Hot Girlz: Hot Boyz Sequel (12 page)

“Sequoia, please. Colette is fat.”
Torino drank from his water glass, making playful eyes.

“She’s big. So, go on.”

Torino poked a piece of chicken with
his fork and left it there. “Kyle’s coming up on twenty-three years with the
fire department.”

“Okay, I know that’s how you two met,
right, when you tried out?”

“Yeah, and I didn’t make it, thanks
for reminding me.”

She smiled. “And so . . .”

Torino jumped in to explain. “He’s
about to retire and I guess he’s tired of financing Colette. Seems she’s not
booking any modeling jobs anymore and she doesn’t have any other skills. She’s
complaining no one will hire her. I guess she made up some bogus resume but no
bites.”

“I know. She called Mercedes about
working in one of her shows.” She dabbed her mouth with the linen napkin.

“So, that’s what’s up. Pointing the
finger at me, saying I’m Kyle Jr.’s father is more beneficial to her right now
if she can get child support.”

“So why’d he tell you that? Why would
he share that with you now?” Sequoia asked before she resumed eating her fish.

“I think first of all he wanted to say
he messed up. You know, him getting caught selling VIP passes and pocketing the
money. He did say he was sorry. He said he played me because he was mad. And
Colette played him because she was mad at me. And so I guess they both got
played. He fell into that, being weak, and thinking with his dick. All these
years later, after he played house for so long, it sounds like he’s a little
bit more humble now. Especially since, get this . . . Colette is kicking his
ass.” He took a small bite.

“No way. Colette is swinging on Kyle?”

He paused while chewing and then
swallowed. He then took another sip of water. “Let’s just say she’s trying. He
keeps defending himself but he said the last time it happened, he was ready to
knock her ass out. So, he told me he’s ready to pack up his things and leave.
He’s going to file a restraining order on her this afternoon. He said they
fight every night. He, himself, said she’s crazy.”

“Damn. Took him long enough to realize
that.”

Torino ate more of his lunch, talking
with his mouth half-full. “He knew all along. He’s just bonded to his son. He
raised him for so long. And now I’m quite sure that Colette has figured out
that Kyle is about sick of her, so now she gets desperate, can’t control him,
and so she starts swinging. Shoot, she swung at me once and only once. I threw
her on the ground and pressed my knee to her chest until she begged me to let
her up. It never happened again. I told him he needed to deck her ass one time
and show her he’s not the one.”

“Please, if he hit Collette’s crazy
ass, she’d call 911 so fast.”

The waiter walked up and asked, “Is
everything okay? Can I get you something else to drink?”

“No, I’m fine,” said Sequoia. She then
looked across at Torino. “You okay?”

“I’m good. Thanks.”

“Sure. Enjoy,” he said, heading off to
another table.

Torino continued looking at Sequoia
and then casually at the people and cars that passed by along Sunset Boulevard.
He leaned back and folded his arms, saying, “Yeah, from what Kyle says, she’s
the one who calls 911, even when she’s the one tagging him. But I guess the
cops always look at the guy. So, when they kept giving him the third degree
like they’d take him in, Kyle said he decided to forget it. He told me he
thinks it’s best for him to leave her altogether.”

“So why’s he trying to be your best
friend again?” She took a final sip of her cocktail.

“He needed to give me the one-up. If
you ask me, I think it’s messing him up, messing with his ego. I mean, like you
said there he is raising a boy with his name. Then the mother comes up with a
scheme to get back-child support from her ex-boyfriend, claiming he’s the
father, wanting to change the name to the ex’s name. Any man would snap after
that. I’m surprised he’s kept his cool this long.”

“Damn,” Sequoia said, looking
bothered. “And she has the nerve to try and take you to court when she’s got
all that going on? She can’t possibly think she’d be awarded custody and get
child support.”

“That’s why Kyle and I talked. He’s
ready to leave but wants to keep an eye on Kyle Jr.” Torino dipped his bread into
the last of the cream sauce left on his plate.

“You really think she’d hurt Kyle
Jr.?”

“He thinks so.”

“And?”

“And, honestly, he told me flat-out he
thinks Kyle Jr. is my son. Just like she was saying when she got pregnant, and
then she changed her tune.”

“Oh wow. Well, even if you are, Kyle
still deserves custody, don’t you think?”

Torino bit into the bread and shook
his head, chewing.

“He doesn’t want custody?” Sequoia
asked. “How could he not? He’s been raising him all this time.”

Torino said, “He said he wants to do
what he can to make sure I, uh, you and I, get Kyle Jr.”

“But why? And what makes him think
we’d want him?”

“He asked me if we did. I told him I
couldn’t answer that. Told him I’d talk to you.”

Sequoia shook her head. “I’m sorry,
but I just think he’d regret that. Leaving her ass or not, that is his son.
Blood or not.”

“He’d be involved, he said. What he
wants to do is get Kyle away from her first, and as soon as possible.”

“How?”

“We came up with a way to do it, if
you’re cool. Are you down with the possibility of raising Kyle Jr.? Living our
lives with him and TJ under the same roof as brothers?” He ate his last bite of
bread and then sipped his water, tossing his lap napkin onto his empty plate.

“I don’t know. Like I said, I’m not
sure Kyle can just walk away like he thinks he can. Plus, it would be a lot
harder on us to have him full-time, and her or him not sharing custody or
having visitation rights. Plus, you think she’s crazy now? She’d flip out even
more if that happened. Our lives would be a living hell. And, Torino, the
question still remains, is he your son?”

“As far as that, what Kyle and I
talked about was I wouldn’t take the DNA test.”

“And why not?”

He leaned forward, placing his arms
along the table. “Because, what I can do right away is just change my answer to
her summons from contested to uncontested. I can stop denying I’m the father
and that way, there would be no paternity test. Admitting that I’m the father
moves it right into the custody phase, and that’s when her issues will come
into play with proof that the police came to their house. Also with the
restraining order Kyle’s going to file today, there’s no way the judge would
grant her full custody.”

Sequoia put her fork down. “I don’t
know. You two sound like you’ve got it all figured out, but you can’t be so
sure Kyle could really handle this. And you can’t be too sure the judge would
allow you to not take the DNA test that he’s already ordered, and also, that he
wouldn’t award her custody and back-child support. It’s her word against his as
to who’s hitting who.”

“I say it’s worth a try.”

“I say you should go ahead and do the
test. You have to want to know, right?”

“I do.”

“Plus, I think all this should be on
Kyle, not you. He’s been with her this long. He can’t come running to you now.
He got himself into this.”

“True. But again, what if I am the
father and he’s just been playing dad?”

She said, “First of all, didn’t he
sign the declaration on the birth certificate when Kyle was born?”

“He said he didn’t.”

“Damn.”

“I know this is complicated. A lot of
what-ifs.”

“Torino, I hear what you’re saying.
But as far as the paternity of that child, you may not want to know, but I sure
as hell do.”

“Then we’ll find out on our own once
all of this is done. We’ll take a test on our own. First things first. I’m not
gonna fight her right now.”

“Have you thought about the fact that
maybe her sneaky ass put him up to this to keep you from doing the DNA test on
time, and he never ends up filing a restraining order? That they made this
whole thing up about her being abusive? How can you trust him after what he
did, out of your life for this long, and now he’s suddenly in your corner? You
need to be careful, Torino. That’s all I’m saying.”

“I thought about that. But what I
think we need to do is wait for Kyle to file his complaint today. He said he’d
email me copies of the paperwork, including the police reports. In the
meantime, I’ll talk to Attorney Phillips, okay?” He examined her face. He
pulled her eyes to his. “Just tell me you’re with me.”

She blinked fast. “It just sounds way
too messy. But, you got into this, you get this handled.” She gave him a stern
look. “And I’m telling you, I want to know if he’s your child, Kyle’s child,
Bobby Brown’s child, somebody’s kid. I’m not playing on that.”

“You will. Thanks.”

Sequoia scooped up her last bite of
potatoes. “You and Kyle talking again. Ain’t that a trip?” She ate it and
looked away.

“That’s life. You just never know.”

Sequoia rolled her eyes. “Oh, I
know
.
It’s some out and out bullshit is what it is.”

13

Mercedes

“Ten minutes later he was gone.”

That following day was a Saturday.

Lucinda was home with Mattie while
Mercedes decided to simply ride around, just driving, not concerned about a
destination or the high price of gas. Just driving.

A call came in from Venus. And she
ignored it.

A call came in from Sequoia. And she
ignored it.

A call came in from her assistant. And
she ignored it.

Unless she saw the name Lucinda or
Mason on her caller I.D., the calls would go to voicemail. And it was okay.

After driving north on 405, to the 5,
and straight up the 14 Freeway almost to Palmdale, she exited and got back on,
and then drove back south for miles and miles, past the Centinela exit and down
toward the bay area, driving, even without the radio or iPod. She didn’t want
to play Brian McKnight, or Joe, or Mary J., for fear that some old love song
would come on and encourage her tears to reappear. The tears that accompanied
her until she finally fell asleep the night before.

All she did was drive and think.

And then she exited once again and got
back on the freeway, headed northbound again. Suddenly, in the blink of an eye,
she let out a scream so piercing that it made her ears ring. She shook her head
and banged on the steering wheel, hollering repeatedly, “Shit! Shit! Shit!”

It was at that moment when she pressed
the button and said, “Call Mason.”

She could hear the phone dialing and
ringing once, twice, three times, and a voice, her missing husband’s voice that
said, “Hello?”

“Mason.” She struggled to make her
verbal tone the complete opposite of her mental state.

“Yeah.”

“Just checking to see if you want to
come home and barbeque Monday, Labor Day.”

“No.”

“Okay. Well, it was good seeing you
the other day. The night you came by because Mamma had the scare with her
breathing.”

“Just glad Mom is okay.”

“And I’m glad you got to spend a
little time with Rashaad before he left.”

“What’s up?” His tone was as though he
would rather stick needles in his eyes than talk to her.

“Why are you sounding like that?”

“Like what?”

“Like you’re so rushed.”

“I’ve got a meeting.”

“Where?”

“What’s up?” he asked again.

“I need to talk to you. We need you
here, Mamma and I. And the kids need to know we’re cool. Come home.”

“Those kids are grown. They’ll live.”

“I know they’re grown, but still. And
by the way, to top it off, Star’s avoiding all my calls.”

His voice was a bit kinder. “You
haven’t talked to her?”

“I’ve tried. Haven’t heard back. I
left a message and a couple of emails.”

“Are you ready to tell her what
happened?”

“I’m more interested in telling you
what happened.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“You snuck off and got caught up in
your attraction to another man. What more do I need to know?”

“You need to know the truth. Not what
you only imagine happened, or what you suspect happened. I need to talk to you.
Please. Make time for this. For us. This is important.”

He skipped over her sentence. “I’m
trying to work it out so that Mom can be with me. Both her and Lucinda.”