by Ambria Davis
When I was done eating, I took a quick bath and was ready to climb in bed. Before I got in the bed, I checked my phone and saw that Tae still hadn’t responded to me, so I decided to send him one final text, and I do mean final.
See, I wasn’t green for a minute. I had suspected that Tae had a girlfriend, but I didn’t have any proof. That was . . . until he started going MIA all the time and trying to end the call in a hurry whenever we were on the phone. Even though he said he didn’t, I knew better. This right here just proves to me that I was right, and now that I knew for sure, I wasn’t too happy about keeping a nigga’s illegitimate child. I’d basically have to do this parenting thing by myself—while he’s out there probably making a family of his own. I wasn’t ready for that, and I didn’t sign up for the shit.
When I was done typing up everything that I needed and wanted to say to him, I sent the message and placed him on my block list. I then powered my phone off and hopped in bed. I was too tired and fed up with Dontie’s shit to even give a care anymore. Being a statistic wasn’t something that I had planned on doing, but things happen, and if I decided to keep this baby, I wouldn’t have a problem with raising him or her on my own. I was going to give my baby the best life that I could give it. I didn’t need a man here to help me, because at the end of the day, it was still my child, with a daddy or not. I wasn’t going to worry myself or stress behind Dontie. I’m not the type of chick who’d run behind a man, and Tae will soon find that out.
Chapter Two
Brinay
When I woke up the next evening, my stomach and back were killing me. The pain was so excruciating that I was barely able to get out of bed. “Lord, please don’t do this to me today,” I said out loud. I pulled back the cover, slowly got out of bed, and made my way to the bathroom. I grabbed my toothbrush and prepared to brush my teeth . . . when a wave of nausea hit me. As fast as my aching body would allow me to, I made my way over to the toilet—just in time to throw up everything that I had eaten last night.
“Oh my God!” I screamed as I clutched my stomach. My stomach was hurting me so bad. I felt like something or someone was trying to dig out everything inside of it. I was bent over the toilet for five long minutes before my stomach had finally decided to calm down. Flushing the toilet, I walked back over to the faucet and rinsed out my mouth. Next, I grabbed a towel from the towel rack, wet it, and passed it over my face before I grabbed my toothbrush and brushed my teeth. When I was done, I removed my clothes and hopped in the shower.
Once in the shower, I turned the water on, made sure it wasn’t too hot and stood underneath the faucet. I was hoping the warm water would somehow ease the pain that I was feeling. After a few minutes of just standing there, I grabbed my washcloth, my Dove body wash and began to wash every inch of my body that I could reach. When I was done, I rinsed off and repeated the process a few times; then I just stood underneath the water again. I didn’t get out of the shower until the water began to get cold. Again, my stomach started to hurt, but not like it was hurting me before. I think I was just hungry this time, so I turned the water off and got out. Grabbing the big towel from the shower rod, I wrapped it around my body and headed to the bedroom.
Once I was inside of my room, I went to the dresser where I kept my panties and bras. I removed a black and pink lace bra and pantie set and laid it on the bed. I then walked to the closet, where I removed a purple and yellow sundress, with my yellow sandals, put them on my bed next to my bra and pantie set, then went to look at myself in the full-length mirror. I let the towel fall to my feet as I started to look over my body in the mirror. The first place my hands went to was my stomach. I stood there imagining the different ways my body might look like. I mean, I’ve seen plenty of pregnant women, and they had a little bump to their stomach, but not my stomach. It was damn near flat, and I couldn’t imagine another life growing inside there. As if he/she knew what I was doing or thinking about him/her, I felt movement in my stomach.
“Hey, little baby, I’m Brinay, and I’m your mother,” I said, rubbing my stomach. I was talking to it as if the baby knew what I was saying. “I’m scared, but I promise not to let anyone hurt you, baby.” When I said that, the baby started moving nonstop. “Whoa, calm down, little one. Mommy’s in enough pain already.”
I was brought out of my momentary “mommy moment” when my phone began to ring. Walking over to the dresser where my phone was, I picked it up and noticed that it was Kourtney calling.
“Hey, boo,” I said, answering the phone.
“Hey, baby mama!” she said, sounding like her normal jolly self. “How are you today?”
“I’m doing better today than I was yesterday,” I replied. “What about you?”
“Well, that’s good, and I’m doing fine,” she said. “So today’s Thursday. What are you doing since you don’t have school today?”
“I don’t know yet. Not too long ago I woke up and got out of the shower. I can’t believe that I slept into the evening,” I said, sounding sluggish. I was still tired.
“That’s why you didn’t answer me earlier. Well, let’s go out and get something to eat then,” she suggested.
“Umm . . . okay. What time would you like to go?” I asked her.
“Now. I’m actually on my way over to your apartment already,” she said. I knew her ass was up to something since she was calling me.
“Okay. I should be ready when you get here.”
“Okay, I’ll see you in a minute.”
“See you in a minute, girl,” I said, then hung up.
I placed my phone on the charger, grabbed the bottle of cocoa butter lotion, and began to lather my body with it. When I was done, I grabbed my bra and panties and put them on. Then my dress. When I finished dressing, I slipped on my shoes and went to the bathroom so that I could do my hair. My hair had grown quite a bit these past few weeks, and now I knew why. Grabbing the brush from out of the cabinet, I brushed my hair into a ponytail. The minute I was done with my hair, someone started knocking on the door. I applied a little bit of lip gloss on my lips and grabbed my purse and keys; then I went to answer the door.
“Damn, I thought you was going to have me out here waiting on your behind forever,” Kourtney said once I opened the door.
“Chile, please. Stop exaggerating. You was not out here that long,” I told her. “Are you ready to go?”
“Yes, come on, because I’m starving, and now that we know that you’re eating for two, I know you have to be hungry too.”
“Ha-ha! So funny. Let’s go before you make me change my mind on you,” I said. I turned to make sure that I had locked the door, then shut it behind me.
“You’re glowing. You look so cute, even when you’re trying to be mean,” she said, giving me a once-over.
“Thank you, ma,” I replied as we made our way outside. When we got outside, we met up with this chick named Jordan. She goes to the same college as us. We even have a few classes together.
“Hey, y’all,” she said, walking over to us. “Where y’all headed?”
“Hey, Jordan, how’s it going? We’re about to go get something to eat. You want to come?” I asked her. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Kourtney giving me the “look.”
“Nah, I’m good. I got a ton of homework to do, and I haven’t started on it yet,” she replied. I know she was probably lying, because she would always do her homework before she stepped foot outside. She probably spotted the way that Kourtney had looked at her and decided not to.
“Well, okay, then. See you later, girl,” I said, trying to hurry up and get her away from us before Kourtney blows up.
“Okay, I’ll see y’all later,” she replied. “Oh, and by the way, you look beautiful today, and you’re glowing.”
“Thank you,” I said, cheesing hard.
“You’re welcome,” she replied, then walked off.
“What was that?” I asked, turning toward Kourtney.
“What are you talking about?” sh
e asked, trying to play like she was innocent.
“Know what? Never mind. I don’t even have time for this today,” I said since she wanted to play like she was stupid. “We’re taking your car or mine?”
“We can take my car,” she replied.
“Okay,” I said as I began to walk toward her car. I waited for her to unlock the doors; then we both got in. At first, she didn’t say anything. She just started the car and pulled off.
“Umm . . . So, where do you want to go?” she asked once we were on the road.
“It don’t matter as long as I get to put something in my stomach, because I’m starving,” I said, rubbing my belly. “Where do you want to go?”
She didn’t say anything. She just looked at me, smiled, and turned back to the road.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” I asked her.
“Nothing. You’re just so cute when you’re pregnant, that’s all,” she replied.
Oh Lord, here she go with this pregnancy shit again.
“Let’s go to IHOP. You know they make the best pancakes,” Kourtney finally decided.
“Surely do, and I could surely use some right now, with some strawberries on top,” I said, licking my lips. Just thinking about it made my stomach growl.
“Aww . . . That’s the baby talking there, because I remember that you couldn’t stand strawberries. Now your ass over there craving them,” she replied.
“No, I’m just so hungry that I’d eat anything right now.”
“Uh-huh,” she said as she pulled into IHOP’s parking lot. She killed the engine, and we got out. I tried to play it off, but I was actually starting to like this pregnancy stuff, but I wasn’t going to admit that to her, though.
When we walked into the restaurant, the place was kind of packed, but lucky for us, we found a table not too far from the entrance. Once we were seated, the waitress came straight over to us.
“Good evening, ladies, I’m Journi, and I’ll be your waitress this evening,” she said, handing us two menus. “Can I start off by getting you all something to drink?”
“Yes, I’ll have a Sprite,” Kourtney said.
“And I’ll have a lemonade,” I replied as I looked over my menu.
“Okay. I’ll give you all a minute to look over your menus while I go and get the drinks,” she replied.
“Okay,” I said as she walked off.
“What are you getting?” Kourtney asked, looking at me.
“I don’t know. All of this got my mouth watering. I wish I could have the whole damn menu,” I said, laughing a bit.
“Well, order whatever it is that you want, because I’m paying,” she said, shocking me a bit, but not too much. I knew she was doing this only to make sure that I was eating and taking care of the baby.
“I know why you’re paying, but you don’t have to. I’ll pay for myself,” I told her.
“Nay, you’re my best friend, so stop tripping,” she said, placing her menu on the table.
“Okay, I hear you,” I replied, waving her off.
“Besides, I want to make sure that you’re feeding my god baby,” she added.
“See, I knew it,” I said laughing. “You’re going to worry yourself to death over this pregnancy thing, and you’re not even the one who’s pregnant.”
“No, I won’t. I only want to make sure that you all eat,” she said, just as the waitress came back with our drinks.
“Are you ladies ready to order?” she asked, placing the drinks on the table.
“As a matter of fact, we are,” I replied. “Can I get two pancakes topped with strawberries, an omelet, two pieces of bacon, and some French toast also topped with strawberries ?”
“Okay,” she replied as she wrote everything down in her little pad. “And for you?” she asked, turning to Kourtney.
“Just give me some grits, eggs, and two pancakes.”
“Okay,” she said as she began to read our orders back to us.
“Will that be all?” she asked to make sure.
“Yes, that will be all,” I said. “Oh, and can you make sure that the syrup is hot?”
“Okay. Your food will be a few minutes. In the meantime, enjoy y’all’s evening.” She then left to go place our orders.
“So, are you ready to go to Miami tomorrow?” Kourtney asked.
“I’m as ready as I’ll ever be,” I replied as I took a sip from my drink.
“Have you talked to Dontie yet?”
“To be honest, Kourtney, I’m not about to worry my nerves about Dontie anymore. He’s just who I thought he was, and I’m just mad at myself for falling for that bullshit.” I was now feeling some type of way.
“Well, are you going to at least tell him about the baby?” she asked, beginning to annoy me. I don’t know why she was so concerned with me telling Tae about my baby.
“No, and I don’t plan on telling him. I’m done with Tae. I don’t need a man who already has a woman. If I have to raise my baby by myself, then I will. I don’t want or need Tae to help me with my baby,” I said as I felt the tears welling up in my eyes. I tried to wipe away the tear that fell from my eye before she saw it, but I was too slow. She got up from where she was sitting and came to sit next to me.
“Don’t worry about it. It’ll be okay. I’ll be here with you every step of the way. You won’t be alone.”
“I know.” I then lay my head on her shoulder and cried. I don’t know why all of a sudden I became so emotional, because this was not me. I was always the hard one out of the two. Now, I’m over here looking like Kourtney’s emotional ass. It has to be this pregnancy shit. I’d just learned about it, and now I was already ready for it to be over and done with.
Chapter Three
Dontie
I stood outside on the balcony, smoking cigarette after cigarette. My nerves were shot, and I don’t know what to do. I’d been up all morning trying to reach Brinay, but her phone keeps going to voice mail. I needed to get in touch with her like yesterday. When I woke up this morning, I saw that I had two new messages from her. One that said that she had something really important to tell me and that she wanted me to call her, but I guess when I didn’t answer her, she decided to send me this long-ass message saying how she knew I had a woman and she wanted nothing more to do with me. I wasn’t trying to hear that shit there, which is why I’d been calling and texting her phone all morning, but she didn’t answer, and the shit was starting to aggravate the hell out of me. I know she probably felt some type of way because I wasn’t answering her calls and texts anymore. Hell, I couldn’t. Every move that I made, Sky’s always making them with me. I can barely even take a shit by myself, and if she sees me leaving the room with my phone, she becomes all suspicious and shit.
See, I knew before I even got here that this trip was going to be a bad fucking idea. I don’t know why I fucked around and agreed to come here in the first place. I don’t like to be out of town, because I have a few businesses to run. Besides, I haven’t seen Brinay in weeks, and I’m really starting to miss seeing her pretty face and hearing her beautiful voice. We’d been in Jamaica for about two weeks now, and I was more than ready to head back home to the States. I wasn’t the type to leave and go on a vacation like this, but Sky had practically begged me to come, so I couldn’t tell her no. Besides, if I wouldn’t have come, I would have never heard the end of this, and I most definitely wasn’t about hearing her bitching and moaning about why I didn’t come for the next few weeks. So I gave in, and now I wished like hell that I hadn’t.
As I stood there, I couldn’t help but to think about Brinay, wondering what she was doing and what it was that was so important that she needed to tell me. I picked up my phone and tried to call her again, but her phone kept on going straight to voice mail. I wanted to leave her a message, but I wasn’t that type of dude. Still, I couldn’t help but to wonder what was going on with her. It’s bad enough that I’ve been thinking about her this whole trip. I’ll have to be more careful, because I d
on’t want Sky to catch on.
“Baby, are you going to come in and pack the rest of your things? You know the flight is schedule to leave in two hours, and I’m not trying to miss it,” Sky said, interrupting my thoughts. I rolled my eyes in my head, before turning to her. I can’t lie, she was standing there looking just as beautiful as she was the day I first met her. Standing at five foot three and weighing about 135 pounds with a well-toned body as if she worked out twice a day, she had shoulder-length brown hair and brown eyes that matched her beautiful, light brown skin. She walked over to me, wrapped her arms around my neck, stood on her tippy toes, and placed a kiss on my lips.
“You know I love you, right?” she said, kissing me again.
“I love you too, baby girl,” I responded.
“You’ve made me one of the happiest women on the planet,” she beamed as she stared at her wedding ring. I knew I was fucking up and I should never have proposed, let alone married her with a ring that was supposed to be for Brinay, but she’d been mad since she caught me on the phone with this li’l chick named Cindy from around the way, so, it was more like some spur-of-the-moment-type shit, and I was trying to get on her good side. I wasn’t nowhere near ready to get married, but she just insisted that we get married on the Jamaican beach. I tried everything not to. I even thought about her parents who I had yet to meet, but she still wanted us to get married.
“You know what would make me happy right now?” I said, licking my lips and trying to change the subject. I wasn’t trying to think about the mistake that I had made, and sex was the only thing that would help me not to think about it. I grabbed her around her waist and placed her on the balcony railing.
“Dontie, put me down before you drop me,” she said, trying to climb off the railing.
“Chill out. I’m not going to drop you,” I said, parting her legs.
“Babe, you know we can’t do that right now. We still have to pack the rest of our things before our flight leaves, and I don’t know about you, but I’m not trying to miss this plane at all,” she said, trying to push me back.
