2. Keyoni
Keyoni
I blinked and the weekend was over. Monday morning, we were back to our normal routine, which for the week, included taking Keturah to school. Fortunately, the school was less than a mile from my job, so I didn’t have to make any time adjustments.
“Are you about ready?” I asked, catching Keturah coming out of the bathroom. Too much of whatever she sprayed came with her.
“No.” She looked offended. “Are you?”
“What it look like?” My gaze dropped down the length of my body until I reached a bigger size of the black and green tennis shoes Keturah wore. “You think I’m wearing this uniform for fun?” She rolled her eyes. “Yes, I’m ready.” I glanced at my watch. “You should be too.”
“Twenty minutes.”
“Ten,” I countered.
“Dad!”
“I can make it five.” With a huff, she ran off, mumbling something under her breath. “What you say?”
“Nothing.”
“Yeah, I didn’t think so.” Although I couldn’t see her, I knew she could hear me. “Not if you want an iced coffee.”
I heard her scurrying about at the mention of the caffeinated drink. She couldn’t have it when she was with her mom, but when she was with me, she could have almost anything she wanted. Almost . Some things were still a hard no.
I caught Kaiser in my room, snoozing on the floor when I walked in.
“Get up, boy,” I called out nonchalantly and he lifted his head.
When he put it back down, I put more bass in my voice.
By the time I made it to my bathroom, he was up on his feet, which was a smart move for him, since not listening earned him a spot in his kennel.
Thirty minutes later, we were in the drive-thru at Diamond Brewed. I ordered Keturah’s usual while treating myself to a simple coffee—black. At the window, the barista told my sister I was in line. Ivory came over, damn near sticking her head out the window to talk to me.
“Hey! Whatchu doing here?”
I attempted to hand over my card. “Buying expensive ass coffee.”
“Whatever.” She pushed my hand away, straining her neck to try and see through my dark tint into the back seat. “Is Kaiser with you?”
“Yeah, he’s back there.” I started to put my card away. “So’s your niece.”
Her face lit up. “Where’s my baby?”
Keturah rolled her window down. “Right here. Hi, Aunt Ivory.”
“Hey, auntie’s baby. Come here,” Ivory requested.
“You better not—” The back door opened before I could finish. Keturah hopped out, ignoring my objection. Ivory leaned further out of the drive-thru window, extending her arms for a hug Keturah eagerly bounced into. They stayed entangled way too long. “A’ight now. That’s enough.”
I wasn’t trying to bring attention my way, since driving family and friends around in my company car was frowned upon.
It didn’t make sense for me to drive Keturah to school in my personal car just to go back home and get my assigned SUV, especially considering how close the station was to Keturah’s school.
Ivory waited until they separated to run her mouth. “Don’t be rushing my baby,” she said as Keturah got back in her seat, reaching to pull the door closed. “She can take as long as she wants. Ain’t that right, auntie’s baby?”
“Yep,” Keturah agreed confidently.
“You already know. I’ll shut this whole place down for my Turah boo.”
She was quick to make up a name for my daughter. And Keturah was quick to eat it right on up; I caught her smiling in the rearview mirror.
“That’s crazy.” I shook my head, glancing out of the side mirror at the extended line.
There were five cars behind me, probably more, since the last car partially wrapped around the building.
I didn’t know if or how many people were behind him.
“Holding up the line just for a hug.” Looking forward, I sighed before my eyes dropped to the clock in the dashboard.
“What’s taking so long? Y’all harvesting the beans in the back or something? ”
I looked at the clock again. It still read seven forty-two a.m.
“No,” Ivory said snidely. “And if you’re in a rush, you came to the wrong place. They serve that weak, quick shit up the street. We serve quality products. Quality takes ti?—”
“Here you go, Keyoni,” Whitney interrupted, reaching past my sister to hand me two cups. “Have a nice day.”
“Thanks.”
“Mmhmm,” she hummed, looking up at a screen displaying orders.
Whitney was Ivory’s cousin, not mine, and although direct at times, she took her role as manager seriously.
I drove off to Whitney telling Ivory they had customers waiting. I didn’t hear Ivory’s response, but knew Whitney would shut down any rebuttal, because when it came to business, Whitney didn’t play. She considered Diamond Brewed just as much her company as Ivory’s.
Keturah finished her drink before I dropped her off. She was all smiles when she got out, wiggling her fingers to tell me bye.
Uncharacteristically, Kaiser didn’t sit up to see Keturah off. He laid down in the back, remaining in that position when I pulled into my assigned space.
“Kaiser,” I called out, seeing my partner lift his head in the rearview mirror. “Time to go.”
He laid his head back down, uninterested. Something wasn’t right.
I got out and went to the back to see what was up. Kaiser stood sluggishly, meeting my gaze before jumping down in slow motion.
“You a’ight, boy?” I asked, expecting some kind of response.
I was convinced that Kaiser was a man in a dog’s body because he understood damn near everything I said. Any other time. Whatever was wrong had him walking past me a few steps to plant his ass on the ground, refusing to look my way.
Then a grating sound pierced my ears—a combination of retching and gurgling—serving as the precursor for what Kaiser threw up right in front of me.
It was then that I knew what kind a morning it would be, a fucked up one. So when it came to fruition, I wasn’t surprised.
“We need two units on Boxelder Way and a unit on Lennox Avenue,” Caption Rory stated firmly. “The rest of y’all rolling with me to the airport. We got word of dummies trying to sneak shit on the plane.”
“What’s happening on Boxelder?” I inquired, trying to decide which location I wanted to respond to.
Before Captain started issuing out assignments, I wanted to know my options.
Captain Rory met my gaze. “Suspect search,” he said matter-of-factly. I eased to the edge of my seat, but before I could volunteer my services, I was shot down. “And before you throw your name out there, let me tell you no now.”
Several officers snickered at the comment. From my position I saw most of their backs. I grilled those bold enough to look my way, wiping the snarky looks right off their faces.
I didn’t see shit funny.
“Why not?” I asked with an attitude.
“Your canine’s out of commission,” Captain Rory advised. “You should see his kennel. It’s atrocious.”
I turned to Tanner standing in the corner.
As usual, he was late to the morning meeting, holding up the wall since he was too lazy to borrow a chair from another room.
Due to an investigation, he was on desk duty, which included tending to the occupied kennels.
I put Kaiser in his after he threw up on the carpet in my cubicle.
As the handler, I expected Tanner to come to me first with any issues. Instead, he went right to the boss.
Ass-kisser.
“Why didn’t you say nothing to me?” Tanner appeared surprised to be addressed. “Yeah, you,” I said, answering the question on his face. “You could’ve told me there was a problem.”
Since I hadn’t heard anything, I thought Kaiser was fine, resting off what I concluded to be a stomach bug.
Just last night he was fine.
“He thought the situation warranted immediate attention,” Captain Rory answered instead.
“So he called me to see for myself. And…” He began walking to the other side of the room.
“Although I don’t see anything alarming, it won’t hurt to have him checked out.
Janice is scheduling him an appointment now and you’re taking your partner to the vet.
” Falling back in my chair, I sighed. “Everybody except Green, listen up for your assignments.”
Fuck that.
I got up and walked out.
SAGE
“Room two’s ready for you,” Sandera advised. She followed up with a rundown. “Owner reports previous nausea and vomiting, low energy, and just kinda laying around. He’s better now though.”
“Okay. Seems simple enough.” I lifted from the desk, glancing at the closed door. “Anything else I need to know?” Sandera shook her head. “Well, I’m going in…”
With my tablet in hand, I made my way to the door, noting the name written on a small whiteboard.
Kaiser.
Knocking on the door, I turned the knob without waiting for a response.
“Good morning, I’m Doctor—” Shock stole my words.
It was him. Fine ass Officer K. Green from the other day.
“Umm.” What was I saying? “Doctor umm… Doctor Smith…Sage Smith.” Clearing my throat, I gathered my thoughts.
“I’m Doctor Sage Smith.” Closing the door, I walked further into the room. “And this must be Kaiser.”
He said nothing.
The awkward silence had me looking around the room until I raised the tablet, scanning the notes. My head lifted when he started speaking.
“I didn’t know you were a doctor.”
“Most people don’t.” Smiling, I stepped around the exam table toward Kaiser laid out on the floor. “Somebody’s not feeling well.” Lowering to a squat, I rubbed the top of his head. “What’s wrong, buddy?”
“That’s what we’re here to find out,” Officer Green answered for him. “He was throwing up earlier and he’s just been laying around. I think he’s good, but Captain wants to be sure.”
“Can you get him up on the exam table?” I watched the corded muscles of Officer Green’s arms flex as he fulfilled my request. Almost hypnotized, it took a few seconds for me to snap out of it. “Alright. Let’s see what’s going on?”
I started with an external exam. Finding nothing out of the ordinary, I ordered bloodwork and lucked up on the opportunity for a stool sample after Kaiser started whining. Officer Green told me what the whine meant, so I followed them outside, gloves on and bag in hand for collection.
“I expected something much looser.” I gently squeezed the sample. “But…this is good. It’s formed, a chocolatey brown color, no signs of parasites?—”
“You like playing with shit?”
I snickered. “Is that what you think I’m doing?”
“That’s what it looks like.”
I moved the sample to a container. “No, I don’t like playing with shit, Officer Green. But I do like to be thorough and rule out what I can. Sometimes, I have to play with shit to do so.”
“It’s still nasty.” He made a sound that had Kaiser running over.
“Yeah, well…sometimes being nasty gets the job done.”
His brows lifted and I smiled coyly, starting my stride back to the building.
“What kind of nasty you talking about?”
“Whatever comes to mind, Officer K. Green.” Adding his first initial sparked my curiosity. “What does the K stand for?”
Turning around, he was right there, side-stepping to avoid a collision. The subtle cologne I smelled in the exam room pierced my nostrils, overloading my senses.
“Keyoni.”
“ Keyoni ,” I repeated, appearing unaffected. “I like it. It’s… different .”
I continued my stride. He reached for the door as we approached.
“So’s Sage.”
Point made. There was no need for a rebuttal.
Back inside, the duo returned to their exam room while I inspected the fecal sample under the microscope. It came back normal and Kaiser was sent home with specific instructions for rest and relaxation for the remainder of the day. He could return to normal duties tomorrow.
“Just make sure you’re keeping an eye on him,” I instructed. “He looks fine now, so I’m hoping it was a one-off event. If anything else happens though?—”
“I’ll be back,” Keyoni finished for me. “Getting in your ass because you obviously diagnosed my partner wrong.” I rolled my eyes at the hint of a smile lifting the corner of his lips. “Are you even old enough to be a doctor? How old are you?”
“Old enough.”
“That means you’re young,” Keyoni assumed with a smirk. “How young?”
Sighing, I shifted my weight to one foot. “It’s rude to ask a woman how old she is.”
“Is that your answer?”
There was something about him, a likeability that extended beyond his physical appearance. He was no doubt handsome, and had what appeared to be a tight physique underneath his uniform, but his personality was just as attractive as the shoes on his feet.
Green was my favorite color.
“I’m twenty-eight.”
His head tilted. “Really?”
“Yeah.” His expression was unreadable. “Why? Is that a problem?”
“Not at all.” He looked me over, making me wonder if there was a hidden meaning behind his response. Then, the feeling was gone. “Well…have a good one.” He grabbed the papers I handed to him earlier. “I’m sure I’ll be seeing you around.”
I smirked as he passed me, exiting the room with a firm hold on Kaiser’s leash. “I don’t think so.”
We didn’t run in the same circles. Each interaction we had was merely a coincidence.
“Oh, I do,” he replied with a level of certainty that had me wondering if there was truth behind his words.
I didn’t think too long though. Keyoni left with Kaiser and I saw other patients.
Animal patients.