by Black, Anna
That was the only time he was ever sweet, considerate, and patient with her. He treated her like a queen, and that is why she wanted to have a house full for him. When she first came home from the hospital with Kayla, K.P. was so attentive. She didn’t have to move a muscle. He probably would have nursed the baby for her if it were possible. That is how good he was.
Once he met that damn Janiece he changed. He stopped asking her how her day was, and he stopped standing by his words. He would tell Kimberly he’d be home by nine and wouldn’t show his face ’til after one or two in the morning. He would take the kids out on Sunday for family day, but that was more daddy and kids day because he never took Kimberly along. He’d say he wanted to spend Sunday with his kids, and Kimberly used to ask, “What about me? What about taking time out for me?” but he’d brush her off or he’d take her to dinner and talk about work, movies, and current events; never anything romantic about them and their relationship.
That’s why Kimberly didn’t feel bad when she was giving her goods to Rodney. She had it down pat. She’d come home on Friday nights by two, because K.P. always walked in about two thirty or two forty-five. On Saturday nights, it was the same thing. She had a trusted babysitter named Carmen that she hated to see move away because she kept her mouth shut. Rodney paid her well to watch the kids, and she’d get a couple hundred for her few hours of service and pull away before K.P. made it onto his street.
There were a few instances K.P. had come home before Kimberly, and Carmen would tell him that she was out with Chelsea and would text Kimberly with a code 34 letting her know K.P. was home. Shit was perfect for Kimberly back then, she thought to herself because she had a good sitter who knew how to keep her dirt concealed, with a man that was spoiling her and giving her the best dick she had ever had, and still had the perfect family appearance. Nothing could have been better until Carmen told her that she was moving to Detroit and K.P. decided he wanted to leave.
Why did he have to leave? He had everything—a ho giving him all the ass and blow jobs he wanted and a wife who learned to turn the other cheek. What else could a man ask for? He was making lots of paper because of her, and he was the son-in-law to Mr. Eric T. Grayson. It couldn’t get any better than that, Kimberly thought, but she found out she was wrong.
She wished she could leave it alone and not be vengeful and want to hurt Janiece, but she couldn’t. Now that K.P. had filed for divorce, she was going to have to come to terms with being without him, but she wasn’t sure if she was going to make it without causing Janiece any bodily harm for taking her husband away. She didn’t know how or what she was going to do, but she was going to do something to destroy her.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Janiece was on a plane on her way to Texas. Instead of going to Las Vegas with K.P. for his grand opening of his new company, she decided to take the trip to Texas to see Isaiah. When they got back from their trip to Florida, she didn’t get a chance to see Isaiah one-on-one at all, only in passing because since K.P. was no longer working, he was home all the time, and when they got back to Chicago, he didn’t allow her one moment alone without him. One reason was that her car was vandalized, and he thought he had to protect her from whomever it was that thought it was cool to mess up her car.
Janiece lived in a safe and quiet neighborhood, so she could not understand how her car ended up being keyed and having all her tires flattened. Not only was the word “bitch” keyed on the trunk of her car, but the windows were smashed and the paint job was ruined with spray paint. K.P. told her he would just get her a new car, but she was so mad because her daddy had bought that car for her before he passed away and that car had a lot of sentimental value to her. She knew deep down inside that Kimberly was the one behind it, but she didn’t go there with K.P. to accuse her.
K.P. was so nonchalant about it and his solution, like to all things— just get another one. He didn’t understand why Janiece wanted to have her car fixed, and Janiece was worn out with trying to explain it to him. The insurance company totaled it because the damage was more than it was worth. She knew it was because of the paint that was splattered all over the interior.
They had decided to wait until they moved to Vegas to look for another one and since he chauffeured Janiece to wherever she wanted to go, she didn’t complain. She continued to ride the metro back and forth to work, and everywhere else she went she drove the Escalade or he took her.
Three weeks had gone by and she managed to sneak around talking to Isaiah on the phone. Now she finally found an opportunity to go visit him. She had told K.P. that that her company was sending her to Texas for some type of training for four days and that is why she couldn’t go with him to Las Vegas.
Of course, he tried to convince her that it was pointless for her to go to the training considering she was leaving the company anyway, but she insisted that she wanted to go. He didn’t argue anymore, but he was very disappointed that she was going to a training class with a company she was leaving instead of going to share the most important day of his life in Las Vegas.
She was not happy with not sharing the grand opening of her man’s company with him, but she just had to see Isaiah. She missed him, and she couldn’t wait to see him. She was anxious from the moment she agreed to go.
When she landed in Killeen, Isaiah was waiting for her outside of her gate with a bouquet of roses. They were red roses, and she blushed when he handed them to her. To keep K.P. from being so suspicious, she got a room at the Hampton Inn to be able to allow him to have another way of reaching her besides her cell phone.
As soon as they checked into her room, they were all over each other, like they had been apart for years. He kissed her hungrily as if he was trying to consume her. After they had incredible sex, they showered and he took her to his apartment where they were going to spend most of their time anyway. Although the hotel was $110, plus tax, a night, Isaiah didn’t care. He was going to pay it just so she could be in Texas with him.
When they got to his apartment, Janiece felt a little more comfortable. Her nerves had been bad since K.P. had taken her to the airport. His flight was scheduled to leave the next morning, so he was still trying to convince Janiece to go with him instead. He even called her cell phone right before she boarded to make sure she wasn’t going to change her mind about going to Vegas with him.
Isaiah’s apartment was neat and clean, and Janiece was relieved because she had to be in a clean environment or else she wouldn’t have been able to stay. He poured her a glass of Merlot, and she sat on the sofa with the remote while he prepared lunch for her. They sat and ate and talked for a while before he took her out to the base for a tour of Fort Hood. There were so many men and women walking around in uniform, and it was strange because you didn’t see that in Chicago.
She had never been in a military town before, and to see so many soldiers was a new and exciting experience for her. He took her to his battalion to let her see his office and where he worked. He introduced her to everyone as his lady, and she felt special, but she knew deep down that she wasn’t his woman and probably never would be, but she decided to go with the flow. She did wish, just a little bit, that she was, and instead of going to Las Vegas to start a new life with K.P., she was moving to Texas to start a new life with Isaiah.
They left the base and headed to the mall because Janiece packed the wrong clothes. Although it was November, it was extremely warm in Texas, and she had packed her warmest winter items. She found and picked out a couple cute little knit tops and a couple skirts at Old Navy and Dillard’s. Dillard’s was a store similar to Carson’s in Chicago, so she found some cute stuff in there, and Isaiah, again, paid the bill. She felt special and what he did for her was generous. Just like K.P., generous.
The debit card that K.P. had given her to go and get her hair and nails done had a balance on it that made her blink four times. She did three inquiries just to make sure that balance was really twenty-six thousand dollars. She wondered how K.P. had
that kind of money just sitting in an account when she could barely keep a balance of one hundred in her account after she paid all of her bills and bought groceries.
She knew if she had to, she could have used the card that K.P. had given her to make her purchases, but she decided to let Isaiah be the man and do his thing. After they left the mall, he took her to a steak house called Texas Land and Cattle. It wasn’t a Ruth’s Chris Isaiah said, but their steaks were decent.
They stopped by the hotel to get some things from Janiece’s room and found her message light was blinking. She paused to listen to it, and it was K.P.. He was telling her that he was just making sure she had made it safely and to give him a call. She realized then that she hadn’t powered her cell phone back on since she had landed in Killeen earlier that day.
She asked Isaiah to excuse her, and then she went down to the lobby and called K.P. from her cell phone. He answered, and he was half-asleep. She talked to him for over forty minutes ’til her battery started to beep. He decided to let her go since he had to get up to make an early flight. He was so trusting and so loving, she felt bad for lying to him. He said all the right things and treated her like she was the honest Janiece he fell in love with.
She went over to the counter and asked the Ieshia the front-desk person if there was a way to check her voice mail from a different location. Ieshia explained to her how she could check it without being in the hotel. Janiece had to make sure she didn’t miss any messages from K.P., and if he called, she could get back to him promptly.
They made it back to Isaiah’s apartment, and Janiece was feeling good. She couldn’t help but smile every time he looked at her. After they showered and made love again, they were lying in his bed just enjoying each other.
“I’m glad you finally agreed to come,” he said, stroking her hair.
“So am I,” she said and smiled back at him.
“So when are you coming down again?” he asked, and she thought he was insane for asking her that.
“Coming again? Hell, it was like breaking outta Fort Knox just getting K.P. to agree to let me come this time.”
“So then, when are you gon’ tell him that it’s over?”
“Isaiah, come on, now, we talked about this a million times,” she said changing positions. She couldn’t understand why he insisted on pushing her to break it off with K.P..
“I know, Janiece, but I know myself. I’m not going to be able to share you too much longer. I hate it when you are with him, and you know you don’t wanna be with him anymore.”
“I know, Isaiah, and I’m trying, but I just can’t leave him like that.”
“Why not, Janiece? Do you still love him?”
“Yes and no … I thought we weren’t gonna discuss K.P.. You said that we didn’t have to have this discussion, Isaiah.”
“I know what I said, Janiece, and I’m sorry, but when I picked you up from the airport, I was so happy to see you, and after spending today with you and making love to you, I want you and me to be just you and me,” he said earnestly, and she knew where he was coming from. She remembered having those same thoughts about K.P. way back in the day when she was lonely and wanted him for herself.
“I know, but please, Isaiah, don’t push, okay? Let’s just enjoy ourselves and have fun with the time we have together. I’m gonna tell him soon. I’m just not ready right now, okay?” she said and her cell phone rang. She made a mad dash to get it, and it was K.P.. She looked at Isaiah, and he knew what the deal was so he didn’t trip out when she went into the living room to talk to him.
Chapter Thirty-Three
“Home sweet home,” Janiece said when she put down her bags. She had come in a couple of hours ago, and Janelle picked her up from the airport.
“So when are you going to break up with K.P.?” Janelle asked, going into her fridge to scope out something to snack on.
“Not you too?”
“What do you mean?”
“Isaiah asked me that a million times, and I didn’t have an answer then, and I don’t have one now.”
“Well, you are gonna have to come up with something real soon, little sister, because K.P.’s going to want to move you to Las Vegas soon, and if you don’t want him, you’re gonna have to tell him.”
“I know, Nellie. Why y’all sweatin’ me?” she asked with attitude.
“Hey, now, what’s your problem?”
“I’m sorry, sissy, I’m just so confused. I mean, when I’m with K.P., I’m happy, and when I’m with Isaiah, I’m happy. K.P. has been in my heart since forever and Isaiah…he’s just so sweet and funny and sexy and, girl…” she said smiling and gazing in the air.
“But the bottom line, Jai, is you can’t keep this up. You’re gonna be in a situation just like K.P. was, and you don’t want that headache, trust me,” she said and stuffed some chips in her mouth.
“I know, Janelle, but I don’t know how to tell K.P. it’s over.”
“Oh, so you chose Isaiah?” she said and took a swallow of her grape Crush.
“No … I mean … I don’t know, and why are you eating so much?”
“Because the baby is hungry, Janiece … do you think I’d be eating these chips like this was my last opportunity to eat if I wasn’t pregnant with this little greedy baby?”
“All right now, you gon’ have more than baby pounds to drop if you keep it up.”
“I know,” she said and stuffed more in. “I just can’t help it.”
“You better. You gon’ have hips and an ass like mine otherwise,” she said, and they laughed.
“You need to leave me alone and worry about your own situation. I say when K.P. comes back into town, you better tell him.”
“I know, Nellie, I just don’t know how …” she said and took her suitcase into her room to unpack. Janelle hung around, and they talked for a while. Then she took her to the grocery store since she was carless. She got a few items and used the card K.P. had given to her. After she got home and settled in, Janelle left. As soon as she was about to take her shower, Isaiah called.
“Hey, woman, why didn’t you call me when you got in?” he asked.
“Well, my sister was here and we hung out for a while, and then I had to go to the grocery store, and I’m really just getting settled in,” she explained.
“Oh, I thought you forgot about me.”
“No, I can’t forget about you, boo,” she said and sat on the sofa.
“I was gon’ say …,” he said, happy to hear her voice.
“So what’s going on?”
“Nothing too much, just missing you already,” he said, and she blushed.
“I’m missing you too.”
“I can’t wait to see you again,” he said.
“I know,” she replied, then her other line rang. It was K.P.. “Listen, I gotta give you a callback.”
“K.P., right?” he asked in a disappointed tone.
“Yes, I’ll call you right back, I promise,” she said, and he just hung up.
“Hello,” she said answering the other line.
“Hey, baby, I see you’ve made it home.”
“Yes, Janelle just left about ten minutes ago.”
“So how is my favorite girl?”
“I thought Kayla was your favorite girl.”
“She is, but you are my favorite adult girl,” he said with a smile in his voice.
“So how’s Vegas?”
“Vegas is Vegas. It would have been better if you would have been by my side for my grand opening.”
“I know, K.P., but you know I have responsibilities too.”
“I know, I know, but I didn’t think you’d go on a trip for a training course for a job you would be quitting.”
“Well, K.P., I haven’t made a decision yet on exactly what I’ll be doing. That’s why I went.”
“So are you saying that you’re thinking of not coming to Vegas with me?”
“No, K.P., I haven’t decided yet, okay? I’m still debating if I�
�m ready, you know?”
“Janiece, it’s not hard. Either you want to be with me or you don’t.”
“I wanna be with you, K.P., but you went and planned out this life in Las Vegas without asking me. You went and did all of these things without asking me how I felt or what I wanted to do, so now, I’m not sure, not that I don’t wanna be with you.”
“Jai, you’ve said a million times that you wanted us to move out here and start our lives together,” he said speaking the truth.
“Yes, I know, K.P., but never in a million years did I think you’d take it to heart and make that happen. I wish you would have just let me in on your plans so I could have said something, you know? Up and leaving wasn’t how I planned it to be for me, and now Janelle is having a baby and I just don’t know.”
“Well, Jai, you are gonna have to make some decisions because my business is open now, and I am gon’ have to be out here the majority of the time. I want you here with me. I want to share my life with you.”
“I know, baby, and I wanna share my life with you, but I need some time,” she said, and K.P. didn’t want to hear those words. He wanted her to say that she would be there as soon as he could make arrangements to move her.
“Listen, Jai, I understand all of that, but if you want me like I want you, I don’t see what’s so hard,” he said frustrated.
“I do love you, K.P., and I want to be with you, but Vegas, baby? I just didn’t know we would be moving to Vegas. I mean, I love Chicago. My sister is here, and Nellie is my only family.”
“And when we get married, I’ll be your family,” he said, and Janiece’s stomach got an aching feeling. She thought about Isaiah when he said “married.” No way could she marry K.P. without cutting Isaiah completely off.
“Baby, please, let’s just talk about this when you get back,” she said, and she wondered when he was actually coming back to Chicago. “When are you returning?”