“I haven’t seen her ass in a few months, but I didn’t even know she lived out here. Let me see what her cereal box-shaped ass has been posting on her page. Keynauri needs his ass beat for fucking with that crypt keeper as a troll. She has been under the knife so many times, she is starting to look like a science experiment.”
I finished up her brows and then handed her a mirror so she could make sure they were to her satisfaction.
“What the fuck?” Nova whispered, sitting up on the bed. Her face twisted in dissatisfaction as she continued to scroll and press buttons on her phone.
“What is going on? You look like you’re ready to cuss someone out.” I giggled, moving over to my station to clean up my tools.
“Umm, bestie. What did Nauri tell you he was going to Cali for?” Nova asked. A sick feeling washed over me.
“He never told me the reason. I assumed he was going to a show or something. I never bothered to press him about it, though. Why? What’s wrong?” A part of me didn’t want to know out of fear of how it would make me feel.
“Look at this shit. I wouldn’t even be bringing this to your attention, but it’s literally on every blog and tea page right now.” She handed me her phone, and I was sick with anticipation. When I read the first caption, I wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear.
The headlines caused me to pause, but the photos of them together only added to my pain. They weren’t kissing or anything, but it was obvious Keynauri was being protective ofher as he walked with his hand on the small of her back. When I swiped to the next photo, I wanted to cry. They were holding hands and laughing as they left the restaurant. The two of them were matching in all black Diomora outfits. He looked like he could have been a model himself, and I hated how good he looked.
“Wow. I guess this explains why we weren’t invited,” I mumbled, clicking on the hashtag #goldenkeyz. I rolled my eyes so hard as I scrolled through all the posts. I hadn’t bothered to follow Keynauri on social media, because he rarely posted anything. He hadn’t even posted the kids on his page, yet he possessed hundreds of videos and photos of them. He had always been private in that way, so it wasn’t surprising that nothing had changed.
The blogs had been speculating a possible love connection for weeks, and there were several pictures of them being spotted in public. Being a glutton for punishment, I clicked on her page to see if she posted any pictures of him.
The first thing I noticed was that she was a beautiful woman. Her features were very prominent, and her body was thin and model-like. Confidence radiated from her as she posed in every photo. There wasn’t much on her page, so I decided to click on her story. At first, there wasn’t anything out of the ordinary until I clicked on the fourth slide.
She was recording herself in the back seat of a car, but then she panned the camera down to her hand, intertwined with a familiar chocolate-tattoo-covered hand. I immediately recognized the snake with the words "Slime City," which was the name of the old gang Keynauri had been affiliated with.
My stomach turned sick when it settled in that this was real. In all the time we had been around each other, he never mentioned he was seeing someone. It wasn’t necessarily any of my business, but he carried himself like a single man. Hell, he spent his lastnight home, eating my pussy until I begged him to stop. That didn’t sound like a man who was in a committed relationship with someone else.
My mind instantly went to the conversation with my mother when she said he was going to hurt me. We hadn’t even gotten the chance to fully rekindle anything, and he was already showing me that he wasn’t the person I fell in love with.
“Are you okay, friend?”
I shrugged my shoulders, handing her phone back. If I were being honest, I couldn’t be too upset with him because we never established what we were. At the same time, I was disappointed that he chose to sleep with me and whisper all those sweet nothings in my ear when he had a whole woman on his arm. He knew my feelings were already raw due to our past, so I expected him not to play with my heart. I guess I gave him too much credit.
“I don’t know how to feel. I’m hurt, but I’m not sure if I’m more disappointed in him or me. After all of the shit I went through with him, I was a fool to even believe we could get back together. I’m okay, though. As I told you earlier, my main focus is on the kids. This was just a reminder of why I need to keep it strictly about co-parenting. Keynauri is a household name and is experiencing fame and freedom at the same time. I can’t even blame him for wanting to juggle it all.”
“Don’t make excuses for him, Ari. The two of you might not have put a title on things, but he still should have been up front and honest about what was going on. You deserved that much from him. He spent the whole night fucking you senseless, then hopped on a plane to see another woman with your pussy juice still on his lips. What kind of bullshit is that?”
The more we talked, the more upset I became. No, we weren’t in a relationship, but it was still disrespectful. If he had told me he was dating someone, I would never have slept with him.I didn’t like the idea of my choices being taken away from me, because I certainly wouldn’t have chosen to be a side chick to anyone.
“What are you gonna do?” Nova asked after several moments of silence.
“Nothing.”
“What do you mean, nothing? You’re gonna let him get away with what he did?”
“There’s nothing for him to get away with. I saw what I needed to see, and now I’m gonna step back. We weren’t together, so it’s not like he cheated. I’m gonna make the boundaries clear and move around. It’s simple.”
Nova eyed me for a few seconds before a grin spread across her face.
“Alright, bitch. I can see it in your eyes that you’re up to something. I’m behind you one hundred percent.”
I snickered, then shook my head. I wasn’t about to be on any bullshit, but he wouldn’t be the only person dating other people.
Something seemed off, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. I thought Naiari and I left on a good note before I left for Cali, but I had been home for several days, and she had been finding every excuse not to be around me. The kids were at my house with Lyric, but Naiari was nowhere to be found.
“Aye, this track is solid. I think if we do a little more tweaking to the chorus, you’ve got another hit on your hands. Plus, those other two songs are dope as hell. I see you must have found some inspiration since the last time we were in the studio,” Spinz expressed.
He was one of the hottest producers around, and I was grateful he took a chance on me when I was locked up. I wouldn’t have a career if it weren’t for him working with me and showing me the ropes.
“I appreciate it, fam. The label has been so focused on appearances that I haven’t gotten a chance to sit down and create in a while. I needed this.”
