Complicated 3

by Chenell Parker

“Nicole is gone, but I still have to set a better example for Nakia. I’ve started working, and I should be in my new place soon. I would love it if you and your family would come and visit me sometimes,” Leslie offered.

  “Just tell me when and where,” Rylee replied making her auntie smile.

  “I love you, Rylee. You’re my only sister’s daughter, and I should have been a better example for you as well. I’ve learned that it’s never too late as long as I have breath in my body. I’m going to make y’all proud of me. Just wait and see,” Leslie promised.

  “I love you too, and I’m already proud of you,” Rylee said as she pulled her into a hug.

  They both were crying as a huge wave of relief washed over them. Their family was already small, and Nicole had just shown them how short life was. Rylee didn’t hate her auntie. She was just hurt by how she betrayed her. Even still, she loved her because she was family.

  “Thank you, Lord,” Sara said when she walked into the kitchen. “I’m so happy that y’all have kissed and made up. I thought I was going to have to fight you behind my baby.”

  “No ma’am Ms. Sara. She’s my baby too. I just had to get myself together before I came back into her life. I’m here to stay now,” Leslie replied.

  “Well, that’s good to hear. I hope you don’t stop coming to church,” Sara replied surprising Rylee.

  “No way, I’ll be there every time the doors open,” Leslie promised.

  “You go to my grandma’s church Leslie?” Rylee asked.

  “She sure does, and she became a member too,” Sara answered for her.

  “You never told me that grandma.”

  “It wasn’t my place. It was her story, and she needed to tell it,” Sara said pointing to Leslie.

  “Yeah, the shelter where I live brings us to church twice a week. I didn’t know it was Ms. Sara’s church until I got there. But we’ve been talking, and she’s been helping me through a lot of rough times.”

  “Her and that prayer book I’m sure,” Rylee chuckled.

  “Yep, she got me my own copy,” Leslie laughed with her. Leslie felt good that she no longer had to walk on eggshells around her niece. She felt so uncomfortable in her presence at first, but she was happy that all of their problems were a thing of the past. She meant everything that she’d said. She failed Nicole, but she was determined not to make the same mistake twice. Rylee and Nakia were all that she had, and she wanted to cherish them.

  Chapter 30

  Janice had been a distraught mess for the past couple of months. Ever since she found out that she was infected her life seemed to go downhill. Her mother tried her best to comfort her, but she would never be able to understand how she felt. She hated Mekhi with every fiber of her being. He had yet to call and tell her about his dilemma and that was just low in her opinion. He didn’t even know that their son was dead because he had yet to call and check up on his birth. He just didn’t give a damn, and his actions showed it better than he could ever say. He meant that he didn’t want to be a father to her son and that hurt more than anything. Janice was so tired of feeling depressed, but she didn’t know how to snap out of the funk that she was in. She was also tired of feeling like the weakest link and being taken advantage of. She lost count of how many times she thought about just ending her life and letting go of all the pain that she was feeling. But that wasn’t fair that the person responsible for all of her pain got to live like he had done nothing wrong. She couldn’t see ending her life without taking Mekhi Jameson to hell right along with her.

  “What’s wrong Janice? What are you crying for?” Her mother asked when she walked into the bedroom.

  She hadn’t even realized that tears were pouring from her eyes until her mother said something. She was staring out of her bedroom window sulking just like she always did. She had taken a leave of absence from work, but they laid her off when she refused to return. She’d lost weight because she barely ate anything other than crackers or fruit. Aubrey had tried to talk some sense into her, but his attempts were useless.

  “I’m fine,” Janice lied as she used her shirt to wipe her face.

  “You can try to convince yourself of that if you want to, but I know better. You’ve been sitting up in this room for months just wallowing in self-pity. I left my house to come here and help you, but you don’t seem to want any help. If I’m wasting my time just let me know now,” her mother fussed.

  “I didn’t ask you to leave your house to come here. You did that all on your own. You can leave and go back home whenever you get ready. I would rather be by myself anyway,” Janice snapped.

  “You know what, fine! I’m done trying to help you. You need to get yourself together Janice. You don’t have a job, and your savings will only last for so long. You haven’t even attempted to take any of the medicines that the doctor prescribed for you. Are you trying to die? Is that what you want?” Her mother yelled angrily.

  “Maybe I’ll be better off,” Janice replied solemnly.

  “I’m leaving. I refuse to sit around here and listen to you have this pity party. I understand that you’re hurting, but we can get through this. Your diagnosis is not a death sentence, and your doctor already told you that.”

  “That’s easy for y’all to say. Y’all aren’t the one that got it,” she replied angrily.

  “I love you, and you know that I’m always here for you, but right now, I need to get out of here. You’re driving yourself crazy, and you’re trying to take me with you. Call me if you need me or if you just want to talk,” her mother said as she walked out of the room.

  Janice watched helplessly as her mother walked around her house, gathering up her things to leave. When she heard her front door close, she broke down crying once again. She was really all alone now, and she had no one to blame but herself. She got up from her chair and walked over to her dresser and looked inside. After removing some important papers, she pulled out the handgun that she’d purchased for protection after her divorce. She inspected the weapon and saw that it was still loaded, but the safety was on. Janice had never felt so low in her life, and she knew that one bullet could take her out of her misery. She thought about how it would hurt her mother, and that was the only thing that made her hesitant. She was an only child, so that would break her mother’s heart. Still, the hole in her heart had her selfishly thinking about just ending it all.

  ***

  Shay pulled up to the address that she received in her text message and looked around the area. She checked behind her to make sure that her sister and cousin were still following her like they’d planned. She was happy when she saw them pull up and park right across from where she was. She was no fool, so there was no way that she was showing up to Mekhi’s apartment alone. She was shocked as hell when he called her a few weeks ago, especially since she never gave him her new phone number. Apparently, her phone number was on their child support paperwork, and he wasted no time using. He called her and asked to speak to Mekhya, and he’d been calling and talking to her multiple times a day since then. When he begged Shay to let him see her, she was skeptical at first. She wasn’t letting him come anywhere near her house, but he refused to meet them at a public place. When he suggested that they come to his apartment, that shocked her more than anything. She agreed, but only if her cousin and sister would follow her.

  “Call me every five minutes to make sure I’m straight,” Shay said when she called her sister.

  “You told me that a million times. I got it,” her sister replied.

  “And if I don’t answer, call the police or come through that bitch shooting,” Shay laughed even though she was dead serious.

  “I got you, sis. Just hurry up and do what you have to do,” her sister said before disconnecting the call.

  Shay grabbed her daughter and walked up the stairs that led to Mekhi’s apartment. He didn’t even give her a chance to knock before he opened the door and welcomed them in.

  “Hey, pretty girl. Come here and let me hold
you,” Mekhi said reaching his arms out for Mekhya.

  She wasn’t shy like she was when she was younger and she knew his voice from their numerous phone conversations. She walked over to him and gave him a hug and kiss like he asked her to. She looked so much like him and his nieces until it was scary. He sat down in his recliner with his daughter on his lap, while Shay sat on the sofa. She looked around his nicely decorated apartment before she turned her attention back to her daughter. Mekhya seemed to be comfortable around her father, but Shay would never leave her there alone. It was way too soon for her to even be thinking about that right now.

  “How have you been?” Mekhi asked Shay.

  She looked around momentarily to make sure that he was actually talking to her.

  “I’ve been fine. How about you?” She asked him.

  “I’ve been better, but I can’t complain,” he shrugged.

  Shay was confused about so many things. Mekhi seemed so different for some reason, and she didn’t know why. Something was definitely up, and she needed some answers.

  “What’s going on Mekhi? Like what’s up with you wanting to be in your daughter’s life all of a sudden?” Shay questioned.

  “Honestly Shay, I owe you and my daughter an apology. I fucked up by not being in her life, and I’m trying to make that right. Life is too short, and I see that now. I want to get to know her and my son,” Mekhi replied.

  “Your son?” Shay asked.

  “Yeah, I have a son that should be at least two or three months old now. I haven’t seen his mother since she was pregnant with him, and I know that she’s had him by now.”

  Since being diagnosed a few months ago, Mekhi had done a lot of soul-searching. It was time for him to right some of his wrongs, and he needed to start with his kids. He wasn’t sure how Janice was going to react to him being in his son’s life, but he was hoping that she agreed. His kids were really all that he had, and he needed them in his life. He was confident that with medication and a healthy lifestyle, he would be around for many years to enjoy them. With how his doctor was talking, he could be around to enjoy his grandkids one day as well. Unlike cancer, HIV patients went on to live normal lives with the exception of taking extra precautions sexually. Mekhi was determined not to let his status get him down.

  “Wow, well I don’t have a problem with you being in your daughter’s life, but I’m not comfortable with her coming over alone just yet. She doesn’t know you well enough for that,” Shay informed him.

  “I understand. You can come here with her, or we can meet up somewhere. If she has a favorite place that she likes to go to we can meet there sometimes too,” he suggested.

  “What about your mom? I can bring her over there sometimes,” Shay offered.

  “She doesn’t have her own house anymore. I talked to her, and she’s supposed to be moving soon, though,” Mekhi replied.

  Carolyn was still living in the women’s shelter, but they ended up hiring her to work full time in their kitchen. She was in the process of getting a one bedroom apartment, and Mekhi was happy about that. He had a little over fifty thousand dollars to his name, so he couldn’t really afford to help her. That was the money that he was living off of until he could find something else to do. He was thinking about investing it into something that would make him a quick profit, but he didn’t know what. He no longer had a bank account because he was afraid of being garnished again.

  “Okay, well I’m only off on the weekends, so we can meet up then,” Shay replied.

  She was still having trouble getting used to the new Mekhi. She was so accustomed to him yelling, cursing or putting his hands on her. This man sitting before her was like a total stranger. She wanted to dig deeper into why he’d had a change of heart, but she was sure that he wouldn’t tell her anything.

  “The weekends are cool with me. I’ll try to spend some time with my son on the weekdays. Maybe they can meet one day,” Mekhi smiled.

  “Maybe,” Shay shrugged.

  She made sure to answer her phone each time her sister called just to let her know that she was okay. After sitting around and letting Mekhya spend time with her father, Shay was ready to go. They’d been at Mekhi’s apartment for over an hour and her sister was aggravated.

  “Does she need anything?” Mekhi asked shocking the hell out of Shay.

  She shocked him right back when she said that their daughter was straight. He thought for sure that she would have her hand out, but she declined his financial offer. He was all caught up on his child support, so maybe that was the reason. Shay also had a good man in her life that made sure that her and her girls were well taken care of.

  “I guess we’ll see you next weekend,” Shay said as she grabbed her daughter’s hand and made her way down the stairs.

  “I’ll call her later if that’s okay with you,” Mekhi yelled after them.

  Shay gave him the thumbs up before she got into her car and sped away. Mekhi laughed when he saw her sister and cousin in a car pulling off right behind her. Shay didn’t trust him, and he understood why. He was notorious for putting his hands on her, and she probably wasn’t taking any chances. He felt good after spending time with his daughter, but he had a feeling that Janice was going to be the problem. Mekhi had to have a serious talk with her, but he wasn’t prepared to do it. Telling someone that he’d possibly given them a deadly disease was something that he’d never thought he would have to do. He didn’t know if his son had it or not and that was another thing that he felt bad about. It was hard enough having to tell his family, but he didn’t want them to hear it on the streets. The rumors were circulating like crazy, and he knew that it would only be a matter of time before it got back to them. That was exactly why he didn’t leave his apartment very much. He didn’t need people looking at him crazy, and he didn’t need anyone’s sympathy. Aside from that, he didn’t know if Snake and Grim were looking to do him something or not. They knew that he was the one driving when Snake got shot, and they were probably looking to retaliate. Mekhi was tired of beating himself up, but he couldn’t help but to think about a lot of things. He had the perfect wife, and he still wasn’t satisfied. Had he been faithful and done right by Rylee, none of what he was going through would be happening. He’d been stalking Zyra’s Facebook page to keep up with her and saw that her twins had a huge first birthday party a few days ago. He didn’t know if she would talk to him or not, but he really owed her an apology as well. She didn’t deserve what he’d done to her, and she needed to know it.

  Chapter 31

  “Baby come get him,” Zyrian yelled to Rylee.

  “Come here Ziggy,” Rylee said calling her son by the nickname that her father-in-law gave him.

  Her daughter would sit still for a while, but her son was a busy body. He didn’t stay still for longer than a few minutes at a time. Rylee and Amber sat in the yard with the twins while Zyrian and his cousins put together the swing set that his parents got them. Both babies were walking now, and it was getting harder trying to keep up with them. Rylee was happy that they were almost done with the swings because she was throwing them both right in there as soon as it was complete. When her phone rang, she grabbed her son’s hand while she answered it. She didn’t want to get distracted and have him walking away.

  “Hey, Rylee. How are you?” A very familiar, but unwelcome voice said on the other end of the phone. She regretted not seeing who it was before she answered it.

  “You must be crazy calling me,” Rylee snapped when she heard Mekhi’s voice. She was just about to hang up when he yelled and begged her not to.

  “Rylee wait, please don’t hang up. I promise I won’t take up too much of your time,” Mekhi said like he could see that she was about to disconnect the call.

  “What do you want Mekhi?” Rylee asked him.

  Zyrian’s head snapped around in her direction like the exorcist when he heard her call Mekhi’s name.

  “If you don’t hang up that muthafucking phone!” Zyrian yelled as
he briskly walked over to her.

  “Hold on Mekhi,” Rylee said as she muted her phone.

  Zyrian looked like he was about to snap on her at any minute.

  “Watch them for me, Amber, I’ll be right back,” Rylee said as she grabbed her husband’s hand and walked into the house.

  “You must be trying to make me catch a case! The fuck is this nigga doing calling your phone!” Zyrian yelled as he got in his wife’s face.

  “I don’t know why he called, but I can’t lie and say that I’m not curious. I’m not trying to hide anything from you Zyrian. You can listen to everything that he says,” Rylee said putting the call on speakerphone for her husband to hear.

  “Ask that nigga what the fuck he want and make that shit quick,” Zyrian replied angrily. He was still pissed and Rylee knew that just by the way he stood there with his arms folded. She also knew that he was just as curious as she was about what Mekhi had to say. He would have made her hang up the phone in his face if he wasn’t.

  “Hello,” Rylee said when she unmuted the phone.

  “Yeah, I’m here,” Mekhi replied.

  “What is it that you want Mekhi?” Rylee questioned.

  “You might not want to hear this Rylee, but I really need to say it. From the bottom of my heart, I apologize for ruining our marriage. You were a damn good wife, and you didn’t deserve that. I don’t ever want you to think that you did anything wrong. It was all me, and I take responsibility for that,” Mekhi said sincerely.

  To say that Rylee was shocked was putting it mildly. Never in a million years would she have expected Mekhi to say anything like that. Gone was the cocky and arrogant Mekhi and a more humbled version had come along and taken his place. Rylee knew that he’d been given a wake-up call, so she was sure that was the reason that he was trying to make peace. He had to clear his conscious, and that was very admirable. She now knew what Zyra meant when she spoke of closure. Hearing Mekhi apologize and take responsibility for the demise of their marriage actually made her feel better. It was like the final chapter of that book had been closed.