Page 109 of Taming a Menace
I’d made such a mess of an avoidable situation. Now I had been backed into a corner and forced to push him out of my life. Obviously, Keywan wasn’t having that. Showing up at my house in the middle of the night rambling about making things right proved that. Add on the fact that he had been drinking, and it was just an accident waiting to happen.
There was no way I could let him drive anywhere drunk. Besides, I wanted to see him. I had been sulking and crying for days trying to figure out a way to escape the ramifications of what we had gotten caught up in.
“I’m not that drunk,” Keywan fussed as he stepped out of the truck.
“I know, baby. Come on inside.”
“Are you mad at me?” he asked, draping his arm over my shoulder.
“For drinking and driving? Yes. You could have killed yourself or someone else. What were you thinking?”
“I was thinking I couldn’t go another minute without seeing you. Don’t be mad with daddy for fucking up your life, Moon. I’m going to fix this shit for you. Tomorrow I’m going to fix it.”
“You didn’t do anything, Keywan. Don’t think about that right now. Just come inside and sleep it off.”
“I can’t sleep you off though. I know what I want to do, Iyla. I can’t have you hating me for ruining your life.”
“You didn’t ruin my life, Keywan. I made the decision to get involved with you. I knew better.”
“I wanted you to be my wife. I don’t know how I fucked this up, Moonie. I was never supposed to hurt you. I’m sorry, OK? I promise I’m going to make it right.”
“You didn’t hurt me, baby,” I said, sitting when we finally made it to the couch.
Keywan plopped down next to me and haphazardly kicked off his boots. He stretched his legs out and laid his head in my lap and closed his eyes. Instinctually, I rubbed the top of his head as he snuggled in closer.
“I need you to tell your boss that I’ve been stalking you,” he said as he nestled his head into my lap. “I been texting your work phone talking crazy for the past couple of nights. I don’t want you to think I’m crazy. I know what I’m doing.”
I chuckled under my breath. Even if he wasn’t crazy, he was freaking crazy. “Just go to sleep, baby. We will talk in the morning.”
I hadn’t even checked my work phone since I wasn’t on call. Most of the time when my patients sent messages it was to cancel sessions and appointments. It was the weekend, soneither was necessary. Now I was curious about what in the world Key had sent to my phone.
“There’s nothing to talk about in the morning. I can’t let you go down for this. I’m going to let my parole officer violate me. I’ll go back to prison if I have to. I just need to know that you’ll be waiting for me when I come home,” he mumbled.
“You’re not going to prison, Key.”
“It’s happening, Moon. I wanted to kill him, but I didn’t. I’m still thinking about beating his ass. That’s what I was supposed to do. It’s hard not going to his office and dragging him across his desk. I haven’t done it though. See how you changed me? You made me soft, Moonie. I’m like the marshmallow man now, and I don’t even care. I’ll be soft for you. Just wait for me, baby. I don’t know how long I’ll be gone.”
“You’re not going anywhere, Keywan.”
“I broke in your house,” he said, causing my head to snap back.
“What? When?” I quizzed.
“That night that someone broke in. Remember when you called me saying someone tried to get in your house? It was me,” he confessed.
“Keywan, what the fuck? Why would you do something like that?”
“I was jealous. I didn’t want you going on a date with nobody knowing you were mine. I didn’t do anything. I just made sure the alarm system went off. I didn’t expect you to call me. That was a bonus.”
“Oh my God. Youarecrazy. Aren’t you?”
“Crazy about you. I’m not the same man I was before I went to prison. I’m not even the man I was when we met. Every day I feel like I get better. That’s because of you. You made me want to change. You make me better. That’s why I have to do this. I have to take the fall for what we did.
“It’s OK, baby. I’ll do whatever it takes. As much as I love you, I didn’t only change for you. I changed because I know my life is worth more than what my temper ever gave me. Every chance it got, it fucked me. You helped me realize that I’m my biggest problem. You saw a better version of me than I even knew existed. Whatever I have to do to protect you is as good as done.”
“Just rest, baby,” I said continuing to rake my fingers through the thick carpet of waves on his head.
I wasn’t letting Keywan go back to prison when this was on me. It was my jealous ex who was threatening to expose our relationship. It was me who decided to keep him on as a patient knowing that we had history however brief. I was the one who violated all kinds of ethical codes and policies to continue a sexual relationship with someone off limits. This wasn’t on Keywan to fix.
