You're My Little Secret 3 (19 page)

KENNEDI

I’ve
been holed up in my house all day crying my heart out. I’ve cried so much until
I didn’t think there were anymore more tears left. That was until I looked at
Dominic and Brookly
n’s
wedding pictures
again. I can’t believe he really married that bitch. He refused to buy what I
wanted for our daughter, but he gave her a lavish wedding on the beach. They’re
still in Key West living it up without a care in the world. I guess Tiffany got
tired of me asking her what was going on with them because she gave me her
password for me to look whenever I wanted to. I’m already in a foul mood and
seeing that only made it worse. I was finally back at home relaxing after being
gone all day yesterday. I’d drove for almost four hours to visit my mother in
the federal facility where she’s being held in another part of Louisiana. I’m
due to give birth in less than three
weeks,
so my doctor advised me not to go. Tiffany was supposed to drive me, but she
canceled
at the last minute. I didn’t have
anyone else to take
me,
so I drove myself
there. I just had to see my mother before having my baby. I don’t know when I’ll
be able to see her again.

She
tried to keep a smile on her face, but I saw the worry in her eyes. Things aren’t
looking too good for
her,
and she’ll
probably have to do federal time. We couldn’t even hire a lawyer because all of
her accounts had been frozen. She keeps telling me that everything will be
alright, but I know that’s a lie. The Feds don’t come for you unless they have
solid proof. She’s guilty of everything they accused her of, but she’ll never
admit it. Now I understood why she was always so afraid to get the police
involved in anything.

I
cried almost the entire ride back home. Just seeing her in those prison clothes
was enough to drive me crazy. Then, if that wasn’t bad enough, I had to come
home and get hit with the pictures of Dominic marrying his side bitch.

“Yes,”
I snapped into the receiver of my phone when I saw Tiffany calling. I was so
pissed with her for so many reasons. Ever since she moved in with
Kyle,
she’s been putting me on the back burner.
Not only did she cancel on me yesterday, but she was supposed to be here to get
me earlier this morning. She promised that we were going to spend the day
together just so I could get out of the house, but she never showed up.

“I’m
outside, come open the door.I have food so you better hurry up,” she said
laughing.

I
wasn’t in a laughing mood, but the thought of food had me rushing down the
stairs. I unlocked the door and swung it open, ready to tell her off for
standing me up. My words were lodged in my throat as anger took over my body
when I saw Kyle standing there with her.

“What
is he doing here?” I asked with a frown on my face.

“I’m
here with my woman, that’s why I’m here,” he replied with an attitude.

“Are
you going to let us in or not?” Tiffany asked me. I stepped to the side and
allowed them to come in. Kyle walked in and immediately started looking around
while Tiffany took the food to the kitchen.

“You
can have a seat,” I said when he started touching some of the paintings on my
wall. His ghetto ass was acting like he’d never
saw
art before. He gives me the
creeps,
and I
don’t know why my cousin brought him here. He ignored my invitation for him to
sit and continued looking around at everything. I rushed into the kitchen with
Tiffany to give her a piece of my mind.

“You
can go sit down. I’ll bring your plate to you,” she said when I walked in.

“Why
the hell did you bring that loser here? He’s in there looking like he’s checking
out my house so he can come back and rob me,” I snapped.

“You
can’t be serious right now,” she said frowning at me.

“I’m
very serious. I don’t trust his broke ass and I damn sure don’t want him in my
house,” I whispered angrily.

“Bitch,
I’m far from broke and I don’t want to be in your house either. I only came
because my girl begged me to come,” Kyle said from behind me. I jumped when I
heard his voice because I didn’t know that he was standing there.

“Kyle
chill, we’ll leave
in
a little while,”
Tiffany said trying to defuse the situation.

“Nah,
I’m ready to leave right now. I see why Dominic divorced her stuck up ass and
married Brooklyn,” I’m sure Tiffany is the one who told him, but he didn’t have
to throw it in my face.

“Fuck
you!” I snapped angrily.

“From
what I heard you can’t even do that right,” he laughed.

“Kyle
stop,” Tiffany begged.

“Tiffany,
if you’re not out of here in five minutes I’m leaving without you,” he said as
he walked out and slammed my front door.

“Did
you really need to say all of that Kennedi?”

“I
don’t know what the hell you see in him. You should have left him alone after
he let that bitch Nadia beat your ass,” I yelled.

“He
didn’t let her do anything. He can’t control what his
ex does
. You just need to stop looking down on everybody. That’s
why you’re single right now,” she replied hurting my feelings further.

“I’d
rather be single than be a broke nigga’s punching bag,” I replied.

She
couldn’t respond to that because she knew that I had her right. I lost count of
how many times she showed up to my house with a busted lip or bruises on her
face. She always makes excuses as to why Kyle hits her, but it’s all bullshit
to me. In my
opinion,
he’s a coward who can’t
keep his hands to himself.

“I
only came here to give you some money for my God-daughter. You can have the
food. I’m not even hungry anymore,” she said as she handed me a wad of money. I
looked at all the hundreds that she’d just stuffed into my
hand,
and my jaw hit the floor.

“Where
did you get all of this money from Tiffany?”

“Don’t
worry about where it came from. I know you need it to get some things for the
baby. I’ll call you tomorrow,” she said as she walked out.

I
locked my door and sat down on the sofa, staring at the two thousand dollars
that Tiffany had just given me. She and I needed to have a talk very soon. Both
of us are
unemployed,
so I want to know
where she got this kind of money from. Looking at Kyle, I’m sure it came
illegally. I just pray that whatever he’s doing doesn’t affect my cousin in any
way.

BRYCE

After
being in Key West for a whole week for Baby and Dominic’s wedding, we were all
on our way back home. Dominic rented three vans for us and his immediate family
to get to and from the airport. The rest of our family left the day after the
wedding,
so it was only a few of us left. Damion,
one of my tattoo
artists,
has been
running things for me in my absence. He called me every day to let me know that
everything was running smoothly. The barber and beauty shop was closed for the
week since all of us were gone. Damion blocked
off
the front of the shop and had all of the clients who wanted tattoos to come in
through the side entrance. He was the first artist to work for me when I opened
my shop years
ago,
and I trust him to the
fullest.

When
we got back to the airport in New
Orleans,
it was a little after nine that night, but we were all worn out. I was ready to
grab Taylor and my girls and go home. We all boarded the airport shuttle buses
that were there to take us to our cars. I didn’t want to park my car at the
airport lot for an entire week, but I’m happy that Taylor convinced me to do it.
That way I didn’t have to wait for anybody else to take us home. Both of my
daughters were sleeping so I had to pick them up and put them in the car. As
soon as I finished putting
in
the last of
our suitcases my phone rang displaying Damion’s number.

“I’m
just now getting in town D. Let me call you back tomorrow after I get me some
rest,” I said when I answered the phone.

“Aye
Bryce, I need you to get to the shop like right now,” he yelled above all the
noise in the background.

“Why,
what’s wrong?”

“Man,
the whole damn shop is on fire,” he said knocking all of the wind out of me.

“What!”
I yelled causing everybody to stop and stare at me. “Damn, I’m on my way!”

“What’s
wrong baby?” Taylor asked me.

“Damion
said that the whole shop is on fire,” I said repeating what I was just told.

“Oh
Lord no! My tropical fish were in that shop,” Co-Co said right before he
collapsed to the ground. His ass is just too
extra,
and I don’t have time for it right now.

“Co-Co
get your ass up. Fuck those ugly ass fish,” Candace snapped. “Bryce’s shop is
on fire and you’re worried about fish.”

“I
paid a lot of money for my fish, but it’s not just about that. What about all
of our supplies and stuff? And let’s not forget that we’re out of a job. I just
can’t take this right now,” he said as he stood to his feet.

“Everybody
just calm down,” my pops yelled. “Y’all put the kids in my truck and go see
what’s going on. Call me if you need me Bryce.”

Dominic
put him and Baby’s kids in the car while I laid my daughters on the
third-row
seat of my daddy’s truck. All of us
had our own cars except for Candace and Co-Co. They rode with David as we all
left the lot and headed to my shop. I started smelling smoke as soon we were
around the corner from my building. When we got on the street, it was
impossible to drive in front. We parked on the corner and walked the rest of
the way. I couldn’t believe what I saw when I walked up. My entire building was
engulfed in flames. The firemen were working hard to put it out, but it wasn’t
an easy job. I walked through the crowd until I found Damion.

“Did
they say what happened?” I asked when I spotted him near a group of people.

“No,
but you can talk to the fire chief. I told him that you were on your way,” he
responded.
 

I
went over to the man that he pointed out. He led me away from the crowd and
asked me some questions. They wouldn’t know what happened until they did an
investigation, but I had a feeling that it was done intentionally. After
talking to him and getting his card, I went back to join my family. A crowd of
people
was
standing around
looking,
and I heard Co-Co’s mouth before I
even got to them.

“We
lost everything.
Y’all
might as well take
me to the hospital right now. I feel an asthma attack coming on,” he cried.

He
was acting a pure fool just like always. Candace looked like she’s ready to
knock
fire
from his
ass,
and I didn’t blame her. I shook my head in
embarrassment at the way he was behaving in front of all these strangers. He was
on the ground screaming and crying about his fish and being out of a job. He
cut up so bad that one of the firemen came over and tried to give him some
oxygen. A representative from Red Cross came over to speak with
us,
and even she ended up consoling him. She
also offered to assist us
with
getting
our supplies back whenever we’re ready to open up another shop. My tattoo
artists and I always take our supplies home with us every
day,
so we’re good on that. Unfortunately,
Taylor and everybody else will have to purchase everything all over again. The
fire seemed to have started in the front of the
shop,
and they lost all of their supplies.

“Nigga,
you don’t even have asthma. Get your stupid ass up off of that ground before I knock
you out,” Jaden threatened Co-Co.

“I
wish you would put your hands on me. Don’t get it twisted Jaden. You already
know how I get down,” he yelled. His eyes were
dry,
and he was back up on his feet in no time after that. That’s just how fast he
switched things up.

“Look
at your fake ass. You don’t even have any tears,” Jaden fussed. He and Co-Co
went back and forth until Candace made them shut up.

I
ignored everybody and watched as the firemen battled the blaze that was once my
shop.

****

Three
days later, Taylor and I met with the fire chief to discuss what happened. He
informed us that it was indeed
arson,
and
the building was set on fire with an accelerant. They even had surveillance
videos from two nearby offices, but none of that helped. All we were able to
see was three figures dressed in black hoodies throwing something through the
front and side windows. The camera quality wasn’t the best so I couldn’t even
make out who it was. After getting nowhere with the fire
chief,
we went to meet with the insurance
agent. I filled out the necessary paperwork and gave him the report that the
fire chief had given to me. My shop and everything in it was fully insured. I
also received some good news earlier this morning. James, whose shop Taylor
once worked in, offered to let us use his old shop free of charge. He’d
recently moved to a bigger
place,
and the
old one was vacant. It’s not as big as my shop was, but it would get the job
done until I got my spot up and running again. I offered to pay him whatever he
wanted, but he refused anything that I offered. I know it’s because he feels
indebted to me. I paid for a lawyer for him a few years ago when he got himself
into a bit of trouble. He’s been trying to find a way to repay me ever since. He
didn’t even charge Taylor booth rental when she worked in his shop.

Once all of the business
was
handled,
we got the keys from James
and prepared to go clean up his old spot. David, my brothers, and my cousins
came over and gave us a hand. When we
finished,
it looked like a brand new shop. They still had all of the chairs in the
waiting area as well as the
stylist
chairs. Since I have a business card, I decided to foot the bill to get some
new dryers and supplies for everybody. I would get it back once the insurance
money came in. I don’t know who set my shop on fire, but they did me a huge
favor. The insurance money is going to be three times what my shop was worth.
There’s an empty lot next to my shop that I’ve always wanted to purchase.
Thanks to the unknown hater, I now have the money to get it. I plan to rebuild
from the ground up and this time it’ll be bigger and better than it was before.