Page 67 of No Remedy for Love

“Him and his wife are separated. I know they’re still married, but they’re not together. Blaze is a good dude. His wife the hoe that you’re trying to make Remi out to be.”

“Remi is nothing more than a glorified label whore with a decent body and cute face! Y’all can say what y’all want, but she gets no passes from me.” Kerri didn’t care how her sister and cousin felt, she didn’t like nothing about Remedy and she never would. She was pissed that she had sunk her claws into Blaze’s fine ass. She didn’t know much about his wife but, in her opinion, Remi was no better.

“Well, we can just agree to disagree. I don’t have a problem with her and I never did. She was lied to just like I was. Mav just gotta man up and take his lick.”

Kiva and Remi had been trying to think of a way to confront Mav at the same time and things worked out better than they thought they would. Kiva wanted Remi to come to the shop but she quickly changed her mind. That wasn’t a good look to have drama pop off at their place of business. When Remi suggested they show up at his house together, Kiva was down but things changed in a good way at the last minute. He was damn near stalking Remi, so he made it too easy. Mav was so guilty that he didn’t even stick around and try to defend himself. He just left the house like the coward he was.

Admittedly, Kiva was hurt and she cried herself to sleep a few nights after it all went down. Her entire world had changed in a matter of minutes and she hated that she was taken out of her comfort zone. Mav was the man that she envisioned herself marrying and having more children with. He tried calling to apologize, but she told him not to even waste his time. There was no coming back for them after that. He was a good father, so she would never keep MJ away from him. Mav had to work harder on being a good man. Hopefully, he would get it right for the next woman because she was done.

“What’s gonna happen with the house and the shop?” Kerri asked.

“We don’t own that house so he can just take me off the lease. And I didn’t put up a dime to get the salon started so I don’t care what he does with that either.”

Kiva wasn’t trying to have unnecessary beef with Mav, so she wasn’t fighting to keep nothing. Bitter bitches did that when they were trying to find something to hold on to. Kiva had been looking around at a few local salons to see who had booths for rent. She wasn’t trying to be doing hair out of her mother’s garage forever. She would miss having her own space but she was gonna work her ass off to get it back.

“Nah, don’t make it easy on his ass. Make him buy you out,” Kerri fussed.

“Do you not know the meaning of done? All I want from Mav is for him to continue being a good father to our son. Like mama said, he was in my life for a season and his time is up.”

“You better say that, cousin. A good man is gonna find you, boo, because you are indeed the prize.”

“I sure am. Mav and no other man is gonna make me give up on love. I just gave up on loving him.”

Nessa smiled, loving the mature way her little cousin was handling the situation. Kerri was still with the bullshit, but Kiva was on her grown woman shit. There was no doubt in her mind that she would find happiness again. She was a beautiful woman and any man would be happy to have her. What was trash to Mav would be a treasure to the right man.

“Thirty minutes Nana and I mean it,” Blaze fussed when he and Remi pulled up and parked in the casino’s garage.

She’d been begging him for weeks to bring her to her favorite place, but he kept putting it off. Blaze hated to admit it but he saw his grandmother’s health declining right before his eyes, and it broke his heart a little more each day. Remi had been his sanity lately, and he was falling more and more in love with her each day. She was the one who convinced him to let her go. They didn’t know how much time Ms. Bertha had left, but she felt like the older lady should be spendingit doing what made her happy. For her, the casino was her happy place.

“That’s long enough for me. I’m just happy to be here.” Ms. Bertha was all smiles, as Remi helped her out of the car. It was getting harder for her to walk long distances, so Blaze purchased her a wheelchair.

“And remember, Ms. Bertha, the mask stays on at all times,” Remi reminded her.

“Okay, I won’t take it off. I wanna go spin the wheel first.”

Blaze had to lie down all of his back seats for her motorized vehicle to fit, so it took him a minute to get it out. Once she was comfortably seated in it, he and Remi followed her into the building. They stayed close to her without making her feel crowded while she spent the wheel. When she won two hundred dollars, she begged Blaze to let her play it at a few of the machines. He agreed, and Remi decided try her luck on a machine too.

“Yes! I see why Ms. Bertha likes to come here. I’ve only played twenty dollars and I’m up to over one hundred in just a few minutes.” Remi was excited when the machine lit up to let her know that she’d won again.

“That’s just how they get y’all hooked on that shit. They let you win a few dollars, so you’ll play more. Then, people start using all their bill money trying to get even more. Now, I gotta worry about you in here breaking me, thinking you bout to hit the jackpot.” Blaze smirked.

“I got you so I already did.” Remi smiled, melting his heart with her words.

“I try to let my actions show it as much as possible but I hope you know that I love you.”

“I love you too, baby. This is the happiest that I’ve been in a long time and everybody can see the change.”

“That’s all that matters to me.” He leaned over and planted a soft kiss on her lips as his grandmother smiled. They didn’t even know that she was paying attention until she spoke up.

“Now, I can go home to the Lord in peace. Knowing that my baby will be okay is all that I ever wanted. That other thing he had was worried more about her body than having a husband. That’s why I had to teach him how to cook. She think pouring barbecue sauce on shrimp and toasting bread is a hot meal.”

Bertha shook her head. She didn’t know how the shrimp were made but she assumed that was how it was done. Blaze said that it was one of his favorite meals, but that was because that was all she ever cooked.

“Stop being messy Nana and stop always talking about dying.” Blaze knew that it was everyone’s fate eventually, but he hated discussing it.

“Well, just like milk, we all have an expiration date. I’ve lived a pretty good life so I’m grateful for the years He gave me. I had an amazing husband and met some good people along the way. I wish I would have had better kids, but you more than made up for where they lacked. Just make sure you name your first daughter Blyss. That’s the name I chose for your sister, but your mama changed her mind at the last minute. I wasn’t letting her change her mind with you, though.”

“And just so you know, Ms. Bertha, I’m not the best cook either. Your grandson cooks for me,” Remi laughed but that part was true. Blaze was a great cook, but he was horrible with picking up after himself. Remi didn’t mind because it worked out perfectly for them both since she was a neat freak. They didn’t live together, but they always stayed the night at each other’s houses. Blaze expressed his interest in being a homeowner, but that would be somewhere down the line. His grandmother couldn’t live alone and he didn’t trust anyone else to live with her.

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