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“I understand,” Kyenna said.
“I watched you marry one of my sons. I watched y’all build a life together. He was crazy about you, and you were crazy about him. Then I had to watch you bury him. Now you’re sitting at my table telling me you and my other son are together.” My mama paused for a second before speaking again. “What I need to know is whether this is real or whether both of y’all are holding onto each other because Rah ain’t here.”
Kyenna looked at me before answering. “I’ve asked myself that more times than you know.”
“And?”
“It’s real,” Kyenna said. “I fought it. I felt guilty about it too. I told myself it was grief and I was lonely. But there came a point where I had to stop blaming Rah’s death for feelings I was having while I was very aware of what I was doing. Shameek may get on my nerves with his possessiveness and hard head. He also thinks that whatever he says is law.”
Pops laughed. “That’s a King man for you.”
“Shameek also shows up. Every time I call. He makes me feel protected and safe. He listens when I force him to. He makes me laugh when I want to cry. So, it’s real.”
“I don’t want either of you feeling like you need my permission. You’re grown. Rah is gone, and as much as I wish I could change that, I can’t. Life does keep moving,” my mama said.
“And I don’t care who you love as long as you don’t bring chaos to my house,” my Pops said.
“That’s all you got to say?” Jaharee asked our Pops.
“What else I need to say? I knew the nigga was gone when he would break his neck every time Lloyd would come around. I knew something was wrong with his ass then.”
“You could’ve kept that part,” I said.
“How does Lloyd feel about this?” my mama asked.
“Why is everyone obsessed wit’ Lloyd?” I asked.
“Because he liked Kyenna, and I think he deserves to know so he can move on with his life as well.”
“I’ll talk to him about it,” Kyenna said.
I looked at her ass with a mug, and Jaharee burst out laughing. I knew I had to trust Kyenna to handle that without me breathing down her damn neck. The tension at the table had finally lifted. For months, we had been sneaking throughout the night to see each other without getting caught. After dinner, Jaharee caught me and Kyenna out back by the pool.
“So, y’all two nasty muthafuckas just been creeping all around the compound, huh?”
“I knew I couldn’t tell you too early because we didn’t know what this was,” Kyenna told her.
“You’re fucking up our girl code. You know we tell each other everything,” Jaharee said.
“Some things she can’t tell you,” I said.
This was the first time I was able to touch her around anyone.
“Well, don’t mess this up. She’s my best friend, and I would hate to have to take her side because you went to moving funny.”
“Jah, I got this. Now go on about yo’ business.”
Jaharee waved me off and walked off.
“I need you to grab some clothes and stay with me for the night,” I told Kyenna. “Now that I don’t have to hide it anymore, I want you with me.”
“My boundaries still stand. No possessiveness.”
“Ky, I get the boundaries, but you’re mine now, so that comes wit’ the territory. And when you go talk to that fuck nigga, make that shit quick.”
Right before she was about to say something smart, my phone went off.
“You go ahead and get that. I’m about to head home and grab some stuff.”
