Chapter Twenty-two
Ke’yoko had pulled up at the house after the repast. She was emotionally, mentally, and physically drained. She would have never guessed in a million years that she would be so emotional over the death of a man she’d honestly believed she’d hated for all these years. Ke’yoko was happy that she and her mother were on speaking terms, but she didn’t know if she was ready to have a real relationship with her just yet. Maybe that would come later on down the road, or maybe not. She was good either way because she knew she had done her part just by walking up to her.
She got out of the car, carrying her purse and shoes. “Ouch,” she said, stepping on a small pebble. Ke’yoko dug in her purse looking for her keys as she hobbled up the walk. She walked up on the porch, opened the screen door, and let herself inside the house. Ke’yoko set her keys and purse on the table in the foyer and headed straight for the sofa to rest her aching feet.
“I see this lazy nigga brought the mail in,” she said, grabbing it off the table, sitting down, and beginning to sort through it.
Ke’yoko’s heart began beating quickly as she saw two letters with the paternity test’s name on it. Ke’yoko quickly opened the first letter. She was nervous as hell as she ripped through the paper. She quickly skimmed the first page looking for the results; not finding them, she flipped to the second page and began reading aloud.
“The alleged father is not excluded as the biological father of the tested child. Based on testing results obtained from analyses of the DNA loci listed, the probability of paternity is 99.96%.”
Ke’yoko felt like she had just experienced an out-of-body experience. She felt cold, numb, and her mind was clouded. She was in complete shock. Even though her woman’s intuition had been telling her that Aiko belonged to Ja’Rel, she had never fully allowed herself to believe it. After reading the results, she still didn’t want to believe it, but now she had no choice. She couldn’t do anything but sit there and read the test results over and over to make sure she hadn’t missed anything or read anything wrong. When she finally decided to take these results to these two lowdown dirty bitches, she wanted her proof to be in order.
Ke’yoko was so hurt, she couldn’t even cry if she wanted to. Her well had completely run dry. All she could do was shake her head. She stood up from the sofa, grabbed the other letter, and headed upstairs to change into something more comfortable. All Ke’yoko could think about while she undressed was how her so-called husband and twin sister had betrayed her like they did. Ke’yoko opened the other letter just for the hell of it, even though it had never crossed her mind that Nadia would ever mess with Ja’Rel. She went straight to the second page to the final results and nearly fainted when A’Niyah’s results read the same as Aiko’s. Ke’yoko let the letter fall to the floor as she rushed into the bathroom to throw up.
Ke’yoko turned on the water and rinsed her mouth out. She walked back into the bedroom, picked the letter up off the floor, and read the results one last time, just to make sure she had read it right, just like she’d done with Aiko’s. Ke’yoko was at a complete loss. All she kept thinking about was how Nadia could cross her like that. How and when did she have time? How come she had never suspected Ja’Rel and Nadia? All these different questions kept running through Ke’yoko’s head. She was so tired of trying to figure everything out. With her head spinning, Ke’yoko picked up her cell and dialed Ross. She needed somebody to talk to and bad.
“Wassup, sis?” he answered.
“Are you busy?”
“A li’l bit, why? Wassup? You okay?” he asked.
“No, not at all,” Ke’yoko said, feeling herself about to break down.
“Look, let me finish handlin’ this business and I’ll call you and you can meet me at my condo at the Pinnacle building on Lakeside Ave.,” Ross said.
“Is that in the warehouse district?” Ke’yoko asked, to make sure.
“Yep. It’ll be about an hour; is that too long? If so, I can head there now.”
Ke’yoko didn’t have an hour to wait. She needed to speak to someone now. She needed someone to keep her levelheaded because she was on straight kill mode. She could kill Ja’Rel, Ka’yah, and Nadia, and go have a nice, juicy cheeseburger and fries after doing so.
“Ross, I know you busy right now but I need you like yesterday,” Ke’yoko said desperately.
Ross could hear the urgency in her voice. “Say no more. I’m on my way.”
“Thank you,” Ke’yoko said, hanging up the phone, grabbing her purse, and putting the test results in it before grabbing her keys and heading out the door.
Almost forty minutes later, Ke’yoko pulled up in front of the Pinnacle building and sat in her car. She sent Ross a text and let him know that she was sitting outside his condo and to call her when he pulled up. A few seconds later, Ke’yoko received a text from Ross telling her that he was already home and he gave her instructions on how to get into his condo. Ke’yoko grabbed her purse, got out of the car, and headed into the building. Ke’yoko followed Ross’s instructions, got off the elevator, and knocked on his door.
“Wassup, sis?” he asked, answering the door looking like a nice piece of chocolate cake. He had on a pair of black cargo shorts, a bright yellow shirt, and a pair of black house shoes.
“You look comfortable,” Ke’yoko said.
“I am,” he replied, closing the door behind Ke’yoko while holding his arms out.
Ke’yoko walked into his open arms and almost melted. The smell of Ross’s cologne drove her crazy. There was nothing sexier to Ke’yoko than a man who smelled good.
“You okay?” he asked, letting her go, even though he didn’t want to.
“Not all at,” Ke’yoko responded.
“Come on in. I’m cookin’ dinner,” Ross said, leading Ke’yoko out of the foyer and into his condo.
“You have a nice place,” Ke’yoko said, looking around as she followed Ross into his gourmet kitchen.
“Thanks,” he said, lifting the lid off the boiling pot and stirring it.
“What you cookin’? It smells good.” Ke’yoko pulled the stool out and took a seat at the counter.
“Nothin’ fancy. Just a li’l chicken penne, and some asparagus with some garlic bread,” Ross said, adding some seasoning to the asparagus. “You hungry?”
“I stay hungry,” Ke’yoko replied.
“Oh, yeah, you are eatin’ for two.” Ross turned the food off and walked over to Ke’yoko, holding his hand out. “Come on, let’s go sit on the couch.”
Ke’yoko grabbed Ross’s hand and followed him into the living room and took a seat on the nice, big horseshoe-shaped sofa.
“Okay, now what was so urgent that I had to wrap up my business to come see you?” Ross asked with a smile.
Ross made Ke’yoko feel so comfortable and secure every time she was around him that she’d almost forgotten about what her real intentions were for coming over to his condo. “I don’t even know where to begin,” Ke’yoko said as she fought back her tears.
“Talk to me,” Ross said, concerned.
Ke’yoko grabbed both sets of test results out of her purse and handed them to Ross.
“What’s this?” he asked, taking the papers and beginning to read them.
After Ross finished reading the test results, Ke’yoko ran the entire demo down to him. He was in complete shock by the end of her story. He knew Ja’Rel was a grimy-ass nigga, but to have a baby by his wife’s sister and her best friend was on a whole notha level.
“Wow,” he said, shaking his head in disbelief.
“You can say that again.” Ke’yoko laughed as she cried.
“Sis, you know I’ma keep it all the way real wit’ you. All three of ’em is foul as fuck, but Ka’yah takes the cake. She’s not your husband, she’s not your best friend; that’s your twin sister, man.”
“I know. I know,” Ke’yoko said.
“What you gon’ do? You can’t sit around and keep cryin’ about it. You’re carryin’ a baby; you don’t need all that stress. I know you hurt right now, but you gotta make this your last time cryin’ over this bullshit. It’s time to take action,” Ross said sternly.
“What can I do?” Ke’yoko asked.
“That’s for you to figure out. You’re a smart woman. I got faith that whatever you do, it’ll be worth it.” Ross winked at Ke’yoko.
“I hope so.” Ke’yoko continued to cry.
It hurt Ross to his heart to see Ke’yoko crying. He wished he could take all her pain away. He always had a warm spot in his heart for her and wished like hell that he’d met her first. He would have definitely treated her like the queen she was. Ross leaned over and gently wiped her tears away.
Ross couldn’t take seeing Ke’yoko cry any longer so he stood up from the sofa. “Come on, let’s go eat,” he said, holding out his hand for her to grab.
“Sounds like a plan to me.” Ke’yoko wiped the remaining tears away, took Ross’s hand, and got up from the sofa.
“We gon’ sit out on the balcony and enjoy this beautiful weather,” Ross said as they walked into the kitchen. He then grabbed two plates out of the cabinet.
“That sounds nice,” Ke’yoko replied, taking a seat on the stool.
Ke’yoko watched as Ross fixed two plates and grabbed a bottle of wine, some napkins, and two wine glasses.
“You need some help?” she asked.
“Please. Just grab the bottle of wine and the glasses.” Ross placed two forks on their plates and headed toward the door with Ke’yoko following.
Ke’yoko grabbed the wine and the glasses, walked in front of Ross, pulled the balcony door open, and waited for Ross to walk out before walking out behind him. She set the bottle and glasses down on the table and took a seat. She set her purse on the ground beside her. Ross set their plates down before taking a seat across from Ke’yoko.
“This is a beautiful view,” Ke’yoko said, looking out at city skyline.
“I thought so too. That’s one of the main reasons why I moved here.” Ross looked out at the beautiful view as if this was his very first time ever seeing it.
“I could wake up to this view every mornin’,” Ke’yoko said and began eating.
“Well, I would let you move in wit’ me but I don’t know how Ja’Rel would feel about that,” Ross joked.
Ke’yoko shook her head and laughed.
After laughing, talking, and drinking the entire bottle of wine, Ross was starting to feel a little tired. He stood up, stretched out his arms, and let out a loud yawn.
“You tired?” Ke’yoko asked.
“A little,” he replied.
“You ready for me to go?” she asked, hoping he would say no.
“Nope, not yet. Come on and let me give you a tour of my condo,” he said.
“Okay.” Ke’yoko stood up without hesitation and followed Ross as he led her back into the house.
She was amazed at how beautiful and contemporary his place was. It was actually more spacious than what she thought it was. He had floor-to-ceiling windows with a breathtaking panoramic view that overlooked the lake and the city. The Aspen maple hardwood floors were shining like new money throughout the entire condo. And whoever he hired to decorate knew exactly what they were doing. All the different colors throughout accentuated one another. The eighty-inch TV that hung neatly over the fireplace like a portrait was to die for.
Ross ended the tour in his large master suite. Ke’yoko walked in and looked around. Ross picked the remote up off the end table and pointed it at the huge TV on the wall, and Maxwell’s “This Woman’s Work” came on. He put the remote in his back pocket and looked over at Ke’yoko and smiled.
How convenient, Ke’yoko thought as she stood in the middle of the room, waiting for Ross to make the next move.
Ross grabbed Ke’yoko’s hand again and led her over to his Cosmopolis platform bed. It was so low to the floor, Ke’yoko hoped she could get back up. Ross noticed the hesitation and helped her down. He removed Ke’yoko’s shoes, walked over to the other side of the bed, kicked off his house shoes, and climbed in. He took the remote out of his back pocket and dimmed the lights, not too dark but just enough to set the mood, before laying the remote on the nightstand.
Ke’yoko was nervous and didn’t know what was about to go down; all she knew was everything was happening so fast. She knew that whatever was about to happen, it was long overdue and she was ready. Her heart beat quickly as Ross scooted up right behind her. He was so close she could feel his warm breath on the back of her neck. Ross wrapped his arm around Ke’yoko’s waist and kissed the back of her neck, sending electricity through her entire body. That was a feeling she hadn’t felt in a long time. He then began rubbing her belly, hoping to sooth Ke’yoko and the baby before drifting off to sleep.