Page 127 of I Don't Want You Back

Kane didn’t care about his parents being upset. He had enough on his plate, and he refused to let them or Shantel add any more to it. She was a sneaky bitch for going behind his back and contacting his mother. She was looking for a come up, but he would be damned if he let her use his people to get it. He was already stressed, and she was trying to make it worse.

He wished he could go to JB’s for a drink and some stress relief, but they were still closed. Apparently, the police had been watching the popular strip club for a minute and they had a lot of evidence against them. Undercover officers had pictures of the illegal activities and lots of other proof to go along with it. JB didn’t even have a liquor license anymore, but that didn’t stop him from selling liquor. He had a million violations that he had to fix and that was going to take a while.

“Yes?” Shantel snapped when she answered the phone for Kane.

“Have him ready Saturday. My mama wants to meet him,” Kane said.

“I have to work. Saturday is the busiest day,” Shantel replied.

“Dress him and bring him there with you. I’ll pick him up,” Kane suggested.

“I’ll text you the address,” Shantel said.

She didn’t even give Kane a chance to respond before she hung up on him. She didn’t regret her son, but she regretted the day that she’d met his father. Shantel knew that she was dead wrong for messing with a married man, so that was her own fault. Kane was out with some of his frat brothers one night when Shantel caught his eye. She was hood, but she had an ass that had him mesmerized. Kane got them a room that same night and they had been off and on since then. He wasn’t the best father, but his sister Kya picked up where he lacked. Kane used to send her over with money for his son, and she and Shantel formed a friendship. When Shantel got put out of her apartment, it was Kya who encouraged her to reach out to their mother. Carmen had them spoiled rotten and she knew that she would help. Kane basically didn’t give a damn, but she knew that Carmen wouldn’t let her grandson go without. Shantel had sixty days to be out and she was praying for a miracle. Until then, she continued to work while looking at other options.

***

“Come on Robin, tell me where you want this shit to go,” Aiden said as he walked in with another box full of stuff.

Leroy’s kids had emptied his house and she was moving in with Ava. Although she and her little sister always did get along, Robin didn’t want to stay with her too long. She wanted a place of her own and she hoped that she could get one soon. Robin loved living close to her mother and she wanted to see if she could get a place close by her again. Living with Ella would have been perfect, but Landon put a stop to that. Robin knew that she handled the situation with her kids wrong when they were younger, but she didn’t just throw them away. She knew that her mother would take good care of them and she did. Robin gave them money whenever she could, and she saw them all the time. Leroy was an older man and he didn’t have the patience for kids. His children were grown, and he didn’t want to start all over again. Robin wanted it all. She wanted the man and the kids, so she found a way to make it happen. Her kids didn’t see it that way though. They felt like they were thrown away, but that wasn’t the truth. Clarence wasn’t even their father and they treated him like more of a parent than they did her.

“Just bring it to the room that I’ll be sleeping in. I’ll unpack it later,” Robin said after a long pause.

“Here, this is the keys to your new lock,” Raheem said as he handed two keys to Ava.

He was in the process of changing her locks, making sure Kane didn’t have access to enter or exit as he pleased.

“Thanks Raheem. Now, all I have to do is get the access code changed for the alarm,” Ava replied.

“Don’t let that nigga have you shook like that Ava. What, is he threatening you or something?” Aiden asked as he carried the last box into the house.

“No, but I don’t want to take any chances. He’s already fighting this divorce tooth and nail. There’s no telling what else he’s capable of. It’s like I’m seeing a side of him that I never knew existed,” Ava said.

“That part of him has always been there. You just didn’t want to see it,” Aiden noted.

“Yeah, maybe you’re right,” Ava sighed.

“Ain’t no maybe about it,” Aiden said, right as her phone started ringing.

“Hey Carmen,” Ava said when she answered her phone.

“Hey honey. I’m at home stuck on an emergency conference call that I can’t get out of. I had to send Kya to get Kylie from school and she’s about to drop her off to you. Tell my baby that I’ll call her as soon as I’m done. We were supposed to do something together this evening, but this came up unexpectedly,” Carmen rambled.

Ava wanted to snap on her for asking Kya to come to her house, but Carmen didn’t know that she now hated her daughter. Carmen and her husband had always been there for Ava and she would never do anything to hurt them. It wasn’t their fault that their union produced two lying, sad ass kids.

“Okay, I’ll tell her. Thanks, Carmen,” Ava said before they disconnected.

“Where are you going?” Robin asked when she saw Ava heading for the front door.

“I’m going to sit on the porch. Kya is coming to drop my baby off and I don’t want that bitch nowhere in my house.” Ava frowned.

“Aww shit, let me come sit out here with you. I might luck up and get me some head if I play my cards right,” Aiden said as he followed his sister out.

“I don’t care what you do with her,” Ava replied as she sat on her wraparound porch and played on her phone.

Aiden had dogged Kya out so bad at one time that he and Ava got into. Kya was her only sister-in-law and she felt bad that her brother had done her so dirty. Kya confessed to her that she was in love with him, but Aiden didn’t care. She was one of many and he treated her as such. Kane warned her not to mess with him, but Kya did it anyway. Aiden wasn’t boyfriend material and he knew that’s what his little sister was looking for.

“Here that bitch come now,” Ava said when she saw Kya’s car turning onto her street.

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