Page 24 of Rhodes to Love

Kane used to be a little uptight and reserved. It was like he was Kenny Henderson as a young man. After that, he became more vocal and a little more hostile. I believed he was angrier about what Rhodes had done than Kendrall was. Kingsley only got pumped up when the people around him were that way.

“How are you and Cassie?”

“We’re good. Looking forward to our son making his way into the world.”

“What about the whole family dynamic thing? Y’all okay about it now?”

He shrugged. “It seems like we just pretend we don’t know. It doesn’t fuck with me or anything, but I can tell she thinks about it sometimes. She’ll shy away from me touching her at times. I know she loves me, but for someone who always wanted to know where she came from, I can understand that this is hard for her.”

I closed my eyes briefly. “Yeah, I can understand that. I’ll be praying for her. If God gives me anything to say to her, I’ll talk to her. I just… it seems His voice has been a little fainter since…” I said, allowing my voice to trail off.

Kendrall put his arm around me. “I don’t think His voice has gotten fainter. I think you’ve just had a lot of noise in your ears lately. You’ve had a lot going on, especially mentally. You don’t talk about your problems a lot. That means you internalize a lot. I need you to talk more, just like you encourage us to do. Take your own advice. If you don’t talk to us, talk to somebody. I know we can be loose cannons at times. Aunt Jen or Aunt Chrissy will listen without judgment. You know that. So will Nesha. Well… I don’t know about Nesha. She getting a lil rough around the edges.”

I chuckled. Ever since she started working with the family, she’d gotten a little rougher, but I truly believed she was still the same Nesha she’d always been at heart. “I might talk to Mama or Daddy. Mama gave me great relationship advice last time.”

When my phone started ringing, I knew it was Rhodes. No one else called me like that. Pulling it from my pocket, I saw his name and smiled. KJ rolled his eyes as I answered.

“Hey, Rosewood.”

“What’s up, baby? You busy?”

“Just sitting here talking to KJ.”

“Oh. Tell that nigga I said what’s up,” he said and chuckled. “Well, call me when you leave. I got something for you.”

“Okay. I’ll call you back in a little bit.”

“I love you, KD.”

“I love you too.”

I ended the call. “Rhodes said what’s up,” I said then chuckled as he had done.

KJ rolled his eyes. That all came to a halt when Cassie walked through the door though. She was still working at Integrity in Beaumont. Mrs. Gardener, formerly Ms. Taylor, was Uncle WJ, Aunt Chrissy, and Aunt Jen’s counselor. I believed she counseled Jakari also. Her sister was one of the family’s attorneys. Integrity was her center for girls that taught etiquette and promoted self-love. It taught them about having morals, encouraged them to further their education and follow their dreams, and to also have self-respect.

I hadn’t had the opportunity to visit, but I often wondered about it and if I could fit over there. The family considered me the family counselor, especially my cousins, but that wasn’t a paying gig. I didn’t feel right charging them to talk. I loved them and cared about their well-being. Now for people I didn’t know, it would be different.

Cassie came to where I was, so I stood and greeted her. After kissing her cheek, I said, “Hey, sis. How are you?”

“I’m okay. Those lil girls got on my fucking nerves today. I swore, if this one girl would have said another word, I would have knocked her fucking teeth out. Then I would have been sitting my ass in jail again.”

I chuckled as KJ slowly shook his head. Cassie had a slight temper, and her patience was almost nonexistent. She fit in with the Hendersons perfectly. The fact that she was tight with Uncle Storm said it all. Between her and Mekayla, I didn’t know who was worse. I hadn’t seen Mekayla in action, but her mouth promised a hostile environment when provoked.

“I’m sorry, Rima. How are you?”

“I’m good.” I chuckled. “Well, I’m gonna go and give you two your privacy. We’ll talk another time, sis.”

“Okay, boo.”

I kissed her again then hugged and kissed my brother. He followed me outside and said, “I’ma try to do better, Karima. You look really happy, baby.”

“I am, Kendrall. It would mean the world to me if y’all could get along. He’s rough on the exterior, but he’s really a good guy… kind of like Uncle Philly.”

He smiled slightly. Uncle Philly’s actions had ruined Aunt Kema’s career. Their situation was way worse than ours. Aunt Kema almost died because of his bullshit, but here they were, years later, together and making the shit look easy. My career wasn’t ruined… just a little delayed. I could still do everything I set out to do after the baby was born. Just like Uncle Philly, Rhodes could be an asset to the family business as well, with degrees in agriculture and animal science. He was smart as hell, and I was glad he put those brains to use on something that mattered.

After getting in my car, I put the window down and said, “Now go help my sis calm down before she have the baby stressed out.”

He opened his mouth to say something, but I put my window up. I could tell by the smirk on his lips that I wouldn’t want to hear whatever was about to fall from his lips. He laughed loudly as I smiled and waved. Backing out of his driveway, I headed to Cheek. Rhodes always came to me, so I decided I would go to him. Grabbing my phone, I called him.

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