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Avalon
The look on Calvin, Kiana, and Brick’s face was so funny that if the situation wasn’t so serious, I would’ve busted out laughing. For years I was the brains behind Calvin’s drug operation, and he didn’t even know it. When we were dating, I worked at the post office just so I could oversee when my packages where delivered.
He, like most people, assumed I was just a hardworking church going, God fearing woman. And I am. I thank God every day for keeping me safe and never exposing my secrets. So, I feel it was more than fitting for me to give God praise one day a week. He deserves it.
But I digress...
Calvin had no idea how much I loved him. Even when he broke my heart, lied to me, cheated on me, and got hooked on the drugs he was supposed to be selling. I still kept the secret that the money he was getting was because of me. There was no need to make him feel less of a man.
I understood the rules and I respected the game. I knew my place was behind my man. But, don’t get it twisted ladies, you see the person that’s behind the scenes are usually the ones calling all the shots.
Prime example, the Puppeteer controls the puppet, the Ventriloquist controls the dummy, and let’s be honest the woman controls the man.
I made sure that I instilled those same values into my only daughter. You see, it takes a certain type of man to give us what we need. Hustlers, Gangstas, and Savages were the only type of men for a Bradshaw woman.
So, at an early age I started feeding Kiana innuendos and subliminal messages about the type of life she should live. All the while making her think she came up with the idea on her own.
I remember when she started working as an accountant and was complaining about the money.
I said, “Baby there is nothing wrong with wanting to turn over a new leaf. Maybe you should leave your comfort zone. Step out on faith and start your own business. It’ll be a clean slate, a blank canvas, for you to do as you wish.”
It worked like a charm, because when she came to me a couple weeks later with an idea to start Clean Slate, all I could do was smile.
Even though she wasn’t aware of my actions, Kiana grasped all the knowledge that I laid at her feet and I was so proud. She understood that sometimes a woman had to get her hands dirty to save herself and her man.
I was so proud to hear her coming up with ideas to get rid of that snitch. She had no choice but to use ruthless behavior when necessary. I raised her that way.
When I walked out of the library I was filled with pure bliss and happiness knowing that the thorn in my family’s side would soon be dealt with accordingly. There was one thing that I couldn’t stand, and a rat was that thing.
If a man or woman didn’t have the common sense to hide their dirt and was caught slipping, then that was their own fault. Personally, I felt like it was a coward’s move to start singing like a canary. But after tonight, we wouldn’t have to worry about that problem.
As soon as I walked out of the library, I paused when I was a few feet away from the kitchen because I could hear Ava and Elise plotting.
“Grandma said to only get two cookies apiece. She’s going to know if we get another one.” Elise whispered.
“No, she’s not Elise. We can get one more and split it in half. If she asks what happened to the other cookie, we can say it fell on the floor and we put it in the trash. She’s not going to look in the trash, that would be nasty.” Ava whispered back.
I threw my hand over my mouth and tried to hold my laughter in. History had a funny way of repeating itself, because Kennedy and Kiana did the same thing when they were little.
As I watched them sneak another cookie off the tray and split it in half, my heart began to swell. I don’t know what was so special about them, but my grandbabies loved sugar cookies.
“Baby why are you standing...”
“Shhh!!! I’m watching the girls steal another sugar cookie. I don’t want them to know that I know.” I said and smiled.
“Ma, you let Ava and Elise get away with whatever they want. You would’ve never let Kennedy and I do that.” Kiana said and fake pouted.
“Not true. She used to watch you and Kennedy do this exact same thing when y’all were smaller. But instead of sugar cookies, y’all would go in on Snickerdoodles.” Calvin said to Kiana as he wrapped his arms around me and kissed the side of my face. I could feel the smile on his face as he nuzzled his face against mine.
“Some things never change. To this day Kiana still goes crazy for Avalon’s Snickerdoodles.” Brick teased.
The shocked look on Kiana’s face was priceless. It was as if hearing her father talk about things that she didn’t think he would’ve remembered caught her off guard.
“Don’t look so surprised Key-Key Bear. You have no idea how much I love you and your brother.” Calvin said as he pulled Kiana in and gave her the type of hug he used to give her when she was a little girl.
Instead of pulling away, she wrapped her arms around him like she had been waiting to be wrapped in her father’s arms her entire life.
“Y’all have no idea how much I prayed for this.” I said as I looked at the two people that I loved more than life itself, embrace each other for the first time in nearly thirty years. “Have all arrangements been made? Are we ready to eat?” I asked as I joined in on the hug.
“Everything is set. We...”
RING! RING! RING!
Before Calvin could finish his sentence. Brick’s cellphone began to ring.
“Who is that?” Calvin, Kiana, and I asked Brick excitedly.
“After all these years, I had no idea that the family I married into was this damn crazy. Avalon you take the cake. Now I know where my wife gets it from.” Brick said as he pulled me in for a hug. Pulling his phone out, he smirked when he looked at the Caller ID.
Without saying who was on the phone, Brick ushered us back into the library and closed the door before putting the call on speaker.
“Yeah.” Brick said.
“Yo, the nigga just cancelled on me. His business is so heavy that he had to make sure his elite were taking care of first.” Rahlo said.
Brick’s jaw flinched the same way Calvin’s used to do when we were younger. Anger flushed all over his face as the man he thought was his lifelong friend relayed false information to him.
“Rodney, something doesn’t sound right about your dude. How the fuck can he afford to have product prices that low, if it’s in demand? The fact that he cancelled his own sit down with a new prospect is bad for business. He’s already showing me that he’s not reliable.
Rahlo on some real shit, your judgement don’t seem right. You coming at me like this is real suspect. Especially since we’ve never had a discussion like this before. Why so much pressure and why all of a sudden?” Brick asked as his eye began to twitch.
“Whoa! What the fuck are you trying to say Brick? Because to me it sounds like you’re saying I’m trying to set you up. Is that what you’re saying?” Rahlo asked as if he were offended.
“Are you?” Brick asked simply.
“Nigga we’ve been friends ever since we were kids, it’s fucked up that you’d even think some shit like that. With prices like these, I could’ve went behind your back and started my own thing, but instead I brought the deal to you like a real friend. My nigga I’m offended that you’d think some shit like that.” Rahlo said as if he wasn’t a confidential informant.
Kiana rolled her eye and Calvin sucked his teeth, but Brick said nothing. A single tear fell from the corner of Brick’s eye as he listened to his lifelong friend feed him some BS.
It was obvious that Brick caught the same thing I did. Rahlo gave him a long spill about being offended. But he never said ‘No’ to the question of trying to set Brick up.
“I’m just curious Rahlo. That’s all. When things seem to good to be true ten times out of ten, it usually is. I have a wife and two babies to think about before I make any changes in my life.” Brick admitted.
“Man, Clifton I understand that shit. This nigga wanna work with Kiana too. I’ma make sure the whole family is taken care of.” Rahlo said. We all looked at each knowing that his words had a secret message. “Vicky did the test earlier, and she’s just getting out of la la land. She said the quality is much better than your current connect.” Rahlo said.
We all looked at Calvin and the look of anger that covered his face was something I had never seen before. I had known him ever since the Fifth grade, dated him for eleven years, and given him two children
Calvin’s body that stiffened at Rahlo’s disrespect. His eye twitched and his jaw clenched like he was chewing on lemons. In all that time the look of rage that now covered his handsome caramel face had never graced my presence.
“Daddy chill. All of this will be over tonight.” Kiana whispered.
Hearing the “D” word was the only thing that seemed to snap Calvin out of the rage that had consumed him.
“Wrap it up.” I mouthed to Brick. It was time to get this show on the road. He nodded letting me know that he and I were on the same page.
“As long as we’re on the same page, I’m good. Look come to Avalon’s house. Kiana’s Pops is here so we’re having a welcome home celebration. Reshelle said she’ll be here in fifteen minutes. You know I’m not big on phone calls so we can finish this conversation after we eat dinner.” Brick said.
“Damn! Avalon’s ol’man is back? I know that’s your mother-in-law, but goddamn Avalon is a baaadddd bitch. Damn I wanted to fuc...”
“Nigga are you crazy? Be here in twenty minutes.” Brick said as he took the call off speaker and disconnected the call.
I smirked at his crass statement. Him lusting after me nearly made me sick to my stomach. Catching the eyes of a snitch would never make me smile. I felt bad for Reshelle for spreading her legs for him.
“Oh, this nigga definitely gotta go.” Calvin said.
“Your jealousy has always been so cute to me. Are y’all ready to get rid of the thorn in the Brick/Kennedy Family Business?” I asked as I tip toed and kissed my man on the side of his face.
“Mommy, What the hell? We need to talk about this. When did you become apart of Team Get The Strap? My entire life it’s been church every Sunday, mind your manners, and ladies are to be seen and not heard. So, you’re really a thug just like the rest of us h’uh?” Kiana asked as she threw her arms around my waist and showed me her Colgate smile.
Calvin and Brick laughed like they had just heard the funniest joke.
“Sweetheart, everything you know, you learned from me. You just didn’t know it. A woman always has to do what she has to do to protect her family. Now let’s go feed these babies before they overdose on cookies.” I said as I walked out of the library for the second time.
“Ava and Elise. Are you girls hungry?” I called just to give them a warning to let them know that I was approaching the kitchen. I could hear them scrambling and all I could do was shake my head and laugh.
I almost burst into laughter when I saw them wiping crumbs from each other’s cheeks.
“What are you girls doing?” Calvin asked as he walked in behind me.
“Nothing.” Ava and Elise said in unison. Their words were so in sync it sounded like only one person was speaking.
Calvin fought to hold his laughter in so hard that tears ran from his eyes. It was as if we had gone back and time when we caught our kids stealing cookies.
“Nothing h’uh? I baked ten sugar cookies and there’s only two left. So, which one of you cookie monsters ate all the cookies? Was it you Avalon Marie Brick or was it you Elise Monet Brick?” I smirked knowing that neither of them would tell on the other.
“Neither of us ate the cookies Grandma.” Elise lied.
“They fell on the floor Grandma. So, we put them in the trash so no one would eat dirty cookies.” Ava lied.
“Good girls. You did the right thing.” I smiled. They had no idea that my praises to them had a double meaning. “Are y’all ready to eat?” I asked.
“No ma’am. We’re not hungry. Can we watch cartoons instead?” Ava asked.
“Grandpa, do you like Baby Shark?” Elise asked. She grabbed his leg and looked up at him the same way that Kiana did when she was her age. The way she smiled at him caused a permanent smile to grace his smooth handsome face.
“Oh God!” Brick and Kiana sighed.
“No baby girl. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten shark before.” Calvin said.
Ava and Elise gasped so loud that it sounded like they hiccupped. The mortified looks that covered their smooth brown faces had everyone laughing except Calvin. He had no idea that the girls weren’t talking about seafood. The look on his face was just as funny as theirs.
He had only been here for a few days, and I already didn’t want him to leave. The past few days reminded me of how things were between us before he started testing his own product and became strung out.
“Grandpa, you can’t eat Baby Shark. It’s a cartoon. Daddy show Grandpa Baby Shark.” Ava said.
“Damn.” Brick said under his breath before scrolling through YouTube.
As soon as the Baby Shark theme song started playing, the girls started singing and dancing. The look on Calvin’s face was pure amusement.
“Ok ladies. Go in the living room and turn on whatever y’all want to watch. Brick and Kiana invite our guest in when they arrive and Mr. Kennedy, you can follow me downstairs.” I said as I grabbed Calvin’s large hand and descended to the bottom level of my home.
As soon as we got downstairs. Calvin pushed me against the wall and stuck his tongue deep inside my mouth.
“Mmmm.” I moaned as his large smooth hands caressed my entire body.
“I love you so much Avalon. I wasn’t trying to keep secrets from you baby. I just didn’t want to spring so much on you as soon as I walked back in your life. I didn’t just come back here to take care of Rahlo’s snitching ass. I genuinely did come back for us.” Calvin said as he held my face in between his hands and peered into my eyes. I could tell by the way he looked at me that he wasn’t lying.
I wasn’t going to judge his actions because I had secrets too. But, I needed some reassurance anyway. For the past few days Calvin had been sexing me into a coma, and if I could use his secrets to get more of that goodness he was blessing me with, I would.
“Prove it. Prove that you really came here for me.” I said as I licked my full lips and ran my hands over Calvin’s broad chest and down to the thick salami between his legs. The thought of him spreading my legs and sliding inside of me had me soaking wet. I knew for a fact that I wouldn’t be able to put these panties back on.
“Gladly. But later we’re going to talk about the secrets you’ve been keeping from me.” Calvin smirked as he pulled my dress over my wide hips and over my head. I don’t know what tricks he learned while living in Kansas City, but he did things to me that made me want to stalk and kill every woman that he had been with after leaving me and moving away from Florida.
“Ooouuu Cal!” I moaned as the only man I ever loved rubbed the bulbous head of his dick over my super sensitive clit. I was so turned on that I felt tears running down my face.
“You asked for this. What you crying for, h’uh?” Calvin joked as he kissed my trail of tears then down my neck. The way that he had my legs pulled up in the perfect V as he pounded against my G-spot had me ready to thank God.
“Ooouu God Cal. I need you baby. Please don’t leave me again. Please!” I moaned and begged at the same damn time. I didn’t care if I seemed desperate, I loved him too much to let him leave me again.
“I’m not going anywhere. After tonight, you won’t have a choice but to move with me. Now come sit on Daddy’s dick and show me how much you love me.” Calvin said as he dropped to his knees, to suck my clit before pulling me down on top of his throbbing erection.
