Finding a Loyal Love, page 9
“Hey Ma, I need your help.”
Hannah could tell something was bothering Kyle so she cut off her pot of collard greens and took a seat at the table. When she asked what was going on, he began talking. He told her everything from beginning to end. Hannah had always known Kyle and Shalaya felt something special for each other but she had never known it was to this extent. They had definitely been pulling the wool over her eyes.
She loved Lay-Lay just like a daughter and would be delighted for Kyle to be with her but she didn’t approve of the game Lay-Lay was playing. As a woman she needed to grow up and decide what she wanted to do. Having a love triangle was dangerous because somebody could end up hurt or even dead. Hannah told him her thoughts and that she would support his decision. After that she gave the phone to his father.
“What’s going on son? Having women problems?” Arlington laughed lightheartedly.
“Yes and no. Have Ma fill you in on that part. Right now I need to talk to you about something more important.”
“I’m all ears,” Arlington said
“My unit is being deployed again in a few weeks. We have to go to Iraq to help with this ISIS situation. I’m ready as always but there is something I wanted to do a little different this time.”
“Whatever it is I’ll help you. Whatever you need I’ll take care of it.”
Kyle was comforted at how his father took control of every situation. Whenever Kyle was deployed he handled all of his affairs, financial and personal. Kyle wanted to be sure that everything was in order just in case he didn’t make it back. He wasn’t oblivious to the fact that his life was at risk. He was a soldier and that’s what came along with the job.
Risking his life to save others was an everyday thing. Kyle explained his thoughts to his father and held his breath awaiting his response. Surprisingly he was on board. He actually agreed with it. This was all the reassurance he needed. He thanked his dad for everything and hung up. He felt good knowing his dad would have everything in order for him.
*****
The bathtub was filled with warm water and bubbles. Smoke turned the water off and went to get Lay from her room. When he entered she was completely undressed and wrapped in a towel. Her hair was up in a ponytail and her eyes still looked sad. He had been trying for the past few days to make things better between them but nothing was working. He’d already made her aware of the bath he was running for her so when he reached for her hand, she took it with no hesitation.
The bathroom was dark aside from the candles he’d lit. She was nervous about dropping the towel at first because she didn’t really know how he felt about her body anymore. She looked over her shoulder to see where he was standing before she let it fall. Either he liked it or he didn’t. Once she was submerged in the water from the neck down she leaned her head back and closed her eyes. She heard the door close and thought maybe he’d left but when she opened them back up he was sitting on the toilet seat looking at her.
“You know I love you, right?”
“Well why do you cheat?”
“I don’t know. It’s not to hurt you. It’s just something to do,”
“I ain’t never heard something so stupid in my life. If I had a knife I would stab your fucking heart out for saying something like that to me.” He’d pissed her off that fast.
“What you want me to do Lay-Lay? You stay down a nigga throat. If you would just chill out with that shit we might be alright.”
Instead of dignifying that response with an answer she closed her eyes again. The water felt so good she ended up drifting off to sleep. She hadn’t even known she was asleep until she woke up in her bed. She scooted back some so she could lie next to Smoke. She scooted and scooted but never felt anything. When she looked behind her he wasn’t there. She walked into the living room and he was on the sofa watching TV.
When he saw her he pulled her down on the couch with him and positioned her between his legs. They watched a few episodes of Breaking Bad before she fell asleep again. This time when she woke up it was because of a constant noise. Smoke had to have been sleeping pretty hard because he hadn’t moved to get his phone. It was vibrating across the glass coffee table.
That was what had disturbed her sleep. In the back of her mind she knew it was a woman. Just leave it alone Lay-Lay. She watched it stop vibrating only to start up again. Fuck that! She grabbed it from the table and saw somebody named Lana was calling. When it stopped ringing she noticed he had six missed calls from this person. Along with the calls, he had two missed text messages.
Lana: Just checking to see how your arm is feeling.
Lana: Still coming over tonight?
Lay-Lay didn’t want to do this but she couldn’t help herself. The phone had started ringing again so she answered it.
“Hey baby. Is everything okay? I haven’t talked to you all day.” The girl hadn’t even given Lay-Lay a chance to say hello before she started talking.
“Damn girl, at least let the nigga say hello first.”
“Who is this?”
Lay-Lay had to laugh at her. She was calling her man’s phone but had the nerve to ask who she was. “See, that’s my problem now. Smoke doesn’t know how to control his hos. He needs to take your ass to obedience school or something.”
“This must be Lay-Lay.”
“You would be right.”
Lana laughed before telling her to tell Smoke she’d talk to him tomorrow. When Lay put the phone back down she got off the couch and walked into her bedroom. She didn’t even feel like dealing with that nonsense anymore. She grabbed her phone off the charger. She missed Kyle. She missed his sporadic texts and phone calls. It’s funny how you never know how big of a role someone plays in your life until they’re no longer there. She knew she shouldn’t but she texted him anyway. She needed to know he still cared.
I’m sorry.
She waited for a few minutes and he never texted back. Damn, he doesn’t love me anymore either. Lay cried herself to sleep thinking about how big of a mess she’d made. Ever since she could remember when nobody else showed her love, she had Kyle. She guessed that was over now.
The next morning Smoke woke up to the smell of food cooking. When he moved his phone fell off of his chest and onto the floor. When he checked it he saw that Lana had been blowing him up. He checked his messages and saw that they’d been opened. That only meant one thing. Lay-Lay had seen them. She wasn’t screaming or fussing yet so Smoke hoped she wasn’t tripping.
He found her in the kitchen making waffles and eggs. She looked pretty. Her hair was straightened with curls on the end. She had it pushed back with a large satin head band that matched the red sweater she wore. She had on jeans, boots, and jewelry. Where the hell she going? Today she wore her glasses instead of her contacts. She never really wore her glasses because she didn’t like them.
“I made you some breakfast. I’m about to head out with and do some Christmas shopping with Jade and Morgan.” Lay-Lay looked at him over her shoulder.
“I knew your ass was going somewhere all dressed up. Come give me a kiss.”
“Eww! You ain’t even brushed your teeth yet.” She laughed as she sat his plate in front of him. She poured him some juice before attempting to walk away. He grabbed her and pulled her down on his lap and kissed all over her face. She was squirming trying to get away but stopped once he stuck his tongue in her mouth. She kissed him back until he started trying to unbuckle her pants.
“I don’t think so sir. I got to go.” She kissed his lips again and went to grab her jacket and purse.
Smoke didn’t know what had brought on this change of heart but he was happy for whatever it was. Hopefully they could move past this terrible stage they’d been at for months now. On her way out she kissed him again and told him to lock up when he left. He told her he would as he checked a text from King telling him to come by his house. Lay-Lay walked down to Dallas’ truck and got in. Dallas and King were keeping the babies so they could shop in peace, and because Dallas didn’t want them getting sick. It was a little below fifty and he wanted to keep them in the house.
Morgan was nervous about leaving them alone with her kids at first but Dallas was good with the babies and King needed to learn. Jade was almost four months and his time would be here soon enough. Once Lay-Lay was situated she looked out the window and thought about her life. She had decided to try to make things work with Smoke. Once she had come to terms with not having Kyle as a backup plan anymore she figured she and Smoke could start over. Maybe if she piped down some, they would get along better.
“Lay-Lay, I hope you and Morgan know y’all going with me to my appointment today.”
“You can’t make nobody go with you.” Lay-Lay said.
Morgan laughed as she agreed with Lay-Lay.
“Watch and see. I bet y’all go with me today. Y’all might as well. It’s not until three. By the time we leave the mall, it’ll be time.” Her friends were giving her a hard time but Jade already knew they didn’t have a problem going.
Their trip to the mall ended up being more fun than they thought. They hadn’t just hung out like that in so long. Between all of their personal lives, and their men and children they hadn’t been alone together in a while. Once they’d packed Dallas’ truck with their shopping bags they headed to Jade’s doctor’s appointment. She had chosen to have the same doctor as Morgan had. He’d done such a good job with Daylen and Tre she already felt semi-comfortable with him.
“Damn, don’t none of y’all fast bitches got nothing better to do than have sex, huh?” Lay-Lay said as she walked into the building behind Jade and Morgan. The doctor’s office was packed as hell.
“Girl, hush. It’s more than one doctor that works here, it’s like six in this one practice so of course it’s going to be a lot of patients.” Morgan pulled Lay-Lay’s arm towards the waiting area in the back. When Jade was done filling out her paperwork and peeing, they moved them to a room in the back.
“I’m so excited I’m about to be an auntie again,” Lay squealed.
“Baby I hate to tell you but you aren’t getting any younger. Don’t you think you need to start making plans to be mommy?”
“Jade hell no. Y’all know how I feel about kids. I’m happy just being Tre, Daylen, and little King’s auntie.”
“Smoke is going to want more kids sooner or later,” Jade said.
“They won’t be by me.” Lay-Lay had just gotten her sentence out of her mouth when the doctor walked in. When the door was closing she had to do a double take because she could have sworn she saw Kristen sitting in the pregnancy waiting room.
Her leg immediately began to bounce as her mind started racing. She hated that the doctor had just come in because she wanted to tell them so bad. If the room wasn’t so small she could tell Morgan and tell Jade once she’d finished but he would hear her. On top of that she didn’t feel like repeating herself.
“One minute Mrs. Alexander. My machine seems to be acting up. Let me grab the other one.” The doctor patted Jade’s shoulder and left the room. Lay-Lay looked to where she thought she saw Kristen sitting but she wasn’t there anymore.
“Y’all I think I just seen Kristen sitting out there.” Both of their heads turned in her direction. Jade looked like she was thinking the same thing as Lay-Lay was.
“Smoke’s baby mama?” Morgan needed clarification.
Lay-Lay nodded her head as the doctor came back in. The atmosphere in the room had totally switched. Although nobody had said it, they were all thinking it. The only time their minds went to something else was when the doctor used the monitor to hear the baby’s heartbeat. They were all smiling. The visit ended up going by quicker than they had expected. When the doctor left for Jade to get redressed, they all exchanged looks. Morgan and Jade looked at each and then at Lay-Lay. They knew if Kristen was here, then nine times out of ten that was Smoke’s baby. They hadn’t known her to be with anybody else.
“Y’all if I see her I’m going to ask if that’s Smoke baby. If she says yes I swear on everything I love I’m going off.” Lay-Lay’s face was serious as she got up and fixed her jeans.
They knew she meant what she said so they hoped for Smoke and Kristen’s sake that this was not the case. Before Jade opened the door she turned to look at Lay. She wanted to make sure she knew not to cut up in this doctor’s office. Lay-Lay knew exactly what that look meant so she nodded her head and they walked out.
*****
“I can’t believe I’m about to have another baby by your ass,” Kristen said as she and Smoke headed out of the building.
“Fuck you mean girl? You love me. On top of that, a nigga makes cute kids.”
Kristen laughed at Smoke as he opened the car door for her. He was right. She did love him and their son Caleb was the cutest little boy she’d ever seen. She just wished they could be a family. As Smoke rounded the car, she watched the way he moved. He was so sexy and his style was off the meter. No matter how bad he did her, she could never get enough of him. They laughed and joked the entire way home about having a little girl. They would have the perfect set then.
He had just stopped in front of her house when glass shattered all over her lap. Somebody or something had just burst the passenger side window. When she looked up she thought she would go into labor right there. Lay-Lay was standing there with her gun pointed at her. All the air Smoke had in his lungs left at that moment. Lay-Lay had caught him. Not only had she caught him but she caught him with Kristen. This was about to be all bad. He told Kristen to stay in the car as he hopped out.
“Nah bitch, you get out too.” Lay-Lay snatched open Kristen’s door. “I’m so tired of y’all! I knew when I saw this bitch at the doctor’s office, it was your baby.” Tears streamed down Lay-Lay’s face. Her eyes were bloodshot red and she looked weird. Her eyes had a crazed look in them, almost like she was zoned out. Smoke had never seen her look like this.
“Lay-Lay, baby chill. Put the gun down and let’s talk.”
POW! She fired a shot right between his feet.
“Don’t fuck with me today Jaylen! I’m done talking. Y’all about to die today.”
“Lay-Lay, come on sis, let’s just go. They’re not worth it.” Jade walked up next to her and rubbed her back.
Lay-Lay started crying again but shook her head no. She even aimed her gun higher so that it was now pointing at Kristen’s head. Jade had known Lay-Lay was mad, but not to this extent. Had she known Lay-Lay had her gun with her she would have told Morgan not to bring her here.
Jade turned around towards Dallas’ truck. “Morgan! Come help me talk to her. She doesn’t want to leave.”
Morgan held her hand up signaling for her to give her a minute.
“Kyle where are you?” Morgan screamed into the phone.
“I’m like an hour away? What’s going on? You okay? Why are you yelling?”
“You need to hurry up and get here. Lay-Lay caught Smoke with his baby mama again and she has them at gunpoint.”
“WHAT?” Kyle couldn’t believe what he was hearing. How in the world did this happen?
“She won’t listen to me and Jade. She keeps saying she’s going to kill them. I think she means it Kyle. Hurry up and get here. Maybe she’ll listen to you.”
Kyle told her he would get there as fast as he could and hung up. She hopped out of the truck and joined Jade and Lay-Lay. Jade had already called King and Dallas so hopefully they would be there soon. Smoke was standing there trying to figure out how he and Lay-Lay had gotten to this point.
At one point they had been so in love. This was his fault. She hadn’t started acting crazy until he started cheating on her. Pain was written all over her face. If shooting him would make her feel better then so be it. He loved her that much. He just wished he loved her enough to be faithful.
He watched her as she continued to cry and shake her head from side to side.
“I love you. I love your lying cheating ass so much! All you do is hurt me. That’s all you do. I do everything I can for you and you continue to do me like this?” She used one of her hands to wipe the snot that was starting to run from her nose.
“I’m sorry Lay-Lay. I love you too. I promise I love you. I apologize for making you feel this way.” Smoked held his hands up as he pleaded with her.
“No you’re not or you wouldn’t keep doing it.”
POW!
She let off another shot. This time it whizzed past Kristen’s head. Kristen grabbed the top of her head and screamed as she tried ducking to the ground.
“You all at the doctor with this bitch like y’all a family. You don’t even care how bad you got me out here looking. Bitches calling your phone asking for me and shit. I hate you!” She shot at him again.
This time the bullet grazed his skin. Blood spurted out instantly. He grabbed his arm and checked out his flesh wound before looking back to her. He could barely stand to look at her. He continued to apologize as she continued to cry. She was so focused on him and Kristen she hadn’t even bothered to move when she heard the screeching of tires.
“Lay-Lay put the gun down,” King said as he walked up.
“Jade, get King’s ass away from me. I know this is his friend but I will shoot his ass too. This is not the time.” Lay started letting off shots relentlessly, making sure to barely miss Kristen and Smoke each time.
“Lay-Lay stop bullshitting!” Smoke screamed.
He was tired of this little charade. Her shooting at him hadn’t scared him. It actually reassured him. Lay-Lay’s aim was the best he’d ever seen. If she had wanted to hit him, she would have by now. Kristen on the other hand was scared shitless. She was shaking like crazy. Time continued to tick by as Jade, King, and Dallas tried to console her. King and Dallas could have taken the gun from her a while ago but they hadn’t.
