by Lady Lissa
“We just had a baby? WE? I don’t remember you lying next to me when I was pushing Isaiah out of my coochie!”
“You know what I mean. Our son isn’t even a month yet and you’re out cavorting and acting like a single woman. You’re a married woman with a newborn!”
“Thanks for reminding me, Iman! Look, I’m exhausted, so I’m going to bed. You’d wanna get to bed too considering you have to work tomorrow,” she said as she climbed in bed and buried herself beneath the covers.
“I can’t believe you,” I said as I got in bed. I wanted to continue the argument, but she was right, I did have to go to work in a few hours. But if she thought this was over, she had better think again.
*****
The next three weeks were just like that night she went out, especially since the doctor had cleared her. Every time I came home, she was ready to leave. I didn’t know what was going on with my wife, but this shit had to stop. If I had to bring in reinforcements, I’d just have to do that. On this particular evening, I came home from work to find Isaiah screaming at the top of his lungs. I called for Takiyah, but she didn’t answer me. I immediately went to the nursery and picked up the screaming newborn. I soothed him until he finally quieted down a little. The foul odor coming from him let me know that he had done a number two.
I changed his diaper, dumped it in the Diaper Genie and went to make him a bottle. Once I popped the bottle in his mouth, I went to look for Takiyah. She definitely had some explaining to do. This shit right here was not okay. As I held the baby in my arms while he sucked on his bottle, I went from room to room looking for my wife. The surprising shit was that she wasn’t anywhere in the house. Where the fuck was she and why did she leave our baby alone?
I immediately pulled out my phone and called her. She didn’t pick up. I repeated the action three more times, but she still didn’t pick up. I decided to leave her a voicemail because she had really crossed the line.
“Takiyah, where the hell are you? Why the fuck would you leave our baby alone in the apartment? Are you trying to get him taken away from us? I don’t know what the hell is going on with you, but you better get it together before I take our son and leave you! Whatever trip you have been on lately stops right now! And if you think I’m playing with you, try me!” I said as I ended the call.
I went to the nursery, burped Isaiah, then rocked him to sleep. Poor little one had been crying for so long, his little face was still red. I hated how Takiyah had been acting. It made no sense. She never acted like this when we first got together, but lately she had been unraveling at the seams. I wondered if she needed to see a doctor and get medication. I put Isaiah in his crib and turned on the mobile.
I walked out the room and called Nya as soon as I left the room. She answered on the second ring. “Hey Iman,” she said.
“Nya, I hate to bother you, but have you seen Takiyah?”
“No, isn’t she home?”
“No. I came home and Isaiah was screaming at the top of his lungs with a diaper full of shit, and Kiyah nowhere to be found!” I said in frustration.
“What do you mean she was nowhere to be found? Are you saying that my sister left her newborn baby alone in the apartment?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying. Look, I didn’t tell any of you this because I thought I could handle it, but your sister hasn’t been herself since we brought the baby home from the hospital,” I said.
“What do you mean? I saw her a couple of days ago and she seemed fine.”
“She’s not fine. For the past three weeks, she’s been going out every night and coming home drunk at one or two o’clock in the morning…”
“Drunk? My sister doesn’t get drunk!”
“Well, she does now. We’ve been arguing for the past three weeks, but this was the last straw!”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, it’s time for me to put my foot down. I left her a voicemail telling her that if she does this again, I’m taking our son and leaving her!” I said.
“You can’t be serious!”
“I’m dead serious! Do you realize that social services could have busted in and taken our baby away from us? I feel it was a stroke of luck that none of our neighbors called the police to report our baby crying for God knows how long!”
“Look Iman, I understand that you’re upset…”
“Upset? You think I’m upset?! Upset doesn’t begin to describe how I feel right now! Are you understanding what I said? MY WIFE, YOUR SISTER, LEFT OUR SIX AND A HALF WEEK OLD SON ALONE IN OUR APARTMENT! I don’t even know where the hell she is!” I said.
“Did you try calling her?”
“Of course, I tried calling her. How else would I leave her a voicemail?”
“I’m sorry, I forgot that you said that. Let me try calling Ki and my sisters and I’ll call you back,” she said.
“Okay, and if she does happen to answer your call, tell her to bring her ass home!”
“I will.”
We ended the call and I began to pace the floor as I raked my hand over my face. I loved Takiyah. She and my son meant everything to me, but her latest behavior had me worried about her. After what happened today, how could I leave Isaiah in her care anymore? I didn’t know what I was going to do about this, but something had to change. My phone started ringing and I prayed it was Takiyah calling me back. I was ready to go off on her ass.
But when I answered, it was only Nya. “Hello.”
“Hey Iman, I wasn’t able to get in touch with my sister. Has she called you back yet?” she asked.
“No, and I don’t expect her too either. I was pretty pissed when I called and left that message on the voicemail. I suspect I won’t speak to her until she brings her ass home,” I said in aggravation.
“I know you’re upset. I can’t believe she did something so stupid,” she said.
“Well, she did.”
“I don’t know what else to say. Try not to argue too much with the baby around. Their little ears are so sensitive at that age, ya know?” she asked.
“Believe me, I hate arguing with her. I love my wife, but she crossed the line when she left my son unattended. If I don’t tell her what I think about that, I won’t be able to sleep. Look, I’ll give you a call tomorrow. I gotta go get some rest, so I could be ready for this argument whenever she comes home,” I said.
“Okay. Thanks for calling me to let me know what was going on,” she said.
“I didn’t have a choice.”
We ended the call after that and I went to sleep. I was tired, but I would’ve stayed up longer if I thought Kiyah was on her way home. Not knowing where she was meant she probably wouldn’t make it home until the middle of the night. I had to work in the morning, so even though it was only 7:15, I was going to lay it down.
*****
I didn’t know what time it was or what the hell was going on. I woke up because I felt something sharp pressing on my neck, where my throat was. I opened my eyes and looked into the eyes of a crazy person. As my eyes came into focus, I realized it was my wife’s eyes I was looking into. What the fuck was going on? I took a deep gulp and stared at her, wondering what the hell was against my neck. I felt a slight wetness and wondered if it was blood.
“Kiyah, what are you doing?” I asked in a voice barely above a whisper.
“If you ever threaten to take my son from me, I will kill you!” she said through clenched teeth. She was the cause of the sharp object pressing against my neck. It felt like a knife blade. What the fuck was really going on here?
“Kiyah, I don’t know what you have against my neck, but please remove it.”
“I’ll remove it when I’m ready,” she said in a slurred tone.
“Kiyah, what is this about?”
“You already know what it’s about. You called my phone and left a message about taking my son. You will never take my son from me. I went through all the trouble of having him and now you wanna take him from me,” she said as te
ars slid from her eyes.
“You left him here alone…”
“I wasn’t planning to be gone that long,” she interjected.
I was tired of this shit against my throat. It was starting to burn, and I had enough of this shit. If she killed me, then she just was gonna have to kill me. But I wasn’t going to allow her to do that shit to me. I moved quickly and grabbed her hand. She had a huge ass blade in her hand and that shit had me seeing red. I bent her arm back until she winced in pain and dropped the knife.
“Yo, what the fuck is wrong with you?! Are you out of your fuckin’ mind?!” I asked her. She burst into tears and started bawling like our son was doing when I walked in the house earlier. I didn’t know what had gotten into my wife. She was totally different from when we got married, and I had to admit that she scared the shit out of me. I touched my hand against my neck and when I looked at it, I had blood on it. “Are you kidding me right now? You actually held a knife to my fuckin’ neck, yo!”
She continued to cry as she sunk to the floor against the bedroom wall. I wasn’t sure if she was faking to get to the knife or what, but I kicked that shit out of her reach. If she was thinking about pulling that stunt again, it wasn’t happening. I sat down on the bed and watch the tears continue to flow. “I’m sorry,” she sobbed.
“What the hell is going on with you, Kiyah?”
“I don’t know.”
“Well, you better find out real quick because the way things are going, we’re headed to divorce court,” I said.
“Divorce?!” she asked as her eyes widened.
“Yes, divorce. What you did to our son today, leaving him alone, was unforgivable. We’re his parents and we’re supposed to look out for him and protect him. What you did today was unacceptable. You left our son alone in the apartment. What was so important that you had to leave our son alone?” I asked her. I watched her face to see if I could find the answer.
“I… I… I’m sorry, Iman.”
“Where were you? Are you having an affair?” I asked her as I searched her face for answers.
“W-w-w-what?! NO!”
“I don’t believe you. You’ve been leaving the apartment every day for the past few weeks. I don’t know what you got going on, but you need to end it now! I’m not going to continue being put on the back burner for no reason. Our son deserves better. I deserve better than what you been giving us. I’ve bent over backwards to make you happy. Every day that you run out of here when I get back feels like you giving me your ass to kiss!” I said.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s happened to me, but I love you. I love Isaiah too, and I’m sorry I put him through that,” she said as tears continued to flow.
“Do you know that if someone had called the cops, our son could have been taken from us. He’s only six and a half weeks, Kiyah!”
“I know and I’m sorry.”
She crawled over to me until she was kneeling between my legs. Her mascara had run all down her face and her eyes were red and puffy from crying. “Please forgive me. I’ll never do it again,” she said as her eyes pleaded for my forgiveness. I was skeptical to tell her I forgave her because how could I be sure that she wouldn’t do it again?
“Please forgive me, babe,” she said as she tried to get me to look at her. I wanted to turn away, but the pleading look in her eyes held my gaze. “It won’t happen again. I promise.”
More than anything I wanted to believe her…
Chapter seventeen
Takiyah
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
I wondered who was knocking on my door so early in the damn morning. I had just put Isaiah back in his crib and got back into bed because I had a massive hangover. I really believe I drank way too much last night because my head was pounding. I jumped out of bed, not even bothering to put my robe on and raced to get the door before the baby woke up. Whoever was at my door was going to get it for disturbing my much needed sleep.
I pulled the door back to look into the mad faces of my three sisters. “What are y’all doing here?” I asked them.
They didn’t bother to answer as they charged in. “What’s gotten into you, Ki?” Nya asked, as I followed them into the living room.
“What are you talking about, Nya and why are y’all here? I had a long ass night with the baby…” I was saying before she interrupted me.
“LIAR!!” she said as she looked at me with her tight lips and that grimace on her face she used to give when we were younger.
“I’m a liar? How are you going to call me a liar in my own damn house? Were you here last night in my house to know…”
“Oh, knock it off, Ki! Iman already called Nya and said you left Isaiah by himself last night!” Harmony said.
“Are you crazy?” Lyric asked.
“Don’t call me that!” I said as I raised my finger in her face. I wasn’t crazy, so she didn’t need to try and classify me as a crazy person. And what the hell was Iman thinking calling my sisters with my business. I was under the impression that what happened between a husband and wife stayed between them. Why the hell was he talking shit to my sisters about me? How did he expect our marriage to work if he was being disloyal to me?
“Well, what the hell would make you do something like that?” Nya asked. “You left your baby in the apartment alone!”
“I don’t need you judging me about what’s going on between me and my husband! He had no right going to you with our business!” I said.
“He didn’t come to us with your business. He wanted to know if we knew where you were! He said he came home and Isaiah was alone. He told us that he was calling you, but you weren’t responding!” Nya said. “I tried calling you and you didn’t pick up for me either. What were you doing, Ki?”
“None of your business! You’re my sisters, not my guardians! Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get some rest before Isaiah wakes up,” I said as I tried to usher the three of them to the door.
“We’re not going anywhere until you tell us what’s going on with you. The type of attitude you have these days is so not like you,” Harmony said.
“Why won’t you talk to us Ki? We’re your sisters and we love you. Let us help you,” Lyric said as her eyes teared up. What the hell was my little sister crying about? The shit with me wasn’t that serious for them to be over here getting themselves worked up. I was tired of talking to them. All I wanted was to go back to bed and rest my eyes until this headache went away. The way I was feeling right now was like the shit wouldn’t go away.
“We love you, Ki and we’re worried about you,” Lyric continued.
“I don’t need you worrying about me. I’m fine,” I said.
“When you leave your six-week old baby home alone, you are not fine! I think you need to see someone like a psychiatrist or something,” Nya had the nerve to say.
“Really Nya? A shrink?” I asked as I scoffed at her ass.
“Sis, you’ve just been acting really erratic lately and that’s so not you. I’m not saying this to hurt your feelings or anything…”
“Hurt my feelings? Oh honey, we’re way past you hurting my feelings. I thought that we were sisters. We used to share everything with each other and we always looked out for one another…”
“That’s what we’re doing. We’re looking out for you,” she said.
“Yea sis,” Lyric said.
“We love you so much, Ki. We just want to help you,” Harmony said.
“You really wanna help me?” I asked.
“Yes, we really wanna help you. Tell us what to do,” Nya said.
“I want the three of you to get out of my place, so I can get some sleep before the baby wakes up. Can you do that for me?”
“On one condition…” Nya said.
“Damn. You have a condition to leave my apartment? Ain’t that some shit!” I said, making sure they knew how irritated I was with the three of them. But no matter how irritated I was with them, I was pissed with my husband even more. He had
no right to get them involved in our marital affairs.
“It’s in the best interest of your baby,” Nya said.
“What is it?” I asked.
“If you decide to leave before Iman gets back tonight, please call one of us. Let us come sit with Isaiah, so that nothing happens to him. Deal?” she asked as she held out her pinky.
“What are we… eight years old?” I asked with a slight chuckle.
“No, but whenever we pinky promise, we always know that we’re being sincere. So, pinky promise?” she asked. Lyric and Harmony were standing there as if holding their breaths while waiting to see what was going to happen.
I locked my pinky with my oldest sister and said, “Pinky promise. I already told Iman it wouldn’t happen again and I meant it.”
“I know that now,” she said as the three of them embraced me in a group hug. I was finally able to walk them out the door. As soon as I shut the door, Isaiah began to whine from his crib. I rolled my eyes, not at him, but because I hadn’t gotten a chance to rest.
I made him a bottle and went to the nursery to take care of my baby boy. I picked him up from the crib and sat with him in the rocking chair. I put a lullaby on for him to listen to as I stuck the bottle in his mouth. He latched on and went to town, devouring the milk in a matter of ten minutes. I put the bottle on the table next to the rocker and placed him on my shoulder.
After patting his back for a few minutes, he released a loud burp. I moved over to the changing table and changed his diaper. Once he was all fresh and smelling like the precious baby he was, I placed him in his crib with his little mobile. His little eyes closed within ten minutes. I winded the mobile again before tiptoeing out of the room. I walked into my bedroom and collapsed on the king-sized bed. I reached for the baby monitor, but forgot I left it in the living room. I slid out of bed to go get it.
I placed it on the nightstand and got back in the bed. My eyes closed immediately.
*****
I wasn’t sure what time it was when I opened my eyes. It was the shrill ringing of my phone that woke me up. I didn’t bother to look at it as I put it to my ear. “Hello,” I answered, my voice groggy from waking up from my peaceful sleep.
