I sniffled. “Okay.”
“A’ight, K. I’ll see you tomorrow, my nigga,” Zion said, dapping him up.
“Indeed, my brother. See ya, Jordin.”
“Later, Kasey.”
Zion opened the door, and I slid out behind him. My eyes perused the landscaping, and it was breathtaking. The grass was a deep shade of hunter green, and the porch stretched from one end of the house to the next with a flowerbed on each side. There were no flowers, but it was okay. Lights surrounded the porch as well, with six steps that led to the thick, white door.
Zion got our bags out of the trunk, then took my hand and led me up the walkway. He reached inside of his pocket, pulled out a set of keys, and handed them to me.
“Open up, baby. Let’s see if Meek did us right.”
A big grin spread across my face, and I stuck the key in the lock and turned it. We walked through the dark foyer until we reached the end, and I felt for the light switch on the wall. Once I found it, I flipped it on, and the house lit up brightly. The open-concept living room was the first thing I saw, with white furniture and glass tables. The light blue, gray, and white rug in the center gave the room a pop of color, along with the light-blue, gray, and white vases that adorned the tables and fireplace mantle.
My favorite colors.
To the right of me were a set of winding stairs and two double doors. Zion followed me as I opened the doors to a nice, huge dining room with a table that seated twelve. I kept walking through an entrance into a huge chef’s kitchen with black-and-chrome appliances and frosted cabinets. There were patio doors leading into the huge backyard, with an empty pool and a patio that needed furniture.
“This is a damn dream,” I said, in complete awe.
“It is.” His eyes went ahead of him, and there was another set of stairs. “Come on.” He pulled me along, and we traveled up the stairs that opened to a long hall with five doors that I assumed were all rooms. We explored the entire house that had a finished basement, a den, and two more bedrooms on the bottom level. I had no idea what I was going to do with all this house, but I was going to have a time decorating it.
“Zion, this is beautiful. Like, I don’t even know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything except how you want to decorate the rest of the house.”
“How did you even get this? It was lived in when we first rode by here.”
“I always get what I want, baby. Getting shit in order while I was locked up gave me a sense of peace and normalcy. I stayed in the library, reading business books and negotiating. I got more shit in the works, but my dispensary and two clothing stores are just the tip of the iceberg. I’m trying to make it to where I have multiple streams of income, so we will never fall on hard times.”
“You’ve always been a smart man. I love that about you. You never let anything that happened in your life deter you from your goals. I’m very proud of you.”
“Thank you, baby. Come. Let’s shower and order takeout. Tomorrow, I’m going to take you around to show you our businesses.”
“Okay, I’ll get the shower started while you go get our bags.”
He nodded and left the room while I ventured into the huge bathroom. “This place is so damn dope,” I voiced aloud, seeing the sunken tub, stand-in shower with three showerheads, the double sinks, and beautiful white and gold decor.
This man was amazing and clearly loved to spoil me. These were things I missed most about him—his kindness, his attentiveness, and the love he had for me.
While turning on the shower, my phone buzzed in my back pocket. I pulled it out and saw the text message from Junie. I opened it up.
Junie:
Sis, this nigga is trippin’. We need to run down on his ass.
Following her message, there was a link to Akeem’s live video feed. My finger hovered over the video, debating whether I should click it. If she said he was tripping, then I knew it was about me.
“Fuck it,” I said, clicking the link, and it took me to Akeem’s live.
“Look at this shit,” he said, flipping the camera around. “Look how messy she was. I knew I couldn’t marry somebody who never cleans up behind themselves. Oh, shit, look who decided to join us. What’s up, Jordin? Since you want to embarrass me, I’m going to embarrass yo’ ass. I’m letting the whole world know how triflin’ you were. I’m glad you left so I wouldn’t have to put up with this shit for the rest of my life.”
Tears stung my eyes, not because he called himself trying to embarrass me, but because I didn’t know he would stoop this low. I realized that I may have hurt him, but to try to paint me out to be this nasty woman, when he knew it wasn’t true, was really hurtful. I prided myself on being clean, but because it was the day of the wedding, I didn’t have time to pick up behind myself because I was in a rush.
“Oh, yeah, and I posted those private photos of us, too. Since you want to run off with another nigga, let’s see how you like being exposed.” He ended the live, and my heart sank.
I went to his page, and he didn’t lie. He had posted the photos of me in my panties with no bra, but my arm covered my nipples,and pictures of me completely nude, lying on my stomach, when we went to Montego Bay to the nude beach. My hand went to my mouth, and I gasped because I couldn’t believe he would do something like that to me. I was humiliated, knowing I had been exposed for the whole world to see.