Isaiah frantically called Carlos, placing the phone up to his ear and looking around.
"What up, 'Saiah?" Carlos answered.
"Look 'Los, I got some bad news." Isaiah chanted.
"What's wrong?"
"The police found Roman's body." Isaiah stuttered. "They found him right where we put his ass."
"What!?" Carlos scowled. "How?"
"I don't know!" Isaiah scowled back. "I guess some hick white folks bought the vacant land his ass was buried on!"
"Shit..." Carlos whispered, getting up and pacing back and forth.
Isaiah started shaking a little, running his fingers through his hair.
"I ain't never been this nervous, man." Isaiah said in a shaky tone. "Police ain't never found any of the bodies we buri-"
Before Isaiah could finish his sentence, someone called him on the other line. It was Asha.
"Hold on, 'Los." Isaiah groaned. "It's Ash."
Isaiah clicked over, placing the phone back to his ear.
"Hello?" Isaiah answered.
"Isaiah, some crazy ass shit just happened!" Asha panted in an excited, yet anxious tone. "It's crazy as hell!"
"What?"
"Lily, Lily is alive!" Asha said in a shaky tone, placing her fingers by her lips.
Isaiah jolted up on the couch, scrunching his eyebrows and dropping his mouth open. The news was so sudden and unexpected that it didn't even sound real.
"Huh?"
"Isaiah, Noah came over with the DNA test of a brown skinned girl with curly hair who's name came back as Lily." Asha panted again. "The girl is 13 years old and she belongs to us! I'm literally shaking right now."
"That.......that means that Kays is alive, right?" Isaiah stuttered.
"She says that she has no clue where they are." Asha sighed. "She said that she hasn't seen them since she was little."
The news of finding Roman's body quickly left Isaiah's mind as he glanced back at his phone.
"Hold on, let me click in Carlos."
Isaiah added Carlos to him and Asha's call, making it a three way.
"Aye, Carlos?"
"Yep." Carlos nodded.
"Asha?"
"Yeah?" Asha said.
"Aight Carlos, Asha just told me that Noah came to her house with a teenaged girl matching Lily's description." Isaiah panted in a breathless tone. "Turns out Noah got a DNA test and it confirmed that it was Lily."
The blunt that Carlos was smoking dropped out of his mouth and onto a toy of his stepsons that was lying on the ground.
"Y'all fuckin' jokin', right?" Carlos asked.
"I'm as serious as a heart attack." Asha said.
"W-Where she been stayin' for almost 10 years?"
"She came from Saudi Arabia, but she says she hasn't seen Kayson, Madilyn, or Iyana since she was little." Asha added. "That's all of the informa-"
"I knew it." Isaiah growled as he stood up. "I knew it!"
"Knew what?" Carlos and Asha asked.
"I told y'all asses 10 years ago that our damn kids was there and what the hell did y'all do?" Isaiah snapped. "Y'all gave out and quit on me!!"
"Isaiah we kept on runnin' into dead ends!" Carlos scowled. "What you expect?"
"It's y'all damn faults that I ain't got my kids and that I missed out on they lives!" Isaiah yelled as tears strolled down his eyes. "Now my son and daughter could be dead and I can't even afford to go to Saudi Arabia because I got my other two boys! This is bullshit!"
Once Isaiah hung up the phone, the line ended between Asha and Carlos. Soon after, Isaiah pulled out his phone and text me.
"Josh, whenever you get this, call me." The message read. "I need to try and get in touch with Noah."
And to get more information, Carlos called Asha back.
"Hello?" Asha answered.
"Yeah." Carlos sighed. "I ain't call 'Saiah back because he sounded too pissed, so yeah...."
Asha paused, sitting on her couch and scratching her head.
"I feel terrible, now. Isaiah's right." Asha sighed. "We could've been had the kids."
"Don't blame yourself or us, Ash." Carlos said. "We ain't know no better. If we knew that the kids was down there, we would've stayed."
Carlos shook his head and held the phone in between his shoulder and ear, grabbing his little boys small notebook and pen to write information.
"You got any information on who took her in?" Carlos asked.
"Nah, but I got the perfect way to get it."
Asha looked upstairs, then looked back down.
"I have an interview with Jay Leno tomorrow along with this interview to see when I'm going to be doing during my next tour, so I'll let you know afterwards." Asha added.
"Gotcha."
For the rest of the evening and night, Lily really spent a majority of the time sightseeing around the home she stalked in pictures, magazines, etc. Asha was so busy with her career that she left as soon as Lily arrived, and stayed out since. Since Q was there, he gave her a fresh towel and a washcloth to take a shower in. When Lily walked inside of the bathroom of the home, she saw a TV sitting over a large bathtub that resembled the tub in the movie Scarface. As the maid vacuumed the hall, Q smiled and pointed at Lily.
"Take care of my stepdaughter, Nina." Q smiled. "I gotta go help the boys with their homework."
"Okay!"
The 5'0 half Japanese, half Indian woman walked up to Lily, smiling at her.
"Would you like something to eat?" The woman smiled.
Lily smiled, grinning at the woman.
"Can I have some nice braised lemon seared salmon with some freshly squeezed orange juice?" Lily asked.
"Yes ma'am." The woman smiled as she walked downstairs of the large home.
Lily looked around the bathroom in amazement. The whole bathroom looked like the living room downstairs. It had golden paint and bright lights around, a sit in shower, sink cabinets with real diamonds inside of the handles, etc. So before she got in the tub, she decided to take a shower first. After spending time taking a 20 minute shower, Lily ran her bath water with some sweet scented soap, then cut on the TV. All of the channels were shows that she didn't recognize, mainly because she was in a different country. After the hot water filled to the top, Lily placed her curly hair into a tight bun, took off her clothes, and sinked inside of the hot waters.
"Aaaahhh." Lily smiled, closing her eyes. "This is the life."
*Knock knock*
Lily sunk her body into the soap, glancing at the door.
"Come in!" Lily smiled.
The maid walked in with a long tray that went over the back part of the bathtub, placing her food in front of her. There sat some braised salmon with alfredo sauce glazed over the top, lemon squeezed inside of the salmon, a small garlic biscuit, and a small cup of orange juice. She placed a napkin down in front of her, also placing a fork on top of her salmon.
"Do you need anything else?" Nina asked.
"Not at all. And Thank you so much!" Lily smiled. "This tastes just like the fresh food I have at home!"
Even though Lily was enjoying all of this pampering, it didn't feel all the way right. She wasn't cooking dinner, cleaning, or helping out like Abel taught her how to do.
After Lily's bath, she cleaned out the bathroom like she was raised. What she also did was organized the things under the cabinet, organized everything around the tubs, and wiped down around the tub. When she stepped out into the hall, no lights upstairs were on. That was an indication that everyone inside of the home was asleep. Lily stepped into the last room of the hall, taking a glance inside.
It was the kids room. And the kids room, was a mess.
"Let me do what the woman is supposed to do around here." Lily said, cutting on the lights.
For an hour and some change, Lily cleaned the room spotless. She picked up toys and placed them into the large box, got on her hands and knees and used some cleanser and hot water in a bucket to scrub out stains in the carpet, washed fingerprints off of the walls, cleaned the stained windows and mirrors, and organized everything in the room. If you were one of us, you would think "Hey, I'm not doing that!" But that's what Lily loved doing. Cleaning. She'd been doing it for 20 years, so it wasn't anything new on her part.
When Lily walked back into the large guest room, she smiled and took a few pictures. She even took a few pictures in Asha's library, smiling next to the pictures of her and Asha together when she was a baby. She uploaded the picture to a new website called "Pictogram", a newer version of Instagram, which was now a decade old. Her caption read:
"I'm inside of Asha's home! Isn't it crazy to find out that your mother is a superstar?"
But Lily had no clue what mistake this was. The media frenzy was crazy as hell, so as soon as this picture got around, speculation was going to start. Seconds after uploading the picture, a majority of her friends along with some people added captions like:
"What??"
"How!?"
"How'd you get to meet her?"
"Are you serious?"
Lily got off of her app, glancing at a photo in her phone that she had of her, Kayson, Abel, and Iyana. Worried about them, she decided to call Abel. Unfortunately he didn't answer, so she called Iyana.
"Hello?" Iyana answered.
"Hey Iyana."
"LILY!" Iyana squealed. "How are you? Where are you?"
"I'm in the US like I said!" Asha smiled. "But guess where I'm at?"
"Where?"
"Asha's home." Lily smiled. "The superstar!"
"You lie!"
"Check Pictogram."
Lily got on her phone and looked on Pictogram. Her mouth dropped as she scrolled through multiple pictures of Lily inside of the home.
"H-How'd you do that?" Iyana gasped. "Did you win a contest?"
"I can't give you any details, but just know that it's real." Lily smiled.
"Is that Lily?"
Lily scrunched her eyebrows, immediately recognizing the voice as Kayson's.
"Yeah." Iyana cheered lowly.
"Let me speak to Kays, Iyana."
Lily got up and shut the door to her room, sitting back onto her bed.
"I saw your pictures on Pictogram." Kayson cheered in a bland tone. "You found your mother?"
"Yeah."
"Was she happy?"
"She cried her eyes out and broke down." Lily smirked. "I didn't know what to do because I barely knew her, but I was more happy that I was hugging my favorite singer."
Kayson smiled, scratching his head.
"What she say?"
Lily paused, giving off a blank stare.
"She mentioned you, Kays." Lily mumbled. "You, Iyana, and Madilyn."
Kayson scrunched his eyebrows in confusion, lifting up.
"You're telling me that Asha the superstar knows who me, Iyana, and Madilyn are?"
"Well she brought you guys up and asked if I remembered you guys, but I said no." Lily said in a low tone.
"Why?!" Kayson laughed.
"Because.......she knows your real father, Kays." Lily mumbled in a low tone. "I just met my real dad."
Kayson froze. His mouth opened a little as his eyes opened all the way.
"You mean......Dad isn't your real dad, either?" Kayson gasped.
"Unfortunately he isn't, but I don't care. I still love him." Lily said. "And the main reason why I didn't tell them is because I don't want them going to Saudi Arabia and having him arrested."
"Lily, don't you tell them ANYTHING about us and where we live. They'll come here and we'll never see dad again, and they'll know where we live." Kayson added. "Just tell them that you live on the outskirts of Saudi Arabia."
"I told them that I had no clue where you guys are." Lily said. "I didn't give them any information. At all. I don't plan on staying in America."
"Alright. Good." Kayson paused. "Did you find anything on Iyana's mother?"
"I don't know who she is." Lily said, shaking her head. "And what about her father?"
Kayson paused again, rubbing his face.
"Me and Iyana have the same biological father, Lily." Kayson added. "I found that out on the internet."
Lily covered her mouth, shaking her head. One by one, everyone was finding their own pieces to this 1000 piece puzzle. Once it possibly comes together, the whole picture will be visible to see.
"How does your father look?"
"Well he's brown skinned, he has black hair, and he's mixed with Mexican and Black."
Just like Noah. Lily glanced outside, then looked back.
"We......we might have the same father, Kays!" Lily whispered loudly, clenching her fingers. "That's exactly how my dad looks!"
"Wait a minute, does he have curly hair?"
"Yes."
"Is he about 5'8?"
"Yes!"
"And is his last name Steels?"
"Yes!"
"Is his first name Isaiah?"
Lily scrunched her eyebrows, laying back.
"No?" Lily mumbled. "My dad's name is Noah?"
Kayson shook his head, pulling out his laptop. He googled the name Isaiah Steels, getting the same few pictures of him that popped up from the articles. When he googled Noah Steels, different pictures came up.
Different pictures of what appeared to be the same man.
"Wait a minute he.......he must have an Alia's name or something.." Kayson groaned, searching as hard as he could. "It shows the same man."
Lily scratched her head in confusion.
"Well he's a drunk, so he probably made up this name out of nowhere."
"Well I know for a fact that my mother isn't Asha, and from what I looked at on the internet, Iyana's father is my father, but she has a different mother." Kayson added. "Her mother looks African American and she has long hair, or extensions."
"I'll call you tomorrow when I get fully secluded." Lily added. "I don't want none of them hearing my conversation."
"Lily!"
"Yeah?"
"If anything goes wrong, you call and let me know." Kayson said. "I'll let dad know to come and get you."
Lily scratched her head, looking down.
"You should come to America too, Kays." Lily added.
"I can't leave Iyana here. She's not going to want to leave dad." Kayson added. "I also can't leave Madilyn here."
Iyana sighed in a bummed tone, scratching her head.
"Alright. Love you." Lily added.
"Love you too."
Kayson and Lily weren't interested in staying with their biological parents at all. Their hearts were with Abel. It didn't matter how strict or how hard on them that Abel was, they wanted to stay with him and keep him safe. If that meant that they weren't giving up their location, then so be it.
Little did she know, someone WAS listening to her conversation.
Q.
"Holy shit." Q whispered. "They are alive!"
Ironically, Asha came in through her door with her bodyguard seconds later. Q rushed downstairs and rushed up to Asha as she took off her heels.
"She lied, Asha!" Q whispered loudly. "Kayson and Iyana are alive!"
"What?" Asha panted.
"I heard her talking to them." Q snarled. "It seems like she doesn't even want to be here."
Asha kicked off her heels, heading into their living room.
"Your check is on the table, Twan!" Asha said, talking to her bodyguard as she walked with Q. "And how'd you find this out?"
"Lily was talking to Kayson, and they were discussing how they both don't want us to find them. I heard Kayson say on the other line "Don't give them any information on their whereabouts. They were also discussing things about Noah or Isaiah."
Asha scrunched her eyebrows, looking down.
"Why........I wonder why they don't want us to find them.." Asha mumbled in a sad tone.
"I heard Lily talks about how she loves her father more than us." Q groaned in a sad tone. "She said.......she said she would never let us know because she doesn't want us to hurt him. Her father in Saudi Arabia."
Asha started to tear up in jealousy, tossing everything off of the table in anger. She got up and prepared to storm upstairs, when Q grabbed her arm.
"Asha, stop!" Q said in a low, yet loud tone.
"No! There's someone out there taking my damn place!" Asha barked. "She actually loves another man more than me and that man isn't Noah! That's my daughter!!"
"Which is why I had an idea!" Q whispered. "But you've gotta wait until she falls asleep, alright?"
"Why?"
"You'll see."
A few hours later, Q and Asha peeked into Lily's room. She was knocked out. Beside her, sat her phone. It was on her charger. Q crept by her side and grabbed the phone, sneaking back out of the room. They walked slowly past their sons room, walking into theirs and shutting the door. They sat on the bed and glanced through the recents, looking at her contacts. One said K, and one said I. The others were her friends and Abel, but they didn't recognize Abel's name.
"What letter did Isaiah and Ty start Iyana's name with?" Asha asked.
"The letter I." Q answered. "So I think this might be her."
"She was talking to her?"
"Yeah." Q said as he called her. "Let me call her."
By the time they called, Iyana and Kayson were heading off to bed for school. As Iyana's phone rang, she picked it up, thinking it was Lily.
"Hello?" Iyana answered.
Both of them paused, listening to the voice of a young girl.
"Who's this?" Q asked.
"Um.........Iyana?" Iyana said in a nervous tone. "Who's this?"
This was the first time they heard Iyana's voice since she disappeared. Their eyes widened in shock. As for Kayson, he knew exactly who she was talking to.
"Are you talking to Lily?" Kayson asked.
"No?" Iyana said. "I'm talking to some ma-"
"Hang up the phone, Iyana!" Kayson chanted in a loud and worried tone. "Hang up the phone right now!"
"Wait a minute, don't-"
*click*
Q and Asha listened as the line went down. They tried calling the number back, but there was no answer. Q hung up, holding Lily's phone.
"Asha, it's time to start tracking down that number. We need to tell Isaiah that Kayson and Iyana is alive." Q said in a serious tone. "We do that first thing tomorrow."
Unfortunately, Kayson was smart. He was already two steps ahead of them. As he looked at Iyana's phone, he held it close to him and glanced up. He wasn't interested in having anyone in America find him there.
"Iyana, we gotta ask dad to change your number tomorrow." Kayson added.