Chapter Twenty-three
Eli woke up bright and early, feeling like a new man. His woman was finally able to break him off and he had to admit she’d done an excellent job. Eli fixed Kylee breakfast, put it in the microwave, and decided to detail her car for her just to show his appreciation.
“Hey, Mr. Vernon.” Eli smiled and waved as he headed to Kylee’s car.
“Hey, Eddie,” Mr. Vernon said, waving back.
“Eli,” Eli corrected.
“Yeah, Eli,” Mr. Vernon replied, forcing a weak smile.
“You a’iiiight?” Eli asked, Mr. Vernon who looked as if he was about to pass out.
“Yeah, I’m good. Just a li’l under the weather that’s all. Ain’t nothin’ a cold Colt 45 can’t take care of.”
Eli laughed. “Well I’ll bring you one back when I’m done detailin’ Kylee’s car.”
“Good lookin’,” Mr. Vernon said.
Eli got in Kylee’s car and pulled off. He was bumpin’ Tupac as he sped down the street. All of a sudden her tire felt and sounded like it was about to fall off. Eli pulled over to the side of the street and got out. He looked down at the almost-flat tire and shook his head. He popped the trunk, grabbed the bag with the jack in it, and opened it up.
“What’s this?” he asked himself, pulling a piece of paper out and reading it.
Eli couldn’t believe what he was reading. He wanted to kill somebody, preferably Kylee.
“An abortion? Ain’t this about a bitch?” He frowned angrily.
Eli couldn’t wait to get back to the house; he was going to get to the bottom of this. He put the spare tire on, went to the drive-through, and grabbed Mr. Vernon’s beer before heading back to the house.
Eli backed up in the driveway at the house, got out of the car, walked across the yard, and knocked on Mr. Vernon’s door. There was no answer. He didn’t have time to wait, so he put the beer between the door and the screen door and jogged back across the yard.
“Hey, baby, thanks for the breakfast,” Kylee said, smiling, when Eli walked in.
Eli walked in and sat down on the sofa, staring at Kylee for a brief second. He stood up, and shook his head.
“What the fuck wrong wit’ you?” she asked.
“Didn’t I ask you not to make me regret this?” Eli asked out of nowhere.
“What are you talkin’ about?” Kylee frowned, trying to think back to see if she’d done anything she wasn’t supposed to. She knew he hadn’t found out about her sneaking over to Tony’s whenever she’d gotten the chance, because she made sure she only did that while Eli was at work.
“You know what the fuck I’m talkin’ about, Kylee,” Eli said, getting angrier by the second.
“Look, I don’t know what ya problem is, but you shoulda checked it at my front door!” Kylee snapped.
“Fuck you mean, my, broad? You don’t pay a muthafuckin’ thing up in here! Keep talkin’. I’ll put yo’ ass out,” Eli snapped.
“What the fuck is ya problem, Eli?” Kylee asked desperately.
“You wanna know what my problem is? My problem is yo’ lyin’ ass killed my seed. If it was mines and, yeah, I said if,” Eli said, mean mugging Kylee.
Kylee’s mouth hit the floor. How in the world did he find out about her getting an abortion? The only people who knew other than her and Ja’Nay were the people at the clinic.
“Close ya mouth,” Eli said smartly. “I can’t believe you would do some foul shit like that!”
Kylee had completely forgotten about hiding that paperwork in her trunk. Her intentions were to throw the paper away as soon as she got the chance, but she’d forgotten.
“What the fuck was you doin’ goin’ through my trunk?” was all she could come up with.
“Bitch, I was changin’ ya tire if you really must know!” Eli snapped.
“Bitch?” Kylee asked.
“Yeah, bitch,” Eli repeated.
“Look, you ain’t gon’ talk to me like you be talkin’ to that old ho!”
“You right, I’m not. I’m gon’ talk to you like a young ho,” Eli said, pointing his finger in Kylee’s face, trying to refrain from putting his paws on her.
Kylee was actually scared. She’d never seen Eli this mad before. She wasn’t sure what he might do to her so she decided to leave until he calmed down. She got up from the sofa, grabbed her keys off the ottoman, and headed toward the door.
“Where the fuck you ’bouta go? I ain’t done talkin’.” Eli grimaced.
“I’m ’bouta go to my parents’ house until you calm down,” Kylee said nervously as her heart raced.
“What you leavin’ for? I ain’t gon’ do nothin’ to you, I don’t hit women,” Eli assured her.
Kylee still wasn’t comfortable with staying, just in case Eli decided to snap.
“I’m just gon’ go,” Kylee said, walking toward the door, hoping he would let her leave without any problems.
“Yeah, get the fuck outta my face before I spit on you,” he threatened. Eli would never do anything to physically hurt a woman but he would definitely spit on one.
Kylee didn’t respond; she just hurried out to her car, got in, and pulled off as fast as she could.
After Kylee had left, Eli couldn’t take it. He was sitting around thinking about the death of his parents, not being in his only child’s life full time, and, on top of all that, his girl killing his unborn child. This was too much. He walked in the kitchen, grabbed Kylee’s fifth of Belvedere and began taking it to the head.
By nine o’clock that night, Eli was sloppy drunk. He was sitting on the sofa watching The Hangover when there was a knock on the door. He looked over at the clock and attempted to get up off the sofa. After the third try he succeeded.
“’Bout time this bitch came home,” he said as he stumbled to the door with the bottle still in his hand. Eli swung the door open and was surprised to see Ja’Nay standing there.
“Is Kylee here?” Ja’Nay asked.
“Naw,” Eli answered.
“Are you okay?” Ja’Nay asked, eyeing the half-empty bottle while stepping in.
“Yeah, I’m a’iiiight. Are you?” he asked smartly.
“Do you know where Kylee is?” Ja’Nay asked, looking around.
“Hell I don’t know. Look, I need to sit down; the room is spinnin’,” Eli said, putting the bottle back up to his lips and taking a swig.
“Come on, Eli, let me help you to the sofa,” Ja’Nay said, grabbing Eli by the arm as he swayed back and forth.
“Get off of me! I don’t need no help,” he slurred.
“Is everything okay over here?” Ja’Nay asked, concerned.
“Yeah, why wouldn’t it be? Naw, it ain’t, I ain’t even gon’ lie. I can’t believe Kylee killed my baby,” Eli said, breaking down from the combination of hurt feelings and liquor.
“Come on, Eli,” Ja’Nay said, grabbing his arm again, leading him over to the sofa. This time Eli didn’t resist. Ja’Nay helped Eli sit down. She took the bottle from his hand and set it on the floor next to the sofa. “You gon’ be okay until Kylee gets home?” Ja’Nay asked.
Eli shook his head yes.
“Okay, well tell her to call me. I’m goin’ to spend the night wit’ Quann before he turns himself in tomorrow,” Ja’Nay said, standing up.
“Wait, don’t leave,” Eli said, grabbing Ja’Nay by the arm. “Just wait a few minutes. Kylee will be back soon.”
Ja’Nay looked at the clock. She had at least an hour before she was supposed to meet Quann, so babysitting Eli for a little while wouldn’t hurt.
“What you see in Quann?” Eli looked over and asked Ja’Nay, seeing two of her.
“I don’t know. He’s nice when he wanna be,” Ja’Nay answered.
“Kylee said he be doggin’ you. Why you fuck wit’ a nigga who don’t respect you?” Eli asked.
Ja’Nay was feeling some type of way about Kylee telling Eli her business. “He don’t be doggin’ me,” Ja’Nay lied.
“Fuckin’ any- and everybody ain’t doggin’ you?” Eli asked.
“What?” Ja’Nay frowned.
“Look, don’t tell Kylee I told you that. I wasn’t supposed to say shit,” Eli said.
“I won’t,” Ja’Nay said. She couldn’t wait to cuss Kylee out for telling Eli her business.
Eli stared at Ja’Nay for a brief second. “You a pretty girl; stop lettin’ niggas dog you, okay?” Eli said as if he were scolding her.
“I will,” she said, checking Eli out.
“You promise?” Eli asked.
“I promise.” Ja’Nay smiled.
“You look nice in ya little mini skirt,” Eli said, reaching over tugging at Ja’Nay’s skirt.
“Thank you,” Ja’Nay said.
Eli kept stopping in midsentence and staring over at Ja’Nay.
“You know Kylee had an abortion?” he asked, hurt.
“Yeah, I know,” Ja’Nay answered, considering it payback for her telling him all her business.
“Wow, that’s fucked up. She killed my seed,” Eli said, shaking his head. “Then gon’ try to tell me we couldn’t fuck ’cause she had a yeast infection. Naw, we couldn’t fuck ’cause you had a muthafuckin’ abortion!” The thought made Eli angry all over again.
Ja’Nay didn’t respond.
“Would you ever kill Quann’s child?”
“Naw, I don’t believe in abortions,” Ja’Nay answered.
“That’s what I’m talkin’ about,” Eli said, laying his hand on Ja’Nay’s leg.
Ja’Nay knew Eli was drunk and out of line for touching her, but she didn’t make him move his hand.
“I don’t know why Kylee killed my baby. That’s real fucked up. She knows I lost both parents, I barely get to see my only child; then she just gon’ take this chance away from me and I don’t know why,” he said, breaking down again.
“Don’t cry,” Ja’Nay said, reaching over and comforting Eli with a hug. Eli laid his head on Ja’Nay’s shoulder and cried.
“I’m sorry,” he said, lifting his head up while staring in Ja’Nay’s eyes.
“It’s okay,” Ja’Nay said. Eli was close enough to Ja’Nay’s face for her to smell the liquor coming off his breath.
“Look at me, I’m a mess,” Eli said, wiping his hands down his face as if that was going to sober him up.
“You good,” Ja’Nay said.
“Are you sure?”
Ja’Nay shook her head yes, and before she saw it coming, Eli had leaned in and begun kissing her lips. She knew she was dead wrong and should have pushed him off of her, but something inside of her just wouldn’t let her.
Eli’s hand ventured up her leg and into her panty-less crotch. Ja’Nay threw her head back as Eli finger fucked her using two fingers.
“Ummmm,” she moaned as she pushed up against Eli’s fingers.
Eli quickly unzipped his pants and pulled his Johnson out. Ja’Nay sized it up and instantly understood why Kylee was so crazy about this nigga. She pulled her skirt up, threw her leg over his, and slid her dripping wet cave down on his dick and began riding him. She wanted to feel what Kylee was always bragging about. Something must have snapped in Eli’s head, because without warning, he shoved Ja’Nay off of him and jumped up.
“Get the fuck out!” he yelled, as if what just happened between them was all Ja’Nay’s fault.
Ja’Nay pulled her skirt down without opening her mouth. She couldn’t believe what she’d just done. She couldn’t even look at Eli. Part of her felt horrible at betraying her best friend, but another part of her felt justified for all the shit Kylee was always talking. True enough Kylee didn’t know her and Eli had just fucked, but Ja’Nay knowing gave her a weird sense of satisfaction. She was torn as she hung her head and walked out the door, wondering if Eli was going to tell Kylee.