18. Privacy ♔︎

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| King of Hearts |

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By: Janae Destiny

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"I forgot this shit was in my hair," Kiara said as she took the clips out and then started to unravel each braid when they made it to her parents' house.

"You don't want your family to see how pretty Ava did your hair?" Marco teased her.

She just rolled her eyes at him as she continued undoing each braid.

"I know you most likely won't," Kiara started. "But don't tell nobody where my parents' house is at. Don't take no pictures to send to your friends, don't post nothing about being here on your story, none of that. Cause my daddy don't play that shit. And I'm being deadass serious."

"Got it," Marco nodded his head. "I wouldn't do no shit like that anyway. I respect people's privacy. I ain't even told my friends where we moved to cause Monie don't want her baby daddy to know where we at."

"So he don't know his daughter is here?"

"Nope. And he only pretends to care about Ava anyway. He don't actually give a shit about her. That fuck ass nigga," Marco scoffed.

"You don't like him?"

"Fuck no, I don't like him. I've known the nigga since I was like seven and I knew he was a bitch even then."

"Well at least you ain't gotta worry bout him as much now," Kiara settled on because she wasn't sure how else to respond to that without getting too much into their personal business. Especially when Aiden is not someone they should be discussing at all when Monie isn't around.

"Hopefully," Marco mumbled under his breath.

"Alright, let's go," Kiara finally turned the car off after taking all of the braids out of her hair and fluffing it back out.

As the two were getting out of Kiara's car, Keenan King was pulling up in his BMW 8 series.

"Yo, that's your pops?" Marco whispered to Kiara.

"Yup," Kiara got out of her car and stood next to it while she waited for her father to get out of his.

He took his time getting out of the car because he was on the phone when he pulled up. But when he noticed Kiara was waiting on him, he cut the phone conversation short and got out to greet his daughter and the young boy standing next to her.

"Hey daddy," Kiara crossed her arms over her chest as he walked towards them.

"Wassup baby girl," he leaned in and gave his daughter a kiss on the cheek. "You aight? Why you got your arms folded like that?"

"I'm fine," but she never did uncross her arms when she said it.

"You still mad at me?"

"No."

And she wasn't lying either. She wasn't mad at him, or anyone for that matter.

"Mmhm," Keenan hummed. "We gone talk about all this later tonight. All of us, the whole family."

"I'm busy tonight."

"Well can you become un-busy?"

"That's not how that works. I already made plans."

"What you doing that's so important?" He asked.

"What you was doing in Atlanta that was so important?"

"Aight, chill out," Keenan said as he glanced over at Marco because he didn't want Kiara to say too much in front of him. "And who is this? He a friend of Cameron or sumn?"

"He can speak for himself."

"My bad. I'm Keenan," he held his hand out towards Marco. "Keenan King."

"I'm-" Marco stuttered as he accepted the handshake. "I... I'm Marco. Marco Heart. It's so nice to meet you, sir."

Keenan is a lot taller in person than Marco ever imagined. He's never actually met anyone that stands at 6'10 in person. And Marco wanted to say so much more than just his name. He wanted to tell Keenan how much of an inspiration he is when it comes to the sport but decided all of that could wait for another time.

"It's nice to meet you too. You Cameron's friend?"

"Uhm, we're cool," Marco shrugged. They've only spent a small amount of time around each other to be calling Cameron a 'friend' so soon. "Kiara and my sister are friends though. That's how I know them."

"Oh, aight. But it's hot as hell out here, so come on. Let's go inside," Keenan held his arm out for Marco to walk ahead of him and Kiara.

Normally Keenan would question anyone he's never met much more than that when they just show up at his house without him knowing, but he came home for a very specific reason. He had a lot on his mind at the moment to even think about asking Marco any other questions.

"You told this kid not to take no pictures of my house, right?" Keenan whispered so only Kiara would hear him.

"Yes, daddy. And he's a good kid so calm down."

The three of them entered the house and it smelt like warm vanilla and coconut. Marco loved the smell and wanted some of whatever it is Chloe was in the kitchen making.

"Hi mama," Kiara immediately went to the kitchen to greet her mother.

"Hi baby. And hello..." she dragged out the last word as if she were asking who Marco was.

"I'm Marco," he held his hand out.

"It's nice to meet you, Marco. I'm Chloe," she accepted his handshake.

"It's nice to meet you too, ma'am."

Chloe didn't even ask any further questions about who Marco was or why he was in her house. Because truthfully, she didn't care that much. She just put on a pair of oven mitts before asking, "Kiara, baby, can you please open the oven for me?"

"Sure," Kiara did just that and stood back so her mother could take her coconut cake out of the oven and walked it over to set it on the counter to cool.

"Hey Chloe-" Keenan started when he finally walked into the kitchen.

"Keenan," Chloe was so shocked to see her husband after not hearing from him for multiple days that she almost dropped the pan of toto as she walked from the oven over to the island. "Where the hell have you been?"

"I was in Atlanta. For... a business trip," he very obviously lied because Marco was standing right there.

"Right. Yuh muss take mi fi fool," Chloe mumbled under her breath.

Marco definitely noticed the tension between them but didn't comment on it for obvious reasons.

"Where's Cameron?" Kiara asked to quickly change the subject.

"Upstairs," Chloe answered. "He's had an attitude since yesterday when Luna dropped him back off over here. So I'm glad you're taking him. Please take him. He's been disrespectful as hell all fucking day."

"Cameron has an attitude and is being disrespectful?" Kiara raised both of her eyebrows because that didn't sound like him whatsoever.

"Why don't you go upstairs and see for yourself."

"Come on Marco," Kiara motioned for him to follow her to the steps.

Kiara walked down the hallway to one of the guest bedrooms and knocked on the closed door.

"A who dat?" She heard from the other side of the door.

"It's me. Come open di door, nuh?" Kiara just responded back when she tried to open it and realized it was locked.

"Hey Kiara," Cameron said once he finally got up and opened the door. "And hi, Marco."

"Wassup?" Marco gave him a slight head nod.

"Nuttin much. How yuh stay?"

"Could be better, but I'm aight."

"Mi feel yuh on dat."

"Are you ready to go?" Kiara asked. "And we spending the day with Monie again, if that's okay with you."

"Yeah, mi ready from long time. Aunty Chloe just recently calm down when mi tell har you ah come fi me. She just ah gwaan wit har yelling and carrying on fi no reason at all."

"Then why she down there saying you're the one who's been disrespectful and have an attitude?"

"Yuh tell me," Cameron shrugged. "Cause mi would like to know too. She been in a bad mood since Luna drop me off yesterday evening."

"Well, what did you say to her?" Kiara asked even though she knows her mother is a very sensitive woman and not at all hard to offend.

"The same thing I been saying. That I don't want to live here with her and that I want to go back home. I guess that upset her because she start yelling after that. But if she thinks me telling her how I feel about being here is being disrespectful then I don't know what to say."

Cameron looked at Marco and then back at Kiara before continuing.

"Him nuh know nuttin ah gwaan, eeh? Mi nah waan talk and nuh taste mi tongue like seh mi a claffy," he said very quickly.

And by the look of confusion on Marco's face, Cameron could tell that he didn't understand anything he said.

"No," Kiara responded. "Him nuh know nuttin ah gwaan."

"A true mi nah waan chat people business, so mi nah waan seh too much. Already deh pon thin line wit Aunty Chloe."

"We can talk about this later then. Cause I for one am not trying to be here any longer than I have to be."

"Then let's go," Cameron went and picked up his book bag from next to the bed.

"Kiara," Keenan called her over when they made their way back to the main level of the house.

He was sitting at the counter eating a piece of toto while Chloe stood on the other side of the kitchen, leaning against the counter with her arms folded very defensively across her chest.

It was obvious the two of them had a lot to discuss, which is why Kiara wanted to get out of the house as quickly as possible before she was dragged into it.

"Y'all go to the car," Kiara held her keys out, not caring who took them. "I'll be right there."

"Aight," Marco nodded his head as he accepted the keys from her hand.

"Yes, daddy?" Kiara finally answered as she walked toward him.

"You said you're busy tonight, so when will you be free for us all to sit down and talk?"

"All of us? Including Luna and Cameron?"

"Yes," he nodded his head. "I think there's a lot that needs to be discussed as a family."

"I think there's a lot you two have to discuss. I don't want to be part of y'all bullshit. If y'all getting divorced, that's fine. But ain't no need to involve us in it. Especially not Cameron."

"So you don't feel no way about Cameron actually being your brother?" Chloe asked.

"What exactly is there to feel? I'm upset that you lied to all of us, but that's about it. Cameron is still my family no matter what, and nothing is gonna change that..."

"So you gone be living with Kiara's parents?" Marco brought up when the two were in the car waiting on Kiara while she talked to her parents.

Cameron was in the front passenger seat and Marco was in the back.

"With Aunty Chloe, yeah."

"Hmm..." Marco hummed because there was only one explanation for why Cameron would be living with Chloe only, but he pretended it went over his head. "But you don't want to?"

"Don't think anyone gives a shit about what I want," Cameron mumbled. "So it doesn't even matter."

"Yeah, I get that. And our situations kinda similar in a way. We just moved here, actually. Last week."

"And already yuh sister so close to Kiara?"

"I said the same shit. You'd swear they knew each other longer than just a week. At least one of us is making friends though," Marco pouted.

He's very used to being a social butterfly and being around his friends/peers because they're a good distraction from all of the not so great things he's been through. This transition, moving to a new place where they don't know anyone, is harder for Marco in ways Monie didn't even realize. And because he never wants to add any more unnecessary stress to her life, he tends to keep things like that to himself.

"I don't really know anybody here either, if that makes yuh feel a likkle better. I only know my family cause I'd only ever come to visit them during the summers. All my friends are back home, so I'm starting school by myself too."

"What school you gonna be going to here? Yuh know, if you really do end up staying with Chloe?"

"East Dade Academy. I'm gonna be starting the tenth grade."

"Aren't you fourteen? Shouldn't you be a freshman? How you gonna be in the same grade as me?"

"I don't really know how all that works here. I just know I'm going to the tenth grade. What school are you going to?" Cameron flipped the question on Marco.

"I have no idea. Whichever one is closest to where we stay at I guess," he shrugged.

"Well, Chloe says East Dade is one of the best schools in the county. It's a charter school I think, and it's where both Kiara and Luna went."

"Wait, that's the school Keenan does a whole bunch of philanthropist stuff for?"

"Mmhm," Cameron nodded his head. "Has a scholarship programme there too I think."

"Shit, that's where I needa be at. Almost all they players get athletic scholarships for college. And you said you run track, right?"

"Yeah. And yuh said yuh play basketball?"

"Yup-"

"My mom gave me a big ass piece of that coconut cake for some reason," Kiara unintentionally cut Marco off when she got into the car already talking. "She knows I don't even like it, so yall can have it if you want."

"Yuh good Kiara?" Cameron asked her because her energy seemed a little off.

"I'm fine," she buckled her seatbelt so they could head back to Miami Beach. "What was y'all in here talking about?" She only asked to be nosey.

"School mostly," Cameron answered.

"And speaking of school," Marco cleared his throat from the back seat. "You know what school district the condo is in?"

"Miami Beach High School. I can't remember which elementary school though. Why?"

"Cause Cameron said he's going to East Dade Academy. And I wanna know how I can get into that school instead."

"It's an application and interview process you gotta go through. I'm not even gonna lie to you, it's hard as hell to get into East Dade."

"Damn it," he slouched down further into his seat because he knew there was no way he would pass that. There's a certain type of family prestigious charter schools like East Dade Academy are looking to accept, and Marco had very little faith that he fit that standard.

"But I graduated from there, and my dad is still close with administration. A good reference always helps."

"Ooh, nepotism," Marco joked. "I've never experienced that before. It feels good. Don't worry, I won't let this power go to my head."

"Marco, please," Kiara couldn't help but laugh. "You really funny as hell, you know that?"

"I've heard it once or twice before. But on a more serious note though, you'd really ask your father to help me get into East Dade Academy? You think he'd really go for that?"

"I don't see why not. If it's one thing my dad is adamant about, it's young Black men and education."

"Look at that, you might have a friend when school starts after all," Marco patted Cameron on the shoulder before sitting back against his seat.

"Oh, so we friends now?" Cameron laughed, but he wasn't against the idea of having Marco as a friend though.

"We gone be. You seem cool as hell, I'm definitely cool as hell. It just makes sense."

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