I Choose You: Hood Love at Its Finest

by Diamond Johnson

  “I just washed my damn hair too,” she said, going over to the window and opening it, with her dramatic ass.

  “Alright girl, I put the shit out,” I said, waving her off.

  I watched her as she walked over to her dresser and pulled out a pair of pajamas to put on. After that, she got in the bed and snuggled up next to me.

  “Why you up under me? I smell like weed, remember?” I taunted.

  “Because I love you,” she said, kissing me on my chest.

  “I love you too cracka’,” I said, laughing.

  She looked at me and punched me in my arm. “That shit ain’t funny Otis,” she hissed, trying to go back over to her side of the bed but I pulled her back over to me.

  “Come on girl, I was just playing with your ass. Chill,” I said and she laid her head back on my chest but I could still sense that she had a little attitude. I don’t know why, but I got a kick out of seeing her get all riled up and upset. That shit was sexy as fuck to me.

  “You mad at daddy?” I asked her, only to be ignored.

  “That’s why I ain’t gon’ go get your food from Snappers later on,” I said, nudging her off of me.

  “I was playing baby. I’m not mad” she said, coming closer to me. I knew that would get her ass.

  “Yeah that’s what I thought,” I said, slapping her ass.

  She didn’t respond. She just wrapped her arms around my waist and five minutes later, she was knocked out. I guessed I might as well get my sleep too before our spoiled ass daughter woke up.

  Around 7 p.m. I heard the baby monitor go off and that’s when I noticed that my princess had waken up. Tisha got up but I told her that I had it and she could go back to sleep. I went inside the room with Harmony and turned the light on.

  “What’s wrong with Daddy’s baby?” I asked and she instantly stopped crying.

  I carried her downstairs and made her a bottle. I sat in the den with her on my lap and fed her the bottle while I sat there watching TV. Around 9 p.m., Harmony fell asleep and I placed her on my chest. I turned the TV on to basketball and chilled while my daughter was asleep. This right here was fuckin’ perfect. I couldn’t wait until the day we had a bunch of kids running around, fuckin’ shit up. An hour later, I heard footsteps coming downstairs and I knew it was Tisha. She came inside the den where we were and sat next to me on the couch.

  “She is so beautiful,” Tisha said, rubbing Harmony’s soft hair.

  “She gets that from her mommy,” I said truthfully.

  Tisha smiled and went inside the kitchen and came back with a bottle of water and some Ritz crackers. She sat down on the floor Indian style in front of me and started drinking her water. I looked down at her and I just couldn’t believe how I lucked up with somebody as beautiful as her to call mine.

  “Tisha when you gon’ have my son?” I asked her.

  “Boy I just gave birth to your daughter. Let my damn body heal first,” she said, rolling her eyes. I swear I be wanting to snatch them bitches right out. She stay rolling them damn eyes at a nigga.

  “Alright baby well one down, five more to go,” I said, smiling.

  “Negro you must be crazy. More like one more to go. And that’s not going to be no time soon because I need to get my shape back,” she said.

  “Yeah okay we’ll see,” I said.

  Chapter 21: Ka’lani

  I just knew I was pregnant this time. I just finished eating a bowl of chicken soup and I threw it right up. My li’l greedy ass could eat anything and I never throw up. I went inside the bathroom so that I could take the test. I peed on the stick and waited for the results. Ty was in the room asleep, so I wouldn’t wake him until I knew the results. I saw one line appear and then there was a second one. Oh my God, I’m pregnant! I thought to myself. It was crazy because since Tyrone and I were together, I’ve never gotten pregnant, maybe because I took my pills faithfully. I was so immune to taking them that I never once stopped taking them until maybe a month ago and that’s only because I had ran out and kept procrastinating on going in for a refill. And you already know that Ty and I never used protection, so I guess this was bound to happen. Watching Tisha with Harmony made me want a daughter of my own so I can honestly say that I was extremely happy about the good news.

  I walked out of the bathroom and tugged at my husband’s arm so that he could wake up. I knew Tyrone would be happy about the news because his ass had been wanting kids. In the beginning I never really wanted kids, I guess not until maybe a few months ago and then I really started thinking about it when I saw Tisha with her baby.

  “Ty baby wake up! Wake up baby,” I yelled.

  “Lani what man? Before I went to sleep I told you don’t wake me unless it’s important,” he barked. I knew his ass was tired because he had pulled an all-nighter. He was up at the club until maybe four this morning and when he came home, he took a shower and did his daily workout at the gym and then came home and got into the bed.

  “Baby I’m pregnant!” I yelled, not fazed one bit by his so-called attitude. If I wanted to wake him up, I could do that!

  “You serious baby?” he asked, jumping out of the bed.

  “Yes, look, the test is right here,” I said, handing him over the pregnancy test.

  “Aww man, I’m about to be a daddy,” he said smiling.

  We drove to the doctor, just to make sure before we got too far ahead of ourselves. Come to find out, I was indeed pregnant, two weeks to be exact. We drove back to the house, both of us excited about the great news. When we got in the house, I want upstairs in our bedroom to run me a nice hot bath.

  “Baby you going to get in the tub with me?” I yelled from the room.

  “Yeah I’m coming,” he said.

  My husband and I sat in the tub with different things on our mind. I was so happy that I was becoming a mommy.

  “So baby you know what this means now since you’re pregnant?” Ty asked, rubbing my back.

  “No, what?” I asked.

  “It means, all that drinking you be doing with your girls on Fridays, that got to stop. I don’t want no shit Lani. I don’t need you out here doing nothing that could bring danger to my child. And you eating for two now, so no more eating only a little bit of your food and then giving me the rest,” he ordered. I nodded my head because I knew everything his ass was saying was the truth. But I was pretty sure my appetite would pick up with the pregnancy because Tisha’s sure did. That girl was eating every damn minute. That shit didn’t make any sense whatsoever.

  “Okay daddy,” I said.

  We sat in the tub for another tem minutes before we decided to get out. I dried off and put on a white sundress with my entire back out and threw on my gold Gucci sandals. I guess I would go spend the day with Tisha and my goddaughter since I knew my husband was about to leave and I didn’t want to be up in the house by myself all day. Plus I knew Tisha’s ass wasn’t going to leave the house with the baby, so I knew she wouldn’t have a problem with me coming over there with her.

  “Baby I’m going to go over to Tisha’s,” I said, going down in his man cave in the basement. As usual, he was sitting on the couch, smoking while playing that damn game. I swear I never came in here and if I did, it was to get him to come to bed or to bring him his dinner. He knew I hated this man cave, so it never came down to it being a problem with me invading his space while he was in there.

  “Alright, I’m about to head out over to the club soon with O,” he said.

  “Okay, I love you.”

  “I love you more,” my husband told me.

  I jumped inside my Range Rover and called Tisha from the car.

  “Hey Lani,” she answered and I could hear my goddaughter crying in the background.

  “What’s up? Why my baby crying like that?” I asked her.

  “Because she spoiled as hell. I’m trying to fix breakfast and I had to sit her down in the bouncer,” she let me know.

  “Okay, I’m on my way over,” I told her.

/>   “Good, we would love some company,” she said.

  I hung up and made my way to Tisha and Otis’ house in about twenty minutes. I grabbed my Fendi purse and walked to the door and rang the doorbell. Tisha came to the door in a pair of black yoga pants and a black tank top. This girl did not look like she just had a baby. Her stomach was almost back to being flat like how it use to be. I didn’t know what the hell her ass been up in here doing.

  “Hey Auntie’s baby,” I cooed, taking Harmony from out of Tisha’s hands. She started smiling and drooling at the same time. I swear this little girl was so beautiful. She was Otis all day though. She looked exactly like his ass.

  We walked inside the house and went to the den area. I played with my niece/god baby while Tisha went back into the kitchen to finish eating her breakfast. She came back in the den and laid out on the couch looking exhausted.

  “Bitch you look worn the hell out,” I joked.

  “That’s because I am,” she said. I could look at her and it was obvious that her ass wasn’t getting enough sleep. From what she told me, Harmony would wake up around two in the morning every night.

  “Tisha guess what?” I asked her.

  “What Lani?” she said, texting away on her phone.

  “I’m pregnant,” I said, looking at her waiting to see how she would react.

  “For real sis?” she asked, coming over to hug me.

  “Yep, I found out this morning,” I said.

  “I’m so happy for you. I hope it’s a girl so Harmony can have a best friend and cousin and god sister. That’s crazy how your ass been with Ty all this damn time and your ass just now getting pregnant,” Tisha said.

  “I know, I was thinking that same thing this morning. I think it’s because I was so used to taking my birth control pills, that I never stopped until like last month when I ran out and forgot to go get some more,” I let her know.

  “And what did Ty say? I know his ass was happy,” Tisha said.

  “Yeah he was happy. I can already tell his ass gon’ be driving me crazy and treating me like I’m damn handicapped.”

  “Girl, that’s exactly how Otis ass was. That shit was annoying as fuck.” She laughed and so did I because Otis ass did not play with Tisha when she was pregnant. He made sure she was doing the right things so that she wouldn’t harm the baby.

  Honestly I wanted a girl and I couldn’t wait to spoil her ass rotten. I stayed over Tisha’s house about another two hours before I decided to head on home. We said our goodbyes and I was out the door.

  Marshae

  Word on the street was that bitch had given birth to a baby. I found out because my cousin Shay goes to the salon she works at to get her hair done. I fuckin’ hated that bitch! I was able to get her number from out of Shay’s phone since she has it for when she makes appointments with her and shit. I called her ass a few months ago private just to make sure it was her. When she answered and I heard her annoying ass voice, I knew it was her ass. I still call her from private every now and then but the bitch never answers her damn phone. I still got something up my sleeve though. She had the nerve to get pregnant by my nigga! Oh yeah, this ho was definitely going to get handled if it was the last thing I did, even if I had to die in the damn process.

  “So bitch what you plan on doing to that girl anyways?” Shay asked me, as she sat on my couch texting away on her cell phone.

  “I don’t plan on killing the bitch or anything. I just want to scare her ass straight, but I mean if she does happen to die in the process, then so be it,” I said, shrugging my shoulders.

  “And what do you gain from this situation again?” Shay’s dumb ass asked me.

  “Bitch, hello! I get my damn nigga back,” I shouted to her. She just looked at me funny and shook her head like what I just said was the dumbest shit she had ever heard. “Bitch if you got something to get off your chest, speak now or forever hold your motherfuckin’ piece,” I let her know.

  “I mean, I could see if that was once your nigga before and you became a woman scorned but that’s not the case with you. You and Otis were never together and he let that be known to you since day one. You knew damn well that you were just a fuck to him. Only reason why you going so hard on him now is because you see that he’s happy and you just trying to fuck that shit up. Tisha ain’t done shit to your ass. You don’t even know her and vice versa. You trying to kill a bitch over some dick that ain’t even yours and never was yours,” Shay had no problem letting me know.

  “Bitch get the fuck out of my house with your dick riding ass. You all on that girl pussy and you don’t even know that bitch like that,” I snapped at her and she got up from the couch, walking to the door.

  Before leaving, she turned around, facing me. “I really hope it’s worth it. Bye Marshae. Your ass seriously needs help.”

  I shrugged her off and continued to sit on the couch and think of a way that I was going to take that bitch out. Hmm, I couldn’t wait for that.

  Chapter 22: Tisha

  3 months later

  It’s been four months since I had my baby and I swear I love everything about that little girl. She is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. She is too spoiled though. She liked to be held 24/7 and will scream at the top of her lungs if you sit her down. That isn’t nobody’s fault but mine because when she was a month old, I always would hold her everywhere I went. Things between Otis and I are still great. He still gives me butterflies every time I see him. I make sure I take my ass to the gym everyday faithfully so that I could get my figure back. I had managed to get back to my size four, 120-pound frame because Otis was working me out in the gym every single day. This man would have me in that gym boo-hoo crying because he was killing me but in the end, it was all worth it because my body is on fire!

  It was a Friday night and we were wrapping things up at the shop. I had been here since 10 o’clock his morning and I was beat. The girls and I decided to head to Red Lobster for dinner. Right when we walked in, there wasn’t a line so they seated us immediately.

  “So what y’all getting into tomorrow because I only have one appointment and that’s at 3 in the afternoon?” I asked, looking over the menu.

  “I’m not coming into the shop tomorrow. I already let my regulars know. I just want to stay home tomorrow and lay in the bed,” Lani said, sounding like a true pregnant woman.

  “Oooh okay then you could come with me to the tattoo shop tomorrow,” I said, happy because I didn’t want to go by myself.

  “What you going to get?” Tamika asked.

  “I want to get Otis’ name on my lower back,” I said eating one of the biscuits that the waiter had just brought over.

  “Bitch that shit is going to hurt like hell ‘cause I remember when I got mine done,” Kyla said.

  “Well we’ll see,” I said. It didn’t matter because I could handle pain. I mean a bitch did undergo a natural birth.

  Deep down, I was scared as hell to get a tattoo. It’s something that I been wanting to do but I couldn’t do it while I was pregnant. I looked in my purse because I heard my phone ringing. When I finally found it, I noticed it was that private caller again. They called me every day around this time and that shit was beginning to piss me off.

  “Y’all look, every day I get a phone call from this private number and I usually just let it go to voicemail. But if I do pick up, the person just breathes through the damn phone. One time they did say something though,” I said, showing them my cell phone. I didn’t have the slightest clue who it was but I figured it was a bitch though because niggas didn’t play li’l games like this. I mean, not that I know of. I didn’t have any beef with nobody so I was confused as hell.

  “Well, how long has this been going on?” Lani asked.

  “Yeah, how long?” chimed in Tamika and Kyla.

  “Really, it’s been like a few months now,” I said.

  “Tisha a few months, really? And you just now saying something?” Lani asked, mad.

  �
��Yes because I didn’t think it was that serious or even worth having a conversation about. But now this shit is getting creepy because they call me every day,” I said.

  “Well who do you think it could be? You got any beef with anyone?” asked Kyla.

  “Honestly, no, not that I know of. Only person that comes to mind is that Marshae bitch that we jumped last year. But then again, I don’t know because the caller didn’t sound like her at all. It sounded like a man,” I told them. But I had a feeling they were disguising their voice though.

  “I suggest you get your number changed though, just to be on the safe side,” Tamika said.

  “Did you tell Otis about this?” Lani asked, pissed that I had kept something away from her.

  “No, y’all are the first people I’m telling,” I said.

  “Well, you need to tell him,” Lani told me.

  “I will, as soon as I get home,” I said, letting them know.

  Our food arrived ten minutes later and we started grubbing. After we finished eating, Lani ordered a cheesecake and I helped her finish it. Once we paid and everything, we were out the door.

  “Alright sistas, I’ll see you guys tomorrow and Lani I’ll be at your house around 11 to come get you,” I said when we all reached our cars.

  “Alright Tisha,” Lani said.

  “Goodnight y’all,” said Kyla and Tamika.

  When I got to my car, I noticed there was a note left on the window. I opened it and it read,

  Your day is coming bitch!

  I balled the paper up and threw it on the ground. I headed home and decided that I would tell Otis about this first thing in the morning. I didn’t want to tell him tonight and risk him cursing me out because I waited so long to tell him. When I pulled up to the house, I noticed that Otis’ car was parked in the driveway. I quickly got out and made my way inside the house. As soon as I got in, I shut off the alarm and made sure the door was locked and headed upstairs to check on my daughter. I went inside her room and her lamp was on and when I walked over to her crib, I noticed that she was awake, lying on her back.