I Can't Let Go

by Chenell Parker

  “Oh no. Who is she, Prince? Maybe we can talk to her together,” Kimora suggested.

  “That dirty bitch Autumn.” Prince frowned.

  “Autumn!” Kimora yelled in shock. The last she’d heard, Autumn hated Prince and everything about him. He had hurt her cousin bad when they were together and she hated to even hear Prince’s voice.

  “Yeah man. We started kicking it again a few months ago. She still don’t really trust a nigga, so she didn’t want nobody to know. I’ve been working overtime trying to show her ass that I changed. I don’t even entertain these other hoes no more. I been faithful as fuck,” Prince swore.

  “Yeah, I know you have. Shit, you even surprised me,” Kimora laughed.

  “I do some fucked up shit sometimes but I’m a good nigga,” Prince said sadly as Kimora rubbed his back in comfort.

  “I know you are friend,” Kimora agreed.

  “The shit ain’t even legal here no more. She must really hate a nigga to be catching a flight just to get rid of his seed.”

  “Autumn is out of her mind. I’m about to call her ass. Don’t say nothing,” Kimora instructed as she dialed her cousin’s number.

  “Hello!” Autumn barked, answering the phone on the first ring.

  “Damn bitch. What’s wrong with you?” Kimora asked as if she didn’t already know.

  “You’re about to be burying your best friend,” Autumn snapped.

  “Princeton?” Kimora asked.

  “Do you have any other best friends?” Autumn countered.

  “No but the last time I checked; you hated my best friend. Did something change?” Kimora questioned.

  “Hell yeah. A lot of shit changed,” Autumn replied.

  “Like what?” Kimora asked.

  “Fuck it. You were gonna find out eventually. I started back fucking with his dog ass again and fucked around and got pregnant.”

  “Yeah bitch, I heard. I also heard that you’re trying to get rid of it. I hope that’s not true,” Kimora said.

  “I’m not getting rid of my damn baby. I just said the shit to him before he could say it to me,” Autumn replied.

  “What made you think that he would have told you something like that?” Kimora asked.

  “Stop acting like you don’t know your friend. That’s always the first thing that comes out of his mouth when a bitch says she’s pregnant,” Autumn pointed out.

  “You ain’t like them other hoes though,” Prince spoke up.

  “Bitch! I know you didn’t,” Autumn said.

  “Stop making my friend cry,” Kimora fussed.

  “Cry? Ain’t nobody was crying,” Prince denied.

  “Boy bye. I know you better than you know yourself,” Kimora laughed.

  “Alright, you got me. I was fucked up about the shit she said though. I’m a thug but I’m still fragile,” Prince joked.

  “Well, I guess my job here is done. Let’s go baby,” Kimora said as she stood to her feet.

  “Bring me some food Princeton,” Autumn requested.

  “I’m on my way baby,” he replied with a relieved smile.

  “Y’all are so dysfunctional,” Kimora smirked.

  “No the fuck you didn’t,” Autumn laughed.

  “Let it go baby. We can’t talk about nobody being dysfunctional,” Tino said as he and Kimora headed for the door.

  “I can’t believe their sneaky asses were messing around behind my back.” Kimora frowned once they were back in the car.

  “They’re grown Kimora. They didn’t have to tell you anything,” Tino noted.

  “Yeah, I know, but I’m happy for them. I hope it works out this time,” she said.

  “It will,” Tino assured her.

  “I’m about to be an auntie. I can’t believe that Prince is about to be a father. I’m too excited,” she smiled.

  For the first time in a while, her best friend looked happy. He had that same look years ago when he and Autumn first made things official. He always told Kimora that her cousin was the one and she believed him. Prince’s happiness meant a lot to her. He had been through so much hell as a child and he deserved that and so much more.

  “Y es, her name is Kimiko Carter. Well, she got married in there, so it might be under Kimiko Dixon now,” Kimora said as she talked to the fourth person that she had been transferred to.

  “Okay, hold one minute please,” the lady said before Kimora heard that boring ass elevator music start playing.

  “Fuck!” Kimora yelled in frustration.

  “Baby, relax. Those people have thousands of inmates that they deal with on a daily basis. They don’t care about Miko like you do. She’s straight. You know Dirty would have said something if she wasn’t,” Tino said as he rubbed her back in comfort.

  Something was wrong and she wasn’t going to stop calling the prison until she got some answers. She hadn’t talked to Miko in three days and that was unheard of. Since her sister had been locked up, Kimora had talked to her every day, sometimes multiple times a day. She was used to paying five hundred dollar phone bills every month and she had no problem doing it.

  “Dirty ain’t even been answering his phone, so I don’t know what’s going on,” Kimora replied.

  “Calm down Kimora. Stressing is the last thing you need to be doing in your condition,” Tino said while rubbing her small baby bump.

  “Fuck it. I’m about to get dressed and ride up there,” Kimora huffed while hanging up the phone.

  “What! You can’t be serious. Our daughter’s party is in three hours Kimora,” Tino reminded her.

  “I don’t know what else to do Santino,” Kimora said as she started to cry.

  “Come on baby. You know I hate to see you cry. Listen, let’s just get through today and I’ll drive you up there myself tomorrow. I just need you to relax baby. In a few hours, this house is gonna be filled with people. Besides, I know you’re ready to find out the sex of the baby.” Tino smiled.

  “I do but that’s not where my thoughts are at right now,” Kimora sighed.

  She wanted to tell him that she didn’t give a fuck about what she was having but she didn’t want to ruin the mood for everybody else. They had gone to her four-month checkup two days before and Tino was the only one who knew what she was having. Kimora was excited at first but worrying about her sister took precedence over every other emotion. The fact that Dirty was missing in action only added to her fears. Kimora and Tino had finally moved into their own house, and Dirty had been over there just about every day. They stayed the night at Val’s house because of Tina’s party, but they hadn’t seen Dirty in a few days. Kimora was deep in thought when someone knocked on the door. Tino opened it and Val came walking in with a plate of food and a glass.

  “Here baby. I got you something to eat and drink. Everything is done downstairs and I’ll get Tina ready when it’s time,” Val said as she sat the plate down on Kimora’s lap.

  “Thanks Val,” Kimora smiled as she dug into her food.

  Once she was done, she and Tino took a shower and got dressed. Kimora kept trying to call the prison but she still wasn’t able to get the answers that she needed. By the time the party started, she was in a foul mood and all she wanted to do was lie down and sulk. Tina was a having a good time with all her cousins and that was the only thing that made Kimora smile.

  “Your ugly ass daddy is here,” Nita said when she walked over to Kimora.

  “He wasn’t ugly when you were married to him for all those years,” Kimora laughed as he got up to greet her father.

  Although he’d been hired to teach at the local high school, Alvin wasn’t scheduled to start until the following school year. His ranking officers in Carmel asked him to stay on a little longer to help train his replacement. Since he hadn’t found a place to stay in New Orleans yet, Alvin took them up on their offer. Hassan and Hudson were locked up but he still wanted to be back home and close to his grandkids. He also wanted his wife back but that was proving harder than he anticipated.
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  “Hey baby. Where is my big girl? I got a few gifts for her,” Alvin said while holding up a few gift bags.

  “She’s running around here somewhere. You can sit the gifts on the table,” Kimora replied as she pointed to the gift table.

  Alvin sat the gifts down and walked over to where his wife was seated. Kimora laughed when he started talking to Nita because the look on her mother’s face was priceless. She fixed her father a plate and sat down with them. Tino was like a big ass kid running around the yard with his daughter and her little friends. All of his cousins were in attendance but Dirty was still nowhere to be found.

  “Come on Santino. The party has been going on for two hours now. I thought you were gonna do the reveal today too,” Val said to her son.

  “I am. It’s not time yet,” Tino said as he looked at his phone.

  “What about Tina’s gift?” Val asked.

  “What gift?” Kimora countered.

  “The one that I didn’t tell you about,” he smirked.

  “It must be something that she doesn’t need.” Kimora frowned.

  “No, I just knew that you wouldn’t approve,” Tino replied.

  “Tina! Come on mi amor. It’s time for you to get your gift,” Val said while calling her over. Tina looked too cute as she came running over to her grandmother. She was dressed in LOL Surprise from head to toe and so was Winter. Since her dog got hit, Tino got a stroller for Tina to push her around. The dog was just as spoiled as she was and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

  “Which one?” Tina asked as she stared at all the gifts on the table.

  “No, not those baby. Your father got you a special gift. Ced! We’re ready,” Val said while nodding towards her husband.

  Ced walked away and Kimora was curious as to where he was going. She stood up and watched, along with everyone else. When he came back, Kimora’s mouth hung open in shock.

  “You have got to be fucking kidding me,” she mumbled once she found her voice.

  “Yay! My unicorn!” Tina yelled as she ran over to the pony that Ced had just led into the yard.

  The pony had on a unicorn headband and the tail was dyed in multiple colors. Tino picked Tina up to ride it as all the kids looked on in excitement. Kimora sat down as everybody else took turns riding the pony and taking pictures.

  “What’s wrong baby?” Tino asked when he sat down next to her a little while later.

  “There is no way in hell that nasty ass thing is coming home with us,” Kimora told him.

  “Nah, my mama wants it to stay here. She’s getting something built to keep it in. Her ass is trying to be slick. As long as that unicorn is here, she knows that Tina will always want to come over.”

  “What unicorn? That’s a pony,” Kimora pointed out.

  “My baby said it’s a unicorn, so it’s a unicorn. I dare anybody to say something different,” Tino replied, right as he got a message on his phone.

  “You do too much,” Kimora laughed.

  “Yep and soon I’ll have another one to go all out for. Speaking of baby number two, are you ready to find out the sex?” Tino asked.

  “I guess.” Kimora shrugged uncaringly.

  “Don’t be like that baby. Come on and let me put a smile on your face right quick,” Tino replied as he pulled her up from her chair.

  “Is it time?” Val asked excitedly.

  “Yep,” Tino replied.

  “Yes, finally!” Val yelled as she grabbed Tina and followed them to the front of the house.

  “Wait baby. Close your eyes,” Tino said while looking at Kimora.

  “No Santino. That’s not a good idea with her being pregnant and all,” Val noted.

  “Close your eyes baby. I got you,” Tino said as he picked her up and held her bridal style.

  “Okay,” Kimora giggled while closing her eyes and being carried like a child.

  It didn’t take long before Tino was putting her down to stand on her own. He instructed her to keep her eyes closed a little longer and she complied. Kimora loved surprises but she was always so impatient. She was about to peek until Tino put her out of her misery.

  “I know it’s killing you, so you can open them now,” Tino said.

  Kimora gasped when she saw the polar white Mercedes G-Wagon parked out front. That was the car that she told him she wanted as her next birthday gift but things went left before he could get it for her. She smiled when she saw the windshield sunshade because it was a picture of them and Tina. It was the last picture that they took together a little over a week ago.

  “Aww baby, I love it but this doesn’t give me a clue about the sex of the baby,” Kimora pointed out.

  “That’s the best part of the surprise,” Tino said as he whistled.

  Both car doors opened and Kimora’s eyes got wide as saucers. Dirty got out of the driver’s side but that wasn’t what had her shocked. Her sister Miko got out on the passenger side holding balloons and Kimora almost knocked Val over running to her.

  “Miko! Oh, my God! When did you get out?” Kimora asked as she wrapped her arms around her sister and hugged her tight.

  “Tia!” Santina yelled when she saw her.

  “Hey, my baby. I missed you so much,” Miko said as she picked her up and hugged her.

  “When did you get out?” Kimora asked again.

  “Bitch, I been home for three days. This shit was driving me crazy too,” Miko replied as she kissed her sister’s cheek. Al and their parents rushed over and hugged her too before they all went back to the yard.

  “That’s why Dirty was missing for the past few days,” Kimora said while punching Dirty’s arm.

  “Girl, you know I wasn’t leaving out of that damn house when my wife came home. No phone calls and nothing else,” Dirty laughed.

  “I was going crazy when you didn’t call. I know the people at the prison know me by name now,” Kimora replied.

  “I know. I’m sorry boo. I wanted to come see y’all as soon as I got out but they wanted it to be a surprise for Tina’s birthday. Thanks to overcrowding jails and new laws, they let me out a little sooner than my original release date,” Miko noted.

  When they told her that she was one of the ten women chosen for early release, Miko couldn’t help crying tears of joy. Her good behavior played a huge part in their decision and she was happy that she chilled the entire time that she was locked up. Being released a month early might not have seemed like much to some but it meant everything to her. Even one day would have been a blessing and she was very thankful.

  “You look great Kimiko,” Alvin said as he hugged his daughter.

  They didn’t have the best relationship before she went to jail but he was trying to do things differently. He apologized to Al and Kimora for his previous behavior and he owed that to Miko too. His actions had already cost him his wife. He didn’t want to lose his kids and grandkids too.

  “Thanks daddy. I know we all have a lot of catching up to do and we will. I just wanted to spend some time with my husband first,” Miko said, addressing her entire family.

  “We understand sis.” Al nodded.

  “Come on and get you something to eat baby. I know you’re hungry,” Nita said as she hugged her daughter again.

  “Wait! Nobody even looked at the balloons that I’m holding. This was a part of the surprise too,” Miko replied.

  “Aww, we’re having a boy!” Kimora yelled when she saw the blue balloons with sports balls on them that her sister was holding.

  “Yes! I’m getting my perfect pair!” Val yelled as she jumped up and down excitedly.

  “Congrats cuz. I’m bout to have one every year until Miko tells me she’s had enough,” Dirty laughed.

  “I’m ready boo.” Miko smiled as she followed her mother inside to get something to eat.

  “You good now?” Tino asked as he hugged Kimora from behind.

  The party was back in full swing. The kids were back riding the pony and jumping in the spacewalk. Tino and Kimora w
ere in their own world while Val and Ced handled Tina and her guests.

  “Yes, I’m so happy. Now I see why you didn’t want me to go to Dirty’s house,” Kimora laughed.

  “You made this shit hard as hell for me,” Tino replied while shaking his head.

  “Thank you, baby. For everything. I really appreciate you,” Kimora said as she pulled him in for a kiss.