Page 57 of Counting His heartbeats

"I c?—"

"Of all days to run into you three, hello, Kyce, Jawaan, and Kayshon."

A frown instantly appears when my eyes connect with a blast of our past that I would have been cool with never laying eyes on again in this life.

"What the fuck do you want, Carleen?" Kayshon grills with a hard edge in his tone that would chill the bones of someone with common sense.

Yet, Carleen's eyes fill with lust, and her body visibly tremors, instantly souring my stomach from seeing her reaction. Carleen is Rema Gardner's best friend and the woman who has complete knowledge of the hell we experienced and was a willing participant. Life or God's favor must be catching up with Carleen because she looks like her chickens are coming home to roost. There are dark circles under her eyes, and her hair is thinning and nearly see-through, her skin has lost its luster, and the clothes on her body appear three sizes too big from how loose fitting they are.

"I thought you might want to know that Rema died," Carleen informs us, to which Kyce, Kayshon, and I hysterically laugh like she's on a comedy stage telling the funniest jokes.

"Look at God. He keeps doing great things," Kyce says tapping his chest while pointing heavenward.

"That's no?—"

"How did she die? I wanna see something," I ask, cutting off whatever irrelevant statement Carleen was preparing to say.

Carleen's face flushes and my pulse increases while my body vibrates, causing my eyes to sparkle. I feel like this story is about to assist with my already fantastic day.

"Um... we... uh?—"

"Spit it out already. We know what y'all were about," Kyce harshly commands.

"A random guy approached Rema and bet her that she couldn't satisfy him and his friends for twelve hours. I tried to talk Rema out of it because we're getting older, but she was determined to prove to them she still had it. I got the call to go see about her from one of the guys who had found my number in her phone. Wh-when I-uh... when I got there, my mouth hit the floor because there were a lot of young men roaming around."

"How many?" Kayshon asks with merriment shining in his orbs.

"If I had to guess, I would say about thirty guys, but maybe more because I lost count when they started scattering like roaches. They had my Rema bent over a pool table, but she wasn't moving. It... my poor friend," Carleen says, unable to continue from the crying she's doing, causing us to laugh again.

"What did she get if she won?" I ask with intrigue.

"Forty-five hundred dollars, but she died just shy of reaching the twelve-hour mark," Carleen discloses, wiping her face of the lone tear that slips from her eye.

"This shit is gonna have me sleeping like a baby tonight," Kayshon says, laughing.

"That's not funny, Kayshon. Rema had a small ball gag and dildo coming from her mouth, and her poor booty was... you know what? The three of you can go to hell!" Carleen snaps before stomping off.

"We're going to the funeral. I need to see something," I insist, grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"Yep," Kyce co-signs.

"I wouldn't miss it," Kayshon adds.

A Week Later

Kayshon, Kyce, and I walk through Eternal Horizons Funeral Home doors with matching grins and casually dressed. We had been sitting at Sipping Thangs Beverages, killing time, until a reminder hit Kayshon's phone, causing us to hop in our cars and head over here. I'm wearing a t-shirt, joggers, and slides with Kayshon and Kyce matching my energy. The three of us carry black bags that do a great job masking the contents. We move like a unified front down the aisle, and I note the sparse room of maybe seven attendees. When we reach the pine box at the front of the chapel, uncontrollable and uncontainable laughter comes from the three of us when we see the person inside.

"Chile, Rema, you've let yourself go, girl." I laugh.

"I mean. Didn't anybody tell you to bob and weave on the dick?" Kayshon adds.

"How did you go from Mya Brock Akil's doppelganger to the Joker? Damn, they didn't give the undertaker anything to work with. You should be ashamed of yourself for causing them to have your mouth stretched like this," Kyce co-signs, and the three of us laugh again.

"Damn, big bro, you're right. That's exactly what she used to look like back in the day. No wonder my ass was busting her down for sport," Kayshon says, shaking his head.

"Please respect the?—"

"Aye, this is respecting this ho," Kayshon snaps cutting off the statement of the unknown person dipping in our three-way conversation.

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