Kiara
I left the doctor's office with Baby Ella in my arms. She had slept through her appointment, and I was glad due to the three shots the doctors had to give her.
Eric pulled up in his car, and I placed Ella in her car seat snuggly. "Did my baby cry?"
"No, she's such a good baby." I said getting into the passenger side of the car.
Eric was a great father figure to Ella, and I appreciated him dearly. I always wondered how a great man found me at my lowest, and still found faith to love me.
Eric squeezed my thigh and I looked over at him, "are you hungry?" He asked looking at his clock on the dash. "I got to get back to work in a few."
"Carson could at least let you come home at a decent hour." I playfully pouted with him.
"You know how he does. But check it, I needed to talk to you about something." He said pulling off into the busy down town traffic. "My friend is coming into town so we will have a visitor later on today."
I nodded, "it's cool. I'll clean up the toys in the living room for you guys."
Eric side eyed me, and then pulled into Wendy's drive thru. After getting our food, we headed home. Eric helped carry Ella up the stairs, kissed my cheek and headed back down.
I opened the door to our home, and hurried to clean up. I lay Ella down in her crib in our bedroom, and went back to the living room. Someone knocked on the door, and I got up to answer.
Standing on the other side of the door was a woman smiling from ear to ear. "Is Eric home?" She asked me looking around me to see if she had the right place.
I folded my arms, "and who are you?" I was giving her a whole attitude, but I didn't care. She was at my door asking for my man.
She hit the side of her head with the palm of her hand, "sorry, I'm Sky, I'm looking for my best friend Eric."
"Best friend? Eric doesn't have any of those." I looked at her from her feet back to her head. Sky had blonde hair, and her Gucci shades shielded her eyes. She was a petite woman who looked like she had just stepped off the cover of a magazine.
Sky placed her shades on her head, "Eric asked that I come by. So could I come in?"
I stepped to the side so she could step through. Sky looked around, "wow this is a nice place Eric has here." She set down on the sofa and crossed one leg over the other, "you must be his cousin?"
Little miss sky was really playing with me at that moment, "sweetie, I'm his woman."
Her eyes pop open, as she examined me from the top of my head to the slippers on my feet, "I guess Eric has really...upgraded." Sky giggled to herself.
As I was on my way toward her to choke her tiny ass out, Eric walked in. Saved by the Bell. Because home girl was really about to catch these hands.
"Yo Sky!" Eric walked over hugging her sweeping Sky off her feet.
Sky giggled like a school girl, and my irritation was all over my face. "Eric you look good!" She said to him.
Eric placed her back on her feet. "Damn girl you haven't changed, when did you get back in town?"
"Yesterday, you know I had to come see my best friend."
I cleared my throat loudly, and then all eyes were on me. "Oh yeah Sky, this is my girl Kiara, Ki, this is my home girl Sky."
I rolled my eyes, "we've met."
I guess Eric didn't see that i was angry. Ella cried in the bedroom, so I hesitantly walked back to my room. I didn't feel comfortable leaving the two of them alone, because Sky rubbed me the wrong way.
"There, there, mommy is here." I took Ella into my arms and set on the bed listening to their conversation in the front room.
"So where are you staying?" He asked her.
"At a hotel for awhile."
"Nope, you're staying here Sky, my house is yours." Eric offered.
"Oh hell naw!" I yelled, then placed Ella back into her crib. I made my way back to the living room. "She's not staying here!"
"Kiara, chill!"
"Fuck that, why this little thing have to stay here?" I asked him. Eric pushed me toward the bedroom, and then closed the door behind him.
"What the hell is your problem Kiara?"
I folded my arms, and rolled my eyes, "that girl doesn't need to be here!"
"She's just a friend."
"A friend my ass!" I yelled.
Eric smirked at me and pulled me down on the bed. "You are jealous?"
"No!" I said. She was a beautiful girl, but I wasn't about to admit that I felt some way about her.
"This is my crib, and if I want a friend to stay then she's staying for awhile. Got it?" Eric asked me with his eyebrow raised.
He waited for my answer, but got none from me. Instead, I got up to tend to my child.
"I love you Kiara," he walked to me and placed his arms around my waist from behind. "I don't won't my woman feeling some type of way about my friend alright?"
"Then she needs to go to a hotel."
"My word is final Kiara, now dead this conversation." Eric walked out of the room leaving me dumb struck. I knew that this was his home, but I thought that we were a team. Having that girl in the same place as I was going to be terrible, and I didn't understand why Eric couldn't even see it.
"I'll play nice." I cooed to Ella. "But that hoe better not try me."
****
For days, Carson had been avoiding my calls. I wanted to see if he had talked to daddy, so that I wouldn't have to be the one to break his heart. My father never understood how a man could even have sex with another man, and he has voiced his opinion many times.
I walked into my parents house, and there he was, lying on the sofa watching the game with my dad. "Hey everyone!" I waved, and headed to the kitchen.
Mama was on the stove cooking as always. I set at the counter and rested my head on my hands.
"Whats the matter baby?" She asked me, placing a plate of spaghetti in front of me.
"Nothing mama." I lied.
My mother knew me well. "There must be something wrong with you Tarzana. You can talk to me."
Just as I was about to tell her, Carson walked in the kitchen with a beer in his hand. "Hey sis." He kissed my cheek and walked to the refrigerator.
"Hey Carson." I said with some irritation in my voice.
Carson turned around and looked at the scowl on my face. "Can I talk to you for a minute outside?"
I nodded and made my way to the back porch shutting the door behind me. I knew my mother was on the other side ear hustling as she hated to be left out of the loop.
Carson rubbed his hands over his head, something he did out of frustration. "You didn't tell man did you?"
I leaned against the wooden post on the porch. "That's your job to do, you have to tell daddy."
"We're male bonding right now, sis he don't wanna hear 'dad I'm gay' over a football game." Carson laughed.
"It's not funny Carson, you remember last time when Dad found out I lost my virginity, and he wouldn't talk to me for a month. And when he found out you dropped out of school? Now what all do these two things have in common Carson?"
"Mama." We said in unison. "And she knew and kept it from daddy, but we're the ones who got in trouble." I explained. "Now if you don't tell daddy, then that's on you." I headed back inside.
Mama moved away from the door, as if she wasn't just standing there listening to the whole conversation. Carson appeared through the door, and mama just shook her head at him. No words were needed, she knew her son, and her son was gay.
"Mama..." Carson began, but mama cut him off by putting her hand in the air.
"I don't even want to know, not until you talk to your father." Mama knew the deal, and she didn't like keeping secrets from daddy. Daddy could never stay mad at mama, but he could stay mad for ages with us.
Carson walked back to the room defeated.
"Mama, cut Carson some slack." I tried defending him, but it was hard to do seeing as the man had just had sex with my old flames twin brother in my bed.
Mama wiped the counter, her back to me. "I'm not the one he should be worried about."
I looked at the living room, and knew that this was going to end bad, and I was not trying to be a witness to my daddy killing his only son. I knew that when the time was right, Carson would tell daddy, so I wasn't going to push it any further.
I kissed my mamas cheek, and headed for the door.
******
Jason set in his bedroom on the floor crying, he had been trying to call Carson for days to no avail. He held a picture of a sleeping Carson and himself in one hand and a gun in the other.
"Why are you doing this to me Carson I loved you!" He screamed into the phone that was on speaker. Every message he left on Carson's phone went unanswered. He didn't know what made Carson change his mind about being with Jason.
"I love you, please call me back or so help me, I will kill myself!" Jason was broken, and had cried for days thinking about the love of his life. He hung up the phone and began to pace the floor contemplating on whether he should end it all that night.
He walked to the desk and decided on a suicide note. "He'll see just how much I love him, he will see I did everything for him and he took my love for granted."
Jason set on the end of his bed, placing the gun to his own head. He closed his eyes and....