Baby Momma 4

by Ni'chelle Genovese

  Genesis shook his head at me. “Calm down, Novie. There’s a logical explanation for all of this.”

  “Psht,” I hissed at him. “Logical, my ass.” At this point even his calm demeanor was pissing me off. “You must logically think I’m an idiot.”

  “Kane? I’m gonna drink the last Naked juice. I don’t feel like driving to get ginger ale . . .” her voice trailed off.

  My gaze shifted slowly from Genesis’s blank face up the winding staircase. They stopped dead center on this light-bright heffa standing on the balcony. She was wearing a black boxing robe similar to his, and it didn’t look like much else underneath it. My blood ran so hot I got a headache and started sweating, all while picturing my hands around her throat.

  “Dang,” she talked like she didn’t have a care in the world. “Why didn’t you say you were having company? I hope you ordered enough pizza for everybody, because I ain’t sharing my shit.” With that, she turned and walked off.

  My jaw dropped. I launched myself toward the stairs with tears blurring my vision. This couldn’t be happening. Genesis’s arms snaked around my waist, yanking me back against his chest. He became a human straitjacket, wrapping his arms around mine, pinning them to my heaving chest.

  “Let go of me! You smell like you been fuckin’. Got that bitch’s scent all over you. I swear on my life I’ll—”

  “You swear what?” Genesis barked down at the top of my head.

  I was let go for the quickest second before his fingers dug into my shoulders. He whirled me around to face him. I was eye to eye with the tattoo of a sugar skull painted over a woman’s face. She was beautiful and eerie at the same time. In the beginning, I didn’t really think about it when he said sugar skulls honored someone who’s passed. But the fact that he wouldn’t tell me about this woman who meant so much to him he’d put her face on his body starting making me jealous little by little.

  I refused to look up at him. I didn’t want him to see my tears or how much he’d hurt me. My jaw was clenched so hard my teeth hurt as I settled in for a staring contest with his tattooed lady. She stared out at me from the middle of his chest; her empty eyes laughed at me.

  “Well?” Genesis asked quietly.

  My nose was running, and I couldn’t remember the question.

  He used the sleeve of his robe to dry my face, and he even wiped my nose.

  “Novie, you might as well come on in, sit down, and have a drink with me. I was trying to wait for the best time to talk to you. There are a few things I was scared to tell you about myself . . . about my life.”

  GENESIS

  22

  You’ll Never Lose Women Chasing Money

  Novie was a piece of fucking work, and that was an understatement. She had all her five feet of nothing squared up like she was ready to battle. She didn’t even consider the fact that she’d just invaded my space and my privacy. She was the one who’d spied, gotten my address, and then showed up uninvited. It amazed me how women could go looking for some shit, and then have the nerve to be hurt when they step in it.

  Kenisha was still watching from the balcony. I avoided looking in her direction altogether. She was either getting a kick out of this or building up her own arsenal of shit to come at me with later. Even if I asked nicely, Kenisha wasn’t about to budge an inch so long as Novie was acting hostile. My home protects home first, and in the event I needed to get dealt with, she’d do that when it was just the two of us. I ran my fingers across the hairs on my chin and nodded toward the living room.

  “Why don’t we go sit down and talk about all this?” I asked in as calm of a voice as I could manage.

  I didn’t keep up nor did I put up with drama or dramatic episodes. Novie gave me a slow nod. I led her into the other room with the sound of Kenisha sucking her teeth from above. We sat across from each other, and her big brown eyes were shimmery with tears and hurt. She angrily crossed her arms over her chest while she glared at me. I seriously debated on just cutting this shit off completely. I’d never had a woman physically track me down, show up at my house uninvited, and invade my space like she just did. If I’d wanted all my cards on the table, I would have put them all out there. I operated the way I did to fend off the charity cases and chameleons. Once someone knows your worth, it gets harder and harder to figure out if they’re down for you versus your assets.

  “Who is that woman, Kane?” Novie asked in a small angry voice.

  I was momentarily at a loss for words. My own name sounded strange to my ears. She never called me Kane. I was always Genesis or Gen. She was still sexy as fuck, though. Even when she was mad as hell with her nostrils flaring and her hair swinging everywhere all wild. It was rare to see honest, raw emotion. Everyone in my world from the police, to the other attorneys, to the clients were all so calculating and manipulative. I rarely saw real feelings. The realization made me bite the inside of my lip and fake an ear scratch so I could look away to hide my smile. When I turned back, I was composed and ready for whatever.

  NOVIE

  23

  What Had Happened Was

  “Kenisha, come down here for a minute, please.” Genesis hollered through the house.

  I didn’t want to meet no damn Kenisha or hear any bullshit excuses. I wanted the black-and-white honest-to-God truth.

  The girl lazily waddled into the living room like she’d just been summoned to a hearing.

  Genesis introduced us. “Novie, this is my niece, Kenisha. My brother got himself locked up, and as her next of kin, I stepped up and took her in. We’ve been getting along pretty well. Kenisha, this is Novie.”

  Kenisha looked me over curiously with her nose turned up like a little pug. She pointed between the two of us. “Y’all got a thing or somethin’?” she asked Genesis.

  “Yeah, somethin’. I just wanted the two of you to meet face-to-face. That’s all.”

  Kenisha rubbed the side of what I could now see was a belly underneath the huge boxing robe. “Okay, well, this baby’s foot is in my ribs, so I’m gonna go lie down and wait on that pizza.”

  When she was upstairs and out of hearing distance I turned to Genesis. “She’s pregnant? How old is she? How far along is she?”

  His face looked older than usual; worry lines creased his usually smooth forehead as he ran his hand back and forth across his chin.

  “She’s sixteen. Been staying with me since she was fourteen, and I don’t know shit about raising girls. I stayed home today because she’s been having early contractions, gas, or Lord knows what. But she said pizza would make her feel better. I never know when to do what with her. She isn’t even supposed to be pregnant, not on my watch, but all the lying and sneaking around, the attitudes, and know-it-all-ness. She’s like a miniature version of you.”

  I punched his arm, forgetting how angry and embarrassed I was just seconds ago.

  “Nigga, I am none of those things. Don’t be mad because I have my own opinions and need justification for bullshit.”

  I wanted to punch Shandy and Heather in their nosy faces for this one. I’d gone and run up in this man’s house looking like a lunatic. What if Kenisha would’ve answered the door, or if Genesis hadn’t stopped me before I could get my hands on her?

  Genesis eyed the goody bag sitting in the middle of the floor. “Did you bring me a surprise or is that where you keep your gun, Inspector Gidget?”

  “I brought you some get well soon rations, but now I can see that you don’t need them.”

  Genesis smiled as though he appreciated the gesture. He offered me a tour of his house, showing me everything from an indoor heated pool, to a full gym and sauna. We stopped on the third floor in a room that could’ve been a home office or a library. I followed Genesis out through white, billowy curtains onto a large balcony made of blinding white stones. Big bottle-shaped vases were carved into the sides of the walls made out of the same white stones as the railing and floor. They were piled with tropical orange and red hibiscus. A hummingbird zoomed
by, taking my breath away. I’d never seen one in real life before, only on TV.

  Genesis sat down at an all-white patio table. Deposition papers, his laptop, and cell were all strewn about across the table. I had to keep reminding myself that he was still a smart and very reputable attorney. Outside of work, in his element, he could’ve passed for anything. An actor, a rapper. I looked at him wondering if I’d ever get to know the man behind all of the masks.

  “I was downstairs with Kenisha all morning. Glad it didn’t rain, or I’d be out shopping for new electronics.”

  I used that opportunity to fill him in on Tinesha’s visit to the office, as well as her threats.

  Genesis didn’t even seem slightly fazed by that information. He stared out into the woods that surrounded the edge of his backyard. Dirt trails split in at least five different directions through the trees. They were either hiking or dirt bike trails.

  “Tinesha isn’t going to be a problem. I’ll send a little birdie her way just to make sure we’ve got all of our bases covered. Thank you for keeping an eye on things. I’ll be back as soon as I know Kenisha’s good.”

  My phone rang. I dug it out of my purse, but not before Genesis could see Swiss’s face flashing across the screen. I wasn’t fast enough.

  Genesis’s face went stormy. “I thought I told you to stay away from that.”

  His voice was so low and quiet I could barely hear him over the sounds of the birds chirping in the trees around us. I silenced Swiss’s call, giving Genesis my undivided attention.

  “And I told you that it’s not what you think. He’s not whatever it is you’re thinking. You fucked my friends, yet you have the biggest problem with even the thought of me fucking one of yours?”

  “Swiss is no friend of mine!” Genesis roared, jumping to his feet, flipping the table.

  I jumped, sidestepping his phone as it slid across the ground. This was not the type of reaction I’d expect from someone who did regular business with another dude. There had to be something more behind Genesis not liking Swiss than he was telling me. If Genesis wasn’t going to tell me what I needed to know, that only left one other person for me to talk to.

  “I need to talk to you,” Swiss blurted out as soon as I answered the phone.

  “Okay. I’m leaving the office now. I just need to run home and freshen up and then I’ll head over. Your women better not touch me or my car, Swiss.”

  NOVIE

  24

  Step Up Or Get Stepped On

  I rushed home and after a quick shower I was finally ready to relax and let myself breathe. Swiss was waiting for me to come scoop him up so we could have a “talk.” We’d been so hit or miss lately. Well, I’d actually been missing him on purpose. Genesis was always on my mind, taking over my thoughts. It was time for me to let Swiss go, and I wasn’t sure how he was going to take it.

  I almost didn’t make it out of the house on time since it took me close to forever to remember where I’d put my keys. I needed to start laying them in one specific spot when I got home. They were in the dish by the front door where I normally never put them. But with Heather and Denise and Shandy all planning a weekend in, it should have crossed my mind to ask one of them where they were instead of searching for an hour. They all seemed to share some kind of extreme OCD that involved moving and rearranging things that did not belong to them.

  Whoooo hooo! I swung my hair, loving the way it felt as it brushed across my shoulders. One hand was up through the moon roof with my fingers snapping on beat to the stars and the streetlights. I whipped Genesis’s Jag through the streets, swerving around taxis and traffic like I was in the Daytona 500. Swiss reclined in the passenger’s seat with a bottle of champagne in one hand and a bottle of Hennessey White in the other. He’d said Genesis had picked them up for him.

  For Genesis to be as hell-bent against Swiss as he was, he sure did a lot of nice things for the man.

  Swiss tapped my shoulder. “Girl, slow this bitch down. You weren’t that late scooping me up. Damn, we can still make the movie. We comin’ up on a red light. Here.” He held out the Henny.

  I took the bottle with a smirk, lifting it to my lips. He was trying his best to get me fucked up, but I’d just wind up dropping him off and go see my babe. Every red light brought another round of shots as we hooted at the parade of women crossing over the crosswalks. I was getting further from sober and closer to having to pee.

  “What is this grudge Genesis has against you?”

  Swiss took another long, deep swig from the bottle. “Novie, why does it feel like this nigga’s name keeps popping up every time I’m around you? Can we leave work at work for once?”

  “I need to know, Swiss. I want to make sure he doesn’t try to do anything to hurt you. It’s not some kind of regular shit; it’s like a full-out raging I hate that nigga grudge.”

  “He has more to worry about what I would do to him. It’s a pheromone thing, or fuck if I know; maybe he’s trying to get at you and it’s just some plain old nigga bullshit.”

  “It’s deeper than that, Swiss. He acts like he can’t stand you.”

  “If that nigga feelin’ some kind of way, he’d better to step up before he gets stepped on. He’s always cool as cream when I deal with him. As long as my pockets stay right, I’m fine with it.”

  Giggling, I watched Swiss fumble, trying to put the cap back on the bottle.

  “Nigga, you really can’t drink, can—”

  Bam! Thoomp! Thuddump!

  The words were knocked loose from my brain before they could leave my mouth. Droplets of rain sprayed me in the face as I jerked forward before slamming back into my seat.

  Oh, fuck, I’ve been shot.

  Dazed with my head spinning, I looked over for Swiss. It was either dead silent or I couldn’t hear anything over the ringing in my ears. The passenger-side door was sitting wide open. He was gone. He’d actually bailed on me again.

  Everything slowly came into as much focus as it could with all the shots I’d taken. People were running around the car. They reminded me of silent movies or mimes the way they were pointing, gesturing hysterically, and pulling out their phones to take pictures. Cameras flashed by the dozens. I was hit so hard the trunk had popped open, slamming into and breaking the back windshield. My door was yanked open. A little Filipino man looked me over with an anxious expression.

  “Somebody called an ambulance. I saw everything, but I couldn’t get the plate off the car that rear-ended you,” he said in a shaky voice. “Just hold on. You’re gonna be okay. You were wearing your seat belt but . . .”

  He looked away from me, staring off and down the street at something. I followed his line of vision. It was then that I saw streetlight folded into the hood of the Jag. It wasn’t even raining. Blood ran into my eye. Swiss was lying half on the sidewalk and half in the street. I could see him clear as day without the windshield. His leg was bent at an unnatural angle. I slammed my eyes shut at the big jagged bone that had torn through his jeans sticking out of his thigh.

  My Bluetooth announced Denise was calling.

  “Answer,” I called out in a weak voice. “Dee, me and Swiss were just in a car accident,” I blurted out before she could say anything.

  An ambulance pulled up in a blur of deafening sirens and red lights.

  “Novie? What happened? Are y’all okay? Where are you at? I’ll come out there,” Denise asked a frenzy of questions through the speakers.

  “Somebody hit me, they pushed me into a—”

  Suddenly I couldn’t be heard over all the police officers and firefighters swarming around the car. They even got up to run over from where they’d been huddled around Swiss in the street.

  “We’ve got a Code 4 back here! Code 4 on a kid in the trunk,” one of the EMTs shouted over all the chaos.

  “Novie? Did he just say a kid?” Denise screamed, her voice echoed through the speakers, bouncing around the inside of the car.

  “Oh my God, is Hennessey with
her? Is she okay? Did you tell her we looked everywhere for her?” Heather was chanting and panicking in the background.

  I lay my head back against the headrest, wishing I was the one lying in the street instead of Swiss. Tears slid down my face. Hennessey’s little body dangled lifelessly from a paramedic’s arms.

  “Novie! We’ve been looking for Hennessey for the last hour! She wasn’t hiding in the car, was she? Answer me, Novie!” Shandy begged over and over for an answer.

  My throat constricted until I couldn’t speak. It all made sense now. Why I couldn’t find my keys. Why I’d heard three thumps . . . one when I was hit, another when I hit the post, and the last thump was a tiny person being thrown around in the trunk of my car.

  “Get out of the fucking car now,” officers started shouting.

  Lights were put on me. They were so bright they made my head spin. Guns were drawn, and the officers posted up around my car like I was some kind of criminal.

  “I don’t think I can move,” I cried out the driver’s side door with my hand shielding the light from my eyes.

  It felt like my arm was being pulled out of the socket when I got yanked out of the car and thrown down onto the ground, right there in the middle of the street. Glossy golden motor oil ran down the pavement. It puddled where I lay. It was sticky and hot against the side of my cheek as someone’s knee went into my back, pressing my face into the cracked black asphalt. Broken glass scraped my cheek and poked into my chest through my dress as my arms were cuffed behind me. A lonely blue and white shoe sat on the ground underneath my car. Blue laces draped across the face of one of the princesses from Frozen. I’d never figured out who was who, but the movie would be on repeat whenever Hennessey was in the house.