by Ambria Davis
“For all those times you stood by me, for all the truth that you made me see . . .”
Shorty was really singing the hell out of that song. Between how good she sounded and how beautiful Sky looked walking down that aisle, everyone was wiping their eyes. I too found myself wiping a few tears away. That’s how emotional everyone was.
“I’m everything I am because you loved me.”
By the time Keys was finished singing the song, Sky had already made it to the front of the church. I know she was crying, because she was a hard-core crybaby. So when I lifted the veil from over her face, just like I had thought, she had tears streaming down her face. I used my thumb to gently wipe them away. I made sure to be extra careful, because I wasn’t trying to mess up any of her makeup.
“You look beautiful, ma,” I said smiling. “But you need to cut all that crying out before you ruin your makeup.”
“Thanks, baby, you don’t look so bad yourself,” she said, reaching in to give me a kiss on the lips.
The pastor cleared his throat, trying to get our attention, while everyone else around us laughed.
“We’ll have time for all of that later. Let’s get the ceremony started, shall we?” he said, cracking a smile.
“Sorry,” we both said, apologizing at the same time. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted one of Sky’s aunts walking over to her father, who was still standing behind her. She had this look on her face as if something was wrong, but she was so afraid to tell him. I looked at Sky, who then looked at me, then to her father.
I watched as Brenda stood on her tippy toes and whispered in Brian’s ear. By the way that his body tensed up and his mood quickly changed, I knew something was indeed wrong. He then walked over to Sky, and I could’ve sworn that I saw water in his eyes. He looked her in the eyes, then whispered something in her ear. Her eyes grew as big as saucers as she grabbed for her chest. I quickly grabbed her.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, searching her eyes.
She didn’t say anything. She just looked back at her father, then nodded her head. He, in turn, walked—more like ran—back up the way they just came and headed out of the church.
“Is everything okay?” the pastor asked her.
She looked at me, then turned and looked at the crowd. She then turned back to him and said, “Yes. You can continue.”
“Okay,” he nodded.
“What’s wrong?” I asked her.
“Umm, it’s Brinay,” she replied. “It’s no big deal, so you don’t have to worry about it.”
“Brinay? What’s going on?” I asked her, trying to find out what she wasn’t telling me.
“I just told you that it isn’t a big deal, Dontie,” she said, leaning in toward me. “So, let it go, please.”
“If it wasn’t a big deal, then why did your father just up and run out of here?” I asked, looking at her. “Tell me what’s going on, Sky.”
“Umm . . . She just got into a bad car accident, and she had to be airlifted to the hospital,” she said, sounding as if she was irritated just talking about it.
I know this bitch ain’t serious right now, I thought as I took a step back, looking at her sideways.
“Did you just say that your sister was in a bad car accident?” I asked to be sure that I heard her right.
“Yes,” she said, rolling her eyes.
“And you over here acting like that’s not a big deal?” I asked, confused. I don’t know what it is, but I’d never seen them act like normal sisters do. It’s like they hated each other, and one could never stand to be around the other. The only reason they would be in the same room sometimes was because of their father.
“I can’t believe you’re standing there acting as if your sister wasn’t just airlifted to a hospital. She’s pregnant, Sky! Damn.”
“Oh shit, that’s what I came in here for,” Chance whispered from behind me. “I found Nay sitting on the steps of the church earlier. She wasn’t feeling too good, so she decided to go home, but when she got up, water came leaking down her legs.”
“She was in labor, and you ain’t tell me, nigga?” I said, shoving him in the chest.
“Man, I forgot, with all of this shit that’s going on. I don’t know what to tell you and what not to tell you,” he said, cutting his eyes at Sky, who was still standing there as if nothing was wrong.
“Yeah yeah yeah,” I said, waving him off. “So are you going to the hospital to check on her and the baby?” I asked, turning back to Sky.
“No, I’m not. I’m going to continue on with my wedding,” she responded. I was so taken aback by her comment that I really had to take a step back and look at her from a different angle. This was not the woman that I met almost two years ago . . . or was it? I mean, here she just said that her sister had gotten into a bad accident, and she was more worried about a fucking wedding than the safety of her sister and her nephew. I didn’t see her feel one type of emotion or shed one tear about the shit.
“God, please be with me,” I silently prayed to myself. This bitch had to be out of her fucking mind or just plain ole stupid. Ain’t that much hate in the world that you can just not give a fuck about ya own blood. Whichever the case was, I really needed to get away before I ended up hurting her ass.
“Come on, Chance,” I said, turning to my best man.
“Where are we going? You’re about to get married again or whatever the hell ya call it,” he asked, confused. I didn’t even answer him. I didn’t have time to. Shit had just hit me all of a sudden. My baby mama was in labor and had just gotten into an accident, and I was in a church about to marry her sister when I needed to be by her and my son’s side. I knew the situation was fucked up, but ain’t no way I was going to let my son come into the world without me being around. I’d be less of a man to even allow something like that to go down.
“Dontie,” Sky called out to me, but I never answered. I kept on walking. I saw the people in the pews beginning to whisper among themselves, but I wasn’t concerned or worried about any of that. What I was more worried about was the safety of my son and his mother. I knew that Sky was going to want my head on a silver platter after this, but I didn’t care. My main concern right now was finding out which hospital Brinay was at and getting there as fast as I can. I’d have to worry about Sky and the rest of them nosy muthafuckers later. Right now, my son and his mother needed me by their side, and that’s where I was heading. Fuck this wedding. That shit could happen another time, if it makes it. If Brinay or my son didn’t make it out if that hospital alive, I’d never be able to live with myself.
Once I exited the church, I went straight to the limo that Sky and I had reserved for us to leave the church in. Chance ended up coming after all. We loaded into the limo without saying a word. Once inside, I instructed the driver to take me to hospital where I believed she might be. I tilted my head back and said a prayer asking God to spare both Brinay and my son’s life. I know she and I weren’t on the best of terms, but none of that mattered to me. Nothing in my life right now matters to me but the two of them.
“It’s going to be all right, fam,” Chance said, finally speaking up.
“I hope so, man, I really hope so,” I replied. As I sat there waiting to arrive at the hospital, I made a promise to myself that I will always be there for my son and his mother. No matter what anyone had to say.
Chapter One
Brinay
I sat there on the toilet as I waited impatiently to read the results of the pregnancy test that I had just taken. I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t nervous and scared, because I was. It felt like I was about to catch a doggone heart attack any minute now. I was silently hoping and praying that the test would come back negative, because in all actuality, a baby was really not in my plans, at least, not right at this moment.
You see, I’d been sick for the past few days. At first, I tried to write it off as food poison. I even tried thinking that it was the flu, but up until two days ago, when I’d exper
ienced the worst pain of them all, I knew otherwise. I prayed to God that I wasn’t pregnant, and I tried ignoring all of the signs, but I couldn’t anymore. Besides, my best friend was always in my ear about it, telling me that I was indeed pregnant. I knew I kept telling her that I wasn’t, but she just insisted that I take a test anyway. She even went out and bought the damn thing.
“It’s been like five minutes already. Did you go and check the thing yet?” my best friend Kourtney asked me. I’d been on the phone with her the whole time, and I was beginning to regret it. She swore that I didn’t know how to tell time. To be honest, I was scared as hell to get it and read it.
“No, I didn’t read it yet,” I said, rolling my eyes in my head.
“What? What do you mean? Do you need me to come over there and read it for you?” she asked, sounding as serious as a heart attack.
“Kourt, chill, man. I’m just nervous about reading it. That’s all,” I said, calling her by her nickname.
“Girl, don’t make me come over there. You know it won’t probably take me all of ten minutes to make it there,” she said, now sounding like she was my mother and not my friend.
“Kourtney! You don’t even have to go through all of that. I’m about to go and read it right now,” I said, getting up from the seat.
I swear the five, maybe six steps it took to get from the toilet to the sink felt more like fifteen to twenty steps instead. With every step that I got closer, my heart began to beat a bit faster, so fast that I could actually hear the beating in my ears. I didn’t know what that stick was about to say, but I was surely about to find out, even though I didn’t want to. Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes, picked up the stick, and swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat. Bringing the stick up to eye level, my heart fell to my ass when I saw it. I damn near fainted when I saw two pink lines inside of the little square window, telling me that I was, in fact, pregnant.
“Oh my God, this can’t be true,” I whispered softly, still trying to deny it, even though I now had the proof in my hand.
“Well, what does it say?” Kourtney asked, sounding anxious. I didn’t say anything right away. I couldn’t. I was still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that I was pregnant.
“Nay, are you going to tell me what the thing says or not?” she asked, sounding a bit irritated.
“Umm . . . yeah,” I said, just above a whisper.
“Well, hurry up and tell me then, before I go crazy over here.”
Letting out a breath of air, I closed my eyes and said, “I’m pregnant.” I said it so slow that she barely even heard what I had said.
“Huh?” she asked. “I couldn’t hear you. Say that again for me.”
“I said that I’m pregnant, Kourtney,” I blurted out. I ain’t seen no point in trying to hide it. Hell, it was going to come out one way or another.
“I knew it, I knew,” she replied, and as if it had hit her for the first time, and she started screaming, “Oh my God, Nay, you’re going to be a mommy. Congratulations!”
I sat there listening to her as she screamed with excitement. She was acting like she had won the lottery or something, while I, on the other hand, was acting the total opposite.
“You’re going to be a mother. What are you going to do? Why aren’t you excited?” she asked once she realized I wasn’t all happy-go-lucky like she was. The truth of the matter was, I didn’t know what I was going to do. I wasn’t ready, nor did I want this.
“Honestly, Kourt, I can’t have a baby right now. I’m still in school, and I have a year and a half left to finish. If I was to have this baby right now, all of that would change, and I’ve come too far to not finish school on time,” I said to her. “Besides, all that extra shit that comes with a child is too much. I’m barely able to support my own self, let alone add a baby to the mix.”
“Well, what are you going to do, then?”
“Right now, I really don’t have a clue about what I’m going to do about the baby just yet. I’ll think about it. Just let me get through this weekend at my father’s house first,” I replied dryly. “You know his ass had to practically beg me to come. Talking about my sister had some big announcement, and she wanted me to be there. I don’t know why she wanted me to be there. We aren’t even close like that.”
“Oh, that’s this weekend?” she asked. “I thought that was the weekend after next.”
“No, unfortunately for me, that’s this weekend, and I got a good mind to call and cancel on their asses,” I said seriously. I really didn’t feel like being bothered with or being around those wannabe white people in black folks’ bodies. Now that I knew I was pregnant, I just wanted to be alone so that I could think about my situation and what I’m going to do about it. It’s times like these that I wish my mother was alive to help me, but she died two years ago from cancer. Which is why I’m grateful to have Kourtney in my life. I still had my oldest brother Brandon, but he was in prison doing a bid, so that didn’t and couldn’t help me too much.
“I think you should go. Right now is the perfect time for you to be around your family. It can help you make whatever decision you decide to make regarding the baby,” she replied. If only she knew how wrong she was. My dad’s family ain’t all that peachy. In fact, they ain’t even sweet—they’re sour as hell. I didn’t need to be around those people. They were basically a family from hell. Being anywhere around them would probably make me want to get an abortion without a second thought.
I never really liked to be around my dad or his family, especially my sister and her no-good-ass mother. They hated me, and I, in turn, despised both of them. They acted as if they were too good and I was beneath them. Thank God I’m only going to be around them for three days, because I don’t know if I could handle being around their asses no longer than that. The only one that I really got along with was Momo Netty, my dad’s mother, and we’re not always on good terms, either.
“I’ll go, but not because I need to be around them. I actually need a vacation, and with the news that I’ve just received, this is the perfect time for one.”
“Well, when are you going to tell Tae about the baby?” she asked, posing the million-dollar question.
“I haven’t seen Tae in two whole weeks, so I have no idea when I’ll tell him about the baby,” I sadly said to her. That’s if I decide to tell him, I thought to myself.
“Well, you could always call or text and tell him,” she said, offering up a solution. Rolling my eyes in my head, I took a seat on the bed.
“I’ve been calling and texting Tae for days now, and he has yet to respond to anything. I’m not trying to have no man out here thinking that I’m going to chase behind him, because you know for sure that right there just ain’t me. I don’t even get down like that.”
“Okay,” she said, then the line got quiet. I’m guessing that she was over there lost in her thoughts, just as I was over here lost in mine. “Well, whatever you decide to do, just know that I’ll be here for you no matter what happens, Nay,” she said, making my eyes watery.
“I know, and that’s why I couldn’t have asked God for a better best friend. You’re always there whenever for whatever I need you to be, and I absolutely love and appreciate you for that,” I said, meaning each and every word. A good loyal friend was hard to come by these days. That’s why I thanked God daily for blessing me with one.
“Aww . . . I love you too, Nay,” she replied. I can already hear her voice cracking up.
“Oh Lord, let me go finish packing my things before you have us both on the phone crying and stuff,” I said, trying to lighten the mood, because I knew my friend, and she would most definitely start crying any minute now. I told her behind that she’s too doggone sensitive for me.
“I can’t help it, Nay. You know I’m all softhearted, girl,” she said, laughing a bit.
“I know,” I said, going in on the laugh. “You need to tighten that up and get hard, my girl.”
“I’m fine. Do you need m
e to come over and help you pack your things?” she asked, changing the subject.
“Now, how did I know you was going to ask me that?” I said, laughing at her once again.
“Because we always help each other pack when the other one is going on a trip.”
“Oh yeah. I forgot,” I quickly replied. “Well, I’m almost done, but thank you anyway.”
“You’re welcome. Just call me if you need me.”
“Okay, I will. See you tomorrow.”
“You too,” she replied, and I hung up.
After getting off of the phone with Kourtney, I decided to try to call Tae’s phone again, but like the first few times, it went straight to voice mail. I wanted to leave a message, but I opted to send a text message instead. I texted him a message telling him that I had something important to say and for him to call me immediately; then I began to pack the few things that I had left. A few minutes went by, and my phone buzzed, alerting me that I had an incoming message. I immediately stopped what I was doing and practically ran over to the phone, thinking that it was Tae. I was disappointed when I noticed that it wasn’t him and that it was my father. He texted my phone wanting to know if I was still coming to the house this weekend. I started to tell his ass no, and tell him and his dysfunctional-ass family to go to hell, but I didn’t. He’s been texting me more than usual. I hope he wasn’t trying to form some kind of father/daughter bond, because it was way too late for that. I don’t know what this announcement was that my sister had to make, but I’m guessing that it was important for his ass to be stalking my phone, wondering if I was still coming. I told him that I was coming and that I’d see him tomorrow. Placing my phone back down, I went back to what I was doing.
It took me almost two hours to finish packing my things, and by that time, it was dark, and I was tired and hungry. I didn’t feel like leaving my apartment, so I just made myself a sandwich, got one of those little fruit cups, and a bottle of water. I may not like or want to admit it, but I didn’t want to hurt or bring harm to the baby if I decided to keep it.
