by B. M. Hardin
“That’s because I’ve never felt this way before. I’ve been with a lot of men, but never have I felt this before.”
“Is it love?”
“I think so.”
“So, what’s the problem?”
“The problem is that I need your blessing?”
What?
For what?
“You can date whoever you want to date Legacy.”
“Even if it’s Kane?”
My mouth opened.
What!
Did she just say what I thought she said?
“I know it seems crazy. And I know, y'all had some little thing with him blackmailing you and all for ass, but there wasn’t anything real there. He was just using you for whatever his reasons were but he doesn’t even remember them. He doesn’t remember being that awful man that you told me he was or the player that he had been involving you, Jinx and Naomi. He’s different. And I’m in love with him.”
I couldn’t believe my ears.
Granted back then, I was going to try to hook them up but Kane is nothing but a snake and she deserved better.
“I mean, it’s not like you two were dating or anything. And since he doesn’t even remember his past relationships and all of the drama, he has a fresh new start. And I want him to start it with me.”
“He does remember me Lee Lee.”
“Just your name. He doesn’t remember the relationship between you two. I already told him what I wanted him to think that you were.”
“And what is that?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
I was frozen and didn’t exactly know how to respond.
I thought about a lot of different things but then again the one thing that was clear was that I didn’t want her involved with Kane.
No.
Just no.
“No Lee Lee. There are plenty of other good guys out there. Not Kane.”
She’d asked for my blessing, and I just couldn’t give it to her.
She was quiet for a while.
“Hello?”
“I only asked because I thought it was the right thing to do, but I’ve already fallen for him Moe. I’m sorry.”
And with that she said that she loved me, and hung up.
I stood there just to replay the entire conversation over again in my head.
Was she serious?
She couldn’t be serious?
And what had she told Kane about me?
Kane did have a side to him that was very, very attractive and intelligent but that’s not the real him and sooner or later the real him might show up and show out.
It was definitely a possibility and then what?
That side of his was a liar, a cheater, a manipulator and on top of that a big time drug dealer that she just didn’t need to be involved with.
I couldn’t believe that she would even consider it.
Outside of the obvious because of whatever he and I did, why would she even want to deal with him after his connections to Naomi or Vicki?
I just didn’t understand what she was doing.
The sound of laughter from Drake and Krissie brought me back to my reality.
I had everything that I wanted.
I had everything that I needed.
Maybe all along they were meant for each other and I had just been in the way.
Maybe I should just let them be.
At the end of the day, why should I care?
Kane and I had relations and maybe it was nasty for my sister to eventually go that route with him, but maybe he was meant for her and I was the one in fault for jumping in bed with Kane the first time around and causing all of this mess.
And just like everything else, I decided that I wasn’t going to worry about it.
Kane had a second chance at life and at everything.
Maybe he didn’t remember his drug ties and maybe he just remembered enough about himself to start brand new.
I guess it wasn’t my concern.
And Lee Lee also had somewhat of a second chance at life too and maybe she was doing what felt right to her.
Maybe I should just stay out of her way.
At the end of the day, I already had my husband and my daughter and unless I found out that Dray was cheating and that his little disappearing act hadn’t been business related like he’d said that it was, my life was perfect.
For the first time in a long time, my life was okay.
And I just wanted it to stay that way.
So Lee Lee and Kane could do whatever they please.
I had more important things to worry about.
Starting with Me.
~***~
“I don’t feel good.”
I had been feeling awful lately, and I could understand why. I was having bad stomach pains like crazy and I was feeling weak.
I didn’t have a fever or anything, but something just didn’t feel right.
“Is there anything I can do?”
“I wish.”
I groaned again and I started to cry.
I clutched my stomach and tried to endure the pain as best as I could.
“What can I get you? You want to go to the hospital?”
I shook my head no.
Krissie was staring at me and Drake was still talking but I wasn’t paying attention to what he was saying.
I just wanted it to go away.
It was getting worse and worse by the minute.
“Well I’m going to find you some kind of pain medicine or something. I hate to see you like this,” Drake said.
I shook my head and I Drake left me on the couch while he and Krissie went out to find me something for my stomach.
I heard the garage open and figured that Drake must have been moving my car inside of it since it was about to storm, from the sound of thunder that I heard as well.
I curled up into a ball and started to doze off.
It had to be some kind of virus or something because I sure as heck couldn’t get pregnant.
The doctors were sure of that and there was barely even a one percent chance that I could carry a baby again.
So I knew that wasn’t it.
My body was aching so maybe it was the flu.
But I wasn’t sure about the stomach pains.
I dozed on and off but every time a pain hit me, I woke up whining.
I turned over on the couch, and just as I did, the alarm started to wail.
The door was cracked open and I saw a hand covered in a black glove, holding the door knob.
They had paused.
“Who is that!” I screamed with all my might just as the phones started to ring signaling that help was probably on the way.
The hand let go of the knob and the door remained cracked until the police appeared.
We’d set the alarm so that no matter what, when a door opened for someone to come in, you had to put the code into the alarm, even when we used our key, and I was glad that we did.
I couldn’t believe that I’d just witnessed someone actually trying to break in.
So we weren’t safe at our house and we weren’t safe here either?
Something wasn’t right.
Somebody was looking for something.
Or someone.
And I needed to know what or who they were after.
The police questioned if I had been hurt and after informing them that I was sick and giving them details on what had happened, they called Drake for me to get him home.
The police said that whoever it was either had a key; or they were experts at picking a lock and had the right tools for the job without looking sloppy.
Not once trace of forced entry or anything.
So I wondered what the case had been with the incident at our own house.
Was it the same person?
What did they want?
Then my mind started to think.
Was it Dray?
No, he was with me that night at our house, so it couldn’t have b
een him the first time then.
Was it Kane?
Maybe he was trying to remember.
Maybe he was looking for something.
But how would he have a key to our home?
This home, Naomi’s home, maybe.
Which I had never thought about before now.
But he wouldn’t have a key to our home, so it couldn’t have been him in that case.
Maybe they were to different people.
Or maybe not.
I was sure that Kane had some illegal connection that could make him a key to our house if he asked them to right?
But at the time of our incident he was still in the hospital if I wasn’t mistaken.
Or hell, maybe he wasn’t.
Or maybe it was just random and someone thought no one was home and took the opportunity to come in and just knew how to pick one heck of a lock like the police said.
But they were wearing black gloves.
So it was planned.
And I guess we couldn’t stay here anymore either.
Drake ran into the house with Krissie.
“What? What happened to you? What’s wrong?”
Nope.
Drake didn’t do it.
I’d always been able to read him and the frustration and sincerity in his eyes were portals to his soul.
“Someone tried to come in and set off the alarm.”
He looked so angry that I thought he was about to haul off and punch something, or somebody.
“What the fuck is going on!”
Drake screamed and startled Krissie and one of the police men even touched his gun at the sudden yell.
Dray was frustrated but so was I.
It seemed like someone was always out to get us or something to that extent and it was draining.
Literally.
Things had been good and just fine and it seems that as soon as we think there is nothing else to worry about, suddenly there is.
I wondered what we were going to do.
Were we supposed to pick up and move again?
We couldn’t keep moving over and over again.
That wasn’t stable for our daughter.
But staying here wasn’t safe for her either.
What were we going to do?
The police officers finally left and Drake made me some soup.
“Do you think it’s best if you and Krissie go to your parent’s house? Staying with your dad for a while might be a good idea. I’ll stay here. I’ll come over a few days a week with y’all. Just until we can figure out with the hell is going on around here.
“No, I want to stay with you.”
“And I want you to be safe. If something happened to you two I would never forgive myself. I can handle me. I just have to make sure y'all are fine. Please.”
I looked at him.
He was serious.
He was concerned and worried.
But I didn’t want to be without my husband.
And he was still having those nightmares, so who was going to look after him if I wasn’t there with him every night?
Krissie snuggled up close to me and I tried to think about what was best for her.
She was our world now and we had to think about her first.
Of course I started to get a feeling that it was past and maybe even drug related, but I didn’t have to tell Drake that.
I could tell that he was already thinking it.
Maybe what was going on had nothing to do with us at all.
At this point, I just wanted to live a peaceful life.
As I closed my eyes, I knew that I didn’t have a choice and that Dray was going to make me go stay with my Daddy, but feeling Krissie’s heartbeat next to mine, I would do anything to make sure she was safe.
I would do anything for my daughter .
Because that’s exactly what she was now.
My daughter.
~***~
“I’ll be back tonight,” Drake said as he kissed us both goodbye.
He walked out the door and Daddy entered the living room.
“He has come such a long way.”
He sat down and Krissie ran to him and reached for him to pick her up.
I could tell that Daddy was about to start talking so I sat down too.
“We’d seen him a few times once you’d gone to prison. Me and your Mama.”
I looked at Daddy as he spoke.
He had never mentioned that before.
“He would never speak to us. Never. I mean he could see us, and never bother to acknowledge us. I didn’t know if it was because he was ashamed of what he had done and had you do, or if it was because he would always be around thugs.”
I never admitted to going to prison for Dray, but I didn’t have to.
They knew that I had done it for him.
“Once we caught sight of him putting a big bag in his truck, looking from side to side as though he was watching his back. It only made your Mama despise him and you even more. She knew you had spared his life only for him to still live carelessly as though he hadn’t been given a second chance. It just made her blood boil. She never understood why you loved someone that was so imperfect. But in some way, we all are. But to see how he has changed now would have made her proud. Every thug deserves a second chance.”
I listened to him.
“I see the change in him. And he loves you. I wish your Mama could have seen him now.”
Yeah, me too.
Listening to Daddy only made me think about Drake and how much I loved him.
My parents had hated him for years and Daddy’s approval of him meant more to me than he would ever know.
“I get the feeling like he lies to me sometimes Daddy,” I admitted.
“Do you want me to tell you the truth?”
I nodded.
“If he is, it’s only to protect you. All men lie about something. Some lie because they’re cowards and weren’t taught to be men. They rather lie than stand up and be a man and tell you like it is. And there’s the others that only lie when it’s necessary. When it’s a matter of protected the woman that they love whether physically, mentally, or emotionally. I’m willing the bet that Drake is the man of the latter.”
“What kind of liar are you?”
Daddy chuckled.
“Neither considering the circumstances but I did pull a few fast ones on your mother a time or two because I felt that the truth wasn’t what she needed. What she needed was the comfort of a lie, and I simply handled the situation on the back end. I can tell you one thing, it’s not another woman. It’s all in his eyes. You are that twinkle in his eye.”
I smiled.
Well, Daddy has spoken.
And I guess that it was probably a good idea to listen to him.
Maybe there was nothing for me to be concerned about.
And everything was going to be just fine.
“Daddy, I wanted to go see a building. Can you watch her for a little while?”
Of course he didn’t mind.
I got myself together and headed out.
I’d come up with the perfect name for my business and though some things were still a little crazy, I wasn’t going to let that stop me from pursuing what I was born to do.
I headed to the building that I had called to see about.
I pulled up to see that the owner was already there so I jumped out of the car and went inside.
“Hello?”
I called out, fixing my hair.
It was love at first sight.
The space was perfect and just what I was looking for.
“Hello?”
I heard the footsteps, so I placed the sweetest smile that I could on my face.
Until I saw him.
Kane.
Immediately I frowned and backed towards the door.
“What are you doing here Kane?”
“I own this place.”
“What? No you don’t.”
“Yes I do
Moet.”
“Who was the lady that answered the phone? The one that I talked to?”
“Oh, that was my sister…I think. They all answer calls from time to time.”
I looked at him.
He was impeccably dressed just like he used to be.
He didn’t look so lost or out of place as he had the last time that I saw him.
“So you remember your family?”
“Yes.”
I looked at him suspiciously.
“What else do you remember?”
He smiled.
“Everything.”
I knew it!
“I was faking it. I never loss my memory at all. I was lucky to even be alive and while I was sleep one day I heard the doctors saying to Jinx that after all of the surgery, there was a good chance that I might not remember anything. So I went along with it.”
His crazy ass was always doing the most.
Oh, I should have known that he was up to something.
“Why?”
“Well, at first it was just to get rid of Jinx. I figured if I played like I only remembered you, she would eventually get mad enough to leave but she didn’t. She was just too damn loyal. She always had been. And of course it was from her upbringing and the world that she was in, but at some point, she should have just let go.”
I just stared at him.
“Forced into marrying her or not, I was the one that didn’t deserve her. She deserved better than me. So, I tried to set her free. But she refused to grow wings and fly.”
He didn’t mind doing people wrong I tell you.
Jinx died thinking that her husband had no idea who the hell she was.
How cruel!
“So you were forced into marrying her?”
“Something like that.”
I waited on him to finish.
“Oh, you want me to elaborate? Why should I?” Kane smirked.
“Fine. Don’t.” I turned around to leave, but he started talking.
“She is the sister of one of the biggest drug dealers on the east coast. There was a lot of money involved between the two of us and through Jinx is how I often got on his good side. She was his baby sister and he had been taking care of and looking after her for years. He started pressuring me about marrying her, stating that his sister was too good of a woman not to have a full commitment. He even started sending business elsewhere when he started to feel like I wasn’t taking his words seriously. I was money greedy then. Eager for power. Dying for riches. And when she said she was pregnant, I knew I would have to marry her if I wanted to be one of the biggest, richest and most powerful in the game.”
