Love In the Red Zone (Connecticut Kings Book 1) (9 page)

StentRo:
Game night. My crib on Sat

“It ain’t gonna come o
n…
” I hardly registered while reading the text.

I turned back to Kyree. It tore at me to see him cry. It reminded me of his mood change at the end of practices lately. He went from chipper to sad in the span of thirty minutes.

“It’s all good, man,” I pledged while rubbing the back of his head.

Kyree climbed out of the pickup and Jade gave a final wave to which I saluted. Giving them a minute to get inside, I turned back to my phone. I ignored my friend’s text for the moment and shot a text to Jason.

Me:
Whats good with Kyrees mom?

Waiting for the reply, I glanced up and saw the two had disappeared from the doorway, on their way upstairs.

Jason:
She good peoples. Why? You see that peach? Nice, right? Cherries too!

My head jerked back and I scoffed. I mea
n…
Her body was hard to miss. But her mood was so heavy, I couldn’t see past that.

Me:
Nah. She seemed real stressed tonite. She always like that? Wheres his dad?

Maybe that was it. Maybe his father beat on her or something. But she never mentioned him for help with her car tonight.

Jason:
Nigga you lookin! Lmao

I cocked my head to the side, wondering if he could be serious for two damn minutes.

Jason:
I’m fukin witchu. Father went to school with my cousin. A dope boy in brick city. He told her to come check me to put his seed on the team last year. He a cell boy now. Been down for a couple of years now.

So, Kyree’s father is an incarcerated D-boy. That makes sense.

Jade acted like she was carrying that lack of money weight on her own. But there was something more. Something was off. Worry danced in her eyes all night. I’m used to seeing women trip over themselves when with me, eyes lined with ill-motives and too much damn charm. She had been blinded to whatever it was females usually see in me, or it could have helped that she simply didn’t know who I was.
But how?
My story had been blasted all over the media for over a year.  My arrest and trial had been played on every major and minor news station. She had to have heard of me, right?

My gut told me not to rely on that theory. It was that look in her eyes. This girl didn’t give deceptive grins, try to push her son on me, push with him to come to my house, or get me to come upstairs. She hardly looked at me aside from that time we left the restaurant. Even then, if she recognized me, she would’ve given me some sign. Nah. Both Jade and Kyree were haunted. They had something shared. A ghost. She didn’t want face time with me. She wanted me to disappear just as they had in the dark of the night.
Speaking of which
—

I leaned over into the passenger seat to peep their windows, particularly Kyree’s bedroom. I promised him I’d wait for the light to come on. It was still pitch black. It had been more than enough time for them to have made it to the third floor even if they walked up.

My phone chirped again. 

Jason:
Wait my dude! You in them drawers now? ‘Bout to be? Just finished? Damn! Tell me!

I shook my head. J was being thirsty while I was down here like a peeping Tom waiting for lights to come on in the bedroom of a ki
d…
that I didn’t even know!

God, what am I doing here?

I went to start the truck and gave in to my gut call to look up one last time before pulling off. I leaned over once again. And again saw no new windows light up. Did they really live here? Had to. It’s the address she gave me for Jeff to drop off her car.
She needs her car.

Then what was going on with their lights?

“It ain’t gonna come o
n…
”

That’s what Kyree warned when I wasn’t paying attention! I shut the engine off and jumped out of the truck. Quickly, I calmed myself, not knowing exactly why I was alarmed. It was possibly because of the slight whisper he’d delivered that message with. I crossed the street and was relieved to find the building door unlocked. I jogged up the steps, three at a time. When I landed on the third floor, I tried to decided which way to turn based on where the room was located on the outside of the building. There were many options. The door on the far left had to be hers.

I quieted the clacks of my boots when I neared the door. En route, I could hear the wails of a kid. I stopped and pushed my ear to the door.

“I’m right here! Why are you crying?” A voice I recognized asked, vexed.

The crying didn’t stop.

“I’ll light another candle. Okay?” Jade asked.

“Uh-kaaay!” Kyree blubbered.

“Gosh, KyKy,” her voice broke. “It’s just a shower. We go through this every night.” Then there was no denying Jade was crying.

She sounded wounded.

I felt a rush of energy unfamiliar to me when I knocked on the door. They were hard and alarming blows, but with just my knuckles.

“Shhhhhh!” she hushed him. “Who is it?” Even her voice, filled with grief was shock by the sound of the knock.

I licked my lips, face hard as I contemplated what to say. Then I thought to go with it. They were in trouble. Was someone in there bothering them? Were they hiding from someone? Me?

“Coach TB,” I answered. There was no movement or response. “Jade, I heard you in there. I heard Kyree. I just wanna help, man.” I was careful of my tone.

I waited and waited. My pulsed banged against the surface of my skin. I had no idea why I was so anxious. But I waited until I couldn’t anymore. The moment I raised my fist to knock again, the door opened. Jade’s golden eyes looked tan now, reddened from tears. Her chest heaved. I was able to look behind her to a shirtless Kyree, still wearing some of his football gear. His face was filled with tear tracks and snot from crying. It was pitch black from wall to wall. I understood right away the electricity was off. My eyes closed in realization.

That’s why Kyree didn’t want to come home. It was why he tried to prolong the night. And it was why he’d act out after every practice. He wanted to delay his time in the dark. He was afraid and had every right to be as a kid his age.

“Get your things,” I demanded over Jade’s head, speaking to them both. “You’re coming with me.” I glanced down, prepared for a rebuttal. But none came. What did come was another round of fresh tears.

“Where are you taking us? I’m not taking my child to a shelter,” she made clear with closed eyes.

This woman was broken. Far from the one I met a week ago on the field, Jade was lost and frightened. I wasn’t any more resolute than I seemed, but I knew she needed a break, even if only for one night. I had no idea what I was going to do with them. She didn’t have any money and I couldn’t put her up in a hotel for an undetermined amount of time. And I doubted if her lights would be back on the following day, so there was no hope there. If she had relatives, I was sure she would’ve turned to them before it got to this point.

“Neither am I.” I gave Kyree an affirmative nod before he took off for his things.

“I can’t stay here,” she whispered at the door of one of my guest bedrooms—the only one with a bed—shaking with Kyree’s deadweight, sleeping frame slung across her shoulder. “I don’t even know your name!” Her eyes pooled with tears. “And don’t give me any initials or say it’s coach either.”

“Trenton.” I exhaled, uneasy about my honesty. “My name is Trenton.” I didn’t want to give her more, not knowing what she’d do if she knew who I was. 

She nodded, apparently satisfied with my answer. I was still amazed she carried him in the house and during the elevator ride to the second floor. I rarely used the elevator in the house. It was mostly for commercial use, at least that’s what Brielle told me when I had it included in the design of the house. But tonight, Jade was so damn cagey, I knew she wouldn’t trust me to carry her son up two landings to the second floor. I was giving them the only bedroom I had with a bed. It was a full size bed I’d had for years, since leaving my home after getting drafted. I kept it for sentimental reasons. Now it would be put to functional use.

“Look, Jade, I know about hard times. And one thing about the tide is, it will always turn again. Just take the room for the night. After a few hours of sleep, you can be crisp in thinking about your next move.”

Her pouty mouth lifted, as she fought for dignity. My phone went off. It was Jeff saying he was on his way to my place to drop off her car instead of Jade’s home.

“It’ll just be for one night.”

“Cool. That’s Jeff saying your ride’ll be here soon. I’ll leave the gate open for him.”

She took in a long breath and her face fell into a moue. I sighed. It was a reminder of the property. My house was rather large. In fact, it was ten thousand square feet large with four garages in a gated community. It made her uneasy, and I couldn’t lie about being freaked out myself. I wasn’t used to having people in my crib anymore. And I definitely didn’t want to have to explain how I acquired the property.

“Jade, it’s just temporary. Her
e…
” I lifted the large laundry bags she packed before leaving her apartment and placed them inside the bedroom. “You can get up in the morning and be on your way if you have—”

“We will,” she quickly assured.

“Okay. Just one night.”

Jade let go of a shuddering breath, her eyes cast to the floor below before she turned inside the bedroom that I was sure was larger than her bedroom, but that didn’t stroke my ego one bit. As she closed the door, I thought of all the times as a kid I went to bed hungry, less than satiated from a poor meal, or scared of the following day when I’d have to repeat it again. I shook my head, knowing I had a long session of prayer ahead of me when I hit my room. Before I could turn for the master suite, I heard the determined locking of the door.

God, what am I doing?

“Just one night…” I muttered, on my way to my bedroom.

The following morning when I crept out with Kyree while carrying two bags of clothes, I got lost trying to find the way out. It took at least five minutes for me to find the front door, and an additional two for me to locate my car on the side of the house.  I pulled up to my building and saw a few people standing at the curb, rummaging through trash on the sidewalk. I thought that was strange, but possible in this neighborhood. I continued up the block in search of a parking space. Once I’d managed to drop Kyree off at school
on time
, I needed a quick shower before clocking in at the nail salon.