by La Jill Hunt
“Excuse me, but don’t I know you from somewhere?” he asked, looking at Yvonne.
“Oh, how original,” Roni groaned and shook her head at him. Kayla looked at him, but she didn’t recognize him from anywhere.
“I think so, but I’m trying to figure out where,” Yvonne told him.
“The school. You work at my nephew’s school. I pick him up sometimes,” the guy said, realizing who Yvonne was.
“That’s right. I’ve spoken to you in the hallways sometimes. See Roni, he does know me from somewhere.”
“I see,” Roni replied.
“I’m Darrell, Darrell Coleman.” He extended his hand to Yvonne. Kayla frowned at him as she began to comprehend who he was. It was my brother Darrell’s house. The sports agent. Craig’s voice echoed in her head.
“Yvonne Majors. And these are my friends, Kayla and Roni.” She pointed to her friends.
“Nice to meet you,” he said and noticed that Kayla didn’t seem too friendly. “Well, I won’t interrupt you ladies any further. Enjoy your meal. I’ll see you next time I pick up my nephew.”
“I look forward to it.” Yvonne smiled and he walked away.
“Cute, Von. You should have given him your number.” Roni grinned at Yvonne.
“No she shouldn’t have. Don’t you know who he is? That’s Craig’s brother,” Kayla hissed across the table.
“Shut up. His brother is that fine?” Roni turned to get a better look.
“Don’t turn around! He’s looking over here,” Yvonne whispered. “Kayla, he seems nice.”
“So did Craig, remember?” she muttered, trying not to look across the room at Darrell. “Oh God, he’s coming back over here.”
“Excuse me, Yvonne. I wanted to leave my number with you. Call me some time if you want to hang out.”
“Uh, thanks.” Yvonne smiled at him. Kayla was not impressed.
“When’s your baby due?” he turned and asked Kayla. Why don’t you ask your brother, was what she started to say, but thought better of it.
“Thanksgiving Day,” she answered with a fake smile.
“That’s nice. Well, I look forward to hearing from you. Nice talking to you ladies again.” Darrell turned and walked away, leaving the ladies smirking at each other.
“Shut up and eat,” Kayla warned before anyone could say anything.
They enjoyed the rest of their meals and went to the register to pay.
“It’s already taken care of, ladies,” the cashier said.
“What?” they asked in unison.
“Someone already paid for your meal,” she said to them like they were slow.
“Who?” Roni demanded.
“The gentleman already left a few moments ago.” She gave them their receipt.
“Compliments of DC,” Yvonne read aloud. “Darrell Coleman.”
“Now that brother has taste,” Roni told her.
“You should see his crib,” Kayla mumbled.
“What?” Yvonne turned to Kayla.
“Can’t believe he paid the bill,” Kayla lied.
“If I would have known he was paying, I would have gotten dessert.”
17
“A godson. My first godson,” Terrell said to Kayla. They were sitting at their desks and Kayla finally told him the results of the ultrasound. She tried to lie and say she didn’t know, but Terrell in his eternal nosiness had seen her writing down boys’ names on a piece of paper, so she had come clean. “Now we have to come up with a tight name.”
“We?” Kayla looked across at him.
“I’m not letting you screw up his life with some cornball name.”
“I am not picking cornball names, you jerk.” Kayla threw a rubber band at him.
“What do you have so far?” Kenosha asked.
“Okay. How about Xachary Denzel Hopkins,” Kayla said proudly. “But spell Xachary with an X, not a Z.”
“Annnn!” Terrell made the sound of a game show buzzer.
“I like it,” she said.
“Hell, no. First of all, Zachary with a Z isn’t even player. It’s a nerd name. And then you’re gonna really confuse him, his teachers and everyone else by spelling it with an X? And when he plays football, he’s gonna be big Xach. That is ugly. And Denzel? Come on.”
“Well, what do you suggest, Terrell?” Kayla waited for him to think.
“Tyranny. Now that’s player.” He smiled.
“Annnn!” It was Kayla’s turn to make the buzzer noise.
“What the heck? Tyranny? Doesn’t that mean oppression? What about Montel Jordan Hopkins?” Kayla asked.
“His first words are gonna be ‘this is how we do it’,” Terrell joked. They tossed names around every day for weeks until Kayla decided on the perfect one, telling no one. She did, however, let everyone know that she appreciated their input, but they would just have to wait.
“Why won’t you tell me, Kay?” Roni asked as they were painting the nursery walls a pretty shade of sky blue. It was the end of August and Kayla was getting bigger by the day. She decided they had better get this done before she couldn’t get out of the bed.
“Because it’s a surprise, Ron. I’m not telling anyone until he’s here.”
“Not even Craig?”
“No, not even Craig,” Kayla told her. Kayla and Craig had come to terms on their relationship. He would come by once a week to check on her and see if she was okay, bringing her banging desserts that she began to thrive on. They would talk for a little while and he would see the progress she was making on the nursery. The entire theme was denim, and everything was OshKosh thanks to her childless girlfriends who got a kick out of outfitting the room. He agreed to purchase the two-hundred-dollar stroller she wanted and surprised the hell out of her when he showed up at her door one night with it. At this point, Kayla had no complaints about him. He tried to push up on her every now and then, but she stopped that real quick. They were just cool and Kayla made sure that he and every one else knew that.
“Is he excited?” Roni began painting the opposite wall.
“I don’t think so. I mean, this isn’t his first child and he already has a son. It’s really no big deal. Calm down, boy.” Kayla rubbed her belly.
“Oh, let me feel.” Roni walked over and Kayla put her hand where the baby was kicking. “Kay, it’s a baby in there.”
“Naw, for real? Let’s take a break.” They went into the living room and Roni looked out the window.
“You expecting company?” she asked.
“No, Yvonne is out with Darrell, and Tia and Theo went to the movies.”
“It’s a burgundy Explorer pulling up in your driveway. Oh my God!”
“Please don’t tell me, Ron.” Kayla closed her eyes as she thought of the only person in the world she knew with a burgundy Explorer.
“I’ll open the door.” Roni went up the hallway and waited for them to knock. Kayla went into her private bathroom so she could think for a minute.
“Ron, hey there girl. How you been doing?” Kayla heard the deep voice say. She tried to calm herself and took a deep breath.
“Fine. You look good.”
“Thanks, where’s my baby?”
“She’s in her room. I’ll get her.” Roni went to close the door when she realized the rest of the family was getting out of the truck. “Be right back. Make yourself at home.”
“Kayla, come out.” She tapped on the bathroom door. She knew this was the moment Kayla had been dreading and she wanted to be there for her friend.
“I can’t,” she whined.
“Yes, you can. Come on, Kayla. They’re out there waiting for you.” She tried the door but it was locked. She turned around and was startled when she realized she was not alone in the room.
“Move!” the woman commanded. Roni wasted no time doing what she was told. She sat on the side of Kayla’s bed and waited for this scene to play itself out.
“Open the door and come out right now.”
Kayla opened the d
oor slowly. “Hi, Mama.”
“Your hair is growing back. It looks good,” her mother said as she hugged her. “Look at you.”
“Kayla! I did not drive almost three hours for you to be in the bedroom all day. Come on out here and see me.” She jumped at the sound of her father’s voice.
“Go on, baby. Time to face the music.” Kayla’s mother rubbed her back. “She’s coming right out, John. Give the girl a few moments. We did show up unexpected.”
“Well, if she would call home every now and then she would have been expecting us.” He laughed heartily.
“Does he know?” Kayla quickly asked her mother.
“Did you tell him? He’ll know in a few minutes.” She pulled Kayla out the door and down the hall. “Come on, Roni.”
“Hi, Daddy,” Kayla said as she walked toward her father. Her dad reached out and hugged her, then quickly let go.
“Kayla? Are you . . . ?” He frowned as he looked at his youngest daughter. The one he taught to ride her bike and scramble eggs. He couldn’t believe that she was having a baby, and worse, that she had kept this from him.
“Yes, Daddy.” Kayla looked down, ashamed.
“Looks like we’re gonna be grandparents, John.” Kayla’s mother put her hand under Kayla’s chin and raised her head. “Don’t you hold your head down. You know better than that.”
“Is that why you haven’t called or come home? But Jennifer, you talked to her. Did you know?” He looked at Kayla’s mom.
“I smell paint. Are you painting something?” Kayla’s mother quickly asked.
“We’re painting the nur—I mean guest room,” Roni answered.
“Well, Roni, why don’t you show me and we can give Kayla and her dad a chance to talk.” They disappeared down the hall, leaving Kayla alone with her father. He sat down on the sofa, still shocked.
“I’m sorry, Daddy. I wanted to tell you, but I was too ashamed. I knew you’d be mad and I wasn’t ready to deal with that. Not yet, anyway.”
“Mad? Kayla, you are a grown woman. Why would I be mad? I am disappointed, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love you. What is Geno saying?”
Kayla really wasn’t ready to tell him that the baby wasn’t Geno’s, but she knew that the time had come to be honest about everything. “It’s not Geno’s, Daddy.”
“What? Then whose is it?” Her Dad was truly baffled by what she was saying.
“Craig’s,” she answered.
“Who the hell is Craig?” He looked up at her.
“A friend.”
“So let me get this straight. You get pregnant, don’t call or visit for months and the father is your friend, not your ex-fiancé?”
“That’s about right, Daddy. But I’m going to be all right. I have a great job and a support system from my friends. This isn’t anything I’ve planned, and believe me, I have gone back and forth with myself about this decision. My child may not have been conceived under the greatest of circumstances, but I am gonna be a great mother. You and Mama raised me to do the right thing and I am.”
“Baby, baby, baby. You are doing the right thing. But you could have come to me. I could have—” Tears filled his eyes.
“I’m sorry for not coming to you, Daddy. But there was nothing more you could have done for me except what you’re doing now, loving me,” she said and gave her father a big hug.
All of a sudden there was another knock at the door and it opened before Kayla could answer it.
“Yo, Kay. Let’s roll to the mall,” Terrell’s voice yelled as he came in the door. He realized she wasn’t alone and began to apologize. “Oh, my bad.”
“Dad, this is . . .” Kayla started.
“You don’t have to tell me who this is. My daughter tells me you’re the father of this child she is carrying,” her dad stood up and said coldly.
“She told you what?” Terrell looked at Kayla, appalled.
“Hey Terrell!” Roni greeted as she and Kayla’s mom entered the living room.
“Terrell?” John looked totally baffled. “I thought you said his name was Craig.”
“No, you said his name was Craig. This is my coworker and friend, Terrell.” Kayla introduced Terrell to her father.
“You thought Terrell was Craig?” Roni giggled.
“Who’s Craig?” Jennifer inquired.
“The baby’s father,” John told her.
“Oh, yeah.”
“Craig is the father. Terrell is the godfather. And Geno and I are just friends.” Kayla sighed. “Everyone understand now?”
“I got it,” Roni said.
“Me too,” Terrell replied.
“Now, I see the walls are being painted blue. Does that mean I am having a grandson?” Jennifer put her arm around Kayla.
“Indeed you are.” Kayla smiled at her mother.
“A grandson. I like that.” Her dad smiled at her.
“Well, Kayla, you don’t need to be in there painting. Why don’t we leave and let your father and Terrell finish the room and we go shopping? Maybe even register you at some stores for your shower,” Jennifer said. Kayla looked at Terrell and knew he wanted to object but didn’t out of respect for her parents. “You don’t mind, do you, Terrell?”
“Uh, no ma’am,” he answered and Kayla and Roni suppressed their laughter.
“Go get changed, Kayla. We gotta go shopping for my grandson.” She pushed Kayla toward the bedroom.
“I didn’t know I drove all this way to paint. And by the looks of what you’re wearing, you didn’t either, huh?” John asked Terrell. “I appreciate it, though. And I’m sorry about assuming you were the father.”
“Happens all the time,” Terrell told him. John excused himself and went out to his SUV.
“Thanks, Terrell,” Roni told him.
“For what?” He looked confused.
“Making an uncomfortable situation better.”
“Why didn’t she tell him, anyway?”
“I don’t know. She knows her parents have and always will support her. She didn’t want to upset him.”
“Your girl and her emotional confrontations. That’s why I call her DQ.”
“What’s DQ?”
“Drama Queen. The funny thing is, she doesn’t go looking for the drama. It just always seems to find her.” He laughed. “Her parents are cool, though. But I did get pimped into painting the room.”
“Hey, that’s what godpimps are for,” Roni told him.
“I like that. Godpimp.” He nodded.
“That was supposed to be a joke.”
“Now it’s my new title.” His cell began to vibrate on his hip and he answered it. “What up? Over here at Kayla’s. Yeah. She’s right here. You wanna speak to her?” He passed the phone to Roni.
“Hello. Oh, it’s in my purse. Okay, that’s cool. I’ll check my schedule and let you know. I’ll call you later. Bye.” She passed Terrell his phone back, glowing.
“You know he’s really feeling you, right?”
“Yeah. Me and how many others?”
“Naw, you are good for him. You don’t jump when he wants you to, like all the others. He likes that. I bet he wanted you to go out tonight, right?”
“How do you know?”
“That’s how it works for him. He’s known since y’all went out the other night that he wanted to see you again, but he’d never tell you that then. He’ll wait until the day of and call to ask you. Now, most chicks would’ve said yes. But you held it down and said you’d let him know. That’s player.”
“So he already planned to take me out? Why did he wait?”
“Because you are supposed to sweat him, not him sweat you. That’s his MO. How long have y’all been going out?”
“Since July, so two months.”
“He’s never sweated anyone that long before. Whatever you’re doing, keep doing it. That is if you really like him.” He nodded at her.
“I do. He’s a male version of me, kinda what I been looking for.”
&nb
sp; “Then it’ll work because you’re a female version of him. I can see why you are so compatible. He talks about you all the time and believe it or not, the games are about to stop. You just need to make sure you’re ready for that.”
Roni thought about what Terrell was telling her and thanked him. She really liked Terrell because he was the realest guy she had ever met. He was a good friend and just what Romi needed right now. She respected him because he spoke his mind, even though he was so full of himself that he made her want to throw up sometimes.
Kayla, Jennifer, and Roni shopped well into the evening. By the time they returned to Kayla’s townhouse, they found John knocked out on the sofa and Terrell long gone. Kayla and Roni took the bags into the nursery. They cut on the light and smiled when they saw that the room was completely done. Not only had they done the walls and trim, there was a neon moon in the corner and glow in the dark stars had been applied to the ceiling.
“Grandpa and godpimp did a good job,” Roni whispered to Kayla.
“They always do,” she replied and almost cried.
18
The first few weeks of September went by so fast that the days began to run together. Kayla was standing in front of her closet one afternoon when she heard Terrell blowing his horn. She looked at the clock on her nightstand, making sure she had the correct time. The clock read ten forty. She went to let him in.
“You up yet?” he asked her.
“Naw, I’m still in the bed opening the door,” she retorted. “I don’t feel like going to work today. Let’s call in.”
“What?”
“Let’s call in. I gotta start looking for a car anyway. I’m gonna need one by the time the baby gets here and I got my money saved, plus my trade-in. So, you can help me find a car.”
“You’re serious?”
“Yeah, I’m serious. Then we can go to lunch, my treat. We need a mental health day.” She picked up the phone and called their manager, letting him know she would be absent. Then she passed the phone to Terrell who followed suit.
“I think they’re gonna put two and two together and see that we’re both calling out.”
