Chapter 7 #2
“Baby, your Uncle Morris was involved in some things he shouldn’t have been just like your dad was.
It wasn’t right, and they both have to pay for what they did.
Your father didn’t lie on Morris, but he did tell on him.
He talked to the police and got Morris arrested with him.
I don’t exactly agree with that, but he’s your father.
He’s not mine. I don’t have to agree with him or like what he does, but he loves you.
This shouldn’t affect your relationship with him.
Jamie is just upset. He’ll get over it. You don’t have anything to do with what your father did. Do I need to call and speak with Jade?”
Kari’s eyes widened. “No! Don’t do that. I don’t care what he says about me. But is that why you won’t talk to dad? Because he’s a snitch?”
Yohana exhaled another sigh. She felt foolish for thinking she could hide such things from her son.
When people did certain things and they choose to have kids, they had to be prepared for certain shit.
Zone always stated that he would be out of the streets before Kari was in elementary school, and he lied.
He got way too comfortable, and he never left the game alone.
Kari always thought that his father worked in a warehouse that made car parts.
Kari never questioned why his father didn’t wear uniforms. He never questioned anything.
He just simply believed what his father told him.
Kari was always under the impression that his father worked Monday through Friday and got off work each day at 4.
Zone told him that he was the manager, and he could do what he wanted.
Most days, he left the house around 10. Kari never once questioned the fact that his father only worked six hours a day.
All he knew was that he had a good life, and that his father was always there for him.
“There are a lot of reasons why I’m not talking to dad.
None of them have anything to do with you.
It’s going to be hard enough for him to not physically be here for the next fourteen years.
You have to worry about how to cope with that.
Just know that your father loves you a lot. ”
“Doesn’t seem like it. Why was he even doing things he wasn’t supposed to be doing anyway? The both of you are always telling me not to get into trouble, but dad was a drug dealer. Now, he’s going to be away from us for fourteen years so not only is he a snitch, but he’s selfish too.”
Kari headed to his room as Yohana’s heart broke.
His words were like a punch to her gut. She knew he was bound to find out sooner or later, but she wanted to ring Jamie’s neck.
She placed the ziti in the oven and went to the living room to get her laptop.
Yohana knew that no matter what, there was no way she could re-up a second time.
When the pounds were gone, they would be gone, and she wasn’t going to get anymore.
She just couldn’t hurt her son more than he was already hurting.
The twenty pounds she had would just have to do.
That and selling Zone’s car. Yohana didn’t care what she had to do to get the car title.
She would be damned if she left Kari out on the street to be raised by other people while she was in prison too.
Canyon trekked into the huge walk-in closet that Cheyenne had all to herself when she was free.
He hadn’t been in the closet in almost a year.
It was time to get rid of some of the things in the closet.
A lot of her high-end designer pieces were timeless.
It didn’t matter if the items were purchased six years ago or sixteen years ago.
The classics would never go out of style, but the clothes had to go.
Whether they remained together or not, he knew that Cheyenne would go on one lavish ass shopping spree once she was freed from prison, and he didn’t blame her.
He was going to donate most of her clothes to a women’s shelter and free up some space in the closet.
If he went through with getting a divorce, he would box all the things he kept up upon her release and make sure she got them.
If she wanted them. Just the thought of divorcing her made Canyon sigh.
There was a thin line between giving up too soon and just giving her a little more time.
But how much time would be enough? If she was still super emotional six years later, shit didn’t look too promising.
Canyon found himself standing there daydreaming about the day that he met Cheyenne.
He was in a part of Raleigh, NC called North Hills.
Canyon lived in one of the over-priced high-rise luxury condos and had stepped out to get something to eat.
Since he was alone, he ordered take-out from a nice steakhouse.
When he did eat out, he rarely did burger joints and greasy fast-food places.
Canyon would order take-out from five-star restaurants and eat that shit at home, in his car, or right at the trap.
There were times he’d be sitting up in his trap eating $200 worth of food from Ruth’s Chris.
There was a huge water fountain across from the restaurant, and he saw a pretty female standing in front of the waterfall taking a selfie.
Canyon took a moment to take the woman in.
She stood 5’7 with sienna colored skin and her natural hair was up in a high ponytail and was dyed honey blonde.
Shorty was petite and dressed in a black dress with spaghetti straps that showcased her flat stomach and tiny waist. Her nails were super long and painted a light pink color.
She had the same color on her toes, and her wrist was decorated with several Pandora charm bracelets.
After watching her for a second, Canyon made his way over to her.
“Let me help you with that.”
She looked over at him, and a sheepish expression covered her face. “My stylist wanted a picture of my hair, and the lighting is good right here.”
“No explanation needed.” Canyon reached for the phone, and she passed it to him. She looked nervous now because he was the one taking the pictures.
“Get on your model shit, ma. The way you were before I came over here.”
Shorty blushed and looked down at the ground for a minute. When she looked back up, she had composed herself, and Canyon was able to snap several good photos of her. “Thank you,” she stated when he passed her phone back to her.
“It was my pleasure. How old are you?” His eyes scanned her face. He could tell she was grown, but she looked young.
“Twenty-two. You?”
“Twenty-three. You can pass for eighteen easy as hell. So, you single?”
Cheyenne was very much single and very much tired of trying to get her lame ass ex to act right.
They had been together off and on for five years and them being out of high school was putting a serious strain on their relationship.
He was no longer the football player with the cheerleader girlfriend.
Sean was now an adult that could drink, go to the club, he had his own place, etc.
and suddenly, the thought of being in a relationship didn’t excite him.
Cheyenne had changed too. She was into make-up, and she had gained a little weight in the right places.
But no matter how much attention she got from guys when she went out with her friends, she wanted Sean.
Just the night before, she cried herself to sleep over him.
But now, there was a fine ass man standing in her face asking her if she was single, and she couldn’t have been happier that Sean had been cutting up.
“I am. My name is Cheyenne, and you are?”
“My name is Canyon.”
The two exchanged numbers, and he called her the next day. The rest was history.
Canyon snapped back into the present. Cheyenne was cool.
Aside from her being a little clingy in the beginning, he had no real issue with her.
They kept dating, and he kept getting more money by the day.
When she realized for real how much clout he had, how much money he had, and how much respect he got in the streets, she couldn’t stand the thought of another woman having him.
Cheyenne did everything in her power to get Canyon to cuff her, and he did.
He didn’t talk to her crazy or abuse her.
He was a really good boyfriend aside from the occasional cheating.
At one point, fear of losing him made Cheyenne feel like she was having a nervous breakdown, and she had to catch herself before she completely lost herself.
As much as it hurt, she had to distance herself from Canyon for a while.
Like most men, he didn’t realize what he had until it was gone, and he proposed to her.
She didn’t even accept right away, and it made her feel powerful.
Cheyenne made Canyon sweat for a few weeks before agreeing to marry him.
Once they got married, things were good for a while but eventually, he cheated again and that time, Cheyenne really did go off the deep end.
She had cried many nights and told him that she was scared to lose him.
All she wanted was to be with him, and he would look her in the eyes every time and promise to stop cheating.
He would do so good for a minute then boom, one day he’d just do some dumb shit.
For a long time, Canyon beat himself up for ruining Cheyenne’s life.
But at some point, they had to move on from that.
They were going to forgive each other, or they weren’t.
Canyon grabbed a trash bag and started with the clothes that were hanging up on hangers.
After he got most of those down, he opened one of her drawers and began cleaning it out.
Near the back of the drawer were some folded up papers, and Canyon pulled them out.
They were probably nothing because she hadn’t mentioned anything of importance being among her things.
Before she went in, she gave him her birth certificate, social security card, her passport, and other important documents to keep safe for her.
Still, Canyon unfolded the papers, and his eyes darted over the one that was on top.
Canyon’s eyebrows snapped together as he took in what he was reading and the dates on the paper.
Canyon’s blood started to boil as he thought back to the date of the incident with Cheyenne killing ole girl.
He would never forget. Cheyenne killed her on a Friday.
It was June 10th. That was also the day that she went to jail, and she wasn’t given a bond.
The papers in his hand stated that Cheyenne had an abortion on June 8th.
The day after she found out he cheated on her.
He never even knew his wife was pregnant by him, and she had gone behind his back and had a whole ass abortion.