Chapter 21-Devon
“Damn, you look gorgeous,” I said as soon as Kenya opened the door.
She was rocking a blue, off-the-shoulder dress that sparkled and hugged her in all of the right places and heels that added a few inches to her height.
Even with her added height, she was still nowhere near as tall as I was, which I appreciated.
I was picking her up so that we could go to the celebration for Cross, at Crossroads.
When I told her about what Levi wanted to do, she said she would be there for me, even though we both knew that the club scene wasn’t her.
I loved that she was willing to go outside of her element in order to show me moral support. I didn’t want her to be uncomfortable, but at the same time, I appreciated having her by my side.
Times like the anniversary of his death and his birthday always made it even more real that I would never see my boy again.
Some days it felt like I just hadn’t seen him in a minute. Like he was alive and well somewhere, and we just hadn’t talked, but other days, reality was staring at me dead in my face and stabbing me in my heart.
“Thank you, and you look handsome. If this is how you always dress for work, I may need to relocate my practice to your club,” she complimented, causing me to flash my gold, diamond encrusted grill.
I decided to be on my A-game, grown man to match my lady’s natural fly.
For the night, I stepped out in a gold and black, paisley-print, slightly unbuttoned button-down shirt, a pair of dark Balmain jeans, and a pair of Gucci loafers.
I could tell from the look in Kenya’s eyes that she appreciated my extra effort.
“If you worked that close to me, neither of us would get any work done.”
“Really? Tell me more,” she said and slightly pushed up on me.
“If I do, we definitely won’t make it to the party,” I teased as I planted a kiss on her exposed collarbone, which caused her to tremble under my touch.
Since the day I popped up at her house, I couldn’t keep my hands off of her, and she hadn’t complained. As crazy as it sounded, being intimate with Kenya was more than just sex, it was a connection that brought us closer on an emotional and mental level.
At times, I was close to tears because of the physical and damn near spiritual pull she had over me. That had to be the voodoo behind sex with a woman you actually loved.
“I don’t want to cause us to be late or miss the event. Give me a minute to grab my clutch.”
She quickly went in, grabbed what she needed, came back out, and we headed to Crossroads.
When we pulled up, I saw that the parking lot was packed, and that translated to dollar signs. Admission was free for the event, but people would still have to pay to drink. The bar was always Crossroads moneymaker.
I pulled my Camaro up to the curb, and as soon as I did, one of the valet attendants rushed over to grab my keys. My Hummer truck was my everyday vehicle, but my black Camaro, with blacked-out tint and custom spinner rims, was what I drove when I felt the need to be flashy.
I walked over to help Kenya out, and we headed into the club, hand in hand. There were a lot of females who had occupied my bed a time or two in attendance, and I hoped that they knew better than to jump stupid with me or my woman.
On our way to VIP, I chopped it up with a few people who stopped me.
That was one thing about having a little change in your pocket; niggas always had their hands out wanting something for nothing.
I didn’t mind helping somebody by giving them a job, but I wasn’t a damn bank, so I wasn’t about to be giving everybody and their mama twenty dollars.
People always wanted to hold something other than a job.
“Damn, D. You were right. She is beautiful,” Levi said, approaching us as he reached for Kenya’s hand.
I quickly intercepted and grabbed it away from him before he could shake or kiss her hand.
“I don’t need your crusty ass lips on my woman,” I joked with him. “Kenya, this is my partne r and my brother, Levi. Levi, this is my woman, Kenya.”
“Levi, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Devon has told me a lot about you. My condolences for the loss of your brother. This is a beautiful event in his honor,” she responded, showing how classy she was.
“Thank you. Devon has told me a lot about you too. How did he manage to snag you, though? Like, real talk,” his ignorant ass said before he burst into laughter. “A real nigga like me gotta know.”
“See, this is why I didn’t want you to meet her.”
“Well, Levi, to answer your question, Devon is an amazing man, and I am fortunate to have him. Sometimes I wonder how I managed to snag him.”
The way she looked at me when she said it, had me ready to ask her to be my wife. Crazy enough, it wasn’t the first time the thought had crossed my mind.
“I guess she told yo’ ass,” I joked.
Kenya, Levi, and I conversed a while before he headed off to socialize with the patrons. A lot of his and Cross’s family members were there. Some who he hadn’t seen in a minute, so he was making his rounds.
We both wanted his mama to join us so that we could celebrate Cross, his birthday and his memory as a family, but she declined. I couldn’t say that I didn’t understand her reasoning. When Cross got killed, a large piece of her did too. He was the glue that held a lot of people together.
Cross was really that kind of dude. Yeah, he’d roast yo’ ass into hiding, but he’d also give you the shirt off his back without a second thought.
“So, this must be the hoe that has you acting like the father of the year?” I heard Keesha’s ratchet ass ask over the music.
I could recognize her pitchy and raspy speech from a mile away.
When I followed the direction of her voice, I saw her walking toward where Kenya and I were dancing.
The night was going great, obviously too good if she felt the need to pop up.
Somehow, I’d talked Kenya into getting up to dance with me. She wasn’t as uncoordinated as she led me to believe.
My baby just needed to let loose. Once she did that, she was good.
As good as our night was going, I knew that if Keesha had her way, it was going to go from ten to zero.
“Pardon me,” Kenya spoke, looking around like she needed confirmation that Keesha was talking to her.
I was mentally talking myself out of wringing her damn neck. I was trying to be smart and not cause a scene because I didn’t want Kenya to see that side of me, but Keesha seemed to get a rise out of playing with her life.
“Oh, so yous a proper hoe?” Keesha chimed while her ratchet gang of friends hyped her up. “Go figure. Devon, she ain’t your type, and we know it. Quit playin’ yourself and come back home.” She tapped on the tainted spot between her legs for emphasis.
If she saw the crimson red stain seeping through her white shorts, I was sure she wouldn’t have been so bold.
“ Yous ,” Kenya mockingly repeated, shaking her head like she was truly disappointed in my baby mama.
“Sorry, sweetheart, it’s obvious that you don’t have the proper education, and from your attire, I can conclude that you also lack common sense, style, tact and a decent standard of hygiene.
The only thing sadder than your hygiene is the fact that I’m not sure you realize yous isn’t a word.
You should have said, you are or you’re .
That would have been grammatically correct.
” My mouth hung open at the way my woman eloquently read her.
“In case you need a better picture, you should’ve said, you’re a proper hoe .
Does that make sense, or do I need to speak slower? ”
“Damn, Keesha, chocolate Malibu Barbie is handling your ass. Don’t let her play you like that, girl. Show her that you the baby mama with the drip.” Keesha’s sister, Sherae, chirped, adding fuel to the fire.
I snapped out of my anger driven trance just as Keesha was about to lunge at Kenya and stepped in between them.
“Move!”
“Nah, it ain’t gon’ go down like that.”
Keesha reared her head back like I’d spit in or face or slapped her. I wasn’t about to stoop to spitting on her, but I was fighting hard not to slap fire out of her ass.
“Devon, you really about to let this hoe disrespect me, the mother of your child?” she yelled with spit dripping from her mouth like she had rabies.
“Sweetheart, I haven’t disrespected you yet,” Kenya replied from behind me. “Trust me.”
I turned slightly to glance at her. Kenya’s jaw tightened, her indifferent facade masking a simmering rage I could see in her eyes.
She was covering it well, but I knew she was heated by the entire interaction and so was I.
Dealing with drama was never on my agenda, especially not on a night like this.
I looked around to see all the patrons with their cellphones out, recording, and documenting the moment as the scene played out. In a split second, Keesha rushed me trying to swing on Kenya.
To both of our surprise, Kenya came around on my right side, armed with a taser. I was confused and stunned as to how she got around me that fast or that she could fit a taser in her little ass bag.
Next thing I knew, Keesha was on the floor, jerking from the electric currents surging through her body.
I could hear a mixture of gasps and laughter from the patrons, and I couldn’t do anything but shake my head. Keesha had really bought that low-key ass whooping on herself. Kenya may not have touched Keesha, but she damn sure dominated her.
Hell yeah. My baby girl was tagging hoes the classy way.
“D, you really ain’t gon’ check that hoe? She just put my sister on the ground like a damn animal, and you ain’t got nothing to say.”
I wasn’t focused on Sherae as she bent down and attempted to wake Keesha up from the nap Kenya made her take.
I turned around, and Kenya didn’t have a single strand of hair out of place. She looked like the textbook definition of unmoved .
“Damn, nigga, what happened?” Levi asked as he rushed up to us out of breath.
“Levi, get her and these ghetto bums out of here,” I fumed, pointing to Keesha and her low-budget entourage.
I grabbed Kenya’s hand and hurriedly walked to my office, which was located on the third floor of the club. The first floor was the general entry club, the second floor was party rooms and VIP, and the third floor held the offices.
On the way up, I passed by Mike, the head security guard.
He was ducked off in the hallway, talking to one of Levi’s thirsty cousins.
She was grinning and scheming, more than likely trying to get free drinks or entrance into VIP.
He smiled at us like life was good, but little did he know, his ass would be getting fired the very next day.
I had a staff full of well-paid security guards.
The situation with Keesha and Kenya shouldn’t have happened.
The celebration for Cross was closed off to the public, so I was confused how she and her gang of birds got in to begin with.
My entire staff would have to hear my mouth about the chaos that popped off in VIP.
With us securely in my office, I looked her over. She looked just as good as she did when we left the house.
“Are you good?”
“Yes, I’m fine. We didn’t have to leave the party,” she said nonchalantly.
“Yes, we did. I needed to make sure that you were good. I’ll handle Keesha for that, and that’s my word.”
“Babe, I appreciate that, but I don’t want you to damage the co-parenting relationship that the two of you have on my behalf.”
Kenya hadn’t asked about Dreux’s mama so I wasn’t surprised that her assumption was that Keesha wasn’t a flawed ass individual.
She knew Dreux lived with me, but she didn’t press for more than that.
Most females would want to know about my baby mama out of the gate, but then again, Kenya was nothing like another female.
“There isn’t a co-parenting relationship. She may have birthed him, but she’s not much of a mother, so I’m not concerned with any situation involving her, unless it affects you or Dreux. Keesha shouldn’t have even been here tonight.”
I hadn’t given her a full rundown of my history with Keesha, or told her about how I had to take my son from her because she was being irresponsible.
“That means a lot to me,” she said and gave me a tender kiss. “I have to admit that she doesn’t seem like your type. What did you see in her?”
“The hell if I know. Keesha and I were never in a relationship. We dealt with each other back then, but she was only into me because of my previous profession ,” I said, giving her a knowing look, which she hesitantly picked up on.
“She thought that by getting pregnant with Dreux I would wife her, but she was wrong.”
We hadn’t spoken much of my past profession as a street pharmaceutical rep because I wanted to leave my history right where it was. In the past. There were a few people who still called me D or Dee Money , but when I turned legit, I started going by my government name.
Kenya didn’t need to know about D , who he was, or what he was capable of. All I wanted her to see was Devon, the man she loved.
“Well,” she started, closing the space between us. When she was close enough, she placed her hands on my chest and looked up at me with nothing but love. “From what I just saw, you made the right decision.”
“From what I see in front of me, I know that I did,” I responded as she blushed. I leaned down and kissed her lips because I couldn’t help myself. “Even though you tasered her, I appreciate how you handled it with class.”
“I may not be a fighter, but I won’t hesitate to use my taser on someone. Besides, I handled her with the same amount of tact you handled my mother with.”
“Are you ready to leave?”
“Only if you are.”
I told her to give me a second so that I could call valet and tell them to bring my car around. We walked out of my office, toward the nearest exit, and the moment we walked out, the valet attendant was pulling around the side of the building.
After I helped my woman into the car, we were gone.
When we drove past the front of the club, I saw Sharee and the rest of the birds trying to get Keesha into the back of a car.
I didn’t have to stare long in order to see that she was still knocked out, stiff and lifeless, with her stomach out for everybody to see.
Her legs were open, and menstrual blood was everywhere.
I shuddered in disgust. That was something I could never unsee.