Chapter 3
CHYNA
“That shit don’t even make no sense! And it’s illegal. Ill-e-gal. You understand that, Mr. Chinaman?” Icelynn’s elevated voice caused my head to pound.
She was one of my favorite cousins. Her younger sister, Capri, was the other one.
Those two and my sister and I were thick as thieves, which was why I currently wondered why the hell I didn’t have one of them .
. . literally, any one of them, come with me to speak with Mr. Chang about the damage to my home.
Icelynn was the only hothead out of us. She knew how to take an escalated situation to the damn heavens.
There was zero chill that resided in her.
“Icelynn, please.” I groaned as I rubbed my temples. “Mr. Chang, I can’t pay for these damages. I can’t afford it.”
“You break pipe. You pay for it,” he argued.
I shook my head. “I didn’t break it, though. Everything was fine when I left this morning. I wasn’t even home when it broke.”
“You break pipe! You pay for it!” he shouted. For such a little man, his temper sure seemed to be big as hell.
“I didn’t break it!” I shouted right back at his ass, which wasn’t even in my character, but this was some true bullshit.
Out of the corner of my eye, I vaguely registered Keegan’s car pulling behind mine, but my headache and the irritation flooding through me didn’t allow me to process much besides what Mr. Chang said.
“You did! You break it. I won’t pay for it. You pay for it,” he said with his arms folded over his chest.
“Look, lil man, my cousin said she ain’t about to pay for shit, so come up with something else,” Icelynn snapped.
“You no pay, you have to get out,” Mr. Chang said.
Get out.
The words echoed in my mind.
“Get out? That definitely has to be illegal. She has a son, you heartless bastard,” Icelynn argued.
I watched as she pulled her braids up at the top of her head.
When I saw her reaching for her earrings to take them out, I knew I needed to put a stop to this entire conversation.
My cousin wasn’t above fighting a man—old or young.
Hell, her and Liam got into it more than anyone else.
“Icelynn, it’s fine. I’ll figure it out. It ain’t like this place is worth fighting over. It’s a dump, really.” My words came out in a confident tone, but tears clouded my vision as I spoke.
“No the fuck it ain’t okay, Chy. Ain’t nothing about this okay,” Icelynn said, but we were interrupted by a deep voice that sent vibrations right to my heart, no matter the situation.
“Fuck goin’ on here?” Keegan asked as he strode over to us. He stepped right in between me and Icelynn and Mr. Chang. His eyes met mine, and his jaw clenched before he asked, “You good?”
Before I could think better of it, I shook my head. I wished I hadn’t done that. I knew how Keegan could get, and if Icelynn was bad, he took the title for certified crashout.
“Tell me what the fuck goin’ on,” he demanded, but his voice remained soft as he spoke to me.
“And who are you?” Icelynn asked as she looked up at him with both curiosity and a mug twisting her beautiful features.
Keegan glanced at her. “You her cousin?”
“Is,” Icelynn replied.
“I’m Keegan.” He hesitated for a second before he said, “Her boss?”
It came out like a question, and my heart softened from the tsunami of emotions.
“My friend,” I corrected. We had known each other too long and gotten too personal to be considered boss and employee, even though I tried to fight that fact.
Something about him being unsure of how to introduce himself to my cousin made me protective of him.
It forced me to admit that Keegan had long ago become more than just my boss.
Icelynn peered up at him with full interest as she leaned over to me and loudly muttered, “Damn, girl. You told me he was fine, but you ain’t ever say he was that fine. Shit.”
“Ice, shut the hell up,” I hissed. I knew my brown skin had a hue of red to it now.
I swore I saw a ghost of a smile as I glanced back up at Keegan nervously.
“Someone tell me what’s goin’ on, man,” he said, patiently looking between us.
“I tell you what go on! She need to pay for damage she do to my duplex,” Mr. Chang said.
I knew that was a mistake as soon as the first syllable left his mouth. Keegan stiffened. He peered down at me, his jaw clenching and unclenching, before he squared his shoulders and turned around to address the older man.
“I don’t recall askin’ you to speak, but since you got so much to say, how ’bout you tell me why she gotta pay for some shit that you’re responsible for?” he asked. His voice was calm . . . too calm.
“She break it.” Mr. Chang pointed at me. I rolled my eyes. His argument was getting tiring.
“He said he was going to call the insurance company earlier, and we would meet to go over the plan. I’m assuming they told him the price to fix the damage, and now he’s trying to put it off on me,” I clarified.
Keegan didn’t turn to look back at me. All I saw was his broad back, and what a fine-ass back it was.
When he finally did turn to look at me, I looked up into his light brown eyes.
His creamy brown skin was a shade lighter than mine.
I couldn’t remember a day where his short beard and goatee weren’t lined.
Currently, his thick brows were drawn in, making him look menacing.
But I knew the look wasn’t for me. He never looked at me like that. Not once.
“Where did the pipe break?” he asked.
“I-in the bathroom.” I pointed toward the front door of my house.
“Can you show me where?”
He’d never been inside my house before. Only in the backyard or on the front doorstep. I had a feeling that if I showed him where the bathroom was, something bad would come out of it, so I remained mute. When it was clear I wasn’t going to show him where the pipe had burst, Icelynn spoke up.
“I’ll show you,” she said happily as she skipped toward my front door.
Keegan looked at me for another second before he followed her inside.
Mr. Chang glared at me, but I ignored him.
I suddenly realized that I hadn’t asked about Liam at all.
I glanced around and noticed he was nowhere to be seen.
Noticing Keegan’s car, I ran over to it and tried to peek inside, but his windows were too tinted to see anything.
The doors were locked, so I couldn’t get in, and fresh frustration filled me.
There was no panic. If there was one thing I knew about Keegan, it was that he would never play about KJ or Liam, but I did want to know where my damn son was.
Just when I was about to run inside the house, Keegan walked out with a big ass pipe over his shoulder and Icelynn giggling as she followed behind him.
“What . . . Keegan, how the hell did you get that pipe out of the wall—”
My eyes ballooned when Keegan lifted the pipe over his head and lazily let it hit Mr. Chang in the head.
“Aw shit.” Icelynn doubled over, laughing so hard she snorted.
Mr. Chang didn’t get hit hard. Not nearly hard enough to knock him out, but he would definitely have a nice-sized knot on the top of his head by morning.
“Now tell me again what Chyna gotta pay?” Keegan asked as Mr. Chang rubbed his head.
“I call police!” Mr. Chang shouted. He dug around in his pants pocket, and Keegan swung the pipe at Mr. Chang’s hand.
“Focus, nigga,” Keegan grumbled. “Answer my damn question.”
“Noting. She not have to pay noting.” Mr. Chang cried.
“I see you a fast learner, and guess what else? You’re gonna let her live here rent-free until she finds a new place to live, because best believe she can do better than this place. No offense, Doll,” he said as he glanced at me.
“N-none taken,” I replied, completely stuck in place. I was somewhere between turned the fuck on and scared as hell that the police would show up and arrest Keegan.
“And you ain’t gonna call the police because I have lawyers . . . real good fuckin’ lawyers.” Keegan took a step closer to Mr. Chang, who cowered under his height. “And they’ll only fuck you up after my niggas get to you. You understand that?”
Mr. Chang nodded. “I don’t want trouble.”
Keegan smirked. “Yeah, I bet the fuck you don’t. Get the fuck out of here.”
Mr. Chang tripped as he tried to get away. Keegan swung the heavy pipe back and forth, taunting the old man.
When Mr. Chang finally got into his car and drove away, Icelynn shrieked with laughter.
“You are a nut, Keegan,” she shrilled.
Keegan nodded at her before he turned to me. “Go pack a bag. You and Liam gonna stay wit’ me.”
My eyes widened. “What? No. I was going to stay with Icelynn.”
“Girl, stay with that man. You’re in real good hands,” Icelynn said as she patted Keegan on the shoulder before she walked past us both.
“Icelynn,” I hissed, but she ignored me as she walked to her car, giggling the entire way.
After what she just witnessed, how the hell could she leave me here with Keegan? I mean, I knew I was in good hands with him, but this was her first impression of him. How the hell could she know that?
“I like her. She good people,” Keegan said.
I stared at him incredulously. “That’s because y’all are both insane. Keegan, really? That was so unnecessary.”
“Ain’t nothin’ unnecessary when it comes to you.”
His words hung in the air between us as we gazed at each other. Finally, I cleared my throat and said, “I can’t stay with you, Kee. It’s too much . . . I’m . . . I’m your employee,” I said lamely.
He grabbed his chest as if he was hurt. “I thought we were friends.”
I smiled shyly. “I mean, we are, but—”
“Then stop arguing wit’ me and go pack your shit. I’m hungry, and I know the boys gotta be.”
“Where are they, anyway?” I asked.
He nodded his head toward his car. “In the car.”
“Did they see all that?” I asked, panic now taking over. I never allowed Liam to see me sweat. I definitely didn’t allow him around violence. What he saw when he was around his ain’t-shit daddy was beyond me, but that was only once a month. Most of the time, he stayed as innocent as possible.
“Woman, I got this. Go pack a damn bag,” Keegan demanded, but his voice was still soft.
I shook my head slowly. “You won’t take no for an answer, will you?”
“No.”
I sighed, and suddenly, the events of the day had me completely exhausted. “Fine. I’ll be back out in a few minutes.” I started toward the house.
“And don’t worry about your car.”
I stopped in my tracks. “What? I need my car.”
“What I say?”
I clamped my mouth shut and walked into the house.
Keegan followed me up to my doorstep but stayed outside so he could watch the car.
I heard him talking on the phone but was unsure who he spoke to as I moved further into my damaged home.
None of my furniture in the rooms with water would be salvageable.
This time, when tears clouded my vision, I allowed them to fall. Today had been one hell of a day.
I quickly packed a bag for both me and Liam. I would have to buy a few things tomorrow to get us by, but I would worry about that later. I couldn’t stress about what I would do next or where I would move right now. It was too much, and all I wanted was some food and somewhere to lay my head.
I wiped my tears and made my way back out to the front door where Keegan had just finished up his call.
“You good?” he asked. I nodded as I locked the door.
He stopped me before we could walk off the front steps.
“You gonna be aight. I just made a call to one of my lawyers. They gonna make sure you’re protected from all this, and we gonna try to get you some money too.
Your landlord has you in living conditions that aren’t up to par wit’ the law. I got you.”
I simply nodded again. It was all too much to think about.
We walked to the car in silence, and when Keegan opened the back door, my brows pulled together.
“Why are the boys crouched down like that?” I asked.
Keegan grinned. “Because they know how to listen to Daddy.”
When he said that, something in my core stirred.
Keegan reached both arms in and tickled the boys. They shrieked with laughter as they squirmed around on the floor.
“Mr. Kee, that game was fun,” Liam shouted, and then he spotted me and yelled, “Mommy!”
I winced from the pounding in my head, but then I smiled weakly. “Hey, baby. Guess what?”
“What?”
“We’re going to have a sleepover at KJ’s house,” I replied.
Both boys clapped and cheered. I smiled. Seeing them both so happy made this shitty day seem a little brighter.
“Come on. Let’s get y’all buckled in so we can get going,” Keegan said. He grabbed my bags from me and then helped the boys get buckled while I settled into the front seat.
The cool glass of the window felt good on my pounding head, but the lingering smell of Keegan’s cologne calmed me. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, agreeing to stay with my boss, but a small voice inside of me warned me to get ready for the time of my life.