2. Kayori
Chapter Two
KAYORI
Two Years Later…
It was close to clock out time and my feet were killing me.
I worked security for a private hospital to make ends meet but most of the time my ends were not meeting.
I was struggling badly, but I still tried my hardest to make the best of my situation.
Most of my bills were on payment plans and I was slowly but surely falling behind on most of them.
I tried my hardest not to let it stress me because money was money.
I refused to let money dictate the woman I was.
At the age of twenty-five, I accomplished almost little to nothing.
My dream was to become a writer but after signing to bullshit ass publishers, I gave up on that and found myself a job.
“Girl you are always daydreaming! I hope it's about dick! Cause you really need you some, like today bitch!” My best friend Meshalay teased causing me to roll my eyes.
“Business bitch! Everybody got some.”
She chuckled as I walked towards the hospital's exit with her hot on my heels. I only had twenty minutes left and usually, my supervisor would let us clock out early to head to the locker room to change out of our uniform. Once we approached the locker room, she continued her rant.
“I’m worried about you friend. You know I always got your back but you need to get a second hustle! I don’t plan on doing this security shit for long and I heard Vegas is in need of a dope hairstylist. I’m thinking about relocating.”
Rolling my eyes at the conversation she was bringing up once again, I shimmied my way out of my skin-tight uniform pants. I had thick ass thighs and a huge ass some would swear was fake but nothing on me was plastic. I was a plus-size brick house.
“Look Lay, you can go to Vegas and I’ll visit! I can’t do hair. I write books and even that’s not going good for me right now. I just got to find my way.”
I sounded like a broken record but I knew things would look up for me someday. I just didn’t know when.
“No offense Kayori, but you’ve been saying that since your mom died. It’s been six years now friend! You gotta do something! When I leave, who’s going to look out for you?”
She dug in her bra, pulled out a couple of hundreds, and placed it inside of my bra. Tears welled in my eyes because she was right.
“Don’t start. You know I don’t like to see you cry but I wouldn’t be a real friend if I didn’t keep it real! Use that money to pay your rent. I got a VIP client that tipped me generously. I took care of your car note for this month but you really need to think about what I’m saying.”
She was right, even though I didn’t want to face it.
My mom died when I was nineteen, from breast cancer.
Two years after her death, my big brother Malcolm was killed from trying to run the streets.
He ended up getting into some trouble and owing money.
He started robbing people that ran in the same circle as him and that was bad for business so they killed him.
I missed my big brother but I didn’t mourn him like I did my mom.
In a crazy way, I was okay with Malcolm being gone.
When our mother died a huge part of my brother did too.
He became another person, very dark. We tried to support each other but Malcolm felt like he had nothing to really live for.
It’s almost as if he was begging someone to take him out of his misery.
I hate he was killed because it really left me with no one.
We never knew our father and from what my mom said he died in the streets as well.
Which is why I vowed to never date a thug.
Only two things came from that and it was death or jail.
Meshalay was all I had. I never dealt with family because all they did was gossip and talk bad about me.
“Yori! Are you listening to me?!”
Snapping out of my thoughts, we walked out the dirty ass locker room side by side.
“Yes Lay, but I can’t take this shit from you. I’m tired of you giving me money.”
I tried to hand it back and she gave me a crazy look.
“Girl please you know I don’t care. Plus you have a car note that’s in both of our names. You know I don’t play about my credit.”
Lay was obsessed with keeping a perfect credit score. When she cosigned on my Nissan Altima, it lowered my car note by a couple of hundreds.
“My man is relocating to Vegas and his close homie is looking for private security detail with his daughter. I want you to come and try it out…”
“Send me the link and I’ll apply,” I replied sarcastically, knowing it was some street shit that I was not about to get myself into.
“Look bitch you don’t have a choice. The pay is good as fuck!
You need to find you a man and Vegas is the place!
Stone is giving me money to open up my shop.
I can’t just leave you out here by yourself and you can’t make ends meet alone.
I’m moving in a two-bedroom condo, so we can finally be roomies and enjoy a better fucking life! ”
Meshalay’s high yellow complexion was turning beet red as she gave me an exasperating look, trying to convince me to move.
“I told you about depending on a man Lay and getting hurt in the end.”
I loved Lay like a sister. She was as beautiful standing at five foot six and very slim like a model.
She always ended up in relationships with top-paid men who ran the streets.
They also took her through the most shit.
She had been with Stone for a year now and so far, no big drama but I still was very reluctant.
“This is different Yori, and even if it’s not different, the rent in Vegas is cheap as fuck. That shop I’m getting is going to be in my name so even if the nigga dogs me out, at least we will have a constant income.”
It all sounded good, but Cali was my home.
Leaving here felt like I was leaving my soul.
All the memories I had were right here. Deep down I knew I needed a change.
I struggled with constant depression after my mom died.
I missed her so much. I had absolutely nothing to fill the void.
Sometimes I felt so alone and lost in this great big world.
It felt like I had nothing to live for, but I was too much of a coward to take myself out of this world.
Plus, I knew Meshalay would never forgive me.
So, I tried to keep my feelings buried and keep busy.
If she left for Vegas without me, I would fall even deeper into depression.
“Just give me a couple of days to think on it.”
Rolling her eyes and smiling, we headed to my car. We took turns carpooling to save gas. This week was my turn to drive.
“The shit with Beast is legit. You still need to take the offer if you do decide to go to Vegas with me.”
She sparked up a cigarette and reclined her chair.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. You’re not giving me much of a choice in the matter.”
“You damn right I’m not! I’m tired of working at this nasty-ass low-paying hospital. I’m about to save us both.”
She sounded sure of herself and whenever she got like this, it was no turning back.
It was so much I needed to work on with myself.
I wanted to become sure of myself with everything I did.
I also wanted to love myself more than I did now.
I haven’t been with a man intimately in almost three years.
At times I felt it was because of my weight but truth be told, it wasn’t that.
After my mom died, I started drinking hard and got into a bad car accident a day before my twenty-first birthday.
I woke up with my face under the glove compartment and my legs still on the driver’s side.
When they pulled me up my eyeball was out of the socket which they fixed, but I was left with scars on my forehead and a right eye that was slightly puffy.
If I rubbed it too hard, it would swell up like someone hit me in it.
I had a ten-hour surgery on my hip bone that was shattered.
Some days I would walk with a limp from the metal that was placed in my hip to keep my socket together.
Other days I would be fine. I felt like the right side of my face was ugly as hell but the left side was pretty.
I stayed in the hospital for three months wondering why God just didn’t allow me to be with my mom and brother.
Having Lay by my side made me stronger, but I still suffered badly with low self-esteem.
My skin was a golden chestnut color. I had light brown eyes, a cute little button nose, and curves for days.
I was chubby with a stomach on me wearing a size eighteen or twenty.
When I ordered from boutiques, it would be a three x, but my weight was well proportioned.
I just was not interested in love or sex.
I didn’t want a street nigga, which is what I mostly attracted.
I felt like they only wanted to be with me because of my curvy shape.
I would wear bangs or make-up to cover up the right side of my face from the scars I had.
When they would finally see my scars, they would cringe and start using the shit against me.
Even when a square nigga would try to talk to me, I still wasn’t interested, they too would treat me as a special case.
My dating life was dryer than my pussy. I stopped covering my scars and stopped caring about how I looked.
I just took it as I would never be with a man because my looks weren’t up to par.
I damn sure didn’t want to be used like a hoe for my body.
I would rather be lonely and if love did find me, I would accept it, but I was not desperate for it.
Don’t get me wrong, I do miss getting laid and played with.
However, if you ever struggled hard like me then getting laid was the furthest thing on my mind.
My biggest issue was keeping up with bills and keeping my head on straight.
“Now I told Stone you would take the interview with Beast. It’s actually in two days so tomorrow we are going shopping and it’s on me! I won’t take no for an answer.”
I just shook my head. Lay was very aggressive when it came to decision making so I pulled out my phone and tuned her out as I start looking for other jobs in Vegas in case this one didn’t go in my favor.
I was not letting my house go. It was the only thing I had left from my mom.
I used the money she left me when she died to pay the house off.
All I paid was taxes and utilities. I would still have to pay even though I was going to be moving.
I planned to come back out here on my off days as a break or peace away from Meshalay’s crazy ass.
Two Days Later…
Nervous was not the word as I sat across from a ghetto chick.
She was very rude as she bounced a pretty little girl on her left leg like she was annoyed with the little girl slobbering on her Gucci top.
She fired question after question about her daughter and the what-ifs and I answered her.
She stood and secured the baby on her hip as she had me follow her through the huge house until we got to a beautiful backyard.
“Your boss is ready to interview you. I say you got the job but who knows what this nigga is gon’ say. My baby daddy is very unpredictable so good luck.”
She left me standing there with clammy hands as my stomach churned.
The backyard was huge as hell but right away I spotted three men sitting while smoking cigars.
My nerves became bad. I could tell they were street niggas but not the average.
You could tell by their attire that they ran shit.
Power dripped from them from far away. They had tattoos and their muscles showed through the nice dress button-up shirts they wore, with slacks and dress shoes.
I felt conscious of what I had on. I was hot as hell with a turtle-neck white sweater I bought from Rainbow to cover up my chest tattoos.
I had on some nice dress pants and heels but the weather and Vegas had me burning up.
I spotted Stone amongst them and felt a little better when he noticed me and smiled.
“What’s up, sis?”
He smiled and showed his diamond grill. On a normal day, I would’ve rolled my eyes and thought, I’m not your damn sis just because you fucking my best friend. Being around all these killer-looking men made me decide to play along.
“Hey,” I spoke softly as all eyes were now focused on me except one pair that was glued to his phone.
“Have a seat ma. My name is Teflon, that’s Gunna, and that’s boss man Beast. I mean Praise,” he corrected once Praise looked up giving him a chilling stare that made him laugh.
“Don’t let my brother scare you Ma. He got a chip on his shoulder.”
I chose to keep a face with no emotion. I didn’t want to start on the wrong foot with my boss. I also was having a hard time making eye contact with any of them. I felt shy and nervous around all these good-looking men.
“How are you supposed to observe and protect my daughter if you can’t even make eye contact.”
I finally brought my eyes to meet Praise and my breath got caught in my throat.
He was beautiful. Those stone-gray eyes gave him sex appeal out of this world.
He had two teardrops underneath his right eye and when he licked his lips, you could see his dimples.
He came off as cocky as hell with his beautiful brown sugar skin tone.
“My apologies sir. I haven’t interviewed in a long time, but I do feel as though I’m a good candidate for the position.”
Nodding his head, he took a huge tote from his cigar and smiled causing his deep-dish dimples to sink more into his cheeks.
“Sell yourself then, lady.”
Sitting back with his legs wide open looking manly and rough, I did just that.
I introduced myself and told them whatever I thought would get me the position.
I was almost out of breath when I finished talking and answering questions.
All four men walked me back into the house throwing jokes with one another while Praise remained serious.
He instructed me to chill with his BM while he went to the front to deliberate with the fellas.
Stone gave me a hug and told me he would see me later.
I guess he was leaving and would be at the condo he got Lay later on.
I got comfortable on the couch as his baby mother Laquanna handed me their three-year-old.
I instantly fell in love with the toddler and started playing with her and reading her stories praying to God I secured this job.
I had bills to pay and things to do. I could use this job until I found a more legit one.