A Secret To Treasure

Alana Evans

When I heard the front door slam, I cried. I knew he wouldn't accept this baby, because he doesn't accept me. He never will. My heart was broken once again on a bathroom floor. But, unlike me finding Mon'Keese, no one was going to find me and sober me up. I had to be my own strength and Houston wasn't going to be where I found it. I'm going home. Luckily, I didn't sell my brownstone in Brooklyn. Reaching out to a cleaning service, my house would feel like I never left when I get back. I booked my flight and reserved a car service to pick me up. All I had to do now was shower and pack. I'm getting out of Houston today.
After digging through my clothes to get my things packed up, I realized nothing fit. So, it was pointless to pack a bag when I could just go shopping in New York tomorrow. I gathered my personal items, threw them in my Louis Vuitton backpack, grabbed my keys and my laptop bag before I was out the door.
Hopefully, Mon'Keese didn't put up too much of a protest. I really just needed to clear my mind. I needed to smell the funk of my city and see my mother's face. She's going to be so excited for this baby. I hope some of her joy spreads to me.
As the elevator opened, I heard Keyani's little voice. A woman, most likely her mother, had her back turned to me knocking on the door. When the elevator opened completely, Keyani noticed me and ran to me. In the short time that we've been around each other, we've gotten cool. Dropping my bags, I scooped her up.
"KeyKey, where you been munchkin?" Placing kisses on her cheeks.
"Daddy not opening the door." Key informed me.
"He might not be in there, mama, let me see."
Looking up, I saw a familiar face. The lady from the doctor's office... Treasure.
"Hey! Lala, right?"
"Yes! You're Key's mom?" I asked.
"I am. You're Mon'Keese's girlfriend?"
"Oh nooo... I'm his assistant! Let me get this door open, so we can go inside."
I didn't want to get any further into this conversation. Opening the door, I heard the shower running. Almost instantly, my heart dropped, and I ran to the bathroom.

And there he was... just showering.
"What's up?"
"Nothing... um, Treasure is in the living room with Keyani. I'm just dropping off the keys." I muttered.
"You don't gotta leave. We have stuff that we need to discuss, you running off to New York ain't gone fix shit."
"I just need a break Kee. I'm overwhelmed and this pregnancy is a lot to digest. You're not ready for this, I'm not ready for a baby." I said.
"Just stay LaLa. I'll give you a break, I'll give you space. I'll give you whatever you need, but I need you here." He said exiting the shower.
"Kee, I need love. I need to be surrounded by people who love me. Not someone who's depending on me to keep their world from crashing down. I want to be with my family!"
"You don't think I love you, La?"

I know he doesn't love me. And if he did, it wasn't in a romantic way. He loves me like you love your cell phone. I wanted to be loved by someone who can't live without me because I give them joy. Kee loves me because I hold him together. I hate that. I hate that I'm madly in love with a man that doesn't see me as good enough.

"Not like I love you. I'll see you later Kee." I said leaving him in that bathroom.

Walking back towards the door, Treasure was seated at the bar in the kitchen.

"He's still putting that shit up his nose?" She asked not even looking up. I was shocked because I didn't know she knew about his addiction.
"You don't even have to say nothing. I saw how you ran to that bathroom. That's been me too many times before. Everybody thinks I'm terrible for not telling him about Keyani, but I know a side of Mon'Keese that only a few people are privy to. The baby is his?"
I nodded.
"Protect yourself and protect your baby. Keese isn't a bad person. He just has his fair share of demons that he's been running from for over nea
r 15 years." She paused. "I was just like you. Hell, you're probably the new me. I hid his secrets until it damn near killed me. Just when I needed him the most, kind of like you do now, he couldn't be there for me. It's taken me years to see that Mon'Keese loved me out of necessity. I couldn't even open my eyes to see a blessing right in front of me because I built this wall to protect me from men like him. The self-proclaimed good guys are the worst ones. You leaving?"
I nodded again. I didn't know what to say, she was singing my life. Just as I found the words I needed, Kee appeared from the back.
"Tres, what's up? This is LaLa, my assistant. Where's my babydoll?" He asked.

"I met LaLa a few days ago. We go to the same doctor." She said standing up and walking towards him. Treasure walked up so close to him, it looked like she was going to kiss him.

"Mon'Keese, you know me, right? You know how I get down with you? I've done a very good job at keeping my daughter safe and protected for these last 3 years and I will allow no one, and I mean absolutely NO ONE, to disturb the balance in her life nor disrupt her peace. Do you understand that?" Almost instantaneously, his eyes shot to me as if I'd let the cat out of the bag.

"Don't you dare look at her. Look at me. Is my daughter in danger here?" Under the hostility in Treasure's voice and the fire in her glare, it was like Kee was melting right in front of her. Hell, even I got a little scared.
"No, she's good. Everything is okay. I'm good. I'm clean." He said in the softest, weakest voice.
"You clean because it's Sunday and you got workouts tomorrow. If you going to be around my daughter, your ass gone stay clean. I'm gone make sure of it. I thought by now, you would've let that shit go or at least have gotten caught up. But of course not, you know how to play the system." Laughing she grabbed her purse. "Me and LaLa, we're going to take a lil ride and I'm going to let her know about the real Mon'Keese. Because Lord knows this girl will never know the truth, you'll never speak it. I'll be back here in two hours to take my baby home."
"You can't just take her, we signed a custody agreement. It's my time!" He finally spoke up.
"Nigga, I don't give a fuck about them papers. You lucky I don't beat your motherfucking ass in here. Like I said, I'll be back in two hours to get my child. Drink plenty of water because I'm going to get a drug test and you will piss in the cup. I'm gon' be popping up on yo ass 24/7, whenever I feel like it, so make sure that there's a key waiting for me when I get back. And Tiny's ass better not be over here no more because I know she got something to do with this shit!" She headed towards the door. "Come on LaLa, we got shit to do. Mon'Keese, don't fucking play with me. This is your first and final warning, if I catch drugs in this motherfucking house, I'm gone tell the NFL, the NBA, CNN, TMZ, and any and EVERY motherfucka I come across until you ain't got shit left to your name. Try me!" And with that she walked out of the door leaving me with a part of this man I had never seen before. She broke him down, he literally had tears in his eyes.
"You gone come back, La? Please come back. You all I got. You and the kids. I promise, I'm gone get better. If I gotta check myself into rehab, I won't use no more. I'm not mad about you telling Treasure. She deserves to know. I'll go to therapy again. You can move up here with me! Just please, I'm begging you, don't leave me like this." Kee was at my feet on his knees. I didn't know what to do. Never in my life would I have imagined this, him, or us being in this situation. This shit was worse than I thought, and it's apparently been going on for longer than I could've known. Staring into his eyes, I wiped the tears off of his face. It was like I was staring down at a troubled little boy.
"Get up baby." I said pulling him from the floor and into my arms for a hug. "Go clean yourself up, and then go spend time with Key. When I come back, I'll fix you some food and we'll talk about how things will go from here. I gotta go."
"La, I know I haven't been the best at showing it, but I'm thankful for you and I love you. I'm gone make you and my little man proud. Just work with me." He said walking me to the door.

Exiting the apartment, I followed Treasure to the elevator. My mind had already been blown enough for one day, I didn't know what she was about to drop on me but I'm sure I can't take too much more.