“I don’t care what he does he’s still my husband and you bad mouthing him doesn’t change the way I feel. I’m in love with my husband and I’m sorry if that hurts your feelings,” I said honestly.
“It’s all good. I just wanted to let you know what was up. When I heard him talking to David about it, I felt that it was only right to tell you.”
“And I can’t thank you enough,” I said sincerely.
“Good luck in court tomorrow. Call me if you need me,” Scott said as he prepared to leave. I walked him to the door and locked it behind him. I picked up all the paperwork I needed for court and went upstairs to bed.
The next morning I arrived at court thirty minutes before I was scheduled to arrive. My nerves were on edge and my mother was not helping at all.
“Don’t sign anything until he agrees to pay what you’re asking and don’t you dare agree to a lower amount,” she instructed. My lawyer, Ms. Iverson, nodded her head as if she agreed with her.
“I just hope the judge doesn’t look at the amount of time you’ve been married as a way for him not to pay anything. Six months really isn’t long enough to have invested into a marriage,” she spoke up.
“I don’t care about any of that. I’m praying that Dominic will have a change of heart and call this entire divorce off,” I admitted.
“I don’t know where I went wrong with you. Why would you want to be with somebody who clearly doesn’t want to be with you? You’re better than him, so it wouldn’t have lasted anyway. Get whatever you can get from him and move on,” my mama snapped.
Silent tears fell from my eyes as she continued to talk, but that didn’t stop her. In her mind, Dominic was nothing, but a come up for me and my baby and nothing more.
“Here comes his no good ass now,” she hissed.
I looked up and saw Dominic, David, and their parents coming our way. I unintentionally licked my lips as I eyed my husband. He’s even more handsome than I remember. His hair is freshly cut, and the Ralph Lauren pants suit he had on complimented him well. It didn’t surprise me that David is here with him, but I’m a little hurt to see that his parents accompanied him as well. I was kind of hoping that they would try to talk some sense into him.
“Good morning,” Dominic’s parents greeted us. Me and Ms. Iverson returned the greeting while my mother turned her head.
“How are you and my grandbaby doing Kennedi?” My mother-in-law asked me.
“We’re doing fine. I should find out what I’m having soon,” I smiled.
“You make sure you let us know when you find out,” Dominic’s father said.
“I don’t think so. Let’s go Kennedi,” my mother interrupted. She stood up and walked away followed by my lawyer. Dominic shook his head as I stood there embarrassed by her once again.
“Look, I know that you and my son aren’t together anymore, but that don’t have nothing to do with us. Now we want to be in our grandchild’s life, but I’m not about to kiss your mama’s ass to do it. We’ll be back in court if that’s going to be a problem,” Dominic’s father said.
“She’s upset and she has every reason to be. Your son did cheat and made two babies on me you know,” I reminded him.
“Him cheating is why we’re here today, but that has nothing to do with the baby that you’re carrying,” he replied.
“No, we’re here today because your son wants a divorce. That’s not what I want,” I clarified.
“Man, all that shit is irrelevant. We’re talking about the fact that you’re allowing your mama to keep me and my family out of my baby’s life,” Dominic said.
“Come on Kennedi,” my mother yelled before I had a chance to respond. I slowly walked away and rejoined her.
****
“So you’re asking for twenty-five thousand dollars a month even though you’ve only been married for six months?” The freckled face judge asked me with raised brows. I was happy when we walked into the small room and saw that a woman would be presiding over the case. I assumed that she would be compassionate towards another woman, but she proved me wrong. This witch that sat before us is a pit bull in a long black robe. It also didn’t help that no one else was allowed in the room but me, Dominic and our lawyers. My mother had to wait outside along with his family. She prepped my lawyer on what to say, but it’s not the same as having her here to talk for me.
“Yes, your honor. My client is asking for a small amount compared to what her husband makes,” my lawyer spoke up.
“Five hundred is too much for only six months of marriage,” the judge replied sarcastically. I saw Dominic smirk, but I have something for his ass.
“Can I say something please,” I asked. The judge nodded her head giving me the green light to speak.
“My husband is very well off financially. He made a baby on me before we even got married, and he still supports that child and the child’s mother. He’s been trying to hide it by doing everything from his business account and replacing the funds with his personal account. He purchased her a car, and he pays her bills faithfully every month. She’s also expecting a second baby with him that he’s going to support as well,” I rambled.
Dominic’s lawyer jumped up and started talking to the judge in his defense. Dominic had a look of shock on his face. I’m sure he’s wondering how I know all that I know, but I’ll never tell him.
“Okay I need everyone to calm down and listen,” the judge ordered. “Mrs. Roberts are you contesting this divorce and if so under what grounds?”
“I’m contesting it because I’m not ready to end my marriage. We’ve never even tried to work it out, no counseling or nothing. I thought we were supposed to take steps to save a marriage before just deciding to call it quits,” I replied.
“While I do feel bad for you none of those are valid reasons to contest a divorce. You said he made a baby on you, but you still married him. Clearly you’ve had problems long before now. How long have you two been separated?”
“It’s been three months ma’am,” Dominic spoke up.
“Louisiana law requires you to be separated for at least one hundred eighty days if no children are involved.”
“But I’m pregnant right now,” I blurted out.
“Please don’t interrupt me when I’m speaking. The baby that you’re carrying does not count. You have no kids in the home right now. Now you have one of two choices Mrs. Roberts. You can sign the papers now and be a free woman in three months or you can take this to trial and fight it out. But let me caution you before you decide. Taking this to trial can end up costing you money that you may or may not have for absolutely nothing. He will be granted the divorce eventually because you cannot force someone to stay married to you. Either way it goes you will walk away with nothing because six months is not long enough for you to even be eligible for anything. From what I’ve read you two didn’t share a bank account or any other community property items. This is not a family court, but you might want to go to one to discuss child support when the baby comes unless both of you can work it out on your own. I’ll give you both a few minutes to speak with your attorneys before we proceed,” she said standing to her feet.
“You are a no good bastard. I can’t believe you’re doing this to me. After everything, I’ve done for your ungrateful ass. It’ll be a cold day in hell before you see this baby,” I shouted at Dominic as soon as the judge was gone. He just looked at me with that stupid ass smirk on his face as if he didn’t have a care in the world.
“I guess we’ll be back in court then,” he smiled.
“Fuck you!” I screeched.
“Nope, you tried, but you can’t,” he chuckled.
“Kennedi calm down. Don’t start anything in here. It won’t be pretty if you do,” my lawyer warned.
“So what do we do now?” I asked her calmly.
“We really don’t have a choice, but to sign. I told you that it was a possibility that you could walk away with nothing. You guys haven’t been married long, and you�
�ve been separated for months. We’re fighting a losing battle by taking this to trial. She basically just told you that it would be a waste of money because you wouldn’t get anything. Just sign and be done with it,” she urged.
When she pulled the papers from her briefcase and handed me a pen, my entire body started to shake. I can’t believe that after only six months of marriage I’m already signing divorce papers.
“It’ll be okay Kennedi,” my lawyer consoled me as tears rapidly ran down my face.
My hand shook so bad that my handwriting didn’t even look like my own. I slid the signed papers back to my attorney as I buried my face in my palms and cried. My mother is going to be livid when she finds out that I walked away with nothing. This meeting definitely didn’t go as I wanted it to. Instead of possibly reconciling with my husband, I’d just signed him over to be with Brooklyn permanently.
DOMINIC
“Man that shit just don’t sound right to me,” I complained as David and I sat in our office. It’s been three days since Kennedi and I went before the judge, and I still have more questions than answers. I’m happy with the outcome, but I’m still confused about a lot of things. Like how Kennedi was able to get her hands on my business account bank statement. There’s no way that kind information was accessible to her. That only meant one thing. Somebody is in my business and giving up info that only employees could get their hands on. Besides David, Scott and I, we have a total of twelve employees. None of them gave me the impression of being a snake, but I wouldn’t put my life on it. I thought about each and every man that works for us, and nobody stood out.
“Man, somebody is on some foul shit. You know she couldn’t have gotten her hands on nothing like that without help. Ain’t no other way to explain it. Her crazy ass probably paid somebody for some info,” David said.
“I don’t know, but it’s been on my mind for the past few days. I don’t need any snakes working with me or for me. Too many niggas out here looking for work for me to play games with anybody up in here. I don’t mind signing a pink slip, and I’m dead ass serious about that,” I threatened.
“I feel you, but you can fire nobody if you don’t know who it is. It shouldn’t be too hard to find out though.”
“How can I do that? It’s not like they gon’ be honest if I ask. Nobody is that stupid. At least I hope not.”
“No, but Kennedi is. You know she still got mad love for you. All you have to do is say some shit that she wants to hear. Make her think it’s all good for a minute. She’ll be telling you her bank account number and everything else,” David replied.
“You must be crazy. Brooklyn already beat her down. Ain’t no telling what she’ll do to her if she finds that out. She’ll be trying to leave my ass for real this time. I’m not trying to have another falling out with her. We just got back on track. Nah bruh, I can’t even go there.”
“Nigga, stop being so damn scary. Let me find out that Brooklyn is putting her hands on you when nobody is around. You all shook up and paranoid and shit,” David said.
“I’m just not trying to do nothing to piss her off. She’s been on some rowdy shit since she’s been pregnant,” I confessed.
“Man, Brooklyn is not going to find out. Now, I’m not telling you to go to the bitch’s house or nothing like that. You need to take her out to eat or something. You know wine and dine her. Then when you get the info, leave and stick her ass with the bill,” David suggested.
“Dude you really are stupid,” I laughed, but I was really thinking about what he was saying. Kennedi still loves me, and I know that for sure. She’ll tell me what I want to know if I tell her what she wants to hear. I’m not an actor, so I hope I’m convincing enough to make her believe me.
“Just call her and ask her out on a date,” David snickered.
“Don’t play with me man. If I do call her it damn sure won’t be for a date. I’m very happy at home.”
“You better be. My lil sis don’t play that shit with you. Call and put her on speakerphone. I want to hear when she gets her hopes up high,” David chuckled.
“Man, I don’t know, I got a bad feeling about this,” I admitted.
“Brooklyn’s longest day at school is on Mondays right?” David asked. I nodded my head letting him know that he was right.
“Alright, so she won’t be able to call you if she’s in class and you won’t have to lie about where you are. Take Kennedi somewhere far out where you don’t know anybody and talk to her,” he suggested.
“When you say far out, how far are you talking? I don’t want to be around her ass that long.”
“Well, not far, but somewhere that you know Brooklyn or nobody we know will see you.”
“Man, New Orleans is small as fuck. Ain’t too many places we can go.”
“Nigga do you want the info or not?” David asked me.
“Yeah, I want it. I need to find out who she’s been talking to so I can handle their ass. I can’t stand snakes,” I fumed.
“Alright, well call her,” David said eagerly. He pulled a chair up to my desk like he was about to watch a good movie or something. This clown lives for drama, and I’ve been keeping him very entertained lately. I picked up the phone and dialed Kennedi’s number before pressing the speakerphone button.
“You must have dialed the wrong number because I know you didn’t mean to call me,” she snapped as soon as she picked up. I’m so happy that we aren’t face to face, or she wouldn’t have missed the scowl on my face just from hearing her voice.
“Stop acting like that. I’m just calling to check on you and my baby,” I replied. I’m shocked that she answered and didn’t send me to voicemail. Usually, she would always do that whenever her mother was around.
“We’re fine and goodbye,” she said.
“Wait,” I said trying to keep her from hanging up. “I wanted to know if I could take you out so we can talk.”
“Now I know you dialed the wrong number. This is Kennedi, not Brooklyn,” she snapped.
“So that’s how you doing me now?”
“That’s how you wanted it, so I guess I am,” I’ve been ready to hang up, but David keeps encouraging me to keep talking.
“Well, maybe I don’t want it like that anymore,” I replied with a frown. It’s killing me to even fake it with her ass.
“So what are you saying Dominic?”
“If you let me take you out we can talk about it,” I suggested.
“Take me out when and where?” She asked. David gave me the thumbs up, and I gave him my middle finger.
“I’m free Monday and I’ll tell you the place as soon as I decide,” I answered.
“Okay, but you better be saying something that I want to hear,” she warned.
“You’ll love what I have to say, I promise. I’ll let you go, but I’ll text you the info on where we can meet for lunch,” I promised right before disconnecting our call.
“Now was that hard?” David asked.
“Hell yeah, it was hard. I’m going home to my girl and my son after that shit,” I said as I grabbed my keys and walked out. As bad as I wanted to know what was up, I didn’t want to be around Kennedi at all.
“Brook,” I yelled when I walked into our apartment about thirty minutes later. I knew she had to be in the kitchen because I smelled the food as soon as I walked in.
“Yeah,” she replied.
“Daddy,” DJ yelled excitedly as he ran up to me. I picked him up and went to see what Brooklyn was cooking.
“Get your dirty hands off of my pots,” she fussed while pushing me away from the stove.
“Girl, that stomach is popping out of nowhere,” I said taking notice of the bulge that she carried around. I rubbed her belly and put DJ down so that he could do the same. He basically wants to do everything that I do. I try to be careful whenever he’s around.
“Go wash y’all hands so we can eat,” Brooklyn instructed.
After we ate and cleaned up the kitchen, I gave DJ a bath whi
le Brooklyn took her shower. Once I took my shower, I joined both of them on the sofa to watch the Disney channel. Brooklyn was playing on her phone while I watched SpongeBob with my son.
“I’m going to get me and DJ some ice cream. You want some?” Brooklyn asked me. My son was wide awake which means he must have taken a long nap today.
“No, I’m good, but bring me some water,” I replied to her departing back. Soon after she got up, I heard a buzzing noise alerting me to an incoming text message. When I picked up my phone, I didn’t see any messages, but I still heard the buzzing. I looked at the spot where Brooklyn sat and saw her phone lighting up. I picked it up, and my heart dropped when I read the messages. It had to be a nigga because he was begging to see her. She didn’t have the number saved, but I still scrolled through all of their messages.
“What the fuck,” I said a little too loud.
“What the fuck,” DJ repeated clearly. He’s just like a sponge and soaks up everything he hears. He’s almost two and talking like he’s three already thanks to Brooklyn.
“Don’t say that DJ. That’s a bad word,” I chastised even though he was repeating what I said. I continued to look through the messages and got more and more heated with each passing second. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that it was Kevin, but I can’t believe that Brooklyn is even entertaining that clown. I left DJ watching TV while I went to the kitchen and confronted Brooklyn.
“What kind of fucking games are you playing?” I yelled as I grabbed her by the collar of her night shirt.
“What are you talking about?” She replied nervously.
“This is what I’m talking about,” I replied while shoving the phone in her face. “I never put my fucking hands on you, but you still talking to this nigga even after he hit your stupid ass. You never even told me about that shit. And then you’re trying to meet up with him too?”
“No,” she cried.
“Well, that’s not what your messages say. If that’s what you want let me know now and I can go on about my business. I’m not doing this stupid shit with you Brooklyn,” I swore. I would never leave her, but I had to make her think that I would.
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