28. Kenyon
28
Kenyon
B eing in a relationship wasn’t hard, but it was just certain shit that you couldn’t do anymore, like walking in the house at four am. Especially when I could go into detail about why. I could see the living room light from the driveway, so I knew Zara would be pissed. I pulled a blunt from my jacket and sparked it up. I needed to relax before I walked into the house to answer fifty questions, even if I deserved it.
After flicking the blunt away, I exited the car and headed inside to get my lashing.
“I know it’s late. I fuck-” I began explaining until I rounded the corner.
Kross was seated on the coffee table with a gun in his hand while Zara sat frozen on the couch, her red eyes wide like a deer caught in headlights.
“Nigga have you lost your fuckin’ mind! Put that shit up!” My voice came out rough, barely able to hide the rage building inside me.
Kross didn’t look at me. His focus was entirely on Zara.
“We have a problem.” He spoke low, calm, but I knew that tone.
“What kind of fuckin’ problem has you sitting with a gun on my girl?”
“The short version is, your girl’s mom did some bad business with John Jackson. He called in reinforcements to handle it, but it was too late. They disappeared to witness protection, and now she’s back and conveniently in love with you.”
“Don’t say conveniently like this was some plan I cooked up!” Zara yelled.
“Oh, and her hormones are raging because there is a chance she’s pregnant. Good job,” Kross said, patting my shoulder.
My head was spinning, trying to process what the fuck Kross shared. It was too much at once to consider that everything I thought we built was bullshit. That of all people, Babygirl was playing me and now carrying my seed. I didn’t know how to feel about any of that.
“Unc told me at dinner. John called him after he spent time with your girl at the police station. Still sure she doesn't know shit?” Kross explained before asking.
“Wait a minute. Is that why you didn’t say anything when I asked who he was?” Zara forgot that it wasn’t just me and her here, springing to her feet. “No wonder he looked at me that way! Every question John asked was centered around you! I came home and told you that! It sounds like it’s you who has me roped into your shit!” she ranted, jabbing her finger in my face with tears in her eyes.
“Put that finger in my face again, and I’ll bite it off.”
“You fuckin’ knew! That’s why you were so pressed to help me on Shana’s birthday. So eager to know all about her. Pretending you gave a fuck about me!”
“Just like you, I didn’t know shit, so you need to calm down.”
“Fuck you!” Zara huffed.
“He did already, so now the question is, how much do you know,” Kross continued.
I quickly interrupted Kross with, “Nothing,” but how her eyes narrowed at me suggested she was suspicious.
“You sure about that?”
“If I said it, I’m sure,” I shot back coldly. “So put that fuckin’ gun up for now. If anybody’s pulling a trigger, it’s me.”
But Kross's expression remained stubborn and unyielding, his jaw clenched, barely concealing his anger.
“So what’s your solution, Keyes? We have a problem, and your girl is at the center!” he shot back, his voice cold and clipped.
“Take some of that bass out of your voice. This wouldn't be happening if-.”
“If what?" Kross interrupted, his voice dripping with disdain as he cut off my train of thought. “If you didn’t have to step in and help me? Is that what you're getting at?”
What I was going to say was no longer important. Instead, grief had shown up at the party, and the argument took a turn.
“If you didn’t think you had to fix everything by yourself, I guess you get that from Pops, too.”
“That apple didn’t fall as far from your tree as you think!” Kross defended.
“At least now I know why you had me running all over the city for bullshit that Nolan could’ve handled. Great fuckin’ teamwork .”
“You didn’t have the heart to do what needed to be done tonight! Even if you did, that shit would’ve eaten at you. As your brother, I took that!” Kross yelled, hitting his chest. “I always took it for you so you could go run around playing with cars and shit! I was there with Pops, so you didn’t have to be.”
Zara’s neck flipped between us, trying to keep up with the conversation.
“Out of respect for your brother , you were supposed to come to me the minute you found out! But just like him, you call the shots, and we fall in line. Since you wanna be like your fuckin’ daddy so bad, visit him on the mantle and ask him how to solve this,” I replied.
“Keep talking to me crazy, and your ass will join him,” Kross threatened.
“That sounds better than listening to you bitch and moan.” I threw my hands up, the frustration boiling over, “If I wanted to point fingers, I’d bring up that you hired her genius.”
“You fucked her and let her get too close. I told you to leave her alone!”
We were nose to nose, when I heard Zara gag. My head whipped toward the bathroom as she bolted for the door, barely making it in time. With so many details to argue, I’d forgotten the biggest caveat to all this bullshit.
Kross and I shared a look I didn’t want to acknowledge. For once, he wasn’t barking orders or making accusations. He sighed, running a hand over his face before nodding toward the bathroom.
“Go check on her, Stupid.”
I approached the door, and all the anger from our argument faded, watching her lean over the toilet.
“Zara.”
“I’m fine. Tonight’s just been a lot,” she wiped her tear-stained face with the back of her hand, out of breath.
She pushed past me, walking out of the bathroom. The tears in her eyes made me want to wrap her in my arms and tell her that I had her. Both of them, but there was still so much shit that needed to be sorted out.
“You need to get a pregnancy test now,” Kross advised.
“Nigga, you go get it!” I fired back, tired of him ordering me around.
“Can somebody please just go get a fuckin’ test!” Zara yelled, running her hands through her hair.
“Go fetch that test,” Kross smirked.
I flipped him my middle finger and walked out, barely remembering the drive to the store. I was preoccupied with all the words thrown around my living room tonight. It didn’t get any better staring at shelves stacked with pregnancy tests, clueless about which one to pick. I grab one and another, stuffing them into the basket before heading to checkout.
When I returned to the house, Kross was still watching Zara like a hawk.
“Did you buy the whole store?” she asked, climbing to her feet.
“I’ve never done this before.” Her jaw was damn near trembling, trying to keep her sarcastic comment to herself as she snatched the bag from my hand.
“Where are you going?” Zara asked, turning around with her hand on my chest.
“Now you’re too shy to pee in front of me?”
“Considering I woke up to a gun on my forehead, I was hoping to have a few minutes to myself!” she slammed the bathroom door shut in my face, leaving me to wait with Kross.
“You put a fuckin’ gun to her head?”
“Don’t go soft on me like you don’t know how this works.”
“Then what stopped you?”
“Your fuckin’ baby. One good look at her, and I knew she was pregnant. I don’t even think she knew until I said something.”
“What are you, some kinda baby whisperer?”
“I pay attention, unlike you. Skipping your ass around in La-La Land fucking without a care in the world.” When I didn’t reply, Kross stared wordlessly before asking, “You good?”
“I don’t fuckin’ know.”
“We’ll figure it out, but either way it goes, you’ll be aite Kenyon. I promise you that.”
If it wasn’t okay, then it wasn’t the end, but how much more bullshit would I have to endure to get there. Kross and I sat quietly until the door opened, and Zara stepped out in my t-shirt. I didn’t need to hear the words to know the result, but she uttered them anyway.
“I’m pregnant.”
Twenty-four hours ago, those words would’ve elicited a different response, but right now, I only felt confusion while Zara stared at the floor.
“I-I, um. I need to lay down,” she said, trying to relax the tense lines on her face.
I nodded, and she hesitated a moment before gliding upstairs.
“Is it yours?” Kross asked a few minutes after she disappeared.
“Chill, Kross. For real.”
“Somebody has to ask the hard questions.”
“I don’t need you to ask shit on my behalf. I got it.”
“We have a problem that I can’t solve because she’s pregnant, so tell me, what’s next?”
“I’m not taking John’s word for shit. I don’t trust him, and you shouldn’t either. What did Unc say to you?”
“John told him Zara came into the precinct asking for him. John called Unc and told him their old problem resurfaced. Shana used to work as John’s assistant in the day. She overheard some shit she wasn’t supposed to, so he called Pops and Unc to take care of it, only they didn’t get a chance to. Shana disappeared.”
“Zara said a cop picked her up from Utopia for questioning. Pull the footage from the parking lot, and we’ll go from there.”
“Questioning about what?”
“An argument with Makori.”
A lecture bubbled on his face but instead focused on the bigger issue.
“Fine, but if it turns out he’s not lying,” Kross’s statement remained open-ended.
“Then I do what I have to do, but until I say so, no more fuckin’ secrets, Kross.”
“I know you don’t want to consider that she’s playing you, but for now, we have to. Pregnant or not, keep her close. I’ll hit you in the morning.”
Kross stared briefly, debating on staying because he didn’t trust me to keep it together. I wasn’t sure if he thought I’d run off with Zara or kill her myself, but he finally left. I climbed the stairs to find Zara curled in the middle of the bed with her head buried in the blanket.
I sat against the wall, watching her sleep, replaying every conversation, smile, and intimate moment. It felt like a cruel joke that God would give me Zara and another baby under these circumstances.