Chapter 24
Two Weeks Later
Keynauri seemed cool as a cucumber, carrying on as if nothing had happened.
When we got back home, he went right back to work, and he didn’t seem to care.
Against Fatima’s wishes, he posted a photo dump of our vacation with the family, along with a throwback of us when we were young.
The public was eating it up. I gained over two hundred thousand followers in the last four days, and the number was growing rapidly.
With the love came a lot of hate, but I tried my best to ignore any of the negativity.
Some people wanted to paint me out as the bad guy and as much as I wanted to defend myself, it wouldn’t change anything.
I spent countless nights stressed about it until Keynauri forced me to stay off my phone.
He promised he would handle things so I decided to let him do so.
Nova suggested I use the buzz as an opportunity to promote my business, and it worked well.
Keynauri insisted I have security at my suite because he was concerned about crazed fans showing up to my place of business.
My calendar was booked up for the next six weeks, so I wasn’t complaining.
It helped that my loyal clients were in the comments cosigning my work.
I hated riding around with security all the time, but if it meant protecting the ones I loved, then I would do what needed to be done.
“Where are we going, baby? I thought we were going home,” I questioned once I realized we were turning onto the opposite street.
“East sent me some cryptic ass message telling me I needed to get over to Lyric’s house. I need to see what’s going on. It shouldn’t take very long.”
I nodded, then glanced back at three sleeping children in the back seat.
Keyami was still with us after her mother threw a fit about us taking family pictures together.
She went live on IG and basically told the world that since I wanted to be a step momma so badly, I could raise her myself.
I told Keynauri that when Keyami was born, Tiana never wanted to be a mother.
She thought that if she got pregnant, it would solidify her spot in his life.
He fucked up by entertaining her while he was locked up because it only fueled her fantasy of them being together.
Keyami cried for days when her momma wouldn’t answer her calls, and I vowed to never allow her to feel unwanted. She and the twins were always treated as equals, but I worked even harder to make sure she felt welcomed.
“What the fuck is going on?” Keynauri whispered as he parked the truck on the curb.
When I glanced up, I saw East arguing with another man while Lyric pulled on his shirt.
Symphonee was crying, and I could tell Lyric was too.
I had a feeling this wouldn’t be a simple stop like Keynauri made it out to be.
“Stay in the car,” he instructed. I didn’t like the idea of him telling me what to do, but I decided to listen.
Reaching over to the glove compartment, he retrieved a gun.
It was in that moment that I grew worried.
I sent Nova a message and asked her to call Logic.
I gave her a brief summary of what was going on.
I peeked around to see if there were any neighbors outside, and luckily, there weren’t any.
It didn’t mean no one was watching, though.
I rolled the window down so I could listen to what was going on.
The other man’s back was toward me, so I couldn’t see who it was.
It did nothing to stop me from being nosy, though.
“I’m tired of you getting in the middle of what I have going on.
You’re upset because I was the first person to break that little pussy in, and you know deep down she’ll never truly be over me.
I live rent-free in your head. That’s why you keep trying to keep me from talking to her,” the other man taunted.
I paused for a moment, recognizing his voice.
“Pussy ass bitch, I keep you away because you’re a fucking pervert.
You don’t give a fuck about your daughter.
That’s why you barely know her name or how old she is.
I told Lyric to stop taking money from you because she doesn’t need you or your hush money.
I bet your cockeyed wife has never even laid eyes on your daughter, but you want to stand here making demands with your chest out. Nigga, fuck you!”
In all the years I had known East, I never saw him get angry or raise his voice. In fact, Nova and I always joked about how unusually quiet he was in comparison to Logic or even Keynauri. The veins in his forehead were protruding, and it was only a matter of time before he snapped.
“Somebody explain to me what the fuck is going on. Why the hell is your old ass standing outside of my little sister’s place? I know damn well this isn’t Symphonee’s father. Lyric, what the fuck!” Keynauri roared.
I was still stuck on the other man’s voice, debating on whether I should disobey Keynauri’s orders and get out. Something in my gut didn’t feel right.
“Youngblood, this is none of your business. Lyric is grown, and we are the only people who should be talking. None of you were there when I was fucking that tight virgin pus—” Keynauri clocked the man right in the jaw.
East broke free from Lyric’s hold and began beating his ass right along with Keynauri.
I knew the police had probably been called, and they would be showing up soon.
Lyric tried to pull them apart to no avail. When Symphonee fell to the ground, I jumped out of the car to grab her.
“Daddy! Daddy!” She wailed. I noticed her calling East daddy while we were on vacation, so I knew exactly who she was crying for.
“Come on, Noodle.” I cradled her in my arms, then placed her in the truck with the other kids. I stood by the truck but never got back inside. Logic pulled up on two wheels and hopped out of the car with Nova following him. I had no time to question them because everything was happening so fast.
“Aye!” Logic rushed over and yanked Keynauri back, pushing him to the ground.
“Nigga, are you crazy? You have too much to lose to be out here fighting. I heard the sirens, so the laws are on their way. Get your ass in the truck and get the fuck out of here!” Logic demanded.
Keynauri’s chest rose and fell as he attempted to get back to the fight.
I couldn’t even call it a fight because East was beating the shit out of the man.
His face was so bloody, you couldn’t even see his facial features from where I stood.
Nova raced over to Lyric and wrapped her arms around her. My head was spinning, and my nerves intensified when the sirens grew closer.
“Keyz, get out of here!” East roared, but Keynauri refused to walk away.
The last thing he needed was for his name to be attached to another headline, but no one could get through to him.
Logic was able to separate East and the other man.
Surprisingly, even battered and bruised, he was still talking shit.
The familiarity hit me like a ton of bricks, and I found myself walking closer to the scene.
“All of you ingrates are going to rot in jail! Then you won’t be able to keep me away from what’s mine,” he boasted, leaning over to spit blood on the ground. When he lifted his head up, the two of us locked eyes, and my stomach twisted.
“Daddy? W-what are you doing here?” My father stood there like a deer caught in headlights, but my body shook in disbelief.
My brain started doing the math, and the shit wasn’t adding up.
Noodle was turning six, and Lyric was twenty-three, which meant she was pregnant when she was still a teenager.
My father was well into his forties and had no business looking in her direction, let alone getting her pregnant.
“Fuck!” Logic shouted as the police parked their cruisers. My mind instantly took me back to the day Keynauri got arrested, and I found myself panicking. Keynauri remained calm, his face blank. He tossed his keys to me, which told me that he knew his fate.
“I don’t want my kids to see me get arrested. Get them out of here, now,” he demanded. As much as I wanted to give him push back, I had to think of the kids.
“Lyric. I need Noodle’s car seat.”
She heard my voice, but she was too distraught to respond.
“There’s one in my car,” East spoke up, handing me his keys.
“I want to press charges on these hoodlums for assault,” my father called out the moment the officers stepped out of the car. By then, a few neighbors were standing outside. I shook my head because my family couldn’t seem to catch a break.
“Lyric, you need to go with them,” East insisted.
“I’m not leaving you. I can’t,” Lyric uttered through her sniffles.
My heart broke for her because it was clear there was much more to her story than we knew.
The police tried to give me a hard time about leaving, but they finally agreed.
I got Noodle settled in her car seat, but the rest of the kids were up and visibly upset.
Nova promised to come by the house when they found out what was going on, so I headed home. Tears flowed down my face as I prayed for God to spare Keynauri. We couldn’t afford to lose him, especially after we just got him back.
An hour passed before Nova made it to the house. I managed to get the kids bathed and into bed, promising ice cream for breakfast. Noodle cried for East until she wore herself out. My heart broke for her, and I prayed the outcome would be in his favor.
When I heard the sound of someone knocking, I leaped off the couch to answer it. Nova’s face greeted me, followed by a distraught Lyric and a stone-faced Logic. I stepped back to allow them all to enter. My heart shattered when I noticed the absence of Keynauri and East.
We all walked over to the couch and took a seat. Lyric broke down in Nova’s arms. Her cries were so raw, and it was clear she was releasing pain from her past.