Fast Life

by Cassandra Carter

  “And just to let you know now I don’t have any kids wit’ her, either. I know Tasha’s been feeding you some chicken-head gossip. That baby turned out a spitting image of Reggie.”

  “Did you come all the way down here to tell me that, Kai? So what, she played you and now you come runnin’ to me? What am I? Your backup plan?”

  “No.”

  “Then get to the fuckin’ point and get out.”

  “Before you left I promised you I would come down here and get you, or do you not remember that?” “Are you fuckin’ serious!” Kyra burst into a hysterical fit of laughter. “You can’t just come back here and act like we are still…anythin’. You really think that I’m gonna go back with you just like that? That I’m just gonna run right back into your arms? After the shit you pulled, I don’t think so. You must be crazy.”

  “You know I don’t love them hoes. I been told you that. You know you’re the only girl for me and you know I love you, so don’t try and stunt. If I didn’t really love you, then I wouldn’t be here. I wouldn’t be losing the money I am just to come and get you if there was even the possibility of you saying no.”

  “Oh yeah, bring business into it some way, somehow. You always have.”

  “Yeah, and the shit paid off,” he said, looking over his high-priced outfit and jewels.

  “Whateva, Kai.”

  “Come on, baby girl…” He lowered his tone and tried to calm her as he went for a hug.

  “Get off me.” She let out a grunt as she pushed him away.

  “You remember what it was like when you were in Chicago? Imagine that but a hundred times better. I can give that to you. Anything you want, I can give it to you, Kyra.”

  “I have a life, Kai. I can’t just pick up and leave because you want me to.”

  “I know you do, but you can come back to Chicago, too, and we can start a life there. Together: me doing my thing and you by my side, just like things always were. We can settle down and just chill. You can’t tell me you ain’t feeling that,” Makai said with a lick of his lips.

  “You wanna know what I’m not feelin’, Kai?” She was heated as she set into him.

  “I’m not feelin’ how you just figured you would march your ass down here like some knight in shinin’ armor to ‘rescue me,’ like shit between me and you is good! You just come here out of nowhere with this bullshit! Since I moved here, you haven’t called me once. Not one time. Why? ’Cause you were fuckin’ someone who was supposed to be my best friend. Then while I’m sittin’ down here alone, scared to death that I’m about to have your kid, you turn your back on me and run out! And for what? For her! For that sneaky, nasty-ass bitch! You never once called to find out if I even had the baby or not! You never called to see how I was doin’—hell, to even see if I was still fuckin’ breathin’, Kai! You cheated on me, you lied to me and you abandoned me when you were the only person I counted on to stand by me come hell or high water! So tell me what out of all of that I’m supposed to feel!” she screamed as tears of anger rushed down her face.

  Kyra collapsed on her bed with her face in her hands as she violently sobbed. Her resurfaced emotions from the past were too much for her to bear. The wounds still seemed fresh. She looked up and stared her first love in the face.

  “Baby, I know…I know I fucked up. I swear if I could take it back, I would. I’m sorry, baby girl. I would give up everything I have just to have another chance witchu. You know that when it comes down to it, you hold my heart no matter what. I can admit that I took you for granted and I did some triflin’ shit. I was wrong, and I hurt you because of that. But I changed, Kyra. I swear to you on my love to you that I changed.” He whispered into her ear as he took a seat next to her and took her in his arms. “I missed you so much, baby….”

  “This is too much, Makai. You hurt me. You hurt me so much,” Kyra sobbed, choking on her words as she hugged him back. She was weak right now, and any comfort was appealing to her.

  “I know I did, and I apologize for that. Just let me make it up to you. That’s the least I can do.”

  “No…I can’t….”

  “I know coming back to Chicago to stay may be too much for you right now. But just come back for the summer and see how you like it. If you don’t, then you can come back here. Just give me another chance. That’s all I ask of you. Give me another chance?”

  “I can’t, Kai. I can’t,” she cried as she shook her head. “I can’t be hurt again.”

  “I won’t hurt you again.”

  He leaned in and kissed her as she cried. She gasped between timidly returning his kisses as his hand crept up the front of her dress and tickled her thigh.

  “I missed you so much, baby….”

  “No, Kai.”

  “Just relax, baby. Just relax,” he breathed, sucking her earlobe and making her melt. Her resistance was out the window.

  She didn’t know what had gotten into her, but seeing Makai brought her back to the lovestruck girl she was in Chicago. Even with everything he had done and put her through, as low and as wrong as it was, as much as it hurt her or caused her pain, and as much as she tried to kill the love she had for him, she discovered as soon as she saw him again that it was all still there. It was like some kind of voodoo, some kind of power he held over her that just wouldn’t let her resist anything he had to offer, from Chicago to his body.

  “Where are you goin’?” Kyra sat up in bed, clutching the sheet to her naked body. When he was done, he immediately started dressing, neglecting to cuddle or hold her.

  “I gotta get going. I know you didn’t think this trip was all pleasure.”

  “Business…” she sighed, already knowing the reason he was leaving her bed cold.

  “As always.” Even he sounded tired of the constant demands of his trade.

  “Whateva.”

  “I know I’m busy, but when we get back to Chicago, don’t worry. I’ll make more time for you, okay?”

  “Who said I was goin’ to Chicago?” She made sure to remind him that her giving her body to him for those few hours didn’t equal an answer.

  “Think about it. I’ll be at the Ocean View Resort. Room four seventy-eight. I’m leaving Wednesday night, so let me know if you’re down.” Makai fixed his silk-lined cream blazer and then made his exit.

  Kyra looked down at the pink covers on her bed. She didn’t know what to do, what she had done or what she was doing. Her mind and heart were all over the place, just like her sheets.

  She pulled her knees to her chest and ran her hand through her tousled hair. She sometimes felt as though she was in a dreamworld, and this was certainly one those times. Makai showing up out of nowhere, looking G’d out to a level she’d never witnessed and professing his love and apologies to her, was more than surreal. She even wanted to say it was too good to be true. The day had been such a transition, from the horrific hairstyle, to the graduation, to the argument with Justin, and then to sharing her body with Makai.

  She was faced with a difficult decision. She didn’t want to go back to Chicago. At least, that was what she’d thought. But now she didn’t know what she thought…about anything. Makai had changed that in one short visit.

  The following day was a long one. Kyra and Justin were unhappy with their situation. Kyra kept to herself in the house all day with the phone off the hook.

  As she lay buried under her covers, the doorbell started to ring. Kyra poked her head out from under her covers, irritated at the disturbance as she cautiously got up to make her way to the door.

  “What is you doin’? Ringin’ my doorbell like you are out ya damn mind.”

  “Girl, I been out here for damn near five minutes. Whatchu doing up in there?” Makai demanded from his position on her porch in yet another sharp outfit.

  “I was sleepin’,” she told him through a yawn. She had expected Justin but held in her surprise.

  “It’s six-thirty, shawty.”

  “Whateva.”

  “Anyways,
go get dressed.”

  “I am dressed.” She said, looking down over her cutoff sweatpants and plain white tank top.

  “You’re not going nowhere wit’ me dressed like that.”

  “Who said I was goin’ anywhere with you, period?” She folded her arms to purposely give him a hard time.

  “I did. Now stop talking shit and go put on something nice. I wanna take you out somewhere. That is, if it’s a’ight witchu.”

  “Where we goin’?”

  “It’s a surprise.”

  The shoreside restaurant was the very definition of romantic. The whole place was dimly lit with candles and chandeliers, and there was a live quartet playing music, with the ocean adding its own notes.

  “This is really nice, Kai,” Kyra said as she looked around the eatery from their secluded table.

  “I thought you might like it.” He placed his hand over hers as she looked off into the distance. “Whatchu thinking about?”

  “Nothin’. It’s just so nice. You really shouldn’t have.”

  “I wanted to. Only the best for my baby girl,” he stated between sips of the cold champagne he’d coaxed out of the waiter with a handful of Ben Franklins.

  “Here are your orders,” the waiter announced, placing the hot plates of delicious food before them on the table. “Will there be anything else for you or the lady?”

  “No, we’re fine,” Makai replied. Then, returning his attention back to his guest, he asked, “Have you been thinking about Chicago at all?”

  “Yeah.”

  “And? Whatchu think?”

  “I dunno.”

  “Whatchu mean you don’t know?”

  “Exactly what I said. I dunno. It’s not that easy.”

  “I don’t see why it ain’t. All you gotta do is ask your ma. You act like you got some nigga down here or something.”

  Kyra ceased chewing and picked up her napkin, daintily dabbing the corners of her mouth.

  “Oh…so you really got someone? See, I was just joking. What’s his name?” He was obviously jealous.

  “Don’t worry about it.”

  “Don’t tell me what to worry about.”

  “I don’t have anybody, okay, Kai? And even if I did, you should be the last one to say shit about it,” she hissed. Their conversation was growing tense.

  “Here we go….”

  “Did you love her?”

  “What? No, I didn’t love her.” He sounded as though her question were ridiculous.

  “How come you never called me? I mean, you didn’t have one minute that you could’ve called?”

  “Kyra, chill ya tone. I don’t want to dwell on the past. I just want to have a good time tonight. This is about the future, not the old mistakes.”

  “Whateva.”

  “To the future.” He started a toast with the lifting of his champagne flute.

  “To the future.”

  “To us.”

  Without repeating the last line of the toast, Kyra took another, longer sip of her champagne as she gazed out at the black ocean and the waves that crashed on the white-sand beach. The rest of the meal was quiet and calm, with a conversation comprised of pointless talk for another hour before they finished.

  They exited the restaurant to retrieve the Bentley from the valet after leaving the waiter with a more-than-generous tip. Makai was showcasing his fortune as much as he could, and Kyra was as content with the evening as she could be.

  The day after graduation at the Hartwell residence was full of celebration. Now that Quentin had graduated from school, he would begin working for his father.

  The grill was going: there were ribs, chicken, burgers and hot dogs, with side dishes and desserts covering the tables. The display of food could bring forth anyone’s appetite. The music was loud, but not nearly as loud as the laughter. Everyone but the adults filled the pool, the Jacuzzi or one of the poolside deck chairs. Everyone was more than enjoying themselves—everyone but Justin.

  Justin was still down in the dumps about his breakup with Kyra, and his mother’s asking him where Kyra was and whether she was coming didn’t help. Nor did the busy signal he got every time he dialed Kyra’s number. He was sitting on one of the poolside chairs watching the party unfold before his eyes when he was approached by Michael.

  “What’s up with you, man? You’re over here looking all depressed when we’re all out here having fun.” Dripping with water from his recent dip in the pool, he took his seat in an empty chair beside his friend.

  “I’m thinking.”

  “Oh God, it’s about Kyra, isn’t it?”

  “Shut up. You moped for Natasha and she wasn’t even your girl. Don’t get me started.”

  “Aww, nigga, whatever. Yeah I moped. So? I got over that shit, but I never said it was easy. I really cared about that girl.”

  “Well, I love Kyra. I don’t know what to do, man. This shit doesn’t feel right. Like now. Right now. She should be here but she’s not.”

  “And I doubt she will be.”

  “Really, you think?”

  “She’s the only girl I know who would trip off finding out that her man has cash.”

  “It’s the principle of the matter, Mike. All money matters aside. This is about trust.” He was serious, unaffected by any jokes.

  “I know, I know.”

  “You know she thinks I’ve been messing with Veronica? Ain’t that some shit?”

  “Hell yeah.”

  “Then she found out about how I was dancing with Angela at prom. She was trippin’ off that, too. It was only a few dances! I’ve been trying to call her but she won’t answer. I always get a busy signal.”

  “Yeah, I saw you with Angela. Isn’t she that girl who you said was a superfreak and she could do that trick with her tongue and…” Michael started. He was slowly slipping back into his old mentality.

  “Yeah, that’s her.”

  “Damn. I wish I could’ve got a dance with her….”

  “But what I’m trippin’ off is that she is trippin’ off me with other females, but when we were at Q’s graduation she said something like ‘you’re just like him.’ And she wouldn’t tell me who ‘he’ was. Who is ‘him’?” Justin was growing angry at the memory.

  “Damn! I know who she’s talking about!” Michael exclaimed.

  “Stop playing, Mike.” His voice was still dull.

  “Nigga, I’m dead serious! I didn’t want to have to tell you this, but nigga, last night I was at the Orchidée Violette with a fine young lady and guess who I saw?”

  “Kyra?”

  “Yup, and she wasn’t alone. She was with some GQ nigga. He looked like he was stacked. Pushed a Bentley and everything. Plus, I mean, we both know that Orchidée Violette is not a cheap date. You have to come in there ready to pay that big money. That’s a guaranteed. Everybody knows that.”

  “You think he hit it?”

  “Hell yeah.”

  Justin sat in silence, tightening his jaw in anger and then loosening it.

  Michael went on, “I don’t even know who the cat is, though. I never saw him around here before.”

  “You sure it was her?”

  “I swear to God it was! I’ve been seeing the girl for how long, J? I think I know what she looks like.” Justin didn’t say a word, but his friend continued, “See, there is no sense in sitting around here all sad and shit. She is moving on and you should, too. And by the way, Veronica is throwing little glances your way—you might as well start with her. She already thinks you two had something, so hey, what the hell?” Michael advised with a pat on the back before making his way over to the food platters.

  Justin turned his attention to Veronica, who was situated across from him at the other end of the pool in a chocolate and pink string bikini that fit her figure well. He got up and made his way through the party crowd. The thought of Kyra already with another man provided him with motivation for every step.

  “Veronica, can I, uh…talk to you for a minute?”


  “Sure. Girls, I’ll be right back.” Veronica informed her friends in a normal tone, not one of bragging, before following Justin into his abode and into the empty den. It was so calm it seemed a world apart from the energetic crowd in the backyard.

  “I’m glad you came over to me, because I need to talk to you, too,” she confessed.

  “About what?”

  “About how I’m sorry. I was really trippin’ and I was acting like such a bitch. What I did to you and Kyra was really messed up. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about that. I want you to be happy, and I made you the complete opposite out of my own selfishness.” Veronica’s words were genuine and heartfelt, but for Justin it was too little, too late. The damage had already been done.

  Still, he was caught off guard by her apology. It was unlike her to apologize for anything she ever did.

  “So…what did you want to talk about?” she quizzed, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

  “I actually wanted to talk about me and you. I want to give us another chance.”

  “What? Wait. Aren’t you with Kyra?”

  “No. We’re not together anymore. I guess we weren’t meant to be. But I think me and you…I think me and you might be. You’re not the only one who’s been thinking, sweetheart.” He was lying, trying to turn on a little game.

  “I don’t know what to say.”

  “Say yes.” His lowered voice changed the whole mood of the room.

  Kyra was glued next to her telephone. She was awaiting Justin’s call, but it never came. She dialed his number only for all her calls to go unanswered. She waited around all day and into the evening hours, intently watching the phone and hoping for it to ring. She’d made the decision last night after dinner with Makai to stay in Prince Paul. The temptation of Chicago was strangely intense, but she felt that staying on the island, where she would be close to Justin, was a worthy forfeit. Now she just needed to make things right between them, or at least make an effort to begin. It was time to start anew, and she was ready and willing to forgive.

  She was alert when the doorbell rang, and she rushed from the living room to the door. She had hopes of finding Justin on the other side but only found Angel.