I wasn’t quite ready to disclose that part to Jamison either, so I simply replied, “Come on Jamison, you know me. One and done. Always.”
jasmine.
“So you’re gonna come to the concert with me right? Jamison is going to visit his folks in Arizona this weekend so I need a date.”
I couldn’t believe I had become second stream to everything Ariel. Jamison was cool and all but I didn’t appreciate suddenly being the afterthought.
“Ohhh so I’m like your side chick now? When bae’s away, side chick gets some play?” She laughed me off, giving me a playful swat to the shoulder.
“Shut up, Jaz! I know you said you wanted to go but had no one to go with so I thought I’d extend the invite. You know...being the great friend that I am.” Though she was surely a great friend for dropping by my apartment after work with food for the both of us, I knew I couldn’t let her off that easy.
“Yeah, the same great friend that wasn’t even thinking about inviting her bestie to the concert of the year,” I replied, as I took a bite of my salad that wasn’t hitting the spot like it usually did. I typically did a decent job fighting off the cravings from the not-so-good-for-you foods but my sweet tooth was begging to be soothed. A trip to my emergency candy stash was definitely in order once I made it through my greenery.
“Anyway, are you gonna come or not? I mean the tickets were complimentary so I’ll find someone who’s gonna use them if we’re not.” Working in the music industry, Ariel was always getting tickets for different events but hardly ever used them because she was so wrapped up in developing her still pretty new company and balancing that with spending time with her man as if they didn’t work together.
“Are you kidding me? Of course I’m coming. You know Drake is my future husband. I’m trying to be the next girl he writes some depressing ass love song about.”
Ariel choked on her salad from laughing at me. She took a long swig of her water, clearing things out before she said, “Jaz, you are something else. Like...I don’t know how I deal with you but I really don’t know how you deal with your damn self.”
“It’s a gift. You know, one of those things that not everyone can get blessed with. Kind of like big dicks. If God just went around handing them out to every guy, can you imagine how fucked up our world would be?” I got chills just thinking about such a catastrophe.
“I actually can’t but I’ll take your word on it.”
“Of course you will considering it’s no secret that Jamison got blessed. I mean, your hips are spreading and everything.” Though I had laid eyes on Jamison first, he was definitely more of a match for Ariel regardless of how jealous I was of her getting piped down on the regular.
“They are not!” She gave her hips a once-over rub before she asked, “I mean, you’re just joking right?” I couldn’t help the free opportunity to tease her about her natural, womanly changes; the same changes I had came to terms with right around senior year in high school.
The boys certainly weren’t flocking for nothing.
“Uhh...no. He’s clearly been putting in work, boo. Do your jeans still fit?” I knew how I got my big booty into jeans but I was sure the process was a little new for Ariel. Not that she was a virgin before Jamison, but I was about 90% sure he was the most her petite frame ever had to accommodate.
“Yes they still fit! Actually...now that I think about it, I have been jumping up and down a little more to squeeze into them…”
I shrugged my shoulders as I said, “Maybe its baby weight.”
“Baby weight? Very funny, Jasmine. Jamison and I are extremely careful. We’re both way too busy to even think about having kids.” I could pretty much echo her sentiments about having kids though I was sure it was a lot further off for me than for her. I mean, she was the one in the cutesy little relationship with the love of her life. Surely they would be getting engaged and popping out babies in no time.
“You don’t have to think about it for it to happen. All it takes is one little swimmer.”
“Well it takes one hell of a swimmer to escape latex and find an egg to connect with in my birth-controlled body.”
I shrugged again. “So you’ll be having a strong baby.”
Ariel gave me a death stare as she said, “Shut up and eat your salad, Jasmine.”
rich.
Note to self: Never bring a girl to a Drake concert.
That’s all I could think about as I watched my flavor of the weekend, Isabella, scream her lungs out for Drake’s attention. Even with her heavy accent, you couldn’t mistake her pleads for Drake to let her have his babies. Isabella and I were just kicking it, as I typically did with all of my ladies, so I really wasn’t in a position to trip about it. And I definitely didn’t mind the idea of him dealing with her babies instead of me.
Isabella was crazy.
Like rumors that she had pulled a knife on her last boyfriend several times crazy.
But that wasn’t enough to scare me off considering her insane sex game made up for any threat she could potentially pose.
As Drake continued his ode to the ladies performing all of his slower, R&B songs, I took the opportunity to scan the crowd. There were a lot of guys but the audience was mostly filled with googly-eyed women, all ready to throw their panties on the stage; Isabella included.
Since it didn’t seem like he was planning on going back to rapping anytime soon, I decided to take a personal intermission to the VIP lounge. There weren’t a lot of people in the lounge since the headlining act was on stage, but there were a few mixing and mingling as the performance played on the televisions mounted in the area.
I made my way over to the bar and was just getting ready to take advantage of the complimentary spirits when a woman walked in and interrupted my train of thought. She looked mouthwatering-good in a dress that turned her ass into an asset and heels that made her legs look just long enough to lock behind her head by the ankles. In fact, I knew they were long enough to do so because I had tried it out a few times with great success.
She paid me no mind as she skipped in front of me in line at the bar and asked for a bottle of water. Even the bartender had a hard time focusing on the simple task as his eyes were too fixated on her body.
Once he finally calmed down and handed her the water, she turned around and practically ran right into me. I expected her to go off, but instead she gave me a little seductive smirk that made me feel embarrassingly excited.
Down boy.
I licked my lips before I cleared my throat to say, “Miss. Jasmine.”
“The guy formerly known as Daddy. What’s up?” I was surprised by her casual tone considering more than half of our initial interactions had consisted of little spats.
“Nothing much, just taking a break from the concert. You here by yourself?” It was the most indirect way I could ask her if she was seeing someone. Not that I cared the first night we hooked up, but I just wanted to make sure nobody was gonna come at me for talking to their girl.
“With a friend. You?”
“Same.”
“Cool. Well I won’t hold you up. Enjoy the show.”
She went on about her way before I had the chance to elongate the conversation. The fact that she had been so cordial while looking too good left me hella curious. And even though I was there with Isabella, Jasmine had quickly bumped her out of my plans for the evening. There was no way I could execute what Isabella probably had in mind with Jasmine invading my thoughts even more than she already had been lately.
Snap out of it, bruh.
I ordered my drink and quickly made my way back out to the crowd just in time to catch Drake performing one of my favorite songs, Trophies. As I rapped along with him, I glanced over to my left and saw Jasmine with her friend that was surprisingly a girl, vibing out as well. They rapped the song word for word to each other, using hand motions just like the rapper used. It was oddly attractive to see her enjoying the show as a true fan of artistry and not just a girl
tryna get chose.
My attention must have lingered for too long as Isabella yelled in my ear, “Papi Chulo, is she one of your putas?!”
“What? My putas? No Bella, she’s not one of my sluts.” For once, the little bit of Spanish I had picked up from my Latino homies back in high school was paying off.
“Well why you keep lookin’ at her?”
“I was just fascinated that she...knew the words. That’s all.” It was a true fact though there was a little more than just her knowing the lyrics that fascinated me.
“Mmhmm. Whatever you say, papi. I just know you better be even more fascinated by me when I’m wearin’ that ass out tonight.”
There was no doubt in my mind that Isabella would make it her personal mission to get all of my attention now that she caught me checking out another girl. Little did she know, that other girl she was making her competition had set those standards to a record high. So high that I was no longer interested in what Isabella had to offer.
But of course I couldn’t let her know that, so instead I wrapped my arms around her waist, letting my hands take in handfuls of her ass before I whispered in her ear, “Fascinate me then, Bella.”
jasmine.
“What is up with you, Jaz? You do realize you just ordered French fries with a side of sour cream and syrup right?”
My mouth watered at the mere mention of what would be coming fresh out of the fryer all hot, golden, and a little crinkly. In fact, my mouth stayed watering at the idea of food period. Thank God I had time for an actual lunch break instead of the microwaveable meal or salad I usually got stuck with.
“Girl, doesn’t that just sound delicious? I’ve been having the weirdest cravings all week. Pickles and peanut butter. Beef jerky and chocolate pudding. Tomatoes with just a dab of teriyaki sauce. Mmmm...matter of fact, I may see if they have that here.” I looked around for the waitress that was already annoyed with my off the wall requests as Ariel eyed me from across the table.
“Jaz, if I didn’t know you were pretty much religious about taking your birth control pills, I’d say you were pregnant.” I wasn’t even eating or drinking anything but I felt myself choke at that dreaded word.
“Pregnant? Oh hell no. Don’t curse at me like that.” I tilted my head to the sky, directing the conversation to God instead of Ariel. “Lord, please forgive her for committing such a sin. She didn’t know any better.” I felt Ariel’s straw wrapper hit my chin before I finally lowered my head down.
“You are such a fool. But seriously Jaz, you have been taking precautionary measures right?” I couldn’t believe she was coming at me like she was my mother - okay, maybe not my mother cause my mother wouldn’t give a damn - instead of my best friend. She even had the nerve to call it ‘precautionary measures’ like she was a damn ob-gyn.
“Of course I have, Ariel. Nothing has changed but the date on the calendar. And my panties if we’re being technical.”
“What about the date of your last period?”
“Gotdamn Dr. Harper; why don’t you just lay me on the table, cock my legs open and get your speculum out since you’re so concerned.”
Apparently my comedic genius wasn’t entertaining enough for Ariel as she gave me the stiffest look when she said, “Just answer the question, Jaz.”
“Fine. It was umm...now that I think about it, I can’t remember exactly. But I know it happened. I had the bloating and sore boobs to prove it.” Just thinking about how much they had been hurting lately had me rubbing them through my sundress mid-conversation as if we weren’t in public.
“Well yeah it happened, but how long ago? More than a month?” I was really trying to come up with an exact date in my head, but nothing in recent weeks came to mind making me a little nervous.
“I don’t think so. I mean, it’s always been kinda spotty and irregular though.”
“But you’ve been taking your birth control, right?”
I looked around the restaurant as I nonchalantly replied, “For the most part.”
“Jaz! It doesn’t work if you don’t take it consistently. You know that.” I couldn’t believe she was really trying to scold me like I wasn’t the one that usually reminded her to take it every day.
“I’ve been taking it, Ariel. Calm down. I’m just...hungry and wanting weird things thanks to the stress of law school and work and all that other bullshit.”
“Or you’re pregnant.”
“First of all, one must have sex to get pregnant and thanks to my overly-booked schedule as of late, I haven’t exactly had the time to indulge in such activities.”
“Jaz, you were literally just telling me about the dude that laid it on you so good you wanted to call his mama and thank her for making him. Your words.”
“Oh yeah. Him. Whew girl.” I had to fan myself with my napkin as I thought about Mr. Robinson; the only name I knew him by other than Daddy. Even after seeing him at the Drake concert clearly boo’d up with some Latina, I couldn’t forget about the way he had put it down. I mean, it was like his dick had no end; it just kept going and going like the Energizer bunny. To be real, since I hadn’t had the time to make new memories with anyone else, I had been using those to put me to bed night after night.
Hopefully him and the chick were on a break at the time.
“You at least used a condom right?”
Silence.
“Right?”
I think I’m gonna pass out.
“Jaz, are you feeling okay? You look a little pale.”
Breathe, baby.
Not ‘baby’.
Don’t think of the word ‘baby’.
“Yes I’m fine, Ariel. Just feeling a little...nauseous.” The napkin I had used to fan myself when I was thinking about Mr. Robinson came in handy as I used it to wipe my forehead that had suddenly become beaded with sweat.
“Or pregnant.”
“Would you shut up and slide me your water? Mine is gone.” I was pretty sure that the waitress had been back to refill my glass a few times. But of course, the one time I really needed the water, my glass was empty.
“Yeah, cause you slurped it down like a parched pregnant woman.” I took the longest swig, letting the coolness of the water just sit in my mouth and savor against my tongue before swallowing it.
“Kill that, Ariel. You’re starting to make me mad.”
“Only cause you’re all emotional like a preg….nevermind.”
)~o~(
I was sweating - like pits-of-my-shirt-stained sweating - and it had nothing to do with the sun that was on its way down outside the window of my classroom. I could hardly pay my professor any attention as my stomach gurgled causing me to gag. After the conversation I had over lunch with Ariel, I had been sick beyond reason, though the mix of random ass foods I had consumed probably didn’t help anything. I was pretty sure what was making me feel even more sick was the fact that everything Ariel had said was possible even if I wasn’t ready to believe it.
Though it had been some weeks since my last sexual encounter, it certainly hadn’t been my safest.
We were caught in the moment.
There was no time to think about something like using protection when I was too occupied with the quest of feeling him inside of me. In fact, I needed him inside of me, stroke for stroke, to relieve every ounce of tension he had purposely built between us.
Now I knew that he could’ve accidentally built something else as well.
A damn baby.
The bile shot out all over my books before I could contain it.
rich.
“Oh my gosh, Rich. This is so embarrassing.”
I had Rae by the arm as I escorted her into the doctor’s office against her will. After finding a pack of condoms in her room during one of my routine sweeps, there was no way I wasn’t putting her on some type of guaranteed birth control.
Condoms were too easy to mess up.
“Do you really think I care if you’re embarrassed or not? You weren’t embarrassed a
bout those condoms I found in your room, so don’t start acting all embarrassed now.”
“Rich, it was a brand new pack. Not even opened. I don’t even know why I had them.” She was really trying to make the whole thing sound so innocent as if I had just skipped over the phase of teenage hormones in my own life. I knew exactly why she had them and I knew exactly who she planned on using them with.
That damn Justin.
“Neither one of us were born yesterday, Rae. But to ensure we won’t have any hiccups before graduation, you’re getting a birth control shot.” After doing my research, I figured it was the best option for a girl her age.
“The shot? I thought I was just gonna get those little stupid pills?”
“You’re not responsible enough for pills.”
“But I can’t get the shot, Rich. It makes you fat!”
“Well I suggest you find something better to do with your time then like come to the gym with me - where I can see you - and know you aren’t around some dumb ass boy.” She gave me her usual teenage grunt and growl before plopping down in a seat in the waiting room.
I was headed to the check-in desk when I heard a loud screech coming from behind the office doors.
“I can’t be pregnant. This has to be some kind of mistake!”
“No mistaking this little one’s heartbeat, sweetie. You’re gonna be a mommy.”
“No I’m not! I can’t be a mommy. I don’t know how to be a mommy. There’s not a single mommy bone in my body.”
“We have tons of resources and support options for you. You’ll be fine, sweetie. I promise.”
I grabbed the clipboard of paperwork from the receptionist before I found a spot next to Rae to fill it out. The sounds of the woman’s cry became more and more muffled the further away I got from the desk, but I could tell whoever the doctor was working with was experiencing something like a nightmare.
An Unconventional Love: A Novella Page 3
