Life Begins

by Taki James

  She groaned. “Crap. I forgot about the baby.” Josie took a deep breath. “Promise me that we’ll be able to keep the kids together as is. Promise me that they are both going to always be yours.” Her children needed a reliable father. That is the one thing she needed to give to her children.

  “Go to sleep, Josie and have faith in your husband.”

  She kissed the bit of neck she could reach beneath her. “Fine. Wake me when you hear the baby. My breasts are starting to hurt.”

  “Then maybe you should clean up and get ready for baby’s feeding.”

  She pouted. “But, I’m tired. I just want to lay here with you and go to sleep.” He didn’t respond to that.

  Josie dropped the girls off at school before making her way to the grocery store where she used to work. She’d been working on a special recipe for pizza crust and needed to replenish some of her supplies. She loaded her two into the cart, hoping that she could get in and out before both tiny tots decided that it was a good idea for them to fall apart, especially her son who was liable to want something sweet. She was so focused on her list that she completely missed walking by her ex-husband. She didn’t notice that he followed until he stopped her from grabbing a package of gluten free dough mix.

  When she finally saw who touched her, she snatched her hand away, wanting more than anything to just run, but also fearing what doing so might cause him to do. So, even though she really had no confidence, she planted her feet and stared down the one man that she no longer could say that she loved.

  “What do you want?” She pulled away again when he tried reaching for her again. “Don’t touch me. You don’t have that right.”

  “Why are you trying to be like that, pussycat? I would think that you’d be willing to treat me better than that after ten years of marriage.”

  “Don’t call me pussycat. You lost that right when you wasted ten years of my life,” Josie said in reply.

  “Wasted,” he pointed at his chest. “I wasted ten years? We would still be married if you had only listened to me and had done what I wanted to do.”

  Josie couldn’t help the snort of laughter escaping. “This is my fault?” She couldn’t believe that he would have the nerve to say something so stupid after everything he did to her. He really should have been glad that she hadn’t tried to take everything from him in the divorce because after all the pain that he put her through, she certainly deserved something more than she got from him.

  He held both his hands up. “Hey, no offense. I’m just saying that we were good together, baby. We could still be good together if you would just do two little things for me.” He licked his lips, giving her the puppy eyes that used to work so well on his chocolate face. Already, Josie felt her heart beating the slightest bit faster in remembrance of their beginning years together.

  But then, she thought about her kids, the girls, Žarko. All of them together gave her multiple reasons for not caving in to her ex-husband’s foolishness. Besides, he hated her children and she could never return to a man that didn’t want a family.

  “I think you must have been the only one completely content. That you still don’t get that I would never be happy without children just shows me the kind of man that you are. Thank God for sending me a husband that assumes we’ll be having more children, because I don’t know what would happen if I didn’t have all of them.” She reached over to grab the box she was looking for and practically ran for the nearest checkout line. As soon as she felt safe enough, though she had no idea how safe she could feel with her ex-husband tracking her down somehow, she planned to call her husband. She needed him to tell her what to do. So she ran with her cart as fast as her legs could carry her to her car.

  She didn’t realize that she’d been crying until her son mentioned it. She tried to take a deep breath, hoping that it would calm her and make her son feel better. “It’s alright, baby. Mommy just is having some problems and needs to call daddy.”

  “Don’t cry, mama.” He reached out for her face to pat at her cheek.

  She wiped away her tears with the bottom of her palm. “I won’t, daring. Let me just get you and your sister in the car and maybe we can go get something special for lunch.” She tried to pretend that she wasn’t worried, but it was hard. She could hear her ex-husband calling her name.

  She got her son into his seat and had just managed to put her daughter’s car seat back into its base to close the door when he caught up to her.

  “Josie, why are you running like that? You act like I’m the enemy or something.”

  “Because you are the enemy. You married me, knowing that I wanted a family and you lied for ten years. Now you want me to think that you really want a relationship?” She went to walk around him, but he grabbed her upper arm, squeezing her tight.

  “You don’t get to walk away from me. I’m trying to be nice by talking to you, but you always want to act like a fool.”

  She was lucky that a young couple passed them, allowing her to cause a scene with witnesses. “Let go of me,” she yelled as she began to tug back on her arm again. She was ready to scream louder if she had to if it would get her away from man.

  “You okay, ma’am,” the young man asked. “You need us to call the police?”

  She didn’t take long to think about it. “Yes. Please. My ex-husband doesn’t seem willing to take no for an answer.” He let go of her immediately, and rushed past her rescuers, even pushing the young woman to the ground. Seeing that, she really wondered what she ever saw in him. He was a monster.

  “Hey, what’s wrong with you man?” her rescuers called out after Gary.

  Josie pulled out her cell phone and dialed the police herself. She explained the situation to the 911 attendant, now unable to stop her body from shaking. While they waited for the officers to arrive to take their statements, she called Žarko to let him know what was going on. She didn’t expect him to leave his job for her, but she honestly felt glad that he insisted on seeing that she was safe personally.

  It gave her strength to give her statement about everything that happened to the police, then waited in the car for her husband to arrive. There wasn’t much that they could do considering Gary had left the premises, but she felt comfortable knowing that his actions were going on record. If there was anything that she hoped out of this situation, it was that Gary took this as proof that she wanted him to leave her alone.

  I had to have been a wait of about ten minutes at the most before the face of her husband appeared in the driver side window. “Tata,” Josif shouted from the back seat as his father opened Josie’s door.

  “What happened?” he asked her. She told him, not really wanting to go into it, but also fearing what would happen if she didn’t. He didn’t speak, but that didn’t make her feel safe. The whole energy around him changed, becoming this eerie and dangerous thing that terrified her greatly, worse than she ever felt around Gary.

  “Please don’t look that angry,” she whispered to him. “He didn’t do anything.” At least, that is what she believed. She couldn’t even feel the spot where he grabbed her.

  “He touched you,” Žarko said. He brushed the back of his hand against her cheek. “A man should never touch another’s wife.”

  “I know, but I’m okay. I just don’t want you going to jail,” she had to admit. “It would be too hard for me to deal with and I wouldn’t know what to do.”

  He snorted, though it didn’t seem to be in humor. “If you were not strong wife, I would never marry you, even loving how you care for children. If something happened, you would be fine, but, I will not be caught so there is no reason to fear.”

  She wasn’t sure that she knew what he meant, but, she did trust him to think about his family. She sighed, prepared to just go home and forget that this day ever happened. If anything, this experience taught her to thank God for the blessing of getting her first husband out of her life, so that she could get a much better husband.

  “Let me follow you ho
me,” he told her, before closing the car door for her. She didn’t have the chance to argue with him, knowing that most likely, she couldn’t fight with him in the first place. She felt safer knowing that her husband was in control of the situation. She kept checking the rearview mirror, making sure that she always saw Žarko’s truck behind her. She didn’t know why she was being so silly, being terrified and all. It wasn’t like her ex-husband could do anything to her, or even like he would other than this stupid thing of now trying to take her to court.

  As soon as she pulled up the long driveway to her home, she quickly turned off the car and finally allowed her body to relax. “Mommy, let me out,” her son demanded. “I have to pee.” Juljiana seemed to agree since she immediately began her I’m hungry cry.

  She sighed. Thank goodness for her babies. Her life could be falling apart all around her and they would only care about their needs being met. By the time she made her way out of the vehicle, Žarko had already helped Josif out of the car and was half way around to the other side to get Juljiana. “You didn’t have to help me get the kids inside. Don’t you have to get back to work?”

  “No. It is more important to take care of family than to take care of work right now. I called friend to take over my shift.”

  “Oh, okay,” she said, giving him a small smile as she helped her son make it into the house and then to the toilet so he could potty. Žarko took the baby to the kitchen with him. The hunger cries suddenly stopped, probably because she loved when her tata held her. Josie let out a relieved sigh. She loved having someone so willing to help her out. “Tata really is great, isn’t he?”

  Her son gave her a look that said, of course he is. Apparently, Josie realized in that moment, she was being very silly woman, as her husband would tell her.

  Chapter 13

  “That bitch called the police on me,” Gary screamed into the phone at his lawyer. “She actually called the police on me.”

  “What were you doing getting into contact with her?” the other man asked, seeming very disinterested.

  How dare some paid snake ask him that question? Josie was his pussycat, with a pussy tighter than any virgin’s. She was supposed to be his, exclusively. Not her and two brats. And certainly, she wasn’t supposed to belong to some asshole that got to fuck her every night. “I wanted to talk to her, let her know that I wasn’t mad at her about her marrying someone else. She got crazy and caused a scene, but I’m the one that got into trouble.”

  He heard a long sigh. “Gary, let me give you a word of advice. Leave her alone right now. If you want to get into her good graces, you have to do it correctly.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean? You don’t know Josie like I know her. I’m going to handle things my way. You just do what I pay you to do. Get her tied up in court so that she can’t get away from me.” He would worry about breaking up her current stupid marriage.

  “Fine, then don’t say I didn’t warn you.” His lawyer hung up the phone. Gary threw it against the passenger side door. That man didn’t know anything, except what it meant to be sleazy. No, a soft touch would never work with Josie. He had been soft with her in high school and look what that got him. No, if wanted to get her back, he needed to bring out the big guns. There was no way that some white man was going to be able take care of Josie sexually. She needed a black man.

  It was the weekend and the girls insisted that they all go to the movies. Naturally, with two young girls, that meant going to see Cinderella. Not even Josif’s pouting, cute as it was, could halt the desire within the girls to see a movie that was wholly made for little girls. Žarko’s only response to the request was a sneer, but he didn’t put his foot down about it either.

  Josie had a feeling that for all that the boys complained, they would either find a way to enjoy the movie, or they would simply go to sleep. Her son was almost a guarantee to knockout, probably before the movie began, so she highly doubted that she needed to worry about him. She herself, felt a bit curious about the new adaptation. The animated version had always been one of her favorites and so she was very curious about what Disney had planned for this live action film.

  Of course, the girls couldn’t just go to the movie dressed in their play clothes. So, Žarko had to drive to the Chicago Ridge Mall so that the girls could go to the Disney Store so that they could buy some princess dresses. Juljiana wouldn’t care about what she wore, but Desa insisted that she too had to dress up, as she was a pretty girl, whatever that meant. Not even Josie, as the ultimate pretty girl, Desa’s words, could escape the dress up party. She ended up wearing a crown, all glittery and pink.

  “This is too much trouble for boring movie,” Žarko said to her, even though he willingly brought out his card to pay for the purchases.

  “You’re the one that brought them here. You could have told them no.”

  He looked up at the princess crown she wore. “Like you have said no to silly crown?”

  She passed him the baby. “Don’t you get it; I’m a princess trying to find her prince.” Juljiana patted at his face. “See, even the baby understands the importance of the crown.”

  “Yeah, tata. It’s important to wear the crown,” Ljiljana said from behind them. “You said we need to see ourselves as pretty. Now majka can feel pretty like us.”

  “I want popcorn,” the lone boy said suddenly “and juice.”

  “Okay, we’ll get you something when we get there,” Josie told him. The beauty of going to the movie theatre at the mall was that they already had scheduled seats, so it didn’t take them long to get their tickets and then Žarko stood in line while she helped the kids find their assigned loungers. Ljiljiana stayed to help him carry everything, even though Josif wanted that to be his job, because all of a sudden, he wanted to learn how to be a man. It was cute in a way. So cute, even Žarko couldn’t ignore the young boy’s request to help.

  She, Desa, and Juljiana found the saved seats, right in the middle of the theatre. “Tata will want to sit by you, majka,” Desa said. “That way he won’t have to sit next to someone else not family.” She then pointed out spots for everyone. “Ljiljiana likes the end. I can sit next to her, but Josif can sit between us. Then, tata will have plenty of space by you.”

  “Is this how you always sit?” Josie couldn’t help but ask.

  The little girl nodded her head. “Tata says that I can decide where everyone sits at the movies, because Ljiljiana always chooses the radio station.”

  Somehow, that just didn’t seem fair, but okay, if that is how it worked for the two of them. She sat with her daughter in her lap, wondering if she should bother putting her feet up with the lounger like chair. She didn’t want to get trapped in her seat if her daughter actually needed something during the movie and she had to get up quickly. In the end, she decided that it would probably be best to put her feet up, just so she could hold her daughter comfortably. It was around nap time for the baby anyway, and she liked to cuddle best when she was tired or sleeping.

  Josie kept an eye on Desa until the rest of the family appeared, Josif carrying a small thing of popcorn with a big smile on his face. “Mama, look at me.”

  “Wow, you’re a big boy now” she told him, as he passed her the bag to hold for him. Desa busied herself telling everyone but her dad where they were going to sit. Žarko didn’t bother to wait. He sat next to Josie and took the popcorn bag from her.

  “Was he okay, not that I expect him to misbehave with you.”

  He shrugged. “He is always fine. Very helpful little boy.”

  “So then, does that mean you’ll provide a proper example for how little boys are supposed to behave at a movie they aren’t exactly enthused to see?”

  “Ne. I plan to sleep during movie. He can sleep with me.”

  She snorted with laughter. “That’s wasting money. Just watch it, you might even like it.”

  He lifted the chair arm between them so that he could pull her close, just as the lights went down and the trailers b
egan. “I will watch movie and you can show me your appreciation after children are sleep.”

  Of course, he would want payment for being a good man. “What did you have in mind?” He whispered his response in her ear, surprising her with the sheer naughtiness of his fantasies. It kept her distracted throughout the whole film, to where she couldn’t remember much of what happened. Žarko, on the other hand, appeared riveted to the screen every time one of the children glanced in his direction. He had even taken the baby to his lap so that he could help her pretend to dance with the bigger girls.

  One would never know that he had absolutely no interest in the movie. Josif pretty much fell asleep between his sisters, Desa needing to save his bag of popcorn before he spilled it all over himself and his chair. Žarko then gave the bag to her to close for the boy to enjoy later.

  After the movie finished, the family left the theatre for the food court right outside. They chose the new burger place; because the kids all wanted to have a milkshake to celebrate the movie’s ending. Josie wasn’t sure why the movie’s ending needed celebrating, but she went along with it because the Green River shake was surprisingly delicious.

  “I had fun, tata,” Ljiljiana said.

  “Me too,” Desa piped in.

  Josif threw his hand into the air, perhaps only because he was too busy sucking up his chocolate shake to be able to say anything. “Finish your chicken tenders before you drink all your shake, please,” Josie told him.

  Žarko sat with the baby playing with his fingers. “It is good you have fun. You work hard at school and the harder you work, the more I desire to reward you.”

  “We should probably go see SpongeBob so that Josif can see something he likes,” Ljiljiana said.

  Josie looked at her watch. “Maybe we can do that another day. It’s going to be nap time soon and I still have to take care of the laundry.”