The Owner of My Soul Vol 2: Chapter V and Chapter VI

CHAPTER V

YVONNE: HISTORY & PRESENT

Holding the twins as they slept, we walked to the front door. Tierra opened it, leading the way into the home. I went straight to the twins’ room and lied them down.

“Daddy?” Tierra whispered.

“Yea, baby girl?” I replied as I placed the blanket across the twins.

“Are you going to play Madden with us?”

“After I make lunch, you got it.” I told her. I walked out the twins’ room and took Tierra’s hand. “You’re still gonna help me, right?”

“You got it.” She replied.

We walked into the kitchen and looked in the refrigerator. Kendal joined us as we tried to decide what to eat.

“Any suggestions?” I asked.

“That rotisserie chicken has been in there for a while.” Kendal stated.

“I think it expires tomorrow.” Tierra replied. “We can carve it up and fry it.”

“With some rice.” Kendal added.

“And corn on the cob.” Tierra added.

“Sounds more like dinner then lunch.” I told em.

“It does, huh?” Kendal agreed. “Let’s have that for dinner then.”

“Yea. We can go small for lunch…..WINGS!!!!!” Tierra said, excited when she spotted frozen wings.

“Hell yea!” Kendal agreed.

“My sentiments exactly, Ken.” I agreed.

I grabbed the bag of prepared wings and placed them on the counter. I also grabbed a bag of fries and placed them on the counter. Tierra grabbed a cookie sheet and Kendal grabbed the Pam. They prepared the tray and I prepared the deep fryer for the fries. Yea, you really can’t tell if anything is wrong.

While everything was cooking, we jumped on our X-Box and started playing Madden. They were on teams against me. They’re getting better at the game…it’s no longer a complete annihilation. I usually pick the last place team and they pick the Browns…yet I still beat the puberty out of them. Today I was actually losing by a field goal. I guess Sydney is still on my mind. Either that or they got real good.

The time came to get the food out the oven and deep fryer. Tierra grabbed some plates and Kendal found a movie for us to watch. I proceeded to distribute the food on our plates accordingly. I then heard a knock on the door. I looked up at the security camera. Yvonne? What she doing here?

“Kendal, get the door, please.” I delegated.

He nodded and went to the door. I can hear them greeting each other and my name being spoken by Yvonne. I could then hear Kendal tell her where I was. As she walked into the kitchen, Tierra approached her, giving her a hug and whatnot. They started talking a little bit as I finished preparing their plates.

“Kendal, Tierra….come get y’all plates.” I told em. They got their plates and sat down. I looked at Yvonne. “Hungry?” I asked her.

“Actually I am, but I was hoping we’d be able to talk.” She said. “Sorry I came unannounced, but I’m in a bit of a crisis.” She said with an embarrassed chuckle. “I know you’re going thru your own crisis,” tears started to stream down her face, “but I have no one else to turn to.”

“Hey, hey, hey…” I said as I came up to her and hugged her. “I’m always available to you. You know that.”

“I know, but these aren’t the same circumstances.” She stated.

“Nonsense.” I looked into her eyes and wiped her tears. “You’re family.” I said in an uneasy tone.

“Ugh….don’t remind me.” It made her smile though.

“Let me put some fries and some of these wings on a plate and we can talk.” I told her. “Cuz I’m dying to know why your lip is abnormally large.”

“Oh god, is it that noticeable?” She said, covering it up.

“Not at all. But with our history, I know what’s normal and what’s not.”

I handed her a plate and we started walking to my room.

“Sorry, y’all,” I began saying to the kids, “me and Auntie Von gotta talk. When you’re done eating I want y’all to start on homework.”

“Can we keep the TV on?” Tierra asked.

“I don’t know, can you?” I replied.

“May we keep the TV on?” She rephrased. I smiled.

“Yes you may. You can have two pieces of brownies a piece. That’s it.”

“Yes sir!” They both said as they ran to the kitchen.

Yvonne and I walked into my room. I closed the door and turned on music. We sat on the bed. I looked at Yvonne….studying her. It was at that moment…….

Sydney and I were on the roof, admiring the night sky. I had a drink in hand and she was going thru her cell phone.

“I don’t know why I still have a lot of this shit saved in here.”

“Cuz you never know when you’ll need it.” I told her.

“If you say so.”

I took a couple sips of my drink. Yvonne came out and approached me.

“Kenny, did you see my necklace that I had up here? I think it slipped off.” She asked me.

“Not that I know of. What does it look like?” I asked her.

She looked at Sydney and then back at me. It was subtle, but she knew I’d catch on. Basically saying that it was the one I gave her and she didn’t know if Sydney knew about that. I gave her a subtle look in return to inform her that it’s not a problem.

“The one you gave me.” She said.

“Nah, I haven’t seen it. Where did you have it last?” I asked.

“I don’t know. I just noticed I wasn’t wearing it when I looked in the mirror. I mean I’ve worn it for so long that I don’t even feel it on anymore.”

“I know what you mean.” I assured her. “Well, I’ll keep my eye out for it.”

“Thanks. Sorry to interrupt.” She said in disappointment.

“No problem.” She walked away and back downstairs. Sydney looked at me.

“What kind of relationship do you have wit your cousin?” She asked me in a very disgusting manner.

“When you ask it like that, it sounds very nasty.” I told her.

“Well, if the shoe fits my love.” She said, half smiling. “Real talk though….I remember you saying you and Yvonne have history. What kind of history are we talking?”

We sat up. Yea, serious mode now. It was a very dark memory for me since we were family now. The very memories I used to cherish.

“So what do you want to know? Like in particular?” I asked her.

“You really want me to come out and say it?” I looked at her. “Ok. Did y’all have a sexual relationship?”

“Yes.”

“When? When did it start?”

“Middle school. We went to the same private school.”

“Ok.” She turned more towards me. “I’m listening. I want to know everything.”

“Figured you would at some point. It’s like this; we went to the same private school….shared a couple classes. At first we paid no attention to each other. Then after one of our games she approached me to do an interview for the school paper.”

“Journalism skills started early.” Sydney commented.

“You have no idea.” I killed the rest of my drink and got up to refill. I continued in the process, “so obviously I agreed to it, not thinking anything was going to happen. You gotta know something about Yvonne; she wasn’t always as glamorous as she is now.”

“No surprise there. Figured that’s why you didn’t talk to her.”

“Pretty much. I mean she was cute in the nerdy kinda way. So right off the back, I knew nothing was going to go on beyond this interview.” I sat back down with a full glass. “So we do the interview at her place. I’m alone with this girl in the living room answering questions that she conjures up.”

“Ok.” She grabs my drink and takes a couple sips before handing it back to me.

“Then she gets right to personal questions.”

Kenny’s Flashback:

“Do you mind if I ask personal questions?” Yvonne asked me.

“Nah, go ahead.” I replied.

“Ok, how does it feel being a megastar surrounded by a bunch of nobodies….so to speak?”

I actually laughed a little bit, drawing a beautiful smile from her.

“I haven’t really thought about it. I mean education is important so that’s what I’m here for. I don’t see anyone as a nobody just because they’re not as successful as me.”

Basically the standard answer for someone in my position.

“Is it hard getting laid with a school full of uninteresting virgins?” She asked.

“Wow.” I was caught off guard. “Honestly, it’s not really difficult at all anywhere I go.”

At that moment, I started to feel like she was coming on to me. She wasn’t, but I felt like she was.

“Do you think you’ll be in a private school for the rest of your educational years?”

“Nah, when I reach high school I’mma go to a public school.” I replied.

“Last question. Who’s the overall better basketball player? You or Will?”

“He is. Self explanatory.” I replied without hesitation.

“Ok, that’s all I need.”

“So was this a random interview or requested?” I asked.

“I start my first editorial section and I wanted you to be my first topic.”

“Really? Why me?”

“Out of all the topics in the world, I think you’re the most interesting.”

“I don’t think there’s too much interesting about me.” I proclaimed.

“That’s why you’re not the journalist. Look at it from the normal person’s view. You’re the absolute hottest teenager in the world sitting on top of the world yet my school is where you are.”

“Cleveland is my world.” I declared. “This is my home and I’d rather be nowhere else.”

“Understandable, but you go to a private school with no tutors, special treatment, or anything. You’re smart as hell, manage a full day of shoots, basketball practice, studio time for music and movies….yet you go around like you’re as normal as can be.”

“I never thought about that.”

“It’s purely interesting that you had time to sit down for an interview with the lowly school journalist.”

“It is my pleasure. I don’t ignore requests from fans or journalists in my age group.” I told her. “It’s Yvonne, right?”

“Yes it is.”

“When does your mother normally get home?”

“Late.”

“Father?”

“Never met him.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Why?”

“It’s heartbreaking being raised without both parents. For years it was just me and my father when my mother left.”

“I thought you stayed with both of your parents?”

“I do now….but not a few years ago.”

“My mom used to always tell me different stories about my dad. I kinda quit asking her.”

“Do you and your mom spend time together?” I asked her.

“Not really.” She looked down and then back up at me. “She works a lot and sleeps a lot. We don’t really spend any time together at all. I had to almost learn everything on my own.”

“Like what?”

“Simple shit like how to do my hair, put on makeup, boys….all of these things.”

“What about boys have you learned?”

“Nothing really. Think you can help me out?”

“What do you want to know?”

“What do boys like in a woman?”

“I can only speak for myself.”

“No better man then a man’s man.” She replied.

“Well, I like confidence; one that takes pride in her appearance, dresses to impress and has a professional demeanor.” I explained.

“Do I have any of those qualities?”

“You have most of them. You don’t really have confidence and don’t really take pride in yourself.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re hiding everything that’s good about you. You shield your assets when you should show them off.”

“I don’t want to dress like a hoe.”

“You don’t have to. Wearing baggy clothes doesn’t fit you.”

“So what do you suggest?”

I thought about it…..looking at her up and down. I stood up and offered my hand.

“Do you trust me?” I asked her.

She looked at me for a few seconds before smiling and taking my hand. She stood up and followed me to the bathroom. I stood behind her as we looked at her reflection.

“For starters,” I began, “you have very beautiful hair. You should wear it down.” I took out her bun and tried to straighten her hair down.

“Ehhh….if you say so.” She said in disgust.

“When your hair is down, it’s like you’re hiding something. Curiosity attracts men.” I placed my hands on her shoulders and looked at her directly, not her reflection.

“What?” She asked with a smile.

“You have really pretty eyes.” I said softly. She smiled in flattery.

“Thank you.” She said, almost in a shy tone.

“You really have the perfect TV face.”

“What do you mean?” She asked in confusion.

“You belong in front of the camera….doing the news or whatever.”

She tilted her head side to side, trying to see what I see.

“You really think so?”

“Definitely.” I looked at her up and down. “May I be blunt?”

“Please.”

“Just my observation from what I see so far, you have a really nice body. No one would know that unless they’re this close to you.” I had my hands on her hips. I can tell her breathing changed, but I paid no attention to it. “You have really good hips.” I came up a little. “In fact, you have a perfect body shape. I’m having a hard time figuring out why you wear baggy clothes.”

“My self confidence isn’t very high.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know…it’s just not.” She said.

“Know this, baby girl; you have a great body that you should show off.”

“How do I do that without looking like a hoe?”

“Wear jeans that fit and a nice shirt that shows a tiny bit of cleavage just to keep guys wondering.”

“I think I can do that.” She said softly. “This is above and beyond what I expected from you.”

“I like to go above and beyond.” I said softly.

 My hands were still on her hips as she turned her head around to look at me. We looked into each other’s eyes….wondering if a move was gonna be made. A move was made…..her kissing me. I immediately kissed her back, of course. Her lips were so soft. She started grazing my neck with her fingertips.

Seconds later, the front door opens.

“Oh shit, my mom’s here.” She said in surprise but not frantic. “Come on, I want you to meet her.”

“Sure.” I said, still aroused.

She took my hand and led me to the kitchen. At that moment, my phone rang. I looked at it and noticed it was Dad.

Present

“I basically didn’t meet her mom that day cuz Dad needed to see me.” I explained to Sydney.

“So what was the real importance of that day?” She asked.

“That was the starting point. See, the next day, she showed up to school dressed to impress. Imagine how she looks now but in her teens. Take away the baby weight and some of her stress signs and that’s her. I mean she took all my advice to heart. I don’t know if she was trying to get my attention or testing the waters. She succeeded in both.” I killed the rest of my drink and got up to get some more. I didn’t stop talking. “We’re talking about a drastic change in less than 24 hours. Will knew right off the back that I did something. I told him about what happened at her house and he immediately knew that she was showing up for me.”

“In light of that, what did you do?” She wondered.

“At first….nothing. I didn’t really engage in anything with her for a couple days. I don’t know what she was thinking.” I took a gulp of my drink. “What it came down to was her talking to me. To this day she’s the only person that’s ever asked me out on a date.”

“Are you serious? She asked YOU out?!”

“She asked me out.” I repeated. “I know, it’s weird…I agree.”

“I’m sure you were caught way off guard. What did you say though?”

“I said yes.” I took a sip of my drink. “I picked her up that night and we went to Applebee’s.”

“First date at Applebee’s. I think you treated me to McDonald’s the first time we ate out.” Sydney commented.

“Yea, well, we weren’t on a date then. I think I treated you to something quite more expensive for our first date.”

“You did, actually.” She smiled in appreciation. “I’m sorry. Proceed.”

“After dinner, I took her home. It was time to say goodnight.” I began.

FLASHBACK:

“Thank you for a great night.” Yvonne said softly, smiling in a very flirtatious way.”

“Thank you for asking me.” I replied.

“I don’t want to ruin the night by getting all sappy. But I owe my transformation to you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Ever since I took your advice, guys have been all over me.”

“As long as you’re careful.” I told her. “A lot of guys out there just want sex.”

“I know. I felt good about myself but I knew it was my body they wanted from the start. Although one person did show interest in more then that.”

“Who was that?”

“Andre.”

“Really? Andre wants you?” I said in surprise.

“You know him?”

“We grew up together.” I told her. “We were childhood friends and he’s one of my best friends to this day.”

“Wow. I had no idea.” She looked away for a second and swayed her hair back. “I won’t talk to him if you don’t want me to.”

“Why would I not want you to?”

“I don’t want you to feel weird about it.”

“How would I feel weird?”

“Truth be told, I want you, Kenny. But it seems I’m out of your league so I….”

“Hey, whoa…timeout…..” I gently turned her head to me. “I like you…..I really do. You’re a gorgeous woman. Smart, funny, talented…you’re a complete package. You’re definitely not out of my league. In more ways then one, you’re my type and exactly what I want in a woman.”

“But?”

“I don’t have the heart to hurt someone like you. I’ve hurt a lot of women and I refuse to hurt you.”

“How would you hurt me?”

“I don’t want a relationship. In my heart, that’s how I feel. If I was to accept you as my girl….I will cheat on you. It’s unavoidable. You deserve someone that’s going to treat you like the woman you are….with respect.”

She turned and looked down at her hands. She then touched my hand and looked back at me. There was something different in her eyes. It’s unexplainable. It turned me on and made me nervous at the same time.

“What do you want?” She asked softly.

“For you to stay you and not change for anybody.” I replied.

“Is that all?” She said, smiling still from what I told her.

“What do you want me to say?” I said with a smile.

“Tell me that you want me at least sexually.”

“Some things just don’t need to be said.”

I looked into her eyes, returning the flirtatious look that she had. Still holding my hand, she wrapped my arm around her and leaned towards me to kiss me. I returned her kiss immediately. She continued to kiss me as she got on top of me. She was wearing a skirt and I quickly found out she wasn’t wearing any underwear.

PRESENT:

“That was the first time we did it; in my car, right in front of her house.” I explained. “Something I will have to live with.”

“Having sex with your cousin?” Sydney asked.

“No. Taking my cousin’s virginity.” I corrected her.

“WHAT?!!?” She said in surprise. “She was a virgin???”

“Yea. I knew the second I put it in. She confirmed it afterwards.”

“I’m blown away right now.” She grabbed my drink and took a big “sip”. “So what happened afterwards?” She asked, handing my drink back to me.

“After that, I realized we had a pure sexual relationship. She would call me almost every other day for sex. I would call her when she didn’t call me for sex. When we weren’t making booty calls, we maintained a good friendship. A great one actually.”

“How long this go on for?”

“Until the tenth grade. Me, Will, and Yvonne all decided to go to KT High at the start of 9^th grade. Yvonne was like my best friend next to Will. We talked a lot and hung out a lot.”

“When did the sexual relationship end?”

“It didn’t officially end until after we found out we were related. Will only knows about a year.”

“You never told him about y’all?”

“It’s one of the few secrets I keep. Yvonne didn’t want to be labeled and I respected that. I chose not to let anyone know….even Will.”

“What year does he know about?”

“10 months before she married Dre and two months after.”

“Wait……she cheated on Dre with you?”

“After every bad argument or when he’s on road trip.”

“I didn’t think that was like her.”

“Me neither.”

“But I’m sure it wasn’t that many times….right?”

“You mean while they were married?”

“Yea.” She confirmed.

“Maybe once a week.”

“Since they were married?”

“Yea. Sometimes more….sometimes less.”

“I don’t get why she would do that though.”

“I got great dick, love.” I gloated. She chuckled.

“But she’s so innocent.”

“I agree.”

“Officially, how long did y’all last?”

“8 years….maybe 9.”

“And Will only knows about one of them. Do you ever plan on telling him?” She wondered.

“Only if it comes up in conversation. It’s among the last things I’mma talk about on my own.” I killed the rest of my drink. “Understand where I’m coming from, I love Yvonne with all my heart. I refuse to let the fact she’s family destroy what we had. We had more fun then I can dare try to remember right now. Now she’s purely one of my best friends and cousin instead of best friend and lover.”

THE TRUE PRESENT:

“Are you ok, Kenny?” Yvonne asked me.

I blinked several times, snapping out of the trans I was temporarily in.

“Yea, I’m straight.” I said as I started eating. “So what’s going on, Eve?”

“Wow….that gave me goose bumps.” She said smiling.

I used to call her Eve because initially I had the tendency to say her name “E-vonne” and not with a “Y”. Soon after, I started calling her Eve as her booty call name. What I mean by that is I’ll call her and just say “I’m lookin for a good EVE-ning.” Her name for me was Day, derived from my middle name. Eve and Day….how ironic considering I always called her at night…like before bed and she called me in the morning before school. Never thought about it til now.

“Think I should stop calling you that?” I asked her.

“Please don’t. It reminds me of better times.” She replied.

“I know, right.”

“Again, I’m sorry to intrude on you. I know you have a lot on your plate as it is.” She swayed her hair back…nibbling on her food like she was forcing herself to eat it.

“Yea, I do, but I’m pretty hungry right now, so my plate will definitely be empty.” I jokingly assured her. She smiled, further getting comfortable with me. “Ok…..before you start, I think we both can use a drink.” I suggested.

“Oh god, do I.” She replied. I got up and went to the bar (yes, I have a bar in my room).

“Still goose and juice?” I asked.

“Always.” She replied.

I made her the drink and myself the same. I sat back down, handing her the glass. We tapped and drank.

“Iight….from the top. Let’s start at the very beginning of your problems.” I requested.

“Well, I don’t need to go into detail with everything, so I’ll just give you the jist of it.”

“Good, cuz I don’t like boring shit.” I said, drawing a smile on her face.

“So I found out Dre was cheating on me, right. We fought about it for hours and then days….then I was basically never able to let it go. I mean technically I shouldn’t be mad because you and I been messin around way longer. But I was.”

“You only had me. He had many. Maybe that’s what actually got under your skin. Not to mention, you did know me longer than him, so I kinda get a pass.” I told her.

“Possibly. That does make sense.” She took a sip of her drink. “Now we get into the root of the issues. For starters, he’s still salty about everything that went down between you and him and Chris. So when I suggested to him that he should hang out wit you and Will to take y’all minds off Sydney and Candace, he flat out said no.”

“Unexpected but understandable.” I stated. My phone started vibrating. I looked at it and read the text message I had. I got wide eyed and started shaking my head. I then smiled and said, “Continue.”

“I guess you can say I defended you too strongly. He started insinuating that something was going on between us in which I took offense to.”

“What were you saying?”

“How he deserved everything he got and then some. How you were more a man then he is and more of a father.”

“Wow…..didn’t take you as someone that cuts a man’s balls off…. yet…… ya did.”

“I don’t think he did either….Which is why he put his hands on me.” She admitted.

“What?!” I expressed in a high pitch surprise-like voice. You know what I mean.

“First he slapped me across the face. I slapped him back. He then punched me dead in the mouth. He put his hands on my throat and actually started choking me. Yelling at me….don’t kno what the hell he was saying cuz I was too busy trying to breathe.”

“Are you fuckin kiddin me? I outta….” I began.

“You’re gonna do nothing.” She cut me off. “You’re right, I basically had it coming.” She took a sip of her drink. “I provoked him and pretty much got what was coming.” She looked at me in the eyes. “Promise me you won’t do anything to him.”

“You’re joking right? It’s one thing to slap you but come the fuck on… you don’t punch a woman and then choke her…” I claimed.

“It is what it is… For me, I need you to promise me you won’t do anything to him.” She pleaded.

I thought about it for a little while. Took a couple sips of my drink with a 3 second wait in between sips. I then sighed and looked at her.

“Ok. I promise I won’t do anything to him in retaliation for choking you.” I replied.

“You never broke a promise, Kenny, so I know I can trust you. Don’t go finding reasons to fight him.” I chuckled a little bit.

“Damn.” I said, already thinking of reasons. “So what happened after he started choking you?”

“When he finally snapped out of whatever zone he was in, he let me go…basically embarrassed and regretful. He apologized and all, but I grabbed my purse and left.”

“What about the kids?” I asked.

“I left them with him. I didn’t even want them to see me that distraught. Didn’t seem right.” She took a sip of her drink and sighed. “So I was driving around trying to figure out what to do. You were the first person I thought about seeing.”

“Why me of all your available avenues?” I wondered.

“I don’t know. You had a knack for cheering me up and telling me what I need to hear no matter what it would do to me. I need that more then anything right now. The ugly truth.”

“You want the ugly truth?”

“Yes. Lay it on me.”

I put my plate down. Grabbed her plate and put it down. Took her drink and put it down. I slid next to her and started kissing her. She started kissing me back and then stopped.

“Wow…..what are we doing?” She asked, knowing it was wrong.

“Merely testing your reflexes.” I told her. I took her hand into mine. “I have a few things I want to tell you.”

“Ugly truth, right?”

“Flava Flav ugly.” I said smiling. She laughed and nodded. “You should leave your husband.”

“What?” She wasn’t expecting that from me.

“You should leave him. There’s a reason Latoya is divorcing Chris.”

“Wait that was decided?”

“No more then two weeks ago.” I told her.

“I had no idea.”

“I think you should divorce him and find you someone that’s gonna stay right by you.”

“I thought he was the one that would do right by me.”

“So did I. We both missed that.”

“I don’t see why I should actually divorce him.”

“You just don’t love him like you used to. It’s written all over your face.”

“That’s not a good reason to divorce him.” She stated.

“You can’t be serious? He’s cheating on you and you don’t love him like before…….that’s THE reasons to divorce him.” She thought about that.

“What about JET?”

“What about him?”

“I can’t deprive him of his father.”

“Then let him have custody. It’ll keep him happy.”

“Why should I care about keeping him happy?”

“Because it’s necessary to keep your secret safe.”

“What secret?” I took her hand into mine.

“Are we really cousins?” I asked her.

“You know the answer to that.” She replied.

“I know what was told to me. Is it the truth?”

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

“You tell me.”

“Kenny, I have no idea what you’re talking about or where you’re getting at.”

“Uncle Tevin is not your father.” I blurted out.

“What?” She removed her hand and stood up. “Why would you say something like that?” She stood in front of me and looked in my eyes. “What makes you think that he’s not my father?”

“Our relationship wasn’t sitting well with me the past few months. I had to be certain.” I stood up and looked her in the eyes. “Your mother lied to you….to all of us. She had the test rigged.”

She covered her mouth in shock. I could tell she didn’t want to believe me but knew I wouldn’t make it up.

“Why would she do that?”

“I don’t know the answer to that.” I told her. I took both of her hands. “All I know is we no longer are in the wrong.”

“It’s not always about you!” She stated.

“No….it’s not. But the fact is it was necessary considering JET is my son.”

“What?!?!”

“You heard me.”

“You tested my son?” She asked.

“I did no such thing. Mom brought it to my attention when your son had a cut a few months ago.”

Shocked, she sat back down and buried her face in her hands. I knew what she was thinking. I was thinking the same thing. We didn’t know what to do, but we knew what not to do.

“Listen, I’m not looking to get involved in his life. As far as we both know, he’s Andre’s son. I just thought you should know the ugly truth.” I told her.

“What do you want, Kenny?” She asked. “What do you think I should do? What is there that I can possibly do to get out of this bull shit that I’m in?”

“Ugly truth?”

“Oogly, ugly.” She replied. I sighed and sat down next to her.

“Your career has been on the decline for the past couple years. I think while you’re divorced you can spend the time on your career.”

“I’m pretty much done with media.”

“What do you want to do?”

“I don’t know. I want to own my own station rather then work in another one.”

“I may have something for you. Let me work on that. I just need you to focus on your divorce.”

“Wouldn’t giving up custody be insinuating something?”

“Not at all. You just gotta play it right. Get with Latoya.”

“What if he doesn’t want custody?”

“That would be unexpected but if that’s the case then so be it. You make him regret that decision.”

She sat quiet for a second. I let her sit there…..didn’t say a word until I started thinking.

“Was there another reason you came here?” I wondered.

“I was hoping I’d be able to stay here for a little while…til I get things straight.” She sighed.

“By all means. I can set the guest bedroom for you.” I told her.

She looked at me and I looked at her. Thinking the same thing, we immediately started kissing.

CHAPTER VI

WTF

   “Wait, I’m not feeling anything.” She giggles.

“That’s because I haven’t started yet.” I stated, smiling ear to ear. “What did I tell you about patience?”

“I wouldn’t know. I stopped listening because you took too long to explain it.” She laughed, as did I.

“Are you ready?” I asked.

“Yes.” Few moments pass by. “That feels absolutely fantastic.”

“Of course it does.”

“Why haven’t you done this before?”

“I can’t do everything up front….then I lose my leverage.”

“Leverage for what?” She asked softly.

“For a lot of things.” I paused as she let out an exhilarating moan. “To surprise you with moments like this.”

“And I am blown away.” She stated. “What else?”

“If I ever needed to relax you before breaking something big to you, I had to be sure it’d be in a way you’d never see coming.”

“What?” She said in a voice that sounded like confusion, fear, and all around relaxation. In other words, she was ready for whatever I needed to tell her.

“I think JET is my son.”I told her.

“Oh my god!!!” Her hands gripped the bed sheets. “That is the spot, Papi!!” Basically proving what I was doing was way better then what I was telling her. Well, so I thought.

“Did you hear me, babe?”

“Yea. You’re not telling me anything I don’t already know.” She proclaimed.

“What do you mean?”

“After you told me about your l-OVE,” she expressed ‘love’ in a high pitch as I got to a good spot. Then she continued, “affair with her, I looked at JET real closely.”

“And?”

“The boy looks like you in many subtle ways. It’s the funniest thing.”

“Why funny?”

“It’s like God himself was looking out for you two. Created a child that had a spitting image of mostly her but hid the subtle likes the two of you share. Think about it. That child was conceived out of infidelity. Yet, it will never be noticed.”

“I see your point.”

“Was that really why you’re doing this beautiful thing to me? To tell me about a feeling you’re having?”

“Of course not. That conversation could be held during a commercial break.” She laughed briefly and then moaned.

“So what’s the real deal?”

“It’s true.” I told her.

My alarm clock blared in the silent house. I hit snooze and stared at the time in disgust. I reset the alarm and sat up. I looked around my room. I looked down at my half naked body. I saw my cell phone and hit the power button to see the time and date.  Shit. I musta hit snooze several times. I looked at the time my alarm clock was set for……why in the hell would I set it for 11am? I heard a knock on the door.

“Yea?” I replied.

“I have breakfast out here if you’re hungry.” Yvonne replied. So she was still here.

“Thanks. Be out in a minute.” I got up and jumped in the shower.

I came out my room 20 minutes later to a fully prepared hot breakfast. I looked around for my kids….none in sight.

“Oh yea, I took Kendal and Tierra to school and the twins to daycare.” She told me before I could even ask.

“Thank you. Did you change my alarm clock?” I asked.

“No. I have no idea when you needed to be awake.”  I nodded. “Listen, about last night…..” She began. “I’m sorry that I jumped down your throat.”

“What?” I asked in confusion.

“Please, don’t make this harder then what it is. I said some things I shouldn’t have said and I’m sorry. I’ve just been really stressed with this whole situation between Dre and I.”

“Eve….I have no idea what you’re talking about.” I assured her.

“If this is your way of forgiving me, then thank you. If you really don’t know what I’m talking about then that is scary all on its own.”

The look in her eyes said it all for me. This meant a lot to her. Something happened last night beyond what I can recall. Nevertheless, I had to play this off.

“Yea, you can say it’s my way of forgiving you. Forgive and forget right…I’m so ahead of you that I jumped to forget.” I said smiling. It drew a big smile on her face.

“Thank you. I know you have my best interest at heart and you did what you felt was the right thing. Technically you didn’t break your promise.”

“I don’t break promises.” I told her, deeper in confusion. I was so lost.

“But you did find a reason.” She stated.

That sounds too familiar. Did I…..no….I couldn’t had. I looked at my hands. Shit Fuck Damn!!!!!

I jumped from the table and stared at the unbelievable sight that were my hands. Yvonne looked at me in curiosity and concern.

“Kenny, are you ok?” She asked me.

I hesitated answering. The wrong thing could set her off or possibly send me to a mental hospital.

“Yea.” I sat down. “Coulda swore I saw a big ass spider on my hands.”

The look on her face showed how crazy I was acting right now… like she was concerned about my well being to a point that she was considering having me committed. Makes me really wonder what was said behind my back.

“Kenny, as your friend and cousin…..you know you can tell me anything.” She proclaimed.

“Really, I’m f­­” I stopped as I just realized what she said. Cousin. I coulda swore we talked about that. “Yvonne,” I said softly as I wiped my hands across my face.

“Yes.” She replied.

“What happened last night?” I sighed.

“What do you mean?”

“From the point you arrived here to now……what happened?”

“Why? Do you really not remember?”

“Let’s just say I have a feeling that what I remember….isn’t real.”

“What?”

“Did we have chicken and fries?”

“Yes.” She replied.

“Did you explain to me everything that happened between you and Dre?”

“Obviously.”

“Why obviously?”

“That’s why things are the way they are.” She stated.

“You’re go­­” I stopped as my phone started vibrating. I looked at it. “Excuse me for a second.” I said to Yvonne. I stood up and answered it. “Yea.”

“Chris and Dre want to have a sit down at 1300.” Will told me.

“A sit down? When we become the mob all of a sudden?” I replied.

“I kno, right? Regardless, I agreed to it and making sure you will as well.”

“Yea, I’ll be there. Where at?”

“Sangria Café on 115^th.”

“Interesting pick. Alright. I’ll be down in 30.”

“It’s on.”

I hung up and thought about something as I was staring at my phone. I looked at my phone and started looking at my text messages. 225 texts between the time I supposedly started making love to Yvonne and 3am. By memory, the last text I recall seeing was at around 1623.  By memory, it was the very text that proved JET was my son. That’s by memory…….and my memory is fucked!

K, Dre and Chris were spotted at the hotel downtown with cheerleaders from the Indians. I’m done fuckin around wit deese mothafuckas….it’s on tonight!!!

K, shawty at the front desk is gonna hook us up wit a room key when she gets on shift at 10.

I was shaking my head as I continued reading these texts. Not only the ones received, but the ones I sent out. It’s official……I’m losing my mind.

“KENNY!!!!!!” Yvonne yelled what seemed to be for the 5^th time.

“Sorry, I kinda drifted there.” I told her.

“Please…..tell me you’re ok?” She said in concern.

“I’m managing. Nothing you need to worry about.” I replied. I sat back down and continued to eat.

“Listen, I’m sorry if I’m scaring you. Let’s talk about something more light.”

“I don’t know what light things there are to talk about. I mean everything seems so blah!”

“That’s because you haven’t really thought about what you want to do.” I told her.

“You don’t understand. I dedicated my life to that man.”

“I do understand.” I said as I looked at her with the WTF look.

“Sorry….I guess you do more than anyone.” She looked at her phone. “I just don’t know what I did that made him stray so far. When we first met, I was certain he would always be the perfect man.”

“Sometimes fame changes people.” I claimed.

“He was the top prospect in high school. He should have been used to fame.”

“NFL fame is on a whole different level. I was famous before, but my NBA career alone bumped that up tremendously.”

“I guess.” She said softly.

“Look, don’t be in a rush to make a decision. You’re welcome to stay here as long as necessary.”

“Thank you. I appreciate that.” She continued eating….I guess finally at ease.

After finishing the wonderful meal that Yvonne made, I made my way down to the courtyard. Seconds later, Will pulled up. I got in and gave him dap.

“Dude, I’m trippin hard.” I told him.

“Whatcha mean?” He asked.

“I don’t remember anything from last night.”

“Nothing at all?” He asked.

“Nothing. Did I get hit in the head or something?”

“You were untouched. I’ve never seen you so focused.” He stated.

“What the hell happen, yo?”

“It may be best if……” He stopped as his attention steered towards the sidewalk like he was watching a woman walking. I looked to see who he was looking at but saw no one.

“Dub?” I called.

“My bad…..where was I?”

“Good question. Where were you?”

“I don’t know.”

“What were you looking at?” The second I asked, the look in his face explained it perfectly. It was like looking in a mirror. “Yea….I’m glad I’m not the only one.”

“Not by a long shot.” He replied, knowing exactly what I meant.

When we got to the café, we saw Chris’s BMW and parked ten spaces away from it. We got out the car and headed towards the entrance.

“Now try to keep calm.” Will told me.

“Won’t be too hard since I don’t even know what the fuck happened last night.” I told him.

“Point taken.”

I opened the door and followed Will in. We saw where they were sitting and sat down across from them. No dap exchanged. No words spoken. Eye contact maintained and waiting on someone to blink first. It remained like this for several minutes. The waitress came to our table.

“Good afternoon, Gentlemen. May I introduce you to our specials?” She asked.

Maintaining eye contact with Dre, I answered the waitress, “No thank you. I’ll have a French vanilla cappuccino, two house special muffins and cheesecake of the day.”

“No problem.”

“Could you actually double that for a to-go box? I have someone’s wife staying with me.” I added, mainly directed at Dre. His eyes intensified. I was so busy staring him down I didn’t notice the beating he took.

“What can I get the rest of you?” She asked.

“I’ll have a French vanilla coffee, with the house cake and cookies.” Will said.

“I’ll take a green tea with the brunch special.” Chris told her.

“I’ll have that too.” Dre followed. Eye contact was maintained the entire time.

“Ok. I will have your order in a jiffy!” She cheerfully said.

As she walked away, I started smiling.

“Man you look like you got fucked up by me.” I teased Dre.

He jumped up like he was going to come at me, but Chris held him back. Will was trying hard not to laugh. Chris proceeded to whisper to Dre to calm him down. Will looked at me and we started eye talking like we tend to do sometimes. We looked back at them and waited until my patience ran thin.

“So what do you want?” I asked. “I have better things to do.”

“I agree. This is getting quite annoying. What’s the point of this?” Will said.

“We’re giving you the opportunity to squash this meaningless squabble and reestablish our friendship.” Chris explained.

“Woah….giving US the opportunity??” I repeated. “I’m sorry; did we do something out of line to need a handout?”

“Are you serious?” Dre semi-yelled. Chris looked at him, basically telling him to calm down.

“Kenny, we know your style. You’ll joke til the end of your life, but can you be serious for once?” He requested.

“He is serious, Chris.” Will replied. “We owe nothing. You should be glad you’re still breathing. That was family your boy decided to put his hands on. You know exactly what we do for family.”

“I was provoked!” Dre claimed.

“So was I!” I semi-yelled back.

When I said that, I felt something sharp. Like a pin poked my brain. That moment felt familiar. Like I was actually provoked but not for the reason I was thinking.

“Are you serious?” Dre said in frustration.

“Why the hell do you keep thinking I’m joking?” I asked, getting annoyed by his favorite statement.

“All I did was tell you the truth. How is that provoking you?” He asked.

Told me the truth? About what? What truth can he tell me that can cause such a rift?

“Maybe your view of the truth differs that much from mine.” I stated, thinking of the most general response possible. I have no idea what he’s talking about.

“You’re delusional and in denial.” Dre claimed. “My truth is the same as everyone else’s truth. You’re just too much of a pussy to deal with it. Sydney…..”

“……is dead!!!! Deal with it!”

“Point taken.” I said back. At that moment, I swung at him, connecting with his jaw and sending him crashing to the ground.

I blinked several times to snap myself back to reality. At least I know what started the fight.

“I would have hoped you learned the first time what happens when you make statements like that.” I declared.

“He’s hard headed.” Will stated.

“That is apparent.” I agreed.

“Look, this is getting us nowhere.” Chris said.

“I wouldn’t say that. We’re getting closer to what happened last night.” I joked in seriousness.

“It’ll be a much different outcome this time around.” Dre declared.

The waitress arrived with our drinks before I could respond to that. I looked at her name tag and then at her.

“If there’s anything else y’all need, just let me know.” She said.

“Thank you, Char….”

“…lotte. She’s the same one that works at Damien’s bookstore.” Will explained. “Considering the risk she’s taking, she wants something in return.”

“What exactly is that?” I wondered.

“A threesome with you and me, back stage passes to our next show, and floor seats to next season’s NBA finals.”

“Pretty hefty price just to get a damn room key.” I stated.

“Well, she’s smart. She knows how bad we want it.”

“I like that.”

“Me too. I’m looking forward to the threesome.”

“You would, you fag.” I started laughing.

“Fuck you.” He said, trying to hold in his laugh. “You got me on that.”

“That’s twice in the past week. You slippin, Dub.” I claimed.

A calming silence deafened the car. Only for a few seconds though as the mood turned onto the task at hand.

“Look,” Will began, “I’m always willing to defend and gain back honor. He put his hands on my sister and he should pay for it.”

“Yep.”

“But this is a bit much. We’re being a bit hypocritical.”

“Non-sense.” I stated. “You didn’t see the confusion and pain in Yvonne’s eyes. Provoked or not, as men, we shall show restraint.”

“Yea, but we hit our fair share of women.”

“True, but she didn’t hit him first. Words shall not bring a man to that point. I don’t care how upset you get. Ok, maybe I’m full of shit on that, but there’s a limit to the shit.”

“I agree. But the look in your face is something I’m concerned about.”

“What do you mean?”

“You look like you’re about to literally kill him.”

“I’m not going to sit here and say that I won’t, but I’ll try not to.”

“Why are you taking this so seriously?”

“Why are you taking this so lightly?” I asked him back.

“I’m not taking it lightly…just not as serious as you.” As he stopped at the light, he looked at me. “What does she really mean to you?”

“What?”

“Yvonne…..who is she really to you?”

“My cousin.”

“Bullshit.”

“My cousin.” I said again, a little more sharply.

“Bullshit.” He said as sharp.

“My…….cousin.” I said slower and more serious.

“Bull……shit.” He replied in the same manner.

The light turned green, but he remained staring me down. I don’t even know why I tried. He knows me better than anyone can dream. It was futile to try and convince him. As I sighed, he started driving, anticipating the truth.

“She’s my friend, cousin, and lover.”

“Yea I know about that one year.”

“That’s a lie. It went on for years. I took her virginity and we had soooooo many encounters. On top of that, we have a secret..”

“What are you talking about?”

“JET may be my son.” I confessed.

“Well, solves that mystery.” Will stated, unfazed.

“Let me guess, you could tell? Damn….just like Sydney.”

“We know you best….in and out.” As he thought about it…. “Wait. All four of us had the same due date. What’s the time line here?”

“You remember when Monique was mad at me about going to the HS tournament for four months?”

“Yea.”

“When I couldn’t reach her that Thursday night, I went to sleep.”

“I remember that.”

“A couple hours later, Yvonne calls me to basically say goodbye since she wasn’t going to be able to any other time before I leave.”

“Right.”

“Well we started talking for a little while and she asked to come see me cuz it seemed like I needed some consoling.”

“Did you?”

“Of course not. I just wanted to see her.”

“Of course.”

“She came over in her night gown…expecting to sleep with me. I mean actually sleep with me. So we lay down and start whispering to each other…talking about dreams and everything. One thing led to another and the rest is history.”

“You didn’t strap up for what reason?” He asked.

“Couldn’t tell ya. I think I may have actually been out that night. I told her and she said to just pull out. I told her I don’t like doing that and she said she stopped taking birth control a few days before hand so we might be ok. I nodded and pressed on.”

“If that’s the case, why weren’t you tired that morning?”

“I was fuckin exhausted when Dad woke me up. I killed three energy drinks just to function.”

“Does she know?”

“Who knows… It all depends on their sex life.”

“I see.”

“Honestly, I think me and her fucked more than they did.”

“Which is sad.” He thought about it for a minute… “Wait, how did she have a due date the same day as Monique when Monique was already pregnant?”

“The weirdest thing happened with Monique… She actually had some kind of virus that was giving her positive pregnancy tests. She really got pregnant the same time Beyonce did… When they both came out to Spain two weeks after we left.”

“Oh yea, I remember you saying that before.”

“Yea… that’s why I felt it was so crazy because Beyonce and Monique were pretty close to their due date, but Yvonne was about 2 weeks past and I have no idea about Toya.. I think she was on time or early.. I can’t remember.”

“Crazy how that worked out. Yet your lucky ass managed to be there for both of your kids being born.”

“Yes, I was.”

“I also have a feeling we’re not related to her.”

“What makes you think that?”

“I don’t know…..I just have a feeling.”

At that moment, we could see the hotel. Will parked the car and we got out. We calmly walked into the hotel and straight to the front desk.

“Hey, Charlotte.” Will greeted her.

“Started to think you weren’t going to show.” She stated.

Charlotte is cute as hell, but just a little too much on the hefty side. That’s why she wanted so much in return…..it was her one bargaining chip. Could be pretty good. I’ve had my share of big girls…..great pussy.

“No chance we’ll miss this opportunity.” I assured her. “How many are up there?”

“Just them and six women.” She said as she handed Will the key. “Please try not to make too much of a mess”

“We’ll try not to, but if we fail, just bill us.” Will told her. She smiled, taking it as a joke….which it wasn’t.

“What you think?” I asked Will.

“About what?”

“Think it’ll be pretty good?” He looked back at Charlotte and then at me.

“I think so.”

“Me too.”

“You’ve had more big girls then me….figured you were the expert.”

“Expert? Hardly.” We got to the elevator.

“What floor please?” The elevator asked.

“Penthouse.” Will said. The doors closed and up we went.

“I hear the penthouse suites here are……”

“fucked up thanks to you two.” Dre stated. “I’d be surprised if we’re ever allowed in there again.”

“Boo-fuckin-hoo.” Will said. “You’ll be divorced soon, so you can just take em home.”

“Look,” Chris began, “We’re not getting anywhere. Dre shut the hell up. You’re being 100% counterproductive.”

“Chris, there will not be an apology. At this time, I can care less about reconciling.” I said as I began to stand.

“Hold on, Kilo.” Will requested. I paused. Will looked at Dre. “Let’s get it straight. Kilo went over the top….that much I agree with. How about you admit you went further then you should have and apologize for what you did to my sister.”

“First off, I already apologized to Yvonne and since that’s who it’s between…me and her….then I don’t owe you shit. Secondly, Kenny went way more than over the top.” Dre declared.

“Look, it’s obvious we’re at odds. We can tell the degrees of separation. Y’all have different names for each other now, don’t chill wit us as often. Trust me, it’s apparent.” Chris pointed out. “Regardless, I know the desire to maintain our friendship is still there.”

“Friendship?” I repeated. I stood straight up. “Friendship?” I repeated again. I looked at Chris. “I can give two shits about friendship. Don’t think I don’t feel anything about what you’re doing to my sister. I warned you never to hurt her beyond what’s manageable and to my count, infidelity is manageable. You spit in my face for all these hoes. You pissed on our friendship the second you stuck your disease shooter in another woman. Had you hit my sister, I would have fucked you up like I did your sweetheart next to you.” I looked at Dre. “Speaking of which, you’re out yo cum catching mind if you think you don’t owe me an apology. Better yet, if not me, then this guy right here. You inappropriately touched his sister, knowing we would make you pay. For you to even be breathing right now is a mothafuckin blessing. You have the audacity…the utter testicular fortitude, to tell US that you owe US nothing. The ONLY thing that’s keeping me from reaching across this table and slappin the baby maker out of you is the fact my cousin owns this establishment.” I leaned forward. “So if you’re such a big hard ass, how bout we take this shit outside.”

I stared at each one. They didn’t know what to do or say. I just saw anger and embarrassment. Will was even surprised that I just blew up like that. It caught the attention of the entire café, but I didn’t care.

“Didn’t think so.” I said as I set down a fifty dollar bill for the tip. “By the way, the next time you talk about my fiancée in a negative light….I will extinguish yours. Real talk.”

Will stood up and followed me out. When we got in the car, I knew exactly what he was thinking.

“Feel better?” He asked me.

“Not even close.”

“Didn’t think so.” He started the car. “Let’s go get some pussy.” He suggested.

“Good idea. Let’s fu…”

“….ck these chicks they wit afta we stomp them.” I suggested.

“Now how ignorant and rude is that?” He said. “Let’s do that during.” We both laughed.

When the elevator doors stopped on the top floor, we could hear music blaring. The doors opened and we saw the entire room candle lit. It was too much of a romantic setting to be a one night stand. We looked around and could hear moaning from the master suite. We walked to the entryway and watched two women play with each other. We looked on the bed and saw a woman giving head to Chris and another sitting on his face. Andre was next to them getting the same treatment. We waited….well; I guess waited is the wrong word. We merely accessed the situation and tried to decide what to do. We had the element of surprise, but the longer we stood there, the madder we were getting, except when looking at the two girls playing with each other…that was quite arousing.

Will and I looked at each other, smiled, and nodded. We started walking towards the bed. The two girls were so into each other that they didn’t even notice us. We stood on each side of the bed…not even noticed. The girl giving Andre head had her ass poking out right in front of me. I licked my finger and started playing with her. I looked up and saw Will doing the same thing to Chris’s girl. We made eye contact and started snickering but not loud enough to be heard. Both girls started moaning louder and louder. It got to the point that she stopped sucking and just focused on me. She then slightly turned her head and noticed me. She jumped in complete shock and slightly screamed. After that, the rest of them did. Chris and Andre looked and saw us. They then jumped out of the bed.

“What in the fu….” Andre began.

“Before you finish that question, ask yourself that.” I said, cutting him off.

The ladies were no longer scared. Their looks alone proved they knew who we were. Good. Don’t want them to scream.

“What do you want?” Chris asked.

“For once, we have no beef with you.” Will replied. “Andre is our main concern.”

“Considering you and my sister are divorcing, I can care less about your affairs.” I told Chris. I looked at Andre. “You, on the other hand, have the balls to touch Yvonne and then come out here and dip in some strange….”

“Let me get this straight,” he began, “the both of you are going to talk to me about being faithful?”

“Problem?” Will asked.

“The same two people that walk around hanging on hope that their dead fiancées are still alive.”

“Excuse me?” I said in amazement. “Are you really flippin it like this? Is that really where you want to go?”

“Dre, watch what you’re saying.” Chris warned him.

“Nah, speak yo mind, kid.” Will told him.

“From the heart, I love you both. You’re like brothers. But you don’t control my life. Especially considering you can’t even control your own lives. You have the nerve to bust in our hotel room and lecture us like you two are angels from god. If I need advice, I’ll be sure to not call you.”

“Keep it coming. Say what you feel.” I told him.

“I’m not scared of you, Kenny. Nor you, Will. You’re both too distracted with finding Sydney and Candace that you haven’t been able to handle your own shit. Candace is dead!!!! Sydney is dead!!!! Deal with it!!!”

“Point taken.” I said back. At that moment, I swung and hit him dead in his jaw, sending him crashing into the floor.

“Whoa!!!” Chris jumped in front of me and held me back. “That was far, you got him. Now let cooler heads prevail.”

“Left that head at home.” I joked.

Andre stood up with anger oozing out of his face. I knew it was on….good.

“It’s abo….”

“…ut time we talk about what we need to do.” Will suggested.

“In regards to what?” I asked.

“There’s a good chance we may need to flex our muscles. What can we do to really hurt them?”

“Trade them.” I said with no hesitation.

“You can’t be serious?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“They’re the best players in the league. We can’t make the city suffer for our squabble.”

“Don’t worry. I’ve been preparing for this day.” I claimed.

“How so?” Will wondered.

“I’ll show you later on tonight. Right now I need to try and figure what the hell is going on with my psyche right now.”