Chapter 19 Kairo
Kairo
The convention center was full of men and women in suits with expensive shoes.
Men were in tailored suits standing in clusters talking numbers m.
Women laughed politely at jokes that weren’t that funny.
My dad was in his element shaking hands, slapping backs, and dropping one-liners that somehow always led back to real estate and the legacy he’d help build. That was his gift.
I stood a few feet back with my brothers, playing security because I’d talked enough over the last two hours.
Kendrix adjusted his cufflinks and leaned in.
“After this shit, let’s find a club. I need some loud music and something stronger than champagne.”
Kordai looked at him like he had lost his mind.
“Nigga, you stay in a club. You literally own a few. You should be tired of clubbing.”
Kendrix shrugged. “Ownership is different from participation.”
Kross exhaled long. “Shit, I’m tired. Take me to the hotel. Layke has Rivah so tired she falls asleep before the sun goes down. Watching a pregnant woman sleep makes you sleepy. My body crashes at 8:30 now like I’m sixty.”
We all laughed.
Kordai grinned. “I’d be up right now in the kitchen cooking a snack for me and Ma.”
I leaned toward him. “Or in some pussy.”
He laughed but immediately shook his head. “Aye bruh, chill.”
He didn’t deny so that told me everything I needed to know.
Kendrix was half paying attention, half scrolling his phone. He held it up. “Look at this.”
On the screen was Niv, Rivah, Ty, and Magnolia in a section at GivGold, drinks up, and smiles glowing. They looked like they were having a time.
I frowned. “Wait… Khloe didn’t go?”
“Nah,” Kendrix said. “Niv said she wasn’t feeling good. Something about a fever.”
It caught me off guard because she didn’t get sick like that. She was built like a damn superhero. And Khloe hadn’t mentioned feeling bad either. She’d texted earlier saying she was going to take a nap and call me when she got up.
I told myself she probably just needed rest since she'd been exhausted lately. I hated that she wasn’t feeling good so I wanted to call and check on her but the last thing I wanted to do was wake her.
My phone started vibrating in my hand with a call from Kennedi.
I stepped away from the noise of the convention, weaving through people until I reached a quieter hallway.
“What’s up, baby? Everything good?”
There was a pause. Then a woman’s voice.
“Uh, hey Mr. Givelle. This is Brooklyn’s mom.”
“Yes, ma’am?”
“I just wanted to let you know that Kennedi is staying with us for the cheer competition tomorrow, but I caught them meeting up with some boys. They said they were going for a walk around the neighborhood, so I checked on them and saw them standing near a car down the road with two young boys.”
I closed my eyes. What the fuck, Kennedi.
“She asked me to call you,” the woman continued. “I was going to call her mom, but she said to call you.”
She knew her mama would flip the house upside down.
“Thank you for calling me,” I said. “My wife is actually sick, so I’ll take care of it.”
“Oh no,” she said quickly. “Well I’m glad I didn’t call her then. I hope she feels better. The girls are inside now and not going back out.”
“Can you send me your address?” I asked. “I’m going to have my mom pick her up.”
“Oh, that’s okay,” she said. “She can still stay until after the competition tomorrow.”
“No ma’am. It’s fine. My mother will make sure she gets there.”
There was a pause, but she agreed before we hung up.
I stood there for a second, staring at the blank screen.
I was pissed but not surprised. Khloe’s leash had been so tight for so long that I knew it was coming.
What pissed me off was that Kennedi knew our name carried weight.
Everybody knew who her family was. So she waited until she was away from home to test the boundaries.
I walked back toward my brothers. They read my face before I said anything.
“What’s wrong?” Kross asked.
I told them and they all got quiet.
Kendrix muttered, “Little sneaky ass.”
Kordai shook his head. “She's just curious. That’s all.”
“She knew better,” I said.
“She know Khloe would lose her shit,” Kendrix added.
“I’m texting Ma to go get her,” I said.
All three of them smacked their lips at the same time.
“Well,” Kordai said, “you ain’t gotta say shit now.”
Kendrix nodded. “And neither do we. Mamma gon’ handle it.”
Kross added, “And when Ma handle it, that’s worse than any lecture we could give.”
They were absolutely right. If Kennedi thought she dodged a bullet by calling me instead of Khloe, she had no idea the storm she just summoned.
I looked back out at the convention floor where my dad was still shaking hands like the world wasn’t spinning. My wife was at home alone sick. My daughter sneaking around. My grandfather in ICU. And I was standing there in a suit, pretending I had everything under control.
I adjusted my jacket and forced a smile.
One thing at a time. One fire at a time.
My Dad appeared out of nowhere like he always did. He had Kemi walking beside him, one hand at her back guiding her through the crowd. He’d known her since she was young so he looked at her as family.
“Kairo,” he said, grabbing my arm. “You ride back to the hotel with Kemi. Me and your brothers have a couple more people to speak to. We’ll be about thirty minutes behind you.”
Kendrix groaned. “Thirty minutes in his time is two hours.”
Kross dragged a chair over and dropped into it like his body was shutting down in real time. His eyes were bloodshot red. Rivah and pregnancy life were wearing him out and he didn’t even carry the baby.
Kordai was leaned against the wall laughing at my brothers. “Y’all funny as fuck.”
“Kordai ass high from that edible,” Kendrix said, ready to go.
I shook my head, laughing. “We’ll see y’all at the hotel.”
I guided Kemi toward the foyer where the Uber was waiting. We slid into the backseat making small talk about the event.
“That man from Chicago would not stop talking,” she said, shaking her head. “And at least three different men asked if I was married.”
I laughed. “That sounds like them.”
She smirked. “It’s crazy. Rich men see a woman in a fitted dress and lose their minds.”
I just laughed, looking out the window and she turned toward me. “Okay. What’s wrong?”
I sighed and leaned back against the seat. “Kennedi.”
“What happened?”
I told her about the phone call. About Brooklyn’s mom calling me instead of Khloe. About how mad I was. About how I knew Khloe would spiral once she found out.
“First thing,” she said gently, “breathe.”
I exhaled through my nose.
“She’s almost sixteen,” Kemi continued. “Curiosity at that age isn’t always rebellion. It’s also development.”
I stared at her like she was drunk.
“I’m not saying she was right,” she added. “But don’t approach it like she committed a crime. Approach it like she tested a boundary.”
“She lied,” I muttered.
“She hid,” Kemi corrected. “There’s a difference. Kids lie when they’re afraid. They hide when they don’t feel safe telling the truth. She told the truth about going to her friend's house, she just hid the truth about her also going so she could meet up with a boy.”
“She knew her mom would flip,” I said.
“Exactly,” Kemi replied laughing. “Which is why she called you. Give her some grace. Grace doesn’t mean no consequences. It means consequences with conversation.”
I ran a hand down my face. “I just don’t want her out there doing dumb shit.”
“She will,” Kemi said plainly.
“She will do dumb shit,” she repeated. “Because she’s human. The goal isn’t to stop her from ever making a mistake. The goal is to make sure she trusts you enough to call when she does.”
She shifted in her seat. “Talk to her and not at her.”
I huffed a laugh. “You know this is different because if I was telling this to Khloe, she’d have a fucking fit.”
Kemi laughed, shaking her head. “I was raised by a strict mom with no freedom or breathing room.”
Her eyes drifted to the window. “Once I was grown, I ended up in a toxic, off-and-on relationship with the first man who made me feel something,” she continued. “Once I finally made up my mind to leave, he proposed. Sucked me right back in, and I married him.”
I swallowed.
“The emotional abuse got worse,” she said calmly. “And then I found out I was pregnant. That added gasoline to the fire. Everything spiraled after that until I left and filed for divorce.”
“Sometimes,” she added quietly, “all I wanted was for my mom to sit down and hear me. Not punish me for her fears or project her trauma onto me. Just hear me.”
The car stopped at a red light.
“Khloe thinks she’s saving Kennedi,” Kemi said. “But too tight of a grip doesn’t protect. It pushes.”
I stared at my hands.
“She’s not trying to be difficult,” Kemi said, grabbing my hand. “She’s just trying to prevent her daughter from repeating her story.”
That was the part I still couldn’t understand. Khloe carried that early pregnancy like a badge and a wound at the same time.
“She forgets something though,” Kemi added.
“What?”
“Your mistakes don’t make your child immune to making the same. Just because you struggled early doesn’t mean Kennedi won’t face her own version of struggle,” she said. “You can’t erase her path by controlling it. You can only guide it.”
“She doesn’t need fear. She needs room to become who she’s going to be. And she needs to know when she messes up, home isn’t a courtroom.”
The Uber turned into the hotel. I looked at Kemi and nodded slowly.
“You always have a soft version of everything,” I said.
She smiled. “Life does that to you.”
I stepped out of the Uber and the hotel’s glass doors slid open in front of us.
Kemi’s phone started ringing at the same time mine did. She glanced at the screen and lifted a finger.
“I’ma grab this,” she said, stepping off to the side.
I nodded and walked in the opposite direction toward the elevators, answering Khloe’s call.
“Hey baby,” she said, slightly breathless.
“Hey,” I replied. “You feeling okay?”
“Huh?”
“Kendrix said Niv told him you were sick. Fever or something.”
“Oh yeah,” she said quickly. “I think I was just tired. I feel better now though. I’m just going to get some more rest. I’m fine.”
She sounded… different.
“You sound weird,” I said lightly.
She laughed. “I took some medicine, so I’m a little dizzy. But I wanted to get some good rest.”
“Okay,” I said slowly. “Well, I got something to tell you, but I have it handled.”
Her tone shifted instantly. “What?”
“My mom went to get Kennedi. She got into a little trouble with Brooklyn. Walking and not telling her parents the full truth.”
I could hear the panic rising through the phone before she even spoke.
“What do you mean walking? Where were they walking? With who? Kairo—”
“Baby,” I cut in gently. “Relax. It’s handled. They were just down the street talking to some boys. Nothing crazy happened. Brooklyn’s mom caught it early. My mom went to get her.”
Her breathing slowed, but I could still feel the tension.
“I just wanted you to hear it from me,” I added. “Not from another parent.”
She exhaled. “Okay… okay.”
“You don’t have to jump into defense mode. I got it.”
“Okay,” she repeated, softer this time.
“You sure you good?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she said quickly. “Just tired.”
“Get some rest.”
“I will.”
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
I slipped my phone back into my pocket and walked toward the entrance.
Kemi was standing near the door. “She good?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “Getting some rest.”
Kemi nodded knowingly. “I know that’s right. I don’t blame her.”
“You tired?” I asked her.
She shook her head. “Nah. I was about to go to the bar and order a drink and some chips and wings.”
I laughed. “Me too. I didn’t want to sound greedy.”
She smirked. “Please. After tonight? We earned it.”