“Has he ever asked you to move back?”

“No, he would never, with all the shit that happened. I haven’t told Chaz, but writing the book was like therapy. It made me realize I want to record another CD. I would definitely move back up top for that.”

“That’s what’s up.” Kisa exclaimed, truly happy that Kennedy was even considering doing music again. She’d witnessed firsthand the shell that Kennedy had become after her breakdown. Seeing her cousin come back to life made Kisa’s heart swell.

“There’s something else I haven’t shared with Chaz,” Kennedy confessed.

“And what is that?”

“Brian has been calling me.”

“Jordan’s daddy?” Kisa quizzed.

“Yes.” Kennedy rolled her eyes, disgusted just by the mention of her son’s father’s name. To Kennedy, he was a bum-ass loser. When he’d found out she was pregnant, he’d cursed her out as if she were a common stranger on the street. Kennedy took his reaction in stride, although it had been painful, and she was deeply hurt. She shed a few tears for a day or two, then never looked back. Until Chaz had come along, she had been mother and father to Jordan.

“What the fuck did that sorry bastard want? And how the fuck did he get your number?” Kisa questioned, her lips twisted to the side. To Kisa, there wasn’t anything worse than a man who didn’t claim or take care of his children.

“His mom called my mom and got my number, like two or three weeks ago. The first time he called he was talking ’bout how he ready to meet Jordan. Before I hung up on him, I told him, ‘My son is almost five years old, you’ve never bothered to meet him; besides that, he has a father, so don’t call no fuckin’ more.’ Yo, Kane, I was so heated.”

“I bet you were.”

“Well, I ended up talking to him after he kept calling and calling.”

“What’s his story?” Kisa asked, taking a bite of her Caesar salad.

“Oh girl, I had to get the violins out for his tale. First he told me how he never knew his own father, and the whole time he was locked up he felt so bad about the way he did me and his child.”

“Not knowing his father was all the more reason he should’ve been there for Jordan from day one,” Kisa added.

“Exactly, then I told him if you thought about the bullshit you did so much, how come you just calling and you been home for two years.”

“What did he say?”

“Some shit about he had to get back on his feet so when he met his son he’d be correct.”

“So you gon’ let Jordan meet him?”

Kennedy bit a piece of olive oil–dipped bread and chewed while she thought about her answer. “Yeah, I’ma let ’em meet. I’d be wrong if I kept Jordan from ever knowing his real father. I don’t want to be the reason he never meets him. That would be spiteful. One thing I try not to do is hold grudges. Life’s too short for that.”