All Yanna wanted to do was go home and crawl into bed, but knew she’d have to hear Kas’ mouth if she didn’t go back to Dinwiddie like he’d requested. If she were being honest, she’d admit that she’d rather be with Kas than alone. Once she arrived, she released a sigh, noticing both Quan and Kalil’s cars in the driveway. She wasn’t in the mood to be social. At the moment, she just wanted to go to Kas’ house and lay up with him. Still, she hopped from her car and padded to Troi and Onyx’s house. They still hadn’t granted her the door code, and she resented the fact that she had to knock as if she were a stranger. Moments later, Kalil answered the door, and Yanna couldn’t deny he was fine as hell. The sight of his smooth fair skin, jet black silk hair he’d pulled into a man bun and dazzling smile instantly cheered her up.
“Yanna boo, what up?”
“Unh uh, Kalil, don’t you start calling me that too.”
“That’s yo name, ain’t it?”
“Hell no, it’s not,” Yanna insisted, walking ahead of Kalil into the living room.
Onyx was laid on one side of their oversized sectional while Troi nestled between his legs with Kian sleeping in her arms. Quan was seated on another couch which Kalil took residence next to him on. Kas took up space on the opposite end of the sectional, his eyes lighting up when they landed on Yanna.
“There go my boo boo. You looked stressed out. Was it that bad?”
“Yes.” Yanna stated with a nod.
“Aww stinka, come here.” Kas held his arms out, and Yanna didn’t hesitate to walk into them, straddling his lap. Hetightened his hold on her, appreciating the way her body melted into his. The only thing Kas studied more than music was Yanna. He could tell the visit with her mother had taken a lot out of her, and he wanted nothing more than to give her some sort of reprieve from that. “Jaiyanna, what you need?”
“Quiet,” she responded.
“Don’t want to be around everybody else right now, huh?”
“Not at all.”
Not needing her to say anything more, Kas stood with her still in his arms. “Aight y’all, we up.”
Kas could hear his cousins talking shit about how his and Yanna’s relationship was so confusing because one minute they couldn’t stand each other and the next they were lovey-dovey. Kas ignored them, making it to the door and leaving out just as he heard Onyx yell…
“Aye, don’t leave these niggas here with me!”
Yanna and Kas laughed at Onyx’s antics because they both knew he was rarely beat to deal with Quan and Kalil. Inside Kas’ house, Yanna removed her shoes and plopped onto the modular sofa, grabbing the remote control to turn on the TV.
“Ice cream?” Kas questioned, knowing Yanna loved to indulge in sweet treats when she was feeling despondent.
“You know it. Cookie dough, please.”
Kas made sure to keep Yanna’s favorite brand of cookie-dough ice cream stocked, so he grabbed one of the small cartons for her along with a spoon. He kicked off his slides and slipped onto the couch behind her, resting her back against his chest. He didn’t press, allowing Yanna to start talking when she was ready.
“I hate to see her like that,” Yanna stated barely above a whisper.
“What did she have going on?”
“Kicking out the cleaning lady, being racist as hell. Then she…”
“She what?”
“She told me I try to abandon her. That I’m just like my wack ass dad… like, how could she say some shit like that to me? I do---”
“All you can for her. You show up for her until it becomes mentally too much.Sheknows just as well asyouknow that you’re nothing like yo daddy. She knows you’ll never abandon her too. You take good care of yo mumma, Yanna, and if I see the shit, she sees it too. Full of gin or not, she know she lucky as fuck to have you as a daughter.”
Yanna reached back, grabbing onto Kas’ hand and giving it a squeeze. It was her subtle way of thanking him for always being there for her, even though she was so difficult with him.
“What if she doesn’t though… like, what if I think I’m doing right by her and it’s not enough? Should I be forcing her to rehab? Me showing up and cleaning, taking the liquor she has on hand is only a temporary fix. She always gets more, and I just leave her there.”
“I know enough to know that you can’t help somebody that don’t want to be helped. Right now, she like that shit. Being drunk off her ass is her way to wallow in her feelings… I know you want her to get help, but she has to want that shit more.”
“How fucking long does it take though? I mean, the nigga left you, girl, get over it. A man can drag you so low until you can’t go any lower. That shit is wack as fuck.”
“Nah,yo daddydrugyo mummalow. Every man ain’t him and every female ain’t her.Youain’t her. You hear me, Jaiyanna?”
