasn’t worth much to him at the moment. He was busy checking in inventory when she propositioned him and of course he obliged. She was supposed to be cleaning tables and making sure the bar was restocked before they opened, but she had other plans. Since Mekhi had about an hour to kill, he decided to waste a little time on Angel. The manager on duty wouldn’t be there for a while, so he wasn’t worried about them getting caught.

  “What the fuck did you beg me to let you come in here for then?” He yelled angrily.

  Lately, every woman in his life was starting to get under his skin with the exception of his wife. Rylee could take all of him to the back of her throat like a pro without gagging or flinching. She could go for hours and never got tired or complained. Usually, Mekhi would tap out before her, and that was the only thing that he hated. Rylee wanted him to get some vitamins from his doctor that would prolong his erection, but he couldn’t see that happening anytime soon. Needless to say, Mekhi declined without giving it a second thought. Most women would have been thrilled to go for two hours straight, but that was just a warm-up for Rylee. Mekhi considered his marriage to be perfect with the exception of that one little flaw. Buck thought he was crazy when he confided in him, but he just didn’t understand. Having his wife outdo him sexually messed with his self-esteem. He wanted Rylee to follow his lead, but he always ended up being led by her. Male pride is what Buck called it, but Mekhi didn’t see it that way. He wanted to make his woman scream and not the other way around. In his mind, if his wife didn’t make him feel like a king, there were plenty of other women that would.

  “Let me make it up to you,” Angel purred while standing to her feet.

  Mekhi watched through hooded eyes and she lifted her short skater dress over her head, revealing the soft pink lace thong and matching bra that she wore underneath. Never taking his eyes off of her short, stacked frame, Mekhi reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a condom from the box that he kept there. As soon as he unwrapped it and attempted to slide it on, his personal phone started to ring.

  “Don’t just stand there,” Mekhi snapped. “Come handle your business.”

  “You don’t want to answer your phone?” Angel asked.

  “Don’t worry about that. Just do your thing,” Mekhi instructed.

  It wasn’t the tone that was assigned to his wife, so everybody else could wait until he was done. No sooner than Angel sauntered over to him, Mekhi’s phone started ringing again. This time, he picked it up to see who it was. When he saw his mother’s number, he hit ignore and sent her to voicemail. By now Angel was completely naked, ready to slide her moistened middle onto Mekhi’s awaiting erection.

  “Mmmmm,” she purred as Mekhi filled her up like only he could. He didn’t last as long as most of
the other men that she’d been with, but he was damn good at what he did. So good that she ditched her previous plans of finding another job. She couldn’t imagine not being with him like she was now and she wasn’t ready to give it up.

  “Ahhh fuck, damn Mekhi, slow down baby,” Angel cried out in pleasure mixed with just the right amount of pain. She was on top, but Mekhi was drilling into her from down below. He had one of his hands around her neck while the other one pulled her hair. Hearing Angel’s screams of pleasure was like a stroke to Mekhi’s ego. It was the fuel that he needed to keep the fire inside of him going. He could care less if he was hurting her. Being with other women was for his pleasure, nothing more, and nothing less. Lovemaking and feelings were for Rylee and no one else. Once he got his nut, Angel would be a distant memory, just like all of the others. The sounds of their slapping skin and Angel’s cries were all that could be heard until Mekhi’s phone chimed, alerting him to a text message, followed by another ring. This time, the ring tone let him know that everything stopped when he heard it. It was his queen, the only woman who could make him move, even when he didn’t want to.

  “Shut up and stop moving,” Mekhi instructed Angel right before he answered his phone.

  “Are you busy baby?” Rylee asked.

  “No boo, what’s up?” Mekhi lied just like always.

  “Oh, well I’m headed to the mall with Amber and Zyra, and I’m taking the black card,” Rylee informed him. “What’s my spending limit?”

  “What do you mean what’s your spending limit? You don’t have a spending limit, Rylee. Buy whatever you want.”

  “Okay, I’m just checking,” She laughed. “Now don’t freak out when the bill comes because you’ve been warned.”

  “I’ll just do what I always do when it comes and pay it. Get whatever you want and have fun. I love you, baby,” he cooed with a cheesy smile plastered on his face.

  Angel wanted to vomit once the words spilled from his lips. She felt like a damn fool for fucking him for free while his wife was going on unlimited shopping sprees. The realization hit her like a ton of bricks, making Angel swiftly move from her place in his lap. Mekhi gave her a stern look, but she didn’t care enough to stay. She was just applauding herself on her decision to stay; now she felt stupid for not leaving sooner. Mekhi would never change, and she had to come to that realization on her own.

  “I love you too,” Rylee shouted before hanging up.

  “The fuck is your problem?” Mekhi asked as he peeled off the condom and wrapped it up in the paper towels that sat on his desk. He stood up and adjusted his clothes like he didn’t have a care in the world.

  “I can’t do this anymore Mekhi,” Angel said as she choked back the tears that were starting to burn the back of her eyes.

  “No problem. You can go ahead and get back to work then,” he said in a dispassionate tone.

  “No, I can’t do any of it anymore. I can’t continue to work here knowing how I feel about you and knowing that you don’t feel the same way about me. You constantly shit on me for your wife, and I have to fault myself for that. For a whole year, I degraded myself by sleeping with you at your place of business or in my car. You never even cared enough about me to get a room. You’ve never taken me to dinner, a movie, nothing. Just straight fucking and nothing more. The only reason you gave me money at all was to abort the child that you helped to create. I can do better for myself and starting today I will,” Angel said as he allowed the tears to flow freely down her face.

  “Are you done?” Mekhi yawned like her speech had bored him.

  “Definitely,” Angel replied confidently.

  “Good, you know where the door is, use it,” he replied in a disinterested tone.

  “I can’t wait until Rylee finds out what kind of heartless bastard she’s married to. She’s too good for you, and I hope she realizes that one day.”

  “You’re saying a whole lot for a bitch who still got the smell of my dick on her breath,” he smirked.

  “Fuck you!” Angel wept as she made her way to the door.

  “Been there, done that,” Mekhi taunted while laughing uncontrollably.

  “Let’s see how funny it is when I tell your wife that we’ve been fucking for a year,” Angel said wiping the smile right off of his face.

  Angel was hurt, but she wasn’t crazy. She had no intentions of talking to Rylee. Females did stuff like going to the wife all the time, and they ended up looking stupid in the end. Aside from that, Angel never really wanted to hurt Rylee. She’d always treated her nicely, and there was no bad blood between the two of them. Angel was wrong for messing with her husband, so she didn’t have a reason to be mad. She just wanted to piss Mekhi off like he was doing to her, but she had obviously overstepped her boundaries. In a flash, Mekhi was standing in front of her with his hands wrapped tightly around her neck. Angel’s eyes got wide once she realized that she had gone too far. He squeezed her neck with so much force that she saw the veins popping out of his forehead.

  “Repeat that shit that you just said. Bitch I’ll kill you right now, and I guarantee that they’ll never find your body,” Mekhi threatened in a voice that sent chills through Angel’s body.

  Her eyes were watering, and her breathing was becoming short and labored. She felt the life slipping from her body at the exact moment that Mekhi decided to let her go. The entire ordeal only lasted for a little over a minute, but it felt like a lifetime. Angel dropped to her knees and filled her lungs with as much air as she could. Saying that she was surprised by Mekhi’s behavior would have been a lie. It wasn’t the first time he’d put his hands on her, but she was determined to make it his last. She wasn’t trying to stay in his office for another minute. As soon as her breathing regulated, she grabbed her purse and made a beeline for the door.

  “Stupid bitch,” Mekhi muttered as he sat at his desk and pulled his bottle of Cognac out of his personal liquor stash. He turned the bottle up to his mouth and closed his eyes as the heat from the alcohol coated his chest. He reached for his phone to call his mother back but decided to read the text messages first. Panic set in when he saw that Carolyn said that it was urgent and for him to call back right away. Mekhi dropped his cell phone on the desk and grabbed his office phone to make the call.

  “What’s going on?” He yelled when Mena answered the phone.

  She put him on hold and Carolyn came to the phone a short time later. She started rambling as soon as she got on the phone making Mekhi’s heart take a nosedive in his chest. Things seemed to be going from bad to worse and the headaches just wouldn’t let up. As if the problem with Angel wasn’t enough, he now had to deal with some more bullshit. Both issues had the potential to break up his happy home, and that was just something that he could not have.

  Chapter 11

  Mekhi arose bright and early the following morning to a big breakfast, courtesy of his beautiful wife. It was a Sunday, and both of them had separate plans for the morning, and then they were going to dinner and movie later that evening. He and Rylee ate and talked like they always did before she left to go to church with her grandmother. Mekhi left soon after and headed straight to his mother’s house. He was pissed and barely got two hours of sleep the previous night. He had to get to the bottom of a few things, and he needed to do it quickly. He could have died a slow death when Carolyn told him that Rylee had seen Mekhya. Then they took it a step further when they told his wife that the baby belonged to his brother Kendrick. That was almost as bad as finding out that the baby was actually his. Mekhi and Kendrick never did get along when they were growing up, and not much had changed. Kendrick was a hater in every sense of the word. He was a fuck up who was jealous because his little brother had his shit together and he didn’t. He was known to live off of females and working was never an option. He and Rylee were cool, and he probably would have loved to tell her who Mekhya’s father really was. Mekhi hated that his brother had something to hold over his head. It was his own fault, though. He’d forgo
tten to pay Mekhya’s nursery bill for two months, leaving Shay stuck with finding a babysitter.

  “Where is mama?” Mekhi asked his sister Kendra when he walked into his mother’s home.

  It was a mess as usual. Three grown ass women in a house and none of their lazy asses cleaned up. He turned up his nose in disgust when he saw all of the toys and dirty clothes scattered about in the living room. The house had a stench coming from the kitchen, and he soon found out why. Both sides of the sink and kitchen table were filled with dirty dishes that nobody bothered to clean. Mekhi went back to the living room and stood by the front door, waiting for his mother to come in. The stench of the kitchen had turned his stomach, and he was ready to go.

  “Hey son,” Carolyn said when she walked in a few minutes later, followed by Mena and Mekhya.

  “I need y’all to help me understand a few things. First of all, what is Mekhya even doing here? I don’t recall asking nobody to pick her up,” Mekhi said looking around the room at everyone.

  “Shay dropped her off a few days ago. She said that you hadn’t been paying for her nursery bill, and she needed a babysitter,” Carolyn answered.

  “Okay, but why is she here today? Shay’s works at the court house and they don’t open on weekends,” Mekhi informed them.

  “I don’t know son. I just try to stay on her good side to eliminate the unnecessary drama. She was talking about taking you to court for child support. I didn’t want that to happen and run the risk of Rylee finding out.”

  “This is some straight bullshit!” Mekhi yelled. “Not only did Rylee see her, but now she’s under the impression that she’s Kendrick daughter. My wife was asking me why I didn’t tell her that Kendrick had a baby, and I didn’t know what the fuck to say. What if she see that nigga and ask him about it? Then what?”