Draya Did It

BRIELLE:

Brunch didn’t end fast enough that afternoon.

I was happy for my dad and all, but I wanted to be as far away from Draya and Kannon as possible.

I didn’t like the looks they gave each other; I didn’t like the energy between them. I didn’t like not knowing what they were thinking, but knowing they were thinking something.

It was no secret that Draya and Kannon were a thing before I started dating him.

It’s messy, I know. But let him tell it, their relationship didn’t get off the ground before he made a move on me.

Sometimes, I wanted to believe everything he said about them. But somewhere in my gut I knew the truth.

There were even times when I felt like he was still seeing her. I just didn’t have the guts to confront him about it.

Nor did I have proof.

“Knock-knock.”

I rolled my eyes at the sound of my mother’s voice. Not because I was upset with her, I just didn’t feel like being bothered while trying to make sense of what I knew was the truth.

But she came into my room anyway.

“You feeling alright?” she asked. “I noticed you didn’t eat much. Are you sure you’re not pregnant?”

“I’m fine, Ma.” I said. “I just need to lay down for a while.”

I kicked off my shoes and climbed into the large king-sized bed, hoping she would take the hint and leave. Unfortunately, Linda Champagne didn’t care for hints.

“Are you upset that I Invited your sister? I know I should have asked, but I just feel so bad that she’s never around. She’s still our family, you know?”

Mom came to the side of the bed and caressed my back the way she did when I was little.

She and I had a great relationship for the most part. But we didn’t always get along. Sometimes I felt like she was too overbearing and after perfection so much that it triggered me in all the wrong ways.

She had definitely crossed the line by inviting Draya to my engagement party without asking.

“Are you two still fighting about Kannon?”

I didn’t say anything at first.

I was too embarrassed to have that conversation with my mama. Even though we were already years into our relationship.

And engaged.

“It might be tough to talk about,” she said, “but it happened years ago, and y’all are in too deep now. You two might as well get over that hump and work on your relationship.”

“It’s not me.” I sat up to get some straightening. “Draya’s the one still holding on to it. And it ain’t like I started messing with him while they were together. They didn’t even really have a relationship. She just falls in love too fast.”

“And what about Monty?”

“What about Monty?” I frowned. “We’re just friends.”

“She doesn’t think so. And neither does your Aunt Judy.”

I felt myself getting feisty and wanted to end the conversation before my frustrations boiled over and spilled onto my mama’s cocktail dress.

But she wouldn’t let up.

She had to keep going and going, until she made whatever point it was she wanted to make. No matter how I felt about it.

“Ma, with all due respect, I don’t care how Draya feels about me and Monty. Or me and Kannon. Monty and I built a friendship outside of their relationship. Hell, if it wasn’t for me, Monty would have left her alone way sooner than he did. She can’t keep blaming me for her failed relationships.”

“I’m just saying, Brielle. Your sister will always be your sister no matter what. You should have a conversation while she’s here and put all of this behind you. Family is family. Now go ahead and get you some rest. Your father is hosting a party later.”

She leaned in and kissed my forehead before turning to leave the room.

I watched as she walked away, body still snatched and tight, but a new slowness in her pace.

I always prided my mama on being a baddie—keeping her body nice for her age, and always being the best dressed in the room.

When the door closed behind her, I laid back down, thinking I would get a quick nap in before the party, but in walked Kannon.

The last person I wanted to see. Next to Draya.

He was half dressed—getting ready for one of his many workout sessions, looking good as hell, but I wasn't happy to see him at all.

“What time is the party?” He sat in the chair next to my bed to put his shoes on.

Didn’t ask how I was doing, if there was anything wrong. Nothing. But knowing him, I sensed the attitude in his voice and knew to ask what his problem was.

“What’s wrong with you?”

“I’m sick of playing nice with that man,” he said. “You lucky I love you, cause I wouldn’t be here right now. And then he asks if he can turn my fucking engagement party into some bullshit attention grab for some bullshit campaign.”

I was appalled. Shocked. And offended.

Kannon had never expressed any dislike for my father the entire time we were together, but the minute Draya walked back into the picture, shit started to go left.

“Excuse me?”

“Yeah, excuse you,” he shot back. “I expected you to keep this shit all about US. But every time your parents come in and try to take over some shit, you always let them.”

“Kannon, what the hell are you talking about?” I sat up in bed again. “What are you really mad about? Because I know it’s not about me agreeing to let my dad get footage for his campaign.”

He sat back in the chair after pulling his shirt over his head with so much force that it got stuck.

I almost laughed. But it was a serious moment, and he was already angry, so I didn’t want to make it worse.

“It’s more than just that!” His tone was nasty and full of disgust. “I’m tired of you letting your parents dictate every fucking thing you do. Down to this relationship. You might as well get in bed with them cause every time I turn around you letting them overstep my boundaries.”

“Ok, first of all, stop cursing at me. I’m not your child and I’m not one of your whores. If you had a problem with my dad bringing the campaign to the party, you should have said something. I can’t read your mind, Kannon. And you damn sure don’t let me speak for you. So, what’s really the problem? It seems like ever since Draya showed up you started acting weird.”

The unit on his face dropped when I mentioned Draya.

I already knew what I knew about the pool house, but I needed him to say it. Even if he was drunk and half asleep when she crept in and sucked his dick, I needed him to be honest with me.

But I didn’t want to have to ask him myself.

“What Draya got to do with anything?” he scoffed. “Don’t try to stack the shit going on between ya’ll up with this shit. This is about your shady ass daddy always interfering with our life.”

I tried facing him to calm him down before things blew out of proportion, but he got up and walked away.

Just looking at him with his back turned to me when I was the one who should’ve been upset—made me think that Kannon never gave a damn about me for real.

“Kannon ... I tried to let this go. I really did. But I’m not stupid. So don’t play me like I am.”

Tears swelled in my eyes as I tried to gain control over my shaky voice.

He knew what was coming and so did I. But I refused to let him beat me being angry when I didn’t do anything wrong. Except be a good woman to him.

“What happened last night?” I approached him, hoping he would soften his words and tell me the truth. “I know that dream you had wasn’t just a dream. It was Draya. Wasn’t it?”

He wouldn’t turn to face me. He stood in front of the sliding glass doors that led to the balcony of the bedroom and stared out.

His jaw clenched and so did his fists. But I wasn’t afraid. Kannon had never put his hands on me before, so I wasn’t worried about him doing it then.

“Tell me the truth.”

I stepped in front of him and looked him in the eyes. They were full of guilt and uncertainty, but I still needed him to be honest.

“It was her. Wasn’t it?”

“No.” He yanked away from me and walked back to the chair. “It was a stupid dream because you, the woman I asked to marry me, refused to have sex with me.”

I wanted to scream.

The fact that he blamed me for what happened between him and Draya while we were celebrating our engagement enraged me.

But something clicked, and at that moment, I knew Kannon wasn’t the man for me.

There were a lot of times when I let him get away with turning things around on me. When I blamed myself for his actions and let him get away with murder.

But not that time.

I was done.

“Alright.” I wiped my tears and silently vowed to never cry over him again. “Whatever you say.”

He knew the truth as well as I did. And I could tell his guilt tore at him, but he was too prideful and too stuck in his lie to come clean.

I wanted to pack my bags and leave the estate without saying a word to anyone. But I couldn’t walk out on my dad’s campaign.

He needed me way more than Kannon.