by Ivory B.
Carlos took the hour plus ride into Philly to clear his head and He’d been driving aimlessly ever since. Now that he had the time to reflect on the argument he knew he was wrong on so many levels. He shouldn’t have made Lucky feel wrong for wanting his baby. Truth be told he wanted a child just as bad as she did or probably a little more. He was afraid that maybe there was something wrong with him. He’d even secretly cut back on smoking so much weed thinking it could’ve been some truth to the controversial findings of marijuana effecting a males sperm count. Here it was months after Lucky been off birth control and nothing yet. All his boys had kids and him not even one. His father only had one child, could it be because fertility was an issue for him too? So many things ran through his head as he drove around the streets of Philly. Finally he decided to go home and face the music, he’d made a mess out of things and now he had to be man enough to go home and clean it up.
Lucky awoke to Los kissing her neck and the side of her face. She stiffened and tried to move away from him to no avail since he had his arms wrapped around her tight. “Luck I’m sorry c’mon don’t be mad at me, you know I can’t stand it when you mad with me.” “No Carlos I can’t with you right now get off me I’m not in the mood,” Lucky said sternly trying to push him away. “I’m scared Luck.” His omission softened Lucky almost immediately the vulnerability in his voice spoke volumes. She’d never heard Los say he was afraid of anything so to hear him admit this turned her into complete mush. Carlos had always been her superhero; she was braver when she was with him but she never stopped to think that even he may have his own fears. Lucky rolled over facing him exposing puffy eyes evidence of the tears she shed. Los felt like shit seeing how much he’d hurt her. “Luck I can give you anything in the world money can buy but if I can’t give you the one thing I know you really want then what?” “Then nothing, it won’t change the way I feel about you. Besides I don’t think it’s you I think it’s me,” Lucky admitted just above a whisper. They both stared at each other in silence as they lay face to face only inches away from one another. “We won’t know for sure unless we find out right?” Lucky’s eyes opened wide for a second with shock and Los could see how taken aback she was by his comment. “You know how much I love you Ma. I would do anything to make this right between us even go to the doctor with you to see what’s up if that’s what you want I’ll do it,” he leaned in kissing her lips softly. “Yes that’s what I want.” “Then that’s what we’ll do,” Los concluded. “I love you Carlos,” Lucky whispered kissing him one last time before falling off to sleep in his arms.
A week later Lucky lie in bed letting the television watch her instead of her watching it. Anxiety coursed through her body like blood making it hard for her to do something basic like watch television. She was a nervous wreck and she must’ve not been the only one because Carlos was in the house unusually early. At 2PM the following day they would be meeting up with a top fertility specialist in New Jersey to take a few tests and find out the real with extending their family. The ringing house phone caught Lucky off guard. “Hey Keema Beama what up?” “Hey ugly,” Keema joked. Lucky laughed but it was a forced laugh laced with worry. “So the big day is tomorrow ha?” Keema asked “Yeah it is.” “You nervous?” “Girl hell yeah,” Lucky admitted without hesitation. “Well I’m over here praying for you Lady Luck hopefully everything will be okay and if it’s not I just wanted to tell you that…” Keema hesitated nervously not knowing how to say this. “I would carry your baby for you if need be. I’m serious, I’ve been thinking about this from the day you first told me you were going to a fertility specialist for testing. I would be honored to bring my niece or nephew into this world.” Lucky was shocked into silence really how do you respond to something like that? “Keem I don’t even know what to say I mean…I don’t know what to say,” Lucky responded with emotion. “And you don’t have to say anything; I just want you to know that you have that option.” “Thank you Keem hopefully it doesn’t come to that and everything is fine because god forbid you mess up that body of yours, Keema got that body on fleek,” Lucky said jokingly. Keema had been on a whole fit campaign she’d lost 10 pounds so far and was hitting the gym and eating right in her quest to get it right and tight. “Yeah you know I’m tryna get summertime fine but I would sacrifice my body for you guys but please believe bitch I would make yo ass hit the gym right along with me everyday till I lost every pound.” Both women burst out laughing. “Alright Luck I’ma let you go so you can get ready for tomorrow, love you fingers crossed.” “Love you too Keem and I’ll have my fingers and toes crossed tomorrow,” Lucky laughed.
All the fuss and worrying was for absolutely nothing at all. The test results came back fine for both Lucky and Los. Well for Los the fact that the doctor told him he had a high sperm count and his sperms were healthy and active was equivalent to someone telling him he was the manliest man in the whole world. The big smirk on his face was damn near comical. For Lucky though the news was bitter-sweet; she was completely healthy and fertile but seemed to still have remnants of birth control in her body despite having stopped injections months prior. The biggest issue of them all was Lucky didn’t have regular periods which was a side effect from the birth control shot. Her periods needed to be regular and reoccurring so she could get pregnant. The doctor told them every situation and women was different but in her experience it could take a women anywhere from 12 to 24 months to conceive after her last birth control shot. Lucky felt her ears burning and her throat closing as the doctor continued to talk. “The good news is that all your plumbing is working properly so it’s bound to happen. Keep trying sometimes it takes couples longer to get pregnant initially but once they do the following pregnancies are easier and quicker,” The doctor offered up her diagnosis with a slight bit of not so funny humor. Carlos and Lucky looked over at one another and shook their heads in understanding. It wasn’t what they wanted to hear but it wasn’t bad news either. Los watched Lucky closely and was surprised she took the news like a G. He thought for sure he would have to scrap her up off the floor but she seemed cool about it too cool that is. He knew his baby all too well because right as they exited the Ben Franklin bridge crossing from Jersey into Philly Lucky lost it. She cried and cried hard, Los looked over and noticed his baby had the ugly cry face going and everything, she was truly upset about the test results. He started to let her have a moment and get it all out however her cries began to tug at his heart strings, it got so bad he had to pull over to the side of the road. Los looked around mindful of the fact he had a young wild nigga out here talking about what he was going to do when he ran into him. Los wasn’t at all concerned about himself he was still out here in these streets, it was Lucky he didn’t want getting caught up in his mess.
“Luck what’s goin on ma? Why you crying like that?” He tried to reach out and pull her into his arms but Lucky jerked away balled her fist up and hit the dashboard. “I’m mad!” She screamed flashing him an angry glare. Carlos nearly lost it with laughter, no; this wasn’t a funny situation at all but Lucky was really worked up and all he could think of when she looked at him and hit the dashboard was Hulk Smash! It was like she had really turned green and got angry. “Luck calm down, nah on some real shit calm down,” Los said reaching over to gently brush his hand over her tear stained cheek. “What you all worked up for?” “Why me? I have the worst luck. Things always have to be difficult for me when it’s so easy for other people. I swear it’s like I can sit and watch a hundred people climb a wall then when it’s my turn the damn wall would collapse on me. I don’t even know why they call me lucky it’s like a slap in the face!” Lucky ranted with tears falling freely. “C’mon Luck we was at the same doctor’s appointment so I know you heard what I heard. She didn’t say we couldn’t have a baby, as a matter of fact she said we was Gucci. It might not happen today, tomorrow, or even next month but it’ll happen. So what if we gotta wait a little longer for our blessing imagine how special it’ll be when it finally
happens,” Los said with conviction. Lucky didn’t know how but suddenly she started feeling better; it was as if he was able to calm her almost immediately. He talked her down from that emotional ledge she was about to jump head first from. “Lucky Charms you stressin ya’self over nothing you need to stop all that,” Los said placing his hand on the back of her head bringing her closer to plant a kiss on her forehead. “Look at you Lucky, you ain’t hear what that doctor said about stress? Stress can stop you from getting pregnant, you gotta be easy ma. You sittin here on red alert like you heard a nigga put a price on ya head, beaten up my whip and everything.” Lucky pursed her lips together and flashed him an embarrassed look while fighting back a smile. “Carlos I’m serious, this is not funny.” “Oh I know you dead ass my dashboard know too,” Lucky burst out into laughter despite trying desperately to hold onto her pity party. “Carlos stop,” Lucky said through giggles. “I’m sayin a nigga thought you was about to hop out the whip pick this bitch up and throw it over the bridge on some Hulk smash shit. I’m angry!” Los said trying to imitate the Hulk. Lucky burst out laughing and so did Los. He folded over slightly gripping his stomach with one hand while using his other to grip the steering wheel. “Carlos you’re an asshole,” Lucky said trying to stop laughing herself. She hit him in the shoulder playfully as he pulled back onto the road to continue driving home. Los reached over and pinched her cheek before accelerating and paying attention to the road. She looked over at him with watery eyes and a smile. Damn I love this man; he can put a bright smile on my face on some of my darkest days. Despite their hectic day as soon as they got home Lucky and Los started working on that bundle of joy they wanted so desperately.
Deal or No Deal
After nearly two stressful weeks the results of the CPS investigation was finally in, no signs of sexual abuse or neglect found by the department. Nice was reunited with his daughter but his life would forever be changed by the experience he went through. He was vindicated but at the same time he didn’t feel that way after being accused of something so heinous. It was hard for him not to feel a certain level of paranoia at times and wonder if maybe some people really believed the false claims. The most fucked up thing about it all was that Mia still had rights to Ky. Her parental rights weren’t terminated and Nice only had temporary custody until Mia finished court ordered drug rehabilitation. Horowitz advised him to wait it out. Once the 90 days came and went they would push for sole custody again. Nice was almost certain Mia wasn’t going to complete a stint in rehab so he was mentally preparing himself to do this court fiasco all over again, this time with hopes of having Mia’s rights taken away based on her drug use. Inviting this type of drama back into his life for a second time wasn’t something he looked forward to. But he’d already told himself he would fight till the last breath in his body for his daughter.
The ringing phone woke Nice out of his sleep. He grabbed it quickly trying to avoid waking Ty. “Yo,” Nice answered in a groggy tone. “Nice listen to me we need to go over a legal matter,” Horowitz rambled off his voice a mixture of fatigue and excitement. Nice opened his eyes to peek at the blue numbers on the digital alarm clock. It was a little before 5 in the morning. What the fuck was his lawyer’s problem? “Steve c’mon man do you know what time it is?” “Actually yes but this couldn’t wait. I just received a call from Mia’s lawyer central time and so I decided to call you right away.” Nice was immediately awake now. “Oh yeah, did the bitch drop dead of some dick eating disease or something?” Horowitz let out a hearty laugh. “Uh unfortunately no, but there’s some good news she wants to make a deal. Mia’s offering to relinquish her parental rights voluntarily for a fee, she’s asking for 250 thousand. I don’t even have to ask if you have it I know you do. We can get her to sign off on the papers to relinquish her rights, submit it to the courts and Ky is yours. No joint custody, no visitations, no split summers or holidays, and no more drama. All I need you to do is sign that check and a notarized letter stating you won’t go after Mia for child support of any kind, her lawyer’s dead set on that letter.” Nice sighed long and hard. “What I look like asking that bitch for anything,” Nice snarled raising his voice slightly. Ty who was a light sleeper stirred awake and noticed Nice was on the phone. She immediately sat up in bed and rubbed his back fearing the worst. In her experience those early morning or middle of the night calls were never good news. “Baby what’s going on?” Ty asked. “Steve hold up right quick.” Nice told her exactly what his lawyer had told him then he placed the phone on speaker. “Nice what’s wrong? I thought this is what you wanted why the hesitation?” His lawyer asked truly stumped at Nice’s reaction. “Baby if it’s the money I can take it out of my trust fund I won’t miss it, I swear. I have some investments that are doing pretty good in the market and a 401k. Then you know I have the row house in Philly I haven’t stayed there in god knows how long I could sell it and get a pretty good return off of tha…” Nice leaned over and placed a kiss on her lips to silence her rambling. “Pebbz that’s why I fucks wit you ma real talk, you know your money no good wit me though. Trust me Ty I got it, it’s just its… I can’t believe Mia actually putting a price tag on her daughter 250g’s is that all Ky means to her?” Although Ty understood where Nice was coming from the fact Mia was actually willing to give her child up for any amount of money was evidence enough she didn’t need any type of custody. Things were finally getting back to where they used to be, Ky was back home from staying with Los and Lucky and she was even calling Ty mommy again. Ky seemed secure and content as if she knew she was in safe hands. And Ty would do anything to keep it that way even go as far as offering Mia her own gwap. “As a father I understand what you must be feeling but as your lawyer I’m saying let’s hurry up and deal. Child custody cases are never final unless one parent’s rights have been terminated. With that being said Mia can return years from now and say she’s gotten her crap together, is drug free and wants another shot at being a mother and you know what a court would give her that chance because she has rights. Let’s put this whole thing to rest and make this deal.” “Fuck it, you right I’ll cut that trife bitch a check and get her out of my life for good. I can’t keep putting my family through this drama especially, my daughter. As a matter of fact tell her lawyer I’ll give that bitch an extra 20 stacks on top of what she’s asking for just to show her I would’ve paid 20 times the amount she wants for my daughter.” Nice hung up the phone and shook his head. Dumb bitch if you think you gon shake a nigga down after all the shit you pulled, take my money and run off into the sunset you got me fucked up. ‘Bae it was the right thing to do, I’m glad this whole ordeal is over with,” Ty said before snuggling up under him. “Yeah Ty me too,’ Nice said trying to hide the malice in his voice.
Mia had finally gotten her big payday. She didn’t even have to wait for a check Nice had agreed to wire her money to a bank right there in Vegas. Ecstatic couldn’t describe how she felt, she’d never had this much money to her name at once in her life. After paying her lawyer her fees and paying the state of New Jersey their money for the welfare benefits she had received while receiving child support she still had a little over 220 thousand dollars left. The extra 20g’s Nice gave helped out a great deal. She knew the real reason he’d given her that extra money was because he was still in love with her. She still had feelings for Nice always had and believed that if he had loved her back and gave them a chance she would’ve tried to be a better mother for his sake at least. A part of her hated that he would be living with that stuck up bitch raising their daughter. Jealousy ran through her veins like blood when she thought about how he actually put a rock on Ty’s finger even after she lost that baby. Mia jumped for joy and snorted a whole bag in celebration when she first heard Ty miscarried. That was the one thing she felt she always had over Ty the fact she had Nice’s child and Ty didn’t. In her twisted fantasies she knew Nice still wanted her and if he wasn’t depending on Ty so much to be a substitute mother he would leave Ty to be with her
.
Mia was so happy she didn’t know what to do with herself so she went about counting the money again for the third time as if there would be some missing. She had racks on top of racks laid out on the bed in her hotel suite. She had never been in the presence of this much cash and it was all hers. Mia heard the zip zip of the door unlocking to her hotel room and moments later Dean walked in looking at the money with a bewildered expression on his face. He hurried up and locked the door placing a chair behind the knob for extra security. If anyone knew the dangers of getting stuck up it was him.
“Ayo shorty what da fuck is goin on? Don’t tell me you done pulled some hot shit like robbed a bank or somethin.” Mia chuckled “Yes and no. I robbed a bank alright the bank of my Baby Daddy. We did it baby, we got that nigga for his paper! I had my lawyer call his lawyer and set up a deal, quarter of a milli for me to give up my parental rights. All I had to do is sign a few papers and his lame ass gave up all this paper plus an extra 20g’s I ain’t even ask for. I know he gave the extra gwap cause he still want me but please ain’t nobody thinkin bout his ass when I got you.”
Dean’s whole face turned into a slow scowl, his insides churned and he thought for sure he was about to throw up. He knew from jump Mia wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed but the shit she pulled today was beyond brainless. It was the equivalent to someone kidnapping a millionaire and setting the ransom for his return at 20 thousand dollars. Mia had a baby father who was a millionaire there was no doubt about it. Dean did his homework and knew Nice was niggaz plug out here. He ain’t slang Oz’s or bricks he brought that work in by boat and truck loads and sold it wholesale. She had a nigga like that by the balls because she had his daughter that he actually wanted and would’ve paid way more than a measly ass quarter of a mill for. No this slow bitch ain’t do that.
