Once back on set, she began posing and smiling for the camera.
A few minutes into shooting, Sincere walked into the studio. Brooklyn had been there a little longer than expected, and it was just like him to become so impatient that he had to come inside to find out what the holdup was.
For a few weeks prior to this shoot Sincere had made sure to drop her off and pick her up on shoots or shows, claiming that he wanted to make sure that she arrived to and from safely. But Brooklyn knew that he had a much more sinister reason for hanging around. Sincere was definitely jealous of the attention she was receiving, and felt threatened by the photographers and other men who sometimes hung around the studios and events.
As Sincere stood off to the side, Brooklyn continued taking cues from the photographer, adding a sexy flair for Sincere to enjoy, but he didn’t seem entertained. After a few more frames, the shoot was a wrap, and she ran over to Sincere to hug him.
“Go get dressed, so we can go,” he said as he pushed her away.
“What’s your problem?” she asked, not sure what the attitude was about.
“I got some place to be. Now hurry up. I’ll be outside.” He turned to walk toward the door.
Brooklyn stood there for a moment knowing that the look on her face would just embarrass her even more had the others occupying the room noticed. After a few seconds and deep breaths, she turned around and walked through the studio to gather her things. She threw her things into the bag without even folding or organizing them, anxious to see what was going on with Sincere and trying to avoid pissing him off any more.
“Remember what I said. If you don’t believe me now, soon you will,” Tania said as Brooklyn headed out of the room.
Brooklyn walked out of the studio and made it over to Sincere’s car. As soon as she sat down, he reached over and smacked her, knocking her sunglasses off her face. She grabbed her cheek, which immediately started throbbing.
“Are you fucking him?” he yelled.
“Who are you talking about, Sincere?” she cried. She wasn’t positive who he was referring to, but she knew she’d been faithful to him.
“That nigga in there taking the pictures,” he screamed as he held onto the steering wheel with his left hand, keeping his right hand free, waiting for her to say the wrong thing so he could smack her again.
“No, Sincere. Why would you think that? I don’t even know him.”
“I saw you trying to be all sexy and shit. You think I didn’t notice you showing off for that nigga?”
“I was being sexy for you, Sincere. That had nothing to do with him, or the photos for that matter.”
“I must really look like an asshole, huh?” he yelled. He turned the car on and pulled out of the parking spot.
Sincere didn’t really trust any woman because most of the women he’d encountered were either gold diggers just interested in his money, or liars who couldn’t tell the truth if their life depended on it. Always feeling like they’d do anything to keep money coming in, he didn’t see Brooklyn as the exception.
As they sat silent on the drive to her house, Brooklyn grabbed her compact mirror from her pocketbook and looked at her face, which had since turned red.
As soon as they pulled up, she reached for the door handle to exit, but Sincere grabbed hold of her left arm. “You’re staying with me tonight, so go get some things and hurry up back out here.”
She wanted to run in, lock the door, and hope that he wouldn’t kick the door down to get inside, but she knew that would only make the situation worse. Normally, when he got this angry, he’d end up apologizing before the night was over. She just had to do everything he wanted her to do to keep him calm.
She didn’t respond as he loosened the grip on her forearm, but nodded her head before getting out of the car. She wiped her face before unlocking the door, hoping to remove any sign of her tears.
The boys were sprawled out across the living room floor watching TV but quickly turned their attention to Brooklyn once she entered the room.
“Where’s Mommy at?” she asked as she stood in the doorway.
“She’s upstairs asleep. Are you staying home tonight?” Kevin asked.
“No, not tonight. I just came to get a few things and to make sure you two were OK. Did you eat? I figured she’d be drunk or missing in action.”
“Yeah, we ate,” he replied.
“OK. Well, call me at Sincere’s if you need me.” She headed toward the door.
Brooklyn hated leaving them so much, but being with Sincere and modeling took up pretty much all of her time. Her mother, who was rarely home on the evenings that she was out with Sincere, was often unaware of her whereabouts. Brooklyn always checked on her brothers but never had to explain anything to her mother. Before walking out of the door, she promised them that she’d stay home the following week.
After arriving at Sincere’s house, she headed for the stairs.
“Go get cleaned up. I’ll be up in a minute.”
She was in no mood to have sex, but she was aware that if he wanted it she really didn’t have a choice. She had so many things on her mind and wondered how things had gotten so messed up. There was a time when he worshiped the ground that she walked on, but now he’d knock her down any chance he got.
She turned to look at him, before taking another step, wishing he could be the man she fell in love with, but he had already turned and headed toward the kitchen. She hurried upstairs and jumped in the shower, hoping that he’d get so wrapped up in what he was doing, he’d forget all about having sex.
Unfortunately for her, he was in the room waiting when she came out of the bathroom. She instantly felt nauseous, knowing she would get no enjoyment out of it. She sat on the edge of the bed and slowly slid under the covers.
As soon as his hand touched her leg, she said the one thing she thought would turn him off.
“Sincere, I’m pregnant.”
He stopped in his tracks, a deer-caught-in-headlights look on his face. She braced herself for what was next. Quietly, he got out of the bed and walked out of the room, slamming the bedroom door behind him. She exhaled as she turned on her side, closing her eyes, and soon fell asleep.
Chapter Ten
Missing in Action 1987
“Where the hell is Sincere?” Brooklyn yelled. She was in unbearable pain as she prepared to bring her daughter into the world. Sincere was missing in action, and she was furious.
Wanda stood by her side, holding a warm cloth over Brooklyn’s head, as the nurse came in every few minutes and checked on her. Wanda had recently come back into Brooklyn’s life and was now her only friend. She looked at her watch. She’d called Sincere over an hour ago, and he’d promised to be there in fifteen minutes. She looked down at Brooklyn and the distress she was in and felt her pain.
“I’m gonna go try him again, OK,” Wanda said as Brooklyn cried out in pain.
The unit was pretty quiet as Wanda quickly walked down the hall toward the waiting room, where the pay phone was located. She was annoyed but tried to keep her cool as she dialed his pager number and put in the call-back number. She waited patiently for the next five minutes until he called back.
“Hello,” Wanda said.
“Dis Sincere. Who dis?”
“It’s Wanda. Where are you?” she said, annoyed by his calmness. Brooklyn was pushing out his baby, and he was acting like he didn’t have a care in the world.
“I’m on my way. Did she have the baby?”
“No, Sincere! You said that over an hour ago. She needs you.”
“I said I’m on my way. The longer I sit and talk to you, the longer it’ll take me to get up there. Just tell her I’ll be there in ten minutes.” He hung up the phone.
Wanda looked at the receiver and shook her head. She hung the phone up and headed back down the hall toward Brooklyn’s room. She could hear her screams getting louder as she got closer to the door.
Sincere sat on the edge of his bed, his face buried in
his hands. He was in no rush to get up to the hospital, but he knew he’d never hear the end of it if he didn’t make it up there. He looked over his shoulder at the young female laying beside him. He got up from the bed and grabbed his pants from the floor. The loose change in his pockets jingled, waking up his female companion.
“Where are you going?” Stacey asked as she focused on him.
“To the hospital. Brooklyn is in labor. I’m going to leave you some cab money.”
“Cab money?” She sat up. “Why can’t you take me home?”
“Didn’t you just hear what I said? I need to get to the hospital. I’m already late. I don’t need no detours and shit!” he yelled as he buttoned his shirt. He grabbed his wallet off the nightstand, pulled out a hundred dollars, and threw it on the bed.
Stacey sat there pouting. As much as she didn’t want to believe it, she knew she’d never mean as much to him as Brooklyn did. She’d spent most of her teenage years trying to keep up with Brooklyn, and though some would agree that they were equally beautiful, it was just something about Brooklyn that always made her the center of attention.
She looked at the money lying on the bed as Sincere walked out of the door. She could’ve cared less about Brooklyn or her baby. They hadn’t been friends in over a year, and she liked it better that way. No longer did she have to live in her shadow. She’d always had a crush on Sincere, even before Brooklyn was attracted to him. It just so happened that Brooklyn, as outgoing as she was, managed to snag him first.
Sincere sped through the streets and made it to the hospital about twenty minutes later. After finding his way to the delivery room, he took a deep breath before going inside. He knew Brooklyn would be pissed that he took so long to arrive.
As soon as he entered the room, both Brooklyn and Wanda gave him the evil eye. Wanda brushed past him to head out to the waiting room, rolling her eyes as she did.
Within minutes of his arrival, Brooklyn gave birth to their daughter Sasha. Sincere attempted to play father of the year, but Brooklyn wasn’t the least bit impressed.
After she’d recovered, she was taken over to the room she would occupy for the next two days. She couldn’t wait to be alone with Sincere, to give him a piece of her mind.
After the nurse gave Brooklyn a lunch tray and headed out of the room, she tore into him. “So where were you?” she asked, staring at him almost as if she could see through him.
“Taking care of some business.” He calmly sat down in the chair across the room.
Brooklyn could feel her blood boiling. “Which bitch was it this time, Sincere?”
“This is not the time or the place for this shit, Brooklyn. Can we talk about this another time?”
“No, we can’t. You know, every time I think that things are getting better between us, you go and do some shit. I know you like the back of my hand, Sincere, and I know you were with somebody today. I’m giving birth to your child and you couldn’t even be here for me.”
Sincere sat there silent. He wasn’t really in the mood for an argument and figured she’d drop it if he didn’t feed into it. Besides, regardless of his answer, he realized she’d already had her mind set.
“Just be honest for once in your life. Just tell me who it was.”
He was trying to avoid hurting her any more. The fact that she was still probing him for more information showed that she was fed up. Prior to Stacey, he’d never really dealt with a female on the side who stood a chance of ruining their relationship, but he was positive, if he told her the truth, things would be over. Trying to force her to stay wouldn’t work at this point. He took a deep breath, as he looked over in her direction.
Brooklyn sat there waiting for a response. She wanted to know the truth. That would give her the boost she needed to walk away from him.
“It was Stacey. Are you happy now?”
Chapter Eleven
Fool in Love 1987
“Mom, I have a show. Please just keep the baby here.”
“I’m not going to be a fucking live-in babysitter,” Janice yelled from the kitchen of their small row home. “You should’ve stayed with that nigga so he could take care of you. Then you wouldn’t have to work.”
After breaking up with Sincere, Brooklyn tried to focus on her career, but lugging a baby everywhere was more difficult than she expected. School was out of the question as well, since there wasn’t enough time to balance it all in one day. Sincere refused to help her financially unless she decided to give their relationship another chance.
“Mom, I’m not going to argue. I have to go.” She grabbed her coat and walked out of the door. She walked to the corner to catch the bus to the agency, hoping she wouldn’t be late. She was warned after she had the baby about missing events and the possibility of being dropped from her contract.
She heard the loud thumping of music and spotted Sincere’s car coming around the corner. She was hoping he didn’t stop.
He noticed her standing on the corner and slowed down in front of her. His passenger seat was occupied by a female, so he got out of the car instead of rolling down the window.
“Hey, you need a ride?” he asked as he leaned on the hood of his car.
“No. Buses are running,” she spat. Brooklyn was still pissed about the way he’d been acting, as if she’d done something to him, when in reality, he’d treated her like shit all along.
“Why the attitude, Brook? I’m trying to be a gentleman here.”
“What the fuck do you know about being a gentleman? How about you learn to be a father, unless you forgot you have a daughter.”
“Come on, Brooklyn, I told you the deal. I’m not trying to argue with you. It’s cold as shit outside, and I was just trying to be nice and drop you off, but if you want to be a bitch about it, fine.”
“Whatever, Sincere. How are you going to offer me a ride, with a bitch in the car, anyway?”
“Because I don’t care about her. I love you. I’d put her ass out on this bus stop for you.”
Brooklyn stood there with her lips twisted. She believed every word of what he said, but she knew behind the act of kindness was something sinister.
“All right. Well, don’t ever say I didn’t offer,” he said before walking toward the driver’s side door to get in.
She thought about the time, and how cold it was. “Wait. I’ll get in,” she said.
He smiled and shook his head. He instructed the female to get in the backseat, to allow Brooklyn to sit in the front.
Brooklyn felt extremely uncomfortable with the situation, but she was focused on getting to the agency on time and tried to ignore it.
“So where do you need to go?”
“To the agency.”
“You’re back at that now, huh. Well, that’s good. I guess you gotta get paid somehow, right?” he said, trying to be ironic. The way he figured, she would have to come back to him eventually, once she ran out of money.
“Yeah, especially since you don’t pay any child support,” she shot back.
Sincere laughed. He loved pissing her off.
The female in the backseat sat shaking her head at the two of them bickering like a married couple. She knew all about Brooklyn since she was all Sincere talked about. Everything she did was compared to her.
They continued to go back and forth the entire fifteen-minute ride. Pulling up in front of the agency, she quickly unlocked the door and got out without a good-bye.
Smiling, he watched her walk inside. He definitely missed having her around and planned on getting her back.
Brooklyn ran up the stairs and made it there in the nick of time. Mesa was sitting at her desk waiting on her to arrive.
“I was just about to call you. Glad you made it on time.”
“I told you I’d be here,” she replied out of breath.
“Well, you can go sit and wait up front. The van will be here in a few to drive you over to the site.”
“OK.”
The show was perfect, making
Brooklyn feel like she was back on top.
Once they returned to the agency, she was shocked to find Sincere waiting outside in his car. What the hell? she thought.
He got out of the car as soon as she stepped out of the van.
“What are you doing here?”
“I’m trying to make sure you make it home safe, that’s all.”
“If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were stalking me.”
He laughed. “I’m not stalking you. I care about you whether you believe it or not. Look, I’m being nice here, Brooklyn. Give me a break.”
“Where’s the chick that was with you earlier? Better yet, where’s Stacey?”
“Who cares? Why does everything have to be an argument? I don’t care about either one of them. If I did, I wouldn’t have sat out here for the last hour waiting for you, OK.”
As much as Brooklyn wanted to resist him, she couldn’t. She still loved him, as much as she tried to deny it. From the outside she’d most likely look like the biggest fool on the planet for going back to him, but there was just something about him that had a hold on her. She smiled inside but tried to keep a straight face as she walked over to the car. She was exhausted with resisting him.
As she sat in the car, Sincere was looking over at her every few seconds, all sorts of nasty thoughts running through his head. Instead of taking her home, he detoured to his house.
Brooklyn already knew what he was planning. Coincidentally, she was thinking the same thing.
Chapter Twelve
One for the Road 1988
Things between Brooklyn and Sincere had been much better. They rarely argued, and for a long time he hadn’t placed a hand on her. He’d recently taught her how to drive and purchased her a car. She was now able to get around and make it to appointments on time.
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