Page 21

“No, I do. I wasn’t expecting you to still want to have a bond with my kids. That speaks a lot about your character.”

“One thing about me, Averie. I love those kids. Now Kaiden and I still have some work to do, but we will get there. I will never not be there for them. This is just as much their home now as it was when Rah was alive. If they want to come get in the pool after school, they can. Whatever they want to do.”

“What about if you’re running the Flush?”

“When it comes to the kids, I’ll make it work.”

Finally, I was able to take a sip of my mimosa. This was our first real conversation, and I had so many questions.

“Averie, get it off your chest. I can feel you staring a hole in the back of my neck.”

“Why is this the first time we ever talked? Like, why did Rah have to die for anyone to get close to you?”

“I never told him to keep you away from me. That was his decision for whatever reason. If we’re being honest, I thought it was because y’all were still sleeping together and he didn’t want me to find out.”

“Girl, what? Hell no! I’m not that girl. Once a man tells me he’s gone, I’m done.”

“The only woman I ever told him to keep away from me was Raya, and as a woman, I would think you would understand why. I never had anything against you. Now, I did think you disliked me, and maybe Rah picked up on it and kept us away from each other.”

She was right about one thing. I did understand why she didn’t want to be around Raya. It was for the same reason I disliked her. She stole something from me. At least that’s how I felt. I felt like me and Rah could’ve taken on the world together.

“I completely understand how you feel. Since we are being honest, I did have some feelings towards you. No need to lie about it now. Rah is dead and never coming back.”

Kyenna leaned against the counter and ate a piece of fruit. I knew I had opened a door and now she was going to have questions that I wasn’t sure I was ready to answer.

“Can I ask why you had feelings towards me? I never did anything to you. I damn sure didn’t break your family up. I’m not that type of woman.”

“I felt like you did. Rah and I were not together but that’s what we did. We would break up and get back together. That was our thing. Then you came along, and his conversations with me changed to just about the kids. There was no more I’ll come see you, and we’ll talk to see where it goes. To me, I felt like you took my one and final chance to make it right with Rah.”

Kyenna picked up her mimosa and swallowed it down before putting her glass down. I could tell she was trying to choose her words carefully.

“I’m sorry you felt that way. From the very beginning of our relationship, he was honest with me about you. He told me all about you and how he adored you and your drive. He never spoke down on you. Rah loved you. He said the relationship had just run its course. You both tried everything. You were going in one direction and he was going in another.”

“He was continuing to be in the business of the streets with his brother and dad. I had higher dreams.”

“He paid for you to get through school both times,” Kyenna reminded me. “That was with the same money you’re standing here downing him about. The newest degree you got, he was married to me and still felt he was obligated to pay for your schooling. Me.” She pointed at herself. “I let him because I get it. I was raised up by a man that lived by the streets. You take care of your family first. Not once did I get mad, cuss that nigga out, or come at you.”

She was right again. Now that we were having this conversation, I could see exactly why he picked her. Kyenna was solid and down for the cause. She understood the dynamic of family and loyalty. I was raised that way. My mama fought for my daddy until the day he died.

“Averie, I want you to know from today on that I am not your enemy. I never was. I loved Rah so much that if he would’ve told me he wanted to be with you, I would’ve let him go and not thought twice about it. I hope now that we had this conversation and got an understanding of each other’s feelings that we can co-parent those beautiful kids together.”

Kyenna poured herself another glass of mimosa and filled mine back up.

“Now that Raya bitch, it’s always up with her,” she said.

We shared another laugh. I wasn’t fond of her either, and I didn’t want her around my kids at all without me around now that Rah was dead.

“To co-parenting,” I told her, raising my glass.

“To co-parenting.”

The doorbell went off, and Kyenna excused herself to answer it. She came walking back with Shameek behind her.

“Now this…this is what my brother would’ve wanted to see.”

“We’re good,” I told him.

“I came to get Kaiden for a little while so the girls could go get pampered.”