Chapter 31: KYENNA - A Street King's Widow

Ifollowed Lloyd’s eyes as he watched the taillights of Shameek’s truck leave the gate. It was late, and we had just made it back from dinner. I decided to keep that from Shameek because I didn’t want him ruining my night by calling and texting, when I knew for a fact he hadn't handled his shit with Nikki. I read his text twice and started to say something back but stopped when Lloyd grabbed my hand and pulled me towards him.

“I enjoyed your company tonight. It felt good to sit among my peers with a beautiful woman, and she can hang in the conversation.”

“It was nice. Thank you for inviting me. That was refreshing to be doing something different, and the food.” I closed my eyes. “The food was so good.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed yourself. Maybe next time we can go enjoy dinner and cut off the business talk.”

“I would like that,” I told him.

“Really?” he questioned. “I know how Shameek is about you.”

“Don’t worry about him. That’s why I didn’t tell him about dinner tonight.”

“You literally tell him every time you move and go somewhere?”

I didn’t even realize I had told him that.

“No, he makes sure my security is straight,” I said quickly.

“Well, I’m going to set something up, and I hope you’ll let me pick you up like you did tonight. I think we’re good enough friends to stop the meeting somewhere.”

“I’ll like that,” I said, smiling.

“Good.” He placed a soft kiss on my nose.

The more time we spent together, the more attractive he was. He kept my nervous system calm. I smiled more when I was with him.

“I got to meet with Raya in the morning to get this mortgage caught up. I’ll call you once she leaves to tell you all about it.”

I rolled my eyes. “I would say don’t even worry about calling me. But I know she’s going to talk shit, and I want to know what she has to say.”

Lloyd laughed. “I figured you would. Get in the house, and I’ll call you tomorrow.”

I swear I wasn’t in the house good before my phone started ringing. Shameek had security keeping tabs on me, and I hated it.

“What, Meek?”

“Do you want that muthafucka, man? Like deadass.”

“Stop fucking keeping tabs on me. What, you told the security to let you know when I walk in the house?”

“You damn right. Fuck you outside talking to him so late for anyway? Ain’t shit that important. Rah been dead a minute now. All that business shit should be handled.”

“Actually, it’s always business to handle when I run multiple businesses”

“Ky, you lucky I had some business that I couldn’t skip out on.”

“Or what?”

“I would’ve embarrassed the fuck outta you. How you fuck a nigga real good, send him home before the sun come up, and then you smilin’ in that lame ass nigga face. All I seen was red.”

“Meek, you getting things confused. We aren’t doing anything but fucking, right?”

The line went silent. I could tell he was at one of his warehouses because when he was talking, I could hear the acoustics bouncing off the steel walls.

“Is that what you want? To be just fuckin’?”

“Meek, it’s whatever you want to do. I’m not the one that has someone to answer to.”

His ass went silent again.

“Look, let me handle this, and I’ll swing by and see if you keep that same energy.”

“Nah, I’m tired, and I need to get some sleep.”

“Oh, yeah, you fucked that nigga,” he said.

“What?”

“Since we’ve been fuckin’ you never turned me down. Now you not lettin’ me come and lay up wit’ you. You givin’ the pussy up like a hot pocket.”

“Meek, fuck you!” I said, hanging up the phone.

He called back several times before I just completely shut my phone off. I got in the shower and followed it with going back downstairs to grab me a glass of wine before bed. Shameek had a way of making my security do what he wanted, so I decided to walk out there and have a conversation with them myself. I didn’t feel like being bothered with Shameek and his jealousy tonight.

“Is something wrong, Mrs. King?” one of them said as I approached.

“How much does Shameek pay y’all?”

They looked at each other, then back at me.

“He pays us well, Mrs. King.”

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“What do I need to pay y’all tonight to make sure he does not bother me?”

“Mrs.–”

“Nope,” I stopped him. “I said, what do I need to do? I don’t need excuses. I’m not afraid of Shameek; y’all are.”

“You don’t have to pay us anything. We are at your service,” the other one said.

“I know that. Yet, when Shameek is mad, you let him. I need your word that no matter what, you do not let his ass in my house.”

“You have our word.”

“I really appreciate it.”

“Have a good night, Mrs. King.”

“Y’all too.”

When I got back in the house, I grabbed my glass of wine and went upstairs to my bedroom. Now that I didn’t have to worry about any company, all I wanted to do was chill and watch a few shows. After spending time with Lloyd, I wasn’t in the mood to explain shit to Shameek. After a few hours, my body was finally starting to relax so I could fall asleep.

The next morning, I woke up before my alarm and decided to take some time for myself. Usually, I would find some type of excuse that something or someone else needed me more than I needed myself. I rolled over, grabbed my phone, and turned it back on. It immediately lit up with missed calls and text messages from Shameek. I didn’t even open them. Whatever mood he was in last night could stay right there until I felt like dealing with it. I responded to my daddy’s text and answered a few emails before tossing my phone back on the bed.

For once, my entire day had nothing to do with work. I was going to get my hair done and do some shopping. I wanted to spend money without feeling an ounce of guilt. Since all of this happened, I felt like being happy was against the law. I didn’t want to be caught out spending money because people would think I was blowing through my husband’s money. For a few hours, I wanted to be shallow. After showering, I stood in the closet longer than necessary, trying to decide what to wear. There was a time when getting dressed came easy. I loved clothes. Rah used to get on me about ordering shit and forgetting I bought it until a box showed up weeks later. Now, getting dressed had turned into throwing on whatever made sense for where I was going.

Today, I took my time. After taking my time to figure out my outfit, I moved on to my face. I did my skincare and then applied my makeup. Now that I was put together, I sprayed on my favorite perfume and looked at myself in the mirror.

“Okay, bitch.”

I grabbed my purse, keys, and cell phone and headed out the door. My hair stylist was known for filming when I came in, so I was glad that I took my time with how I looked. By eleven, I was sitting in her chair.

“You know you only call me when you’re tired of dealing with all this hair,” my stylist said.

“That’s a lie,” I said, looking at her through the mirror.

“It is not. You go missing for months, then you suddenly hit me with ‘you got anything today?’ like I ain’t got a booking site.”

“And I pay your ass for squeezing me in every time. You know I’ve been struggling, so I just throw my hair in a ponytail and go on about my business.”

“I’m not saying you have to come weekly like you used to, but you need to still take care of yourself. You’re still that bitch.”

I had been coming to her long enough that neither one of us had to fill every second with conversation. That was one of the reasons I liked sitting in her chair. I could talk if I wanted to, scroll through my phone, close my eyes, or sit in silence without anybody asking me what was wrong. I took in what she said, though. Halfway through, she turned the chair slightly and looked at me through the mirror as she ran her fingers through the hair.

“You want the same curls?”

“I think so. Nothing dramatic. I just want it to look expensive.”

“Your hair always looks expensive,” she said, and laughed.

I smiled and went back to scrolling. Then I looked at the unread messages from Shameek. I still hadn’t opened them. I could only imagine what they said. Probably something about pissing him off, something about Lloyd, then another message pretending he wasn’t bothered. I just wasn’t in the mood right now. By the time my hair was done, I felt ten times better. I took a few pictures in the mirror, paid, tipped her well, and headed downtown. I had nothing specific in mind to buy. That was my point. My first stop was one of my favorite boutiques. I hadn't been inside in months, but the owner recognized me the second I walked through the door.

“Kyenna! Girl, come here,” she said, pulling me in for a hug. “You look so good.”

“Thank you.”

“You came in just in time. I have some new stuff that just came in this morning.”

“Well, let me see. I know you only order one of everything, which is why I love coming here. I don’t have to worry about anyone else wearing what I got from here.”

She walked to the back and came back with a rolling rack full of clothes. For the next hour, I tried on dresses, jeans, jackets, and shoes. The last dress I tried on really had me staring at myself for a while in the mirror. It was beautiful and would be something I would wear if Rah wanted to take me on an expensive date. I had no idea where I was going to wear the damn dress. By the time I walked out, I had enough bags that security had to help carry them to the car. I had one more stop. There was a tennis bracelet that I wanted. Not that I needed anymore jewelry.

Finally, I was trying on a bracelet that I had been eyeing for months. When the jeweler placed it on my arm, all I could do was look at my wedding ring. Rah used to randomly buy me things like this and pretend it was nothing. I pushed the thought aside before it could become anything heavier.

“I’ll take it,” I said.

“I’ll get this wrapped up for you.”

“Can you add the necklace in with it too?”

“Of course.”

When I pulled back up to the compound, I was exhausted. Security unloaded my bags, and I carried the smaller ones inside myself. By the time everything was upstairs, my closet looked like I had robbed a store. I didn’t feel bad about it. It was needed, and I felt better. Rah would be mad had he known I wasn’t keeping up with the lifestyle he gave me. I had put a reminder in my phone for next month to run the shit back again.