Not in the Script (A Keith Powers Story)

C: Compassion

It was Thursday, a whole two days since she saw Keith. Keith was attractive when he was twenty, but that was a full grown man she saw at the studio the other day.

Sam was at home resting today. She has submitted scripts for several pilots and the upcoming BET Awards.

As she thought about BET, she thought about Keith.

Sam was in the bed and reached for her cellphone. She unlocked it and looked up Keith's number.

She hit the talk button and waited for him to pick up.

Keith was asleep. It was 10 a.m. and he's been trying to sleep in since he had the whole week off. Keith's eyes were still closed, as he was half asleep, and he answered the phone.

He thought it might be Skylar or Kaylan. They loved waking him up in the morning.

His voice was low and gravelly as he said, "Hello."

"Damn, baby you sound fine when you wake up in the morning," Samantha chirped into the phone. She couldn't lie, his voice sent a shiver down her spine.

Keith's heartrate sped up and his eyes popped open. He felt his manhood twitch.

He missed that voice. He cleared his throat and said, "Baby girl you play too much. How are you?"

"K.P. I'm just fine. I just finished eating me some oatmeal. How are you?"

"Great. I had a beautiful woman wake me up," Keith said getting comfortable in the bed.

Sam's face got hot as she blushed. She bit her bottom lip.

"K.P. I'm so sorry for waking you up," she said.

"It's okay. My little sisters do it to me all the time."

Sam licked her lip in nervousness.

"Do you have plans for today?" Sam inquired. "I would like to meet up."

Keith's dick started to throb because he would rather have her for lunch, but he was trying to be respectful.

"I don't have any plans," he said trying to push his tent down. "I'm in the mood for a lot of vegetables."

"Great. I know a great spot then. Meet me at the Vegan Joint at noon."

That was not quite Keith's style, but he wanted to see Sam again.

"I can definitely do that," Keith said. He got out of bed and stretched. He headed to the bathroom to do his hygiene.

Thankful his morning wood went down.

"I'll see you soon K.P.," she said.

"See you baby girl."

After Keith completed his hygiene, he ate a light breakfast. Three boiled eggs and a piece of turkey bacon.

He found himself some jeans and a Sacramento shirt. He looked at himself in the mirror and made sure his freckles were prominent. Sam loved his freckles (side note- any black person with freckles are beautiful people. I knew a black girl in middle school with freckles), and she told him on two occasions, she wanted to kiss his freckles.

Keith licked his bottom lip as he looked at Samantha as she laughed at one of his jokes.

They were at the Vegan Joint in L.A., and he had a plate full of vegetables in front of him, but Sam's laughter tickled his ears, and her smile made his eyes twinkle. She looked great in a white tube top and cheetah shorts. Her relaxed hair in a long braid.

"K.P. are you okay?" She inquired.

He nodded his head yes and ate some of his stir fry.

"I hate to be nosey," he said. "But I'm curious about you and Jacob."

Samantha shifted in her seat. She suddenly got queasy.

"A year ago, he was diagnosed with brain cancer. They discharged him from the Navy, paid for every doctor visit, every treatment, but he constantly had seizures. Then finally one day four months ago, he had a seizure and went into a coma. He woke from it a few days later, but he told me he was tired."

A few drops fell from her eyes, and she used a napkin to quickly catch them. Keith held one of her hands.

"When he told me he wanted to go home, his mother and I brought him home to South Carolina. While we were in Charleston, we had around the clock care for him, and I barely left his side. We were in Charleston for two weeks when he died. His mother and I cried and cried. But I know my baby was tired. He was ready to go."

Keith got out of his seat and hugged Sam tight.

"Baby girl, you were always strong. You were the perfect woman to be by his side."

He kissed her forehead, and she said, "I needed that thank you."

"You always were compassionate," she said regaining composure.

As the two ate, they discussed what has been going on.

She said she did not mean to lose contact with him.

"You know I don't use social media K.P.," Sam said.

"I know, but you missed key moments in my life."

"Not true baby boy," she said as she sipped from her drink. "I see your interviews on YouTube. I see the pictures of you and Skylar. I remember when your mom was pregnant with her. I definitely see how you, Kaylan and Kevin are still tight. I've been watching you K.P. I've watched all of your movies, and not on bootleg either. I just have not reached out."

He smiled looking at her. She was supportive from a distance.

"I have something to tell you."

He looked at her and said, "I'm all ears.

"Before we knew he had brain cancer, we were trying to get pregnant."

She took another sip of her drink and Keith just looked at her, ready to listen. He always used to listen to her.

"I could not get pregnant. No matter what we tried. We were about to go to the witch doctors out in Charleston to see if they knew about herbs, plants or oils that would increase my fertility, but that was when Jacob was getting sick. Maybe it was a good thing I couldn't conceive. Because honestly, I probably would have lost the baby once Jacob was diagnosed. It was hard on my body, the constant traveling, making sure I was by his side, having his mother live with us for a while. Us going to Charleston for his last few weeks. There were no help for couples diagnosed with an illness at that time. A support group would have been nice."

Keith grabbed her hand again, and said, "You don't have to go on. I get it. I'm just glad you're still here with me. Comfortable enough to talk to me."

"Well I could always trust you," she said. "I kept you in my corner because of your caring heart."

He hugged her tight and said, "I always got your back baby girl."