Page 36 of Kairo

“You’re right, but it’s our story. We can’t let anyone decide our shit. We were put together for a reason. The universe saw fit we needed each other’s love.”

I could sense she was worried. It was understandable. I knew I needed to make her feel like I was locked in with her, regardless of the hand we were dealt. I pulled her on top of me and softly rubbed her back.

“Trust me, Junie. I’m all in with you. Don’t get me wrong, the shit is hard, but what I do know is that you didn’t have any responsibility for your father’s actions. He a coward who went out sad. What we got is between us. Cut all that extra shit out. We locked in, baby, and no one else matters.”

I kissed her lips, and she smiled. She wrapped her arms around my neck before lying her head on my shoulder while I continued to stroke her back.

“Thank you, Kairo.”

“For what, baby?”

“For still being my bodyguard.”

She lifted and placed a kiss on my cheek before she laid back down on my shoulder. We sat in silence, and a few minutes later, she was snoring. Junie had been through a lot. The man she loved and trusted with her life was the same man that took everything from her. Junie losing her mother destroyed her, and it was at the hands of her father. In that moment, I made the vowto protect her for the rest of my life. We didn’t need the things that tainted us from birth. We had each other.

“Kairo, where are you taking me?” Junie asked.

It was the next day after I pulled up on Junie and let her know where I stood. She told me she had been hiding out at her mother’s lake house since everything went down. I wanted to get her out. There was no sense in both of us hiding out. We had to face reality. While she slept last night, I planned a day for us. I didn’t tell Junie where we were going. All I did was wake her up and tell her to get dressed and grab her helmet.

“Junie, I told you it was a surprise. Stop asking all these questions.” I grabbed her helmet and placed it on her head. “We have a few stops to make first. Just enjoy the ride, beautiful.”

I climbed on the bike then helped her on. Once she wrapped her arms around my waist and laid her head on my back, I started the bike.

We rode for an hour and thirty minutes before we pulled up to our first stop. I shut off the bike and removed my helmet. Junie climbed off and removed hers too. She looked around. I could see the confusion all over her face.

“Kairo, what are we doing here?”

“We’re here to visit my dad.”

I brought Junie to the cemetery where my father rested. This was the first time I visited my father’s grave since he was buried. I would drive by and sit, trying to find the courage the view the tomb but always chickened out. I felt that I’d let him down by not finding out who had killed him after all these years. Now that I knew and with Junie by my side, I felt I had the strength to view his tombstone.

“KK,” my mother called, walking toward me.

She had her arms wide open and a soft smile on my face. I called her first thing this morning asking her to meet me here. My mother was beautiful. Even after my father died, she didn’t wear the hurt on her face, just in her heart. As time moved on, her grief got manageable, but it was always there. She visited my father’s grave often, speaking to him and spending hours out here. She always begged me to come view and pay my respects. I just didn’t have the heart.

I wrapped my mother in a tight hug and kissed her cheek. “Hey, Ma.”

“Good to see you here, baby. How you holding up?”

“Maintaining. Just trying to navigate what’s next.”

“I feel you, baby. It’s going to be hard, but you’ve always been good with following your heart, mind, and soul. If you continue to do that, I know everything will work out for you.” She patted my hand before looking past me. She smiled. “And who is this beautiful young lady?”

Before I could introduce Junie, she stepped forward with her hand out. “Hi, I’m Junie. Nice to meet you.”

My mother looked at her hand as if it was foreign. “Girl, we do hugs over here!”

She reached for Junie and wrapped her in a big hug. Junie was taken aback at first, but her body relaxed within seconds. My mother finally released her from her embrace.

“Kairo, is this your girlfriend?” my mother asked.

Junie looked back at me. I smiled at her.

“Yes, Mama. This is my girlfriend.”

A silly grin spread across her face.

“It’s nice to meet you. Kairo never brings any of his female friends around. You must be special,” my mother said with a wink.

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