What's Real

by Daaimah S. Poole

  Everyone showed up on time. Mom-Mom, Monica with her daughters, Natalie with her baby, all the kids on my grandmother’s block, and Davon and his friends. Everybody ate pizza and skated. When the kids weren’t skating, they were playing games and getting on the little rides. Deja was having a good time. She told me that it was her “bestest” birthday ever.

  Natalie was still a little mad at me for almost making her baby choke. Deja enjoyed herself and all the kids had fun. Davon’s birthday is coming up in September and he said he wants a Spider-Man or Sponge Bob Square Pants party.

  Chapter Forty

  Natalie

  Tanya needs to buy herself a car. She asked me to take her shopping for Deja’s party. I didn’t have anything planned and she said she had one stop, which was Pathmark. I told her I was going to sit in the car. I didn’t feel like getting out, it was too hot. I had my air on. She said fine, I’ll be right out. I was sitting for an hour, waiting in the parking lot for her to come out of the market. I was about to cry. I hate when people take advantage of a good thing. Then her ass went into the fucking dollar store and the party store, and took another thirty minutes. Then last but not least she got back in the car, asked me to pop my trunk so she could put all her bags in, and asked me to take her to get a cake off Twenty-second Street. She made me so mad.

  I said, “Tanya, I didn’t think I was going to be out this long. I need to feed Anthony and change his Pamper.”

  “Okay, pull over. I’ll get him something to eat.” She went into this corner store for ten minutes and came out with a damn cheeseburger.

  “My baby only got four teeth. How the hell is he going to eat a burger, Tanya?”

  “You can feed it to him by chewing it up for him; that is how I use to feed Deja and Davon.”

  “How is that going to happen? I’m driving. I can’t feed him while I drive.”

  “Well, I’ll feed him,” she said as she crawled in the back of the car with him. I was cool with that. She did buy him some Pampers. She changed him while she was back there. I looked at her through the rearview mirror.

  “He can’t eat that,” I said as she gave my baby a big piece of bread.

  “Yes, he can.”

  “No, he can’t,” I said as Anthony began to gag. I pulled over again because I thought he was choking. I took him out of his car seat and patted his back. He began to cry and I knew he was okay. And all Tanya’s selfish ass could offer me was a “sorry.”

  “Bitch, you sorry you almost killed my son.”

  “Come on now. You getting too excited about nothing.”

  “What? All you can think about is yourself. I’m not your personal chauffeur. You had me waiting for you all day. The world does not revolve around you, and don’t ask me to take you anywhere ever again in life.”

  “I gave you money, so shut up and drive me home,” she said.

  I really didn’t want to bring Anthony to the skating party. He couldn’t skate and I just was basically out of it. But I wanted to be supportive of Tanya. I bought Deja a Barbie doll and a Dora the Explorer book bag and books. I couldn’t disappoint Deja or Tanya, so I dragged myself out of bed and went to the skating rink.

  It was noisy and crowded with a bunch of kids pushing, shoving, and falling. I didn’t get any skates. I walked over to Tanya’s table. She had party favors and was handing out food and soda. I said hello to everyone.

  “Hi, Ms. Henrietta.”

  “How you doing, Natalie? Look how big that boy got. Come to me, baby,” she said as she held her arms out. “Your coming down nicely, baby.”

  “Thank you. I’m trying,” I said as I went to get a slice of pizza off the table and pour from the pitcher of Sprite. I was cheating on my diet again. I would work if off later.

  I was proud of Tanya, she was really being a mom. Davon had come up to me and patted me from behind. I turned around and said, “Hey, Davon, how you doing?”

  “Okay, your baby’s getting big.” Then he skated away and played with his friends. There wasn’t much for me and Anthony to do. I put him on a car ride. He seemed like he liked it okay. He wasn’t scared. I wanted to put him on some other rides. I dug in my pocket and pulled out two twenty-dollar bills. Anthony leaned over and almost fell. I caught him just before he reached the ground. I turned back around and in my hand I only had one twenty. I looked around on the ground. I dug in my pocket to see if I had put the money back. I lifted Anthony to make sure it wasn’t under him. I didn’t see it. I looked everywhere. I couldn’t believe I had lost my money. Just as soon as I was going to chalk it up as lost, I heard a little boy say to another boy, “Look, that’s a twenty-dollar bill.” I walked over to him before he could pick it up all the way and said, “Thank you, that’s my money, I just dropped it.” The little boy gave me a look like bitch, please.

  “This my money. I found it,” the watermelon head boy said.

  “Excuse me, little boy. That’s my money. You just picked it up. I was standing right here.”

  “No, I didn’t. Man, you better get out of here,” he said.

  His little friend next to him said, “He been had that money.”

  “Where is your mother?” I asked.

  “Man, we out.”

  The little boys ran to the other side of the rink. I asked Ms. Heniretta to watch the baby and went to find the little boys. I wasn’t even mad about the twenty dollars. I was mad that this little boy thought he was going to take my money. I walked across the rink to the other side. I spotted the little boys sitting at another birthday table. I saw an adult. I said, “Hi, is that your son?”

  She said, “No, why?”

  “He just picked up my money.”

  “That’s his mom over there,” she said as she pointed to this tall lady.

  The lady turned around as I approached her and the little boy said, “Mom, that’s the lady that try to take my money from me.”

  “No, I did not,” I said as I looked over at the little boy. I couldn’t believe he was lying on me. “Listen, your son just picked up my money.”

  “Yeah, well, once it touch the ground it didn’t belong to you anymore.” A few kids had started gathering around to be nosey.

  “Excuse me?” I said.

  “You heard me, I teach my kids finders keepers. If it is on the ground it’s not yours anymore. Plus, he been had that money. I gave it to him.”

  Tanya walked up and asked me what happened and I told her. She was ready to take it to the lady and get my twenty dollars back. I reminded her it was her daughter’s birthday. The lady walked away with her son. Tanya called her a broke bitch and she didn’t say anything.

  After the skating party I cooked Anthony a great big dinner of stuffed chicken, greens, and macaroni and cheese, even though I had already eaten. You would think his ass would be like “my wife cooked, let me do the dishes.” No, he didn’t think that way. He finished his plate, left everything on the table, and went to his home on the sofa.

  “Anthony, can you clean the table off and do the dishes? I’m washing the baby and putting him to sleep.”

  “I’m tired,” he whined. At first, I didn’t say anything. I wasn’t trying to start. But Anthony had slowly reverted to the same old good-for-nothing, lazy, funky-ass Anthony I had left. I fucking cooked and cleaned, and this motherfucker won’t even do the dishes? I hate him, I thought.

  “Anthony, why can’t you do something around this house?”

  “Because I pay bills and work hard. So I’m not lifting a thing.”

  “What?” I just took Anthony out of the tub, dried and lotioned him, and brushed his hair. I turned the television on and slammed the door. I picked up the phone and overheard Anthony talking to his mother about me. It was never going to end. She would always be in our business. Anthony was dumb. He didn’t even hear me pick up the phone. I pushed the Mute button. I could hear Ms. Renee crystal-clear, saying, “I told you not to go back to that girl. She is nothing but a whore. You don’t need a whore, son, you need
a good Christian woman. A good woman will do the dishes and clean the house.” Anthony said a few okays, and yeah, Mom, I know. She said, “Anthony, I love you and I’m telling you the truth.”

  I was pissed the fuck off. I came down the stairs and yelled, “Anthony, why are you telling your mom our business?”

  “What, I didn’t tell her anything.”

  “Anthony, I heard you. Don’t tell your mom about what is going on in this house. Choose me or your mom.”

  “Get out of here with that. She is my mom, you’re my wife. I don’t have to choose.”

  “Oh yes, you do.”

  “I’m not choosing.”

  “You will choose. You don’t have a choice, Anthony!”

  Chapter Forty-one

  Janelle

  The Pro-Player Stadium was large and loud. Everybody had blue, green, and orange on. The wives and girlfriends sat at club level. We were close enough to see the players, but far enough so that they couldn’t see us and we weren’t a distraction. My seat was really good, but I couldn’t see everything because I didn’t have my contacts in. I have to go get new contacts.

  “Welcome to the Pro,” Kelly said.

  “It’s nice in here,” I said.

  “I hope Amber does not bring her kids. They are so annoying! She thinks it’s just adorable when they say rude things,” Kelly said as she looked in her compact and touched up her makeup.

  “That’s not right.”

  “No, really, I’m not in the mood for bad kids.”

  I laughed at Kelly.

  The game started. Everyone was excited when the players ran onto the field. Damon wasn’t on the starting lineup, so he didn’t get his name called. I knew a little about football. I watched the game and listened to all the other women yell at the refs and say how good somebody’s butt looked in tights. I wasn’t looking that hard. The cheerleaders ran onto the field in their skimpy aqua-colored shorts and half shirts.

  “Look at those airheads. All they are is groupies with pom-poms and too much makeup on.” Everybody starting laughing at Kelly, comment.

  “Everybody knows they don’t make any money. They need to get a real job and stop trying to entice players,” she continued.

  “This one girl I know, she used to cheer for the Chargers and now she is married to one of the players.” Amber said.

  “They are not supposed to date,” Lisa said.

  “Well, they kept it a secret until they got serious. Then once they became engaged she quit the squad,” Amber said.

  “Like I said, groupies with poms-poms,” Kelly said again as everyone laughed.

  At halftime I finally got to meet the infamous Dana. She had on sexy high-heeled sandals. Her legs were perfect. I could see why everybody hated her. She was gorgeous. She was at a game dressed as if she were in a nightclub. She came up to me and said, “Hello, you must be Damon’s new girlfriend. Nice to finally meet you. I heard so much about you.”

  I wanted to know what she had heard. I couldn’t come out and say, “What have you heard?” So I teased and said, “Like what?”

  “Don’t worry, it all has been good. I heard you were from Philadelphia. I’m from D.C.”

  “Really?” I said.

  “You guys get cold winters like us.”

  “Yeah. I hate any weather under thirty degrees.”

  “I bet you won’t miss the cold this year.”

  “No, I won’t.”

  Dana looked around and said, “I hate it up here. It’s really not like being at a real game. It’s more like being at a social event. I like sitting outside and really getting into the crowd and game, ya know?”

  “This is my first game. It’s okay so far,” I said.

  “Before Bobby I hated football too. I didn’t know the difference between an interception and a field goal. I hated Sundays because any guy I was dating just wanted to watch football, then they wouldn’t listen to me.”

  Everything they said about Dana was wrong. She seemed really nice and friendly. Kelly, Lisa, and Amber had said that she was a bitch.

  Out of nowhere Dana said, “These women want to be your friend when everything is going right in your relationship. If you’re not careful they will introduce their sister or cousin to your man. Kelly did it to me. I went home for the weekend. The next thing I know she has her sister down here going on double dates with my boyfriend. It’s crazy. Then you have these women that want to be your friend because they want you to hook them up with a teammate. It’s so much bull, ya know?”

  “That’s crazy,” I said as I continued to listen to Dana ramble on and her “ya knows.” Then she said, “And if you are not married, they think you’re just a fling that is hanging around, and you can go at any point. I disagree, but like I said, watch your back. Damon’s last girlfriend, Alicia, was good for telling them off. That’s why they are so happy she’s gone. You know she was a bisexual, that was a scandal. Damon got teased in the locker room for that one.”

  “He told me that,” I said. Dana saw Lisa coming, so she changed the subject.

  Lisa came over all smiles and said, “Janelle, I wanted to know if you wanted to volunteer at our celebrity auction coming up. We auction off the men for charity. It’s a few weeks away.”

  I told her I would let her know. She cut her eyes at Dana. Dana turned the other way and ignored her. We won the game 16–5 over Jacksonville.

  Chapter Forty-two

  Tanya

  “Tanya, I got a job offer in San Diego. We could get married and your children could go to school out there. Think it over, okay? We would have a great life.”

  “No. There is nothing to think about.” Walei was leaving and I didn’t care. He just gave me money. He was upset, ready to cry and shit. I told him to call me when he got settled and good luck with his job.

  I called the girl Nene to see what was up. She had said she had something major to tell me. “Hello, can I speak to Nene?”

  “She ain’t here. She’s at work.”

  “Ms. Tee, is that you?” I asked.

  “Yes, who is this?”

  “This is Tanya.”

  “Nene’s at work. She got a job that pays her eighteen bucks an hour, a good job at the hospital.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes, she finally graduated from that school after the baby was born. Took her long enough. You should try to go, Tanya.”

  “I’ll ask Nene about the information. Tell her I called her.” Dag, she got all those kids and she still went back to school? That is what’s up.

  Nene returned my call later that afternoon.

  “Hey, Tanya, what’s up?”

  “Nothing.”

  “My grandmom told me you called.”

  “Yeah, I did. I wanted to see what was up. You said you had something major to tell me.”

  “Oh yeah, right. You still be with Monica?”

  “Yeah, we all right.” I said I wanted to see what gossip she had on Monica. She always had dirt and stayed in some bullshit, some things never change. I listened as she said, “I heard she fucked with the bawh Lil’ Ron. I’m friends with his baby’s mom’s cousin, Sheena. Sheena said that he be talking about Monica like a dog. He said she a stank pussy bitch. He said that she’s a freak that just likes to suck dick, take it in the ass, and fuck everybody. She supposed to be pregnant, right?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “Well, she told him she was and he said that it wasn’t his baby, and that it was a south Philly baby.”

  “Really?” I said as Nene fed me more scoop.

  “Yeah, girl. He be telling her I just leave my guns and shit at her house.”

  “Well, I don’t know about all that. Let me call Monica and get her on the line.”

  I tried calling her and her answering machine came on. I hung up and said to Nene, “Well, if it’s true, that shit is on her ’cause I warned her. That nigga do be over there all the time. And I don’t like him around her daughters.” She was about to get evi
cted. He didn’t even pay her rent. Nene tried to change the conversation and asked me if I go out.

  “Yeah, I go out, but I’m slowing down a little right now.”

  “Well, maybe we can go out sometime.”

  “Maybe. Oh yeah, Ms. Tee said you have a new job and you went to a nursing school.”

  “I did, I’ll give you the number. Hold on, let me find it.” Nene came back on the phone and gave me the number to the school. I called right away. It was a nursing assistant program, the woman said over the phone. I needed a high school diploma or a GED and their next class began in September. I knew Nene didn’t have a high school diploma. She had dropped out before me. Maybe she did go back and get her GED.

  I took a nap and decided I would call Nene later. I didn’t want her to think I was sweating her for information. Mom-Mom said that Monica was downstairs. I told Mom-Mom to send her up.

  Monica walked into my room and said, “Let me tell you one thing, bitch. The next time you want to try to play me and talk about me behind my back, at least turn your cell phone off.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I’m talking about everything you said about me to Nene. I heard you all on my answer machine talking dirty about me. You said that I was warned. And I was stupid for letting Lil’ Ron stash his shit there. And he don’t pay my rent and I’m about to get evicted. And he be looking at my daughters. You need to worry about yourself.”

  “I did say it. Somebody needs to tell you, bitch. Your shit is getting sloppy. He talks about you, saying you’re pregnant and you fuck with all these dudes. He’s not giving you any money and you’re about to get evicted.”

  “Tanya, you fuck with a lot of dudes too!” she said loudly.

  “Yup, but every dude I get with gives me money.”

  “Bitch, you still live with your grandmother and you don’t have a car!”

  “So what? If I wanted a car I could get one. You know I get money, Monica, so why you going to try to sit here and play me?” Monica put her funky French-manicure-need-a-refill finger in my face. The situation was about to get critical if Monica didn’t get the fuck out of my face. Me and Monica had fought before and I beat her ass. I wasn’t in the mood today; plus, my grandmother was downstairs, otherwise I would knock her the fuck out and make her take back every word she just said. Stupid bitch. Her mouth was about to get her hurt. I stepped away from her and said, “I told you to your face that I don’t like him. And that’s on you if you keep dealing with him.” I got up out of the bed.