Page 27 of No Remedy for Love

“I’m not a dog and I don’t carry no bones. I understand if you don’t wanna discuss your personal relationship business though.”

“I just be needing somebody to talk to and, sadly, I don’t have that kind of relationship with my big sister. She’d rather hate than help.”

“Girl, Kerri is jealous and always has been. You’re her younger sister and you got more going for yourself than she did at your age. I know it’s easier said than done, but don’t let her get to you like that.”

“I’m just starting to think that some of the shit she be saying is true. Mav has been moving kinda funny lately and all we do is argue. He’s been coming in later than usual and he gets mad and sleep in another room when I tell him something about it. The nigga don’t even be sleep though because I be hearing him talking on the phone. The door be closed, so I can never make out what he’s saying.” Kiva was too embarrassed to tell her cousin everything.

“You know me, cousin, and I’m not the one to get in the middle of nobody’s relationship. My only advice to you is to stop listening to what he’s saying and start paying attention to what he’s doing. Actions will always prove why words mean nothing. You don’t have to go look for nothing. Whatever you need to know will come to you.”

Kiva only nodded because her cousin was right. Mav’s words and actions didn’t align, so she had to pay more attention to what he did and not what he said.

Nessa helped her cousin strap her baby in and saw them off. She went back into the game right as her husband threw the ball to Blaze. The crowd went crazy when Blaze made the basket from halfway across the court. A whistle blew, signaling the start of halftime. She went back to her seat right as her husband walked over and sat next to her with Mav following close behind.

“Where is Kiva and my son?” Mav asked, making Kerri roll her eyes.

“MJ was kinda cranky, so she left to get him right. She sent you a text,” Nessa replied, making him visibly relax.

His nerves were on edge when Remi and her girls walked in because Kiva and his son were already there. That wasn’t the issue though. It was the shirts that she had specially made that could have potentially caused a problem. She was repping him as her man because that’s exactly who he was. Mav still couldn’t get too close to her because half the people in there knew that he and Kiva were together. He was genuinely surprised that Remi hadn’t been told anything yet. He was obviously doing a better job of hiding than he thought.

He kept sneaking glances at Remi, and she looked good as fuck. He was gonna tell her something about her little ass shorts, but she was sexy as hell in them. Mav had to do a double take when he saw Blaze walk over and caress her exposed thigh. Mav’s face twisted in anger as he tried to remain calm. As far as he knew, Remi didn’t even know Blaze, but he was obviously wrong. They were laughing like old friends and apparently flirting too. Remi was blushing too hard for his liking, and he wasn’t feeling that. He was happy when he saw Ferris and Vinnie walk over because he had an excuse to make his way over there too.

Ferris was a muthafucka. He was sitting there all hugged up with another bitch while the husband of his side bitch was sitting right there. He and Blaze didn’t really know each other, but they introduced themselves and seemed to be cool when they were in the locker room. Mav used to feel bad about what Blaze’s wife was doing to him. Now, seeing him sitting there lusting over Remi had him rethinking his stance. His wife wasn’t doing right at home so he was obviously looking for companionship elsewhere. He had the entire game fucked up if he thought he’d found it in Remedy though. They were gonna have a serious problem real soon.

“Man, I gotta stop smoking so much. I feel like I’m bout to pass the fuck out. This shit ain’t for the weak,” Vinnie said right as Mav made his way over to them.

“Vinnie, please relax. You barely did anything. I didn’t see you with the ball once,” Tracy noted as everybody laughed.

“Shit, them niggas ain’t dumb enough to do that. Everybody know what to do. Pass the ball to Blaze and sit the fuck down.”

“Blaze ain’t all that on the court,” Remi joked. She saw Mav standing there, and he saw her when he walked up too. He didn’t bother speaking to her, and she returned the silence.

“Play if you want to. You saw them YouTube videos. You know a nigga got skills on the court and in the kitchen.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re alright,” Remi snickered.

Mav stood there and watched them flirt for a while before he walked away. He was pissed and Remi’s house was the first place he was going to after the game. He would have texted her to meet him somewhere, but an unwelcomed face haltedhis movement. Blaire had just walked into the rec room, and he didn’t know if she was coming by her brother or not and he wasn’t trying to see her. He hadn’t seen Blaire since he and Remi hooked back up and he wasn’t trying to. He ghosted her and he wasn’t in the mood to explain why. Shit was getting more complicated by the day and he had to be more careful. He didn’t even know that she was Blaze’s sister until he started working at his shop.

“Sneaky ass bitch. You got some explaining to do,” Tracy whispered so that only Remi could hear. Apparently, her good sis had been keeping secrets, but that was nothing new. Moving in silence had been Remi’s thing since she’d been born. She was an only child so being private was the norm for her.

“Hush girl. There’s nothing to explain.”

Remi was giggling and blushing like a schoolgirl, as Blaze flirted and whispered in her ear. Tracy groaned inwardly when she saw Nardi and some of his boys headed in their direction. For some reason, Nardi gave her DL vibes. His boys joked a little but he seemed to love talking under her clothes.

“Aye Tracy, you trying to go behind the bleachers right quick? I’m telling you, bro, my shit ain’t to be played with.”

Vinnie sat up, ready to go off, but Tracy beat him to it.

“For some reason Nardi, I really think you want me to play with it. Maybe that’s why you wanna go behind the bleachers. You don’t wanna compare dick sizes. You wanna see if my shit is too big for you to handle.” Tracy’s reply successfully wiped the smile from Nardi’s face and had him getting laughed at instead of the other way around. His boys started clowning him, and he felt played.

“Man, I was just fucking with you, but don’t come at me on no gay shit like that.” Nardi’s face was twisted in an angry scowl.

“Or what nigga! The fuck you tryna do!” Vinnie stood to his feet, ready to lay somebody out. Although everybody knew of his sexual preferences, he got mad respect in and out of the hood. He was a real street nigga who got shown a lot of the love that he gave to others.

“Ain’t no beef Vinnie, bruh. Come on Nardi and stop being so damn childish.”

One of Nardi’s friends pulled him along, hoping that things didn’t escalate. They were all cool with Tracy and they all played with her to a certain extent. Nardi always went too far but he didn’t want the trouble that he knew Vinnie would bring.

“You good fam?” Ferris asked as he looked at Vinnie.

---