Chapter 12
Junie laid on my chest while I ran my fingers through her hair. We were at the lake house still but laid in bed after we explored each other’s bodies for hours. It was quiet and I heard the sound of bugs and frogs through the thin walls of the house. Junie rubbed her fingers along my thigh as if she was drawing a pattern. I could tell she was lost in thought.
“You cool, Junie? Something on your mind?”
She sighed. “I’m just thinking… about what’s next for us. Shit, what’s next for anybody…”
“What do you want to do? Whatever you decide I’m supporting you one hundred percent,” I said, reassuring her.
“I know one thing I want to do.”
“What’s that, beautiful?”
“I want to visit my dad.”
My body went stiff. Since I found out about Prez being responsible for killing my father, I imagined myself placing multiple bullets through his brain. Prez was supposed to be dead. The only reason he wasn’t was because of Junie.
“Should I go to the police? Tell them my father killed my mother?” she asked.
“Jail would be too sweet for him, if you ask me.”
She sat up and peered into my eyes. “Do you think we could do this?”
“Do what?” I asked, rubbing her arm.
“Be together. If we sit here and think about everything. It’s unorthodox.”
I agreed. Our love story wasn’t typical, but it was ours. It was created over pain and trauma. One thing I knew was that pressure created diamonds.
“You’re right, but it’s our story. We can’t let anyone decide our shit. We were put together for a reason. The universe saw fit we needed each other’s love.”
I could sense she was worried. It was understandable. I knew I needed to make her feel like I was locked in with her, regardless of the hand we were dealt. I pulled her on top of me and softly rubbed her back.
“Trust me, Junie. I’m all in with you. Don’t get me wrong, the shit is hard, but what I do know is that you didn’t have any responsibility for your father’s actions. He a coward who went out sad. What we got is between us. Cut all that extra shit out. We locked in, baby, and no one else matters.”
I kissed her lips, and she smiled. She wrapped her arms around my neck before lying her head on my shoulder while I continued to stroke her back.
“Thank you, Kairo.”
“For what, baby?”
“For still being my bodyguard.”
She lifted and placed a kiss on my cheek before she laid back down on my shoulder. We sat in silence, and a few minutes later, she was snoring. Junie had been through a lot. The man she loved and trusted with her life was the same man that took everything from her. Junie losing her mother destroyed her, and it was at the hands of her father. In that moment, I made the vow to protect her for the rest of my life. We didn’t need the things that tainted us from birth. We had each other.
“Kairo, where are you taking me?” Junie asked.
It was the next day after I pulled up on Junie and let her know where I stood. She told me she had been hiding out at her mother’s lake house since everything went down. I wanted to get her out. There was no sense in both of us hiding out. We had to face reality. While she slept last night, I planned a day for us. I didn’t tell Junie where we were going. All I did was wake her up and tell her to get dressed and grab her helmet.
“Junie, I told you it was a surprise. Stop asking all these questions.” I grabbed her helmet and placed it on her head. “We have a few stops to make first. Just enjoy the ride, beautiful.”
I climbed on the bike then helped her on. Once she wrapped her arms around my waist and laid her head on my back, I started the bike.
We rode for an hour and thirty minutes before we pulled up to our first stop. I shut off the bike and removed my helmet. Junie climbed off and removed hers too. She looked around. I could see the confusion all over her face.
“Kairo, what are we doing here?”
“We’re here to visit my dad.”
I brought Junie to the cemetery where my father rested. This was the first time I visited my father’s grave since he was buried. I would drive by and sit, trying to find the courage the view the tomb but always chickened out. I felt that I’d let him down by not finding out who had killed him after all these years. Now that I knew and with Junie by my side, I felt I had the strength to view his tombstone.
“KK,” my mother called, walking toward me.
She had her arms wide open and a soft smile on my face. I called her first thing this morning asking her to meet me here. My mother was beautiful. Even after my father died, she didn’t wear the hurt on her face, just in her heart. As time moved on, her grief got manageable, but it was always there. She visited my father’s grave often, speaking to him and spending hours out here. She always begged me to come view and pay my respects. I just didn’t have the heart.
I wrapped my mother in a tight hug and kissed her cheek. “Hey, Ma.”
“Good to see you here, baby. How you holding up?”
“Maintaining. Just trying to navigate what’s next.”
“I feel you, baby. It’s going to be hard, but you’ve always been good with following your heart, mind, and soul. If you continue to do that, I know everything will work out for you.” She patted my hand before looking past me. She smiled. “And who is this beautiful young lady?”
Before I could introduce Junie, she stepped forward with her hand out. “Hi, I’m Junie. Nice to meet you.”
My mother looked at her hand as if it was foreign. “Girl, we do hugs over here!”
She reached for Junie and wrapped her in a big hug. Junie was taken aback at first, but her body relaxed within seconds. My mother finally released her from her embrace.
“Kairo, is this your girlfriend?” my mother asked.
Junie looked back at me. I smiled at her.
“Yes, Mama. This is my girlfriend.”
A silly grin spread across her face.
“It’s nice to meet you. Kairo never brings any of his female friends around. You must be special,” my mother said with a wink.
“I would like to think I am,” Junie bragged. Her bragging didn’t bother me.
My mother looked at me. Her face had turned serious. “You ready?”
I nodded. My body tensed, but I knew this was something I needed to do. My mother led the way. Junie wrapped her hand in mine. I looked down at her. She gave me a tight smile and a nod as we fell in step with my mama. A thirty second walk felt like eternity as we approached the black granite tombstone. I read the inscription in my head. Son, Father, Legend. The tombstone also had a picture of him on it. There were fresh flowers and solar lights around the grave. I knew my mother was responsible. She always made sure his grave was kept up.
“Go ahead, son. Talk to him.”
I walked closer and squatted in front of the tomb. I placed my hand on it and the coldness chilled my hand. I felt myself getting choked knowing this was the only way I could speak to my father.
“He-Hey Pops.” I sniffled. “Um… I know I haven’t come and talked to you and I’m sorry for that. It’s just hard knowing you’re not here. Life has been hard on me, but I know I gained you as an angel. The proof is in the new things that have come into my life.” I turned around and looked at Junie. She had tears coming down her face. She smiled softly at me and blew me a kiss.
“She’s special, Dad. Thank you for sending her my way. Now I understand why you were so crazy about Ma.” I chuckled.
I didn’t mention finding out who was responsible for his death and the reason behind it. I didn’t want my mother knowing. I couldn’t take giving her news of her brother-in-law being tied to her husband being dead. She would have to grieve all over again.
“Dad, I know it’s been a while since I told you, but I love you. I miss you here on this Earth. I’ll be back to visit soon.”
I kissed my hand then placed it on the tomb. I stood to my feet and turned to the two most important women in my life now. They both were in tears with smiles on their faces.
“Proud of you, son.” She embraced me in a hug.
Even though I towered over her, I felt like a little boy again, being covered with his mother’s love. We pulled away from our embrace and she looked at me. “What on the agenda for you today?”
I looked back at Junie, who smiled softy at the interaction between my mother and me.
“I got a little something planned for her.”
My mother smiled big. “Just like your father. I can tell she’s a special one. Keep her. I would love to have her as a daughter-in-law.” She winked, then walked past me to Junie.
I watched as she gave Junie a big hug. Junie fell into her embrace, just like I did. They rocked back and forth then separated.
“Junie, come have dinner with me one Sunday. Take care of my baby,” my mother said as she headed to her car.
Junie and I walked back to my bike holding hands. Before she placed her helmet on, she reached for my hand.
“What’s up?”
“Thank you for introducing me to your mother. She’s beautiful and so is her spirit. It means a lot that you would even bring me here to meet her and your dad. I love you, Kairo.” She placed a kiss on my lips.
“Love you more, Junie. Thank you for not running away from all this. I know it’s a lot.”
“It’s not a lot. I’m locked in with you. With you, nothing is ever too much.”
She slid on her helmet and climbed on the back of the bike. I knew I made the right choice with her.
After we left the cemetery, we arrived at the motorcycle shop. I shut the engine off and removed my helmet. Junie climbed off the bike and removed hers as well.
“You coming to get a new bike?” she asked.
I tried my best to hide my smile. “Something like that.”
I grabbed Junie’s hand, and we walked in the store. As soon as we walked in, I could see Junie looking around at all the bikes. The store was completely empty so she could see them all. Before she could speak, the owner of the store, Ricky, met us right at the entrance.
“My boy, Kairo! What’s going on?” he asked, walking toward me dapping me up.
“Not shit, Ricky. I appreciate you doing this for me, especially at the last minute.”
“Man, I told you, I got you regardless of how shit is.”
Ricky’s dad was a part of the Iron Knights, but his dad was also killed in a motorcycle accident when he was eight. After that, my father made sure that Ricky was taken care of. My dad stepped up as the godparent to Ricky, since him and Ricky’s father were close friends. When my dad died, Ricky promised to be there for me just like my dad was for him. Ricky didn’t associate himself with the Iron Knights. He didn’t like what they stood for. He only cared about bikes and felt that having his own shop would pay homage to his late father.
“I appreciate that.”
“Fa sho. Take all the time you need.” He looked over at Junie and smiled. “You did good, my boy!”
“Whatever, man!”
“I’m fucking with you. How you doing? Nice to meet you, pretty lady,” he said, waving at Junie.
“Hey, I’m Junie.”
“Ricky. Pleasure!”
“You just want me to text you the details?” I asked Ricky.
“Yeah, that’s it, and I got you. For real.”
“Bet.”
We dapped up once more and Ricky headed to the back. Once he was out of ear shot, I turned back to Junie. She had an eyebrow raised.
“What?” I asked with a smirk.
“What are we doing here?”
“This is your surprise.”
She looked around again. “What’s the surprise, Kairo?”
I smiled. “I know that since everything happened and how you feel about your father, you’re ready to let go of everything and anything that reminds you of him.” She nodded. “I reached out to my boy Ricky and asked if he could customize you a new bike. Have you start over from scratch with your bike collection. This bike will represent the start of your new life. No more Savage Saints. No more having to please your dad. No more having to miss out on doing the things you love. Whatever style, color, customizations… it’s up to you. Don’t worry about the price.”
Tears rolled down her cheeks, and within seconds, she leaped into my arms, placing kisses all over my face.
“Oh my God, Kairo! I can’t believe you thought to do this for me. This is so sweet and beautiful. I don’t know what to say.”
“Tell me you love me,” I said.
“I love you, I love you, I love you!” She shouted. “This is the sweetest thing someone has ever done for me. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Junie. Anything for the woman that conquered my heart.”