Page 31 of No Remedy for Love

Reanna didn’t miss the fact that her best friend had basically called her stupid. She wanted to scream out her frustrations at the way her life was turning out. The nigga that she was cheating with was cheating on her and her husband seemed to be doing some cheating of his own. For the first time in a while, Reanna felt alone and even Blaire wasn’t enough to make her feel better. Usually, Ferris was who she ran to when things at home weren’t going good. Now, she didn’t even have him.

She hadn’t seen her mother and siblings in about a week or so but she felt the need to pay them a visit. She needed answers and she knew without a doubt that her sisters would be more than happy to roll with her to get some. As much as she loved her husband, he needed to know that she was not the one for her to play with. She was nobody’s fool, and he had some serious decisions to make. She knew without a doubt that Blaze loved her, but it was time for him to show it. If not, she was gonna move on and find another nigga that did.

Mav was pissed as another one of his calls to Remi went unanswered. Almost an entire week had passed since he saw her at the game and, the last time they talked, all they did was argue. He was pissed about how she disrespected him at the basketball game, but she didn’t seem to care. She kept telling him that they never made anything official, but he disagreed. The minute he started taking care of her ass, they were official and he wasn’t trying to hear the bullshit that she was talking.

He planned to pay Remi a visit the same day of the game, but things didn’t work out quite like he wanted them to. He and Kiva ended up having to bring their son to the hospital. It turned out that he wasn’t just irritable at the game, he really wasn’t feeling well. His fever was so high that they ended up keepinghim in the hospital overnight. He had some kind of virus, and Kiva was scared to let him out of her sight. She had to reschedule all of her appointments and Mav only went to open and close the shop. His plan was to confront Blaze about how he knew Remedy when he got back but he decided against it. That was the quickest way for him to get busted and he didn’t need that. He and Kiva were at odds already and he didn’t need nothing else to add to it.

“How you feeling lil man?” Mav smiled at his son when he walked into the room with his tablet.

“Good.”

MJ took a seat on the sofa and put his headphones on. He was almost four but he was wise beyond his years. Being around mostly adults more than likely was the reason for that. It was Saturday, but Kiva was obviously staying home again since their son was still in his pajamas. Usually, he would be dressed and ready to go by his mother or hers until one of them got off. When she walked into the room, Mav knew that his assumptions were right. Kiva was dressed down in her pajamas as well and her hair was still covered by a bonnet.

“I’m gonna go to the shop for a few hours.” Mav looked over at her as he spoke. She looked disgusted, so he already knew that another argument was probably brewing.

“I really don’t care what you do anymore, Maverick.” Kiva flopped down on the sofa next to their son and turned on the tv.

“Where did that even come from? I’m just letting you know that I’m about to go.”

“And I’m just letting you know that I don’t care.”

“Man, I don’t know what’s been up with this attitude lately but I don’t have time for it.”

“And I don’t have time to keep going through the same bullshit with you. I’m not about to argue with you in front of my baby, Mav. Just go do whatever it is that you do.” Kiva’s ringing phone was just the distraction that both of them needed. Mav grabbed his keys and left while she answered the phone for her cousin, Nessa.

“Hey boo, I was just calling to check on MJ. How is he feeling?”

“Hey cousin, he’s much better. I decided to just take off the entire week to make sure. His appetite is back, so I’m happy about that.”

“That’s good to hear. You know your mama’s nerves were bad as hell. She was on the phone with my mama crying her eyes out when he got admitted into the hospital.”

Kiva’s mother was Nessa’s mother’s baby sister and they were close. Their kids were close too and they always hung out with each other. Kiva’s son was her mother’s youngest grandchild and only grandson, so he was her baby too.

“Girl, I already know. I just begged her not to come over here again. I let him Facetime her so she could see that he was back to his normal self.”

“How you doing girl? I know you haven’t been getting too much rest since he’s been sick.”

For some reason, hearing someone ask about her had Kiva feeling a little emotional. It was something simple but that was something that she didn’t get asked very often. She had so much that she was keeping bottled up inside and she justcouldn’t take it anymore. She was tired of trying to be strong, especially since it was draining the little energy that she had left. Kiva rushed out of the room so that her son didn’t witness the emotional meltdown that she felt coming on. As soon as she got to her bedroom, she closed the door and broke down.

“Honestly, I’m not okay,” Kiva replied as she sobbed.

“Oh no, cousin. What’s wrong?” Nessa had never heard her cousin sound so broken, and she was worried.

“I hate to admit it and I’ll never tell her so, but Kerri is right. Something is up with Mav and I’m tired of turning a blind eye to it.”

“What do you mean? Something like what?”

Kiva paused, thinking long and hard about what she was about to say. Her cousin wasn’t messy and she trusted her with her secrets. She just hated to say her thoughts out loud because it made it seem too real.

“Shit with us haven’t been right for a while and Kerri hit the nail on the head. Every relationship has problems and mine is no exception. When I really thought about it, our shit was good up until around the time that Remi moved back home.”

“So, you think he’s messing with her again?”

“I really don’t know but something ain’t adding up. This shit is so embarrassing to say but fuck it. The nigga started sleeping out a few months ago and he’s never done that before since we’ve been together.”

“I know you fucking lying! Sleeping out where?”

“He claims he be by his sisters or his daddy, but I doubt it. He takes MJ with him sometimes, but that don’t mean shit to me. At one point, he used to get mad when I said I was going by my mama whenever we got into it. Now, I feel like the nigga be picking arguments just to get away. I popped up by his sister one day to see for myself, but they were at the store when I did. I’ve been trying to ignore that inner voice but the bitch is getting too loud now.”

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