by Tiece
“Me either,” Mr. Ware chimed in.
“Well, I’ll be back. Let me see what he wants.” She said, getting up from her seat and walking out in the hallway.
“Hey Justin,” she spoke catching him off guard as he turned to face her. “Who told you that we were here?”
“Huh?” Justin said. “Nobody told me that you were here. Why are you here?”
“Oh you didn’t know?”
Justin raised an eyebrow like he was confused. “Know what?”
This kind of took Kerry by surprise, because she’d figured he was there because of Lauren. “Oh well, never mind. Where are the kids? They better not be left alone with that lil heifa you call a girlfriend.”
“The kids are with my mom still.” Justin responded.
“Oh okay.”
“How was last night?” He asked, remembering that she’d gone out to the strip club. She still had on her make-up and it still looked flawless as she stood there with her arms crossed.
“Last night was good, crazy good I guess you can say.” She smiled a little thinking that it was certainly a wild night.
“Oh okay.” He said not even wanting to get any more details about it. “Well, I realized that I’m on the wrong floor so I’ll be leaving. Uh, is everything good? I mean, why are you here?”
“Lauren felt ill and came in to see a doctor.” She lied not really wanting to share her sister’s personal business. Plus, Justin wasn’t her husband anymore. It wasn’t his business to know what happened.
“Tell her that I hope she feels better,” he said then attempted to walk off.
“Hey,” Kerry called out to stop him. “Why are you here?” She curiously questioned.
“Uh, Shannon had a miscarriage last night.” He responded. The look in his eyes seemed saddened by having to reveal to her that he’d lost a child.
Kerry stood speechless for a second then she cleared her throat. “I’m very sorry to hear that.” She said.
“Yeah me too,” he said. “I’ll drop the kids off later today.” And with that, he walked off without looking back. Kerry felt bad for him. She knew how much he loved his kids and to hear that he’d lost one definitely made her feel bad for him.
She stepped back into the waiting room. “Lauren ain’t ready yet?”
“Nope not yet,” Bianca responded. “Why was Justin here? I seen him walk off and leave.”
“Shannon had a miscarriage last night,” Kerry revealed. Mr. Ware looked over at his wife. She never even looked up to acknowledge what she’d heard. In the back of her mind she was just hoping that Kerry would still stay far away from him as possible, unless it had something to do with the kids.
Mr. Ware’s cell phone rang as he answered it. “Hello,” he said. Next thing they knew he was shaking his head. “Okay, I’ll be down there in about twenty minutes.” He then ended the call.
“Who was that?” Mrs. Ware questioned.
“That was Rocky, ShaKita’s new love interest. Apparently, she’s been locked up.” Everyone looked with total shock. The day was just starting, yet so much had already happened. “I hope that I don’t get any more bad news today. I don’t know how much more I can take.” Mr. Ware said then he looked over at his wife. “You sit here and make sure Lauren gets home and I’ll go bail out our youngest.”
“Okay,” Mrs. Ware said as he leaned down and softly kissed her lips.
“Hold up, Dad. I’m gonna follow you.” Kerry said. “I’ll talk with y’all later.” She quickly made her exit, not wanting to be questioned about Justin’s business. She didn’t want to talk about it anyway.”
Chapter 14
The next day, Janay and Finn were lying in the bed cuddling. They had just finished a steamy sex session that had both of them nearly out of breath. They hadn’t enjoyed each other like that in a while.
Finn smiled, kissing the back of her head. “I see that medicine that the doctor gave you is working already.”
“I do feel better. However, I don’t know if I can thank the medicine.” She said with thoughts going through her mind about her prior morning’s conversation with Heather. She turned to face her husband.
“What’s up, babe? Are you okay?” He asked.
Janay was hesitant at first, but then she decided to speak on it. “I saw Heather yesterday morning in the grocery store.” She said.
“Oh you did?”
“Yeah and I apologized about the dinner party.”
“I think that was big of you.” He responded. “And you sure that you don’t want to thank the medicine?”
She gently hit him on the arm. “Are you kidding me?”
“You know I’m just playing,” he teased. “What did she say?”
“She said that it was cool and she also apologized for always being up in your face.”
Finn smiled. “I think that was big of her, too. I just wish that you’d trust me more to know that I’m not going to cheat on you, not even with Heather.”
“I trust you,” she said. “I just don’t trust her and now I don’t trust your auntie, either.”
“You don’t trust Aunt Lily?” he asked with a concerned look on his face. “What did she have to do with you and Heather talking?”
“Aunt Lily hasn’t been quite upfront with me or you.” She informed him.
Finn took in an irritated deep breath then let it out. “Okay, please explain this because I’m lost right now.”
“Remember that night at the party?”
“Yeah,” he answered.
“Well, when Heather showed up I thought it was because your mom had invited her. However, while speaking with your ex girlfriend, she informed me that it was Aunt Lily that invited her and not your mom.”
“Okaaaay, so what does that have to do with anything? It’s no secret that Aunt Lily and mom are super close to Heather. It wouldn’t surprise me who invited her. Why is that so shocking to you?”
“It’s shocking to me, because your Aunt Lily acted like she didn’t even know that Heather would be there. So why would she lie about something so small if she too loves Heather the way that you claim?”
“I don’t know. Maybe she wasn’t upfront because of the way that you showed off in front of everybody. She probably was scared to say something, unsure of your reaction.”
Janay lay quiet for a moment as thoughts flooded her mind. Then she finally said something else. “Um, I don’t know. This whole thing has me baffled.”
“Just relax baby,” Finn said.
“Whatever happened to your cousin, the one that died?” She questioned throwing Finn completely off.
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Heather mentioned it. Well, I kinda sorta mentioned it first.” She said, nervously biting on her nails.
Finn sat up in the bed. “How did you even know about that?”
“Aunt Lily told me about it the night of the dinner party while we were sitting outside. She said that he was murdered and they never found the killer.”
Finn looked back at her. “They didn’t,” he said feeling bad about what had happened to his favorite cousin. “Aunt Lily was the one that found him, but she said that she didn’t see anything or anyone.”
“What happened to your uncle? He died ten years ago, but you’ve never mentioned any of this to me.”
Finn shook his head not knowing where his wife was going with this. “We never speak about it, because it brings up sad memories.”
“I think somebody should speak up about it. What was wrong with your uncle?” Janay pondered even deeper.
“I don’t know. He’d been sick for quite some time on and off and just never got better. After my cousin died it took a toll on him and he was never the same again.”
“That’s crazy. It sounds crazy to me. I don’t understand why it doesn’t sound crazy to you.”
“I’ve just never thought about it.” He responded. “Why are you thinking about it like this?”
“I just wanna
know who I’m dealing with. For a long time I thought it was your mom who didn’t like me and maybe I was right, but I just think that it’s been your Aunt who is the one that doesn’t like me.”
“You’re crazy baby,” Finn said with a chuckle. “Aunt Lily loves you. She always cooks for you and looks out for you and the baby. You’ve never had a problem with her until you spoke with Heather.”
“She does like to cook for me,” Janay whispered with more thoughts dancing around in her mind. “Heather said that before their son was killed, that your uncle was sick like your father used to be.”
“He was, but then he’d get well again.” Finn said, but now Janay had his wheels spinning. Back then, being a teenager, it just never crossed his mind.
“Heather and I both said that we were glad that Mr. Carter is now better, but doesn’t that sound fishy to you? I mean, the morning that I blacked out I’d just eaten some of that Chicken Gumbo and your mom just so happened to show up here. Are they working together to get rid of me?”
“Baby, calm down. I’m sure it’s not that serious and plus, mom said that she just wanted to check on you and the baby.”
Janay frowned with a smack of her lips. “Since when have your mom ever wanted to check on me? Maybe, Brison but she’s never cared to see how I was doing.” She said with an unpleasant smirk on her face. She then sat up in the bed. “I don’t know. Maybe I’m just taking things too far.” She said, thinking that if it hadn’t been for Mrs. Carter she and Brison would probably be dead from smoke inhalation.
“Maybe you are.” Finn said.
“Yeah maybe,” she agreed. “I’m going to take a shower now. I need to clear my thoughts.”
“I think that would be good for you right about now,” he said leaning over and kissing her on the lips.
“I love you and I’m glad that you’re home to protect us.” With that, she got up and headed into the bathroom. Finn sat quietly for a moment. Was he really protecting his family or unexpectedly putting them in danger? There was only one way for him to find out. He then picked up the cordless phone off of the nightstand and called his mom.
“Hey son,” Mrs. Carter spoke in an energized tone.
“Hey mom, what are you doing?” He asked.
“Sitting in the kitchen with Lily,” she said. “She’s cooking us dinner today.”
“Aunt Lily cooks dinner all the time,” Finn said.
“Yeah, we all love her cooking.”
“How’s dad? Has he been doing okay, lately?” Finn pondered.
“Your father is doing great. As a matter of fact, everything is perfect as I see it. You’ve decided not to move to Augusta which means that Brison will be close by for his nana to see him.” She smiled. “And, your father is doing better. No signs of him feeling sick or anything lately. Lily is back and you know how I enjoy being around her.”
“Yeah, I know.” Finn said. “Mom, can you just ease out of the kitchen from around Aunt Lily. I just want to ask you a few questions.”
“Sure,” Mrs. Carter said as she exited the kitchen like she was going into her bedroom to get something. “What’s up, son?”
“Back when Charles lost his life, what did Aunt Lily say really happened? Do you remember?”
Mrs. Carter sat quiet for a moment. They never discussed that situation, because it was always too painful and especially painful for her sister.
“Hm, well Lily said that she was fixing your uncle something to eat because he was bedridden. You know during that time he’d been sick, but I just said that it was KARMA coming back to bite him in the butt for cheating on Lily and getting caught. Anyway, she said that Charles had come in the house and they had a few words about something. After that, he went back outside and about thirty minutes later is when she found him laying in the backyard.”
“What happened to him, though? I never got the full story because it was such a heartbreaking time for us that I never wanted to ask about it if y’all weren’t telling.”
“Well, his autopsy showed that he’d been hit in the head with a blunt object and that’s what killed him. Other than that, I don’t know much more. I just wish that they knew who did it and why.”
Finn didn’t say anything at first. He was in total disbelief of what was going through his mind. “Mom,” he finally said. “What really brought you over this way that day when you found Janay and the baby in the house full of smoke? I know that you said that you were stopping by to check on Janay and the baby. You did want to try and amend things with her, right?”
But, before she could answer he continued. “But, were you just saying that to sound like the hero?” Mrs. Carter got quiet. She knew that her son was getting around to something, but whatever it was, she figured it was time that she told the truth.
“Honestly son, I wasn’t in the neighborhood, but I was close by doing a little shopping. Lily called me and said that she’d just hung up with Janay and she thought it would be nice for me to go check on Janay and the baby. You know, to make peace of everything that was going on. However, when I got there all hell had broken loose. I couldn’t get in at first, but then I remembered that you had a spare under your rug and that’s how I got in. I didn’t want you to know that Lily was behind me going there. I just wanted you to feel like I was making an effort, because I really wanted too. It scared the hell out of me, because I thought that something had happened to them. But, once they were checked and the doctors that they were good, then it seemed like the perfect moment to get her to trust me. It just seemed like the perfect timing for me to come over. I know that sounds bad, but in some sense she started to feel a little better around me, shall I say. That’s all I wanted.”
Finn had more than put the pieces of the puzzle together and couldn’t believe that all of these years they’d been victims of a psychotic woman that came in the form of a very close family member.
“Mom, I’m going to tell you something and I don’t want you to freak out about it. Just listen to me carefully.” He told her.
****
Later that evening, Kerry was sitting in her bedroom reading Diamond’s Affair by Danielle Marcus. She enjoyed an entertaining read by fictional romance writers. The doorbell rang, distracting her from the good book as she got up to answer it. She knew it couldn’t have been the kids returning home, because her Dad had picked them up for a couple of nights after he’d bailed Bianca out of jail.
She peeked out of the blinds once she’d made it to the front door. “Lord, what does he want?” She questioned, opening up the door. “Justin,” she spoke.
“Hey buttercup,” he said. His demeanor wasn’t what it normally would be. He seemed pretty down in the dumps. “Did your dad bring the kids home, yet? I just wanna see them.”
“No, they’re actually staying over there for a couple of nights. You okay?” she questioned.
“Honestly, I don’t know.” He responded. “Can I come in? I won’t bite. I promise.”
Kerry moved out of the doorway. “Sure,” she said, almost feeling sorry for him. “So, what’s up?” She asked as he followed her over to the sofa and they both sat down side by side.
“I’ve just been thinking about what happened yesterday. I don’t even wanna sit around the house, because Shannon is taking it pretty hard.”
“Losing a baby can’t be easy on anyone.” Kerry responded. “How far along was she?”
“She was eleven weeks pregnant. Even though she’d just found out, she’d gotten attached already. It broke her heart when she went to the doctor for a check-up and there was no heartbeat during her sonogram. I feel somewhat responsible because I know that I’d stressed her out.”
“Yeah, but it just wasn’t meant to be.” Kerry softly said, trying to help him make sense of things.
“Which is why I’m here,” Justin said. “I’ve been back and forth over here kicking it with you. It has caused me to miss what we had and the loving couple we used to be.”
Kerry looked at Justin side-eyed.
“Where are you going with this?”
“I miss my kids and not coming home to them. I miss you,” he said. “I don’t wanna hurt anybody anymore. I just wanna get myself together and do right.”
Kerry was taken aback. “Are you really listening to yourself?”
“Yes, I’ve gone back and forth with this since I saw you yesterday. I’ve fought with my own feelings for months. I’ve learned that you can’t please two houses at once, because something is always going to be missing for somebody. Whether that’s time, loyalty, respect, love; something is going to be missing in one of those houses. I don’t wanna do that anymore. I need to get my shit together.”
“Wow,” Kerry said, not expecting him to say all of this. “Have you spoken to Shannon about this, yet?”
“I haven’t because she’s so fragile right now, but I will.” He said. “I just wanna come home.”
“Justin, you do realize that we’re not together, right? We’ve actually gotten a divorce, it’s not that simple.”
“I know, but I’ll do better. I’ll move out from with Shannon and start fresh by getting my own place and I’ll work my way back in if I have too.”
Kerry shook her head. “Why would you think that I want this?” she pondered.
“Because, you still love me and I know it. Anytime, I kiss you I can feel it.” He said, leaning over and kissing her softly on the lips. Kerry never moved as she sat there with her eyes closed. Indeed, it was true. She did still love him very much. “And, I know you can feel that I still love you.” Justin said. Hearing that made her feel good inside, but was it just because he was going through the motions. She didn’t know, but twenty-minutes later, they’d made it in her bedroom and it was about to go down.
They wasted no time getting to the business as Justin commanded her to just relax and enjoy the ride. He pulled her ass cheeks apart and dived in tongue first. Kerry didn't know what had gotten into Justin. He swore he could never get down with being a back door lover. However, he’d been using the back door a lot, lately. He slurped from her ass back up to her juice box, giving her the attention that she needed.
