I told myself she probably just needed rest since she'd been exhausted lately. I hated that she wasn’t feeling good so I wanted to call and check on her but the last thing I wanted to do was wake her.
My phone started vibrating in my hand with a call from Kennedi.
I stepped away from the noise of the convention, weaving through people until I reached a quieter hallway.
“What’s up, baby? Everything good?”
There was a pause. Then a woman’s voice.
“Uh, hey Mr. Givelle. This is Brooklyn’s mom.”
“Yes, ma’am?”
“I just wanted to let you know that Kennedi is staying with us for the cheer competition tomorrow, but I caught them meeting up with some boys. They said they were going for a walk around the neighborhood, so I checked on them and saw them standing near a car down the road with two young boys.”
I closed my eyes. What the fuck, Kennedi.
“She asked me to call you,” the woman continued. “I was going to call her mom, but she said to call you.”
She knew her mama would flip the house upside down.
“Thank you for calling me,” I said. “My wife is actually sick, so I’ll take care of it.”
“Oh no,” she said quickly. “Well I’m glad I didn’t call her then. I hope she feels better. The girls are inside now and not going back out.”
“Can you send me your address?” I asked. “I’m going to have my mom pick her up.”
“Oh, that’s okay,” she said. “She can still stay until after the competition tomorrow.”
“No ma’am. It’s fine. My mother will make sure she gets there.”
There was a pause, but she agreed before we hung up.
I stood there for a second, staring at the blank screen. I was pissed but not surprised. Khloe’s leash had been so tight for so long that I knew it was coming. What pissed me off was that Kennedi knew our name carried weight. Everybody knew who her family was. So she waited until she was away from home to test the boundaries.
I walked back toward my brothers. They read my face before I said anything.
“What’s wrong?” Kross asked.
I told them and they all got quiet.
Kendrix muttered, “Little sneaky ass.”
Kordai shook his head. “She's just curious. That’s all.”
“She knew better,” I said.
“She know Khloe would lose her shit,” Kendrix added.
“I’m texting Ma to go get her,” I said.
All three of them smacked their lips at the same time.
“Well,” Kordai said, “you ain’t gotta say shit now.”
Kendrix nodded. “And neither do we. Mamma gon’ handle it.”
Kross added, “And when Ma handle it, that’s worse than any lecture we could give.”
