by Ambria Davis
“No, the only daughter you have is Skylar. She’s no daughter of yours.”
“I’m not about to do this with you again. I’ve already taken a test three damn times. She’s my daughter, and whether or not you like it, she’s going to be a part of our lives,” my father told her again, sounding as if he was highly upset. Everything went silent, so I assumed that he was done talking. I ran as fast as I could down the hall to the living room. A few minutes later, he came walking out of the back room and over to me.
“Sweetheart, I have someone I want you to meet,” he said, sitting down on the sofa where I was playing with my baby doll.
“Who, Daddy?” I asked, wanting to know. I was tired of everything being a secret. I wanted to know what was going on.
“I’ll be right back,” he said, getting up from the sofa. He walked out the door. I wanted to get up, but somehow, my feet wouldn’t let me. Instead, I stayed there and continued to play with my doll as I waited for whoever it was to come inside.
A few minutes later, my father walked through the door with a little girl at his side. She was so cute! She was light brown-skinned, had long, pretty ponytails, and she was skinny. She looked like a life-sized little baby doll.
“Skylar, I want you to meet someone,” my father said, walking over to me. “This is your little sister, Brinay.”
“My what?” I asked, because I knew for sure that my mother didn’t have any more children. She couldn’t from what I’d overhead her tell my father. So where did this little girl come from, and why am I just now meeting her?
“She’s your little sister, sweetheart,” he said again. “She’s my daughter, just like you.”
“But Mommy doesn’t have any more kids, Daddy,” I said innocently. I was trying my best to understand the situation at hand.
“Well, umm . . . Sky, baby, umm . . . She has a different mother. You both have me as y’all father, but y’all have two different mothers,” he said, scratching the back of his neck. I could tell that he was uncomfortable. I still didn’t understand what he was saying. All I knew was that I had a little sister, who wasn’t my mother’s child.
I heard a door open, and seconds later, my mother came walking down the hallway. The minute she spotted the little girl, she got mad and stomped off down the hallway, back to her room. My father immediately went after her, and that’s when they started arguing again.
“Hi, I’m Skylar,” I said, extending my hand for her to shake. She looked up at me, and that’s when I noticed that she had a pair of green eyes. “Your eyes are so pretty.”
“Thank you. I’m Brinay,” she replied. I can’t lie. At first, I was thrilled to have a little sister. I was happy as ever that I was a big sister. That meant I had someone to share my toys with and play with. That was . . . until we got older and Brinay started getting all of the attention. It was as if when she was around, it was Sky who? Everyone loved her and her stupid-ass eyes. She had my father wrapped so far around her finger. He would do anything for her. That was, until work picked up, and he started working all those long hours. He would leave Brinay home with my mother and me.
It wasn’t me that really hated my sister, it was my mother. She said that Brinay looked so much like her mother that she couldn’t even stand to look at her. That’s when she started treating her badly. At first, I felt sorry for her, but then my mother encouraged me to do the same mean things. She would make me slap her, kick her, spit on her, and just beat her for no reason. So every time she’d come over to our house, we’d try to make her stay as uncomfortable as possible. Making sure that either she wasn’t eating, or had less food to eat, giving her cold baths. Sometimes she wouldn’t take a bath at all. Her clothes would be dirty, and her shoes would be too small. My mother would never comb her hair, which meant she never got to go anywhere. She was always forced to stay inside or stay home alone when we went out.
Through all of these things, no matter what my sister went through or how we treated her, she still managed to keep faith. She’d go to school hungry sometimes and still manage to get all As, while I was barely passing. Brinay made the Principal’s List and kept winning the Science and Social Studies fair. My mother tried to strip her of everything, from her dignity to her pride, but she couldn’t strip her of her brains and beauty. My little sister was always being recognized for something, while I had to fight my way to the top. Even when her mother died, she held it all together.
I remember one year her mother had beat my mother so bad, that she had to go to the hospital. They tried to get her to press charges, but my father convinced her otherwise. He’d found out the things that Brinay was going through at our hands, so he threatened to kick my mother out if she dared to press charges. Besides, Brinay’s mother had threatened to call CPS on my parents.
After that happened, it would be years until I saw Brinay again, and by that time, she was already seventeen, which was the same year her mother died. Since my father was her only living relative and her brother was in jail, she had to come stay with us. My mother tried to do the things that she used to do to her when she was young, but she wasn’t having that. She put her foot down and kept to herself. The minute she graduated, she applied to a school out of state and was gone. We hadn’t heard from her since. My father would try to get in contact with her and send her money, but she would never answer the phone, and she would always send the money back. He was desperately trying to make up for lost time, but it was too late. The deed was done, and his daughter really didn’t care for him. She proved that when she stayed away and refused to answer him.
The next time I saw her was when she showed up at my announcement. You’d think I would be happy, but I wasn’t. My little sister should’ve stayed her ass gone with the wind, because I most definitely wasn’t missing her.
* * *
As I stood there watching all the people who’d come to be a part of our special day leave the church, I wanted to break down and cry. Dontie had made me look like a total fool, leaving me to go be with my sister as if she was his wife. A lone tear fell from my eye as I quickly wiped it. I wasn’t about to cry. I wasn’t about to let anyone see me vulnerable like that, so I played it cool, for now. I was going to hash everything out, but at the right time and on the right people.
“Are you okay?” my mother asked, walking over to me. I ignored her question. I really didn’t feel like being bothered right now, and knowing her, I knew she was going to say something that I didn’t like. “Skylar!”
“What, Mom?” I snapped at her. She should’ve gotten the hint that I didn’t want to be bothered when I didn’t answer her. “What do you want?”
“I’m just trying to see if you’re okay,” she said, rubbing my shoulder. “Baby, I know you must be upset, but everything is going to be okay.”
“I’m fine, Mother,” I replied, moving out of her reach. I didn’t need her touching me either, because I was liable to snap at any moment.
“No, you’re not, Skylar,” she said. Her voice was getting on my nerves.
“Look . . . I said that I was fine. Now, won’t you please just leave me the hell alone!” I snapped at her unintentionally. My mother could be an annoying bitch sometimes. She never knew when to let shit be, and that was one thing I hated the most about her.
“Little girl, you have me confused. I am not your equal. I’m your mother, and you will not play with or talk to me like that.”
“I have to go,” I said, heading toward the exit.
“Where are you going, Skylar?” she asked as she followed behind me. “You have to call and cancel the venue, and then determine what you’re going to do with the food and everything else. You need to be here.”
“What do I have you for?” I abruptly turned around and asked her. “Ain’t that what you’re for? To handle things like this?” She didn’t answer. She just stood there, staring at me. I knew she wanted to say something, but she must have remembered that I wasn’t my little sister, Brinay. I wasn’t about to let any
one get over on me, mother or not. She wasn’t going to play with me like that. She knew better. “I’ll see you back at the house.” With that being said, I left the church, hopped into my father’s car, and made my way to the hospital. Dontie was going to feel my wrath. No way was I going to let him leave me hanging like that.
* * *
When I got to the hospital, I went straight to the nurse’s desk and asked for Brinay’s room number. I had to act hysterical, because I don’t believe they would let me see her otherwise. They told me that she was actually in surgery, but her son was in the nursery. I asked them if it was okay to see him, and they told me that I could. They gave me a visitor’s pass, before instructing me where to go. On my way to the nursery, I bumped into my dad.
“Daddy,” I said, walking over to him. I noticed that his eyes were red. I couldn’t believe that he had the nerve to be crying over this bitch. He wasn’t acting like a father for all those years, but now he wants to start acting like father of the year.
“Baby girl,” he said, once he noticed me. He looked surprised. I guess he didn’t expect me to be here. “What are you doing here? What happened to the wedding?”
“The wedding ended early, and I came here to check on you and my sister,” I replied, lying through my teeth. There was only one reason I came here, and it wasn’t for my damn sister or her bastard-ass baby. I noticed he gave me a funny look before he looked away. “How’s she doing?”
He began telling me everything that the doctor had told him. From the sound of things, she was in bad shape. Still, I didn’t care. She wasn’t my responsibility, she was his. “Your husband is here. As a matter of fact, I left him in the nursery holding the baby.”
“You left him where? Doing what?” I asked, thinking that I heard him wrong. Did he just say my husband was in a nursery holding the next bitch’s baby?
“He’s in the nursery with your nephew,” he repeated. I could feel myself beginning to lose it.
“Okay, Daddy, I’m going to check on the baby. I’ll see you in a minute,” I told him. Too many things were beginning to look suspicious to me. Why would he be holding her baby? Shit . . . that was her damn child. It wasn’t as if he was that little bastard’s daddy. They should’ve been trying to notify his daddy or something.
“Okay, I’ll be in the waiting room when you all come out,” he said, walking off.
So many questions entered my mind as I made my way to the nursery. I needed to know what was going on with my sister and my husband. Did they already know each other? Why was he so quick to leave our wedding to be with her? I know for sure it wasn’t because he was that concerned about her. Why would he be holding her baby? Was there something going on between the two of them? I needed answers, and I needed them fast. However, the only two people who could give them to me were my sister and my husband. When I made it to the nursery, I didn’t see him right away, but I did see this little blond, blue-eyed nurse.
“Umm . . . Excuse me, I’m looking for my husband. He was supposed to be in here feeding my nephew. His name is Dontie, and he’s wearing a white tuxedo,” I said to her.
“Oh, he’s in the room feeding his son,” she replied. I looked at her as if she had lost her damn mind. Why did she automatically think that my husband was the father of that kid? Just because he was black?
“No, ma’am, that’s not his son,” I said, correcting her.
“Well, that’s not what I was told,” she said smartly.
“You may have heard wrong, because my husband doesn’t have any kids.” I rolled my eyes at her. “Now, can you show me to wherever he’s at?”
She paused a bit before she spoke. “Yes, they’re right this way.”
I followed her as she led me to where he was. I couldn’t get over the fact that she said someone told her that my husband was the father of my sister’s child.
When we made it to the room where Dontie was feeding the baby, I had to stop and catch myself. My stomach twisted into knots as I watched him sit in a rocking chair holding Brinay’s baby, with a bottle to his mouth. I placed my finger by my lips to tell the nurse to be quiet. She looked at me and rolled her eyes before she left the room. If I wasn’t too busy with my husband and all, I would’ve showed this Barbie-looking ho how to play with somebody. Yeah, that’s right. I was from the suburbs, but I also knew how to get hood too. I promise you that her little white ass would be black and blue in less than five minutes, especially with all the anger that I had in me right now.
I stood off by the door, watching Dontie interact with the baby. I see why they thought he was the baby’s father. Hell, if I didn’t know better, I’d think so too, the way he was sitting there, rocking and holding the child.
“Yo, little man, I’m about to go check on your mother right quick. I’ll be right back,” he said to the baby, as if he could understand him. He placed the bottle on the table next to them and got up. He got the surprise of his life when he noticed me standing there. “Sky! What are you doing here?”
“I should be asking you the same damn thing,” I yelled at him. “The fuck you doing playing father with the next nigga’s child?”
“Sky, right now is not the time for all of this. Can you please wait until we get home to do this? If you haven’t noticed, we’re in a hospital nursery.”
“I don’t give a fuck where we are. What I want to know is how you can leave me at our wedding ceremony to come and play daddy to this little monkey!” I yelled at him, which caused the baby to cry.
“Look what the fuck you done did,” he yelled, as he began rocking him. “You should’ve stayed your ass where the fuck you was.”
“I can’t believe you tripping on me behind a bastard that ain’t even yours,” I told him. Damn, if looks could kill, I’d be one dead bitch right now. I opened my mouth to say something but immediately closed it back. I didn’t want to say something else to piss him off. I stood there watching him as he desperately tried to calm the little baby down, but nothing he did was working. Finally, I left the room to get the nurse. It just so happened to be the same little bitch I interacted with earlier. “Umm, it won’t stop crying. Can you come and do something about it?”
“It?” she asked with her hands on her hips.
Fuck, I thought, realizing what I had said. “I mean the baby,” I said, trying to correct myself. Again, she looked at me and rolled her eyes before she walked off to tend to the little monkey. I followed behind her. When we first walked in there, Dontie’s back was turned, and he had managed to calm him down.
“Dontie,” I said, trying to get his attention. Again, the little baby started crying. It seems that whenever I come in the room, the little bastard cries.
“Sky, just go out in the waiting room and wait there for me,” he said, handing the baby to the nurse. “I’ll meet you there when I’m done.”
“Look . . . I ain’t going nowhere until you come with me. What you got to stay in here for anyway? Like I said, that child ain’t for you. So why you gotta act like his daddy?”
“I’m getting real tired of you and that smart-ass mouth of yours,” he spoke through gritted teeth. “Can you please just go out in the waiting room, like I asked you to?”
“I already said that I wasn’t going nowhere. So you might as well stop asking me to,” I yelled. The little monkey started crying even louder.
“Ma’am, if you don’t leave, I’m going to have to call security on you,” blue-eyed Barbie said.
“Look, bitch—” I was rudely interrupted when Dontie walked over to me, picked me up and began carrying me out of the nursery. I know I probably looked insane, because I still had my wedding gown on.
“Dontie, if you don’t put me down . . .” I said harshly. He ignored me and continued carrying me. “I’m not playing with you, Tae. You better stop and put me down, or I’m going to cut up.”
“I wish the fuck you would, and I’m going to bat the fuck outta you, right in your mouth,” he hissed.
“Who you thi
nk you talking to like that, Dontie?” I asked shocked. “You must have gotten shit confused. I’m your wife, not your muthafucking child.”
“You ain’t my child, but you’re sure as hell acting like it,” he said, just as he reached the double doors that led to the waiting room. He stopped right in front of them but didn’t open them. “I don’t know what point you’re trying to prove and to who, but I asked you to wait outside in the waiting room while I do what you’re too stubborn to do. That is, check on your sister and her child.”
“I’m not trying to prove anything to anyone. I just don’t understand why you’re so worried about shit that doesn’t concern you. Brinay is my sister, not yours. You’re my husband, which means that you should be on my side, backing me up on anything that I do,” I said folding my arms. “If I don’t want to see them, then that’s on me.”
“You’re right. She’s your sister, and I am your husband, but the way that you’re acting is crazy. You call her child all kinds of little bastards, monkeys, and shit. Tell me what that child ever did to you? He didn’t do a damn thing, because he just got here. This feud that you have going on with your sister is retarded. How could you hate her that much? Your sister could be dying in that room, and you don’t look like you’re concerned one bit.”
“That’s because I’m not concerned, and don’t try to sit here and tell me anything. You don’t have any siblings, so you won’t understand.”
“Correction, bitch, I have a brother and two sisters,” he replied.
“And when the fuck was you’re going to tell me this shit?” I asked him.
“You think I wanna bring you around my family, the way you’ve been acting?” he asked, ignoring my question.
“I can’t believe this shit,” I said, folding my arms across my chest. “The fuck is that supposed to mean, nigga? I’m your wife. You have no choice but to bring me around your family. I’m already in it. I carry your last name, nigga. The fuck you mean?”
