"Oh yeah, what is that?"
"A ball... have you ever been to a ball?"
"A ball? As in, dancing? A ballroom? Gowns, stuff like that?"
"You got it. I have two tickets to go, but I won't be attending this year because, well, my bodyguard doesn't think it will be safe for me. And to be honest, I'm not really up to it, but you on the other hand, I think you'd enjoy it. All you need is an escort."
"Ben!" Angela happily supplied his name, turning to Crystal, "Oh you have to go Crystal, its so beautiful! You'll love it. You and Ben can go together. You'll have so much fun there Crystal, you should definitely go!" She then turned back to her mother, hyped, "Mom, you have to take her to get a really nice gown, really nice - so she can go!" Then back to Crystal, "Please go Crystal, I want you to go! You'll be so beautiful and if Ben dresses up and takes you, that would be fantastic!"
Crystal started laughing, "Girl what has gotten into you? I'll think about it, okay?"
Angela turned from Crystal to her mother, "Mom, don't pay that any attention. She'll go! I want her to go, I want her to have the best time of her life, because she deserves it mom, so you have to make sure she looks incredible." She was so passionate about it, her eyes were shinning.
Deidre smiled at her daughter, then tilted pass her to look at Crystal. "Looks like you're going to the ball."
"Ya' think? I guess so. But uh, Ms. Angela, what if Ben doesn't want to go?"
"Oh I'm not worried about Ben, he'll want to go. Especially since he'll be escorting you. Oh we have to get the most perfect tuxedo for him mom, wait until you see him." She went on turning back to her mother, "He - looks - just like dad! Just like him, just younger! Wait until you meet him."
Sylvia stepped out form the dressing room, arms out, striking a pose, "Okay, as much as I hate to admit it, she's right - I look much better in this."
All turned to look at her, they agreed, the maternity dress was perfect for her figure. It accentuated it, elongated her torso, giving her a very classy sleek like appearance. While there, she picked up a few more dresses made in a similar style. From there, Deidre took her to get her hair fixed. She was concerned about the area in her head where the hair was still short from her accident. The stylist worked around it and weaved a bit of hair into the area and gave her a high, fluffed, slightly teased style that moved when she moved. He even added a few painted in temporary streaks to her hair. Did her makeup and when he was done, all of them were blown away.
"Shit, it pays to be rich don't it?" Charlie commented looking at her and the difference.
Sylvia paused, not sure how to take that observation.
Deidre laughed it off, glared at Charlie and carried on.
They stopped, picked her up some accessories; shoes, a couple of purses, jewelery. A solitaire diamond pendent, diamond earrings and a tennis bracelet. Deidre paid for it all, what she considered small token gifts to Sylvia for taking such good care of her daughter. Besides, her daughter, Angela, did her part to egg it on. By the time they returned to the house, Shawn and Benjamin were back. Deidre declined to come in. But had hoped that Angela would come and spend some time with her. "This weekend maybe? We did just get here." Angela gently begged out of it. Deidre didn't push it, she merely nodded, gave her a kiss and hug and made Sylvia promise that the entire family would come over for dinner sometime in the week.
She promised.
When they entered the house, Shawn had been playing on the Playstation with Mundo, who had stayed behind with the boys, playing with them in the swimming pool. Shawn looked back at them with a smile and a glance and then did a double take at his wife. He tossed the controller to the sofa and stood to get a closer look at her.
"Holy cow... wow! You look fantastic! Wow."
"Stop it Shawn, you're making me feel self-conscious. It's almost 3:30, I better go get dressed." She blushed heading up the stairs. Shawn turned to the kids, clearing his throat, "Echm, yeah uh, I should go get ready as well and uh, you all - just - do what you do ... I'm gonna go get ready now." And then took off up the stairs after Sylvia.
"He pitiful! I mean pitiful! A man ain't supposed to let a woman know she got his nose all open like that! I'on care if it is my mama! He ain't even got no shame! Just hand her the nose ring why don'cha, let her lead you wherever! And you ... I ain't come to L.A. to baby sit! Hell with that! I got a life too! Shit, ain't nobody took my po'ass shopping! I'm just the po'ass house negra!" He fussed. Laughing Crystal walked over to the sofa between him and Benjamin, who had picked up the controller Shawn discarded. She wrapped her arms around her brother, grabbing his face, playing kissy face. Making exaggerated kissing sounds, smacking her lips. "Aaaaw, hims feelin' left out. My po'lil'o'brother. I'll make it up to you."
"Gone gul! Kissin' on me, ain't gone do you no good! I ain't keepin' they lil'bad ass no mo'! That one there..." He nodded towards Darren. "Go smimmin'. go smimmin' - I won'go smimmin'!" He mocked him.
Darren stood up, popped him on the leg, and said loud as he could, "GO SMIMMIN'! I won'go smimmin'!" He drew his face up into scowl that made all of them laugh.
"You can go swimmin' later on Darren! How much more you wanna go swimmin'? Man ... get on my nerve!" Isaac fussed from the floor.
"Darren you want me to take you swimming?" Benjamin asked watching the game and glancing at Darren.
"NO!"
"Why not?" He asked.
"'Cause, no'my daddy!" He grumbled.
"I ain't yo'daddy either, but you make my ass take you!" Mundo fussed.
"Stop cussing at my baby fool!" Crystal corrected him.
"I know, but I don't have to be your daddy to take you swimming." Benjamin stated.
"No!"
"Okay, be that way. I offered, could've gone swimming, but you don't want to go. Oh well." He shrugged with a shake of his head.
"How come ya'll ain't bring back no food?" Mundo asked.
"Boy! All that food in the kitchen, we just went grocery shopping. Go fix yo'self something to eat."
"I ain't fixin' nothin', I'm on vacation!"
"Vacation!? You ain't got a job! How the heck you on vacation!" Crystal asked.
"Ben? You see this man? This what a brother get put through. Can't get no appreciation. No respect. Ain't gettin' paid, ain't nobody offered me a dime. But I been babysitting they butts since, day - one! Both'uv'em! Am I lyin'? Am I lyin'? If I'm lyin' I'm dyin'! All I get ... is ... no vacation for you negro. If you hungry, just stay hungry, we'll - drop you somethin' off our plate in a minute. What was that? Was that yo' stomach growling negro? How dare you! How dare you be hungry, you ain't got a job, so what yo'stomach doin' growlin'?"
Angela was rolling on the floor she was laughing so hard at him.
"You need to stop! You know I take care of you snuky-boo-bbo."
"Aaaah here we go! Not the snuky-boo-boo! Anything but the snuky-boo-boo! That mean you want something else from my po', broke, unemployed, hungry ass!"
Benjamin sat laughing, playing the game, doing all that he could to distract himself from the sensation going through his body. The one caused by Crystal sitting right next to him, her thigh, rubbing against his. The sound of her laughter, being this close, was playing havoc with his senses.
"AAAH MAN!" He called out, doing anything to shake himself of the feeling coming over him. "Did you see that!? I can't believe I blew that!"
"Won't you move girl! That's why he lost, 'cause you got yo'ass jammed up in here. All in the way! Can't nobody play with you sittin' there! Move out the way! 'Cause you ain't gettin' nothin' ... snuky-boo-boo has left the building!"
Pretending to be in a huff, Crystal stood and pushed his head, "Fine then! Be like that."
Ben sat staring right at her firm rear end and felt himself stir a bit before she stepped over her brother away from the couch.
"You see that? See she push my head?"
"I was gone cook you something to eat!" She called to him heading for the kitchen.
"Em mm, don't cook me nothing! A
ngela, go see what she doing in there! That's good food in there, we paid good money for that food! Don't let her get her hands on that food."
Angela stood from the floor, weak from laughter, heading for the kitchen, "Crystal, wanna order something?"
"See!? She know ... she know better. See she gone in there to stop her. My sister can't cook, to save her own life!"
"Want me to cook?" Benjamin asked.
"You can cook? What can you cook?"
"I can make a pretty good pizza roll. I thought I'd cook it one night for the family while here, so I picked up all the ingredients at the story, want me to cook it tonight?"
"How long it gone take?"
"Not too long."
"Get in there quick then. For she start something and hurt somebody."
When Shawn and Sylvia came down for their evening out, they were all in the kitchen helping Benjamin prepare dinner.
They stopped in the doorway, "We're heading out. You all gonna be okay?" Shawn asked.
"We'll be fine, go and have a good time." Crystal called out, chopping up vegetables that Ben had assigned her to. He had Mundo browning the hamburger, sausage and bacon, while Angela grated the cheese and he made the dough for rising. They all looked up at them, "You look great Sylvia!" Angela was the first to compliment her.
"Man mama, you pretty fine ain't you!?" Mundo flirted, making her laugh.
"You behave yourself boy."
"Hey, I'm always good."
"Have a good time, and hey, you look incredible." Benjamin complimented her.
"Thank you Benjamin." She returned.
"How come you didn't say that to me? See Ben, see... see the difference?" Mundo teased.
"Mundo!" Sylvia called.
"Okay okay okay... have fun mama."
And they were out the door.
Angela went and turned the stereo on while they worked to cook dinner. All of them talking loud, laughing, each doing their own preparation and having a good time. Before they knew it, dinner was done and a success. Ben's pizza roll, Crystal's big salad. And Angela baked cookies for desert. Afterwards, Crystal stood clearing the dishes away from the table, Ben was pitching in to help.
"I'll do this, you did dinner. It was fantastic."
"Glad you liked it." He smiled.
"Go on, get back in there and enjoy your game."
He smiled, stared at her a moment and headed back into the living-room, taking a floor position to watch Angela play against Mundo. Isaac was sitting by Angela cheering her on. Darren was in the kitchen patting Crystal on the leg.
"Go Smimmin' mama."
"Not tonight baby, tomorrow. Promise, we'll go swimming tomorrow."
"No! Now!"
"Darren, out now! Go in there with Mundo and Isaac while I clean up."
Mad, he stomped off to go and stand in the arched doorway to look at everyone else.
Benjamin was laying on the floor, head bobbing to the beat from the music they were listening to. He was laying there thinking about the fact that he had to take a leak but didn't feel like getting back up to do so. He had the remote to the stereo that sat behind him in his hand, hitting the next button to the next song. Turning to angle the beam on the remote, he saw Darren standing in the hallway, mad at them. He held out his arms to him, beckoning him to come to him. Darren shook his head and went back towards the kitchen.
Ben shook his head, laughed and turned back to watch them with the game, waiting on his turn to play the winner. Unable to bare it a moment more, needing to use the bathroom, he hopped up and went to the bathroom, passing the sliding glass doors. It never dawned on him that they were slightly open.
Crystal thought Darren was in the living-room with everyone else, and everyone else, thought Darren in the kitchen with Crystal.
Darren wanted to go swimming. He loved to swim. Nothing was as much fun as being in the swimming pool splashing around and playing.
If no one would take him swimming, he'd go by himself. The patio door was open just enough for him to squeeze through and push it open just a bit more. Just enough to get through it. He made it outside and laughed so happy to be out on his own. He stopped, kicked off his shoes, ran to the barrier and couldn't get pass it to the pool. Then looked towards the lawn chairs. He ran to one, pushed it over right up next to the barrier, picked up one of his floater rings, climbed onto the chair, and then turned across the arm of the chair and lowered himself over the side of the barrier. Holding onto the ring, he lost his grip, dropped to his feet, stumbled back onto his butt; the momentum rolled him over and right into the swimming pool. The ring floating out of his reach.
"Holy shit! Call 911 a baby just went into the swimming pool!" One of Angela's body guards yelled, who saw the whole thing, as another ran to the property to alert them.
Ben had just come out of the bathroom, noticed the patio door slightly opened, went to close it, when to his horror, he looked into the yard and saw splashing in the pool, and then a small head coming up for air before he stopped.
"HOLY FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK - DARREN NOOOOOO - JESUS - NOOOOOO!" He roared shoving the sliding door aside as he charge out into the yard, leapt over the barrier guard and dived into the pool stroking with all his might.
Mundo, Angela and Isaac leapt to their feet and ran to the sliding glass door right after Crystal arrived to step through it, having heard his loud distress call. She was still unaware of exactly what was going on until she saw what Ben was swimming towards. A child floating in the pool. As if in a dream, she heard screaming, over and over and over and over again, so loud it was deafening, too far gone to realize that it was her own voice, screams so high and shrill that they shut down all her other senses.
"ANGELA CALL 911 - CALL 911 - NO-O-O-OW!" Mundo shouted, shaking, leaping over the barrier and into the pool as well. By the time he made it half way there, Benjamin had Darren and was making his way to the side. He quickly laid him there and pulled himself quickly out of the water rubbing Darren's stomach, tilting his head back.
"Darren Darren Darren Darren, please please please please!" He cried clearing his passageway and then going down to give him emergency mouth to mouth. Crystal's body was not her own as she struggled to the barrier, screaming over it, "DARREN - DAR-R-RE-E-EN! PLEASE BEN ... PLE-E-E-E-EASE DON'T LET MY BABY DIE - BEN - PLE-E-E-E-ASE!!" Crystal screamed hysterically.
Mundo stood in the water next to where Ben worked, shaking, tears rolling from his eyes. "Darren come on man ... don't do this man... come on baby, Ben come on man ... please please please - oh God! Ben..."
Ben kept breathing into his mouth, continuously rubbing his chest, then turning him over, rubbing his back tilting him forward with his hand beneath his diaphragm, squeezing and then turning him back again to blow once more, the third time did it - suddenly, he started coughing. Ben turned him, rubbing his back as he coughed up water and struggling to breath, his arms and legs flailing and next, he started crying. Wailing loud and scared, looking for his mother. Crystal shook so bad she could barely take hold of him. Ben held him there against her as he put one leg over the barrier and then the next. Mundo finally came up out of the pool and cleared the barrier. Two men rushed through the patio doors, saying they lived in one of the condo's across from them, that they'd already called 911. Angela stood in the patio door, holding Isaac, both of them sobbing.
Soon they could hear the sirens of an ambulance, Mundo could barely talk but was trying to speak with the men who showed up suddenly. Ben was holding Crystal up, as she held onto Darren, hysterical from gut wrenching sobs; dizzy, in shock and frightened beyond anything she could imagine.
At the hospital, the emergency room team checked him over. Finished clearing his lungs of any more water and assigned them to a temporary room for observation. Crystal had Isaac with her and would not be separated from Darren for even a second. They were all at the hospital together. Ben, Mundo and Angela explaining to the police what took place. They filed a report as they quickly concluded that it had be
en an accident. After an hour, they were all sitting in the waiting room, wondering what was to come next. Mundo sat with his elbows on his knees, his head hanging.
"I was ... the last one ... out on that patio ... I was the last one."
"Mundo ... hey man ... don't do this to yourself man, don't do this."
"I ... almost killed my nephew man ... I almost..."
"No you didn't Mundo. I was the last one out there." Angela cried, "I ran out there to get my mp3 player because I wasn't sure where I left it when we got home. I was scared, that it might have gotten wet. When I came in, I thought I, slammed the door and locked it."
Mundo looked up at her, her face was blotchy, red and ravaged from crying. He reached over and pulled her into his arms, holding her tight, "Shhh, don't cry. We should have checked that door, made sure it was locked. Dad said, keep the door locked. I should have checked it. God almighty, it happened so fast. Don't cry, its not your fault."
"Both of you calm down, we all dropped the ball on this one. Me included. I'm gonna go check on Crystal." Ben told them, then rose and walked towards the ward where they placed her with the boys. When he walked into the room, the doctor was taking to her, saying, "Baby's rebound pretty well. He's wide awake, looking around, talking, clinging to you. This is a warm climate state and unfortunately, this is a regular occurrence I'm afraid. It happens more often than we care to see. I've had a lot of experience with it and I can tell you now, God was on your side. If he hadn't come to, then we'd have plenty to be worried about. He's just fine mother, believe me. We'll give him a couple of more hours, see how he's doing and if all is well then, I don't see why you can't take him home."
Crystal had nothing to say, she could only sniff, nod and hold on tightly to her boys.
"I'll be back to check on him in a bit."
"Bye bye!" Darren smiled and called out to the doctor. He laughed, "I'll be back Darren, not going bye bye yet." He smiled, turned to leave the room, saw Ben standing just inside the doorway. "You can come on in if you wish."
Ben nodded, "Thanks." He smiled and then looked at Crystal. She was sitting on the bed, holding both of her sons. Isaac was on the bed, leaning under her arm, and Darren was on her lap, playing and looking up into her face, trying to get her to smile. His little hand on her cheek, turning her face to him to look close into her eyes. "I love you baby, I'm so - so sorry." She started crying, bringing him closer to kiss and hold, doing the same with Isaac.
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