“Babe, I have a heart. It’s just that I can’t imagine you being close to that nig…I mean with your ex again.”
Kendra saw where this was leading. To her, it was kind of cute that Wiz played the jealous role. Even though she was starting a new life with him, it was only right to pay her respects to the family. It was the least she could do.
“Gabe, I need for to trust me with this. Please, baby.”
Wiz nodded his head in agreement. There was no need for him to get upset because Trent was treading on his last days.
“Okay. I trust you, mama. Just don’t forget daddy needs you, too,” he replied.
“Stop being a baby,” she giggled as she stepped out the bedroom so she could call Trent and be his comforter. To her dismay, Trent sent her call to voicemail. Sadness darkened her face. All she wanted to do was show support like he had done for her when her mother passed on. Kendra gave it another shot, but, again, she was sent to voicemail. She thought about leaving a message. Instead, she pressed the END button out of fear that she wouldn’t know what to say. Walking back into the master suite, Kendra laid back on the bed and found her spot right under Wiz where she fit perfectly. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her softly on her cheek. Kendra cried herself to sleep. Later that night, Kendra woke up, screaming from a bad dream. She grabbed her chest. Her heart was beating like someone was playing African drums inside of her. Kendra reached over, thinking she might have woken up Wiz, but his spot was empty. She called out for him, but she didn’t get an answer. Kendra got out of bed and searched for him in the house.
“Babe, where are you?” Kendra asked, concerned.
The whimpering in the phone indicated that she wasn’t talking to Wiz. She removed the phone from her ear and saw Trent’s name displayed on the screen.
“Trent, I am so sorry for your loss. Words can’t express how deeply sorry I am,” Kendra whispered.
“Shawty, I need you. I need to talk, and, right now, you’re the only one that I can open up to about this shit.”
Trent pounded his chest with his fist as his sniffles grew louder. In the six years that she and Trent had been together, she had never witnessed him shed a single tear. She held her hand close to her heart and said, “Trent, I don’t know if it’s a good idea. It’s late. Can we meet up later?”
“Listen, ma. I just need an hour of your time. I promise it won’t take that long. I promise. Just please don’t let me down,” Trent begged in between sobs. Kendra couldn’t resist. She felt that she owed it to him to be by his side.
“Okay, Trent. One hour. No longer.”
Kendra threw on some sweats with a hoodie. She called out for Wiz once more, but she still didn’t get an answer. She grabbed her purse and keys off the coffee table and headed out the door.
Kendra arrived at the Moore’s home in twenty minutes. The yellow tape that was left on the poles indicated that the house was a crime scene. Kendra parked her vehicle and took a deep breath before exiting. Trent met Kendra outside. He led her to the guest house where he could talk without whispering.
“There’s some shit that I haven’t been honest with you about, and I feel that I owe it to you.”
Kendra tried to protest, but Trent kept right on talking.
“I think I’m the cause of my sister’s death!”
“Huh? What are you trying to say?” Kendra asked, confused.
“Six years ago, when we met, I was into it with another drug king here in L.A. To make a long story short, I ended up killing his cousin in a drug deal gone bad. After the deadly mayhem in DT, he fled, but now he’s back to even the score,” Trent confessed.
Kendra’s mind wandered back to six years ago. She remembered the massacre that had taken place in downtown Los Angles. She covered her mouth and shook her head in disbelief.
“I caused my sister’s death. How can I explain it to my parents?”
Kendra placed her hand on Trent’s knee, caressing it.
“I’m quite sure this had nothing to do with what took place so long ago. I can’t see it happening,” Kendra said, trying to rationalize with him, but Trent’s mind was made up.
“I also wanna apologize to you. I know you made up your mind about us. It was very selfish of me to try to have my cake and eat it, too, but I’m deeply sorry. Can you find it in your heart to forgive me? You know my mom constantly tells me that I’ve fucked up a good woman.”
“Well, you know your mom knows best. Look, Trent. It’s already late. I have to get back home before…” Kendra stopped herself before she continued.
“C’mon, ma. Ten more minutes. I swear I’ll let you go after that,” Trent pleaded.
Kendra looked down at her phone. She decided to stay ten more minutes, and Trent thanked her. They talked about everything from how they had fallen in love to what had gone wrong in their relationship. Before they knew it, the sun was coming up. Trent kissed Kendra on the lips and covered her with a blanket. Trent went back into the main house to be with his mother and father.
When Kendra awoke, she was confused. She didn’t know where she was. It took her a minute to remember that she was at Trent’s house.
Kendra forced a smile and said, “I just didn’t want to be a bother. You guys are going through a lot, and you may just want to be around family.”
“Nonsense! You are family. We share an even closer bond now. Come over here and give me a hug. I better not ever hear you say you’re not family. Just ‘cause you’re not with my son doesn’t mean I don’t love you.”
Mrs. Moore welcomed Kendra with open arms. As they shed tears for Kendra’s mother and Treniyah, Kendra’s phone rang. It was Wiz. Kendra answered quickly.
“Hey, babe! Where were you? When I woke up, you weren’t there, baby?” Kendra asked, sounding all mushy. Kendra waved to Mrs. Moore. Then, she mouthed the words “see you later”.
“Where the fuck are you?” Wiz demanded with bass in his tone.
Kendra was flabbergasted that he would use that kind of tone and language with her. In her mind, she thought,
“I went to see about my ex’s family. I’ll be there shortly.”
Kendra figured it wasn’t no need in lying. She had let Wiz know last night that she would be reaching out to Trent, so she thought nothing of it and ended the call, but, when she got home, Wiz was waiting for Kendra in the living room. As soon as she opened the door, he went off like a mad man.
“So, you fucking with this nigga? You leave out in the middle of the night to go chill with your ex.”
He stood to his feet with fire in his eyes. Wiz was filled with so much rage. Looks told a thousand words that one word couldn’t explain. Kendra knew, if looks could kill, she would have been dead.
“Babe, what are you talking about? And where were you in the wee hours of the morning?”
Kendra turned the tables around on him.
“If you must know, I went to the hospital because I was having pains in my chest. I didn’t want to wake you, so I called my homie to scoop me,” he lied, trying to make Kendra feel bad.
“So, how the fuck you know I wasn’t home?”
Kendra could’ve slapped herself because she was admitting that she’d left the house at that time. Wiz grabbed Kendra by the arm and said, “Stay away from that nigga Trent.”
He let go of Kendra’s arm when he saw how he was hurting her.
“I don’t want Trent. How many times do I have to tell you this? He did me wrong, but they just found his sister’s body. Regardless of how I feel about him, I had to go pay my respects to that family. Grab me like that again and your mama’s gonna be wearing that black dress early,” Kendra spat. She was enraged. Wiz didn’t know
