Chapter Forty-one
After Kailo left with the news about Ja’Rel, Ke’yoko tried to go back to sleep but couldn’t. She lay in the bed wide awake, thinking about different events that occurred in her life and wondering what she’d done so bad to have deserved some of things she’d endured in her life. She was dragging around the house trying to get Aiko and herself ready. After about an hour of fussing, and flipping out, she dropped Aiko off at the daycare and headed up to the hospital. She called Kailo when she pulled up in the crowded hospital parking lot. He told her to stay put and he would come meet her at her car so she wouldn’t have to walk by herself. Ke’yoko sat and impatiently waited for her brother. She closed her eyes and said a quick prayer to calm her nerves. She didn’t know why she was so nervous. She smiled when she saw Kailo walking toward her car. She opened the door and got out.
“What’s up, sis?” he said, wrapping his arms around her body.
“Wassup, big head,” she said, wrapping her arms around his waist.
“You okay?” he asked, feeling her body trembling.
“Yeah, I’m good, just a li’l nervous, that’s all,” she admitted.
“You good. I got’chu,” Kailo assured his sister as they turned to walk away.
“Always have.” Ke’yoko smiled.
“Damn right, and I ain’t gon’ stop now,” he replied as they walked into the hospital and got on the elevator.
Ke’yoko’s body trembled even more as they rode the elevator up. Since Ja’Rel was still locked in the county when he got hurt, they had to keep him on the floor that they kept all the inmates on; technically, he was still a ward of the state.
Kailo and Ke’yoko both stepped off the elevator at the same time. They both began smiling when they saw Riley.
“Hold up, what you smilin’ all hard for?” Ke’yoko looked up at her brother and asked suspiciously.
“What?” Kailo asked.
“Damn, him too?”
All Kailo did was smile at his sister.
“Uhhhhh unnt, I thought he was married,” she said, disgusted.
“He is, but what that mean?” he said with a wink.
“You a ho,” she mumbled as Riley walked over to them, smiling from ear to ear.
Kailo shot his sister a crazy look, hearing what she’d said.
“Wassup, y’all?” Riley asked, giving Ke’yoko a hug and Kailo a firm handshake.
“Hey,” Ke’yoko said, feeling disgusted now that she knew his secret.
“What’s going on, bruh?” Kailo asked.
Bruh? More like sis. Mental note to self: gots to be more careful.
“The doctor is in there now with him. He’s waitin’ on y’all so he can tell y’all what’s goin’ on wit’ him. I got a call from the chief and he said the person he got down for next of kin will be up here around ten a.m.,” Riley said.
“So what that mean? I’m his wife,” Ke’yoko questioned with a slight attitude.
“It mean that since you’re not on his emergency contact form, you not allowed to visit him while he’s here, wife or not; but since I’m cool wit’ ya brother, I’ma look out for you,” Riley answered with a smile.
“Good looking,” Kailo said, giving him a handshake with a shoulder bump.
“Thanks,” Ke’yoko said, still feeling some type of way about not having no rights to visit Ja’Rel even though she was his wife as she walked into his room with Kailo walking in behind her. Ke’yoko looked over at the CO who was standing next to Ja’Rel’s bed and then over at Ja’Rel. Seeing him lying there with all those tubes running out of his entire body tore her up on the inside.
“Hello, I’m Dr. Arnell,” the doctor introduced himself when Ke’yoko and Kailo walked in.
“Hello, I’m Kailo, and this is the patient’s wife, Ke’yoko,” Kailo replied. Kailo gave an upward nod to the CO and the CO gave him one in return.
“What’s the deal wit’ my husband,” Ke’yoko said, cutting to the chase. She stood next to the doctor as he lifted both of Ja’Rel’s eyelids one at a time and shined a little flashlight into both of his eyes.
“Well, I’m gon’ give it to you straight wit’ no chaser,” the doctor said.
Ke’yoko and Kailo were all ears.
“He took a pretty nasty blow to the back of the head when he fell. He’s really lucky to still be alive. Unfortunately, he’s paralyzed from the neck down and is unable to speak. One good thing is he’s been communicating with his eyes whenever we can get him awake and he has a little strength in his left hand, not much though,” the doctor explained.
Ke’yoko shook her head as the doctor continued to talk. Seeing Ja’Rel lying there in the bed, cuffed to the bed like he was some sort of a monster, tore her up even more.
“Wow.” Kailo shook his head in disbelief. Even though he didn’t like his brother-in-law, seeing him lying there like that had him feeling sorry for him. “How long will he be paralyzed and unable to speak?”
“Well, it’s hard tellin’ right now. We’ve done a few CAT scans. His brain is bleeding in a couple different spots, and we’re tryin’ to get that under control. We got a team of the best doctors working with Mr. Barnes. There’s like a ninety percent chance that he’ll have seizures for the rest of his life,” the doctor replied.
Tears formed in Ke’yoko’s eyes and slowly began to fall. Kailo wrapped his arm around his sister’s shoulder and pulled her into his body. Ke’yoko was hurt that the man she thought would be her everything was lying in a bed in this condition. She was hurt that the whole story was ending this way, but they’d left her no choice.
“Is there any chance that he can recover?” Ke’yoko asked as she wiped away her tears.
“To tell you the truth, he’ll never recover; and if he does, it’ll be a miracle. Right now, all we can do is keep observing him and hope for the best. You’ll have to get your house set up for him; he’ll definitely be needing care around the clock. That’s all I have for now,” the doctor said.
“Damn, man,” Kailo said, shaking his head, feeling sorry for his sister.
“Can I please speak to my husband alone for a few minutes?” Ke’yoko looked at the doctor and then over at the CO and asked. She could not stop crying.
“It’s okay wit’ me,” the doctor replied, jotting down a few notes in Ja’Rel’s chart.
The CO was hesitant at first but soon remembered that Riley said he was cool with Ke’yoko and Kailo.
The doctor and the CO headed out of the room. Kailo stayed just in case his sister needed him. Ke’yoko wiped away her tears as she looked down into her husband’s lifeless face. It may have just been her mind playing tricks on her, but Ja’Rel looked like he’d aged about ten years since she’d last seen him. She touched his graying hair and then the side of his cheek.
“Ja’Rel,” she called out. “Can you hear me, baby? Please, baby, open your eyes if you can hear me.”
Ke’yoko watched as Ja’Rel struggled to open his eyes. She was hopeful when she saw his eyelids fluttering.
“Come on, baby, open your eyes,” she cheered. “You can do it.”
Ja’Rel tried his best to open his eyes. He wanted nothing more than to be able to look at his wife’s beautiful face.
“Come on, baby, open your eyes,” she repeated.
Ja’Rel finally opened his eyes. Ke’yoko had a huge smile on her face, seeing her husband’s eyes open. “That’s what I’m talkin’ about, baby. I knew you could do it,” she said, grabbing his hand.
Ja’Rel wasn’t really aware with what was going on or what had happened. All he knew was he was unable to move or speak no matter how hard he tried.
“He’s up,” Ke’yoko looked back at Kailo and said, excited.
“That’s what’s up,” Kailo replied with a smile.
“Can you hear me, baby? If you can, squeeze my hand,” Ke’yoko said to Ja’Rel.
Ja’Rel squeezed Ke’yoko’s hand, applying little to no pressure at all, letting her know that he could hear her.
“Good.” She smiled. “I just wanna let you know that I know about everything you’ve done to me. I know about your fiancée, Kassidy, and y’all’s two kids. I know that Aiko is really your son. I couldn’t believe you thought I was so naïve. I knew about all the drugs you sold; shit, I was sellin’ drugs too and even took all your custos from you. Me and Nadia even got Mitch and Jonesy workin’ for us now.”
Ja’Rel’s eyes grew big.
“You know what the killer is? I even know about you druggin’ Nadia and rapin’ her. Oh, I don’t know if you know this or not, but A’Niyah is your child too.” Ke’yoko shook her head and chuckled.
The more Ke’yoko spoke about the things Ja’Rel had done to his sister, the madder Kailo got.
“Boy, you somethin’ else. I don’t know what I done to you to make you do all this shit to me. Crazy thing is, I ain’t even mad at you. All I can do is continue to pray for you. I was gon’ set you up to fall, just like I did Ka’yah. Yeah, I know I had you thinkin’ Ka’yah killed Bo, but naw, it wasn’t her; it was me. I’m good, ain’t I? God works in mysterious ways because He beat me to you, nigga, ’cause I was comin’ for ya head!”
Exposing all of Ja’Rel’s bullshit to him felt somewhat like a cleansing.
“Do you have anything to say to your brother-in-law?” she looked back at Kailo and asked.
Kailo walked up to the bed and looked down at Ja’Rel and wanted to spit in his face, but he would never sneak a man while he was down. “Who’s the weak-ass muthafucka now?” Kailo asked angrily. “I should turn you over and fuck you in the ass! But I wouldn’t put my dick in you even if you begged me to.”
Ja’Rel’s eyes were as big as saucers.
“All righty then?” Ke’yoko laughed. “I’m selllin’ both houses and movin’. You don’t have to worry about ever seein’ me or the baby. By the way, before I go, I’m givin’ Ross the shop. He’ll run it way better than you ever have.” She smirked.
Neither Ke’yoko nor Ja’Rel knew where he’d got the strength from, but he nearly tried to squeeze the life out of Ke’yoko’s hand once she mentioned Ross. Ke’yoko pulled her hand away and shook her head. As she bent down and kissed Ja’Rel on the forehead, Kassidy walked in carrying her newborn in the carrier with Ja’Rel Jr. on her other side.
Kassidy was confused as hell. The only thing that was going through her mind was what was the lady she ran into at the grocery store doing up here kissing her fiancé on the forehead?
Ke’yoko looked down at Ja’Rel one last time before walking toward the door. She walked over to Kassidy, removed her wedding ring, grabbed Kassidy’s free hand and placed it in her palm and closed it.
“He’s all yours now,” Ke’yoko said with a huge smile and walked out the door with Kailo in tow, leaving Kassidy and Ja’Rel both confused.