Chapter 10
CHAPTER 10
RHODES
“T he only people that are supposed to be here are my parents and three brothers… oh, and my sister-in-law Cassie. But it’s the weekend, and anybody can just drop by. They don’t usually drop by my parents’ house. It’s normally Aunt Tiff’s, Uncle Jasper’s, or Aunt Jen’s. But you never?—”
I put my fingers to Karima’s lips. She was so damn nervous. It was like we were in high school all over again. “Baby, it’s cool. I can handle whatever happens. None of it will change how I feel about you. Okay?”
“Okay,” she said then smiled.
Last night was amazing. Catering to her was like second nature. It didn’t feel uncomfortable in the least. My heart was all in, and I wanted to do the most for her. She ended up spending the night with me. After she lay in my bed, her ass didn’t want to get out of it. I didn’t take issue with that at all because I didn’t want her to get out of it either.
I got out of my truck and walked around to help her out. We dropped her car off at her house before coming here. It was only a quarter of a mile away. I could see her dad standing on the wraparound porch. His hair was blowing in the wind. It was cold as shit today. This weather was so damn unpredictable. Yesterday was beautiful enough for us to be outside. It was in the mid-seventies. Now, today, it was in the forties. Damn weather was bipolar as hell.
After helping her out and closing the door, I saw Mr. Kenny’s face ease somewhat. I supposed he was trying to figure out who I was. The last time he saw me, my dreads weren’t nearly as long. They were just barely past my ears. Karima’s hand was trembling in mine as we approached the porch where he was. “Calm down, KD.”
I lifted her hand and kissed it. She nodded then said, “Hey, Daddy.”
She went to him and hugged him, and he kissed her head. “Hey, baby girl. How are you?”
“I’m good. Umm… you remember Rhodes, right?”
“Yeah,” he said while staring at me.
I stepped forward and extended my hand. “Hello, Mister Henderson.”
He nodded then shook my hand. I could see that I would have to apologize to everyone for how I handled their baby. She was their only daughter, and they protected her with their lives. She had four brothers, although one was deceased. We used to talk about him a lot, but since we reconnected, he hadn’t come up once. Maybe she’d healed from the trauma of it all.
“Y’all come in.”
She glanced up at me, and I smiled at her. After grabbing my hand, she followed her dad inside. Mrs. Keisha must have been cooking, because it smelled so good. My stomach was cutting up. Hopefully, it wasn’t loud enough for them to hear. When we got to the family room, she came to meet us from the kitchen with a smile on her face. “Hey, baby!” she said to Karima and rubbed her belly. “How are you and my grandbaby?”
“We’re good, Mama. You remember Rhodes?”
“Of course. Hello, Rhodes. How are you, baby?”
“Hey, Missus Henderson. I’m great. How are you?”
“I’m good,” she said as her eyebrows lifted slightly.
She gave Karima a smirk before going back to the kitchen. I smiled slightly. I knew she was expecting my hood side, because that was what they probably remembered about me. I was still a kid back then. I’d changed for the better and knew when to engage that shit. Now wasn’t the time for that.
We sat on the couch as Mr. Henderson glanced at us. He was extremely quiet for a minute or two. Karima was so uncomfortable. Finally, he looked at me and asked, “So what have you been up to over the years?”
“Not too much. I got a bachelor’s degree from Prairie View in agricultural science and a master’s in animal science. I didn’t go until I was twenty-two or so. It was time to grow up.”
He nodded, seemingly impressed. “What are you doing with the degrees?”
“Nothing right now. I just moved back a few weeks ago. I’ve been trying to get my house situated before searching to see what was out there.”
“You must have really saved up to survive that long without a paycheck.”
I shifted in my seat slightly. “I did, but it’s mainly because I inherited my parents’ money when they were killed in California three years ago.”
“I’m sorry about your family. You’re an only child, right?”
“Yes, sir.”
He nodded. “That had to be difficult.”
“It was, but I’ve dealt with it. When they sent me here with my aunt, I was angry, but now I’m grateful. I would have probably gotten killed right along with them, because I’m sure I would have followed in my father’s footsteps.”
As he turned his attention to the TV, Karima leaned against me. When the door opened and closed, we all turned to see who was walking in. When I saw the two young men, I remembered them from the diner. They were extremely protective of their sister. I stood from my seat as they approached. The darker complexioned one shook my hand first.
“I’m Kingsley, but everyone calls me King.”
“I remembered your name, but didn’t know which was which. I’m Rhodes. Nice to meet you.” I took my gaze to Kane to see the frown on his face. “How you doing, Kane? I’m Rhodes.”
He nodded and extended his hand as well. They both shook their dad’s hand and hugged Karima then went to the kitchen to greet their mother as the door opened and closed again. That had to be KJ and his wife.
“The food is almost ready, everybody,” Mrs. Henderson said from the kitchen.
When Cassie came toward us, I stood again. Karima hugged her and said, “Sis, this is Rhodes. Baby, this is my sister-in-law, Cassie. Our due dates are a couple of weeks apart.”
“Okay. Nice to meet you, Cassie,” I said as I extended my hand to shake hers.
She smiled big. “It’s nice to meet you too, Rhodes. I like your locs.”
“Thank you.”
When KJ joined us, I started to fuck with him and give him a head nod like I’d been doing. I was trying to make a good impression, though, so I would chill out for now. “What’s up, Kendrall? How you doing?”
“What’s up,” he said.
He didn’t say it in a questioning manner. It was more like a greeting. Once Mrs. Henderson joined us and everyone was seated, I stood. They all stared at me as if wondering what I was doing, including Karima. The frown was still on Kane’s face, and one had graced Kendrall’s as well.
“I feel like I owe everyone here an apology. I’m deeply sorry for how I treated Karima. It didn’t come from a place of hate or animosity. My behavior stemmed directly from my fear of losing her. It’s not an excuse though. I ruined her life, and I plan to try my hardest to make it up to her for as long as I live. I love her so much, but I know what I did affected y’all too. When she hurts, I know it hurts y’all too. So I deeply apologize for my actions.”
“Rhodes, you didn’t ruin my life. I love you too,” Karima said.
“I can respect that, Rhodes,” Kingsley said as Mr. Henderson nodded.
“I can too. Just make sure you treat her right from here on out,” Mr. Henderson said.
“Yes, sir. I will.”
Kane never responded, but KJ said, “I respect it too. Just know that’s our baby. I don’t fight no more. You feel me?”
I gave him a one-sided smile. I knew exactly what that meant. “I got you, boss.”
“Well, now that’s done, we can eat!” Mrs. Henderson said.
Everybody chuckled. I could see Kingsley and Kane talking quietly off to the side. I wasn’t sure what that was about, but KJ joined them. I went to the kitchen table with my baby, because whatever shit they had going on wasn’t my business. Karima glanced over at them then turned to her dad. He frowned slightly then went over to talk to them as well.
“Mama, what’s going on?” Karima asked.
“I don’t know, baby.”
The doorbell rang, so I knew it was probably more family, like Karima had warned could pop up. Sure enough, a man walked in with an older guy with him. They both looked high. “Hey, Karima, baby. I was on my way home and had to crash y’all family shit.”
She laughed. “Hey, Uncle Jasper! How you doing?”
“I’m high as shit, so I’m good.”
She turned to me, so he followed suit. I stood, and she said, “Rhodes, this is one of my dad’s brothers, Jasper. Unc, this is my boyfriend, Rhodes.”
“What’s up, nephew?” he asked.
“Not too much. You good?”
“Hell yeah, nigga.”
I chuckled. Either he didn’t know the dynamics of what happened, or he didn’t give a fuck. He seemed cool as shit. When the other man joined us, Karima introduced him to me as Jacob. He shook my hand then joined the other men toward the front of the house. Their lil gathering had my nerves on edge. I wanted to go get my heat out the truck.
They finally joined us at the dinner table, and Mr. Jasper and Jacob left. Everyone was pretty quiet until Kane asked, “So what are your plans, Rhodes? I mean, are you here to stay, or do you plan to go back to Nashville?”
“I was only in Nashville because she was there. We’d reconnected here in Beaumont, and when she told me she was going, I decided to go too. I knew she hated being away from her family. We were strictly friends then, but I’ve loved her since high school.”
Kane nodded. I supposed that was good enough for him, until he said, “So you probably planned that fucked up shit you did from the beginning then.”
“Kane!” Karima yelled forcefully. “That was uncalled for.”
Her face was red as the flames of hell. I grabbed her hand and rubbed it between mine. “Calm down, baby. It’s okay. It’s a legitimate analysis, although it isn’t true. I can see why he would think that. Don’t get worked up though. Okay?”
She stared into my eyes like no one else was there and nodded. I kissed her lips then her forehead. Turning my attention to Kane, I said, “Naw. I didn’t. Karima would never give in to my advances. After I moved to Nashville to be with her, I figured she would give in, especially since she’d told me she had been attracted to me for years but was fighting it. When that didn’t happen, that was when I did that fucked up shit you spoke about. However, since we’ve both accepted it and moved forward with our lives, it’s not so fucked up anymore. It’s our country princess, Roselynn Denali Woods.”
Karima leaned against me for a moment as her mother and Cassie smiled. Kane didn’t say anything else. Mr. Henderson had given him the look. The one that said if he opened his mouth again, he was the one gonna be in a fucked-up situation. Dinner was completely quiet after that, and I could tell everyone was somewhat uncomfortable. Karima’s uncle needed to come back and liven this shit up after this.
Once we were done eating, Karima stood to take our dishes to the kitchen then came back and said, “We’re gonna go, y’all. This didn’t really go well. Maybe we can have a do-over at a later date but at my house.”
“I’m sorry, baby girl,” her dad said.
He hugged her along with everyone else. They all gave me head nods, and her mother gave me a hug. When we got outside, I noticed there were quite a few cars passing by. Karima didn’t seem to think that was odd, so I didn’t say anything. There wasn’t usually a lot of traffic on this highway on the weekend. I guess things had changed since more people lived on this road now. After I helped her get in the truck, I walked around to my side.
Just as I opened the door and was about to get inside, shots rang out, one going through the back window of my truck then through the windshield. “Shit! KD! Get down, baby!”
She fell to the floor of the truck as I got my gun from the middle console and ran to the back of the truck and started shooting at the vehicle that shot at us. When I saw it slow down, I glanced down to see I’d gotten the tire. That was what I was aiming for. Punk ass niggas. As I was about to run in that direction, I saw Mr. Jasper in his truck with a big ass gun, and Mr. Kenny was right next to me with his gun.
“Go check on Karima. We got it. Thanks for slowing their asses down.”
I ran to the passenger side of the truck as Karima’s brothers ran past me with their guns and opened the door to see her on the floor in the fetal position with her hands on her belly. She was trembling. “Baby, you okay?”
She looked up at me then quickly made her way to my arms. “Rhodes, I’m so scared.”
“I know, baby. I got’chu.”
I gently rubbed her belly as I heard the commotion down the road. Looking that way, I could see there was a lot of people down there now. I needed to get her out of here. This was probably the shit they were talking about. Them niggas should have warned us about whatever was going on so we could have been prepared for the shit.
Karima’s mama and Cassie came outside and ran to us. “Are y’all okay?”
“Yes, ma’am, but I think y’all need to go back inside. I’m going to take her to my house in Cheek. She’ll be safe there.”
Mrs. Keisha hugged me and said, “Thank you.”
“Y’all are more than welcome to come, too, if you need to get away.”
“We’ll be fine. KJ lives next door to Rima, and it’s a gated community. So we should be safe there. Take care of our baby.”
She kissed Karima’s head then hurriedly went back inside with Cassie. I helped Karima back in the truck then joined her. Thankfully, I was a good shot to where they could see who the fuck was doing a damn drive-by in the middle of fucking nowhere. This was some Oakland shit if I ever saw it. How the fuck you do a drive-by in the country?