Page 69 of Heavy Is The Crown

“So, what’s the issue?” she asked, tilting her head. “You don’t like the fact that she moved on?”

Kenyatta shook his head quickly. “Nah, I don’t care about that.” He paused. “I just don’t like who she moved on with. That nigga got the same lifestyle that had me locked up. But since he got money, she think that makes it better.”

Ah.

Now she got it. It wasn’t about this Brooke chic moving on; it was about watching someone else live the life he left behind. Watching a man with the same hustle, same dangers, but without the consequences Kenyatta had to face.

Krys studied him, noting the way his jaw tightened just mentioning it. “You ever tell Brooke how you feel about that?”

Kenyatta let out a dry laugh. “And get cussed out? Nah, I’m good.”

Krys smirked. “Mmhmm. Thought so.”

Kenyatta side-eyed her. “You real comfortable talking about my situation.”

Krys shrugged. “You the one venting. I’m just listening.”

He scoffed, shaking his head, but there was no irritation in it. She had a point.

They sat in companionable silence for a moment, the hum of the city faint in the distance.

Then Krys spoke again. “Your lil girl…she’s aware of everything, you know…between you and her mama…You and why things happened the way they did?”

Kenyatta’s entire posture changed. His shoulders stiffened slightly, and for the first time since she met him, his confidence flickered.

“Kaliyah knows.” His voice was quieter now. “I mean, I don’t know how much she really understands, but she ain’t dumb. She knows I went away. She knows I ain’t been around like I should’ve.”

His voice dropped slightly.

“And I know she’s still trying to figure out if she should even get excited about me being back.”

That hit Krys in the chest because that was real.

She took in the way he stared out at nothing, jaw tight, expression unreadable. And for the first time since this started, she realized that this wasn’t a game for him, either. This was a man trying to figure out how to fix something that had already been broken.

Krys respected that.

She tapped her fingers against her thigh before asking, “You ever tell her that?”

Kenyatta frowned. “Tell her what?”

“That you know you let her down.”

Kenyatta went quiet.

Krys tilted her head. “You think she doesn’t already know? Kids aren’t dumb, Kenyatta. They know when we fail them.”

Kenyatta leaned forward, rubbing his hands together. “Yeah, but what’s admitting it gon’ do?”

“Maybe let her know you acknowledge your past mistakes with her and how they may have made her feel…and that you’re now actually trying to rectify it all.”

Kenyatta didn’t respond. Because he had never thought about it that way. He had spent so much time proving he was back, trying to do right, that he never stopped to just acknowledge what had been broken. Krys could recognize that easily.

She let the silence settle before shifting the conversation slightly. “So, what’s up with you and your mom?”

Kenyatta let out a short, humorless laugh. “What ain’t up? She irritated with me, I’m irritated with her.”

Krys frowned. “Why?”

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