by Ancelli
“I’ll be at your house at five.”
“Ok.” After hanging up the phone, she felt a bit relieved he had come to his senses.
***
It was already six o’clock, and Tommy hadn’t shown up or called, so she decided to leave to go meet Jason at their spot. When she was about to open the door, someone knocked. She looked through the peephole, and it was him. He was standing there looking as handsome as always. He wore jeans, a white polo shirt, and white Nike’s. White clothes always made his brown skin look more delicious. He was late, but no remorse showed on his smiling face. But she needed to talk to him to see where his head was, so she opened the door before she could change her mind.
He looked down, and his smile disappeared. “What the fuck?”
“What?”
“What the fuck? Why are you still pregnant?” He pushed past her, and entered her house.
When he passed her, she closed the door, smelling the liquor from where she was standing. “You’re drunk.”
“I had a few drinks, but I can see you’re still fucking pregnant.”
Damn, I’m almost five months pregnant, she thought. “I told you I was going to have this baby. I never lied to you.”
“I thought me walking out on you would give you the hint that I wasn’t kidding and you would get rid of it. Bitch, I don’t want another kid, I’m happy with the three I’ve got.” By this time he was getting angry. “It’s over between us. Don’t call me and don’t ask me for nothing for that baby.”
“That baby? You mean our baby,” she yelled.
She could see by his expression that he was getting angrier. “Bitch, that’s not my baby.”
She pushed him. “Get out, you bastard, and don’t come back. I’ll see you in court.”
As soon as those words came out of her mouth, he punched her in the face. She fell to the ground, knocking over glass vases from her side table. He couldn’t control his anger. He bent down and hit her again. “You’re not getting anything from me.” He started throwing things around. He finally realized what he was doing and stopped himself. He looked at her. “This is all your fault. You kept pushing me, and I lost it.”
She grabbed her face, and then looked at her hands, realizing she was bleeding from her nose. He was in shock when he saw her face. It was starting to swell up. She looked up and screamed, “Get the fuck out, get out of my house now. If you don’t leave right now, I’m going call the cops. Get the fuck out of my house now.”
He started through the door but turned back. “I told you, I don’t want any more kids. I don’t love you and never did.” After those words he turned and left.
She ran up to the door and locked it. She had tears rolling down her face, going up the stairs when she felt a sharp pain in her lower back and stomach. Right there at that moment, looking around at her living room, she realized the mess she had made of her life. At that moment, she wished she’d had an abortion. I still have time, she thought.
***
It was seven-thirty, and Jason was at Columbian Cuisine waiting for Kay. It wasn’t like her not to call if she was running late. He’d called her cell and home phone, and left a bunch of messages. She was supposed to meet him at six, and by seven, he was starting to get worried. When he’d talked to her earlier she had mentioned that she was meeting someone before she headed out. It wasn’t like her. I’m going to call her one more time. If she doesn’t answer, I’m going over to her house to make sure she’s ok.
He drove up to her townhouse. Her Infiniti QX was parked in the driveway, but the house was dark from what he could see. He had a bad feeling as he got out of the car, went up the stairs to her house, and knocked. There was no answer. He knew walking in on her months ago had been wrong, but he really didn’t know she was fucking Tommy. He’d never liked him. He wasn’t good enough for her. No one was. He remembered how mad she was when she had to explain to Tommy why he had a key. But he also remembered that she’d said the key was for emergencies, and this felt like one. He turned the doorknob. The house was dark. He hoped she wasn’t having sex with that dirt bag, but if she were, he would just turn around and leave.
When he made his way through the door, he heard crackling sounds. He thought he was stepping on glass. He turned around and turned the lights on. There were broken glass on the floor. He ran up the stairs. He couldn’t bear the thought of someone hurting her, but when he opened the door to Kay’s room, he was relieved. She was sleeping on her bed with her hands on her belly. She was wearing a red sundress, and she was facing away from him. He sat next to her on the bed trying not to wake her.
Maybe she had a bad day and trashed her place. She does have a bit of a temper. He went to pull the blanket over her, and he noticed blood on her sheets. Maybe she cut herself with some of the glass. He got up to use the bathroom, and that’s when he saw blood on the sink and towels. He ran out of the bathroom, over to her and turned on the light. He gasped when he saw her face. Her left eye and nose were swollen, and she had blood and tears on her beautiful brown face. His heart sank into his chest. The woman he was looking at was one of the most important people in his life. What happened? Was she robbed, raped?
He started to get angry, balling up his fist thinking about calling the cops, but he needed to know what had happened first. He decided to wait. She went through something traumatic, he thought. He had to get himself together before he woke her up. He didn’t want her to see him angry.
He sat on the bed facing her, thinking of how beautiful she still looked. He stared at her lips and rubbed one of his fingers against them, so soft. He remembered all of the times she was there for him, and he always wanted to be there for her. He removed his fingers from her lips and placed it on her belly, hoping the baby was ok.
He remembered when she’d told him she was pregnant how he’d reacted. He’d been furious with her. He couldn’t believe that she would be so careless and get herself knocked up by a jerk. He didn’t talk to her for days. He’d just wanted the best for her and knew it wasn’t that Tommy. When she called him to go with her to her first doctor’s appointment, he was reluctant to go, but she needed him because Tommy had bailed out on her. After all the appointments, hearing and seeing the baby, he loved being a part of it. “I’ve started to love this baby because it’s yours, Kay,” he whispered. His phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket, looked at the screen and saw that Kimberly was calling; he ignored the call and turned it off his phone.
Kay opened her eyes as far as she could. As soon as she realized Jason was there, she jumped up, hugged him, and started crying. He pulled her in tighter to him, “It’s ok; I’m here sweetie.” He didn’t understand why but he felt possessive of her. Whoever did this is going to pay.
He gently pulled away. “Are you ok?” She began to tremble in his arms, “What happened?” She could barely talk. She was choked with emotions, and all he could do was hold her. After she calmed down a bit, he asked her, “Do you want me to call the police?”
She pulled away. “No, no, please don’t call them. I don’t want anyone to see me this way,” she pleaded.
“But, Kay...”
“I said no.” She pushed back from him.
He took her hands in his. “What happened?”
At first she hesitated, but the look he gave her let her know he wasn’t going to back down. She asked him to promise not to say anything or do anything when she did. She tried never to lie to Jason.
“Please promise me you won’t blow up and you will remain calm,” she pleaded.
He stared at her. “I can’t. I promise not to call the cops, but I can’t promise not to get angry.”
She paused, “It was Tommy.” She could see the fury in his eyes.
His breathing began getting heavy. He closed his fist and tried to control his anger in front of her, I’m going to kill him. She re-lived everything, telling Jaso
n what had happened and how ashamed she would be if anyone found out.
He took her face in both his hands and caressed her. “Why are you ashamed? It wasn’t your fault. No man has a right to put his hands on a woman, especially on you. I’m going to fucking kill him,” he said, getting up.
“Please, Jason, don’t do anything. Let it be. Please don’t leave me,” she whispered. She knew if he were there with her he wouldn’t get in trouble.
He saw the fear in her eyes. “I won’t leave you. I will stay as long as you need me to. Did he rape you?” he asked.
“No.”
“Is the baby ok?” he asked, the look on her face worried him.
“At first I thought something was wrong. I had a sharp pain in my stomach, but when I made it to bed, it went away.”
“Do you want to go to the hospital?” he asked.
“No, I just want you here with me.”
“Has he hit you before?”
“No, I don’t know what came over him.”
He got up, walked to the bathroom, and started the bath water for her. He came back with a rag and began to clean her bloody face. She stared at him and wondered why he cared so much. He was always there, and he never judged her. He never treated her as nothing less than his equal, and for a split second, she thought. Why didn’t we ever...No. He has never been attracted to black women, and she wasn’t interested.
He looked at her and kissed her forehead. “The water is ready. Take your time and relax, and I will be here if you need me. I’m going go out to the car to call Kimberly. I might be a while. When you’re done, I’ll take care of you.”
He waited until he was sure she was in the bathtub before he left. He had one thing on his mind—Tommy. She wouldn’t miss him. She loved taking long Hollywood baths.
Chapter Three
Twenty minutes later, Jason headed up the stairs, looking at his knuckles. His hands were bloody and swollen. He’d almost killed Tommy. He drove by his house, and by luck, he was just getting out of his car with a woman. Jason jumped out of his own car. “This is for Kay, you asshole,” and started punching him nonstop. Tommy managed to land one on Jason’s jaw, but that didn’t stop him. The woman started screaming for Jason to stop and tried to pull him off. He would never hit a woman, so he backed off, but before he left, he turned and said, “If you ever put a finger on her again, I promise next time I’ll kill you.”
He got in his car and left. Jason wondered what he would tell Kay. He’d promised her. He opened the door and ran up the stairs. He ran in the guest bathroom and cleaned up his knuckles and face. He looked in the mirror at his lip, it wasn’t that swollen.
She’d heard him come into the house. “What took you so long? Is she mad at you?”
He couldn’t hide what he’d done. “Coming! I’m using the bathroom.”
When he walked into the room, she took one look at him and ran over to him.
She yelled at him. “You promised me you weren’t going to do anything, Jason. Let me see.” She turned his face. “Why?”
He grabbed her cheeks, caressing his thumb over her nose. “No one, I mean no one touches you and gets away with it.” He’d started to draw her face in for a kiss when his cell phone rang.
She pulled away. “Answer it, I bet its Kimberly. She might be wondering where you are.”
“Hello,” he answered, and she heard him say. “I have to take a rain check. Something came up. I’ll call you tomorrow. Bye.” He couldn’t tell her he was with Kay because Kimberly was jealous of their friendship.
When he got off the phone, she said, “If you have to leave, I’ll understand.”
He turned her around. “I’m staying with you.”
“We need to get ice packs, one for my eye and one for your lip,” she said, staring at his lips.
“I’ll be ok. It’s not that bad. You should see him.”
When she was about to say something, there was a knock on the door. She stared at him with fear in her eyes. He ran downstairs, his left hand balled into a fist, and answered the door, expecting to see Tommy, but to his surprise, it was the cops.
“Good evening, are you Jason Anderson?”
Jason had known this might happen. “Yes, I’m Jason Anderson. How can I help you?”
“We got a call that someone attacked Mr. Thomas Blake. A witness said that you could possibly be the attacker. The witness said it happened so fast, and by the looks of things, she was right,” the cop said.
Kay came down the stairs to the door and told the cops. “That’s impossible. He was here with me.”
The cop looked at her. “Did he do that to you?” and pointed at her face.
She looked up at the cop. “No, when did the incident happen?”
The cop answered. “About thirty minutes ago.”
“Well, we’ve been here since five o’clock.”
“Well from where I’m standing he has a swollen hand, and you have a swollen eye. It looks to me like domestic violence.” He stared at both of them.
“He didn’t do this to me, Sir. He would never hurt me.”
“I can’t take you in right now because of lack of evidence, but we will be back. The man is going to press charges.” He turned and walked away.
Kay closed the door and bent over in pain.
“Are you okay?” Jason asked, looking concerned.
“I’m just a little weak,” she answered.
He picked her up and carried her up the stairs. He took her to the bedroom and sat her on her bench while he changed her sheets. “Thank you for saving me with the cops.”
She looked at him with tears forming in her eyes. “No, Jason, thank you for standing up for me. You know if Kimberly ever hits you, I would do the same thing for you, but I would have the best lawyer.” She laughed.
He smiled. “Who?”
“You,” she replied, smiling.
“I’m glad you still have your sense of humor.” He picked her up and sat her on the bed.
“I can walk, you know.”
He ignored her and grabbed the house phone. “I’m going to order some food. I know you’re hungry; I heard your stomach.” He left the room.
She picked up her cell phone. When he answered, she said in an angry soft tone. “If you come after him, I will make sure you go to jail for what you did to me. It behooves you to get in touch with the cops and drop the charges or you’ll live to regret it, and that’s a promise, Tommy.” She hung up.
He was downstairs cleaning up the glass when the delivery guy knocked on the door. He paid the man and ran upstairs. He entered the room, and said. “Hey, it’s your favorite since you’ve been pregnant. Beef and broccoli with pork fried rice.”
She smiled and stared at him. “How did you remember?”
“I remember a lot of things about you, like the clothes you were wearing when I met you.” She began to eat.
She smiled. “Yeah, right.”
He looked into her eyes. “You were wearing a red tank top with washed out jeans, your hair was pulled into a ponytail with a few strands in your face, and your brown eyes were radiant. I remember thinking. ‘She has doll eyes’. You were looking so damn sexy, even with the attitude.”
She couldn’t believe he remembered. She wasn’t going tell him she remembered that day too. She had looked up at him and thought. “Shit, he sure looks hot for a white guy.”
“So you thought I was sexy, huh?” She asked, smiling.
He blushed turning red. “Whatever. Keep eating,” he mumbled.
They finished eating, and he picked up their plates and took them downstairs. When he came back into the bedroom, tears were rolling down her cheeks. He took one hand and wiped them away. “I’m here. I won’t let anyone hurt you again. That’s a promise.”
“I’m so tired,” she said. “Can you please
lay with me?”
“Come here.” He pulled her into his arms and then lay down with his hands around her belly, with her turned against him. His face was on her neck, inhaling her warm-vanilla smell. He started imaging he was kissing her. Where were these feelings coming from? The more he thought about it, the more aroused he got. Down, boy. She is our friend, friend only.
She could feel him getting aroused. It surprised her. Was he attracted to her? The thought was starting to get her aroused too. She liked how it felt to be in his arms. She remembered the time he stayed up with her all night holding her when she thought she had breast cancer. She couldn’t sleep waiting for the result the next morning. She’d cried in his arms, and he’d consoled her all night. The next morning the results came in, and it wasn’t breast cancer.
Being beside him was what she really needed and wanted. Why? When did these feelings start? He’s just your friend, nothing more, and he has a girlfriend.
They both were surprised when feeling a thump in her belly. She turned around. “Did you feel that?”
“Yes,” he said, excited. “She moved for me.”
“She?”
“It’s a girl, a little Kay.”
Their faces were barely touching. Even with her eye swollen, she still looked beautiful to him. Jason moved in as she moved forward their lips touched. The kiss started gentle, her lips on his were pure heaven, electrifying. She began kissing him back, parting her lips for his entrance. Their tongues met and started dancing, all the passion they both felt for each other was being expressed by the kiss.
“Why did I wait all this time for this? It’s better than I imagined it would be.”
She pulled away looking at him with fear in her eyes. “I’m bleeding or my water just broke.” When he looked down, he saw blood on the sheets.
“We’re going to the hospital.” He picked her up, not caring that he was getting blood all over himself. He closed the door behind him, put her in his car, and drove to the hospital.
