Hot Girlz: Hot Boyz Sequel (20 page)

Venus sat up and took hold of her
cocktail, sipping from the glass, holding on to it with both hands.

“Dad,” Cameron said, lowering his
voice. “I’ll be home tonight.”

“We’ll see. All I know is by the time
I get home from work tomorrow I want to hear about your progress with your
future plans.”

“Agreed. Bye.” A voice in the
background was heard. Cameron quickly told his dad, “Penny says, bye.”

“Tell her bye.”

“I will.”

Claude shook his head as he hung up
and reached in his pants pocket. He pulled out Venus’s emerald ring. “Anyway, I
stopped by and identified the jewelry. I had this cleaned. The rest we’ll need
to have delivered.”

“Oh my.” Venus set her drink down and
took the ring from Claude and placed it on her right middle finger. “Thank
you.” She planted a kiss on his lips. “I’m so glad to have it back.”

“Not sure what happened to the box it
was in. Most of the jewelry boxes are missing because a lot of that stuff was
pawned. But, everything was recovered, so, that’s that.” He picked up his
drink.

“I’m glad. You really did have a full
day today, didn’t you?”

“I did,” he said, taking a sip as the
doorbell sounded. “Is that the lady bringing Skyy home?”

“Probably.” Venus held out her hand in
front of herself and looked at the ring that shined as she got up. “It’s
beautiful as ever.” She walked toward the front door, lowering her voice. “Oh,
I was gonna say, I think that because Cam lost his mom so violently, it’s
coming back to haunt him. I mean, after all, you’re not his real dad and I’m
not his real mom.” She spoke softer. “And the man who is his real father is in
jail for killing his mom. That’s a lot, honey. Maybe that’s why he’s so
attached to certain women. Seems he lets them do things for him. You ever think
about that?”

Claude replied, looking doubtful, “No.
He’s still a man. Therefore he needs to act like a man and handle his business.
I’ve tried to show him that. No more excuses. You take what life has dished out
to you and instead of blaming the
curse
, you make your own
course
.”

She stood before the door with her
hand on the knob. The doorbell rang again. “Well, I just might be right. I mean
for once maybe. Ya think?”

Claude took his last sip and
swallowed, and said with a half-grin, “Open the damn door.”

22

Sequoia

“. . . up to her old tricks again.”

When is Kyle Jr. coming?” Mercedes
asked Sequoia while Sequoia drove toward Santa Monica. It was a Thursday
afternoon around four o’clock.

Mercedes was at home relaxing, having
just worked out at the gym.

Sequoia said, “Torino and I talked
about calling Kyle Jr. KJ since he’s a Wilson now and not really a junior to
Kyle Brewer. Actually, we pick him up from school next Friday and we’ll keep
him over the weekend, then drop him off at school on Monday.”

“I see. Is that so you guys don’t have
to see her?” asked Mercedes. “I mean most guys pick their kids up from the
mom’s house.”

“That’s what she requested, not us.
I’m sure there’ll be times we’ll have to go by each other’s homes and drop off,
pick up. It should be interesting.”

“This has got to be tough on
everyone.”

“There’s no getting around it.”

“True. So, I’ll have a new nephew. And
you’ll have another son.”

“Yes.” Sequoia made the turn from
Santa Monica Boulevard to Lincoln.

Mercedes asked, “Have you thought that
maybe it would’ve been nice if Mamma could’ve met him?”

“I didn’t mention it to Torino, but
yeah, I did think about that.”

“Actually, this is kind of exciting.
Are you okay with it?”

“I think so. That is if he is Torino’s
son.” Sequoia watched the street signs.

“He said you’ll do the test first
thing though, right?”

“He did. But, the fact remains that he
and I have got a KJ and a TJ. That’s all I know.”

“True. It’ll be interesting to see how
the boys get along, how he relates to the two of you, and just what it is that
he knows.”

Sequoia said, “You know how kids are.
He and TJ will hit it off. Kids know no strangers.”

“I know that’s right. Where’re you
headed?”

“To a client’s house. They’re throwing
an engagement party for their daughter. It’s over here in Santa Monica. Should
be pretty nice. My assistant is already there. How about you? I know you’ve
been working out trying to lose some weight.”

“To lose weight, yes. But also, I have
to do something other than work, or else I’m gonna lose my mind.”

“You hanging in there?” Sequoia asked.

“Trying. Mason came and got some more
of his things. After that visit he stopped taking my calls. I’ve been wanting
to tell you that. I called Ryan so Mason could talk to him. It backfired. He’s
even more pissed at the fact that I even had his number.”

Sequoia sounded surprised. “I’m sure
he was.”

Mercedes’s voice sped up. “Girl, he
went searching through my phone and came up to me asking why I had the number,
so I just dialed it.”

“Oh, now see, he’s not done. How could
he really be done if he gives a damn about whose number you have in your
phone?”

“You never know with Mason. He
could’ve been looking for something to start some more mess about. Like looking
for an excuse,” Mercedes said.

“Oh, I doubt it. It’s just his pride.
You know how men are. Have the kids been home since the funeral?”

“No. Rashaad has a tournament coming
up. I’m driving down to San Diego to watch him. It’s been a while since I’ve
done that. I’m not sure if Mason is going or not.”

“Good. Glad you’re getting to see him
play. Listen, I’ll call you later. I’m here now.”

“Okay.”

Sequoia parked along the curb a few
houses down and looked at the random people who walked toward the house at the
end of the cul-de-sac, her destination. She said, “Mercedes, you know what? I
can’t believe it. I see Kyle walking up. And he’s not alone.”

“What? I just know he’s not with
Colette.”

“No. But he is with an Asian chick.”

“Damn, he moved on fast.”

“I guess so. Unless she’s just a
friend,” Sequoia said, turning off the ignition.

“Maybe.”

“But they are hand-in-hand.”

“Hmmm. Small world. You gonna talk to
him about Kyle Jr., I mean KJ?”

“No. I’ll let Torino do that.” She
grabbed her iPad and handbag. “Listen, you have a good day.”

“You too. Good luck with the event.”

Sequoia got out of her car. “Thanks.”
She hung up and proceeded down the street and up the walkway to the ranch style
house. The front door was open and the owner stood before her. She said, “Hi,
Mr. Brown.”

“Hi, Sequoia. This is my wife, Irene.”
He looked to his wife. “Irene, this is the caterer who was referred to us a few
months ago.”

Sequoia said, “Nice to meet you.”

They shook hands.

His wife said, “Sequoia. Some of your
team is already in there setting up, working very hard. They’ve been passing
around hors d’oeuvres and serving beverages. They’re doing a great job.”

“Well good. Is the kitchen that way?”
she asked, pointing past the dining room.

“Yes, right through there,” said Mr.
Brown, pointing as well.

“If you’ll excuse me, I’ll head on
into the kitchen. Please let me know if you need anything. I’ll check back with
you.”

“We will. Thanks.”

Not even twenty minutes later as
Sequoia made her way from the small house, into the huge, tropical style
backyard, she was greeted with a tap on the shoulder. “Hello, Sequoia.”

She turned around. “Hi, Kyle. How are
you?”

“I’m good, thanks. And you?”

“Good.” She looked at the slender,
pretty young woman with Kyle. Her hair was jet black and so long it looked as
though she could sit on it. Her lashes looked like they could reach out and
touch someone. “Hi, I’m Sequoia.” Sequoia nodded.

“I’m Yasmin.” Yasmin nodded.

Kyle said, “Yasmin is a former
firefighter. We used to work together. I’ve known her for years.”

“Oh, really? I find that interesting.
Are there a lot of female firefighters?” Sequoia asked, looking to get a
conversation started.

“Not that many,” Yasmin said, sounding
as if she could not have cared less.

“You enjoy it?” Sequoia asked, looking
her up and down, noticing her St. John suit and gold Jimmy Choo wedge sandals.

“I do.” Yasmin looked at the people
next to them, the people behind Sequoia, and then at the people sitting at a
patio table nearby.

“Good.” Sequoia looked at her like she
was trying to figure her out.

Kyle said, “So, I understand from
Torino that things didn’t quite go as planned.”

Sequoia was ready to talk about
anything other than trying to talk to Yasmin again. “Not quite. But we’re
ready.”

“Good.”

“I’ll be right back. Excuse me.”
Yasmin walked away toward Mrs. Brown and they hugged.

Sequoia watched. “She knows the
Browns, or you do?”

“Her cousin is actually marrying my
brother. I introduced them.”

“Oh, I see. So you and her are like,
dating?”

“We are. All of a sudden we just
clicked.”

“Really? She doesn’t look like a
firefighter.”

“She was. Take all that glamour off of
her and she’s pretty athletic.”

Sequoia took one last look at her. “I
see. Well, you deserve to be happy.”

“I hope to be.” He then asked, “You’re
catering this party?”

“Yeah. It should be a small group and
just take a few hours. They’re nice people.”

“They are.”

“So, you have a brother, huh?” she
asked.

“I do. I have two brothers. Just like
Torino.”

“Nice.”

They stood and a few more moments
passed.

Sequoia asked, “Kyle, I have to ask
you. How are you dealing with not seeing Kyle Jr.?”

“I’m not. It’s tough.”

“Then how are you gonna handle it long
term? I mean, did you and Torino talk about you seeing Kyle Jr. while we have
him?”

“I don’t think that’s gonna fly with
Colette. She’s pretty mad at me right now. But I had to do what I had to do.”

“You’re just letting go?” she asked,
looking as though she didn’t quite get it.

“No. But I didn’t bet on the judge
awarding joint custody, either.”

“Yeah.” She said, “Kyle, I’m sorry.
Really, I shouldn’t have said anything. I’ll let you and Torino deal with
this.”

“No, it’s fine. You’re Kyle Jr.’s
stepmother now. You should be involved.”

“Yes, I am that.”

“And by the way, I’m sorry for all
those years I was upset with Torino. That was some stupid, unnecessary mess.”

“Hey, that’s life.”

“I must say I’m glad you and Torino
got together after all those years of being Mercedes’s friend. You and him were
like oil and water years ago. I never would’ve guessed you’d end up together.
You guys are down for each other like four flat tires. Bonnie and Clyde.”

She snickered. “Believe me, we didn’t
predict it either.” A server walked by with an empty tray and Sequoia saw
someone trying to flag him down for a drink. “Kyle, I’m gonna finish seeing to
everything here. You enjoy yourself.” She then saw Yasmin coming over. “And, I
see your date is coming back.”

“Okay.”

Sequoia gave it one last shot. “Nice
meeting you, Yasmin.”

“You too.” Brief eye contact. No
smile. No nothing.

“Bye.” Sequoia just stepped away and
handled her business.

~~

Hours went by and Sequoia kept an eye
on the setup, main course of squash
quiche, scallops,
ginger beef sticks, and salmon spinach salad. The Sonoma Brut champagne and
sparkling water flowed.

The engaged couple, him
tall, though dark, unlike Kyle, but with the same eyes, and her, a biracial
beauty with a short pixie cut and brown eyes, danced along with the guests,
celebrating their upcoming nuptials.

Kyle danced as well, but
not with his date. He danced with Mrs. Brown and her friends, who were in
heaven from his attention. His date watched him from the sidelines.

It was eight o’clock and
Sequoia made sure her assistant had everything under control. She said her
goodbyes, excused herself and headed out the door while talking on her cell.