Page 19 of Do You Right

“Come here.” She glanced at me to find me motioning for her to come closer. Even though it was uncomfortable, I allowed her to lay her head on my chest. Seeing her little hand grip my shirt so tight made me feel a little guilty. Maybe I wasn’t taking this serious enough. I placed a kiss on her forehead, then hugged her tighter to me. “Don’t worry, baby. I think they were just looking for a quick lick.”

“But how would they know exactly where your car was parked?” She adamantly shook her head while gnawing on her bottom lip. “I don’t know. I just have a really bad feeling about the whole thing. You need to be more careful, KC.”

Her concern almost choked me up because after dealing with Tycelyn for so many years, I got used to being in a relationship with someone that never truly showed concern for me unless it aligned with the things she wanted from me. I kissed her forehead one more time and sighed. “I hear you, baby. I promise I will be more careful in the future. Happy?”

She shook her head, continuing to pout, but before I could say anything more or convince her to smile, the sound of thundering knocks coupled with incessant doorbell rings interrupted me. I frowned, ready to hop off the couch, but Chai stopped me. “Don’t move. I’ll get it.”

I was going to fuss with her but saw no point, because it would hurt like hell to move around more than necessary. Instead, I sat back waiting for Chai to see who it was. A loud voice from the foyer had me sitting up just as I saw JoJo turn the corner into the living room.

“Since when you start locking the screen door? Damn, my nigga. How you get caught slippin’?” he asked, coming in like a raging bull and taking note of my injuries. “What the fuck happened? What nigga had the balls to jump on you?” He shot off question after question, leaving me no chance to answer them. “Are you good?”

I nodded and sighed. “Just some bruised ribs for real. They ain’t do no real damage.”

“No broken bones or nothing?”

I shook my head and chuckled. “Nah. I told you them niggas wasn’t on shit for real. I was giving niggas the business.” I began shadowboxing to show how I was knocking niggas. “I know for a fact they’re worse off than me.”

JoJo came to plop down on the couch beside me while I noticed Chai remained on the other side of the room. Kinda like she wanted to be as far away from him as possible. She looked very uneasy with a tight jaw and bunched eyebrows. I wanted to ask her about it, but since I had company, I didn’t bring it up.

JoJo huffed and shook his head. He looked to be in deep thought while pulling on his beard. “This is terrible timing. You got a lot on the line right now, but thankfully, it’s nothing career ending.”

I nodded in agreement. “Facts. I’m thankful to walk away with a little bit of soreness. I’ve worked too hard to get here for it to be snatched away over some bullshit. We’re almost to the finish line,” I reminded him, even though I knew he was aware of how close I was to achieving one of the major goals on my list. “You’ve been here since day one when this dream was born, so you know what it took to get here.”

“Facts, I do. It wasn’t an easy journey either.” Out of nowhere, his attention shifted to Chai. “The fuck you standin’ over there like a mute for?”

“Why are you worried about me? Talk to your friend.” Her voice was sharper than I’d ever heard it. She rolled her eyes, and her top lip curled. I glanced between the two of them sensing a little more than tension surging forward.

“Who you talking to like that? I’m not one of them crackheads you used to be sleeping with under the breezeways. Better talk to me with some respect.”

“And I’m not some bitch you can put fear in. Stop fucking talking to me, weird-ass nigga.” Chai’s fiery eyes landed on me, and I wanted so badly to know what the fuck was the source of their animosity. “I’m about to go practice. Come find me when he’s gone so I can put on your lidocaine patches.”

With a simple nod, I let her know I understood. I waited for her to leave the room before shifting my focus to JoJo. “Aight, nigga, don’t push your luck,” I warned him because I didn’t like the way he talked to my baby. Every chance he got, he threw her past in her face and tried to make her feel small. “Why you always coming for my girl? She ain’t do nothing to your ugly ass.”

He chuckled and waved me off. “She got a smart-ass mouth.”

“I don’t give a fuck how smart her mouth is. Watch how you talking to my Peach, nigga, or we’re going to have some problems.”

“Nigga, fuck your Peach,” he teased until he saw my expression. His eyes widened, and he lifted his hands in surrender because he could tell I was dead serious about her. “Oh, you really going hard for shawty, huh?”

“Damn right. That’s my woman. What kind of man would I be to let her be disrespected? I know we’ve been rocking since the sandbox days, but you really are gonna have to start talking to my girl like you were raised with some damn manners.”

He blew a raspberry and sank deeper in the couch. “Aight, my bad. You’re right, nigga. But back to you. Did you get a good look at them niggas?”

I shook my head because it was so dark I couldn’t see much. The police had asked me the same thing at the arena, but it was pointless. All they could do was trace the car they’d jumped in from the video cameras and hope it led to something important.

For the next half hour, I chopped it up with JoJo like old times. But in the back of my mind, I wanted to go check on Chai, who I could hear practicing from somewhere in the house. Anytime JoJo was around, she became a different person, and I didn’t like that. She was such a sweetheart that I hated when she put her armor on.

Once he was gone, I locked up the house, then headed toward the sound of her violin. I found her in the spare bedroom looking over some sheet music. Leaning against the doorframe, I watched her lift the violin to rest it on her shoulder. After a few beats, a soft melody began to pour from her. Her eyes drifted close, and I was frozen in awe. I could see her teleporting somewhere else whenever she was playing. It reminded me of the place I disappeared to when I was playing baseball.

Honestly, I admired Chai for not giving up on her dreams, even though there were some roadblocks on the way. I respected her discipline and how seriously she took her craft. Even when I wanted to lay with her longer some mornings, I understood what she was working toward. That respect was the only reason I would let her go when she was ready to begin training for the day. Because of how my schedule was structured I often didn’t rise for the day until late morning, early afternoon hours due to the late nights.

She’d been through so much and still didn’t let it break her. Only God knew how many people she met with the same mindset as JoJo, thinking the situation she found herself in reflected her worth and not a reflection of how quickly life could change. She could’ve given up, but here she was, willing to give herself a second chance and not let the regret and guilt win.

I also knew she felt sadness because of her parents’ absence. I couldn’t imagine how it must’ve felt to be abandoned during my darkest hour by the people I expected to always have my back. Chai made a bad choice in her youth, but I didn’t feel like it was fair for them to punish her for life by moving away.

When she finally stopped playing, I smiled softly. “You sound perfect,” I complimented, walking deeper into the room.

She glanced at me and rolled her eyes. “What do you know? My tempo was so off in some areas.” She sighed heavily, and I saw doubt begin to bubble in her irises like a thunderstorm. “I still have a long way to go to even be half as good as I used to be.”