“Are you cheating on me, Trent?”
Kendra’s question caught him by surprise. Trent made sure that he chose his words carefully. “Ken, you are all the woman I want, and all the woman I need in my life. Now, why would you say something like that, baby? I’m out here grinding seven days a week. Do you honestly think I’m out there chasing tails? You gotta give me some type of credit.”
Satisfied for the time being, Kendra decided to let it go. Three days away from her man was long enough. As she got up from the couch, Kendra asked, “Are you hungry?”
Trent laughed, “Look at this place, ma. It’s a mess. Ain’t no way I’m dining in here. I’ll tell you what. I’ll clean up the living room while you clean the kitchen. Then, we can order some Chinese food.”
Satisfied, Kendra agreed to the cleaning arrangements. She turned on the radio and let KDAY take them back in the day. After what seemed liked hours of cleaning, both were wore out. Trent ordered the food, and Kendra fixed herself up. They had a pleasant dinner, listened to old school rap, and got their boogie on. Afterwards, they played a game of spades. Kendra felt at peace once again and was ready to move things forward. Trent and Kendra lay in each other’s arms until they fell asleep.
While Trent was snoring, Kendra quietly snuck out of bed. Although she loved her man, she was no fool. Carefully, Kendra searched the pockets of Trent’s pants, making sure she didn’t wake him. All she found was his driver’s license and a rubber band full of twenties. Kendra placed the contents back in his pants. She, also, searched the nightstand for his phone. Damn! Where’s this nigga’s phone?, Kendra wondered. Then, she remembered that Trent had left his phone on the charger in the kitchen, so she crept out the room and down the stairs. She found Trent’s phone sitting on the counter. Kendra grabbed the phone and snuck into the garage. As she figured out Trent’s pass code, she mumbled, “Nigga is so predictable.”
She just entered in the last four numbers of his social security number. She went to the recent calls and scrolled down the list. She laughed to herself when she saw how many times Trent had called her phone. Then, she saw that the text messages were empty.
Kendra closed the phone and started to go back inside the house when she felt the phone vibrate. Kendra’s first thought was to not look at the phone, but curiosity got the best of her. She flipped the phone back open and couldn’t believe what her eyes read. The text message read: TRENT BABY, I AM SORRY. I KEEP ACTING LIKE A FOOL. WELL, BABY, I’D RATHER BE A FOOL FOR LOVING YOU. IT DRIVES ME CRAZY TO KNOW THAT YOU GO HOME TO HER EVERY NIGHT TO PLAY HOUSE. I’M SO IN LOVE WITH YOU, TRENT. I’LL DO ANYTHING TO KEEP YOU. LOVE, NICOLE.
Anger flooded her body as Kendra realized that her suspicions had been right. She closed the phone as her heart raced a hundred miles per minute. She stormed out the garage, ran up the stairs, and screamed, “You fucking bastard, how could you do this to me?” Kendra was practically hyperventilating as she threw Trent’s phone at his head.
“What the fuck, Ken? What’s yo fuckin’ problem?” Trent jumped out the bed, grabbed Kendra by the shoulders, and said, “Ken, I’m not gonna do this shit with you, ma, so you need to calm the fuck down.”
“Get the fuck off me!” Kendra yelled, trying to fight Trent off of her. They ended up falling on the bed.
While covering Kendra’s mouth, Trent asked, “Are you gonna calm down?”
Kendra nodded her head, so Trent eased off of her.
“So, what’s up, ma? Why you trippin’ with that bullshit?” Trent asked calmly.
Kendra sat silent for five minutes before speaking. Then, she cleared her throat and slowly said, “How long, Trent?”
Trent was about to speak, but Kendra cut him off.
“How long have you been cheating? And don’t lie, nigga, cuz I read your text message.”
Trent looked around. He was stunned that Kendra had even looked in his phone.
“You looked through my phone?” was the only thing that came out of Trent’s mouth.
“You can’t even answer my damn question,” Kendra huffed. “I’ve invested six years in this relationship and, for what?” Kendra let a single tear escape from her eye. “I promised myself I wouldn’t cry. You’re not worth my tears any longer.”
Trent could’ve kicked himself in the ass for not being more careful. This was the second time this had happened this week.
“I didn’t sign up for all the bullshit, Trent. I think we need some time apart from each other to really think things through,” Kendra said.
She looked deep into Trent’s eyes to see if there was any remorse in them. Then, Kendra got off the bed and packed some clothes. Once she finished, she looked back at Trent one last time before walking out the door and said, “Goodbye, Trent. I really hope you understand my decision for leaving. I hope you get it together.”
Trent laid back on the bed. Kendra had packed her bags so many times before and said she was leaving that, this time, he wanted to call her bluff. All she had ever done was drive around for a few hours or go over to her sister’s house and sit there until she thought he had learned a lesson. Trent laughed to himself. She’ll be back, he thought.
“A’ight, ma. If that’s what you want, then do you, shawty?” Trent told Kendra.
That was all the confirmation that she needed. Kendra left the house without looking back. Kendra kept an extra key to her mom’s and sister’s houses. She chose to go to her mother’s because she wasn’t prepared for the questions her sister would be asking.
It was four A.M. when she pulled into her mother’s driveway. She saw that the kitchen light was on. When Kendra and her sister were younger, her mom had always complained about leaving the lights on. Kendra and Nia used to tease her and ask if she was a vampire. “Oh, Lord,” Kendra said aloud. She knew, if her mom was up, she would have some explaining to do. All Kendra wanted to do was lie down and not to be disturbed.
After entering the house, Kendra called out for her mother, but there was no response, so she walked into her mother’s bedroom, but she found that her bed was empty. Kendra looked in the family room. She heard the television going, but her mom wasn’t there. Again, Kendra called out for her mother as she always did when she was a little girl.
“Mommy, where are you?”
Kendra finally made her way to the kitchen and that was where she discovered her mother, sprawled on the floor. Kendra frantically ran to her mother’s side.
“Mommy! Mommy! Wake up!” Kendra yelled.
She immediately started doing CPR. Still, her mother didn’t budge. Kendra grabbed the cordless phone and dialed 911.
“Nine-one-one, what’s your emergency?”
“My name is Kendra LaSalle. I’m at 10112 7th Avenue. My mother is not breathing. I need an ambulance right now.”
Kendra was talking so fast that she stumbled over her words. The operator had to ask her to slow down and start over. Kendra became irate and yelled, “Bitch, my mother is not breathing! I need a fucking ambulance now!”
Kendra slammed the phone on the ground and returned her attention to her mother. “Come on, Mommy. Wake up please. I love you,” she cried, rocking her mother in her arms.
The paramedics and fire department arrived in less than five minutes. Kendra stood by and watched one paramedic hook her mom up to a breathing machine while another one asked Kendra some questions.
“Does your mother have a history of medical problems?”
Kendra, still in a state of shock, nodded her head slowly and said, “Yes. She has type two diabetes.” Kendra watched as they strapped her mother to a gurney.
“Ma’am, we are going to take your mother to UCLA Medical Center. You can ride in the back if you don’t have anyone to take you,” the paramedic informed as they exited the house.