Chapter 21
Verse Twenty-One
“Go inside. I’m coming.” The boys walked slowly past Chaney, taking peeks at her out of curiosity. They didn’t have to know her to know that something happened, as she sniffled and dabbed underneath each eye.
Kaleela sat in silence while the woman who once held her heart stood before her in pain.
She was torn because the old her, the one who would put a bullet in someone’s chest for even upsetting her girl, would have done just that.
She was hard when it counted, but even softer when it counted too, especially when it came to Chaney.
She wasn’t hers anymore, though. That meant neither were the tears she’d once wiped away.
She sighed, waiting for her to share what led her to her doorstep.
They hadn’t been within two feet of each other in close to a year and a half, and, honestly, she didn’t even crave her anymore.
Scooter’s attentiveness and patience had her hooked on any and everything tied to him.
Chaney stood with crossed arms as she second-guessed herself. The longer she did, the more antsy she became. She threw up both hands, tilting her head back while tears rained down her cheeks.
“I don’t even know what I’m doing here.” She laughed, but Kaleela didn’t reply. She didn’t need to. Chaney was no longer her concern.
“You can go,” she offered. Chaney’s eyes stretched, wondering if it had really gotten that bad. “Come on, man. I can’t with the tears, Chaney. Speak your peace so at least you got it off your chest.”
“Fine.” She gritted her teeth. “I fucked up again. I can’t understand why I keep choosing people that can’t seem to let their past go.
No matter what I do or how committed I am, I still come fucking last. And no, not that you asked, but I’m not trying to run back to you. I just needed a place to just vent.”
“Good, ‘cause you can’t. See how simple that shit is?”
“Still the cold-hearted bitch who dismisses everyone who’s hurting but protects her fucking self.”
“Naw, I’m the bitch that finally decided to put me first, love me first. I thought loving me was having a bitch everyone wanted on my arm when I didn’t even want me. Come to find out, she didn’t either.”
“It wasn’t like that, Kaleela. I was telling the truth. I was ready. It’s just that when you were ready, he and I had already connected, but when you showed up and I felt it was real, I threw caution to wind and decided no matter how crazy this bitch is, at least she’s crazy about me.”
“Aye yo, Bootsey! Look who’s coming!” one of the boys yelled out as they stepped down the porch and walked down to the sidewalk.
Kaleela was hood royalty. She had more heart and ran more dick through a pack of women with her strap-on than the average man. She was a beast, and when she showed up, everything and everyone stopped to render her respect.
Once she pulled up in front of her house, Kaleela watched Chaney suck her teeth, but she didn’t move. She knew better. She may not have been feeling her since their last fall out, but she wouldn’t dare dismiss her in front of the hood like she wasn’t fucking with her.
When Kaleela pulled up on the sidewalk, she rolled her window down. After surveying the scene, she motioned for Chaney to come to her. By then, Chaney’s mother was at the door, smiling. All she saw was more dollar signs.
“Mama, un uh. Go inside. Dang,” she whined, pulling her shorts down.
She was wearing her purple and gray Nike short set and slides, her thighs wrestling with each other, although thick and firm.
Her hair was shaved on one side, the other side hanging just slightly over her eye in layers with lilac highlights. She was fucking beautiful.
When she made it to her truck, Kaleela unlocked the door and threw her head the other way, gesturing for her to slide inside. When she did, she felt the cold mouth of her nine-millimeter against her temple.
“Give me one reason I shouldn’t smoke your dumb ass, Chaney,” Kaleela released, her trigger finger twitching. “Just one.”
“I-I, ummm,” she stammered, unsure of what was going on.
“Here. Swipe this once, and I do mean fucking once.”
Chaney’s hands were shaky as she took Kaleela’s cell out of her hand.
As soon as she did, it was the infamous site, The Shade Room.
There was Chaney, popping her ass in the strip club, Take One, with the Miami-based female rap group, City Girls.
Kaleela loved the City Girls, but that wasn’t what had her attention.
It was Chaney booed up with Liberty City-based rapper, Lil’ Dread or Dread Man as they liked to call him over the years.
They were in the VIP section, bottles and food everywhere as they danced to his latest song.
He’d been on the scene since he was a young teen. He, like Kaleela, was known in the Miami streets, but he had one thing she didn’t. That was a dick.
“Bitch, you fucking on real dicks now like I ain’t gave you the shakes for days off my tongue? You must not want your life, Chaney.”
Chaney’s brother, Four Shorty, hit the front door, swiftly walking their way. He liked Kaleela, but he would never choose her over his own sister. Strapped, he approached the truck, ready to air it out if she didn’t lower her shit from his sister’s head.
“Fuck you want, Four?” Kaleela asked him, her gun still trained on Chaney’s head.
“Fuck you mean, K Smooth?”
She smiled, but he knew better. She’d be cool as shit before she smoked a nigga for fucking her over, sometimes right after they fucked a bitch together.
“Lower your shit, or get laid down,” she barked, causing him to jump.
Kaleela laughed a hearty laugh, covering her mouth. She couldn’t believe he had the balls to step to her in her hood when she was talking to her bitch.
“Whatchu laughing for? This is my sister, yo.” He mean-mugged her, raising his tool up higher as he cocked his head to the side.
“Bitch nigga, if you don’t learn how to hold that shit right, I’ll get out and fuck your kneecaps up. Hold that shit right!” she screamed, hands shaking. Chaney jumped, tears starting to fall down her face.
“Aye, K, man. I’m saying, though. Why you tripping?”
“Me, tripping? Naw, ask yo’ sister why the fuck she tripping. She’s fucking on niggas now, acting like we ain’t got a situation.”
Looking from side to side, Four Shorty watched how he moved, not wanting to look like a fucking lame in his hood.
“I’m saying, though. You know that shit don’t mean nothing. Chaney just goes to work and chill. She out here—”
“She out here fucking with my got damn heart! That’s what she’s doing!” she barked, pushing the barrel even harder in her head. She took a deep breath, almost lowering it.
“She fucking with my heart.” The second time, it was a whisper, but a confession she thought would never be released out loud.
Kaleela sniffled. She remembered that day, feeling the heaviness in her chest. That day, Chaney had power over her, and when she violated her with Donovan, he had power over her too.
Although they made amends, he couldn’t be trusted, and the main reason was his woman, who made her way back to her house in tears.
Also, a woman she didn’t want and had no plans to touch again.
“Go home, Chaney. I ain’t fucking with you.” She looked up when her door opened and sighed. “I have to get them settled in.”
“Can I come?” she quickly asked.
She wanted to ask her who they were, but she didn’t. All she knew was that she didn’t want to be alone. She also didn’t trust her family. Like they were once in Kaleela’s pocket, she’d caught her mother trying to get into Donovan’s as if she didn’t give her mother a monthly allowance already.
Kaleela’s eyes grew into slits, wondering if Chaney was trying to set her up.
“I-I’m hurting, wondering if what happened is my karma.” She shrugged, then smiled, catching a glimpse of the cutest little boys staring out the door.
“I can help,” she offered. Kaleela didn’t need any help. She’d been taking care of herself since she was a little girl, short of Shonasia, who naturally wanted to be the boss of the both of them. “Not that you need… I mean, we were once friends. I kind of miss that part of us.”
She was right, they were, and it would help with Step Nine.
No matter how they ended, she had, for many years, flaunted other women in Chaney’s face.
Back then, it really wasn’t to punish Chaney.
It was to protect her from the demons who told her she wasn’t lovable.
She thought more bitches equated to more love.
They didn’t. Neither did the girl in front of her as she felt her trigger finger itching.
She quickly shook it off as she reasoned with herself.
Maybe it wasn’t just a test but the final test to finally set Chaney and herself free.
“I don’t need help, but if you want to come in and meet them, you can.” She gripped both wheels and rolled past her, then stopped, lifting one finger. “But no questions. Don’t ask them shit.”
“I can do that.”
She secured her vehicle and followed Kaleela inside.
When she eased inside, old memories, mostly the good ones, flooded her mind, despite the change in the decor.
She’d changed not only the furniture but the color scheme.
Where she once had dark colors, like black and dark gray, softer colors in various shades of blue and beige greeted her.
As soon as she closed the door, two sets of wide eyes landed on her, and then Kaleela, silently waiting for an explanation. If it were a man, Travis would’ve easily taken on the uninvited guests, but it was a woman, and a pretty one.
“What are you supposed to say when you first meet someone?” Chaney noticed her usual bite in her tone was absent. Instead, her voice carried a softness that wrapped itself around her heart.
“Hi, I’m Rell.” He snickered, appearing shy underneath her gaze. He had the skin of peanut butter along with a head of sandy-brown curls and a snaggle-tooth grin that warmed her heart.