Chapter 1 #3
My father called it a blessing and a curse.
I was too young to remember much, but I recalled the many arguments my parents had about my father’s infidelity.
I didn’t understand what it meant back then, but I hated the way my mother used to cry whenever a woman came to our house.
My parents were my introduction to toxic relationships before I had any concept of what a relationship actually was.
He would cheat, they would argue, Momma would cry for a few days, and then my father would be walking around the house singing while my mother cooked him breakfast.
He used to tell me that I would come to understand the power we possessed, but I wasn’t sure whether that was a good thing.
The girls at school practically threw themselves at me.
My homies talked shit about it all the time, but that shit didn’t move me.
I fucked a few bitches here and there, but I wasn’t pressed about it.
To be honest, I started fucking at the age of ten, so pussy didn’t impress me the way it did others.
Now that I was nineteen, my mindset was different from a lot of the young niggas my age.
Once I got out of the shower, I got dressed in the bathroom since I had company.
Lyric often slept in my room whenever my momma and Tone argued.
They had been together for four years, and things had only gotten worse.
While he took care of the house financially, I couldn’t bring myself to respect him as a man.
My mother used to work at the local hospital before he came around.
She wasn’t perfect by any means, but she always kept a job and food on the table.
When they first got together, he started spoiling her with money and gifts.
Eventually, he started buying gifts for us, too, which won my sister over in no time.
None of my momma’s other men ever did anything for us.
Hell, some of them pretended as if we were invisible until it came time to discipline us.
Once he moved in, things changed for the worse.
He turned into an angry drunk, and my mother became his punching bag.
I didn’t bother to step in, because it backfired so many times before.
If she wanted to be with a man who treated her poorly, there was no point in my trying to get in her way.
My plan was to get a place in the next few weeks and move Lyric in with me.
I doubted my mother would put up much of a fight because she wanted to be under her man all the time.
My phone rang, and my stomach did that weird shit it always did whenever her young ass called my line. We were only a year and a few months apart, and I still called her young, because Naiari was green to the world around her. She had no idea about the dangers lurking in the shadows.
“What’s up, Cocoa Puffs?” I greeted her with a cheesy ass grin on my face as if she could see me.
“I’m so tired of you and that corny ass nickname. You could have come up with something cuter than that.” She huffed into the phone, but I knew she liked it.
“I love your nickname. You remind me of my favorite cereal. Chocolate and sweet. I think it’s perfect.”
Silence lingered before she finally responded again.
“Umm, yeah. I almost forgot the reason for my call. Can you take me to get my nails done tomorrow? You don’t need to stay or anything like that. All I need is a ride.”
“What time is your appointment?” I had some running around to do, so I wanted to make sure our schedules lined up, although it really didn’t matter. I would make sure she got where she needed to be, even if I needed to move some things around.
“Suki has walk-ins, so I didn’t bother scheduling an appointment. I figured I would go whenever you were available.”
I nodded my head even though she couldn’t see me.
“Alright. I gotta head into the city around ten, so I’ll come get you around nine thirty, if that’s cool.”
“Okay, that’s perfect. Thank you, Keke.”
“Get the fuck off my phone with that dumb ass name. Play with somebody else.”
Naiari giggled into the phone, making my dick hard. She had no idea the effect her presence had on me.
“I don’t see what the big deal is. Your name is Keynauri, so I don’t see anything wrong with Keke. It’s not my fault your momma gave you a girl’s name,” she teased.
“I can’t even argue with you there. I still can’t believe she gave me this girlie ass name. Either way, you can dead all that Keke shit. You can either call me Keynauri or daddy. One or the other.” I threw the last part out as a joke because I knew it would get under her skin.
“Well, I guess since you’re the only man who truly takes care of me, I should be calling you daddy, huh?” She snickered. My dick twitched again, letting me know we needed to get off the phone before things took a turn.
“Whatever, Cocoa Puffs. I’ll call you in the morning, when I’m on my way. You’d better be ready too, because I’ll pull off on your ass if you have me outside waiting.” I lied through my teeth, but she didn’t need to know.
“Yeah, yeah. I hear you. I’ll be up bright and early, so you have nothing to worry about. I’m about to hop in the shower and then call Nova. I’ll see you tomorrow. Thank you again, Keke.”
“I got you. Good night, Cocoa Puffs.”
“Good night, daddy!” She hung up before I could respond. I shook my head, chuckling to myself.
Everyone thought we were secretly in love with each other, and they weren’t wrong on my end.
From the moment I laid eyes on Naiari, I knew she was special.
Over the years, we fell into a rhythm of being best friends, but I wanted to marry her one day.
She admitted to having a crush on me years ago, but she claimed she stopped seeing me in a romantic way because I was sexually free.
Well, in her words, I was a hoe, but it was the same thing.
I explained to her I was only doing what single men did, but she claimed I didn’t have the ability to be monogamous.
To be honest, I couldn’t say she was wrong.
I rarely dated, and when I tried to take someone seriously, it always ended the same way.
Either I would find out they had an ulterior motive, or I would end up fucking with someone else.
I didn’t think it meant I couldn’t be faithful; I just hadn’t found a woman who made me want to try.
Most of the bitches who chased after me only wanted to be around for the benefits.
They weren’t interested in my heart; they wanted my money and my dick.
I gave them what they were looking for, and in return, I got what I needed.
The way I saw it, it was a mutually beneficial arrangement.
When it came time to settle down, I believed I would be able to do so with no issues.
The problem was that the only person I saw myself settling down with was her.