"Aunt Judy, what's going on with ya?" I did my best to dial back my accent so she could understand me.
"Ooh, you know ... Just calling to check on my nephew-in-law. What's going on with you?"
It was good to hear from Aunt Judy, even though her call came as a surprise.
I figured Brielle told her to ask me about coming to her engagement party because she knew how much I loved Aunt Judy and couldn't say 'no' to her. But that wasn't it. Aunt Judy was just being Aunt Judy.
"I'm doing alright. The industry keeping me busy," I said.
"Too busy to come to your girls' engagement party this weekend?"
"You think you slick," I chuckled. "Is that what this phone call is about?"
"Nah…Nah. I got something else I wanna talk to you about too. But that was number one."
The seriousness in her tone put me on high alert.
I knew Aunt Judy was a heavy drinker and made a lot of things sound more serious than they were sometimes, but there was something in her voice that grabbed my attention.
"Everything good?" I asked. "Or ya'll over there fighting already?"
"You know how Brielle and Draya are," she huffed. "But it is weird that Draya decided to pop back up after all this time when she finds out her sister's about to marry that damn demon."
I laughed every time she called Kannon a demon.
He wasn't no damn demon.
He might've been to Brielle. But to me, he wasn't shit but a snake who went behind my back to try to play me out of my royalties. So if that's what she meant when she said 'demon', then yeah. She was right.
"I think something happened between Kannon and Draya last night," she said. "Brielle put him to bed after dinner, and while I was out for a late night swim, I heard noises coming from the pool house. I didn't pay it much mind cause I know how honeymooners are, and I know I be drunk sometimes, but I do remember seeing Draya creeping back inside the main house real late. I didn't pay that much mind either until I saw how Brielle was with Draya at brunch. And then I overheard her and Kannon arguing about Draya afterwards."
That was a lot of information to take in, but I caught Aunt Judy's drift. And when I replayed the phone call with Brielle back in my mind, she did sound like there was something wrong.
Something other than Draya showing up after all this time.
"Now, I don't wanna accuse anybody of anything or get all in their business, but if something did happen between him and Draya last night, I don't think Brielle should be marrying him. Hell, I don't think she should be marrying him anyway, but you know nobody ever listens to me."
The blood in my veins turned ice cold.
I didn't think Brielle should've been marrying Kannon either.
I didn't think she should've been dating him, fucking him, none of that shit. But she was dead set on him being a good man no matter how many times he showed her he wasn't.
She even threatened to cut me off over him. So, I stayed out of it. At least, until she called me crying because of something else he did.
"You really think Draya would do that to Brielle?"
As soon as the question left my lips, I regretted it because I knew she would do something like that to Brielle.
To anybody, really.
That's just the kind of woman Draya was—she let the pain from her past dictate her loyalty, and that was another reason I couldn't be fucked up with her the way she wanted me to be.
"Stupid question," I replied before Aunt Judy could say anything. "I mean, it sounds believable, but you know how Bri is. She always needs cold, hard proof before she'll ever believe he does her wrong. Even though she already knows."
"Yeah, and I hate that about her. She's such a good girl who deserves so much more than a man like him. Shit, him and Draya might as well get back together and stop fucking around behind her sister's back."
"What you mean fucking around behind her back?" I frowned. "I thought nobody had heard from Draya?"
Aunt Judy got quiet because she knew she had said too much. And I hated to gossip with her about Brielle's relationship, but when it came to her wellbeing, I didn't fuck around with Kannon.
"Aunt Judy?" I pushed against her silence. "You might as well tell me now, shit. You already done let it out. So go ahead and tell me what you know."
She let out a sigh, pretending to be upset about having to tell me. But I knew deep down inside, she was happy as hell to tell somebody the dirt she had on Draya because of how much they hated each other.
"Well, don't say you heard it from me, but Kannon has been flying out there to London to see Draya. Now, I don't know when the last time was, but the last time I was there, because Percy sent me on a vacation, I saw them together. I never said anything cause I wasn't sure if Brielle was there too. But why would the two of them be together without her?"
"That motherfucka," I shook my head. "I remember him missing a court date when he was helping me with my case. He said he was out of the country and his flight got delayed. Now that I'm thinking about it, that's probably where he was."
Little shit started to make sense.
I always had my suspicions about Kannon and Draya, but because nobody had seen her in so long, I thought she was out of the picture.
"I think you should come this weekend," Aunt Judy said. "Just so Brielle has someone here to talk sense into her. Percy's using the damn party for some campaign bullshit and her mama, Lord, that lady don't give a damn about nothing but keeping her ass dressed, rich, and in the headlines. And I don't want my niece to throw herself away because of this man. She's the only good person this family has left. Besides me," she chuckled.
Knocking down the list of songs I had to complete before an album release party should've been my top priority that weekend. But I dropped everything anytime Brielle needed me.
People called me stupid for it—said she would never love me the way I loved her. But that's not why I did it.
I did it because Aunt Judy was right–Brielle was a good woman and she deserved more than the lies and bullshit Kannon fed her every day.
"Well, I guess I'm flying home early," I said. "I was tired of being in New York anyway."
"Alright!" Aunt Judy cheered. "I'm so happy you'll be here. I know Brielle will be happy too. She looked so down and out earlier when this should be the happiest time of her life."
"Don't tell her I'm coming. I wanna surprise her."
"I'll keep my mouth shut, zipped and sealed," she promised. "Now hurry up and get here. The family will be happy to see you too."