Chapter 26 Kairo
Kairo
I barely slept. If I did sleep any, it was just that restless drifting where your body shuts down but your mind keeps replaying the same scene over and over.
I sat on the edge of the bed for a long time before I finally stood and opened the closet. The room smelled like Khloe. Her perfume lingered in the air.
I grabbed a duffel bag and started packing slowly.
A few shirts, jeans, and toiletries. Nothing permanent, but I needed space to breathe.
I was still hurt. Hell, hurt didn’t even describe it.
It felt like someone had reached inside my chest and rearranged everything I thought I knew about my life, about my wife, and about us.
After laying awake all night staring at the ceiling, one thing became clear.
I didn’t want her anywhere else but home.
I didn’t want Khloe crying in some hotel room wondering if her husband hated her because I didn’t.
I was angry. I was disappointed. I was broken in ways I didn’t know how to explain yet.
But I still loved my wife and love didn’t stop just because pain showed up.
I sat back on the bed and picked up my phone. The message had already been sent hours ago.
We can talk soon. I just need to clear my head right now. I’m going to spend a few days with my brother. Please come home with Kennedi.
I stared at the screen again and her reply sat underneath it.
Thank you. I love you.
My jaw tightened remembering how long I stared at that message before responding. It wasn’t because I didn’t want to answer, but I didn’t want her thinking everything was magically okay. I finally typed back.
I know you love me. And you know I love you too.
That was all I could give without lying about where my heart was. I zipped my bag and slung it over my shoulder. Music blasted down the hallway from Kennedi’s room. She was still riding the high from her birthday.
I knocked lightly before opening the door. She was dancing in front of her mirror, phone in hand, singing loud and off-key.
She turned when she saw me. “Dad!” She grinned. “You heard this song yet?”
I forced a smile. “Yeah, yeah. It’s loud enough for the whole neighborhood.”
She laughed while I leaned against the doorway, trying not to let my mood spill into her world.
“I’m heading out,” I told her, not letting her know what was going on. “Your mom should be home soon.”
Her smile faded just a little. “You good?”
Kids always knew. I nodded. “Yeah. Just going to spend some time with your uncles.”
She looked at me for a second before walking over and hugging me.
“Love you,” she said.
My throat tightened. “Love you too, KK.”
I kissed the top of her head and stepped back out before she could ask more questions. I grabbed my keys from the counter and walked out the house.
I sat in the driver’s seat for a moment before starting the engine, staring at our front door. My home was still standing… even though it felt like it had cracked wide open overnight. I pulled out of the driveway and drove for a few minutes before calling Kordai.
“Yo.”
“Where you at?” I asked.
“At Ma and Dad’s,” he said. “Why? I can slide back to my crib if you need—”
“Nah,” I cut in. “That’s cool. I actually need to see Ma anyway.”
He went quiet for a second.
“You sure? We can just go to my crib. You straight?”
I exhaled slowly. “…I don’t know yet.”
“Bet. Well pull up.”
I hung up and kept driving.
Every mile felt like distance from my life. I thought to myself that another man didn’t just appear out of nowhere. A gap had existed. One I helped create. That hurt almost as much as her betrayal.
My parents’ house smelled like a home cooked meal the second I opened the door. I walked straight toward the kitchen and saw my mama standing at the stove.
“Hey Ma,” I said.
She turned and smiled. “Hey baby.”
I walked over, wrapped my arms around her, and kissed her cheek. She squeezed me tight, rubbing my back.
“You look tired,” she said.
“I am and hungry.”
“Well good,” she replied. “You came at the right time. I’m almost done cooking. Kordai already tried to sneak something. He’s in the theater room watching a movie. Go on back there.”
“Bet,” I said, turning toward the hallway.
“Kairo!” she yelled, stopping me. I turned around slowly.
“Your daughter called me this morning.”
My heart dropped straight into my stomach. I opened my mouth to explain because I didn’t know what all Kennedi told her. I thought she didn’t hear us since she was sleep, but she raised her hand without even looking at me.
“Don’t,” she said softly.
I closed my mouth. She turned the stove down and faced me fully.
“I heard everything I needed to hear.”
My jaw tightened. “Mama—”
She lifted her hand again. “I said don’t.”
Her voice wasn’t loud, but it carried authority. She leaned against the counter and crossed her arms.
“Now imagine being sixteen years old,” she began, “already feeling like your life is monitored and scheduled… and then finding out your parents — the two people who expect perfection from you — have cracks in their own foundation.”
“She feels chained sometimes, Kairo. And then she looks up and realizes the people holding the leash ain’t perfect either. That doesn’t feel good.”
I rubbed my hands over my face.
“She’s fine,” she said before I could speak. “I talked to her. I comforted her. And I don’t need you bringing none of this back up to her. It was a deep conversation between us two.”
I nodded slowly.
“She’s grown up watching both of y’all,” she said. “She saw her mama hurting long before anything else happened. Kids always see more than we think.”
“She watched Khloe slowly change. And she watched you stay busy enough not to even notice.”
I looked down at the floor. “She didn’t know what it was at the time but now she knows that it was another man making her mom smile again,” she added.
My chest tightened painfully.
“I know you didn’t want her seeing that reality,” she said. “But maybe we need to stop hiding life from our children. Because when reality finally hits them, they think something is wrong with them instead of understanding that relationships are human.”
She stepped closer to me. “I watched you follow the same path your daddy walked. I thought correcting you here and there was enough,” she admitted. “But maybe if I had shown you what ambition without emotional presence did to my heart… maybe you wouldn’t have repeated it with your wife.”
Tears burned behind my eyes. I didn’t want to hear it, but I knew she wasn’t lying. She reached out and grabbed my hand.
“I talked to Khloe,” she said. My head snapped up.
“This ain’t about Khloe right now,” she continued before I could react. “Because you, my son… you were the beginning of the ripple effect.”
“When you take vows, you vow to honor, protect, and cherish that woman.”
She tapped my chest gently. “And that isn’t just financial.”
I felt my throat close. “You provided,” she said. “You built. You secured. And I am proud of the man you became.”
“But you left emotional space empty… and somebody else walked into it.”
I blinked fast, fighting the tears forming in my eyes.
“I know you’re hurt,” she continued. “I know you angry. But don’t you sit here judging her like men don’t do the exact same thing every day when they feel unseen. If the shoe was on the other foot, you would have done the same thing sooner. Give her the grace you would have wanted as a man.”
Her words cut straight through my pride.
“It’s life,” she said smiling. “People break. People reach. People make mistakes trying to survive emotional loneliness.”
She paused. “And this isn’t about picking sides.”
She placed her hand against my cheek the way she used to when I was a kid. “It’s about accountability.”
My vision blurred. Deep down… I knew she was right. I loved my wife, but somewhere along the way, loving her turned into maintaining a life instead of nurturing a marriage.
Mama G kissed my forehead. “Fix it,” she whispered.
Mama’s cooking had put both of us into a coma. I was stretched out across the sectional in the theater room, one arm behind my head, stomach full. optional. The big screen glowed in front of us while some Lifetime second-chance romance played.
Normally, I would’ve roasted the hell out of a movie like that. But I couldn’t even lie… that shit was good. A couple reconnecting after twenty years, arguing, crying, falling back in love like time never existed.
Kordai sat slouched beside me, remote hanging loosely from his hand, eyes low and relaxed.
The sun outside faded into evening. Between Mama’s food and the blunt Kordai convinced me to hit, my body finally felt… still and relaxed.
“I always wonder what my life would look like if I never went to prison.”
I turned my head toward him. The weed must’ve been talking. Kordai didn’t do deep conversations. He kept his thoughts locked tighter than a safe.
“What you mean?” I asked.
He kept his eyes on the screen. “When you locked up,” he said slowly, “you start realizing half the shit you chased on the outside ain’t even important.”
He shrugged. “I had women before prison… and after prison. Plenty of ’em.”
I smirked. “Yeah, we know.”
“But recently, I reconnected with somebody I always rocked with. Somebody real.”
“Man,” he said quietly, shaking his head, “she’s everything.”
He laughed under his breath like he couldn’t believe himself. “But I never looked at her like that before. We were just vibing. It was a connection that I couldn’t describe. It was like we always knew each other on the inside.”
He glanced over at me. “I really think we could’ve been the next Khloe and Kairo.”
That caught me off guard.
“We been knowing each other since we were teens,” he continued. “Just rocking… nobody even knew that we were kicking it. Like we were each other’s safety net outside the world.”
“But?” I asked.
He sighed. “But my past… the shit I done been through… the shit I done did…”