“In a minute. I have to take a shower first.”
Simone walked in the kitchen and smiled. Nigel was at the sink washing dishes. In all their time together she had never seen him lift a finger to clean up anything related to the kitchen. The table was spread with chicken and waffles.
“You like it?” Nigel asked as Simone gobbled down the last bite of food on her plate.
“Mmm-hmm,” Simone mumbled with a mouth full of food.
“Simone, I need to talk to you.”
“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.”
“Don’t worry, it’s not about what you think.”
Nigel shocked Simone. He said that they moved too fast. Simone had agreed and suggested that they remain friends. But she purposely left out that she didn’t want to be close friends and she didn’t want him coming around her house. The night before had been a mistake, and she vowed not to let it happen twice. Nigel had gotten his and she had gotten hers a couple of times, so all was fair.
“Simone, do you mind if my granddaughter comes over? Kaisha paged me while you were still asleep and asked if I’d watch her.”
“Sure, it’s no problem. Bring her over, I’d like to see her,” Simone said, hoping that Kaisha would pick her up so Simone could find out what Kaisha wanted to tell her so badly.
“Great, I’ll call Kaisha right away and tell her. You sure you don’t mind? Because if so, it’s no problem.”
Simone merely waved at him.
* * *
Simone instantly fell in love with Kaisha’s daughter and refused to put her down. Everywhere Simone went, the baby went. She was such a little doll, and Simone started calling her Kiss because she reminded Simone of the candy—little, sweet, with skin a smooth, flawless brown.
Simone laid Kiss down for a nap in the crib that was meant for the baby she lost. She had planned to clear out the nursery for months, but didn’t have the courage to go in. Kiss changed all of that.
“Nigel, does Kiss have a nursery set?”
“Who? Oh, you mean Uniqua? No, I don’t think so. Besides the things that I bought, I think she just has some little cheap crib that Kaisha bought her, why?”
“Because I was thinking that she could have the furniture in the nursery. It’s still brand-new, I even have plenty of extra wallpaper and borders to match.”
“I think that would be a good idea. I’ll ask Kaisha. I’m sure she won’t mind. She’ll know it’s good quality stuff. She knows your style.”
* * *
Simone woke up on the sofa to the sound of the telephone ringing. She reached to get it too late. She looked at the caller ID. Simone scratched her head and glanced at her watch. She hadn’t planned on falling asleep. Simone smiled as she heard Kiss breathing over the baby monitor.
Simone propped her feet up on the coffee table and Nigel walked in the front door carrying bags. She hadn’t even known that he was gone.
“Oh, you’re up. I was sure you were going to be asleep for a while, the way you were going at it.” Nigel set the bags on the dining room table in the adjoining room.
“I just got up. What you got there? Anything sweet?”
“Nope, just Pampers and formula. She up yet?”
“Not yet.” Simone stretched. “Oh, Kaisha called while I was asleep. I didn’t make it to the phone in time. Her number’s on the caller ID.”
“She’s probably just calling to check on Uniqua. I’ll call her in a minute.” Nigel walked into the kitchen.
Simone lay back down on the sofa to do something she rarely did, watch television. She could overhear Nigel in the kitchen talking to himself as he sterilized Kiss’s bottles.
Simone was flipping through the channels on the television when Nigel walked past her with a bottle. He picked up the cordless phone from the coffee table and went upstairs. What was he going to do with a bottle? Kiss was still asleep. She hoped that Kaisha wasn’t listening to the hospital and waking Kiss up to be fed. Babies needed to learn how to sleep through the night, and if continually awakened they’d never get used to sleeping for long periods.
Fed up with the junk on television, Simone decided to go over some paperwork. She reached in her purse, found her reading glasses, and got to work.
A deep raspy mumble came over the baby monitor. Simone guessed that Kiss was still asleep because Nigel was whispering, but she could hear him loud and clear talking to Kaisha. Simone got out of her seat to turn down the volume on the monitor, but changed her mind.
Simone dropped her pen to the floor. She almost couldn’t believe her ears but knew that they wouldn’t lie to her as Nigel did. Simone took off her glasses and chewed on one of the tips while she pondered on what to do. Should she go upstairs and risk her life again, or sit and be stupid? Simone jumped up from the sofa, reached for her cell phone, and decided to go upstairs.
* * *
Kennedy held Niles as she looked at the envelope in her hands. She was scared to death to open it. Since Jared would be there any minute, she’d wait for him. He wouldn’t be scared.
Kennedy checked the water in the baby bathtub. Niles’s umbilical cord had finally fallen off and Kennedy couldn’t wait to bathe him. It had taken his so much longer than Kharri’s, but she had to remember—he wasn’t Kharri. He was Niles. And she knew she couldn’t bathe him before it fell off, but she felt so sorry for him. The poor thing had to wait almost a month before having a bath.
Niles was just getting settled into the bath when Jared rang the bell. Kennedy shook her head in disbelief. She didn’t want to make Jared wait outside. Even though spring had warmed the weather a bit, it was still flu season. Kennedy picked up Niles and wrapped him in a heavy, oversized Egyptian cotton bath towel and went to answer the door.
Kennedy cracked the door and yelled for Jared to wait thirty seconds before coming in. She didn’t want Niles to get a chill from the draft, so she made sure that she took him back in the bathroom first.
Jared walked into the bathroom and closed the door tight behind him.
“How did you know we were in here? I didn’t say anything about the bathroom.”
“You’re kidding, right? Please, you used to pull the same thirty-second thing when Kharri was a baby, remember? So how’s my little man doing? He’s getting big. Ain’t that right, little man?” Jared shook Niles’s little hand.
“Big and heavy. So I see it didn’t take you any time to get here. What did you do, get a police escort or something?” Kennedy teased.
“Almost.” Jared smiled. “Do you have his clothes out already?”
“No, I usually dress him in his room. His underclothes and PJ’s are in the top two drawers of the chest.”
“I’ll get them together. I’ll go warm his bottle up too. Looks like it’s sleepy time for somebody.” Jared walked out.
* * *
Kennedy sat in front of the fireplace with her legs crossed Indian style. Waiting for Jared to finish putting Niles to sleep, she traced her fingers between the bricks on the fireplace. She thought about the letter. If Jared were Niles’s father, it’d be easier.
The last thing Kennedy wanted was to have her child doing the split custody thing again. If Jared was the father, maybe they could get back together. Kennedy wanted him back anyway, but didn’t think it fair to ask him to take her back if Niles wasn’t his.
Jared walked in and plopped down on the sofa. Kennedy stepped over to sit on his lap. Her mind told her that she was supposed to wait six weeks, but her body was screaming “feed me.” Kennedy ignored the mind-over-matter logic and started to rock back and forth. Jared’s penis became hard and pressed against her bottom, so she slowed her rock and added pressure.
“You sure you want to do this?” Jared whispered.
“Do what? I’m not doing anything.” Kennedy bit her bottom lip seductively.
“Stop playing. You know what you’re doing. Did you go to the doctor yet?”
Kennedy turned toward him, kissed him, and nodded. She was playi
ng dirty, but she didn’t care. She wanted to feel Jared. And once that envelope was opened, she knew that she might never get the chance again.
Jared lifted Kennedy off him and kissed her. “Where at?”
Kennedy pointed upstairs toward her bedroom. Jared took her by the hand and led her there.
Jared turned up the volume on the baby monitor and Kennedy went to the bathroom to get a condom. She held the condom up in the air and waved it toward Jared, wanting him to know that she was prepared this time. She pushed him back on the bed and climbed on top of him. She planned on giving him the ride of his life.
Jared ran his hands up and down her legs, then finally made it up under her dress. Kennedy moaned as he touched where her panties were supposed to be. She smiled. Today was one of her “free,” no-panty days. Kennedy bent to kiss Jared as he caressed, teased, and played hide-and-seek with his fingers. He tasted so good. Kennedy slid off him and undid his pants and pulled them and his boxers off at the same time. She licked her lips at the sight of his penis and tingled all over. Jared was a package deal, his manhood was big and pretty, curving up just so. He had the most perfect piece of chocolate she had ever seen and she couldn’t wait to taste it. She reached between her legs and stuck her finger inside while Jared watched. She took her finger out and stuck it in his mouth.
She grabbed Jared’s penis and traced the top with her finger. She looked at it and then at Jared.
“Did you bathe today?” she asked bluntly.
“Of course.” Jared grinned slyly.
“Good,” Kennedy said as she bit her bottom lip and then licked her friend in her right hand. It was her turn to play hide-and-seek with Jared in her mouth. Jared moaned and sat partially up and grabbed Kennedy by her shoulders—his signal that the volcano could erupt any moment. Kennedy slowed and worked her way up Jared’s body, kissing and licking here and there. When she got to his nipples she stopped and began nibbling them.
Jared grabbed Kennedy and flipped her under him. He pulled the switch so fast that Kennedy didn’t know he was on top of her until she felt him working his way down her stomach. Jared stopped at her navel and put his tongue in it. Kennedy loved to watch him work his tongue, he was the best.
Jared’s tongue lapped Kennedy’s navel and traveled to her breasts. First her left one and then her right. Kennedy arched her back each time he licked, sucked, and nibbled. Jared grabbed both of her breasts at the same time and gave them equal treatment. He lifted his head and kissed her deeply as he pulled her short hair. He stopped and looked into her eyes. Kennedy was crying and he licked away her tears.
Kennedy couldn’t take anymore of the foreplay. She wanted Jared, and she wanted him that very second. But he wasn’t having it. Jared slid to the floor, at the bottom of the bed, and positioned himself on his knees. He grabbed Kennedy by her thighs and pulled her down until her butt was hanging off the bed. Jared put his arms under her thighs and lifted her until her entrance met his face.
Jared licked her thighs deeply. The closer he got to her entrance the deeper he licked. He played lick, kiss, suck, in rotation, switching from one thigh to the other. Finally he licked between her lips and above them. She shivered as he sucked her clit, and cried when she reached the point of no return.
Kennedy grabbed Jared and led him into her. She moaned as she felt him separate her. How she could take all of him, she never knew. He was definitely blessed. She closed her eyes and let him take her to heaven over and over. While there she planned to ask God to please let the DNA results say that Jared was the father.
~ 20 ~
Derrick never met Michael in the cafeteria. He planned to, but sneaking made him feel like old times when he was still hiding himself from the world. Michael called him a few times but Derrick refused to answer or return his calls. What was done was done. The person he really needed to speak to was Kennedy. He hadn’t called her and she hadn’t called him.
Derrick waited for the light to turn green on Central Park West, so he could make a right into the park. He hated not being able to make a right on red in New York. He sat, waited, thought about Kennedy, and decided to stop by Simone’s house. She would want to help. Maybe she would play mediator again. But that would never work. He had to face Kennedy on his own.
Finally he called Kennedy.
“Hello.”
“Hey, sis, it’s me, Derrick. Did I catch you at a bad time?”
“Well sort of, Jared’s over. But it’s okay. What’s up?”
“I was just wondering if I could talk to you for a second.” Derrick mentally crossed his fingers.
“Come on over. You know where I’m at, right?” Kennedy laughed.
“Actually, I do. Give me about ten,” Derrick said and hung up.
Derrick knocked on Kennedy’s door a few minutes later, and Jared let him in. Derrick didn’t know what he had just walked into, but he could take a good guess. Kennedy and Jared both had permanent smiles plastered on their faces. They all spoke and Jared went upstairs.
“So what’s up, D? You want to know if I’m mad at you, right?”
“Yeah. I haven’t heard from you, so I-I thought that maybe you were.” Derrick sat down.
“Did it ever occur to you to call me? I wasn’t sure how you felt about me. I did sort of push you away that night. But I was upset, so no hard feelings? I’m not mad at you, D. You’re my brother and I know you would never hurt me. I know that you didn’t know about me either.” Kennedy stood with her arms open.
Derrick hugged her.
“So do you still love him?” Kennedy asked.
“Unfortunately, but it’ll fade. It always does, right?”
“Not always. Look at me and Jared. So what are you going to do about it?”
“What do you mean, what am I going to do? He was sleeping with you, my sister. Niles may be his son—”
“And he might not. Let’s pray it’s not. But seriously, I think that you should talk to him. I don’t think he really cared about me, he was just using me. You were who he really wanted.”
“But he slept with you. That’s nasty . . . I don’t mean it like it sounds. But it’s sort of incestuous, don’t you think?”
“I guess so. But you know what, we never had sex unless we were drinking . . . usually a lot, now that I think about it. See, I didn’t catch on. I assume he needed alcohol to be with a woman.” Kennedy shrugged. “I don’t know. He was smooth, played the I respect-you-too-much, I-love-you-for-more-than-that card on me. I lost the game, D. He was a card shark for real.” Kennedy grinned.
“I don’t know, Ken . . . I can’t. I won’t talk to him.”
Kennedy and Derrick talked a while more before he left. He didn’t want to disturb what was going on with her and Jared. She wasn’t rude about it, but he knew that she wanted him to go. If he had someone in his life that could plaster a permanent smile on his face, he wouldn’t want company either.
Derrick decided to go home. Against his better judgment he was going to call Michael. Although he had no intentions of getting back with him, he did feel that he was owed a formal apology and explanation.
Derrick turned on his street. Michael’s black car sat parked in front of his brick condo like old times. “Careful what you ask for,” he said and pulled into his driveway.
* * *
Simone called 911 from her cell phone and reported that Nigel had broken into her house and was beating her up. She knew that the cops would take at least thirty minutes to get there. Nigel hadn’t touched her yet, but once she confronted him, he would.
When Simone was eavesdropping courtesy of the baby monitor she learned that she had been lied to, cheated on, and tricked. Nigel and Kaisha had pulled the ultimate betrayal.
Kaisha wasn’t Nigel’s daughter, she was his teenage girlfriend. And the baby was his child, not his grandchild. Simone had heard Nigel threaten to blacken Kaisha’s other eye and kill her if she didn’t do what he wanted. He never said what it was, but Simone could tell that Kaisha
wasn’t too keen on doing it.
Simone cracked open the front door and went into the kitchen and turned the fire on under a pan of chicken grease. Then she went upstairs to Kiss’s room and pulled Nigel by his arm. He looked up at her and smiled. Simone quietly beckoned him to come downstairs.
Simone was in the kitchen packing the baby’s things in the diaper bag when Nigel walked in.
“What are you doing? You’re ready for us to go?” Nigel came up behind Simone and tried to hug her.
Simone pushed Nigel off her. “You can get your shit and get out. I can’t believe you or Kaisha. I guess you didn’t know that I could hear your whole conversation, did you?”
Nigel stood stuck-on-stupid still.
“Well, I could hear everything over the baby monitor, stupid. I can’t believe you! How could you? Tell me that. How long, Nigel? How long?” Simone said and pushed him.
“Simone, look man, don’t. I don’t want to have to hurt you—”
“Yes, you do. The only reason you’re not is because you’re wrong and you’re scared. You see I’m not afraid this time and I’ve got something for you. You got one minute to get out of my house.” Simone leaned against the counter.
Nigel snapped just as Simone knew that he would. He grabbed her by her throat. Simone dug her fingernails into his eyes and he let her go. “Is that all you got?” Simone said and slapped him. Nigel punched Simone in the side of her face and then in her stomach. He tried to knock her down but the counter kept her up.
Simone grabbed her stomach as she caught her breath and reached for the pan on the stove. Nigel took one step toward Simone and she threw the hot chicken grease on him.
Simone slid down the cabinet and onto the floor. The police yelled from the front door. She hollered back. They came in and took one look at her face and read Nigel his rights while the paramedics took care of him.
Simone told the police that Nigel had killed her baby. Nigel didn’t know that she had reported his name to the hospital, and to the officers on duty who questioned her. She could only give them a name, because she didn’t know his new address or place of employment.
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