Chapter 14

Being away from Leo for three weeks proved to be exactly what Keller needed. She really missed him, but she needed him to miss her too. He needed to see exactly how it felt to be without her. Between spending nights at Kia and Tessa’s houses, Keller was ready to be back in her on bed. Then, again, she was enjoying her freedom and the time that she got to spend with Tigga. Keller didn’t tell him or anyone else the entire story of what happened. The only thing everybody knew was that she and Leo got into it and she left for a little while. Leo was going crazy as usual. He called Keller every five minutes or he popped up at the shop whenever he felt like it. Keller had so many gifts delivered to the shop that she forgot to take some of them home most of the time.

“You want me to make you some more soup sis?” Keller asked Kia.

After staying at Tessa’s house for two nights, she’d come back to Kia’s house the night before to find her sick as a dog with a terrible cold. Jaden had it looking like a hospital room with all the medicine and the two humidifiers that he had plugged up. Keller didn’t know what had happened on the two nights that she was gone, but she could tell that Jaden and Kia weren’t on speaking terms. They walked by each other like two strangers.

“I’m good. It ain’t like I can taste that shit anyway,” Kia replied, breathing through her nose.  

“I know they were shocked as hell when you called off from work,” Keller said.

“Hell yeah, but they told me to take as much time as I needed. I got a million sick hours. Aside from vacations, I’ve never used any of my time since I’ve been there,” she replied.

“Well, I’m about to get going. Tessa is coming to get me since she’s my first client of the day,” Keller informed her.

“You need to think about getting your own car Keller. What couple do you know still shares a car these days? Leo made sure he put that shit in his name, so he can keep it whenever y’all break up.”

“Everything is in his name because he pays for it,” Keller said.

“That’s my point. You’re making decent money and you get to keep all of it, since he pays the bills. You need to get you a car. You have good credit so that shouldn’t be a problem,” Kia replied.

“You make a good point sis,” Keller admitted.

“I hope you’re saving some of that money and not blowing it all.”

“I know better than that Kia. You know Mo drilled that in us at an early age,” Keller replied.

“She sure did. That’s why my savings is sitting pretty,” Kia admitted.

“Mine is too, but you’re right. I need to get me another car. I’ve been without one for two years.”

Keller had an Audi until it was stolen and wrecked. Her insurance company totaled it out and cut her a check.  Instead of getting another car, she deposited the money into her savings and shared a car with Leo. 

“You can let one of our uncles go with you. They know how to wheel and deal,” Kia said, right as she coughed and sneezed back to back.

“God bless you,” Keller said while handing her sister a tissue.

“Thanks.” Kia smiled weakly.

“You look and sound just awful,” Keller informed her.

“Thanks again,” Kia replied sarcastically.

“You know you’re still cute boo. Just not right now,” Keller said, as she jumped back to keep from being hit with the dirty tissues that her sister threw at her.

“Bye, heifer. I’ll see you later,” Kia said right before her sister walked out of the bedroom.

Keller laughed when she walked into the living room and saw Jaden and Jaylynn lounging on the sofa watching Matilda. Poor Jaden must have watched that movie every day, more than one time a day. He was such a great father and he never complained. Just like Kia, he’d taken a few days off from work to stay home and take care of her. Keller felt like he was such a good man to her sister, but Kia felt otherwise. According to her, it was Jaden’s fault that she was sick to begin with.

“Where’s the keys to the deadbolt?” Keller asked aloud. The keys usually stayed in the door, but she couldn’t find them anywhere when she really needed them. Tessa was outside waiting on her and she needed to get going.

“You can’t leave out of the house Tee Keller,” Jaylynn said while never taking her eyes off the tv.

“What? Why can’t I leave?” Keller questioned.

“Because we’re on lockdown. That means that nobody can leave out of the house,” Jaylynn replied like it was a normal occurrence.

“What kind of mess is that?” Keller yelled as she walked back to her sister’s bedroom and burst through the door.

“What’s wrong?” Kia asked her.

“Bitch, I don’t know, but I don’t have time for this shit. What does Jaylynn mean about the house being on lockdown?” Keller quizzed.

“Shit,” Kia hissed as she pulled the covers off and stood up. “I told you that you should have stayed by Tessa for a little while. Jaden is back on his psycho bullshit.”

“I have to go to work Kia. I can’t play these crazy ass games with Jaden today.”

“I know, Keller. I’ll get him to let you out. This bitch act like he’s shell shocked and ain’t never been to war before,” Kia fussed.

Keller followed her sister to the living room and stood right next to her.

“You feel better mama?” Jaylynn looked up and asked her.

“Yeah baby, I’m feeling much better,” Kia lied. She actually felt like shit, but she couldn’t tell that to her baby.

“Jaden, Keller has to go to work,” Kia said to her crazy ass boyfriend. Jaden continued watching the movie without even looking over at them.

“We’re on lockdown mama. Nobody can leave out of the house. Right daddy?” Jaylynn said, while looking up at her father.

“That’s right baby.” Jaden smiled down at her.

“Baby, please, her ride is outside waiting on her,” Kia continued to beg.

When Jaden continued to ignore them, Keller was about to lose it. She knew that popping off at the mouth would only make things worse, so she tried to be as nice as she could.

“Jaden, please, just let me out and you can lock up again. Why the hell am I on lockdown anyway? I don’t even know what’s going on,” Keller pouted.

“Your sister can get you out of here. As soon as she does what she has to do,” Jaden said calmly.

“God, Jaden, I said I was sorry a thousand times. Just let Keller out and we can talk about this later,” Kia begged.

Once again, Jaden turned his head and completely ignored them. Keller didn’t know what was infuriating her the most, Jaden’s calmness or the fact that she was damn near thirty and being punished by her younger sister’s boyfriend. 

“Kia, help me get out of here. What do you have to do?” Keller yelled.

“Ugh!!” Kia groaned as she stormed off to the bedroom with Keller following close behind her.

“My ride is going to leave me. I can’t believe this shit,” Keller said as she flopped down on the bed in defeat.

“Let me see your phone,” Kia requested.

Keller slid her phone over to her sister as she continued to sulk. She heard Kia on the phone with their phone service provider, but she didn’t know what she was doing. She had tuned her out until she said something that got her attention.

“Come on, so you can get to work,” Kia said while heading back to the living room.

“How, when G.I. Joe got it locked down like Fort Knox?” Keller replied.

“He’s about to let you out. Just come on,” Kia replied. Keller didn’t believe her, but she followed her out anyway.

“Here,” Kia said, handing Jaden a piece of paper. “This is my new number.”

He took the paper from her and dialed the number on his cellphone. When Kia’s phone started ringing in his pocket, he nodded in satisfaction. Kia refused to get her number changed when he told her to, but Jaden had a way of getting what he wanted. She hated that her sister got caught in the middle, but Keller was probably use to his craziness by now. Andre had been calling and texting Kia’s phone non-stop, but Jaden had been holding it down. He entertained the other man for a little while to get some information from him, but he had grown tired of playing the game. He now knew Andre’s schedule and everything else that he wanted to know. Kia had no use for her old number and he let her know it. Keller stood there with her mouth open wide, as Jaden reached into his back pocket and handed Kia the keys to the deadbolt.

“Is the lockdown over daddy?” Jaylynn asked her father.

“Yeah baby, everything is back to normal,” Jaden replied.

“I’m sorry about that sis,” Kia said to Keller. Once she opened the door, Keller all but ran to Tessa’s car and jumped inside.

“Girl, I thought you changed your mind on me. What the hell is wrong with you?” Tessa questioned.

“Bitch, I don’t care if I have to sleep with one eye open. I’m bringing my ass back home tonight,” Keller swore.

Tessa didn’t ask any more questions because it seemed like Keller had a lot on her mind. Tessa turned up her radio and drove over to the shop. It was early and Tessa was happy that she was Keller’s first customer. Keller’s clientele was picking up and her slow days had started to be busy as well. They walked into the shop and spoke to everyone, before walking to Keller’s work area. A huge smile covered her face when she saw the huge stuffed bear and the dozen pink roses that awaited her. Leo was really trying hard to win her back, and Tessa wondered what he’d done to lose her in the first place. 

“I’m going to the bathroom right quick,” Tessa said to her smiling friend.

“Okay.” Keller continued to smile.

“Baby, you’ve been getting deliveries just about every day this week. What was it this time, cheating or beating?” Co-Co asked, making Keller’s smile fade instantly.

“Why do you always do that Co-Co? You act like you hate to see a bitch happy,” Keller spat angrily.

“Happy or not, I just hate to see a dumb bitch,” Co-Co said matter-of factly.

Keller ignored his negative remarks and read the card that accompanied her flowers. She was almost in tears as she read what Leo had written. He poured his heart out to her and begged for another chance. He promised to get it right and even said that he was willing to go to counseling for his anger. His begging wasn’t in vain though. Right before she started to work on Tessa, Keller sent him a text informing him that she would be home right after work. She just hoped she was making the right decision and wasn’t walking into the lion’s den, yet again.