My emotions were beginning to take over, so I figured I didn’t need to say anything else about that subject. “Trae, it appears that we are all crumbling to pieces and at the same time. I don’t understand it. Why do things have to go downhill? Why can’t life keep getting better?”
He smiled. “Hard trials purify. It may appear that we are going downhill, but if we all stick it out, we will be all right. Only the strong survive. I know that sounds like bullshit, but it is what it is. We either hold up or fold up.”
“Simple as that?” I asked him.
“Simple as that.”
TASHA
That was a much-needed visit, for all three of us. I was glad to see Trae, and he was ecstatic to see me. Kyra seemed totally revitalized. I didn’t know what all she and Trae talked about, but it was obviously what she needed. She seemed whole again and ready to be able to withstand anything. I just had to see how she’d hold up if Rick decided to stay with Nina. That would be the real test.
I had a doctor’s appointment the next day which I was not looking forward to. I took a home pregnancy test, and it was positive. I was petrified at the thought of having to tell Trae. I was with him the night before my trip to Vegas. And then with Kyron two days later. Whose baby was I carrying this time?
21
ANGEL
“Baby, it’s almost three thirty, are you ready yet?” I stuck my head into Kaylin’s office. We had been there in the studio since six thirty that morning, and I was ready to go home.
“Come in, I want you to listen to this.” I reluctantly went in and sat down in the chair in front of his desk. I was ready to go, not to listen to another guy trying to rap. He hit the speaker button, and it went into his voice mail. “Listen to this.”
“Dad, it’s me, Jahara. I got a proposition for you. Can you buy me the new iPhone 5? Ummm, you can cancel my piano lessons or my gymnastics lessons. Whichever one equals to the iPhone 5, but don’t answer right now. We can discuss it when we go to the mall this Saturday. Love you. And oh, Daddy, don’t tell Mommy about this. This is our business.”
Kaylin thought it was cute. I thought otherwise.
“I’ma beat her ass! What is she talking about, don’t tell Mommy? And she’s not quitting piano or gymnastics! And an iPhone 5? She’s only six! What—oh, my God! She’s growing up so fast. She’s making me feel like I’m getting old.”
Kaylin burst out laughing. “You may be getting old, but not me, I’m getting younger and better.”
“Baby, our daughter is talking about an iPhone 5 and making propositions. Soon she’ll be asking to borrow the car. I was just changing her Pampers, Kaylin.”
“I know how to remedy that!”
“Don’t even think about it! I am not having another one anytime soon. So get that out of your big little head.”
“Think about it, Angel. Don’t you think you need to get it out of the way?”
“Oh, like Tasha?” Damn. I’d let that one slip. I had just spoken with her, and she told me she was pregnant again, and just her luck, she didn’t know who it belonged to.
“Really? She’s pregnant again? I think that you need to follow her example. She’s getting ’em all over and done with.”
“Don’t say anything, Kaylin! She is scared to death to tell Trae.”
“She hasn’t told him?”
“No, she hasn’t. She just found out. Plus, she doesn’t know if it’s Trae’s or Kyron’s. So can you blame her? Mentally, she has to be a total wreck. I can’t even imagine what’s going through her head right now. So you and me, we need to stay out of it. Let her and Trae deal with this the best way they can. This is too delicate for us to pry.”
“Damn,” Kaylin mumbled.
“That was really fucked up what Kyron did. What he slipped into her drink could have killed my girl.” I looked at Kaylin, waiting on a response. Lately, I’d noticed that whenever I mentioned Kyron’s name, Kay would shut down. Which could only mean that he was up to something. I just didn’t know what. On the one hand, I wanted to know, but on the other, I didn’t, because I knew Kaylin, and brother or not, it was going to be ugly.
“Come on, let’s get