Chapter 4
Chapter
Four
KENDRIX
“Fuck man!” I hissed out, trying to not pull the trigger on this clown. Phoenix fainted a few minutes ago, and Brian took her to the office to lie down until we got rid of him. He passed out again after the fifth time she tased him.
“I know, he will get his, don’t you worry about it. Call this one in so you can take my cousin home and ensure she’s straight. As a matter of fact, I’ll call it in get out of here, man. I will call the new police commissioner so he can personally handle it. We have cameras in the hallway leading to the bathroom, so we will get him on that charge and pile anything else we can find on top. I will check in with her in the morning; that’s my heart right there, so I’m sure I don’t have to tell you to tread lightly.” Brian knew better than to question me on that, but I nodded because it had been a long night, and our emotions were all over the place.
“Yeah, man, let me get out of here.” I dapped him up and stomped on Cameron’s head for Phoenix one last time before walking to the office and hauling Phoenix out of there.
I carefully placed her in the backseat and hoped she didn’t wake up until we got to my house.
“I got you, Jewel; I pray you know that,” I mumbled before turning some gospel music on low. The voices in my head wanted me to return to finish the job, but she needed me. If I went to prison, who would take care of her?
“God, I need you to take care of this; I can’t do it alone. I need her… I can’t live without her in my life. You have to do what you do and ensure this doesn’t mess with her mentally. She’s too pure of a soul, which is why I don’t deserve her. This is my fault. I should have been watching her like I usually do. Some may call it stalking, but I call it protection; she can see the goodness in everybody, which isn’t a good trait to have. God, we need you.” I kept glancing at her through the rearview mirror; I didn’t want her to wake up in a panic.
We got to my house in half the time since I was speeding. I checked my cameras for anything unusual, but everything was fine. Looking back at Phoenix, who was still sleeping, I picked her up, but her eyes fluttered open this time.
She smiled slightly at me before dosing off again; I wasn’t worthy of that smile. We got to the house, I took her to my room and laid her on the bed. Her face had dry tear streaks and it pissed me off again. She needs to wash this night off of her, lightly shaking her awake her eyes popped open in fear. I moved back to give her some space.
“Jewel, relax, mama. Please, it’s only me.” She looked around the room, but her eyes were glazed over. Phoenix had never looked so scared before, well, one time, and I had done everything in my power to make sure I never saw it again. She was devastated when Pops died; she was there when Granny Lucy found out the news.
I took slow and measured steps toward her so she wouldn’t freak out more, “Nix baby, look at me.” She focused on me and blinked those jewel-colored eyes at me, making my heartache for her. “You are safe right now, and I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise you that, and this is one promise that I won’t ever break.” I dropped to my knees and crawled over to her. Fuck my pride right now, she needed to see me as vulnerable as possible .
She didn’t utter a word when I stopped a few inches in front of her; her breathing slowed down. I didn’t want her to have another panic attack; if I could fight her anxiety, we would be going blow for blow.
“I need you to know that you did nothing wrong tonight. Your only fault is being too good for him. I will run a bath for you so we can get some sleep. How does that sound?” Phoenix nodded, a few stray tears falling on her plump cheeks.
I went to the bathroom and quickly turned on the water. Her favorite flowers are sunflowers, so I kept a few around the house whenever I thought of her. The smell of my usual sandalwood body wash was the only thing I had, so she would have to smell like me until I could make a run to the store.
When I went back to check on her, she was still in that same spot, staring off into space. She didn’t even move when I walked past her to get to my dresser to find some clothes she could fit.
“Phoenix, your bath is ready. Stay in there as long as you need to.” I put the clothes in her hands and walked out the door.
PHOENIX
Kendrix made the perfect bath. It was hot enough for me to scrub every inch of my skin clean. Thank God I didn’t do anything with Cameron; it would have only made me feel used.
I really can’t believe this happened to me, he could have raped me, and I would have never been the same. Granny Lucy will lose her mind once I tell her what happened. All the training she instilled in me isn’t lost, though.
“Gran, I am going on a date to the local skating rink; why are you tripping right now?” I said that last part to myself, but of course, she heard it with her bionic ears.
“Gyal the only ting that be trippin’ is yuh behind if yuh play wit me again.” Gran had her jet-black hair in a high bun, and I was envious of her beauty even though we looked alike.
“Yes, ma’am.” Her eyes sparkled underneath the blazing sun. It was a somber day on the estate. Brian was getting ready to leave for the military, and my heart ached every time I thought about it. After the worst summer four years ago, when we lost his mom and the girl of his dreams, Makayla, he wasn’t the same.
My cousin always had a joke ready for someone. He was caring, kind, and the best man ever. Now, he is a shell of himself. I can barely get him to leave the house because whenever he does, it’s always a fight with somebody. The anger that he carried was deadly, so Gran suggested that he go to the military to get his head on straight, and surprisingly, he agreed.
“I never want to scare you, Phoenix, but men are some dangerous creatures; trust me, I know. Now, I want you to date and have fun, but I want you to be smart about it. If that boy offers to buy you a drink, what do you say?” We had practiced this since I was old enough to officially meet Mother Nature.
“I tell him that I can get my own drink but thank him for the gesture because rejection and men are like water and oil.” She nodded at me with pride in her stance.
“Good baby, what do you do if he tries to get fresh wit chu and you already said no?”
“I remove myself from the situation by making an excuse of having to use the bathroom and then text the guys to come and get me.” She swore the BLK boys were a force to be reckoned with, and Brian, Kendrix, and Levi were troubled, though in the best way.
“Okay, good, so yuh do listen. Now if the boys can’t come fast enough. what’s plan b?”
“I fight like hell for myself and take down whoever stands in my way,” we said in unison.
“Phoenix, are you okay in there?” Kendrix asked from the other side of the door.
“No, but I will be.” I soaked in the tub for an additional twenty minutes, adding hot water when needed. By the third time, all my tears were dry, and I got out. Kendrix left a toothbrush for me on the counter, and I quickly brushed my teeth and got dressed. The bathroom smelled like him, and it made me feel more comfortable being alone. I smiled at the vase of sunflowers on the counter; I didn’t know he liked them, too.
When I got back in the room, he wasn’t there. “Come down here for a minute with me, Nix.” He called from somewhere downstairs.
Kendrix stood in the kitchen with a bottle of wine and two glasses filled to the brim. He also had a few snacks out, and after all of the crying, I was pretty hungry.
“Here, take this and sit on the living room couch.” He gave me the wine glass and smiled softly at me. It was strange to be on the receiving end of that smile; I hadn’t seen it in a while. Kendrix has shown me many emotions over the years, anger, flirty, sad, but gentleness and softness haven’t been around lately.
I followed his orders and sat in front of the large 70-inch TV. I noticed that he had Brown Sugar, paused. This was my favorite movie ever; I was obsessed with it in college. It reminded me of Ken and me, even though I would have never called us besties. We’ve been integrated into each other’s lives for a long time.
“Please take that blanket and drape it over your legs. Having you in my clothes might not have been the best idea,” he said, shaking his head once he put the food on the coffee table.
Is he trying to say I look like a mess in his clothes? Embarrassment flooded through me, and I looked away from him, trying to blink back my tears.
“If you were going to judge me for wearing the clothes, Kendrix, why didn’t you take me home?” I took a large gulp of my drink and slammed it down on the table.
Kendrix appeared in front of me in no time and grabbed the front of his shirt, pulling me right in his face. His brows were furrowed in confusion, and those brown eyes, usually guarded, looked right through me.
“No one is judging you, Phoenix; please get that dumb idea out of your head right now. You almost got hurt tonight, so that should be the only thing on my mind, but in true Kendrix fashion, I am thinking about how good you like in those damn clothes. I thought about how badly I wanted to kiss every tear away and exchange them for drops of blood from that scum of the earth. Now, if you are hungry and what I prepared isn’t enough, tell me, and I’ll cook us something.” Kendrix officially left me speechless. He kissed my forehead, turned off the light, and I noticed he must have taken a shower because he was wearing some basketball shorts and a plain white tee shirt.
My emotions were all over the place, so I never said anything back to his declaration, and he didn’t press me for a response. We spent the rest of the night laughing at Sidney and Dre – two people who knew they should be together but were too scared to admit. Unfortunately, we were experts in that department.
“Baby love, please be quiet. You are going to wake her up.” A voice that sounded like Makayla’s whispered in my dreams.
“Ahhh!” A baby-like squeal said, officially ending my dream.
I opened my eyes and stared at Genesis, grabbing Makayla’s hair and trying to pull it out of her scalp.
“Hey, my baby,” I mumbled, still sleepy but happy to be awakened by her beautiful face. Genesis is a combination of her mom and dad.
“Sorry, Nix. I tried to get her to be quiet, but who was I kidding? I knew she would make you feel better, so I couldn’t leave her at home. Meet us downstairs in ten minutes. Yes, I’m rushing you because I need to lay eyes on you.” They left, and I hopped up and instantly felt every drop of wine from last night.
We watched movies all night until I fell asleep on the couch with him holding my hand. That was the Kendrix I remembered when we went off to college. He was attentive and mean to others but sweet to me. The way he cared for me last night was one of the reasons I fell in love with him.
“Come and eat girl; I am worried sick about you. How do you feel? Don’t answer that it was a dumb question. Of course, you feel like—.” I interrupted Makayla’s rant because she was spiraling, and it was making my head spin.
She placed Genesis in the highchair, which Kendrix must have kept at his house. From the cabinet Makayla closed, I can see that he had a lot of baby stuff here: food, bibs, bowls, everything that his Goddaughter would need. The realization made me swoon at his eagerness to be prepared for whenever she came over here.
“I’m not ignoring you, Kay Kay. I am still processing it, but we can do it together. Did you guys tell Ken to get all of this stuff?” I already knew the answer, but I had to ask because things change, and people indeed do, too.
Makayla grabbed one of those cute baby cyclone bowls and a spoon for Gen. She had started introducing more solid foods. My girl is very advanced for a five-month-old baby, and I was so proud of her.
“Nope, girl. You know the guys were overjoyed to be godparents, so he got all of this stuff after the baby moon. He made a list based on our baby shower registry and made sure it was all preapproved by us before he ordered it. That man is waiting not so patiently for his first sleepover with her. I love it. He is going to be a great father one day.” She smirked at me like I was supposed to be the one having his babies .
“Girl, I know you are not looking over here like I will be having that man’s kids.”
“You say that now, but you didn’t hear this man almost cry on the phone this morning begging me to come over here with you so you didn’t have to wake up alone. I was coming anyway; Brian stopped me from rushing over here last night, insisting that Kendrix would take care of you. Kendrix was close to tears on the phone. I could hear it in his voice.”
I can count on one hand the number of times Kendrix has cried in front of me; the first time was at a funeral, and the second happened when he held Genesis for the first time.
“Ever since he’s been on his I-need-to-save-you mission, he hasn’t been far from me. You should have seen the look on his face when he lured me out of the bathroom; he had Cameron’s blood on his cheek. Can we eat first before I dive into one of the most traumatizing times of my life?” Makayla had bacon, fruit, and toast on the table; Genesis was working on pureed bananas.
She prayed over our food, and we ate in silence for the most part, smiling at Genesis being such a happy baby. I swear she was created to bring all of us joy.
“Now, I don’t want you to relive everything that happened, but tell me, how far did he get last night? Brian did not give me all of the details. I was too busy calming him down from catching a murder charge. ”
“Thank God he only got a kiss, and that’s it. We were flirting back and forth throughout the date. It was nice, but I have to be honest and say that I was feeling off, but I assumed it was me thinking of Kendrix. But when we got to Lucy’s Lounge , it was a nagging feeling messing with me, and that’s when Cameron opened his mouth. Girl, basically, he said he didn’t need consent from women, which made me want to slap the taste out of his mouth. I set him straight, left him at the table to use the bathroom, and he came strolling into the bathroom ten minutes later. He locked the door, going on and on about how he knew that when I demanded him to take me home it was a ploy to get him into the bathroom. I was scared hiding in the stall, and then common sense kicked in, and I texted the guys, praying they were close enough to handle the situation. Gran taught me how to defend myself, and I would have used those moves if needed, but I have never been put in that position before. Why are men so gross and make something as simple as dinner so hard for us?” I took a deep, cleansing breath because I could feel all the emotions coming back from last night.
Cameron’s voice was dark and sinister; it told me that I would never be the same if I walked out of that restaurant with him. I blinked a few tears away but then decided to cry for the version of me .
There haven’t been many times in my life where I felt that moment of fear, but that’s in the top three.
“Phoenix, you are a strong girl and the sweetest person I know. Please don’t let this turn your heart into ice, untrusting every person you see. That was me most of my life, and I have lost so much of myself due to the trauma I faced. You are one of the best people I know, so you should call Danielle to talk through how you are feeling. I’m sure she would love to.” Danielle is my auntie — Brian’s mom, who has a dark past, too. Jesus, the women in this family seem to attract the worst of the worst…
“Makayla, where are we going girl? I’m not in the mood to be around people right now.” Brian came to pick Genesis up a few hours ago, and we got shit-faced with a few bottles of wine.
She called Brian to send us a driver to this unknown destination, and we’d been riding for a minute.
“No, thank you, girl. I’m not telling you a damn thing; this is payback for all of those times B took me somewhere, and you refused to give me a hint. You know I hate surprises, so relax; we are almost there.” She stuck her tongue at me and went back to her phone, blushing too hard for it to be anyone else other than her man.
“Okay, you got me, that is fine. You better not be over there sex-ting my cousin with me right next to you.” She blushed harder but didn’t confirm or deny anything.
“We have arrived at your destination, ladies. Have a great night.” the driver said after he opened the door for us.
Looking around, I still had no idea where we were. Makayla wouldn’t let me look in the bag she packed for a hint.
She buzzed the doorbell, and it opened up to a room brightened with hues of blue, red, and warm yellow lights. I followed her in to see a woman with caramel skin, box braids twisted in a top knot, and a huge dragon tattoo on her back that wrapped around her shoulder. The woman was messing around with the speaker, blasting “Wild Side” from Normani.
“Skylar!” Makayla yelled over the music, and the woman turned around, shocked and a bit frightened, her eyes wide and her hand clutched to her heart.
Skylar looked a lot like Misty, Makayla’s old friend from her past, but it’s been some time since I saw her.
“Makayla, oh my goodness, I missed you, girl. I told you I wanted to go by Skylar instead of Misty, but it feels weird to hear it come from you.”
Okay, so this was her; use your brain, Phoenix .
“I know, right? That’s how I felt when people started calling me Makayla, but we are not what we have been through. Skylar, I don’t know if you remember Phoenix, my best friend, but you might have met at the art gallery.” I remember her now. She had a short buzz cut before, so the hair threw me off.
“Hi Skylar, I didn’t recognize you with hair. It’s nice to see you again.” She gave me a friendly smile and then explained to us that we would learn choreography tonight.
Skylar opened this dance studio almost a year ago. Sky’s Steps is a tribute to the version of her before getting involved in the human trafficking scandal.
“Okay, before we get started, I want you ladies to channel your inner bad bish. Bring forth that part of you that is going through something. We want to make her feel empowered. Now we are going to learn some basic moves, and then I would love to see you put your own twist on it.” Skylar was patient with us when we had questions on the breakdown.
The song that blasted through the speakers had me feeling myself; if being a chef hadn’t worked out, I would have been a dancer in my past life.
Usher’s song about being a good kisser was the last song we decided to do the routine to.
We have been learning the same routine for the past thirty minutes; I had it down-packed. My shirt was clinging to my skin, so I whipped it off, thankful I wore a cute bra.
“Yes, sis, take it off; show us why you are a good kisser,” Makayla yelled from the floor in front of me.
Skylar wanted us to get up and do the routine ourselves to boost our confidence.
“Alright, Phoenix, show us what you got, girl! In 5, 6, 7, 8,” Skylar said once the spotlight shined on me.
I walked left, right, left, right, swaying my hips to the beat. The heels on my feet accentuated my hips. Rolling my body in a slow motion from head to toe until I hit the floor. On my hands and knees, I crawled to the back of the studio, feeling the freedom that came with dance. The energy in the room felt charged, and the goosebumps on my arms made me feel,
Empowered.
Sexy,
Wanted.
I popped up into a squat with my hands, tossed my hair around, and whined my hips.
“Yes, bish!” Makayla whistled.
My leg swung me around to the front in a lunge position; my heart almost stopped at the unexpected guest staring straight into my soul.
Kendrix.
He was sitting in the chair against the mirrors next to Makayla; his hair was pulled back into his signature bun. His legs were wide open, a powerful stance that made me feel naked underneath his gaze.
Makayla, the traitor, was smirking at me with her phone still recording me, and Skylar smiled wide at me, encouraging me to finish the dance.
I pulled my left leg in and turned my body to the side, coming up slightly and twerking on the beat.
Kiss it, girl, kiss it right; keep it up; we be kissing all night.
Popping up to my full height, I whined my hips to the beat and walked towards Kendrix. He was the only thing I could see. His eyes were laser-focused on me; I could see his Adam’s apple bobble once I did two turns to land right in front of him.
My arms windmilled to the right, landing on his knee, and my body rolled to the side. His face was directly in front of my stomach. I climbed into his lap, and his hands immediately latched onto my hips. Grounding my body into his felt too good; and his groin jumped in response.
“Fuck Jewel…” He murmured low enough for me to hear. I pulled off from his lap, placed both feet on the floor, and slowly walked to the back of his chair.
My arms came around shoulders trailing slowly down his chest. I placed my head right next to his ear, “Kiss it Ken, Kiss it right, keep it up, we be kissing all night.” I sang in his ear.
I slowly squeezed his length before strutting to the middle of the dance floor. Throwing my arms high in the air, I let the music move through me. Every intricate detail of each instrument took me higher than before. The only thing on my mind was driving him crazy; I didn’t have to open my eyes to know my body put him in a trance.
Don’t nobody kiss it like you.
I dropped into a perfect split for my finale and pointed straight at Ken once the music stopped.
My heart pounded loud, but no louder than Makayla and Skylar’s cheers. Smiling widely at them, I got up and bowed in thanks.
“Phoenix, that was hot as hell, girl! You should think about coming back to another class. I love the energy you two brought to the place.” Skylar walked over to me, joined by Makayla, and we talked for a few more minutes before we went in the back to change.
Makayla waited until we were alone before she shoved me playfully.
“Now you know you’re wrong for getting that man worked up in here. Did you see the look on his face? I swear if we weren’t here, he would have taken you right there. It was so hot; I must get home to my man now.” She wiped her face with a wet paper towel.
“First of all, yuck, that’s my cousin; second, I should kill you because why didn’t you tell me he was going to be here?!” I playfully shoved her farther into the bathroom .
“Girl, he asked me where we were, and I told him. He insisted on picking us up, but I didn’t know he would come inside. You already started the dance when he came through the door, so it was too late.” I guess she has a point; Kendrix does what he wants to do.
“He is hardheaded like that; you’re lucky I’m going to convince him to be friends with benefits. I will not let the other night stop me from getting what I want.” Makayla stopped to look at me in the mirror.
“From the looks of it, you won’t have to convince him of it. He wants you, Nix, there is no doubt about it.” We high-fived and left to find Kendrix.