"where's the love for one another?

Where's the caring?"

~Read Between the Lines (Christopher Martin)

°~°~°

“Kenya! Something is wrong with Aiden! I’m going to swing by the school for him! I’ll be right back!” Bernice shouted as she scrambled around for her car keys, “Landon where the fuck are my keys!?”

“I… I—I—I—” he stuttered pulling out the keys from his pocket and walking towards her to hand them over.

Grabbing them from his grasp, she pecked him on the cheek having him blush, “thank you, Landon. You can stay here until I get back, okay?”

“O—okay… w—wa—wai—” he stammered again trying to tell her that she didn’t wear a bra and her blouse was damp by her leaking colostrum, but she was already out the door and had slammed it in her exit.

Sighing, Landon sat himself on the kitchen stool, immediately opened WhatsApp and began typing away at his screen.

Landon watched as the double ticks came up on his screen and waited for his mistress to type back. In the mean time, Kenya was out the bathroom with his fingers hurried in the roots of his hair, “where is Miss White? I didn’t quite hear a word she said.”

“Sh—she left to g—get Aiden. H—e’s sick.”

“Now, if I heard that, I would’ve gotten out faster and gone with her.” He sighed placing his phone on the counter.

Landon’s phone went bing.

***

Bernice just had to rush out as soon as she got the news. It gave her quite a scare hearing Aiden fainted at school after she hadn’t dropped him off too long ago that morning. He seemed quiet more than usual, but she honestly thought he was feeling a bit moody that day and she didn’t want to come off as annoying to constantly ask him if he was. Now she regretted not doing a routine check on him whenever she had little doubts in his wellness.

Maybe she was exaggerating as she drove full speed to his school too with the tears in her eyes. Or she could blame it on the hormones one more time.

Her hormones were raging, it didn’t surprise her that she kissed Kenya, but she was surprised at how overly wet she felt. It was like she was ovulating right around the clock. It annoyed her, even when she wasn’t horny her panties would be wet or her bud would be swole for stimulation. It annoyed her, that even as she cried with worry and sniffed, she had her mind going to such lustful corners.

She would probably try talking to Kenya later though, or not. Maybe it wasn’t best she spoke to her again about what happened. There was no need to think about that either way, she needed to get Aiden from school and back home.

As soon as she pulled up at her son’s school, Bernice jumped out the car, luckily having on a jeans jacket that laid at the back of her car to cover her nipple print as well as the lactation she had going on. She didn’t waste time getting inside and finding the nurses office, her eyes were puffy and slightly red when she saw Aiden laying fast asleep in the med bed in the nurses quarter.

“Is he okay?” she asked the nurse who entered the room. Bernice had the back of her hand feeling away at Aiden’s forehead and neck, the poor boy was overheating, “Jesus Christ. Mi shoulda know enuh.”

“It’s a mixture of the flu and fever. He’ll be okay. I’m not qualified to medicate. But when you get him a doctor these are what he’s going to get prescribed.” The nurse smiled handing a small paper towards her.

Taking the paper, Bernice made a small nod and thanked the lady.

“Mamma?” Aiden’s small yet hoarse voice came, “w—why are you here? I called papa because you’re having a day off. I don’t want you taking care of me when you need rest.”

“I need to take care of you, Aiden. Stop the foolishness.” She frowned feeling her eyes sting with tears, “you need fi stop this enuh, Aide. This the second time you feel sick and nuh tell mi. I’m your mother. I’m suppose to take care of you.”

“You deserve a break.” He told her lazily, closing his blue and brown eyes again, “I was sick last time you had a week off. I… I didn’t want to take all your happy… time.”

Little Aiden must have fallen asleep again after that because his eyes remained shut and he said no more words. Bernice sat at the edge of the med bed and placed her hand softly at the side of her son’s face, “little do you know, you’re my happy time, Aide.”

Not looking up from her son she addressed her next words to the nurse, “where is his father?”

“He said to call you because you were home doing nothing.”

“Of course, he did.” She forced a smile as she slipped a finger to pick a curl from Aiden’s hair and swirled it down his forehead, “is it possible to have someone carry him to the car for me, please? I can’t carry him like this.”

“No problem.”

Bernice got back home not too long after and simply sat in the front of her car strumming her fingers against the steering wheel as she waited for Kenya to come get Aiden out the backseat.

“Are you okay, Miss White?” Ken asked as soon as he opened the back door.

Bernice only nodded, “you can manage to bring him right?”

“Yea, of course.” Ken nodded as he got to getting Aiden out the car. He first got the kid to sit up then tossed his arms around his slender shoulders and with ease, he stood with Aiden being a Koala around him then went off to the house making small talk with the boy.

Bernice smiled a bit hearing Aiden laugh even with himself being sick, but her eyes still burned with tears as she pressed her phone to her ear and listen to it ring. She almost thought he wouldn’t answer, but on the last ring it got replaced with her husband’s voice and of course loud music in the background, “bellissima!”

“Don’t bellissima me, Giovanni.” She murmured into the phone, “Aiden sick… he fainted at school and yuh really mek me reach there before you? If you deh a the club or even the hotel you shoulda reach before mi because you closer.”

“Did you get at the school!?” he yelled over the music.

Bernice’s jaw clenched, “dunce bitch nuh that mi just tell yuh!”

There was shuffling and the loud music dimmed, “Bernice, baby.”

“Suck yuh dead granny, Gio! And yuh better find a bloodclaat room a the hotel and don’t come home tonight. If me see yuh mi a bun all a yuh shoes dem.”

“Okay, I understand that you are upset, but that is completely unnecessary.”

“Unnecessary?” Bernice cackled, “unnecessary!? Bet yuh any money a the quickest yuh reach home if me burn everything.”

“Bernice, I know you. Don’t—”

This pissed her off even more and before her husband could say even another word, she hung up the phone and marched right out her car and not even bothering to slam the door behind her.

She marched herself right into the house then into the kitchen to see Landon tapping away at Ken’s phone screen, having him freeze. Bernice rolled her eyes as she grabbed a garbage bag from one of the drawers as well as a box of matches and a bottle of gasoline.

“M—Miss—”

“Mi nuh give a fuck right now, Landon.” She told him storming out the area then going upstairs to her and her husband’s room.

“Why didn’t you tell your mother you were sick?” Ken asked as he placed Aiden to lay in his bed, he soon began to loosen the shoes on the boy’s feet.

“She’s always taking care of me. She always takes a week break every year and last time I took it away because she had to cater to me. I didn’t want that to happen again. That’s why I asked the nurse to call my father, the hotel wasn’t far. He could’ve taken me and leave me with a doctor or nurse or something in a hotel room for the rest of the day and at least have mommy have her day today.” Aiden explained his tone hoarse with sick and disdained with hostility, “sometimes I really wished that man wasn’t married to my mummy. He helps with nothing! I… I wish he could just die or something.”

A fit of coughing took Aiden after that. Ken only sighed having removed the shoes of the boy’s feet, “I hated my father so much that I wished he’d never met my mother. She was too perfect for him in my opinion. It got so bad I wished he’d die or never met my mother. She died instead. Word of advice…” Ken looked up at Aiden with a lazy smile, “don’t wish death on people, it might work as a boomerang you can’t catch.”

“Whatever.” Aiden grumbled, “can you go check on her please?”

“Sure thing.” Ken sighed, “just think on what I said. I know you love your mother, but think on it. She wouldn’t have married your father if she never loved him… he may be a pain, but he’s technically a pain she loves. Probably ain’t good for her, but let’s just hope she finds a happy that comes with less pain, yea?”

“If she could find someone like you, but as a man, maybe?” Aiden suggested, his slightly swollen eyes widened with delight, then he frowned again as Ken gently rose his blanket over his body, “wait, you’re not a man she won’t like you like that. Do you think we can find a male version of you for mi mamma?”

Shrugging, Ken combed his fingers through his hair, “maybe better too. I ain’t all that.”

“You seem perfect enough.” Aiden sighed closing his eyes, “go check on her. My eyes are tired and I know she’s upset.”

Laughing, he nodded, “sure thing boss.”

“Miss White?” he called out as he stood by the woman’s ajar room door, “may I come in?”

“Depends, are you going to talk me out of burning my husband’s expensive shoes or help me?”

“Neither? I just wanna check on ya.” He reassured her, then gently nudged the door open to see the pregnant woman on her knees stuffing shoes into a garbage bag.

Bernice moved swift as she cried and angrily shoved various expensive shoes into the scandal. She was hurt and upset with Giovanni. He hadn’t went to check on Aiden, nor did he even ask about Aiden in their brief call, but as soon as he heard about his precious shoes being burned, he sounded ready to walk on cars in traffic to get home. At first it was only a threat she was going to make, but it only sank into her where her husband’s concerns really were, and the little guilt she felt for kissing Kenya completely disappeared.

She wasn’t sure why, but when Ken stepped over to stoop before her, she paused and looked up at him, “you must think I’m crazy.”

“Maybe just a little.” Ken pinched her chin and lightly caressed her skin, “I find it hot though.” He breathed out taking her hands into his and slowly brought her to her feet with him, “I’m only stopping you because you inhaling the smoke isn’t good for you or the baby. Okay?”

“Okay.” Bernice swallowed as she looked up to the tall young woman before her and sighed. Smoothing her hand over her slightly wild hair, she pulled out her phone and called Giovanni, her other hand still in Ken’s gentle grasp, “don’t come home. I’m not burning anything, but if I even so much as hear you car rev at the gate I’m burning your passport too.”

Little did Bernice know, her prick of a husband was already by the gate and on hearing her say those words, he reversed.

Landon smiled at that, and easily typed “yes, Mistress” as his response.