Chapter 28 Kay’lo Mensah
Trill-Land, ‘LoLux Estate
Two weeks later…
I was standin’ in the kitchen, drinkin’ juice while Toni held her phone up to my face like I was supposed to stand here and calmly watch that bullshit.
Echo’s face filled the screen. Her hair was laid, makeup soft and eyes glossy like she was some poor innocent woman tellin’ her story instead of the same bitter bitch that been runnin’ her mouth about me all over this island for months.
The interviewer kept noddin’ at her like every word out her mouth was gospel, and that alone had my stomach turnin’.
I took another sip of my juice and shook my head. “Turn that shit off,” I muttered.
Toni ain’t move, though.
Echo kept talkin’, her voice soft and wounded while she painted this whole picture about fear and harassment and how she had been scared for her life. Every word felt like sand in my ears. I could feel the irritation crawlin’ up the back of my neck the longer she spoke.
“Yo,” I said again, lookin’ at Toni instead of the screen, “I said turn that shit off.”
Toni lowered the phone just enough to look at me. “Why?”
“’Cause I don’t wanna hear that shit,” I said, keepin’ my voice low. “And I don’t want you hearin’ it either.”
She stared at me like I had just said somethin’ stupid. “Why wouldn’t I hear it?” she asked. “You need to know what she’s sayin’ about you.”
“What I need,” I said, takin’ another sip from my glass, “is not to hear that bitch voice in my house.”
Echo kept talkin’ in the background, and even without lookin’ at the screen I could picture the fake ass sad look on her face.
This whole island had been divided ever since that day at my shop.
Half the people was ridin’ with my family and the other half was actin’ like I was some monster walkin’ around free.
The courtroom shit alone was already enough to deal with, and now she was doin’ interviews, draggin’ my name through every conversation like this shit was entertainment.
I looked at Toni again. “You six months pregnant. You don’t need that shit in your head.”
“I’m fine,” she said real sharp.
“You say that,” I replied, “but you sittin’ here watchin’ it like you tryna torture yourself.”
Her mouth tightened and she lifted the phone again.
Echo’s voice filled the kitchen, and I felt my patience thin out. “Toni.”
“What?” she said without lookin’ at me.
“I don’t wanna hear it.”
“And I do,” she said flat.
I stared at her for a second. “You wanna sit here listenin’ to that bitch lie on me?”
“I wanna hear what she’s sayin’ so I know what you up against’,” Toni replied.
“What I’m up against is a liar,” I said.
She rolled her eyes, and that tiny movement irritated me more than anything Echo had said.
“Kay’Lo, everything ain’t about what you don’t wanna hear.”
“And everything ain’t about you sittin’ here stressin’ yourself out either,” I shot back.
Echo’s voice kept runnin’ in the background, and Toni’s fingers tightened around her phone.
“You always do this,” she said low.
“Do what?”
“Act like if you ignore somethin’ it disappears.”
I laughed under my breath. “Nah. I just know when some shit ain’t worth listenin’ to.”
Toni stared at the screen another second, then finally cut the interview off.
The silence hit the kitchen hard.
She slammed her phone down on the island and the sound bounced off the walls.
“I’m done,” she muttered.
Before I could say anything else she turned and walked away from the kitchen.
I sighed and set my glass of juice down on the counter, and followed her.
She was already halfway down the hallway when I caught up to her.
“Toni,” I called.
She kept walkin’.
I reached forward and grabbed her arm to stop her.
She turned around quick. “What?”
I looked at her face for a second. “You still mad about all this shit,” I said.
“I’m not,” she replied fast.
She pushed her hair back over her shoulder but a strand fell across her face. I reached up and moved it out the way without thinkin’, slidin’ it behind her ear while I studied her expression.
“You say you fine, but you got a fuckin’ attitude.”
“I don’t have an attitude,” she muttered.
“You do though.”
She folded her arms.
“Toni,” I said, “if you knew you wasn’t really over that shit then why pretend like you was?”
Her eyes flashed. “Don’t flip this on me.”
“I’m not flippin’ nothin’. I’m just sayin’ you clearly still holdin’ onto it.”
“You the one that stuck yo’ dick in that bitch,” she snapped. “So don’t stand here actin’ confused about why it might still bother me.”
I went quiet for a second. Then I exhaled and shook my head. “Man… a’ight.”
“Exactly,” she said.
She turned and started walkin’ away again, and I stood there for a second, watchin’ her go, but I couldn’t just let her storm off like that. So I followed her again.
“Toni, stop,” I said, catchin’ her hand, but she yanked it back.
“Kay’Lo, leave me alone.”
“I’m not leavin’ you alone while you mad like this,” I replied, walkin’ beside her.
She tried to move past me and I grabbed her hand again, pullin’ her back toward me. She pulled away.
“Toni.”
“Kay’Lo.”
She tried to walk around me again so I stepped in front of her and pinned her against the wall so she would stop runnin’ around the house.
Her eyes widened immediately. “You pressin’ on my stomach.”
I shook my head and stepped back right away. “You know damn well I ain’t doin’ that,” I said.
Toni wasn’t stupid. She knew damn well I would never do nothin’ to hurt her or the baby. She just needed space and that was the easiest way to make me back up.
She slid past me the second I moved, and just like that she was walkin’ away again.
I rubbed my face and watched her disappear down the hall.
Watchin’ her walk away like that still twisted somethin’ in my chest, ‘cause for months we had been good. We had been laughin’, sleepin’ together, talkin’ about the baby, and actin’ like that crack in our marriage had finally closed.
Now all it took was one damn interview for it to open again, and I hated that shit.
I could deal with Roderick’s bitch ass starin’ at me like he wanted me dead. I could deal with half this island talkin’ about me. I could kinda sorta deal with that bogus ass interview Echo just did. But dealin’ with Toni hurtin’ ‘cause of my mistakes?
That was the one fight I never knew how to win.
As the days went on, a nigga felt like he was in the doghouse. I was tryna act like it ain’t bother me, but that cold shoulder shit Toni had been givin’ me since that interview dropped was hittin’ harder than I let on.
Echo runnin’ her fuckin’ mouth on that interview cracked somethin’ open in my house, and even though Toni said she forgave me months ago, I could see that old hurt peekin’ through her eyes again.
She wasn’t yellin’ or cryin’, but was just movin’ quiet, answerin’ short and stayin’ in her own head.
To me, that shit was worse than a damn scream. So I did what I know how to do.
I catered…
Every mornin’ I made sure the chefs had a full spread ready before she even stepped foot out our bedroom.
I’m talkin’ eggs made how she like ‘em, fluffy pancakes, fresh fruit cut up neat, turkey sausage and smoothies packed with whatever vitamins she needed. I walked her to the table, pulled her chair out and kissed her cheek like nothin’ was wrong even when I could feel that invisible wall sittin’ between us.
She would sit there eatin’, barely lookin’ at me, but I still poured her juice and rubbed my hand over her belly while she chewed.
Sometimes she tried to act like my hand was in the way, but she never actually moved it.
And when my palm warmed against her stomach, our daughter would start movin’ like she knew I was there.
That part right there did somethin’ to me every time.
I always leaned down and pressed my lips against her belly, kissin’ slow over the spot where I felt them lil’ kicks.
“Hey, baby girl,” I whispered against Toni’s skin. “Daddy right here.”
And like clockwork, she would move again.
It got to the point where I ain’t even have to wait long. Soon as my hand touched Toni’s stomach, my daughter started dancin’ like she been waitin’ on me all day. That bond hit deep, and I ain’t never felt nothin’ like it.
I would sit there talkin’ to her through Toni’s belly, sayin’ her name soft, tellin’ her how much I love her, how I couldn’t wait to see her and how she already had me wrapped around her finger.
Toni would roll her eyes sometimes and act like she wasn’t impressed, but I would catch her watchin’ me when she thought I wasn’t lookin’. There was still love in her eyes, but they just had hurt sittin’ on top of it.
Lunches was handled too. I made sure small meals was sent up to her.
If she was on the patio, food got delivered there.
If she was in the bedroom restin’, it went there.
I checked in, askin’ if she ate, and even if she answered with a simple “yeah,” I would still sit beside her and feed her a bite myself just to make her look at me.
Dinner was the same, and at night, no matter how she acted durin’ the day, I still ran her bath water.
I filled the tub up just right, not too hot, not too cool, then go find her wherever she was and tell her it was ready.
She sighed like I was botherin’ her, but she still walked to the bathroom with me.
I helped her step in, careful with her weight now that she was six months and gettin’ bigger, and I always sat on the edge of the tub rubbin’ her shoulders while she soaked.
After she got out, I grabbed the oil and warmed it up in my hands before I touched her.