Chapter Sixteen
Ke’yoko had to fill in at the shop for Tamika because she had called off once again. It had become quite frequent that she missed work every payday. Ke’yoko sat at the desk, deep in thought. She couldn’t get her mind off of Kailo. There were so many unanswered questions about the night he’d left. She wanted to call and talk to him, but decided to give him some time and space. She definitely didn’t want to push him back out of her life so she decided for now to just leave it alone. She didn’t have a choice.
“Wassup, sis,” Ka’yah said, walking in the office and breaking Ke’yoko’s concentration.
“Oh, hey,” Ke’yoko looked up and said with a smile. Ke’yoko loved having her sister back in her life. They were tighter now than they’d been before. They’d started calling each other every day just like old times, going out to lunch, getting mani’s and pedi’s, and going on shopping sprees. Ka’yah had been buying the baby all kinds of gifts, and was already planning one of the biggest baby showers ever.
“Here’s your mornin’ cup of tea,” Ka’yah said, handing her sister the hot cup.
“Thank you.” Ke’yoko smiled while taking the cup from her hand and setting it down on the desk.
“Now drink up. I keep tellin’ you the green tea is good for my nephew,” Ka’yah said.
“Just how do you know it’s a boy?” Ke’yoko asked.
“Believe me, I just know,” Ka’yah said. “Plus, we got enough girls in the family.”
“There’s only two of us.” Ke’yoko laughed.
“Three countin’ Kailo,” Ka’yah said, cutting her eyes and twisting up her lips.
Ke’yoko didn’t even respond. She acted like she hadn’t even heard her sister’s snide comment. Kailo’s sexual choice was a topic Ke’yoko wasn’t mentally prepared to discuss yet. Hold the fuck up. Ke’yoko’s instincts kicked in again! She wondered how Ka’yah even knew about Kailo being gay. The only people who’d known or been told were Ja’Rel and Nadia; and she knew for a fact Nadia hadn’t opened up her mouth. That left no one but Ja’Rel!
“Oh, well, sis, I’m about to go pick Aiko up from his dad’s house, head home, and take a nap. I’m a little tired,” Ka’yah said, yawning.
“Okay. I’ll call you later on,” Ke’yoko said slowly. She was still trying to figure out when Ja’Rel could have told Ka’yah and why he hadn’t mentioned it to her.
“Okay, and make sure you drink your tea.”
“I will.” Ke’yoko picked up the cup and took a sip. “Ummmm, this is so good.”
“I told you. Well, I’m out. Love you.” Ka’yah smiled as she headed toward the door.
“Love you too,” Ke’yoko replied and continued sipping on her tea.
Ke’yoko sat for a few more minutes sipping on her tea and staring at the wall. Her mind continued racing about Kailo, and also why Ja’Rel would tell Ka’yah about their brother instead of giving her the chance to tell her. He didn’t know if she was even going to tell Ka’yah or even if Kailo wanted Ka’yah to know yet. If Ke’yoko had decided to tell Ka’yah she would have done that in her own time and in her own way. She would have eventually gotten around to telling her. Ja’Rel was way out of line.
Tired of sitting with her mind idling, Ke’yoko decided she would take the rest of the day off. If Tamika could do it, shit, she could too. It was a beautiful day out and the last thing she wanted was to be cooped up in the office. Ke’yoko finished off the last of tea, and threw the cup in the trash before calling Nadia and Ka’yah and telling them to get the kids ready because she was coming to get them. Ke’yoko had been promising them for months that she would spend some time with her nephew and goddaughter, but never got around to it. What better day than today? Ke’yoko sent the calls to voice mail, put the closed sign on the door, gathered her things, and headed to the car.
* * *
Ke’yoko sat on the park bench, catching up on the latest gossip in the Sister 2 Sister magazine as Aiko and A’Niyah ran around like two wild geese, yelling and screaming.
“They gon’ be good and tired when I drop they asses off wit’ they mommas,” Ke’yoko looked up briefly and said.
“Look, Auntie, no hands,” Aiko yelled as he and A’Niyah played on the teeter-totter.
“Boy, you better hold on before you fall and hurt yourself,” Ke’yoko warned.
“I’m a big boy,” Aiko replied.
“A’iiiight, when ya big boy ass laid out on the ground don’t say nothin’,” Ke’yoko mumbled.
Ke’yoko had finished her magazine and looked up at A’Niyah and smiled, and then looked over at Aiko and instantly got spooked. She looked as if she had just seen a ghost. Aiko was the spitting image of Ja’Rel. Ke’yoko had tried to brush that thought aside but it had been bothering her since the night of her birthday party. She had already accused Ja’Rel and Ka’yah of messing around once before and had been wrong about it, so they made her think. She hadn’t had any solid proof. This time, if her instincts were right, she would have the proof she needed. Ke’yoko threw her magazine in her purse and stood up from the bench.
“Ouch,” she said as she got a sharp pain in the lower part of her stomach. She had been having slight cramps for the past two weeks. Ke’yoko closed her eyes and said a quick little prayer. “God, please don’t be lettin’ me get ready to have another miscarriage. Please just let it be gas or somethin’. I know what my thoughts were before but, Lord, I want and need this baby. In the name of Jesus. Amen.” Ke’yoko opened her eyes and called out to the children. “Come on, y’all, let’s go.”
“Awwwww, do we hafta leave?” A’Niyah whined
“We not ready to go yet. Just five more minutes,” Aiko whined as well.
“We’re about to go get some ice cream,” Ke’yoko said, hoping that would get them to calm down.
“Yeeeeeah, ice cream,” the both of them cheered.
Ke’yoko got the kids into the car, buckled them in their booster seats, and pulled off. She kept glancing back at her nephew in the rearview mirror as he and A’Niyah held a conversation.
Ke’yoko pulled into the CVS parking lot.
“Hey, this ain’t the Dairy Queen,” Aiko said.
“Nope. It says CVS,” A’Niyah said, reading the letters on the sign.
“No, it’s not the Dairy Queen, but Auntie need to run in here and grab a few things. And how about when we come out I take y’all to McDonald’s?”
“And the Dairy Queen?” Aiko asked.
“Yes, and the Dairy Queen.” Ke’yoko smiled.
“Yessss.” The children smiled as they unbuckled themselves from their chairs and got out of the car.
Both children asked a million and one questions as they headed into the store.
“Auntie, do you really got a baby in yo’ belly?” Aiko inquired.
“Yes, baby,” Ke’yoko replied as she scoured the aisles.
“Who put it in there?” A’Niyah asked.
“God put it there, dummy,” Aiko snapped.
Ke’yoko had a surprised look on her face, wondering where he’d gotten his information from. She had to admit, he was pretty intelligent to only be five years old. He was constantly holding a grown man conversation.
“Boy, you are too much.” She laughed. “And don’t be callin’ people dumb.”
“I’m not too much. I’m only five.” Aiko laughed too.
Ke’yoko laughed and continued with her search. “Here it go.” Ke’yoko grabbed an at-home DNA paternity test. “Buy one get one half off,” she said aloud. “Shiiiit, I don’t need but one but I can’t pass this up. This a good deal.”
Ke’yoko read the back of the box to see how to use the test. After reading the instructions she looked down at the kids. “Y’all ready?”
“Yes, about time,” Aiko said smartly.
“Boy, you betta watch yo’ mouth,” Ke’yoko warned as they headed toward the checkout line. “Shit! I forgot my prenatal vitamins.”
“Oh, boy,” Aiko huffed.
“Boy, shut up and come on.” Ke’yoko laughed as she and the kids headed over toward the vitamin aisle. The smell of all the different vitamins was starting to make Ke’yoko nauseous. “Prenatal, prenatal,” Ke’yoko said as she quickly searched for the vitamins.
“Look, this is what Mommy puts in your tea to help make you feel better, and this one too,” Aiko said excitedly.
Ke’yoko glanced down at the two bottles her nephew held in his hand and took them from him. She nearly fainted when she read the labels. She couldn’t believe her sister was putting dong quai and blue cohosh in her tea. Her grandmother told her on her deathbed that after their mother had gotten raped, their grandfather was trying to get their mother to take these two herbs. Supposedly it was used to induce a miscarriage. Some Japanese called it an herbal abortion.
Devastated, Ke’yoko gathered the kids and headed to the checkout line. She thought back to how adamant Ka’yah had been that she drink all of her tea, and how she and Nadia had thought it was so nice of Ka’yah to bring her tea every day. Ka’yah never missed a day bringing her a cup of tea during any of her pregnancies no matter what. For some reason it had just dawned on Ke’yoko that Ka’yah only brought her tea when she was pregnant. Ke’yoko was furious, but mainly hurt. Why hadn’t she realized this? She felt so stupid. Once again she thought, I really am my mother’s child.
Ke’yoko got the kids in the car. All she could think about on her way to McDonald’s was killing her sister and not thinking twice about it. Tears streamed down her face as she drove. So many questions were racing through her head. How could her sister do her like that? Why? What had Ke’yoko ever done to Ka’yah to warrant such a betrayal? Was Ja’Rel involved? Over and over: what was the reason behind her doing that? Ke’yoko was thinking so much, she literally got sick to her stomach. The heavy feeling in her chest and stomach would not subside, causing her to pull over twice to throw up.
Ke’yoko felt like it hurt to even breathe she felt so betrayed. Ke’yoko wanted to go straight over to Ka’yah’s house and put a bullet in her head, just as she had done to Bo; but she decided to take another approach. She was going to give Ka’yah the rope and let her hang herself.