"Mi is a gyal full a confidence"

~Hot Gyal (Rihanna)

°~°~°

Landon had left the night before, which led to Kenya staying. She dreaded it, but there wasn’t much she could do. The best she could do was dial her best friend’s number at three in the morning, calling him and begging him to pick her up in the early hours. Maybe before the whole family woke up.

It was at 5:00AM sharp, when she got the text from her best friend that he was at the gate. She was confused by the capitalized text reading “WE NEED TO TALK” at the end. Sighing, she ran a hand through her deep waved hair and hopped out the bed. Already have brushed her teeth and washed her face, Kenya only slipped on her sweats and tank top from the day before, then left.

By the time she got downstairs, the word Bae brightened on her phone screen as well as caused it the vibrate. Sighing, she answered, “what Bae? I saw your text. I’m downstairs.”

“I’m telling the gate prick that I’m friends with you. He won’t let me in. And why on earth are you at rich people’s house? We’re poor. We don’t mix with snobby whites.”

Kenya’s eyes rolled at that, and not being familiar with the house route as yet, she made a turn into the dining room, “first of all, they’re not snobby, or white… mostly. Just shut up and wait for me to get out front.”

“Good to know you don’t think we’re snobby.” Bernice’s voice came from the floor in the furthest corner.

Eyes going down Kenya’s eyes went a bit wide, “good morning, Miss White.”

“Mrs Russi.” Giovanni corrected as he tightened his arms around his wife and kissed her cheek.

Bernice playfully rolled her eyes at that as she pushed him off of her and beckoned Kenya towards them. As soon as Kenya got within distance, the woman’s hands stretched up to have Kenya haul her up to her feet.

“Thanks.” She grunted out having been pulled just a little too close to Kenya, “you invited a friend?”

“Actually, he’s here to pick me up.” Kenya unintentionally whispered when Bernice looked up at her with a sweet smile. She couldn’t help but to admire her beauty this close. A small skip of the heartbeat at the close proximity. She stepped back though with a small clear of the throat, “Landon wasn’t here last night and I kind of need to get back to my apartment to take care of some things.”

“Well, I’m going to make breakfast and the job you were offered is a live-in one. So best friend can go until later on or he can join the breakfast.”

Bae had heard everything and him being the way he was, he yelled in the phone, “she sounds black! And I’m hungry! Don’t you dare turn me away!”

“May I?” Bernice asked pointing to the phone.

Handing over the phone, Kenya only watched as Bernice instructed her best friend to put the phone on speaker. She further demanded her gatekeeper to let him in.

“Isn’t this too much?” Kenya asked with her brows creasing, “you bought me a phone, clothes, gave me a hotel room for the week… you offered me a live-in job, just last night. Now you’re having my best friend for breakfast. You don’t know me.”

Bernice laughed at that giving back the phone as she stretched her back, a hand rested on her pregnant belly, “I did a background check the night I had Aiden send your picture. Much like Aide, you were a child prodigy, gifted with a knack for languages. You’ve had it hard and I’m willing to help. It’s up to you if you’ll take it or not. You can think on it. You can be Aiden’s language teacher while you stay… he really likes you, he doesn’t get along with children his age so well and he doesn’t have much company. But as I said. Think on it. Yeah?”

“Background check? Makes sense.” Kenya muttered to herself but nodded, “I’ll think on it.”

“Great! Mi ago wake Aiden cause him ago cuss mi if mi nuh mek him help with breakfast. I’ll be right back. Gio, come wash you face and brush yuh teeth please and thanks.”

“Coming, mia amore.” He groaned pushing himself off the floor.

Bae had been her best friend ever since running into him in the halls of a rundown apartment building her first time on her own. She hadn’t hit eighteen yet, but Kenya always looked older than her age and it paid to have fraudulent cousins.

At first, they didn’t think much of each other—as do many people—and went their merry ways, but gradually they became closer and their friendship felt undying ever since. It wasn’t the longest friendship, but to Kenya it might as well be a lifetime. She loved Bae to death and would do anything for him and he for her. Especially, after he never shunned her after finding out a secret that shouldn’t be of such a magnitude.

She leaned aside the mansion and watched as he climbed out his decent enough Honda Civic and smiled. He wore a bright hello t-shirt with a pair of black sweats, much with a dress style like hers when she went for comfort clothing.

Bae was handsome, slender built with muscular arms and his hair would always be neatly faded at the sides and back ever since she introduced him to her cousin who did barbering. A fresh Asian man with a black man’s hairline. He was mouth-watering, not to Kenya herself, but she knew what women wanted. If she had interests in men, Bae would’ve been on her top five. Him having a lobe piercing boosted his rankings on any random list too.

“Good morning. We can always leave it to you to think with your gut. She sounds black! Seriously? She heard everything.” Kenya told him pushing herself off the wall.

Bae only shrugged as he dapped her showcasing his even teeth with a dazzling grin, “well at least we know she ain’t a snob.”

“I hope she poisons us. I’m blaming you at hell’s gate.”

Her best friend scoffed at this tossing his arm over her shoulder and have her lead him towards the house entrance, “her accent was strong, so that food is sending us everywhere except hell.”

***

“Are you Kenya’s boyfriend?” Aiden asked finally making acknowledgement of the new man in the house.

He took notice of him since he got there, but Aiden was a bit of a jealous nature seeing the two sit together, chatting and chuckling away in hush tones. It annoyed him, but he said nothing and assumed maybe this was her boyfriend. He almost asked his mother why she invited him, but those thoughts died down when Kenya laughed with a shake of her head

“Never. This is Bae the best friend I told you who’s Korean.” She clarified taking a sip from her mug.

Everyone had taken a seat around the dining table with their plates full and before them. An extra seating was prepared, but no one said anything about it. Giovanni eyed it with a mixture of curiosity and annoyance though, it could be seen he fought to hold his tongue.

“Oh, yea! I almost forgot about that! 여보세요 만나서 반가워요!” He greeted in Bae’s native language, his words were slow and calculated, but his precision had the young man impressed.

Bae smiled brightly at that, “nice to meet you too. That was spot on. Can you write it?”

“No. I don’t know Hangul yet. Kenya says she will teach me Japanese. She told me you speak Korean… but she never said if you’d teach me too.”

“She’s learning from me actually. Maybe she could teach it to you after. To give you both more bonding time or something. I won’t be able to teach you on separate timing.”

Aiden shrugged at that as he took a slice of fried breadfruit between his fingers and bit into it, “sounds perfect. Kenya, what will you teach me first?”

“It depends and how well you are in the languages you’re already learning and the pace you learn in.” she murmured cutting into her pancake stack, “I don’t want to put too much on your mind. I know around thirteen languages, give or take two? And I still get some jumbled at times, especially having to switch between them a lot.”

This was where Bae let out a low whistle, “smart people tingz.”

Bernice laughed at that glancing up at the Asian who snorted, “sir, no.”

“I apologize.” He chuckled digging into the blueberry waffles before him. Both him and Kenya couldn’t help but to take notice of all the different foods prepared that morning. The lasagna Giovanni ate was probably preheated, but they took sight of sausage and baked beans and breadfruit in Aiden’s plate and in her own a turkey sandwich.

The only reason Kenya ate strawberry pancakes and Bae blueberry waffles was due to them simultaneously answering Bernice when she asked their preferences. They tried agreeing on the same thing, but that woman ignored them right after and proceeded to make the batter.

The two couldn’t help but to dish out their praises towards the chef skills, but Kenya’s eyes widened when she heard Bae ask Bernice, “Ms White, how do you balance all this with being the success you are in the model world?”

“Oh, you know?” she smiled munching into her sandwich.

Bae almost scoffed at that, “how could I not? You are the greatest ex-model success story in history. I promise you I am an arrow, but I admire modelling as an art and for you to model from your background and turn around to being the owner of one of the best competing model agencies out there. As a black woman. Hallelujah. I appraise you.” He gushed placing his hand over his chest, “and you are beautifully pregnant, throwing the island styled fashion show you did just nights ago? You’re superwoman.”

“I didn’t know that.” Kenya murmured taking another sip of her tea.

Bernice only smiled, “I found it cute that you didn’t… and I find that cute as well, Bae. Thank you. It feels good hearing that. My working isn’t in vain. I’ll be stepping from hands on work permanently in a few though. I told myself I’d dedicate myself solely to my family after this one finally pops out.”

“Really, mamma?” Aiden asked with wide eyes.

She only nodded at that. Her baby boy immediately jumped out his dining seat and tackled her into a hug, “thank you, thank you, thank you.”

Bernice didn’t say anything to that. It weighed a guilt on her knowing she allowed work to take her away this much for Aiden to react like this. She returned the hug though, and delivered a light kiss to his forehead, a fight to hold tears due to her hormones.

“Ti amo mamma.”

“I love you more. Also there’s a little surprise for you. I don’t know how long she’ll be here, but…” she trailed off glancing at the glowing text message from her phone.

Aiden paused hearing that, then followed his mother’s eyes to her phone screen. He immediately started cheering and ran out the dining room. Giovanni still had a sour expression as he looked at his wife, “who?”

Bernice only let out a low whistle as she took up her empty plate and went for the kitchen which earned her his gruff voice escalating, “Bernice, who did you invite!?”

“First of all, only hardworking man fi talk wid them chest like that.” Leanna announced as she stepped into the dining area, Aiden hooked onto her in a side hug.

Giovanni blinked, then left for the kitchen. He made sure to close the small window and door that separated the rooms.

Aiden didn’t pay attention to that. He was too excited for his big cousin visiting, she was like the bubbly, badass aunt he always wanted much like in the movies he watched.

“Kenya! This is my cousin Leanna.”

Attention caught, both Bae and Kenya craned their necks to look at the woman, even as she walked around the table, their eyes followed. Bae’s eyes widened, jaw slacked to the floor and his fork fell right out his hand. Kenya’s brows simply went up.

Leanna’s skin was the darkest shade Bae ever had the pleasure of witnessing in person. Her beauty was much outstanding having to resemble a living brats doll with the perfect button nose. Bae finally caught unto himself when he felt a bit of drool at the corner of his mouth and wiped it away. He had to tear his gaze away from the beauty to finally have himself looking for his almost forgotten fork.

“Here.” Aiden deadpanned in a knowing tone and handed the fork to the awe-struck Asian.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, the married couple stood at complete opposite ends of the average sized area. Bernice leaned against the furthest counter whilst her husband leaned right next to the fridge trying to keep as cool a façade he could ever muster up,

“Why is your younger cousin, Leanna here?” he asked clasping his hands, “do you not remember what that crazy cagna almost did to us her last time here? What she almost caused five months ago. I thought we were making progress. You finally cuddled with me last night. That is progression, is it not, mia amore?”

Bernice folded her arms at that, his gaze—though from a distance—had her shift her weight on her feet, “I missed her. She’s family despite what happened and she only had my best interest at heart.”

“She had you draw for divorce papers against me, Niecy!” He whisper-yelled, “she tried to separate us, after I admitted my fault. I gravelled, I begged for you more than needed for you to drop that. I spent two months in Italy to give you a break. You wouldn’t have even had me speak with Aiden. It was torture. Complete chaos and heartache.”

“If you never stuck your dick into someone else that wouldn’t happen.” She muttered almost bitterly to herself, but she brought herself to stand right before his towering height and wrapped her arms around him, “she’s the only relative of my blood father that I can really talk to and enjoy her company. Please. I promise this won’t end with a divorce threat again. I haven’t been able to have fun lately and you know I don’t have female friends… I don’t have the greatest luck with women.”

Giovanni remained silent as he stared into her almond eyes. Just staring into them had him submit with a sigh and gentle hold of her face, “no revenge sex. I know her. Have all your fun, but please don’t let her convince you to cheat on me. Two wrongs don’t make a right.”

“Okay.” She nodded, her mind being far from that. But it made sense why he would think of it. Leanna was a promiscuous girl and her first solution was to cheat back on the man. Bernice must admit. She almost caved in by kissing her driver at the time, but she stopped herself and found him a job elsewhere before letting him go since he actually confessed to feelings for her. Feelings she couldn’t reciprocate.

This time round, her and Leanna would have some innocent fun. Hopefully.

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