Future Consequences by Phillip Keels

Author:Phillip Keels [Keels, Phillip]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-02-02T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Chill

Nowhere feels like home...

He pulled up at Jamal’s apartment complex and sat in the car briefly. It has cost him extra trying to get his tires fixed after they had been slashed by some woman that only God knew. Chantel would have been his ride, but she wasn’t answering her calls.

Chill looked at the rundown apartment in front of him and shook his head. It looked horrible. Jamal and Chantel used to have a nice house in the Point, but after Jamal got locked up, they got behind on the mortgage and lost the house. He would have been more than glad to help them out then, but it was one of those times he went missing in Virginia. He hated visiting this part of town. It was difficult to pretend that everything was fine and that he had not known his cousin’s wife for most of his life.

As he exited the car, an oddly familiar voice got his attention.

“No way, that’s him!”

But he looked around and saw nobody outside. He shook his head, wondering if the stressful day had caused him hallucinations, before heading upstairs. The door was open, showing that they had been expecting him, and the kids who were watching television instantly turned their heads to him.

“Uncle C!”

“Uncle C!”

Alani bolted towards him, attempting to spear him with a hug, but he caught her and threw her in the air.

“Lani, when’d you get so big? Almost sent me flying!”

She playfully laughed as he put her back down, dabbing Di’Vanni before patting his back.

“Big, man! How’s it going?”

“It’s going good!” Di’Vanni said cooly.

Chill saw Jamal walking into the living room. He could also see Chantel in the kitchen from where he stood.

“I missed y’all, and guess what? We going to see the Knicks beat the Hornets to a pulp on Saturday night!” he said.

The kids started screaming with joy. Even Alani, who had zero idea what he meant, was excited.

Chantel glared at him.

“Who said you can take my kids anywhere?”

Chill was taken aback by her attitude but was cut off by Jamal.

“What’s up, Cuz?” he asked before staring at Chantel. “And Chill out with all the negative energy, T. You just need to focus on what you doing there.”

She gave him the middle finger before going back to slicing some vegetables. She and Jamal had always had something akin to a love/hate relationship, but something about her felt different that evening. No matter the problem, she was never outrightly rude to Chill.

“Well, hello to you too, Mrs Evans,” he said, his voice light. “But I’m giving you and your husband a chance to spend some alone time together.”

Jamal snorted.

“Yeah, Momma. Chill out!” Di’Vanni chided, but she waved a spoon at him in a warning.

“Little boy, you better watch that mouth and take your sister and go wash y’all hands for dinner.”

Her husband rolled his eyes as Chill joined him on the couch to catch up. He could not help but notice Jamal subtly itch his nose now and again.

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