Page 34 of All The Smoke

K aori.

“How cute is this?” Morgan gushed as she pulled another Moncler outfit from one of her mini bags.

I was in the breakroom eating my lunch and she was spending hers with me, showing me all of the things she’d gotten for Silas.

Her, my mother, her mother, hell even her father, had been buying stuff since we found out I was having a baby boy.

The doctor said she was kind of shocked by my reaction when learning I was getting the opposite sex of what I’d told her I wanted because apparently most people threw tantrums when they got a boy after wanting a girl, but not me.

I was just excited to know I had a healthy baby on the way.

“Morgan, I thought you were to get food.”

“I was, but I can’t go to the mall and get my godson nothing, Kaori.” She rolled her eyes. “What kind of neglect is that?”

“Girl, he is not going to be able to wear all of the shit y’all have been buying him.”

“Why? We’re going to change him several times a day.”

Chuckling, I shook my head and drank some of my sweet tea. I didn’t even like tea, but it had become yet another obsession of mine since becoming pregnant and I only wanted it from The Deli with crab cakes from Ocean’s.

“You must plan to keep some of that at your place.”

“And can, hoe.” She rolled her eyes and put the stuff away. “You’re saying that like he wasn’t going to have stuff at my house any fucking ways.”

“I wasn’t.” I laughed. “I was just saying.”

“Mhm, did you see the video of your man bitching Jamal?”

My brows furrowed. “What video?”

Rolling her eyes yet again, she reached into her bag and produced her phone before clicking around on the screen. “Forgot you live under a fucking rock.”

“Girl, just show me,” I fussed. “Always talking shit.”

Once she found what she was looking for, she handed me the phone. I watched in amazement and horror as Solomon talked shit to Jamal and even giggled a little when he hit him. I felt a little bad because Jamal wasn’t normally that scared, but I guessed that just depended on who he was dealing with.

When we were together I didn’t really talk to Elijah and Bernard and that was mainly because Jamal thought it was disrespectful.

But I did know I could have gotten in touch with them if I needed to and Jamal knew that too which was why he was always careful about how he handled me most of the time.

Well, them and my parents. He knew my people didn’t play about me, but on the flip side he knew I liked to keep them out of my business too.

“I can’t believe he slapped him like that,” I said as I handed her phone back.

“I’m glad he did,” she countered and shrugged. “And you better not feel bad for him.”

“I don’t. Now it makes sense why he was blowing me up on messenger.”

She frowned. “You don’t have his loser ass blocked?”

“Yes, hoe, I do, but I didn’t block him on messenger.” I rolled my eyes. “I forgot that that’s a thing.”

“Have you been answering him?”

“No,” I replied quickly. Her eyes narrowed into slits as if she was trying to decide whether or not she wanted to believe me. “I’m not, bitch.”

“I know how you are for him, Kaori.”

“How I was ,” I corrected. “Those feelings are long gone. I have Solomon now.” I shrugged.

“I hope you’re serious because Smoke is a great guy, bestie. I mean we did jump him, but he’s still a good man, nonetheless.”

“As if I don’t know that better than you.”

“Well, I’m just doing my best friend duties and making sure you don’t forget.”

We talked for a little more, then she went back to work while I finished my lunch and texted Solomon.

He had Solo for a few days but had dropped him off to his parents and not because he wanted to either.

He was adamant about them getting him on their own from Solo’s mom, but from what he told me, they didn’t get along with her at all.

So I was able to talk him into taking the baby to them.

I wanted him to work on their relationship because I wanted our baby to have their love just like he would have my parents’, but I also knew Solomon would have to make that decision on his own.

After making promises to come see him when I got off, I tossed all of my trash then went to the bathroom to brush my teeth and floss before getting back to work.

I had a few more hours left at work and they were busy.

We had three families come in with four siblings so I was doing cleanings, x-rays, and taking notes back to back.

“Alright, so you probably have noticed the white spots at the top of your teeth right below the gum line?” I asked and the little boy in the chair nodded.

“That comes from letting the plaque sit too long. You have to not only make sure you’re brushing daily, but make sure you’re brushing long enough, multiple times a day. ”

“Is there a way to get the white spots to go away?” his mom asked.

“Unfortunately not,” I answered. “But he can improve his brushing to prevent it from worsening.”

“But what is causing it exactly?” she asked.

“More than likely poor eating habits. Eating highly acidic foods eats away at the enamel. Also, looking at his x-rays, I can tell he probably drinks a lot of sugary drinks?” When mom confirmed, I nodded.

“We have to cut back on those. I know kids hate it, but water is what’s best. Even when playing sports.

Gatorades are just as bad as sodas in some instances. ”

The plus side to my godmother being the owner of the dental office was she taught me things I wouldn’t know quite yet.

Because I was a dental assistant, it wasn’t exactly my job to read x-rays or talk about them with my patients and their families, but Treva made sure I was ahead of the game and allowed me to do so in her office.

She still came in behind me, but I appreciated the extra lessons and her trusting me enough to talk with patients on her behalf.

We talked a little more about proper hygiene and dieting before Treva came over to take a look and devised a plan to pull some of the teeth that were too far gone and care for the rest going forward.

I was completely exhausted after my long workday and didn’t want to do anything but go home and crawl in bed, but I couldn’t.

I had to stay behind and discuss the teeth whitening I wanted to do with Treva and figure out how I was going to do it while working under her license.

I was so close to the finish line with school and she didn’t want anything to deter me from getting my white coat.

I felt so much better about my plan and was amped to get started right away, only planning to service my relatives and close friends for the time being.

After I was official I could offer the services myself without worry, so I didn’t work myself too hard since I was still working and going to school.

As I made my way to my car, I noticed a very nice Cadillac parked next to mine.

It threw me off a little because it was parked in the employee lot and I hadn’t ever seen it before.

I shrugged it off, thinking maybe someone got a new car and hadn’t said anything, but got the shock of my life when the First Lady stepped out of the driver side once I made it to my car.

“Kiara Randall?”

“ Kaori ,” I corrected, annoyed that she messed up my name. It was a common mistake, but something told me she’d done it on purpose. I decided to remain respectful and introduce myself so I extended my hand and said, “But yes, that’s me, nice to meet you.”

Looking me up and down, she locked her hands in front of her and gave me a fake ass smile. “I wish I could say the same.”

My brows furrowed and my head reared back a little. “I’m sorry?”

“You’re pregnant with my son’s bastard baby?”

My eyes narrowed into slits. “Excuse me?”

“Look, I don’t mean to be rude…”

I cut her off. “But you are. This is your grandchild and?—”

“Allegedly,” she cut in. “It’s my alleged grandchild.”

This bitch!

“No, ma’am, it’s not allegedly , this is for sure a Tate baby. I’m sure of it and so is your son.”

“My son isn’t really sure of anything which is why he keeps making the mistake of getting women like you pregnant.”

“Women like me?”

“Yes. Loose women that?—”

“Listen, lady, I’m trying my best to remain respectful but you’re really trying it, okay? There is nothing loose about me. Your son is only the second man I have ever been with in my life.”

She shrugged. “Be that as it may…”

“It may, hoe,” I spat.

Gone was that goofy ass, fake ass smile plastered on her face. I could tell she hadn’t expected me to fire back at her, but fuck that. She wasn’t going to disrespect me and get away with it. Fuck that!

“Oh, there it is.” She chuckled sarcastically. “That’s the real you right there.”

“You don’t know me to state who or what the real me is, ma’am.”

“Which is the problem,” she countered. “Solomon is the son of a very prestigious man…”

“The same man literally no one knows has a son?” I frowned.

“Little girl you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I know what Smoke has told me which means not only do you have him as your son, but you also have Noah whom you both have abandoned.”

That quickly all of her confidence, as well as her color, faded.

She clearly hadn’t expected me to know that.

It was apparent this woman thought I was just some kind of bop to Solomon, but she had things totally confused.

It wasn’t my job to clear that up nor was it her place to come to my job being rude.

“Listen, I didn’t come here to discuss things you know nothing about, little girl…”

I cut her off. “I know enough and I’m grown. Now, let’s cut the shit and get to the reason you’re stalking me.”

Her eyes narrowed into slits. “I wonder if my son knows how disrespectful you really are.”

“And I wonder if he knows you’re here.” I folded my arms in front of me.