Chapter 10
Makynzee
I wake up to Jay’s ringtone. Kalil tells me to turn it off. His eyes are closed and he has one arm draped over my side. I grab the phone and say hello.
“Are you still a virgin?”
Only Jay. She’s extremely loud. I hear lots of noise in the background and figure she must be at the airport already. We were supposed to have breakfast before she left.
“Where are you?”
“Irrelevant. Is Kalil the beast we thought he would be? How many times did he make you come?”
I almost drop the phone. I’m pretty sure he can hear her. He’s right behind me. His eyes are still closed, but he’s smiling.
“Jay, shut up,” I say as I sit up and search for something to cover my naked body.
“You gotta tell me, I told you about Donte.”
I grab one of the towels from the floor and Kalil laughs. I look back at him as I get up, but he pulls the blanket over his head.
“You volunteered, I didn’t ask.” I wrap the towel around me and go into the bathroom.
“Well you didn’t stop me from talking.”
I close the door and turn the shower on before I say anything to her.
“Jay, you’re loud!”
“Is that the shower…oh my goodness, he could hear me, couldn’t he?”
“Yes, Jaida! The whole world could hear you.”
“Well why didn’t you stop me from talking?”
She asks this as if I hadn’t told her to shut up. I shake my head. Sometimes it’s like talking to a wall with her.
“Why are you already at the airport?”
“I’m waiting on a number, Mak.”
She doesn’t let things go so easily. I’m not sure if Kalil can hear me or not. “A number for what?”
“Oral, he looks like he’s good with his tongue.”
My mind goes back to last night and I smile. “Golden,” I say.
She laughs and says, “So quit being a jerk and tell me how many!”
I do a mental calculation. Feel myself actually getting wet as I remember each one. “Five, one oral, two back to back.” When she says nothing I ask, “Did you hear me?”
“You lucky bitch,” she says.
“Is that normal? Where are you?”
“Not normal, just lucky. You didn’t call to wake me up, so I guess we all slept through breakfast, I’m waiting to board.”
I look down at my watch. We’ve slept through breakfast and lunch. My stomach growls, letting me know I need to eat ASAP. “That sucks, Jay.”
“No worries, I’ll be back in a couple weeks.”
I hear a female announce her boarding call.
“Am I supposed to be this sore right now?”
“From the sounds of it, yes.”
“Call me when you land.” I hang up and get in the shower. Kalil is sitting at the foot of the bed watching ESPN and brushing his hair when I come out. He has on a pair of black boxer briefs.
“Good morning.”
My smile is permanent around him. I tell him good morning as I grab my lotion from the nightstand. I watch him watch ESPN as I moisturize my body. He seems like he should have tattoos everywhere, but he doesn’t. He only has three. I have none. I reluctantly pull my eyes away from him then grab a blue sundress from my bag and slip it over my head. When I turn around he’s watching me.
“Maybe you should wear jeans, something less accessible.”
He can’t be serious. I’m extremely sore. I think I need a long bath and at least 24 hours before we do anything else.
“I didn’t bring any jeans. You asked me to spend the night with you. I only have this.” I’m lying about this being all I have, but I honestly didn’t pack any jeans.
“I guess that means you’ll have to walk around the house naked,” he says with a smile.
Because that’s definitely less accessible, right? “Or you could just take me to get some more clothes?”
He shakes his head left to right and looks back at the TV. “If I take you anywhere near your house you might not come back with me.”
“You know if I wanna go home and you don’t let me, it’s kidnapping, people go to jail for that.”
“Thanks for the heads up.”
I tell him I’m hungry as I walk over to him and take the brush. I stand between his legs and start brushing his hair and he palms my ass.
“This thing is ridiculous.”
I laugh as he asks, “Where you wanna go to eat?”
“Why do we have to go anywhere? As big as this house is, I’m pretty sure it came with a kitchen.”
“I’m not cooking and very seldom do grocery shopping.”
“I’m not handicapped,” I say. I give his brush back to him and leave the bedroom in search of the kitchen.
It’s Friday evening. Kalil has just got off the phone with his son and now he’s standing in front of me blocking the TV.
I crane my neck to look around him and ask, “What are you doing?”
“I gotta talk to you real quick.”
It’s a DVD, so I guess I could just pause it. I look up at him and wait for him to talk.
“I’m not supposed to get my son until next Thursday, but he’s crying to come tonight,” he says.
I’m not sure what I’m supposed to say to that. I’m pretty sure there’s a question somewhere in those lines, but I’m having trouble finding it, so I don’t say anything.
“I can’t have my lil man crying like that, so if you want me to take you home before I go get him, I’d be mad, but I will.”
“You’re not ready for me to meet him?”
“Yeah, I’m just not sure if you actually want to.”
“Why wouldn’t I want to, he’s your son and you’re my…” I stop myself. He smiles. All week he’s been telling me he’s my man, never asking to be. All week I’ve been telling him no.
“I’m your man.”
“No, you’re cocky, and you can’t just tell somebody you’re their man.” Of course he’s my man. I wouldn’t be here if he wasn’t.
“Okay, fine.” He pulls me up from the couch and asks, “Can I be your man?”
He hasn’t let me go back to the club since the night I danced.
“If I say yes does that mean I’m officially fired?”
He reminds me that I quit last week. Now I have to find another job.
“I guess you can be my man since you asked nicely,” I say. He kisses me. I can feel his erection growing. Sex addict? He claims he’s never been that way with anyone else so it’s my fault. I think he’s full of crap. “Not tonight, my body needs to recuperate.” I push him away. He opens his mouth to protest, but I cut him off. “Go get your son.” He frowns, but backs away.
“Not fair.”
“This is the first time I’ve told you no all week and technically I’m not saying no, just not right now. How is that not fair?” He keeps frowning, but doesn’t say anything. If I keep looking at him I’ll give in and I think he knows this. I try to escape to the kitchen, but he’s right on my heels. “Not tonight, Kalil.” I try to run around the center island, but I’m not fast enough. He grabs my arm and pulls me to him.
“5 minutes?”
“Cut it out, go get your son.” It falls on deaf ears. He’s already picked me up and placed me on one of the countertops. “Okay, okay, later tonight.” I’m lying and he knows it. He’s smiling as he lowers his pants. I try to squeeze my legs closed, but he doesn’t let me. My skirt is too short. He barely has to pull it up. Damn him. He slips his hand between my legs and I can’t stop the moan that slips from my mouth.
“If you didn’t want to it wouldn’t be this wet.” He uses his free hand to pull me to the edge of the counter.
“I never said I didn’t want to, I said I need to recuperate. I’m sore.”
He takes a deep breath and sucks his teeth before backing away. “You killing me.” He picks me up and puts me back on my feet.
“Ho
w am I killing you? I’m not doing anything.”
“You walk around the house in lil ass skirts like that or those dresses with your ass shaking everywhere whenever you move. How am I not supposed to want it all the time?”
“That’s not my fault. I told you I didn’t have any jeans and I needed more clothes.”
“Then tomorrow we’re going shopping,” he says as he leaves the kitchen.
I guess that’s his way of letting me know I’m still not allowed to go home. “How can you be mad about this?” He stops walking and turns back to me.
“How can I not be?” he asks as he looks down at himself. He’s wearing basketball shorts and every inch of him is poking out at me. I love it.
“I’ll make it up to you. My mouth isn’t sore.” He smiles before asking me to ride with him. Let me think about this. While I would want to meet any woman my ex would have around my child, do I really want to ride with Kalil to his baby’s mom’s house. Hell no. “I’ll cook dinner while you’re out, hurry back,” I say. He tells me he’ll grab something while he’s out. “Then I’ll finish watching my movie.” I sit on the couch and tuck my feet beneath me as I watch him leave. When he walks out I call Jay.
She answers with, “Are you pregnant yet?”
“What the hell kind of question is that?”
“Can we actually talk now?”
“Yeah, he went to get his son.”
“Well it’s a good thing you actually love kids, Step-momma Mak.”
I ignore her and ask, “Are multiple orgasms normal?”
“When you say multiple, how many are we talking?”
“At least two each time, sometimes more.”
“Oh wow, Kalil really is a beast! Some women don’t even have orgasms.”
This seems weird to me. If not for orgasms, then what’s the point of having sex? “Am I supposed to be sore still?”
“Just sore or hurt during?”
“Just sore.” It feels way too good to hurt.
“Quit being rabbits, let your body rest.”
I’m not sure what that actually means, so I change the subject. I ask her how things are with Donte. He wants her to move back here. I tell her we can be roommates. She tells me I already have a roommate.
“I don’t live with him.” Why am I so defensive?
“Has he mentioned taking you home yet?”
“My mom will be back next week, I’ll be home by then.”
“For what? Does Kalil know how she treats you?”
He doesn’t. I haven’t told him for two reasons. One, he’ll use that as an excuse to make me stay with him longer, just like Jay’s doing now, and two, I honestly don’t have it that bad. My mom is crazy, yes, but I have a roof over my head, food in my mouth, and clothes on my back. There are people out there in far worse conditions than I am. Compared to some, I have it easy.
“He doesn’t need to know.”
“You have one week to tell him, if he has no clue by the time I come back there, I’m telling him myself.”
I know she means well, but Jay oversteps her boundaries sometimes. Now is one of those times. It’s pointless to argue with her, so I change the subject. By the time I get off the phone with her Kalil is pulling into the garage. I open the door and wait for them to get out. Kalil’s son is two years old. He has his dad’s height and looks exactly like him. Being a Jr fits him perfectly. He stares at me as if trying to feel me out and I smile at him. He hides behind Kalil, but smiles back. Kalil grabs his hand and pulls him back to where I can see him before telling him to say hi. He’s laughing now. I squat down to his eye level and say hi. He looks up at Kalil then back at me. He’s fast. Before I can react he runs to me and jumps on me, giving me a hug. I’m surprised and lose my balance. He’s still laughing.
“Hi Makynzee!” He kisses my cheek and runs into the living room. “Daddy I wanna watch Buzz on the TV,” he says. Kalil smiles as he helps me up.
“I should’ve warned you. He only pretends to be shy, he loves hugs, he’s a flirt, and he likes running.” As if on cue, he runs back over to us. He trips, but jumps right back up.
“Daddy, s’cuse me. Did you hear what I said?” He grabs Kalil’s hand and shakes it.
“Wait a minute man, Daddy gotta get our food out the truck.” He’s not trying to hear that. He turns to me and grabs my hand.
“Um s’cuse me. Can you help me please?”
How could I say no to him? “What do you need help with?”
“Buzz on the TV.”
I ask Kalil what Buzz is and he tells me Toy Story. Before Kalil is done talking KJ’s pulling me into the living room and giving me the remote.
Kalil
Mak is a natural with KJ. When I told him she knew how to do flips, his little eyes lit up. We’ve been in the backyard all day, literally. He tries to imitate everything she does and when he gets frustrated and cries because he can’t do it she tells him to pretend he’s a monkey. He wraps his arms and legs around her and holds on as she flips with him. He’s like a little Koala bear and he’s loving every minute of it. I’m slightly jealous. He hasn’t paid me any attention since he got here. She’s getting it all and he’s getting all of hers. I tell her and she smiles and tells me to give her ten minutes. She downloads a few toddler learning apps on her phone and once she shows him how to use them he takes over. He plays with it in his room for almost an hour before I take it from him. He had a fit and actually went and told her I was being mean. A few seconds later they both came to me and he told me “daddy be nice, please.” He finally fell asleep around 8:00. It’s a little after 9:00 now. Mak is sitting at the computer registering for class. I asked her if she wanted me to help her pay for them. One class is $750, not including books, and she’s signing up for six. She told me no. When I asked her why not she told me if I hadn’t fired her I would technically be paying for them and something else about Pell Grants. I didn’t fire her, she quit. She won’t say it, but I think my phone is irritating her. It’s been ringing nonstop since we put KJ to bed. I haven’t been to the club all week. I know that’s why I’m getting so many phone calls. I have no urge to go, everything I want is right here. Sooner or later I’ll have to show my face. She mumbles something to herself then looks back at me. Her mouth is open to say something, but she stops when my phone rings. I silence it and look at her.
“You should go, your phone isn’t gonna stop.”
“That’s not what you were gonna say.” She shuts the computer down and gets up then comes to me and grabs my hand.
“Come on, shower with me and put me to bed before you go.”
I’m distracted by the fact that she said I could shower with her and put her to bed, but I’m pretty sure she’s kicking me out. By the time I get dressed to leave Mak is in bed half asleep.
“Turn the ceiling fan on,” she says after I give her a peck on her lips.
“I’ll be back in a couple hours.”
“Call me when you’re on your way.”
I peek in KJ’s room and see that he’s sound asleep then activate the alarm as I leave.
Makynzee
I thought I told Kalil to turn the fan on before he left, but I’m covered in sweat and it’s not spinning. I throw the covers off of me then make my way to the bathroom. Did I turn the TV off? The A/C isn’t blowing, so I’m almost positive the power is out. The weather is fine, so what’s the problem? I flip the light switch for the bathroom and nothing happens. “Come on, not right now,” I say out loud to no one. I’m sure KJ is still asleep or else he would be crying, but I still feel the need to check on him. I refuse to walk through this big ass house in pitch black dark without my handy dandy pocket knife. I grab my phone and open the flashlight app then smile to myself as I dig through my purse to find my knife. Kalil would crack up laughing at me right now. I contemplate calling him, but I remember that the breaker box is in the basement. It can’t be that hard to get the lights back on. I’ll call him after I check on KJ. I go into the
hallway and as I walk I can’t help thinking something doesn’t feel right. I know everything scares me in the dark, but this is different. The reason behind my feelings hits me after I’m well into the hallway. I’m not sure I’m alone and I think something just moved on the staircase. If there’s something there I’ll have to get past it in order to make it to KJ. Please let it be a rat. I shine my light towards it and scream as two eyes stare back at me. That’s no rat. I try to run to KJ’s room, but the guy on the stairs grabs me. I vaguely remember watching a movie where a kidnapped lady says something about a vein on the back of the arm that can cause a person to bleed to death within seconds if cut in the right place. She said a science class, maybe biology. I don’t remember learning anything like that, but that doesn’t stop me from cutting whoever’s holding me. He screams and lets me go. I try to run again, but I only get a few steps away before he grabs me by my legs. I guess I missed that vein. I fall and my face hits the wall as I go down. I taste blood and I know I’ve busted my lip, possibly bit into my jaw. I hear KJ crying. He’s at his door. I’m not sure if he can see me, but I hope he can’t. I turn back to the guy who’s holding me and swing the knife again as I scream for KJ to go back into his room. I’m not sure what part of his body I connect with, but he screams out again. I think it’s his face. I hear other voices. Someone saying they thought the house was empty. I have to get away. There are at least three of them and I’m struggling with this one. I swing the knife again and feel blood on my hands. I jump up and run to KJ. I pick him up and slam his door behind me. Just as I’m locking it, whoever’s on the other side tries to open it. KJ’s dresser is next to the door. I put him down and as they bang on the door I push his dresser over to block it. I pick KJ back up and try to get him to stop crying as I struggle to call Kalil. My hands are shaking, but I manage to get to his name quickly. The dresser isn’t keeping them out. My only other option is to go out the window. KJ’s window has a landing that I can climb out on.
“You got five seconds to open this damn door!”
Kalil answers his phone and starts talking, but I cut him off. “There’s somebody in the house!” I slide the window open and my phone slips from my hand. I curse silently and look down at KJ who’s still crying. “Remember how we played like monkeys today?” I struggle to keep my voice steady. He shakes his head up and down.
“Open this damn door!”
“I need you to be a big boy and stop crying so we can play monkeys again, okay?” He shakes his head up and down and wraps his arms and legs around me. I’m halfway out the window when I hear one of the guys yelling again.
“Shoot it!”
I don’t hear a gunshot, but the glass above my head shatters. KJ and I scream.
“Again, neither of them make it out of here alive!”
I wonder if they have a silencer, but I don’t wait to see if they follow through with what they just said. I climb out and make my way higher onto the roof. KJ is practically choking me. I lie back in a crevice of the roof and try to console him.
“They went out the window. Let’s get out of here, she might have called him,” I hear one of the guys say.
A few seconds later I hear tires screeching. I don’t move. KJ is no longer crying, but he’s still choking me. I hear another car a few minutes later. Whoever it is bangs on the door and calls my name. It’s not Kalil, so I don’t move. They kick the door until it opens and continue to yell my name as they go inside. I don’t move until I hear the pipes on Kalil’s truck. By the time I make it to the edge of the roof, whoever was calling my name is telling Kalil that KJ and I aren’t in the house. It’s Donte. I should know his voice.
“We’re here,” I say. About ten pairs of eyes follow my voice. I can read the question in all of them as they look up at us. They’re wondering how and why we’re on the roof.
“Stay there, I’m coming up,” Kalil says.
Where else would we go? Chino, Ralphie, Bruce, Donte, and some other guys I don’t recognize are still looking at me. I’m only wearing a tank top and panties. They were all at the club when I danced, but this is different. I don’t want them to see me. Within seconds Kalil has a ladder and he’s climbing up to us. Somewhere in the back of my subconscious I wonder why he even has a ladder. I try to pass KJ to him, but he won’t let me go.
“What happened, where are you hurt?” Kalil asks as he forces KJ away from me and tries to lift my shirt. It takes me a few seconds to realize he’s checking me for wounds.
“It’s not my blood.” My mouth is swollen, I can tell by the muffled sound of my voice, not to mention the pain. He frowns as he looks at my face. It must be bad because that dangerous look of his has returned.
“Damn, baby. Your face. You gotta go to the hospital.”
“They okay?”
Donte again. I hope he doesn’t call Jay tonight. KJ cries and reaches for me. Kalil passes him to me then pulls his shirt off.
“Put this on so we can go down,” he says.
Once I’m on the ground I say, “I don’t need to go to the hospital. The power is out and there’s blood at the top of the stairs.”
They’re all staring at me. I step closer to Kalil as Bruce asks me what happened. They all look extremely pissed. Like they’re ready to go to war with whoever was in the house. KJ speaks before I do.
“Daddy, I scares.”
Kalil kisses his forehead and says, “Don’t be scared man, you’re okay.”
We go inside and I tell Kalil what happened as he leads me through the house and gets two flashlights.
“We’re leaving, go pack. He should have some stuff in our room.”
If I weren’t so shaken up I’d be happy that he said our room instead of his. I tell him I don’t want to see the blood in the hallway. He goes upstairs with us, blocking the spot where the blood is. He says he’ll be right back then goes back down the stairs. He’s yelling before he even gets outside. I try to put KJ down, but he cries and doesn’t let me go. I quickly throw some stuff in a bag and when I’m done I call Kalil’s name. I don’t hear him anymore, which means he probably can’t hear me. I take a deep breath then quickly go down the stairs. I can hear him again. He’s no longer yelling. I go outside where they are, but none of them see me. They’re all focused on Kalil. He’s pacing back and forth in front of them. I don’t recognize this Kalil. This Kalil scares me. He hasn’t put another shirt on so he’s only wearing a wife beater and jeans. The muscles that I love to touch and feel against my body no longer seem sexy. They seem menacing. The hands that I always want all over me seem like they’ll crush whatever they touch. He’s not even frowning anymore. The dangerous look is gone. Right now Kalil is the manifestation of evil. I want to say something to let him know I’m standing here, but nothing comes out when I open my mouth.
“I don’t care how y’all do it, but make it happen. I wanna know who was bold enough to come to my house, where me and my family lay our heads. I wanna know who thought it was okay to put their hands on my girl then turn around and try to kill her and my son, whoever it was, find them and they’re dead.”
He’s not cursing. He always curses. I don’t want to hear anymore. I want my Kalil back. I say his name. He looks up then comes to me. He tells me to get in the truck. I don’t know what scares me more; how evil he looked and what he just said a few seconds ago or the fact that he’s turned it off so quickly. He looks and sounds normal again. He wraps his arm around me and takes the bag. I lean into him and he tightens his grip around me as he leads us to his truck. I strap KJ in and when I close the door Kalil hugs me. I’ve wanted him to hug me since he got us off the roof. I feel safe in his arms. The tears that I’ve been holding in to try and keep KJ calm rush out in a flood. I sob uncontrollably into his chest.
“Stop crying, baby. You’re okay now. Nobody else is gonna touch you…I promise.”