by Nikki Brown
“That’s what I’m worried about.” Sutton shook her head.
Kahleno had told her all about what Karson did and she had personally experienced just how petty and childlike that Karson could be. It was no doubt in her mind that Karson had saved some of Kahleno’s sperm for just in case. She just hoped she wasn’t dumb enough to actually impregnate herself with it.
“You have nothing to be worried about because even though I give her leeway, she knows not to fuck with me. I will strangle her with my bare hands if that baby is mine,” Kahleno gritted the last part because just the thought of Karson carrying his baby infuriated him.
“Calm down, you’re gonna raise your blood pressure. It doesn’t matter either way, I’m here. We’re in this together, I ain’t going nowhere.”
“You say it like you have a choice.” Kahleno smirked and pulled her in for another kiss.
“But I have to tell you something and I hope it doesn’t change the way you feel.” Sutton got this far away look in her eyes, she hated to think that Kahleno would blame her for her ex trying to kill them.
When their eyes connected, Kahleno shook his head to let her know that whatever she was about to say wasn’t needed. “It’s okay, we’re good. I promise that nothing like that will ever happen again and I put that on my life.” Sutton opened her mouth to say something but Kahleno gave her a look that said stop. She knew her man all too well, so she sucked her teeth and tried to climb off the bed. “Where you think you’re going?”
“To pee, this baby is giving me hell already.” She rolled her eyes and Kahleno smirked at her. Watching her walk away made Kahleno’s chest tight, even though she was just going to the bathroom, her not being in his presence physically hurt him.
Sensing a change in his energy Sutton stopped shy of entering the bathroom and turned to look at him. Her smile was welcoming and Kahleno couldn’t stop his man from rising, he reached down and grabbed himself. Moving his body too much caused him to wince in pain and Sutton giggle.
“So, my pain is funny?”
“No, you being nasty and you not 100% is what’s funny.”
“Shit my dick didn’t get shot so nothing else matters. You know how my body reacts to you so I don’t know why you tripping.” Sutton’s cheeks flushed red and her nipples pressed against the fabric of the long-sleeved fitted shirt. “I see your body reacts the same.” Sutton smacked her lips and disappeared into the bathroom.
Kahleno threw his head back and cursed himself for getting caught slipping with Sutton with him. She thought that it was Trouble who shot at them but it wasn’t, the person was in Trouble’s car though. He was pissed just at the thought and he planned to make sure that they never hurt anyone else close to him.
“Daddy!” Kahleno heard as the door burst open. “Who hurt you, where they at? You ready to blast they ass?” Kahlil said all in one breath.
“Kahlil Maler!” Siya said making her way in the room.
“Sorry mawmaw.” Kahlil put his head down. “But someone hurt my dad and we need to get at them.”
“No more YouTube for you lil nigga, the fuck you know about getting at someone?” Cassidy said slapping Kahlil in the back of the head. Those two stayed at each other’s throat. Kahlil didn’t know who messed with him more, his uncle Cassidy or AD.
Cassidy was on his way to go check on Key, but when he got outside his parents were pulling up, so he decided to come back up with them. In hopes of talking with his father and brother.
“Nigga I just heard you say it outside.” Kahlil moved his head from side to side as he put Cassidy on blast causing Siya to give him a nasty look.
“Snitch ass nigga,” Cassidy said causing Kahlil to laugh.
“I’m glad you’re okay son.” Mega made his way to the bed, and Cassidy moved back. Kahleno was so observant, he noticed the tension in the room and immediately sat up.
“What’s going on?” Kahleno looked around the room.
“Son now is not the time to talk about this, you just need to-”
“Don’t do that pops,” Kahleno shook his head. “What’s going on? Where the fuck is AD?” Siya’s eyes immediately started to tear up, and Mega wrapped his arm around her and let her cry into his chest.
“We’re not talking about this right now!” Mega voiced. He was pissed that he kept having to relive the past. He knew that he owed his sons an explanation but he also knew that talking about it would hurt his wife even more. “You don’t have to talk about this.” Mega looked down at Siya and she delivered a reassuring smile.
“Mom?” Kahleno addressed his mother ignoring what his father had to say.
Cassidy scoffed drawing a nasty look from his father. Cassidy didn’t know how to process what had went on and he couldn’t even begin to try.
“We do, we need to talk about this so we can get it out on the table and begin to heal as a family.” Siya nodded her head and took a deep breath. She headed over to the chair that was beside Kahleno’s bed. “Cassidy please sit here.” She motioned for him to sit across from her.
“Nah I’m good where I am,” he retorted.
“Boy did you hear your mother?” Mega’s chest puffed out and his eyebrows dented in.
“Ion really give a fu-” Cassidy stood up. He was in his feelings and blaming his father for whatever was going on but he wasn’t raised to be disrespectful and he wasn’t about to start now. “Fuck!” His heart was conflicted. “My bad pops.” He raised his head to meet his father’s eyes who only nodded. He knew that this situation wasn’t easy for any of them so he would let his brashness slide, this time.
“After I had you,” Siya grabbed Kahleno’s hand and began to rub it. “I hemorrhaged really bad, the doctor had to go in and remove one of my tubes and he told me that it would be hard for me to have kids if I could even have any more kids at all. Me and your dad were determined to have more kids so we sought after a fertility specialist and we got lucky a few times but every time I would miscarry. I went to a really dark place, I felt inadequate as a woman that I couldn’t bear children.” Siya’s face filled with tears quickly as she took a dive back into the past.
“Ma-” Kahleno reached out for his mother but she stopped him.
“No, let me finish before I lose my nerve.” She grabbed a tissue out of the box and cleaned her face, taking a deep breath she continued. “Things got so bad with me and your father that we split up. I moved in with my parents and he stayed in our house. For six months we co-parented.”
“I didn’t know how to handle your mother’s depression; I was young and dumb and took her being withdrawn as her not wanting to be with me. I didn’t take the time to see that something was wrong. I just let her walk out of my life.” Mega swallowed hard as he placed his hands on Siya’s shoulders, she reached her hand back and placed hers on top of his.
They both made plenty of mistakes when they were younger, and they’ve spent the rest of their lives making up for those mistakes.
Clearing her throat, Sutton reappeared from the bathroom. She felt horrible for eaves dropping but she didn’t want to ruin the conversation that they were having, so she stayed in the bathroom until she found a good place in the conversation to slip out.
“I’m sorry I’m just gonna go uhhh-”
“Nosey ass.” Cassidy smirked at her and she flipped him off causing him to chuckle.
“No, you come right here, you are family, my daughter. Anything that happens in this family you have the right to know.” Siya reached out and pulled Sutton close to her. She wrapped her hand around her waist and leaned on her for support. “Anyway, it wasn’t until there was an attempt on my life did me and your father wake up and decide that life was too short.”
“Attempt on your life?” Cassidy and Kahleno said at the same time.
“It was taken care of,” Mega said confidently slipping his hands in his pockets. His sons looked at him and nodded their heads. Just the thought of something happening to their mother pained them.
“W
e got back together, and not long after I got pregnant again. We were so happy, y’all were so happy, especially when we got passed the scary stage.” Siya smiled at the memory. “Cassidy you used to touch my stomach and freak out when the baby would kick and Kahleno would just laugh. That was until y’all found out you were having a sister.”
“Sister?” Kahleno asked more confused than he was at the beginning of the conversation.
“Yeah sister,” Siya’s eyes lowered and she clung onto Sutton a little more. “I carried her to eight months until my placenta ruptured, I bled out. I died twice and they had to bring me back. The doctor told me that if I tried to have any more kids that I more than likely wouldn’t make it out,” Siya sighed. “So, I decided, well we decided that our family would be complete with just the two of you.”
“So, what about-” Kahleno asked and Mega held his hand up to stop him.
“When me and your mom was broken up, I met this woman, her name was Ziva. We began to hang out. I was so mad at your mother for up and leaving me that I went crazy for a little while and made some bad choices,” Mega cleared his throat, he knew that reliving his truths may smear the vision his sons had of him but his wife was right, they needed to get it out and on the table so the family can heal. “When someone tried to kill your mother, I got my shit together for my family and I cut things off with Ziva.” He stopped and looked down at Siya because what he was about to say next, she didn’t know. “She told me that she was pregnant but I told her that I would never be with her and gave her the money to get rid of it.”
Siya’s head shot around to her husband, Mega reached for his wife but she shrugged him off. The more the situation unfolded, the more secrets fell out.
“Are there any other secrets that I need to know about?”
“I didn’t think that was relevant.”
“Not relevant, how do you know that she got rid of that baby? Is there a kid walking around here with your DNA running through their veins?”
“No Siya, I wouldn’t let that happen.”
“But you let this happen.” Siya stood up and stared her husband in the face. Even in the midst of all of the turmoil that plagued their lives, she still loved her husband. Their bond was so close that she was willing to look past his indiscretions. By no means did it make her weak, she just knew that her family meant more than her or Mega’s pride.
“Siya,” Mega said and reached for her, this time she let him and he wrapped his arms around her small waist and held her while she whimpered into his chest.
“What the fuck is going on?” Kahleno yelled. Sutton sensing his frustration she climbed in the bed with him and kissed his cheek.
“Her stepfather was my connect, when he found out what was going on, he made me take her to a clinic in Mexico where they made her kill the baby. Her father knew that if she kept the baby that I would cut off all working deals with him, he loved money.” Mega shrugged.
“So where does AD fit in all this shit?” Cassidy interjected.
“After me and your mom figured things out, I had to go to Jamaica for a business meeting. When I got to her father’s house he wasn’t there, so his wife showed me a little hospitality, fixed me a drink while I waited for her husband. They must have put something in the drink because I woke up on the floor with my clothes all jacked up.”
“Damn pops, that bitch raped you,” there was humor in Cassidy’s voice because that’s just who he was. Whenever a situation was too heavy for him, he tried his best to make light of it.
“As fucked up as it sounds, that’s exactly what happened.” Mega shook his head. “Marlin never showed up. He called me nine months later and said that his daughter just gave birth to my son. When I showed up, I made Ziva and her dumb ass mother tell Marlin what they did. Marlin told Ziva that she’s to stay away from me and the bitch went crazy, she took AD and ran in the bathroom and locked the door. She sat him in the tub and turned on the water. I busted in the room and got him just as the water rose around his nose.” Siya and Sutton were both in tears while Cassidy and Kahleno were biting down on their back teeth so hard that they thought they would break. “I told Marlin that I would go to war with him if I had to but if Ziva came anywhere near me and my family that I would kill her. He gave me his word that she would stay away. I took AD and we came home.”
“Mom you knew about this?”
“No.” Siya sighed. “Long story short, one night your father asked me would I consider adopting a little boy who was abandoned. I told him that I didn’t know because if God wanted me to have more kids then he would have blessed me with them. Mega said that he wanted me to see the baby before I made my decision. When he laid Adoreé Maler in my arms, I knew right then that he was born to be my son. Blood didn’t matter, whether I birthed him or not didn’t matter. All that mattered was that he was my son and I was his mother. I never questioned Mega about where he came from because I didn’t care. I needed him just like he needed me.” Siya wiped the tears that fell down her face with the back of her hand. “I just found out that Adoreé was Mega’s biological son, when that bitch Ziva showed up at the house in Florida and told me. She told Mega that she was going to find her son and let him know exactly where he came from.” Siya shook her head.
“She wants to hurt me. She was so depressed when I left with AD that she got drunk and went out driving and hit a family head on killing them instantly. Last I heard she got twenty-five to life, and she blames me for that.”
“Damn!” Kahleno said shaking his head. This was too much for him to process, his head was starting to hurt, he needed time to process everything that they just told me. “So where is AD, what happened with him? Did you tell him?”
“Nah that bitch did and mama beat her ass,” Cassidy butted in.
“She showed up at the restaurant and told him that she was his mother. He took off after that.”
“I know where he is,” Siya said quietly. “I’m gonna head out tomorrow to go and talk to him.” Siya nodded her head.
“I don’t know what to say. This some heavy shit,” Kahleno announced.
“Real heavy,” Cassidy cosigned.
A Touch of Beauty
Piper stood at the front of A Touch of Beauty by Piper and admired her hard work. She had been putting in countless hours trying to make sure that her dream came true. Thanks to Saque for putting her in front of the right people, here she was.
“I love this baby,” Saque said putting his hands around her waist. “You did good.”
Piper turned around in Saque’s arms, her eyes traced his oval shaped face that housed a pair of dark brown eyes that sat deep in his face. Piper felt like she could look in those eyes every day. The way her heart felt when she was around him was something that she couldn’t explain, it wasn’t like what Sutton talked about when it came to Kahleno, it was more of a desire to be perfect for him.
“Thank you for everything that you did for me. I couldn’t have done this without you.”
“I’ll do anything for you so long as you riding for me.” Saque smiled and let Piper go.
She watched as he made his way through the beauty bar, he hadn’t seen it since he purchased it. Piper wanted to get everything set up so that she could surprise him and show him where all his hard-earned money went.
“Well you got me baby.” Her tongue glided across her bottom lip as she watched his broad shoulders make their way through the building. His tall frame towered over her short one and she thought that was sexy. His body was lean, didn’t house many muscles but enough to give his appearance a masculine one instead of the pretty boy look that she was used to.
“Heeeellllooooo!” Sunny sang as she made her way through the doors. She was just starting to show, her belly poked out in the long-sleeved sweater she had on. “I’m here!” She spun around.
Saque turned his attention to her and had to admit that pregnancy really looked good on her. He loved Piper but he couldn’t deny his attraction to Sunny. He was a loyal man though s
o he would look but that’s as far as it would go. It didn’t help that she threw herself at him every chance she got.
“Hey girl what you doing here?” Piper asked confused as to why Sunny was here. She hadn’t called her, nor told her that the salon was ready for her to come and view it.
Piper and Sunny had gotten close since she and Sutton hadn’t been talking. It wasn’t that they were the best of friends or anything like that but Sunny was cool to hang around and she needed her to do hair for the hair show. She needed a stylist that could do simple styles to work in her beauty bar.
Piper had her salon set up like a production line. You go all the way to the back for waxing and tanning, she wanted to open her shop to people of all colors. Then you come up to the next little section and get your nails, a little further up she had two stylist stations set up for her clients to get their hair done. Then at the front was the make-up stations, where she put the finishing touches on your perfect look.
The idea was genius and when Piper explained it to Saque that that’s what she wanted to do, he was on board knowing that he would make money off of the investment. He was the silent partner, getting a guaranteed 20% of the money that the salon made.
“I was in the neighborhood and wanted to check you out and see what you’ve done with the place.” Sunny looked around with her nose in the air.
She wished that Trouble would do something like this for her but as of lately all he was doing was taking out of her and her kids mouths. Yeah, he promised that he would do right after stealing from her and she believed him but a little while later he went right back to doing what Sutton used to complain about all the time.
“Oh okay.” The skepticism in Piper’s voice was evident. “Well I wasn’t showing it until I was completely done with it but since you’re here, what do you think?” Piper smiled.
