Chapter 12
Kalil
Mak’s a mess right now, but tries to hide it from me. It’s almost 3:00 a.m. and she’s still awake. Staring at the TV, but not really watching it. I can’t imagine how she must be feeling. I want to ask her about what her sister said about her mom, but I don’t really know how. I know she hates wearing makeup, but there were a few times when she came to work wearing it. I wonder if it was to hide bruises. She’d have to get hit pretty hard for a bruise to show up on her dark skin. That’s foul. I can’t let her go back home to that. It’s tricky at this point though. If I ask her to stay now it’ll seem like it’s only because of her mom. As if reading my thoughts she gets out of bed.
“I need to go home.”
“You are home.” Said that out loud, huh? She stares at me in silence then starts getting dressed.
“I know you’ve probably been thinking about that all night and I don’t want you to think I’m blowing you off, I just can’t focus on that right now, we can talk about it later.”
Fair enough. I gave her keys to all three of the cars when she first came here. She hasn’t moved any of them yet, but something tells me that’s about to change. She’s crazy if she thinks I’m about to let her drive that far by herself.
“I don’t think you should come,” she says as I get dressed.
She sounds nervous. She’s either worried about how her mom will react to me or she has no idea what to expect. “I’m going.”
She stares at me in silence. I wish she would say what she’s thinking, but she just grabs her purse and leaves the room instead. I follow her to the garage and watch as she looks from the Tahoe to the Infiniti coupe. She pulls a set of keys out her purse and pushes the button to unlock the door. The lights on the Charger flash and the horn beeps. She goes to it and gets inside before looking at me. I turn the alarm on for the house then tell her I’m driving.
When we get to her mom’s house it’s 5:15 a.m.. I’m used to not sleeping at night, but she should be tired. She unlocks the door and we go inside. I look around and see pictures of her and Riley placed throughout the living room. Most of Mak’s are in leotards, long hair pulled back into a ponytail or a bun. I make a mental note to ask her when she cut it. One of the pictures is her mom. She’s pregnant and a guy is standing behind her. Mak’s dad?
“My dad kept a locked box in the basement. He always hid it from us.”
I look away from the pictures and see her disappear down a set of stairs. I follow. When I reach her she’s trying to grab a box from a shelf. I grab it and put it on the floor in front of her. After a while she pulls out a small wooden box then looks for something to break the lock on it. I’ve got a bad feeling about that box.
“Maybe you shouldn’t open it, there’s probably a reason he had it locked up.” She ignores me; doesn’t even acknowledge that I’ve said anything. She grabs a paperweight from the desk in the corner and bangs on it. I should probably do it for her, but I really don’t want her to open it. The lock breaks. After tossing aside a few pieces of paper, she comes across some pictures. She looks like she wants to cry. I go to her and ask her what’s wrong. She drops the pictures then gags a few times before turning away and throwing up. I ask if she’s okay, she ignores me as she tries to catch her breath. I pick the pictures up. It’s her. She’s asleep, wearing only panties. She’s wearing a different pair in each picture, which means they’re from different nights. She sleeps in just her panties or panties and a shirt at home. She can’t be any more than 12 or 13 in these pictures. I drop them and go over to her. She has more pictures in her hands. These are pictures of Riley. She’s wearing skimpy costumes in some. A police woman, a nurse, even a damn school girl. She’s smiling in each one. You can tell it’s forced. She’s in her bed in some. I think she may be naked in some, but I look away.
“How could he do this to her? All I cared about was gymnastics, my sister was suffering this whole time and I didn’t know.”
She doesn’t include herself in what he did. “This isn’t your fault, your dad was…sick.” A fucking pedophile is what I wanna say, but I keep that to myself. She takes the rest of the pictures out and the bottom of the box is filled with pairs of panties. She covers her face and lets out a sound I can’t describe.
“These are mine,” she finally says.
I take the box from her and toss it into a corner. If there’s more she doesn’t need to see it. Her hands are shaking. I start to say something, but she walks away. I follow her back up the stairs and into the garage. An array of tools hangs from the wall. She grabs a mallet then heads towards the car.
“Where you going?”
“To see my dad.”
We end up at a cemetery. It makes sense now. Mak has been eerily quiet since we left her mom’s house. She told me to wait in the car. I don’t want to, but I do. I watch as she walks over to a headstone. For some reason I don’t put two and two together until I see her swing the mallet at the headstone. I can hear her yelling, but can’t make out what she’s saying. I feel like I should want to stop her, but I don’t. She needs to release this. At least she’s not hurting anyone…technically. She swings until she’s tired then slowly makes her way back to the car. I drive back to her mom’s house and we sit in the living room waiting for her to come home. She actually shows up around ten that morning.
“You told that detective two?”
“I don’t plan on being here.”
“Makynzee, sweetheart? Whose car is that in the driveway?” a female voice calls out.
“Kalil, don’t let me fight my mom, okay?” I glance at her. If she tries I think I might actually let her. Her mom stops when she sees me. I’m trying not to frown at her, but I’m sure it’s not working. She looks at Mak then back at me and smiles.
“Hello, I didn’t know we had company. Sweetie, aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend?”
“I saw Riley last night.”
Her mom’s smile is gone. A man carrying suitcases walks in behind her.
He smiles at Mak, but he must sense the tension in the room because it quickly fades and he asks, “Makynzee what’s wrong?”
I don’t miss the fact that he’s more concerned with her being upset than her mom is. She ignores him and focuses on her mom.
“She’s dead.”
For a brief moment her mom looks as though she’s going to cry or have some kind of nervous breakdown, but it fades. She looks at me and then at the guy who’s with her.
“Maybe we should talk about this after our guests leave.”
Yeah, this bitch is crazy. Mak has to be adopted.
“I tell you your daughter’s dead and you’re worried about guests?”
She’s standing now and going towards her mom. I don’t move. One good hit can be forgiven, right?
“Did you know what Daddy was doing to her? Did you know about the pictures he took of us, the panties he kept locked in the basement?”
The guy steps between them and grabs Mak’s arms.
“Bad move, lil’ dude.”
He looks at me and lets her go.
“This is her mother. I don’t want to see them fight.”
He has no idea what’s going on. “Then you grab her mom, not her.”
“Makynzee, just calm down. Whatever it is that your dad did I’m sure your mom had no idea about it, right?”
He looks back at her. She’s glaring at Mak and doesn’t respond to him.
“You knew. You let him get away with it all this time and when Riley came to you, you kicked her out. You’re our mom, you’re supposed to protect us and now your daughter’s dead, even your granddaughter’s dead.”
Her mom has obviously heard enough. She slaps Mak, tells her to shut up and calls her an ungrateful bitch. I grab Mak, but she doesn’t move. The other guy is yelling now.
“That’s your daughter! What the hell are you doing?”
“I don’t have a daughter!”
Th
at leaves everyone in shock for a few seconds. Mak shakes her head then turns and goes up the stairs. I stare at her mom for a few seconds then follow her upstairs. When I find the room she’s in I see her stuffing clothes and shoes into a suitcase.
“There’s another bag in the closet at the end of the hall, can you grab it for me please?”
When she’s done I help her carry them downstairs. The guy is gone. Her mom is standing by the fireplace. She’s crying. Really? Mak doesn’t look at her. She walks past her and grabs pictures of her and Riley.
“Makynzee, baby, just wait a minute. Let me explain.”
She ignores her and keeps heading to the door.
“You can’t leave me. You’re all I have left!”
Her sincerity surprises us both, causing Mak to turn and face her.
“That might have actually meant something if I was still your daughter.”
Makynzee
The ride back to Kalil’s is quiet. For once I don’t care what we’re listening to. I bite my thumbnail as I stare out the window. I know Kalil wants to ask questions, but he doesn’t. For that I’m grateful. I need time to absorb this all. I still don’t know my niece’s name. I wonder if my mom knows or if she even cares. I take a deep breath and run my fingers through my hair. I know I must look like a complete mess. Kalil looks over at me. I flip down the visor and look at myself in the mirror. He tells me I look fine. He’s such a liar. I fuss with my hair for a few seconds then close the visor and sit back. We’re almost at his house. I’m glad. I need him to distract me from all of this. I wonder if he’ll do it. He’s always so gentle with me, never rushing, always careful. That’s not what I need right now, so I’ll have to make him mad. As soon as we get in the house I kiss him. He’s surprised. I push him against the wall and bite his bottom lip. He makes a noise. That hurt him. Good. I move away from him. Stare at him in silence as I take my shorts and shirt off. He smiles a little. I go back to him and take his shirt off. I don’t need him smiling. I kiss him and drag my nails from his shoulders to his lower back. He grabs my hands and pins them behind my back. He frowns as he looks down at me. Much better. I kiss him. Push myself against him and pull my hands free. I make him walk backwards into the living room. He’s not moving fast enough. I need him to make me feel a different pain. I can’t enjoy this pain. I need to enjoy his. I take his shorts off. His hands are on me, caressing. I don’t want him to caress. I scratch his back again. He frowns and tells me to stop. I tell him to quit crying and push him down on the couch. I climb on top of him and kiss him again before he can respond. I place his hands on my breast and make him squeeze. For once I wish he didn’t keep his nails clipped. I’d use them to scratch myself. In the back of my mind I vaguely register the fact that we don’t have any condoms. I don’t care. I need to feel him inside me, so I put him there. We’ve always used condoms. I like it better without them, so I’m glad I’ve been on birth control since the first time he turned me away. I pull his head down to my chest. I need him to bite, but he only nibbles. It’s not enough. He’s pissing me off. I tell him, “Deeper, Kalil.” I wonder if he can hear the frustration in my voice. He actually complies. It surprises me since I didn’t expect him to listen. I cry out. He eases up. This frustrates me more. I push him away and he frowns as I get up. “I said deeper, if you can’t give me what I want then give me nothing at all.” I walk away. That should piss him off. It’s an intentional stab at his manhood. I hear him moving. He’s quick. I’ve barely made it to the stairs and he’s behind me. His hand is around my neck, not quite choking me though. I like it. He turns my head back to him, kisses me then bites my ear before pushing me down on the stairs. He thrusts himself into me. I cry out. He doesn’t ease up. This is what I need. I love the way he feels inside of me. “Harder.” He obliges. I have to brace my hands against the steps. His hand tightens around my neck, still not choking though. I love it. I close my eyes. Kalil is definitely a beast. I come hard, shudder against him. He only stops momentarily to flip me over and put one of my legs on his shoulder. He goes deeper. Grabs me by the back of my neck and pulls my mouth up to his. I can feel him getting harder inside me. He’ll come soon. He kisses me and bites my lip. He’s rough. It hurts, but I want more. I need more. I come again, this one better than the first. It pushes him over the edge. Beautiful bliss. He collapses on top of me, but doesn’t let his full weight bear down. I kiss his cheek and whisper, “Thank you.” He doesn’t respond. He’s still recovering. I slide away from him and go upstairs. I don’t know if he’s following me. I don’t care. I pop two pills and pray that sleep comes quick.
Kalil
It’s been two days since Mak’s sister died. She’s been in bed for that long. She only gets up to shower and use the bathroom. She hardly eats anything. I’m starting to get worried, but she tells me she’s fine. I go upstairs to check on her and see that she’s actually up and dressed.
“You can’t sit here and babysit me. You have a business to run and a son who’s probably mad you haven’t come to pick him up yet,” she says.
She’s actually putting on a pair of shoes. I obviously missed something. I ask where she’s going and she holds her hands up. Should I know what that means?
“Semi spa day.” She takes my hand and pulls me to the bed then sits on my lap. She looks nervous. “What do you do, Kalil?”
I knew this question would come sooner or later. I prefer later. “What you mean?”
“This house is huge, KJ and his mom seem like they’re well cared for, you have 3 vehicles and a motorcycle some of them less than a year old and money never seems to be an issue for you. Your club is successful, but there’s no way it pays for all of that.”
Why is she so damn perceptive? “I own more than the club. Two gyms, another club, and my sister runs a salon for me in Florida.”
She takes a deep breath and shakes her head as she asks, “What are you not telling me?”
If I answer that question it’ll probably be a lie, so I just go around it. “I told you what I do.”
“I’m young Kalil, not dumb. You don’t wanna tell me fine, but I have something to tell you.” She looks nervous again. “If I said the name Cam would it mean anything to you?”
It would. I ask, “Why?”
“Don’t be mad, okay?”
I don’t respond, just stare at her. The fact that she’s asking me not to get mad means there’s a good chance I’ll go ape shit.
“I was scared that night and you were so mad. I’d never seen you that upset, not even that night at the club, so it scared me even more.” She’s no longer looking at me. “I heard what you were saying to Bruce and the rest of them, so I didn’t know if you were speaking out of anger or if you were really serious, so I wanted to wait until you calmed down, but then so much stuff just kept happening.”
She finally looks at me again and I can see it in her eyes. She knows who was in the fucking house. She didn’t tell me because she’s scared of what I might do. If I show her how heated I am right now, she still might not tell me.
“Tell me.” I wrap my arms around her waist in an attempt to cover my anger. I think it works.
“First, promise me you won’t go out and do anything stupid.”
My version of stupid and her version of stupid are probably exactly the same, but I won’t admit to that right now. Instead I say, “I promise.”
“I could hear them talking, they knew you left the house, but didn’t know we were here. They said each other’s names, Cam and Tony. They asked Cam if he was alright, so I think he’s the one I fought. There was another one, but they didn’t say his name.”
She’s right. Too much has been going on. I didn’t even pay attention to the fact that I haven’t seen them around lately. Doesn’t matter though. They’re about to have a bad fucking day. I hug her. She gets up and gives me a peck on my lips then heads for the door.
“Be back in a few hours, love you.”
She quickly covers her mouth. I smile as sh
e looks back at me. I open my mouth to respond and she pinches my lips together.
“Don’t respond to that, okay?”
I shake my head up and down.
“I’m serious, Kalil.”
She can have this one...for now. I give her the okay sign and she lets my lips go. She backs away from me and I get up and follow her. I don’t hide my smile.
“If you say anything I’m punching you in your stomach.”
I keep smiling and continue to follow her. When she gets to the garage I stand at the door and watch as she gets in the Infiniti. I figured she’d go for that one, she looks good in it. As soon as she’s out the drive way I call Donte.
Makynzee
I’m surprised Kalil let me leave the house by myself. No, I’m not. I know it’s only because he knows who I just told him about. I’m not going to think about that right now though. I told him I was going to have a spa day. Instead I go to my coach’s house. He said my mom has refused to have any part in Riley’s funeral. He tells me that he and Riley had been secretly seeing each other for a while. She told him about my dad when we got into the car accident. If he had survived he had already talked her into going to the police. Since he died she wanted to tell our mom, but when she did our mom beat her. He had to take her to the hospital. Riley never came home after that. While she was in the hospital they discovered her pregnancy. They worried that the baby could be my dad’s. How screwed up is that? My niece would have also been my sister. When she was born they did a DNA test and found out that the baby wasn’t his. Her name was Patience Monique. She gave her my middle name. I hate that I didn’t get a chance to meet her. He gives me pictures of them. She was beautiful. They were supposed to get married next month. Riley wanted me to be their witness at the courthouse. Instead he’s planning a double funeral. I don’t blame him anymore. None of this was his fault, I see that now. He only did what Riley asked him to do. He tells me that he no longer trains where I used to live. He has a gym nearby. He wants me to be a trainer with him. For some strange and yet unknown reason the idea of me being a trainer never crossed my mind. I tell him I’ll think about it. I help him as much as I can with the final funeral arrangements then leave. I guess I’d better go get my hair and nails done.
Jay’s plane lands in an hour. I should be done by then. She thinks I’m an invalid so she’s coming to help Kalil take care of me. She insisted on me picking her up from the airport, but I talked her out of it. She can chill with Donte for now. I’ll meet up with her later. Just as I’m finishing with my hair, I hear her ringtone.
“My ride stood me up, said he had to go help your man with something, so I feel it’s only fair that you get your ass to this airport and pick me up.”
I wonder what Kalil is up to as I make my way to the house to switch cars and then to the airport. There’s no way all of her bags will fit in the tiny trunk of the coupe. When I get there she’s waiting outside. She has a lot of bags so I guess that means she’s staying for a while and switching cars was a good idea.
She hugs me and says, “I’m sorry I couldn’t get here sooner.”
“You’re here now.”
“Kalil has good taste, I like this car.”
I focus on the road instead of responding. I’m still trying to figure out his secret.
“Where we eating? I’m starved.”
“Kalil took me to this one spot I’d never heard of before, they have good catfish.”
“Good, I haven’t had catfish in forever.”
Of course he would call while we’re talking about him.
“Hey,” I say when I answer.
“What you doing?”
“Just picked Jay up. What you got Donte helping you with that’s so important?”
“Classified, where y’all going?”
“To eat.”
“Can I respond to what you said earlier?”
I smile and tell him no.
“I’m not coming home until you let me respond.”
“Good, you’re smothering me anyway.” I say this jokingly, but there’s truth to it. He refuses to leave me home alone now.
“I’m hurt.”
“Boo hoo, cry me a river,” Jay says.
“Always a hater in the midst, I’m going by the club before I come home, call me when y’all get there,” he says.
I tell him okay and we hang up. When we make it to the restaurant Jay’s staring at me. We haven’t really talked much lately. After we order our food she tells me to talk. She has a way of seeing right through me. She makes me want to cry and I thought I was all cried out. I hold it in. I tell her everything that happened that night. I don’t skip any details. I tell her everything that happened with Riley. I tell her everything that happened with my mom. I even tell her that Stanley’s been calling me. I haven’t even told Kalil that yet.
“What does he want?”
“Me to talk to my mom, hear her out and try to fix things between us. He says there’s more to the story.”
“Does he actually know the whole story, the shit she’s done to you?” She’s frowning and getting loud with her anger.
“I don’t know. I stopped answering his calls.” I tell her about the conversation I had with Kalil today and how I accidentally told him I love him. I also tell her about going to my coach’s house.
“Kalil’s not stupid. I’m pretty sure he already knew how you felt before you said it…why don’t you just start you own gymnastics coaching at one of his gyms?”
These things should be so obvious to me right now and I haven’t even considered them.
“What if it doesn’t work out between us, then what?”
She frowns. “Why wouldn’t it work out? He knows all your secrets and was there to witness all the skeletons in your closet and he’s still here. What more could you ask for? Besides, I seriously doubt he’s letting you go anywhere anyway.”
“He’s hiding something.”
“All men hide things, get over it. He’s a good guy and he wants to take care of you and be with you, quit being an idiot and let him.”
She makes it seem so simple. I don’t want to be that dependent on Kalil. I want to be able to provide for myself just in case something does go wrong between us. I don’t want to be that dependent on anyone anymore, my mom and dad have let me down enough for a lifetime. “I think I caught a glimpse of it that night, the way he was talking to Donte and the rest of them.”
“You’re not making sense, Mak. Of course you caught a glimpse of something. He was pissed and blaming himself for what happened.”
“It was more than that, Jay. It’s like he was a general giving a battle speech and they were the soldiers ready to go to war.”
“And? What’s so bad about that? These guys tried to kill you and his son. I hope they find them and beat the crap out of them. I’m mad you waited so long to give him their names.”
She doesn’t get it. “Not once did any of them mention anything about cops. If somebody breaks into your house and their DNA is all over the place wouldn’t calling the cops be the first thing you would do?” She’s quiet. I think it’s finally starting to make sense to her, but change my mind when she laughs. I frown and ask, “What’s so funny?”
“Leave it to goody two-shoes Makynzee to fall in love with a damn kingpin.”
I don’t laugh with her. What if she’s right? “It’s not funny, Jay. What if he’s a…” I struggle to think of something bad. This is my Kalil I’m talking about. He’s too much of a sweetheart to have a bad bone in his body.
“A what, Mak? Drug dealer, war lord, murderer, are you seeing how ridiculous it sounds when you say this stuff out loud?”
I don’t respond. She’s right. It sounds ridiculous.
“You’re just stressed with everything that’s going on. Kalil’s a good guy, he’s just out for revenge on whoever came in y’all house that night and I don’t blame him.”
I can’t argue with her so I finish eating my food instead. She needs so
mething to wear for Riley’s funeral so we go to the mall. Since we’re here I might as well get my nails done. By the time we make it back to the house it’s a little after 8 at night.
“How do you stay in here by yourself and why does Kalil need five bedrooms for just him…and you…I think?”
I shush her. I’m trying to catch up on episodes of Teen Wolf and she’s interrupting me.
“I can’t believe you’re watching this crap.” She gets up and goes into the kitchen, but turns and comes right back out. “We should go out tonight. Go dancing and do your version of drinking, celebrate Riley’s memory.”
Celebrating is the last thing I feel like doing, but she probably won’t take no for an answer. I guess it’s not the worst thing I could be doing. I look down at my watch. It’s almost nine o’clock. I tell her okay and ignore her surprised look as I go upstairs. I throw on one of the dresses that I just bought at the mall. It’s a cream colored ruched tube dress. The material is silky. I love the way it feels against my skin. It’s a lot shorter than I thought it would be though. Kalil might not be too happy about that. He said I could wear whatever I wanted as long as he’s with me. We’re going to his club, so that counts, right? I accessorize with red bangle bracelets, red earrings, and a red clutch. My red peep toe pumps are embellished with silver spikes that cover the back of the shoe and the heel. Jay’s dress is royal blue and black and puffs out like a tutu. Her heels are black. I love her dress.
As I come downstairs she asks, “Have you been able to get through to Kalil?”
“I sent him a text saying we were going out, he hasn’t responded yet.”
“Well we can make a pit stop, maybe they’ll wanna be our escorts.”
Sirens is packed. I ignore the cat calls and ‘excuse me’s’ as we make our way to the bar. I don’t see Kalil in any of the VIP sections so I guess he’s in his office. I stop to ask Cari, who looks surprised to see me.
“What are you doing here?” she asks.
“Kalil’s not answering his phone, I just stopped by to talk to him real quick. Is he in the back?”
She hesitates and looks nervously towards his office. “Wait here, I can go get him for you.”
That makes no sense. I can easily get him myself. “You don’t have to get him, I can.”
“Minx, it’s no big deal, I was headed that way anyway. Have a drink while you wait.”
Now I know for sure something’s up. Cari knows I don’t drink and she hasn’t called me Minx since the night I danced here.
“Seriously, Cari, chill out.” I grab Jay’s hand and lead her to Kalil’s office.
“I swear if they have some bitches in here I’m shutting this damn club down.”
The thought of Kalil cheating on me has never even crossed my mind until now. Not because I don’t think it’s possible - I’m not that naïve - more so because of the fact that he’s hardly ever away from me. The thought of him cheating doesn’t piss me off like Jay seems to be. It hurts. The thought alone makes me want to cry. Jay turns the knob and to our surprise it’s not locked. I smile. If they were doing something bad they would be smart enough to lock the door, right? Wrong. We’re both shocked by what we see when we open the door. It definitely needed to be locked. I’m not sure if what they’re doing is any better than cheating. Two guys are passed out on the floor in the middle of the office. Another is slumped over in a chair, but looking in our direction. The three of them are surrounded by pools of blood. The one looking at us has a long cut on the right side of his face. It has stitches sticking out of it, as if it were stitched together, but it’s been cut back open. His face is covered in blood. His legs look weird, broke maybe. Even with one swollen shut and the other dripping with blood, I know those eyes. I’ll never forget them. Donte hits him as we open the door. Jay sucks in a shocked breath. Nothing shocks Jay, therefore nothing about this moment makes sense. I’m the scary one. I’m the one who hates violence and confrontations. I’m the one who should be freaked out by this. I’m the one who’s numb right now. Kalil is sitting on his desk. His hands have blood on them. He has an aluminum bat on his lap. It’s covered in blood too. He doesn’t move at first. You know that look you get when your mom has caught you doing something and you know there’s no point in trying to hide it or argue your innocence? That’s the look Kalil has right now. The only difference is his is mixed with anger. I’m not sure if it’s anger towards us for walking in on them or towards the scenario period. He gets up and starts to walk towards me.
“I’ll be at the bar,” I say and leave before he reaches me.