Chapter Seventeen
After taking the children to McDonald’s and the Dairy Queen like she’d promised, Ke’yoko stopped by the house to brush her teeth and put some water on her face before dropping the kids off at home. She wanted to make sure she was fully composed before seeing Ka’yah. The pain and deception of what she was feeling was going to make looking at Ka’yah hard. Her own sister was responsible for her miscarriages and the heartache she had experienced repeatedly behind the loss of each child. And each time she had miscarried and mourned, her sister had looked her in the face and pretended to console her knowing she was responsible and had intentionally inflicted this pain on her.
Ke’yoko pulled up in the driveway next to Ja’Rel’s car. She stuck the CVS bag in her purse, got out, and opened the back door to let the children out. “Come on, y’all.”
Ke’yoko and the children walked up to the front door. Ke’yoko unlocked the door, held the screen door open, and waited for the children to walk in, and walked in after them.
“Y’all come in here and watch TV until I come back downstairs. And don’t touch nothin’,” she said, turning the channel to Cartoon Network. “I’m goin’ upstairs to change my shirt.”
“Okay,” the children said in unison.
Ke’yoko walked out of the living room and headed up the stairs. She could hear Ja’Rel snoring all the way in the hallway. It clicked in her head that this would be the perfect time to swab Ja’Rel’s mouth. He had been out all night drinking and doing God only knows what else, so she knew he would be in a deep sleep. She quickly dug in her purse, pulled the DNA test out, and opened it up.
“Shit, I might as well use the other one so I can get rid of all the evidence,” she said, opening the other DNA kit as well. She pulled the tops off of the oversized swabs, pushed the half-cracked bedroom door, and peeked in. She waited a few more seconds before creeping in.
Perfect, she thought as she looked over at Ja’Rel, who lay on his back with his mouth wide open. She would have rather put a .38 in his mouth than these two cotton swabs.
She tiptoed over to the bed and continued to stare down at him. She was nervous as hell. She didn’t know what she would have done if Ja’Rel woke up and caught her. She quickly collected her nerves and held a swab in each hand. Then, she stuck both swabs in his open mouth, one on each side, and scraped the inside of his cheeks about ten to fifteen times. She pulled them out just in time. Ja’Rel closed his mouth and began smacking his lips.
Got it! she thought excitedly before slowly walking back and sneaking out of the bedroom. She rushed back downstairs to the living room while the kids sat quietly watching cartoons. She put the two swabs in their envelopes, sealed them so they couldn’t get contaminated, and placed them in her purse.
“You got the same shirt on,” Aiko looked at his aunt and said.
“You always got somethin’ smart to say, li’l boy. I got somethin’ for smart-mouth little kids,” Ke’yoko said.
“What you got for me?” Aiko inquired.
“This,” Ke’yoko said, pulling the other swab out of her purse.
“Is it candy?” he asked.
“Nope. It’s better than candy. It’ll help little kids with smart mouths not have them anymore. So open up,” Ke’yoko said.
“How come I ain’t never heard of this?” Aiko asked.
“Boy, you only five. It’s a lotta stuff you ain’t never heard of.” Ke’yoko laughed.
“Well, is it gon’ hurt?” Aiko frowned.
“Nope, it’s gon’ tickle.”
“Okay.” Aiko opened his mouth and waited for Ke’yoko to swab his jaw.
“Now, your mouth won’t be smart no more.” Ke’yoko laughed as she put the swab in its designated envelope.
“I don’t know if I believe that, but we’ll see.” Aiko laughed too.
“I wanna do it too. I don’t wanna have a smart mouth,” A’Niyah said while bouncing up and down.
“Are you sure?” Ke’yoko asked. She didn’t have anyone else to test so she might as well use the extra swab on her goddaughter for shits and giggles.
A’Niyah vigorously shook her head yes.
“Okay, open wide,” Ke’yoko said.
A’Niyah opened her mouth and giggled as Ke’yoko swabbed the inside of her cheek. Ke’yoko placed A’Niyah’s swab in the other envelope.
“Come on, y’all, let’s go,” Ke’yoko said, rushing the kids out the door and to the car. She was not trying to chance Ja’Rel waking up. Ke’yoko put the kids in the car, got in herself, and backed out of the driveway. Ke’yoko then pulled out her cell phone and called Ka’yah.
“Wassup, sis?” Ka’yah answered.
“I’m about to drop Aiko off. Be watchin’ out for him.”
“You don’t wanna come in and talk and have cup of tea?” Ka’yah asked.
It took everything in Ke’yoko not to flip gangsta on this phone. Instead, she kept her composure. She would definitely make Ka’yah pay right along with Ja’Rel.
“Girl, naw. A cup of your green tea sure does sounds real good right about now, but the kids really wore me out today. So I’ma drop A’Niyah off to her momma and go home and get some sleep,” Ke’yoko said.
“Well, do you want me to make you a cup and bring it out to the car? It might give you some energy,” Ka’yah said.
Or kill my unborn child! The nerve of this dirty bitch. “Naw, I’m cool,” Ke’yoko said with an attitude, not being able to conceal it any longer.
“Dang, why you say it like that? You are tired, ol’ cranky heffa,” Ka’yah said, laughing.
Ke’yoko laughed too to play off her anger. “My bad, girl. I am tired.”
“Okay, well, just drop Aiko off. I’ll be sittin’ on the porch waitin’ on him. You go home and get some rest. Are we still on for tomorrow for our pedicure?”
“Heck yeah, I need to be pampered.”
“Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow,” Ka’yah said.
Ke’yoko let out a fake yawn. “Sorry. Okay, see you tomorrow,” she said before hanging up.
Ke’yoko pulled up in front of Ka’yah’s house. She saw red when she saw her standing on the front porch. She waited for Aiko to get out, said good-bye, waved at Ka’yah, and pulled off before she changed her mind about whooping her ass.
Ke’yoko dialed Nadia’s number and told her to get the red wine on chill because she needed to talk and bad!
* * *
“Wa’mint, bitch,” Nadia said, before taking a long sip of her Château De Beaucastel.
“Bitch, you heard me the first time,” Ke’yoko said, still in shock.
“I’ve never even heard of dong quai or blue cohosh,” Nadia said, still trying to wrap her mind around what her best friend had just laid on her.
“Dong quai and blue cohosh are abortifacient properties. They’re both herbs used for hormonal purposes. Midwives used to use it way back in the day to induce labor or to induce an abortion. Dong quai stimulates the uterus and helps strengthen contractions and blue cohosh helps open and relax the cervix. My grandfather tried to make my mom take it when she got raped by my real father,” Ke’yoko explained.
Nadia shook her head in disbelief. She’d always known that Ka’yah was a shady, jealous bitch but you could have never made her believe she would do some foul shit like this. “I don’t know what to say, Ke,” Nadia said, speechless. “I know Ka’yah is your sister and all, but if I was you I would kill that bitch!” Nadia became angry.
Ke’yoko broke down. She couldn’t hold it in any longer. She tried her best to stay strong, but the fact that her twin sister was the reason why she was losing all these babies tore her up on the inside. And for what reason? Possibly a man?
“I could shoot that bitch right in the face and not think twice about it,” Ke’yoko said angrily. “Just like I did Bo.”
Nadia’s mouth flew open.
“Yeah, it was me. I’m the one who killed Bo,” Ke’yoko admitted, feeling no remorse at all while wiping her tears away.
“Oh, my goodness! I swear to you I thought that.” Nadia smirked. “And I was gon’ ask you one day, but I didn’t.”
“Yeah, I took that bitch-ass nigga out! I hated that nigga. He wasn’t about shit! How you gon’ be sellin’ me dope for the low and then gon’ try to triple the price on me? And then when I tell the nigga he had me fucked up, he told me if I didn’t buy it he was gon’ tell Ja’Rel what I had been doin’. So I had him thinkin’ he had my back against the wall. I had him meet me in Walmart’s parkin’ lot and shot the nigga, then robbed him for Ja’Rel’s dope.”
Nadia began laughing. “That nigga was shady as hell!”
“Shady ain’t even the word for that nigga. How you stealin’ dope from yo’ best friend and sellin’ it to his wife behind his back?’” Ke’yoko said, shaking her head. “And then when you tell him on me what you gon’ tell him about you, dumbass nigga?”
“Wow.” Nadia shook her head again before finishing off her wine. “I’m sorry, sis, but I’m still on Ka’yah.”
“Don’t worry. I’ma make her and Ja’Rel pay dearly,” Ke’yoko said with a sinister smile.
“Cut me in.” Nadia smirked.
“Naw, you know I do all my dirt by my lonely. ’Cause if anything goes down I don’t have to worry about nobody turnin’ on me. Not sayin’ you would ever snitch on me. I will never give you the chance to. Just know that once I get these two bitches out the way, me and you gon’ live like two fat rats,” Ke’yoko said.
Nadia’s money-hungry ass couldn’t wait. “That’s what I’m talkin’ about. Just let me know what you need me to do and it’s done.”
“You know I will.”
“I can’t wait.”
“Say no more,” Ke’yoko said, standing up from the table, knocking her purse on the floor.
“What’s this?” Nadia asked, picking up two of the four envelopes that Ke’yoko had in her purse.
“Oh, shit. I gotta take these to the post office in the mornin’ and mail ’em off.” Ke’yoko took the envelopes from Nadia’s hand and put them back inside her purse.
“What are they?” Nadia inquired.
“Girl, you know how I was tellin’ you that Aiko look just like Ja’Rel?”
Nadia shook her head yes. She too had thought Aiko looked like Ja’Rel but never said anything just to keep confusion down.
“Well, I went to CVS today and bought a DNA test; well, two ’cause they were buy one get one fifty percent off. And you know I can’t pass up a sale.” Ke’yoko laughed. “Anyway, I went home and Ja’Rel was asleep, so I swabbed his mouth and Aiko’s so I’m about to send them in.”
“Bitch! That’s why I fucks wit’ you,” Nadia said. “That’s some shit I woulda done.”
“I know.” Ke’yoko smiled. “Oh, and I swabbed A’Niyah too.”
“For what?” Nadia asked, confused, not knowing if she was offended.
“Shit, ’cause she wanted to be swabbed. I was swabbin’ Aiko and she said, ‘Do it to me too,’ so I did it and, plus, I had to get rid of the evidence. You know I couldn’t have a DNA box just sittin’ around the house.”
“That’s true. Well, let me know what A’Niyah’s test come back and say,” Nadia said jokingly.
“Now you know I will.” Ke’yoko laughed.
“Wouldn’t that be some shit if Aiko did come back as Ja’Rel’s?”
“Nope,” Ke’yoko said. “I wouldn’t be surprised at all.”
“You’re right,” Nadia agreed.
“Oh, well, I’m about to head home.”
“Okay. Call me and let me know you made it in,” Nadia said.
“I will.”
Ke’yoko, gave Nadia a hug for being her shoulder to cry on, and headed home with a huge smile on her face.