Page 3 of Keyoni & Sage
The conversation ceased as I trailed the duo down the hall to their apartment. Since Sunday, it was my apartment too, although I was never officially added to the lease. When my cousin invited me to stay with her, she boasted about her array of animals—a dog, two cats, two ferrets, a guinea pig, a mating pair of bearded dragons, and lots of fish—but failed to mention Cauvey lived with her too.
He was the first in the apartment and disappeared back out of the door after dropping my items off on the couch.
Lanique stuck her head out of the door after him. “Where you going?”
I didn’t hear what he said, but my cousin seemed frustrated with his response as she closed the door. She left my view as I entered the kitchen, placing the bags in my hands on the counter. Lanique appeared when I turned around, stepping past me with the remaining bags.
“Thanks,” I told her, starting the unloading process.
“What did you get?” she asked, looking through one of the bags.
“Robbed.”
“Huh?!” Her body froze. Only her mouth moved. “What did you say?”
“I got robbed. Well…actually?—”
“Robbed? By who? What they take? You know what…” She pulled her phone from her back pocket. “It don’t even matter.”She tapped the screen, then lifted the phone to her ear. “Sage got robbed!”
I could only imagine how loud Cauvey screamed “what” because I clearly heard it from where I stood.
“I didn’t get robbed,” I clarified.
“But you just said?—”
“I know what I said. Some guy took my purse, but this cop showed up with his dog and…” An image of Officer K. Green replaced my thought. I smiled.
“And what?” Cauvey pressed.
I glanced at the phone before it registered that Lanique had put him on speaker.
“And,” I emphasized. “I got my purse back.” I shrugged. “That’s it.”
“Nah, it ain’t it,” Cauvey declared.
It was for me.
KEYONI
“You out of here?”Geneva asked.
“Yeah.” My day had been made extra-long thanks to Tez’s arrest. I was off duty when he decided to show his ass and take what didn’t belong to him. “Finally.”
“You could’vebeenout here,” she teased. “You’re the one who decided to come back to work.”
“It’s called dedication.” I tapped the side of her cubicle before pushing off of it. “You have a good weekend, okay?”
Geneva offered a smile from her seat. “You too.”
Kaiser came when I whistled. “Let’s go.”
I took the stairs with my partner in crime. He knew the building just as well as I did and led most of the way. Inside,it was cool, but once we stepped outside the station, I was his handler. He stayed at my side unless he was directed otherwise.
Much like me, Kaiser was laid back. He was a go-with-the-flow kind of dog and didn’t require too much of anything. He mastered the art of not giving a fuck, but when it was time to work, Kaiser went extra hard. Not only was he fearless, but he also had just as much heart as any member on the team—human or canine.
After a year of working together, Kaiser was like a member of the family. Although the guidelines asserted Kaiser was to be treated like a working animal and not a pet, it was hard not to though. Every night I took him home and treated him just like he was my own. Every other Friday we made a pitstop by D-Ville Projects to pick up my daughter before hitting the highway. And every other Friday, when we pulled up to the ten-story building donned with a new name, Kaiser would sit stone still in the back of my ride. He would look out the window, waiting for Keturah to show up, shaking his tail ferociously to hide his containment.
I thought he liked her more than me.
