Can't Leave It Alone

by Nicole Jackson

  Instantly, Desmond hardened inside of her. Her body readily responded to his. They made love for the remainder of the night.

  Before they realized it the sun was up, and he’d fallen asleep between her legs. “Daddy.” Demond tugged at Desmond’s arm.

  “Huh?” Desmond groggily lifted his head. He struggled to focus his vision, as the slits in the blinds allowed the sunlight to seep into the room.

  “Daddy, I’m hungry.” Demond whined.

  Ryan opened her eyes and saw her son standing at their bedside. She was so embarrassed, as she quickly pulled the covers over their naked bodies. “Boy, what are you doing in here?”

  “I’m hungry.” He pouted.

  “Okay, well go wait in the living room. I’m coming.” She ordered.

  “Okay.” He poked out his bottom lip and stomped out of the room.

  “Damn, that little nigga snuck up on us.” Desmond shook his head.

  “Tell me about it.” She sighed. “He’s probably traumatized.”

  Desmond sucked his teeth. “He aint thinking about us. They just want some cereal.”

  “Well, you go fix it for them.” She pushed him off of her.

  “Alright. I gotta get up, anyway.” He yawned, as he rolled out of bed.

  “Why is that?” she asked as propped up on an elbow.

  “I got a lot of shit to handle today.” He told her as he slid on some boxers.

  “Like what?”

  He shook his head. “Stop being so nosy.”

  “Fuck you.” She laughed as she tossed a pillow at him.

  “Alright.” He grinned as he grabbed a pillow off the bed, and playfully hit her in the face with it.”

  “Stop!” she squealed, as he continuously hit her.

  “That’s what I thought.” He boasted as he tossed the pillow back on the bed. “Now, let me go feed the little ones, before they kick my ass.”

  Ryan’s heart soared. Seeing Desmond in daddy mode was so endearing, and after they’d been through so much, she had to pinch herself just to see if it’s real.

  ******

  “I think that this suits a lady such as yourself.” The salesman charmed Ryan.

  She checked out the red E 500 Mercedes. “Nah, I had a car similar to this before.” She shook her head. “I like this one.” She pointed at a CLS63. “I want this right here.”

  “Whoa. That’s a big boy car. Are you sure that you can handle all that power?” He jested.

  “Of course.” She smiled with her hands on her hips.

  Desmond stood back with his hands in his pockets. “Well, if that’s what she wants, then that’s what she’ll have.”

  The salesman’s eyes lit up, seeing dollar signs. “Well, let’s make it happen.”

  Three hours later Ryan had a brand new Benz. Desmond had paid cash for the car, dropping a hundred stacks.

  “These bitches can’t see me.” She smiled to herself as she drove her car home. Desmond had left, claiming that he had business to handle. At the moment she didn’t care what he had to do. She was about to floss in her new whip.

  Desmond made sure that he and Ryan were going in different directions as they left the lot. He didn’t want her to know where he was headed. He could hardly believe it himself. He was about to meet Jada at the doctor’s office. She was really pregnant, and this was his first prenatal visit with her.

  Initially, he was ready to deny the baby vehemently; until he thought of the night his condom broke. That happened a few weeks before he ran into Ryan. He was fucked up and Jada was feeling so good to him that he kept going once he realized the rubber had popped.

  It was all so crazy. The conception time matched up perfectly with this mishap, and in good conscience he couldn’t leave her hanging. She was now a little over four months, and was beginning to show.

  Once he pulled into the parking lot of the doctor’s office he spotted her BMW. He parked right next to her, as she was sitting waiting on him.

  When she saw him she eased out of her car. “Hey.” She smiled, happy to see him.

  “Ay, what’s up?” he asked, getting out of his car.

  “Umm, just maintaining.”

  “That’s what’s up?” he nodded. “You been waiting for long?”

  “Not really.” She shook her head.

  “Well, let’s get in there.” He sighed, as he headed towards the building. She nodded as she followed him.

  Once he stepped to the door he allowed her to walk ahead of him and lead the way.

  Jada didn’t care how awkward the moment was. She was glad to be back in his presence. This was her third time seeing him, since she’d proven that she was pregnant. She was hopeful that this was an indication that she was going to see him more often now.

  Desmond sat quietly as the doctor did Jada’s ultrasound. The doctor pointed out the baby’s movements on the screen. He checked it out as his phone began to ring. Judging by the ringtone he knew that it was Ryan calling.

  He decided to send her to voicemail. Seconds later she was calling again. By the fifth time he figured that something had to be wrong, so he stepped outside the room to answer. “What’s up?”

  “Damn, what took you so long to answer?” she snapped.

  “Man, I told you that I was handling business. What’s up?”

  She sucked her teeth. “You got the damn house keys. And I didn’t bring mine with me.”

  “Fuck.” He mumbled.

  “Umm hmm. So, where you at, so that I can come get them.”

  “Uh, I can bring them to you. Just give me an hour.”

  “An hour? The twins get out of school in thirty minutes. How in the hell are we supposed to get in the house?”

  “Shit, you in your car. Just take them to get something to eat. By the time you do that I should be there.”

  “Whatever.” She squawked as she abruptly hung up.

  He shook his head as he re-entered the examination room.

  “You’re done talking to your bitch?” Jada asked in front of the white doctor. His face turned beet red.

  “What? Jada, don’t start that shit, man.” He warned as the doctor informed them that he was done, before excusing himself.

  “Start what? I’m just saying, you made sure that you answered that bitch’s call, while I can barely even speak to you. When I’m the one that’s pregnant.”

  “Look, I didn’t come here for this, alright. I’m gone.” He headed for the door.

  “No wait!” she yelled out desperately.

  He turned around.

  “Don’t leave.”

  He stood staring at her.

  She redressed, before they left the room together. He walked her back to her car. “De-De, can we please just go somewhere and talk?” she pleaded.

  He breathed, as he gazed in the distance, “About what, Jada?”

  She sighed. “Plenty. Look, I’m not going anywhere, and I want us to have a better relationship for the baby’s sake.”

  He studied her face. She seemed genuine. Then he had to remind himself that she’d done nothing to him. It wasn’t her fault if he’d chosen to be with someone else. “Alright.” He gave in. “Give me an hour to handle something, and then I’ll meet you at the spot.”

  “Okay.” She gave him a gigantic Kool-Aid smile.

  As Desmond drove to his house he thought about Jada. As much as he hated to admit it, he still had feelings for her. She always managed to stroke is overgrown ego. He could see the want and desire in her eyes, and that captured him. It felt good knowing that somebody wanted him the way that she did.

  Jada had every reason in the world to hate Desmond, but she still wanted him with every fiber of her being. Desmond knew that he was playing with fire, but he’d never been scared to take chances.

  As he pulled up in his driveway he noticed Ryan and the kids sitting in her car. He hopped out, without killing his ignition. “Here.” He handed her the house key through her cracked window.

  She surveyed him, befo
re rolling her eyes.

  “Where are you going, daddy?” Desmond Jr. quizzed.

  “Daddy got to take care of some business. I’ll be back later.” He promised his son.

  “Okay.” Both twins sighed solemnly.

  “Ay, don’t look like that. I’ma take yall to Chuck E. Cheese tomorrow. Alright?”

  “Yay!” they boasted, happily.

  “Alright. Yall be good.” He verbalized, before heading back to his car.

  Ryan watched in her rearview mirror as he backed away from their house. She shook her head, pissed that he’d fucked up her good mood.

  She was feeling like a teenager all over again. This reminded her of when Desmond first started doing his hustling on a larger scale. He was always in and out, claiming that he had business to handle. Only later she found out that he was mainly hanging out and fucking other girls.

  This time around, she wasn’t going to play the fool. He could play games all he wanted, but she would surely have the last laugh.

  ******

  “Umm.” Jada moaned, mouth full of dick.

  “Damn.” Desmond grunted as he watched her suck him up.

  They’d been kicking it for over two hours, and then one thing led to another. All Desmond remembered was Jada whipping his dick out, and putting it in her mouth.

  She did give magnificent head, so he couldn’t help himself. She slurped and slobbered, getting it good and wet just like he liked it.

  He was so lost in the moment, that he paid no attention to his ringing cell phone. Whoever was calling would just have to wait.

  Ryan stood on the other end of the phone, listening to Desmond’s phone ring. More and more, it was becoming obvious that he was at his old tricks again. Since they’d been back together he’d always been readily available to her, and now she couldn’t get him to answer his phone. Her patience was running thin.

  “This muthafucka think I’m crazy.” She fumed as she ended the call. “He got the wrong fucking one.”

  “Mommy, can we get in the pool?” Demond questioned her.

  “No.” she shook her head. “I’m about to drop yall at your anty’s for a little while.”

  “Aw, man.” He pouted.

  She pursed her lips. “Aw man, for me too, cause I feel the same way.”

  An hour later, Ryan had dropped her kids off, and was headed to Dina’s. They were about to hit up somebody’s club.

  “What’s up, Tramp?” Dina queried, once she hopped in Ryan’s car. “You ready to hit this bitch up?”

  “Where you wanna go?” Ryan quested, as she backed out of her driveway.

  “Shit, it’s a Wednesday. Let’s go to Roxy.”

  “That’s a bet.” Ryan nodded.

  Dina checked out her cousin. “So…I see you got a new car. Why don’t you seem too excited?”

  Ryan shrugged. “I’m good.”

  Dina pursed her lips, knowingly. “Yeah, right. What that nigga don did now?”

  Ryan took a deep breath. “I don’t know, Dina. Something just aint right. He’s been gone a lot lately, and don’t like to answer the phone.”

  “Ooh. You, think he got a loose dick?”

  She nodded. “Pretty much.”

  “Shit, welcome to the club. You know how niggas are.”

  Ryan sucked her teeth. “Well, I aint putting up with the shit.”

  Dina cut her eyes at her. “So, if he is cheating, what are you going to do about it?”

  “Leave. Simple as that.” She spat.

  “Really, Ryan? You’d leave with no hesitation?”

  Ryan gave her a smug look. “I’ve done it before.”

  Dina waved her off. “That’s you. I aint gon be a part of the bullshit.”

  “I didn’t ask you to.” Ryan shrugged, as she turned the volume of her radio up.

  ******

  Desmond pulled up to his home, well after three in the morning. After leaving Jada’s he’d hit up the strip club with Flip. They’d been making it rain on them hoes. It felt good to be out in the mix, something he hadn’t been doing for the past few months. He was a street nigga that liked hanging in the streets. He’d been so caught up with being a family man that he hadn’t kicked it like he wanted.

  As he pulled into the garage he realized that Ryan’s car wasn’t there. “Where the fuck she at?” he grumbled to himself, as he yanked out his cell. He dialed her number.

  He sat and listened as his call went straight to voicemail. “Ooh, she clowning.” He dialed her again, only to get the same response.

  He hopped out of his car and ventured into the house, hoping that maybe she was somehow still home. He wandered from room to room, only to find them all empty.

  Eventually, he flopped down on the couch as he scrolled through his phone. He had Dina’s number saved, so he dialed her up. Her phone went to voicemail as well.

  “Main, these hoes playing games.” He fumed. Suddenly, it hit him. Did Ryan leave him again?

  He shot to his feet and jotted up the stairs. He frantically checked their closet and saw that all her clothes still seemed to be there. He wasn’t satisfied, though. So, he ran to the twins’ room and checked their closets. When he saw their clothes still neatly hanging up, he let out a sigh of relief.

  He had to laugh at himself, realizing that he was about to have a damn panic attack. He stomped back downstairs, attempting to calm his nerves. He lied on the couch, hoping that Ryan and his kids were going to come through the door in any minute.

  Desmond awakened to the sun shining in his face. He glanced around the living room and realized that it was still empty. He picked up his phone to see if he had any missed calls from Ryan. Nothing.

  He sat up and racked his brain on who he could call. He thought long and hard, until it came to him. Aunt Vanity. If nobody else could get in touch with Ryan, she could. So, he dialed her number up.

  Ryan lay sleeping on her aunt’s couch. She and Dina had partied hard at the club, and were both too drunk to make it home. So, they crashed on Dina’s mama’s couch. They had both forgotten to charge their phones, so both cells were completely dead.

  The ringing house phone awakened the two of them out of their sleep. “Shit.” Dina mumbled as he reached for the cordless phone, sitting right next to her head. “Hello.” She answered the phone in a raspy voice.

  “Ay, who is this?” Desmond asked anxiously.

  “Dina.”

  “Ay Dina, put Ryan on the phone.”

  “Hold up.” She said before tossing the phone next to Ryan. “Girl, telephone.” She grumbled before rolling over.

  “Huh?” Ryan asked confused, still half sleep.

  “Get the phone.” Dina uttered, never bothering to turn around.

  Ryan’s eyes remained closed, while she felt around for the phone. Once she located it she lazily laid it on her face. “Hello.” She slurred.

  “Ay, what the fuck, man? What the fuck you doing over there?” Desmond’s voice boomed through the phone.

  Ryan sucked her teeth as she ended the call.

  Dina shook her head. “Girl, that nigga gon fuck you up.”

  “Fuck him.” Ryan mumbled as she pulled the covers over her face.

  The house phone rang again, but nobody bothered to answer. The twins were in the backroom sleep and Vanity was gone to her boyfriend’s house.

  The phone continued to ring for an hour straight, waking everyone completely up. “Shit, that muthafucka gon make sure that a bitch don’t get no sleep.” Dina complained, as she sat up on the couch. Ryan was now in the kitchen fixing the twins some cereal.

  “We aint gotta go to scho-ol.” Demond chanted as Ryan placed the bowl of cereal in front of him.

  Dina shook her head, realizing that they had partied a little too hard for it to be the middle of the week. She had paid her cousin to baby-sit her kids, but she knew that she was going to have drama awaiting her when she arrived home. She knew that Chad was pissed, because he didn’t play that shit. As much as she liked to
joke that she did whatever she pleased, her man wasn’t the one. She knew that she’d fucked up any chances of going out, probably for the rest of the month.

  She was about to tell Ryan that she needed to get home when there was a knock at the door. “That must be Dana.” Dina sighed as she shuffled to the door. Her younger sister still lived at home with their mom, and would always stay out ‘til the crack of dawn.

  She was so tired that she opened the door, without checking to see who it was.

  Desmond stepped right into the house. “Damn, yall can’t answer the phone?” he snapped.

  She spun around. “Oh, um…I didn’t know that was you calling.” She lied. “I was still sleep.”

  He nodded, knowing that she was lying. “Yeah, okay.” He made his way towards the dining room, and saw his sons eating.

  A frown covered his face. “Why yall aint at school?”

  Both Desmond and Demond twirled around. “Daddy!” they exclaimed excitedly.

  “What’s up?” he asked them. “Where yall mama at?”

  “I think she went to the bathroom.” Desmond Jr. offered with a mouthful of cereal.

  “Ugh, man. Stop eating with your mouth open.” Desmond told his mini-me, before he headed for the bathroom.

  As he stepped in front of the restroom door he found Ryan kneeling over the toilet, throwing up.

  “Say, what the fuck is your problem?” he asked, startling her.

  She ignored him as she climbed to her feet and trotted over to the sink. She rinsed her mouth, as he took in her attire. She had on a cheetah-print all in one backless cat suit. That night she’d worn it with a red blazer and pumps, but from what he could see she was practically naked.

  “Ay, you don’t hear me talking to you?” he pressed.

  She rolled her eyes, as she tried to step past him. He stood in her way.

  “What, you got a hangover?” he said loudly, causing her head to pound. “You went shaking your ass, and forgot that you had kids at home? They missing school, because your ass wanted to party?”

  She stared at the floor. “Look, can you move out of my way?”