Page 97 of No Remedy for Love

“What happened, Mark?” Kiva kept asking the question but she still didn’t have any answers.

“Arson.” Mark shook his head in disgust.

“Arson! What the hell did he set fire to?”

“His stupid ass paid Mike to set that girl’s car on fire. The dumbest nigga in the family and he got him to do his dirty work.”

“Remi!” Kiva shrieked in shock.

She knew that Mav was in his feelings about everything that went down between him and Remi, but it wasn’t that deep. She knew Mike very well. He was Mark’s sister’s son and he was indeed the family fuck up. He was always getting into some shit that the family had to help him get out of. Mav barely liked for him to be in his barbershop, so she was surprised that he dealt with him at all.

“Yeah, he outchea going crazy behind that hoe and she don’t give a fuck about him. She married and got pregnant for a nigga that was beneath him. You were the best thing that ever happened to him and he went and fucked that up too. He might as well close that hair shop down and sell it. Hell, it look like a ghost town up in there anyway.”

“What about the other barbers who work in there?”

“What barbers? Them niggas jumped ship just like the other ones. He let that hoe get him in his feelings and started talking reckless to his employees.”

Kiva was getting annoyed with their entire conversation and she was ready to end it. As usual, Mark was talking like his son was innocent and everybody else was guilty. He was pissed at Remi when she hadn’t done anything wrong. It also annoyed her when Mav and his father acted like the people who worked in his salon were his employees. Barbers and stylists were actually self-employed and they rented work space whenever or wherever they chose to. Mark was known for upholding his son’s wrongdoing and that would probably never change.

“Well, I hope everything works out for him.” Kiva was hoping that he did sell the shop. Although she didn’t put any money into it, her name was on it and she wanted her half.

“It will. I’m going lock up this house and call my lawyer.”

“See you later, Mark.”

Kiva turned and walked away. She didn’t care and she wasn’t good at pretending. Her man was waiting for her, and Mav was no longer her problem. Seeing as how another woman always seemed to have him in his feelings, she was grateful for that much.

“Girl, what kind of cooter you got betwixt your thighs cause this is some diabolical shit?” Tracy said once she finished listening to what Remi was saying. Vinnie was helping Blaze pack up the last of his grandmother’s house and they were out getting the men something to eat.

“Blaze was so mad when the detectives called to tell us everything that happened. I honestly thought they forgot all about the shit. After all, this is New Orleans. They barely solve murder cases so I didn’t think they gave much of a fuck about my car.” Remi shrugged.

She wasn’t even surprised when she learned that Mav had been responsible for her car being charred. He would have gotten away with it too if it weren’t for the vigilance of thedetectives on her case. They saw a man dressed in all-black throwing gas and then a match on her car in mostly all of the video footage that they recovered from her neighbors. His face wasn’t visible and they had no leads to go on. That was before one of them decided to get video footage from some of the gas stations in the area. They hit the jackpot when they saw the same man who was on the video walking into the station with his hoodie and mask off to purchase the gas. When they arrested him, he named Mav as not only his cousin but the person who paid him to torch the car. He even told on his friend who drove him there and he corroborated his story. Mav was locked up, but nobody felt sorry for his ass.

“Yeah but you keep forgetting that the crime didn’t happen in New Orleans. The Northshore is small and they don’t play that shit. That bridge that separates us from New Orleans makes a difference, honey.”

“I know but I’m just over the bullshit that we keep getting hit with. My poor hubby has been so stressed out. And this stubborn ass lil boy won’t come out to at least make his daddy feel better.” Remi was only two days overdue but, as active as she remained throughout her pregnancy, she thought she would be early and not late.

“Bitch, this was the fastest pregnancy in history and you made the shit look easy.”

“Fast! I feel like I’ve been pregnant forever.”

“That’s gonna be a handsome lil boy. I’ve been playing around with a few names that I want him to call me.”

“Oh God. Not you too. My mama is driving me crazy with that shit. She’s wants him to call her Gammie, but I can’t force him to.”

“What does Marva wanna be called?”

“She said she’s fine with Mae.”

“Aww, I think that’s so cute that you have your own little name for her. She’s a sweetheart.”

“And always has been but my mama is so overly extra.”

“I think I want him to call me Tauntee.”

“What? That ain’t even a real word. You just be making shit up.” Remi stopped walking to look over at her.

“Tauntee. It means talented auntie. It’s a real word. I was doing a Google search and saw it.”

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