6. Sage
Sage
I pulled up to a ranch in Brunswick Meadows, checking my phone to make sure the address was correct.
After confirming, I pulled into the empty driveway and got out.
The cozy brick structure didn’t have too much going on as far as landscaping, but it was nice and well manicured with an abundance of green grass.
Bag in hand, I made it up two stairs onto the porch when the front door opened. Keturah greeted me with her phone to her ear.
“Hi, Ms. Sage,” she said with a smile.
“Hey, Ket?—”
“Come on in.” She made room for me to enter. “My dad’s in the kitchen.”
“Doing what?” slipped out before the aroma hit me.
“Cooking,” she replied, walking off. She left me standing there, and was almost out of sight when she added, “You can go back there.”
Although I appreciated the hospitality, I would have preferred more direction. I’d never been to Keyoni’s house before.
Tossing my bag on the couch, I started a solo tour to the kitchen, peeking in two cracked doors on the way. One was a bathroom, the other was a bedroom Keyoni caught me looking in.
“You can see better with the light on,” he said, making me jump. Leaning past me, he turned on the light. “Now you can see the whole room.”
“I wasn’t trying to—” He twisted his mouth at my assertion, so I gave up. “Keturah told me you were in the kitchen. I didn’t know where it was.”
“This ain’t the kitchen,” he told me, taking my hand. “It’s this way.”
The aromatic smell increased with each step we took, causing my mouth to salivate in anticipation. Whatever he was cooking smelled good. Real good. And I hoped the taste didn’t disappoint.
The kitchen was located in the back of the house. As soon as we entered, I saw steam rising from the stove. I walked over and observed the pots for myself.
“What did you fix?” I lifted one of the glass tops to find pork chops smothered in gravy, onions, and mushrooms. Nodding in approval, I checked out the sides—mashed potatoes and green beans decorated with meat. “Did Keturah cook this?”
“You funny.” He nudged me over, picking up a large spoon to stir the green beans. “I can cook.” He met my gaze. “A lil bit.”
“You cooked for me?”
“No. I cooked for me…and my daughter. There’s enough for you too though.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m not here to eat anyway. I’m here to work.” Best believe I was still going to eat. “Where’s Kaiser?”
I followed Keyoni to the mudroom by the garage. Before reaching the door, I found Kaiser, resting comfortably on a dog bed with his paws hanging over onto a shaggy rug. Under the rug, Keyoni had dark, hardwood floors that extended throughout the rest of the house.
Or at least, the part I saw.
“Kaiser,” Keyoni called out. “Look who’s here.”
Although he barely acknowledged me, it didn’t stop me from doing what I came to do. I looked him over with a visual assessment, relaying my findings to Keyoni. “He looks okay, but I’m sure you’re well aware that looks can be deceiving.”
“You ain’t gotta tell me,” he cosigned, leaning against the wall. “I know.”
Something about his words told me we weren’t talking about the same thing. I let it go though, since I was there for Kaiser and not to figure out Officer Keyoni Green.
I retrieved my bag from the living room, returning to Kaiser with an apology as I prepared the syringe for his vitamin K injection.
“I’m sorry, buddy.” I patted his head before lifting his coat, sticking the needle through his skin.
I released the medication quickly. When the syringe was empty, I pulled it out and rubbed the spot.
He turned his head in time to see my mouth move to say, “All done.” My attention shifted to Keyoni. “Has his appetite picked up?”
“Yeah, a lil bit.”
I nodded. “That’s good. As long as it’s increasing, we should be okay.”
“We?”
“Y’all,” I corrected, but the way he looked at me made me feel uncomfortable. I lifted from the floor, changing the subject. “Is dinner ready?”
He laughed. “You said you were here to work. Not to eat, remember?”
My tongue danced at the corner of my mouth. “Yeah, well…I worked up an appetite tending to Kaiser.” I couldn’t keep a straight face at the blank stare that followed.
“You barely did anything.” The intensity in his eyes softened. “But a lot at the same time. I appreciate it. Thank you for coming.”
My mind went straight to the gutter.
I didn’t cum yet.
“Don’t thank me.” I looked him over, smirking when I stopped at his face. “I bill by the hour.”
“Might as well get my money’s worth.” Keyoni looked at his watch. “I still got forty-three minutes left.” His lips parted into a smile. “Let’s eat.”
I couldn’t stop staring at Keturah’s nails. They were at least an inch long and bedazzled.
“It’s time for a fill-in,” she noted. “But I gotta wait until I’m back with my mom.”
“Why?” I asked curiously.
“Because I ain’t paying for it,” Keyoni chimed in. “She’s thirteen. She don’t need all that.” He pushed his plate away. “But her momma lets her do what she wants.”
I found that hard to believe. Jami didn’t seem like that type.
“No she lets me be me and express myself the way I want,” Keturah corrected.
“Expressing yourself has nothing to do with those long ass nails. Nobody needs nails that long?—”
“Ms. Sage got long nails.” My hands went under the table. I wasn’t in it. “And she’s a doctor.”
I felt his gaze penetrate the side of my face. I refused to look his way.
“She’s also a grown woman who doesn’t depend on her parents to pay for everything. There’s a difference.”
Keturah groaned. “My dad doesn’t appreciate my freedom of autonomy.”
I laughed. Keturah was serious.
“I appreciate everything else,” Keyoni added genuinely. “You got plenty of time for all that. Right now I just want you to be my thirteen-year-old daughter.”
“I’m almost grown.”
“Keyword…almost. But not quite.”
She turned to me. “I’m almost fourteen.”
“She still got nine months,” Keyoni revealed.
“Eight-and-a-half.”
The back and forth between Keyoni and his daughter was entertaining to watch. Some of the stuff that came out her mouth, my dad would have considered borderline disrespectful, but it was all in good fun because Keyoni gave it right back.
It made me think about the relationship I had with my parents.
I barely spoke to my mom and the relationship I had with my dad was nothing like what Keyoni had with his daughter.
They were more like friends and it seemed like Keturah knew just how far to take it.
My dad didn’t play any of that. He was authoritarian, strict in his ways.
A child always had to stay in a child’s place.
He would never…and I mean never…carry on with me like we were friends.
Keturah pushed up from her chair when her phone started ringing. “Bye, y’all.” She answered the phone, “Hey girl,” before leaving the room.
My phone chirped with a message. I read it, noticing the time as I responded to Lanique’s text asking why I was in Brunswick Meadows.
Me : Having dinner.
Lanique : Where?
Me: Somewhere.
Lanique: You know I can find out.
I never said she couldn’t. She had my location, which was how she knew I was in Brunswick Meadows anyway. If she had the address, with a little detective work she would easily figure out the home’s owner.
Me : We’ll talk when I get home.
“Time to go?” Keyoni’s voice reminded me where I was. Engrossed in my phone, I’d practically been ignoring him. “Past your curfew?”
“I don’t have a curfew.” After pushing my chair back, I stood, grabbing my plate and his. “I do need to get going though. I’m only billing for an hour.”
Smiling, I started toward his sink. I stopped when I heard, “How much for another one?”
I glanced over my shoulder before placing the dishes in the sink. “I don’t think Kaiser needs anything else from me tonight.”
“Who said it’s for Kaiser?”
I eyed him with a hand on my hip. “Are you flirting with me, Officer Green?”
“Keyoni,” he corrected. “And like I told you before…I don’t flirt.”
“What do you call it?”
“Making small talk.”
My lips twisted into a smirk as I returned to my seat. “Speaking of small talk…are you ready to tell me about the dangers of Meadow View Apartments?”
“D-Ville Projects ain’t dangerous, Sage. Not anymore…as long as you’re on the right side.”
“What side is that?”
“DP’s side.”
“What’s DP?”
“Not what, but who.”
Keyoni’s explanation went over my head. The shit he said sounded like it could have been in a movie. Fascinated, I listened to it all. Drugs. Guns. Murder. DP was involved in it all. But instead of being a fairytale, it was their way of life.
That was when it hit me.
“Wait…you mean like a real life gang?”
“Nah, a fake one.”
I was lucky enough to group up in an environment where the only real violence I saw was fighting amongst family. And that was mainly between me, my siblings, and cousins, because for some reason growing up, none of us could get along.
“Don’t get sarcastic with me. I’m trying to understand. This is all new to me. I’ve never met anyone in a gang. Apparently they’re all over the building.”
According to Keyoni, there were DPs on every floor.
“Closer than that.”
“What do you mean?”
“In your apartment.”
“Bullshit. It’s only me, Lanique, and… Cauvey ,” I said lowly. “He’s in DP?” I asked in surprise.
I would have never guessed.
“One of many,” Keyoni confirmed. “But you didn’t hear that from me.”
Wrong!
I heard him loud and clear.
KEYONI
With Kaiser down, I was given random assignments to do, like making sure nothing went down at a streetball tournament in Highland Park. I’d been to plenty as a spectator, but never as an officer of the law. The task was usually left to rookies or those trying to kiss ass for one reason or another.
It was cool though.
I got to see a lot of familiar faces, both young and old, and even stopped by Mr. Dave’s tent to place a bet.
“You out here for work or pleasure?” the older man asked while I dug into my pocket.
As if the uniform didn’t tell it all…