“I know your daughter’s older, but don’t give her a broken home. I know sometimes walking away is the healthiest option but your situation is fixable.”
My chest tightened.
“I wanted a healthy two parent home for my son,” she went on. “But with his father, it wasn’t possible. If nothing else, do thisfor Kennedi. Sixteen is hard enough. Hormones, identity, and pressure so please don’t add this to her load.”
I didn’t say anything. I just sat there, realizing that with all the deals I closed and houses I sold… My marriage was the one thing I couldn’t afford to lose.
15
Khloe
The drive home felt longer than it should’ve. It was like every light chose to be red that day. I cried such an ugly cry. It was one of those cries that sneaks up on you when your mind won’t stop replaying what your eyes saw.
What the fuck.
I had gone there with a pure heart. That’s what made it hurt worse. I genuinely wanted to check on Mrs. Nikki as her ‘niece’, making sure she was okay after everything she’d been through. And instead, I walked into something that cracked me straight down the middle.
Kairo was fully dressed. He looked shocked, confused, and almost scared when I opened that closet door. I could admit that much. But what sent me over the edge was how quickly he went into defense mode and how fast he started explaining other shit instead of seeing where I was coming from. He never took the time to see how that scene would look through my eyes. That’s what pissed me off the most.
I pressed a button on my steering wheel and called Coffee.
“What’s up, babes?” she answered.
“Are you busy?”
“Not anymore. I just had a client leave. Her husband settled after I found some messy-ass dirt he didn’t want coming out. I didn’t give a damn if she did breach the prenuptial contract, she was walking away with more than enough to start her new life.”
I laughed through my tears. That was Coffee, always fighting for women like it was her life’s mission.
“What’s wrong?” she asked gently. “I can hear it in your voice.”
I took a deep breath and told her everything. From walking into the house, to opening the closet door, to the look on Kairo’s face, to the way my chest felt like it was caving in on itself.
When I finished, she got real quiet.
“Can I laugh first?” Coffee asked.
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah. Go ahead.”
She laughed so loud that it made me smile. “I know that wormy bitch didn’t. Please let me tell my mama.”
“No,” I said immediately. “Kairo probably already told Mamma G, I’m sure. And as mad as I am, I wouldn’t wish being on her bad side on anyone.”
Coffee came from a well off family too, but her mama came from the trenches before marrying into it. That hood background was never far from the surface. Coffee inherited that duality honestly. She could switch from courtroom brilliance to street bitch in the blink of an eye.
She cleared her throat, about to go into Camille mode.
“I don’t need professional Camille,” I stopped her. “I need my friend Coffee.”
She sighed. “Damn. Not the government name. All I was gonna say was that your feelings are valid.”
I sniffed. “THANK YOU! Because if a man was on me like that, I would’ve maced his ass so quick.”
Coffee hummed. “Would you though?”
“Huh?”
“Because you didn’t mace that Stacks man,” she said in her serious voice. “And he was all over you those two times y’all met.”
