Dark Waters, page 6
As Keenan Jr. comes down the stairs, Taylor sits on the lounge reading a text: When can I see you again? After about a second, she texts back, looking up every few moments to ensure her husband is not in the room. She then texts: I thought I told you never to use this number. I’m with my husband. So please don’t text me here again. Then, when she hears Keenan Jr. walking through the kitchen, she quickly tucks her phone away.
Once he returns to the family room, he goes to the lounge and cuddles back up with his smiling wife. Of course, Keenan Jr. is smiling too.
They kiss. “I love nights like this, Keenan. And I love you.”
“I love you too, baby.”
They’re both still smiling big when they hug until Keenan Jr.’s face slowly drops behind Taylor’s back, with Taylor’s face dropping the same way behind his.
The text message Taylor sent travels across town to Ross McKnight. He’s thirty-eight, dark brown-skinned, and has a really nice body. His medium-length, tamed locks make him incredibly fine—some women have even described him as irresistible. Unfortunately, some women have also described him as being a big-ass liar, which he is. He’s sitting on his bed in his boxers when Taylor’s text comes through. Ross looks at his phone, reads the text, and then looks back up. All he says is: “Yeah, alright, Taylor . . .”
9
Naomi
Naomi has been in her bedroom since everybody left, including her father. His silver Bentley was the first out of the driveway, followed by everyone else. Before Keenan Jr. and Saint Kenny left, she could tell they were bothered, but not her. The fact that their parents fought tonight didn’t mean shit to Naomi; she was used to it, so it didn’t upset her one bit. Instead, she thought, Yeah, let ‘em fight! Mama needs some hair on her damn chest since she tried me at the table. Naomi is tight after the way Lillian snapped at her at dinner. And she got the nerve to say it ain’t about me. So then, who is it about, Mama? His bitch that you can’t get him to stop seeing, the fuck!
Naomi is heavy in thought when the doorbell rings. Right after, Lillian slams the hell out of their bedroom door upstairs. Naomi laughs as she walks through the foyer, thinking, Mama, please calm down.
Naomi rushes out after seeing Jayceon standing there when she opens the door. “Jayceon?! What are you doing at my house? And how did you get past the gates?”
“Don’t worry about all that. Just know I got in.”
She stares at him. “Are you crazy?”
“You wanna talk about crazy, Naomi? That shit you pulled at my wedding today is what was crazy! Have you lost your mind?!”
“I showed up at your wedding today because you tried to play me!”
Jace is mad as fuck. “Because I tried to . . . do you hear yourself right now? You came to my wedding in front of my parents and family and disrupted everything! You threw paint on Tia. She was devastated, and Naomi and I had to deal with that. Right there, on the spot . . . and I’m still dealin’ with what you did, and I will be for who knows how long. That shit ain’t cool.” Jace stares at her. “And you know they’re filing charges on you for that shit, right?!” Jace left Tia, her mom, and her aunt at their townhouse to come check Naomi. When Tia asked where he was going, he didn’t lie to her. He said, “To Naomi’s, I’ll be back,” and walked right out the door. Tia was already on ten, so his being gone for thirty minutes couldn’t make things any worse than they already were.
“Filing charges? I’m sure they are. And when they do, they’ll be filling out the paperwork eight floors under my father’s chambers.” She cuts her eyes at him. “You, your tired bride, and her mammy should know better than to try and bring the law to my front door when the law is upstairs asleep, dummy!” Naomi knows her father is across town by now, but it still sounded good.
“You so fuckin’ disrespectful.”
“Yeah? And you are so fuckin’ married!” Tears well up in her eyes though none fall. “Yeah, I saw the video of Tia at the altar looking a whole mess in her undergarments after I left, talking about, ‘I’ll marry you anyway.’ Girl, bye!” Naomi takes a beat after she mocks Tia. “And you stood right there . . . ” her voice starts to shake “. . . and said, I do.”
“Fuck, Naomi, we already married! We filed the papers and were married last Friday.”
She snaps, “After your first wife got locked up, I don’t know why you felt you had to rush and marry Tia! You said she’s a great maid to you and your daughter. Whatever, I get that, but what about me, Jayceon? . . . When we first met, I did not think this is where we would end up.”
Jayceon and Naomi met at the beginning of twenty twenty-one, about four months after he met Tia. He saw Naomi walking across the parking lot at Sonic one day, and it was on from there. Naomi’s thighs and ass mesmerized Jace as she walked past his car. He had to have her . . . only thing is, Tia was already wearing his ring.
Jace’s tone softens just a bit when he talks to Naomi about his past. “When Leah got locked up in twenty-twenty for murder, I didn’t know what I was going to do. At first, I wasn’t eating. Not sleeping. I wasn’t taking care of myself . . . Everything, especially having to divorce her, was horrible. So when my parents decided to move to Philly to help take care of my grandfather, I came with ‘em just to get away from Chicago and everything I was dealing with. But before I left, it fucked me up that Leah wouldn’t take my visits. She wouldn’t see me. She wouldn’t call me. She cut off all contact after she had our daughter, and that shit destroyed me even more.
When I got here, Tia nursed me back to life. And when my daughter was born, she was all I had because my parents were so wrapped up with my grandfather. So, imma keep it real; I feel obligated to her, but . . . I’m still in love with you.” That’s the truth. “After I lost Leah, I ended up with two girls . . . one that I love and one—”
“That you don’t!” When Naomi feels water running down her cheeks, she says, “ . . . Goodbye, Jayceon.” She then turns around to head into the house with her arms folded across her chest.
“Where are you going?”
“Inside. Tell your bitch congratulations from me. Good night.”
She stops when Jace starts talking behind her. “I choose you. Even now. Even after what you pulled at my wedding. I still choose you, Naomi, because I realized today that Tia didn’t save me after I left Chicago; you did because I didn’t feel love in my heart again until I met you.” Jace takes a deep breath as his heart pours out to Naomi. “And you already know I’m with Tia because you won’t be with me. At least not how I want and need you to be. I got a daughter; I can’t play this kiddie on now off later shit with you. I want more.”
Naomi turns to him. “You want more?” She looks right into his eyes when she says, “I’m pregnant. There . . . now, I just gave you a lot more.”
Jace’s mouth formed almost into a complete circle. “Wait . . . When were you going to tell me?”
She says, “I wasn’t . . .” before she goes back into the house and slams the door.
“Naomi . . . Naomi, wait! . . .” He knocks and knocks, but she doesn’t come back. Jayceon even tried his luck at ringing the doorbell again, but he got nothing. She left him on red right there, so all he could do was turn around and go.
When Naomi returns to the house, she races upstairs to her bedroom, pissed! She moves so fast that she doesn’t see Lillian standing on the other side of the foyer.
When she heard Naomi outside talking, she came down and listened at the front door. “Now I know you don’t have the nerve to be pregnant by some street trash you don’t even know.” Lillian pulls the blinds back to see Jace’s car leaving down their winding driveway. “Well, we’ll see about that . . .”
10
Lillian
Lillian is still standing at the window, making sure the guy Naomi was outside talking to made it away from their home. She stood there until he looped around the guard shack and kept going. She looked out at the empty watch house cursing to herself. “Security ain’t worth shit if the guards are never out there. I’ll be making a few calls in the morning.” When she turned around to call Naomi back to the foyer so she could grill her about the young man she was standing out there talking to in the white T and gold jewelry, she heard her phone ringing from upstairs. She thought, who in the hell is that calling me so late?
Once Lillian reached the bedroom, her phone stopped ringing, only to start ringing again before she could see who the missed call was from. This call is from her divorce attorney, Horace Barlow. He’s a black man, fifty-five years old, sophisticated, and has a sweet tooth for Lillian.
Lillian’s voice is flat when she answers. “Hello.”
There is a smile in Horace’s voice. “Well, good evening, Lillian. I hope I’m not calling too late.”
“No, I’m just winding down for bed.”
“I’m calling to see how this evening went. I can imagine not well after I had the papers served.”
Lillian thought back to the dinner, saying, “Tonight went just as I thought it would. Keenan shot me dirty looks. Ground his teeth. I think I even heard him call me a bitch under his breath. And, of course, he left soon after, so now I’m here without him as I knew I would be.”
“Well, don’t worry, Lillian. I’m going to take good care of you and get you everything that’s coming to you from that monster.”
“Hey, now. I’m the only one that gets to call that lowdown cheat names. Not you. He’s still my children’s father and my grandbaby’s grandfather.”
Horace chuckles lightly. “Noted. I won’t cross that line again, my lady.” He makes small talk, acting as if he cares about how Lillian is feeling, knowing he doesn’t. Now he shoots his shot. “Lillian, why don’t we meet for a nightcap tonight?”
“Absolutely not.” She looks at the clock. It’s 1:11 A.M. “Do you know what time it is?”
“I see that it’s late, Lillian. And because of that, I don’t think you should be out driving. So I’ll send a car for you. We can meet at Harry’s over on 55th and Conyers. And before you turn down my invite to one White Russian and light conversation with an old friend, just know I’m not taking no for an answer.”
Horace still pulls out this suave Billy Dee Williams bullshit that Lillian hates whenever he talks to her. He was even worse with it when she retained his services ten years ago after her sewing circle told her about the new prostitute her husband was running around town with. Lillian hired Horace and a PI the same day only to discover from the private investigator her suspensions and those women’s accusations were right; Judge Waters was having a full-fledged affair. The PI he made her quickly fire showed her evidence starting with hotel receipts, dinner reservations, and even vacation photos of them in Maui. That was the first time Lillian filed. However, she didn’t go through with the divorce. Instead, she let Keenan Sr. sweet talk the hell out of her when he came home with flowers, an apology, and her favorite red velvet cake as if that would make it all better. Well, it did because after sex that night, Lillian called Horace and called off the divorce. It went similarly the following two times, but Judge Waters had to do way more than bring home cheap flowers and some store-bought cake.
“Lillian, I can have a car there for you within the hour.”
Just thinking about seeing Horace tonight made Lillian’s stomach turn. She could tell he was eager and a bit aggressive, so she quickly cut the conversation short so she wouldn’t give him any more reasons to think she was meeting him tonight. “I’ll talk to you some other time, Horace. I’m still a very married, faithful woman who shouldn’t be on the phone with my lawyer after midnight unless it’s about business.”
“Lillian, I didn’t mean any harm—”
“Good night, Horace . . .”
Once Lillian hangs up on her attorney, she checks her phone to see that the missed call wasn’t from Horace but from her husband. “Keenan, why are you calling me?” She stared at his missed call. “What do you want? Whatever it is, I don’t want to hear it! I don’t care. I’m done.” Yeah right. Not even thirty seconds have passed before she calls him back. She convinces herself it is to curse him out some more, but deep down, she hopes for an apology so he could come home. As the phone rings in her ear, she mutters, “Pick up this phone, Keenan,” praying that he would.
11
Judge Waters
Judge Waters’s phone rings as he walks into Mia’s dark foyer. When he sees Lillian calling him back, he silences the call, lays his phone and keys down on the table, and heads up the stairs. He called her on his way to Mia’s to apologize for everything, as he always does when he gets to feeling bad, but since she didn’t answer then, the hell with it now.
When Judge Waters makes it up to Mia’s bedroom, she is on her five thousand dollar Beautyrest bed in her luxurious bedroom, fit for a woman balling on somebody else’s money. Judge Waters takes good care of his mistress. He loves her and wants her to live the good life too, so her every wish is his command. He feels she’s worth it, and not just because of how good her body looks after he paid for her trips to Georgia to see Dr. Curves. He loves her because he knows she loves him. Sure, Mia is a golddigger, ex-stripper, and escort he scooped out of some gentlemen’s club, but he can tell she cares deeply for him. It’s a plus that he’s a wealthy, powerful judge, but she was truthful with him when she told him even if he were a janitor, she would still be on his arm because of how she feels for him. So it might’ve started as Mia milking the judge for what he had, but she fell madly in love with him right before their son was born . . .
When she sees Keenan Sr. entering her bedroom, she gets up on her knees to hug him. As always, she is so excited to see him. “Well, hello there, Judge; I wasn’t expecting you tonight.”
Keenan Sr. goes over and kisses her. He then smacks her on the ass. “You smell good.”
“Do I? I just took a long, hot bubble bath and threw this on.” Then, wearing a red silk robe over her Savage X Fenty pink and red lace’d up teddy, she says, “I must’ve felt that you were coming back tonight.”
“I would be here every night if I could be.” They kiss again.
She looks at him. “I’m surprised you’re here. Isn’t tonight the big anniversary party?”
“She asked me for a divorce.” Keenan Sr. wasted no time giving Mia the news.
“Again?” Mia is not surprised since a copy of the divorce was delivered to her address too. “She really needs a new song and dance.”
“I didn’t want to deal with her tonight, so I came back here.”
“Back where you spent last night, the night before that, and the week before that.”
“I just have to get away from there sometimes, you know? I’m going to be honest. I love Lillian . . . and I’m not saying what I’m doing to her is right because it’s not. Before I met you, I wasn’t one of those men that ran around on my wife, though I could have. It’s just . . . when she would turn off, so would I. When she would turn back on, so would I, but I got tired of that. I’m a man, not a faucet; you can’t turn me on and off and think the marriage can survive.”
Mia starts massaging Judge Waters’s shoulders as he sits on her bed. “She has to understand that you’re a man with needs . . . and when she stopped fulfilling those needs, there was no cause for her to get mad because you found me.”
He grins. “Ten years ago, yesterday.”
“I know she hates that our anniversary is the same day as your wedding anniversary.”
“I don’t care what she hates. As I told you back then, Mia, it must mean something that I’m here with you and not her. Ten years later, I’m still with you.”
Suddenly, a little boy—Kannon Thorn, a cute eight-year-old lovechild—enters the room in Batman PJs. He’s half-asleep.
“Mommy, my stomach hurts.” When the little boy sees Keenan Sr. sitting there, he bolts over to him. “Pappa! Pappa! I didn’t know you would be here. Why didn’t you wake me up?”
Keenan Sr. is happy to see his son. “It’s late, squirt.”
“Pappa, my stomach hurts.”
“How about this . . . let me finish speaking with your mother, then I’ll come in with my special elixir and a fresh bedtime story. That should make it all better. What’d you say to that?”
“Yes, Pappa.”
When Kannon gets off Keenan Sr.’s lap, he pats his bottom. “Run along, squirt; I’ll be right there.”
With Kannon out of the room, Mia and Keenan Sr. talk quietly. “Keenan, she knows about us, but what about him? We can’t hide Kannon forever.” She reminds him, “You have four kids, not three. Three sons, not two. Kannon is eight, Keenan. You may be able to keep me a secret, but not him. Not forever. Not our son.”
It burned the acid in his stomach for Mia to mention his other children. But she was right; he does have four kids, but he doesn’t see it that way. He’s Dad to his children with Lillian and Pappa to his child with Mia. So, in his mind, he doesn’t have four kids; he has three kids with one woman and one kid with another.
Judge Waters, an intelligent man, would create such a stupid reality for himself so he wouldn’t have to face the mess he’s made. But, he has to be able to sleep at night, so that’s what he tells himself in order to.
Keenan Sr. is dismissive as he talks to Mia. “When the time is right.”
“You’ve been saying that for years.” She pauses for a second. “ . . . I’ve never pressured you about our relationship because it works for me. But Kannon wants you around more. And what happens if someone finds out?”
“Trust me on this, Mia; what I want to stay private, it-stays-private! I got her to pull that PI off us the minute you told me you were pregnant to ensure she would never find out. I will always protect us . . . you, Kannon, and this version of my family. You know that.” It’s true. The second he discovered Lillian’s second-rate PI following him, he promised to break his neck if he didn’t stop. He didn’t want Lillian or their children to find out about Kannon—at least not that way, so they’ve been hiding it for years. Mia and Kannon are buried in plain sight, and Judge Waters is determined to keep it that way.
