Side Chick Catching Main Chick Feelings 3 Page 10

  I shook my head at her as my other two sisters stood up to hug her.

  She looked at me.

  “You act like this is goodbye or something.”

  “It might as well be. You are making a mistake Legacy.”

  “Well, if I am, only time will tell. But I think that you’re just like the rest of the 90% of the people in this world. You are scared of the unimaginable, so you settle for life in a bubble. You want what’s familiar. I want what’s extraordinary. This place just holds so much pain. I’m surprise any of you want to be here at all. But I don’t. I will call often. I love you guys. I’ve already told Daddy so there’s no point in calling him to try to get him to change my mind. Actually he told me to go,” she said as she kissed my forehead.

  I was going to give Daddy a piece of my mind later!

  Chardonnay and Velvet sat back down.

  We were all quiet for a while and then finally Chardonnay said what we all were thinking.

  “How much time do we have until three o’clock?”

  We arrived at the courthouse at two-thirty but by the time three o’clock came we still hadn't spotted Lee Lee.

  We wondered if they were coming to the court house or having a pastor perform some kind of small ceremony at a church.

  It was crazy that we couldn’t even enjoy her moment with her because she didn’t want us to.

  I was starting to think that maybe I should have left he locked away in that basement.

  Finding out who Daddy actually had been, I was surprised that he hadn't tried to fix the situation but then again he was probably more worried about not blowing his cover.

  But I guess as long as she was happy there was no point in complaining.

  We drove away in silence.

  I was probably the most disappointed out of the bunch.

  Not only did I feel like all of this was because of me and Kane but also I was bummed at the fact that I had done all of that to save her life, so to speak, and in the end I ended up losing her anyway.

  But I wish her the best of luck.

  I guess.

  ~***~

  “Daddy could you get the door!”

  I yelled from the bathroom but the doorbell continued to ring.

  I could hear Krissie laughing in the back room but the door bell was still chiming so I rushed out of the bathroom and headed towards the door.

  It could only be two people: the mail man or the woman across the street.

  My sisters still didn’t even know where I lived.

  I opened the door and my heart dropped at the sight of Kane.

  What was he doing here?

  How did he know where I was?

  “What are you doing here Kane?”

  I looked past him to see if the unmarked police car was still there.

  It had been a while now since the explosion, but Daddy had a few friends on the force, so he still had them coming by from time to time to monitor things.

  “Um, your father texted me and told me to come here. Are you okay?”

  He glanced down at my stomach.

  “What are you talking about? I’m fine.”

  Why would Daddy text him and he tell him where we were living?

  What was he thinking?

  “Daddy!” I yelled again as Kane showed me his phone.

  He’d texted him the address and then the next text said:

  Kane, come quick. She’s going to need you.

  Reading it, I walked away from Kane and headed to the room that Daddy used.

  “Daddy? Daddy?”

  I walked in to see Krissie playing with his face.

  “Paw Paw sleep.”

  Kane walked over to him and I reached out my arms to Krissie.

  He shook him softly but Daddy didn’t move.

  Kane checked his pulse and then looked at me.

  I didn’t cry.

  I was very still.

  I didn’t want to scare Krissie.

  She loved Daddy so much and I didn’t want her to know that anything was wrong, but it was hard for me to suppress the tears so I damn near threw her at Kane and took off running.

  I knew that this was coming, but I still wasn’t prepared.

  As I cried, I heard Kane coming up the hall so I looked back at him.

  Kane walked over to me, holding Krissie, and held us both in his arms as I cried on his shoulder.

  Daddy must have felt that he was about to take his last breath and I was appreciative that his last thoughts were of me because I would have really needed someone to be there.

  Luckily, Kane was.

  ~***~

  “Eat something,” Kane said.

  I wasn’t sure if it was all of the deaths that I had dealt with in just a matter of months or what but mentally, emotionally, and physically, I didn’t feel like I was going to make it.

  I couldn’t eat.

  I couldn’t sleep.

  I felt like I was going crazy.

  But Kane had been there.

  It had been over a week now since Daddy had died and we’d gotten him cremated, because that’s what he wanted.

  I’d done just as his last words instructed and I’d given the girls more money than they knew what to do with.

  They questioned where it had come from and I blamed it on stocks, bonds and I also told them that he’d hit the lottery once and remained anonymous.

  The lies weren’t very good but they took the money with no other questions asked.

  Hell Chardonnay had worked hard all her life, but she quit her job and everything.

  But other than that, I hadn't done anything.

  I barely moved some days, but Kane hadn't left my side.

  Not at all.

  Not even once.

  Once, he’d even had to carry me to put me in his car just to go get him some clothes because he hadn't wanted to leave me alone.

  I wasn’t able to take care of Krissie, but he had her.

  I’d watched him get her dressed and comb her hair and I couldn’t do a thing but sit there.

  He would play with her.

  Make sure that she was fed and even get her to bed.

  It was a side of him that I would have never even imagined that he had.

  But I guess maybe he wasn’t all bad after all.

  “If you don’t eat the baby is going to die Moet.”

  I just looked at him.

  Hell dying might feel better than this.

  I glanced at my phone.

  It was Lee Lee again.

  She hadn't been able to make it back for the little ceremony we had after Daddy was cremated.

  She hadn't answered the phone until three days after his death.

  She’d said that she hadn't received any of our calls and that her phone didn’t have good signal out there wherever her and her new husband were.

  She was pretty upset and emotional, but she’d caused that on herself.

  She’d chosen to leave.

  But at this point, I couldn’t blame her.

  She didn’t have her share of money yet but I planned to give it to her whenever she came to visit.

  “The baby is a part of Drake Moet. If you don’t eat it is going to die. You don’t want Drake’s baby to die do you?”

  At his words, I opened my mouth and let him place whatever it was on the spoon inside of it.

  “Chew it. Come on.”

  I allowed him to feed me a few more bites and then he headed to the kitchen with Krissie following behind him.

  I hadn't so much as spoken to her in days.

  I hadn't spoken to anyone.

  I just felt so miserable.

  I couldn’t really explain it.

  Kane came back into the room with a cloth to wipe of Krissie’s hands.

  “Look, either you are going to go take a bath, or I will bathe you myself. And that means I get to see all of your good stuff and touch all over you. I’ll be glad to do it,” he warned.

  I didn’t say anything but
I stood up.

  “You sure you don’t need any help? Big Daddy will come and help you now. You know I will.”

  I could tell that he was trying to joke with me but it wasn’t working. I headed to the bathroom instead.

  I forced myself to shower and once I walked into the room I saw that Krissie was lying on the bed.

  Kane was standing there.

  I made sure that I was covered with a towel.

  “Are you okay?”

  I looked at him and then at the room door, signaling him to get out.

  “It ain’t like I ain’t seen it before Moe. But fine. I don’t want to see you stinking ass anyway,” he laughed.

  Kane was different.

  He was even different from how he was in the beginning.

  I couldn’t explain it.

  It was almost as if his good side and his other side were now working as one; without the drama of course.

  I think that I could like this Kane.

  “I’m not going anywhere until you get better.”

  He turned his back to me but just before he went out of the room I forced myself to say something aloud.

  “Kane?”

  He stopped and looked at me.

  “Thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.”

  He smiled but didn’t say anything.

  He just walked away.

  The next few days I got better and better and though I still wasn’t feeling like myself, I was feeling a lot better than I was a few days ago.

  I walked out of the doctor’s office.

  Kane was sitting right there waiting for me.

  What can I say?

  If it hadn't been for him these last two weeks could have gone a lot differently.

  I’m not sure what would have happened to Krissie.

  I’m not even sure what would have happened to myself.

  Daddy must have known that he would be there for me.

  I can only imagine his last thoughts as he’d texted him but he had to know that he could depend on Kane to help me through this.

  And he had.

  “Where are we headed?”

  I glanced back at Krissie who had a whopped sided ponytail with a ribbon that Kane had attempted to tie.

  “Can I treat you to lunch?”

  “Sorry, Krissie and I ate while you were inside. I can take you by somewhere to get you something.”

  “Why are you doing all of this Kane?”

  I was so thankful but I just didn’t understand.

  He didn’t have to be here doing any of this.

  But he was.

  Granted we had been a little friendly, initially because I was going to try to see if he could help me save Daddy, still he was doing more than enough.

  More than he was obligated to do, even as some kind of acquaintance, and damn sure more than I expected him to.

  “It’s not like I have anything else to do.”

  “That’s the only reason?”

  “You needed help Moet. With everything. I respected your father if nothing else. He asked me to help his daughter as his dying wish and that’s what I was going to do. Not to mention that I care about you for the last time.”

  I just looked at him.

  “And we were getting back at least to the friend zone when all of this happened.

  I took a deep breath.

  “At first I was only being friendly because I wanted your help. Daddy told me the truth about what he and Drake had done. They stole money from Jinx’s brother and they felt like he was responsible for Drake’s death and that he was out to get Daddy. So I wanted to see if I could get you to, I don’t know, maybe talk to him or something. But none of that matters now I guess since Daddy died anyway.”

  Kane waited until we were at a red light to look at me.

  He just looked at me as though he wanted to say something but he didn’t know what to say.

  Hell, there wasn’t anything that he could say.

  Drake, Daddy, even Rum were gone now and I guess it was all over.

  “There’s something that I have to tell you Moet.”

  My stomach seemed to turn and I already knew that whatever came out of his mouth was about to be something that I didn’t like.

  “I think I love you,” was all he said.

  Hell, who was telling.

  I think that I’m falling for him too.

  And I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing.

  ******************************

  CHAPTER SIX

  Drake was the love of my life and always would be, but I had to move on.

  “Are you going to be okay?”

  “Where are you going?”

  “Home.”

  Kane was about to head out but I stopped him.

  “Or you could stay.”

  He looked at me.

  Krissie repeated my comment.

  Kane turned around and joined me on the couch.

  “Ouch!” I screamed as the baby kicked.

  “Are you going to name him after Drake?”

  I shook my head.

  “I don’t know. I’m trying to focus on moving forward and calling the baby Drake everyday will just be a constant reminder that I’m not sure that I want to have. It’s bad enough that I’m going to have to look at him every day and see him in them.”

  “Name him Kane then. Hell I’ve fed him enough,” he said.

  “Don’t get cursed out.”

  Kane laughed.

  “I want to say thank you. I know I have said it a thousand times, but I just can’t help it. Despite everything we’ve gone through, you helped me a lot.”

  He didn’t say anything.

  We seemed to just sit and stare at each other for a little while.

  “I think I should go.”

  “Why?”

  Kane took a deep breath and stood up.

  I stood up too.

  “Because I want you.”

  For some reason his statement gave me butterflies and the truth was I kind of wanted him to.

  He gave me a hug and I stayed close to his chest for a second or two too long which caused him to look at me.

  Don’t do it Moe.

  Don’t do it.

  My mind told me to run because I knew the bad side of Kane.

  I knew the liar, the cheater, the manipulator and just how crazy he could be.

  But my heart told me that he’d been there when he didn’t have to be and I felt so much gratitude and appreciation for him and it was hard to fight it.

  And my lips were dying to show him just how thankful I was.

  We stood nose to nose for a while, and I could tell that he wanted to kiss me too but he wasn’t sure if I wanted him to or if he was just misreading my body language.

  So I made the first move.

  I kissed Kane and I remembered everything that had drawn me towards him in the first place.

  Krissie squealed and caused us both to hurriedly step back from each other.

  Kane headed to the door.

  “I’ll see you later.”

  And with that he was gone.

  Rubbing my belly, I sat down on the couch to think about the possibility of heading down that road with him again.

  This was crazy!

  Never in my mind did I think that Kane and I would ever cross those lines again.

  Never in my life did I imagine us in this space; a space where I was actually speaking to him, interacting with him, and somehow falling in love with him.

  But I hadn't expected Drake to die and leave me all alone either, or any of the other things that had taken place.

  I thought long and hard and it wasn’t until the chiming of my phone did I realized that I’d been lost in my thoughts for quite some time.

  Glancing at the phone, I saw that it was a text message.

  From Kane.

  My lips smiled, and for the first time in a while, my heart did too.

  ~***~

  Weeks turned int
o another two months and soon it was almost time for me to have the baby.

  “All done,” Kane said.

  He and I were, well, it was complicated.

  I couldn’t really explain it.

  I didn’t really know what title to put on our relationship.

  He was always around.

  He helped me and was always there if I needed someone to talk to.

  We hadn't had sex, but honestly it was only because I was pregnant with Drake’s baby.

  If I hadn't been, I would have let him tap this ass, again, a long time ago.

  And that was just being honest with myself.

  He felt like mine.

  He looked and acted like mine.

  But I couldn’t actually say that he was mine.

  We never really bothered to talk about it.

  I didn’t know if I was his main chick, just some friendly chick, or if he even dated other women.

  All I knew was at the moment things between us were like they were in the very beginning, and maybe even better.

  It was as though he’d changed back into that man that I’d first laid eyes on at the condos.

  I didn’t know if it was all a front, or if he was being genuine.

  All I knew was that he was being consistent.

  “Thanks for putting the crib up for me. It looks good,” I said.

  “No problem.”

  It was as though I tried to pretend as though none of it had ever happened.

  No.

  There was no way in hell that I should have forgiven Kane for all of his nonsense, but I had.

  Somehow, through all of the hate, I had.

  “I’m going to go to the store. Do you need anything before I head back up the road?”’

  Kane didn’t stay with me at the house every night.

  Though I wouldn’t mind it if he did.

  I felt safer I guess you could say when he was there.

  “Yes my stomach is feeling a little upset. Some ginger ale and crackers will do,” I said to him as he nodded and left the house.

  I couldn’t wait to have the baby so that we could decide what the next step for us was going to be.

  Krissie was getting used to him being around and I didn’t want to assume that he was going to continue helping out without some type of commitment.

  I’d actually been getting to know him all over again and this time he was a little more open with everything since I knew most of the bad and juicy stuff anyway.

  He talked about the man that he was when he was with Naomi, and then who he became with Jinx.