The Last Chance (20 page)
Authors: Darrien Lee
“That was a smart move. Look, I'll holler at you later. I have some things to do.”
“Keytone?”
“Yes, Keilah,” he answered with admiration in his heart.
“Thanks for everything, and I've made up my mind. I'm going to tell my brothers about you while I'm here.”
“Do you think now is the time, considering what happened to you? They might think this thang had something to do with me.”
She thought for a moment before answering. “No, I think now is a better time than any. Besides, they know you would never put me in harm's way or hurt me. It's time they know the truth.”
Keytone held the telephone in silence for a moment. “If you say so. Look, just let me know when you decide to do it so I can be prepared for them, because I know they're going to be in my face.”
“They're not going to do anything to you. Besides, I want you there with me when I tell them.”
Shaking his head, he laughed. “Four against one is never a good position to be in.”
She smiled and said, “Four against two, Keytone. Don't worry, you know I have your back.”
“Just as I have yours, Keilah,” he replied. “Take care of yourself, and I'll be in touch.”
“Same here. Be safe out there.”
“Oh, you know this. Later, Keilah.”
“Good-bye, Keytone.”
Keilah hung up the telephone and thought for a moment. She knew in her heart that her brothers needed to know the truth about Keytone, and putting it off any longer would only make matters worse. She just hoped they would see him as she did and not be angry with her for keeping the secret for so long. Going up against her brothers was never easy, and this time was going to be the ultimate battle.
Keilah rose from her chair and headed into the house for a quick shower. She wanted to go over to her casino and hopefully get her brothers together so she could break the news, but Luke had made her promise not the leave the house alone. On the way to her room, she detoured into Malachi's room, opened the trapdoor in his closet, and pulled out a 9 mm handgun. She smiled, checked the clip, and said to herself, “Perfect. I'd like to see somebody come at me now.” She also pulled a small .22-caliber handgun out of the small space and tucked it into her pocket as well. Once she had everything she needed, she headed to her room to shower and get dressed.
Chapter Eighteen
When Keilah stepped off the elevator on the office floor, Roman was the only person she recognized. She smiled as she walked toward him.
Roman frowned and asked, “What are you doing here? I thought you were told not to leave Malachi's house by yourself.”
Keilah kissed her brother's cheek. “I was, but I got bored, so I came down here to get my gamble on. Besides, I'm strapped.”
He took her by the arm and hustled her into his office. “What do you mean you're strapped?”
Keilah sighed and raised her pants leg, revealing the small .22-caliber handgun strapped to her ankle. She also removed her jacket to show him the 9 mm in her back waistband.
Roman frowned. “It doesn't matter. You were told to do something and you didn't do it. Do you have to be hardheaded all the time, Keilah? How did you get here?”
She sat down in the chair opposite his desk and said, “Lay off me, Roman. Damn! I drove Malachi's car over here, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm twenty-seven years old and I think I can take care of myself. I do it every hour of every day in D.C. without any of your help.”
Roman poured himself a glass of V-8 juice and said, “You were assaulted this morning. What makes you think it won't happen again?”
Keilah pulled out her compact, checked her makeup, and said, “I don't know, but if they do, I'm ready for them now. You guys would be surprised at the things I've been through in D.C., and I came out unscathed.”
With a smirk on his face, Roman sat down and leaned back in his chair and asked, “Like what?”
Without looking at him, she played with a crystal statue on his desk and whispered, “I had to kill a guy.”
Roman spat out his juice and sat up in his chair. Keilah shook her head and got up to retrieve a napkin out of the closet. She handed it to him and softly said, “I told you.”
“You killed someone? Who? Why? What happened?” Roman asked as he cleaned the sprayed liquid off his desk.
“I really don't want to talk about it, Roman, but I will say it was in self-defense.”
He threw the used paper towels in the garbage and said, “Damn. I didn't know. Do any of the guys know about it?”
“No, I didn't tell them, and I didn't plan on telling you either. I only did so you would know that I can take care of myself.”
Roman came around from behind his desk and gave her a hug. “I guess you can, sis. Still, it had to have been a horrible thing to experience.”
She looked up into his eyes and said, “It was, but it was either him or me, and I did what I had to do.”
He hugged her again and said, “I understand.”
Keilah stepped out of his embrace and sat back down in the chair. She pulled a tube of lipstick out of her purse and reapplied it. “Roman, I know you guys are only looking out for me. I'll try to chill out. OK?”
He leaned against his desk, smiled and folded his arms. “Thank you.”
“Look, Roman, I need to talk to you guys. Can you come by Malachi's when you finish?”
“Sure. Is anything wrong?” he asked.
“Why does something always have to be wrong, Roman?”
He looked over at her curiously. “I don't know, Keilah. It was just a thought.”
She dropped the tube of lipstick into her purse and smiled. “You guys worry too much. I'm surprised you don't have ulcers.”
He let out a loud laugh and grabbed his stomach. “You know, I have been having these stomach pains.”
Concerned, Keilah asked, “For real? Have you seen a doctor?”
“I'm just kidding, Keilah, I'm fine. I'll call Malachi to come get his car. You can ride back over to his house with me if you want to.”
She interlocked her arm with his. “Sounds good, and on the way, can we grab some lunch or something? I'm starving.”
“Let me call the guys first, and then we can stop for lunch on the way.”
Keilah pushed the button for the elevator. As the doors opened, Roman told his assistant that he was leaving for a couple of hours. After giving her a few more instructions, he stepped onto the elevator beside Keilah, and they began their descent to the first floor. When they exited the elevator, Roman led Keilah down a back hallway and into a garage to his car. Once inside, he called all the brothers and told them about Keilah's request. As expected, they were just as curious as Roman was about the meeting.
Before pulling away from the building, Roman told Malachi where his car was, and that he was taking Keilah to lunch before meeting up with everyone for the meeting. All agreed, not realizing Keilah's news would change all of their lives forever.
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At the restaurant, Keilah found the opportunity to call Keytone when Roman excused himself to go to the rest room.
“Hey, I don't have much time to talk,” she said. “I'm out to lunch with Roman right now. I'm just calling to let you know we're having the meeting at Malachi's in a few hours. I want you close by when I break the news to them so be in the area.”
Keytone sighed. “I don't know if this is a good idea, Keilah. I don't think they're going to be able to handle this kind of bombshell.”
“You let me worry about them. Just be in the area. I have to go. Roman's on his way back to the table. Good-bye.”
Keilah quickly hung up the telephone before Roman got to the table. He sat down and asked, “Who was that on the phone?”
She looked at him in amazement. “Aren't you nosy?”
He picked up his menu and chuckled. “Whatever.”
Keilah scanned her menu as well and decided on a grilled chicken salad. Roman selected a sirloin, medium-well, with steamed vegetables. After the waiter left their table, Roman looked at Keilah and asked, “How serious are you and Michael?”
“We're cool,” she replied.
“What does that mean?” he asked before taking a sip of raspberry tea.
Keilah took a sip of lemonade and smiled. “It means that I brought Michael out here for you guys to meet him because we're already married.”
Roman leaned back in his chair and threw his napkin on the table in anger. “I know you didn't get married without talking to us first?”
“I'm over eighteen, Roman. I didn't need permission from any of you guys,” Keilah reminded him.
Roman frowned and pointed his finger at Keilah. “That is about the most asinine thing you've ever done, Keilah. How could you do something crazy like that before discussing it with us?”
Keilah giggled upon seeing her brother's reaction.
“Keilah! Are you guys married or not?” he repeated.
This caused Keilah to laugh even harder. She waved him off, and once she could catch her breath, she answered, “No, we're not married.”
Roman picked up his glass of raspberry tea and shook his head. “You play too much, Keilah. That wasn't funny at all.”
“Yes, it was. You should've seen your face.”
“Seriously, Keilah, what are your plans?”
Keilah folded her arms and thought for a moment. “If you're trying to ask me if I'm in love with Michael, then the answer is no. But, you never know. Things could change.”
Roman's studied her. “Michael seems to be a nice guy, but he's a career military man, which means if you two hooked up and had kids, they would be army brats.”
Now it was Keilah's turn to frown. “Whatever. I'm not moving my kids around the country. Besides, Michael works at the Pentagon, so he rarely travels.”
“Does he have to go to Iraq?” Roman asked.
“Sometimes. He has to also go to cities like New York and Chicago. I don't know where else.”
“He's just doing his job. I think it would be cool to have a job traveling around like that,” Roman pointed out.
“I guess, but going over to Iraq is dangerous,” she admitted.
He laughed. “And you don't think what you do is dangerous?”
She leaned back in her chair and giggled, “You're right.”
He sipped a little more of his tea, and then the waiter arrived with their meals. After inspecting their selection, they blessed their food and enjoyed their meals and the time shared together.
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An hour or so later, Roman and Keilah pulled up at Malachi's house and found the rest of the family, including Michael, already there. When he put the car in park, he looked over at Keilah and noticed she seemed to be nervous. “Are you okay?”
She reached for the door. “So far so good.”
Roman grabbed her arm, preventing her from exiting the car. “You don't look well. Is there something you want to tell me before we go in there?”
She looked at him. “I'm fine, Roman. Let's go.”
He released her arm and allowed her to get out of the car even though he believed she was holding something very serious back from him. They entered the house together and found the rest of their brothers sitting around the pool. Michael was aware of the family meeting and gave the Chance family privacy by playing with the dogs in the yard and around the pool. When Keilah walked out onto the deck with Roman, Genesis hugged her. “Hey, sis. What's so important that you had to call all of us together?”
Keilah walked over to the table and took a seat. She put her hands over her face for a second before speaking. Malachi walked over and handed her a glass of wine. “Here, you look like you could use a drink.”
She looked up at him with weary eyes and whispered, “Thank you.”
Keilah swallowed the wine down with one gulp. When she sat the empty glass on the table, all eyes were on her. “OK, I can see you guys are anxious to hear what I have to say, so here goes.”
She took another deep breath and walked over toward the pool, and then turned to them. “I want you guys to let me finish before you say anything.”
Luke stood and said, “OK, Keilah, just get on with it.”
With tears in her eyes she said, “I need to make a call first.”
She pulled her cell phone out of her purse. With all eyes were on her, she punched in a series of numbers and whispered into her phone. She hung up her cell phone and said, “I would appreciate it if you guys would stay right here. I have to go into the house to get something before I continue.”
Once she disappeared into the house, Roman said, “I don't like this. Something's wrong.”
Malachi said, “I agree. I feel like Keilah is handling us.”
Luke replied, “Let's just wait and hear her out.”
A few minutes later, Keilah stepped out on the deck with Keytone following close behind her.
Malachi jumped up out of his seat and yelled, “What the hell is he doing here?”
Keilah put her hands up in defense. “Wait. You guys have to listen to what I have to say, because it's going to affect all of you.”
She took Keytone by the hand and led him over to a seat next to hers. “Sit here, Keytone.”
Keytone wasn't afraid of any man, but he had history with the Chance brothers and things could get serious.
Luke calmly asked, “Keilah, have you lost your damn mind? Why did you bring Keytone into Malachi's home?”
Keilah not only saw the wrath in her brothers' eyes, she could feel it. “I brought Keytone here because we needed privacy to handle this. We wouldn't be able to get privacy in a club or a restaurant, and I didn't think it would be a good idea to have this meeting at the casino either. Look, I brought Keytone here because he has a place here. What I'm trying to say is that Keytone contacted me a year or so ago and told a storyâa story that threw me for a loop, and I didn't believe it until I had the proof in my hands. I found out that Daddy cheated on Momma once and a child was born out of that affair. That child is Keytone. He's our brother.”
“That's some bullshit,” Malachi yelled. “There's no way in hell Keytone is a Chance.”
“It's true, Malachi,” Keilah said in defense. “I had DNA tests done. He's definitely our brother, and I think it's only fair that we accept him as part of our family.”
“Keilah, why would you drop some shit like this on us?” Genesis asked. “How long have you known?”
“About a year,” she admitted. “This was hard for me to accept in the beginning, and I know it's going to be hard for you guys as well, but it's real.”
“How long have you known about this, Keytone?” Luke calmly asked.
“My mother told me when I was around sixteen,” he admitted.
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