by Angie Hayes
As I turned up a glass of champagne, I caught a glimpse of Keisha as she gawked at me out the corner of my eye. She wore a nasty look on her face that she didn’t even attempt to cover. I knew the bitch never cared too much for me anyway, so I gave zero fucks about her. I only dealt with her because Alicia always insisted that she tag along. I swear she thought we were all like the three fucking musketeers. With a smile on my face I held up my glass in her direction. It was a gesture to let her know that I had peeped game, and of course, like the hater she is, the bitch rolled her eyes and walked away. I knew she probably saw Troy come out the bathroom right before I did, but truthfully I didn’t give a fuck.
Shit, for real-for real, her ass need to be worried less about me, and more concerned about the bitch that stood up earlier at her wedding and confessed to having a daughter with her new husband. Now that’s the bitch she should have been rolling her eyes at. My business is my business, and none of hers. Just thinking about her dumb ass has me upset. Fuck Keisha; I have more important issues on my plate.
Chapter Six
Keith
I sat at work in my office with my head down. I’m stressed the fuck out. Keisha’s been giving me the silent treatment again, and all because of the Stacy bullshit. I know she’s tired of it and so am I. Ever since Stacy took it upon herself to crash our wedding with that announcement about Destiny, she’s been a thorn in my side. I still have no clue how her crazy ass knew where I was getting married at in the first place. My wedding was in Miami and she showed up, as if she had been invited. I thought for sure after she made her little announcement that I was about to beat Kim Kardashian and ol’ boy’s quick divorce record, but to my surprise Keisha played that shit off. It was so good that it was scary. She didn’t act up, curse me out or beat the shit out of Stacy like I thought she would. Instead, she calmly told me that we would discuss it later and it’s been hell ever since.
I can’t even blame Keisha for feeling the way she does, but what does she expect me to do, not care for my fucking daughter? It’s bad enough I already missed the beginning of her life; I don’t plan on missing anymore of it. Although it’s hard, I have to communicate with Stacy in order to be in Destiny’s life. Keisha doesn’t seem to get that. Yeah, Stacy does go a little extreme with calling the house all times of the night with shit that can wait until a decent hour, but Keisha doesn’t help with her attitude and nagging she does about it in my ear. I don’t give a damn about none of that, because if Stacy calls and tells me that my daughter has been hurt, I’m going to go see about my child, just like I know she would about Jass.
My cell phone rings, and I’m already expecting it to be Stacy; turns out it’s Troy.
“What’s up fool?” I answered, happy to hear from him. It’s been a while. Even though he does some fucked up and dumb shit, he still my boy.
“Shit chilling. I’m just checking on you up there and making sure ya wife ain’t fucked you up yet about that new baby momma shit you got going on.” He said laughing, even though the shit was far from funny. All the drama had my damn head hurting.
“This coming from daddy day care over there” I cracked back. “But to answer ya question nah, Keisha ain’t killed my ass yet. To be honest, I don’t know how much longer that shit gone last.”
“Ah damn, what’s going on man?” Troy asked now changing his tune.
He knew exactly when to turn off the jokes and get serious. He must have known that I was feeling some type of way.
“Man, its Stacy. Ever since the day the DNA test proved that Destiny was mines, it’s like she became the baby momma from hell! She calls me all times of night about different things Destiny needs and if I don’t answer my cell she starts blowing up the house phone! Then every time I ask her about me daughter coming over to my house to visit, she always gives me a hard time talking about she don’t trust Keisha, and that I can only see Destiny at her house.” I snorted; still not believing the shit I’m forced to go through. “Man Keisha is two seconds from beating her ass, even though I’ve begged her to let me handle it. Then when I try to talk to Stacy about pulling the dumb shit she does, she always goes into this crying mode about how I don’t care about my daughter, and that I left her to raise her the first years of her life and all this other shit. This shit got a nigga stressing bad! I haven’t even been married a full year yet and I already got baggage!” Even though I didn’t mean to just lay all my drama out there on Troy, it felt good to have someone to talk to.
“Damn man you are going through some bullshit over there. Aye, you sure ol’ girl don’t still don’t have feelings for you or something? Cause you know I’ve dealt with enough females to recognize when they are trying to deliberately mess shit up at ya home front, something else is up.” Troy said, and he actually made since. Hell, he of all people should know.
“Before this, I hadn’t spoken to Stacy in forever, so I would highly doubt that.” I said.
I thought for a moment. “Then again I really can’t be a hundred percent sure. It’s like dealing with Jekyll and Hyde! One minute she’s all cordial, and the next she crying and shit when I don’t say what she wants to hear or feed into her foolishness!”
“Yeah, sounds like you got a crazy ass baby momma on ya hands man. I know how to deal with they crazy asses though, I just let the courts handle that because I don’t be having time for the bullshit they be on. They always want a nigga to be a family and shit, when all I wanna do is see my shorties. Then once I stop fucking with them they always throw up that same shit about me not seeing my child. I don’t give a fuck ‘bout that either, because that’s on them.” Troy explained.
As I listened to Troy talk, I realized that he did have a point on some of the things he said; only some. It does seem like whatever I do to accommodate Stacy she wants more. Ever since I found out about Destiny, I’ve taken over paying for all her schooling. I’m constantly buying her clothes, shoes and toys, and I even put her on my health insurance. I’m doing my part. The only thing I want now is for my child to be able to come over to my house so she can interact with Jass and Keisha, but Stacy’s not having that.
“I hear you on that except the not seeing my daughter. I already missed the first full year of her life and I’m not about to miss the rest because her momma wanna act crazy.” I professed.
“Well homeboy you know that’s why me and you are different, you actually give a fuck and I don’t.” Troy quipped.
“Anyway, enough about my problems. What’s popping on yo’ end? How are Cass and the kids doing?” I inquired.
Although I didn’t know his wife like that, I still respected their marriage enough to ask about her. I know she’s put up with a lot of the shit he be out here doing.
“Man Cass talking about she taking my kids and moving into her own spot for a fresh start. Talking bout she too fed up with my shit and the last straw was when Candy’s stankin’ ass left her that note in the mailbox letting her that she was pregnant with my baby.”
“Man, I still can’t believe you was hitting that! You had to really be a dumb muthafucka to be fucking that chick so close to home with Alicia!” I said to him still not understanding that shit.
When Troy first told me he was fucking Candy, it was right after my wedding. It was then that I knew that nigga had no chill. He was my boy and all but I made a note right then and there to never leave his ass alone around my wife. What he did show me was he had no limits. Regardless of what he says, pussy was clearly his weak spot.
“Yeah, I know. Candy was a fucking mistake…a big one at that.” He said sighing loudly into the phone.
“A mistake is one time Troy. Come on dawg, yo’ ass was fucking that on a regular and got caught up.” I reminded him.
“Yeah and now she hollering I’m her baby daddy like I’m supposed to believe that. I ain’t falling for it. She’s a stripper hoe, and we all know what the fuck they do to make that extra change; so she can miss me with that shit. Now her crazy ass won’t stop blowing u
p my phone. She even goes as far as sending me shots of her stomach and ultra sound pictures. The funny part was when she told me that she’ll see me in child support court. I laughed and told the bitch to take a number. She better ask my other baby mommas what they do with the $57 dollars a month they get.” He laughed loudly into the receiver.
I still don’t know how Troy pulls that shit off, when he makes good money driving trucks. Whatever is it, he’s beating the hell outta the system.
“So when are you heading back down this way? I ain’t kicked yo’ ass in pool in a minute, and you’re long overdue.” He asked.
“Whatever nigga, I’m the one that be giving the ass whippings.” I retorted. “We’ll be down that way within the next two weeks for Alicia’s baby shower her parents are throwing.” Immediately I realized that I’d just put my foot in my mouth. I didn’t meant to mention Alicia’s name because I know that Troy is still a lil salty about her leaving the way she did and moving on; not to mention the fact that she is pregnant with his shorty.
“Oh yeah? Well hit me up soon as you touch down so we can meet up.” he paused. “I gotta go. I’ll holla bra, one.”
“One” I said and hung up the phone.
As soon as I mentioned Alicia name I could tell that Troy’s whole demeanor changed. It’s crazy because as much as his ass dibble and dabble in females, one would think that he would have moved on from this whole situation. I guess my boy must have really been in love with her.
Hell, I can’t worry about him and his mess. I gotta see how I’m going to maintain a relationship with my daughter, and keep my wife without my crazy ass baby momma trying to be in the mix.
Chapter Seven
Stacy
I can tell his bitch must be tripping about me calling their house, because now Keith’s in my fucking ear preaching about boundaries. Bullshit. I’ll call that muthafucka whenever the fuck I want to and there ain’t shit she can do about it, so she might as well get over it. I’m his only child’s mother, whereas she’s just his wife. Bitches like her come and go, but as long as I have his child I’ll always be in Keith’s life. I reign supreme, and that’s something she better get used to.
I remember when I first got pregnant with Destiny; I wasn’t sure who her daddy was. What I did know was that it was either Keith’s or the other guy I was seeing on the side, Thomas. Keith was my man back then and he treated me so well. The problem was he was also boring as hell! In the beginning of our relationship we had so much fun. We’d take trips to different places, and fuck like crazy! As he went up in rank, Keith’s time got more demanding with the Air Force and so did his attitude. I started to feel like I was one of his damn Airmen, and not his woman.
My thing was once I took that uniform off I was me, but Keith didn’t look at it that way, because he started getting less interested with civilian life and more into the military life. It seemed like whatever I wanted to do; it had to be appropriate enough for the Air force. I’m talking about shit like; all of a sudden I had to start making sure of what type of clothes I wore when we were out in public. Now don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I dressed like a slut or anything, but I did have a nice body under that uniform, so I was glad to show my curves whenever I could. I would wear skintight high waist jeans, cut off shirts, and little fitted shorts and skirts. Keith would be in my ear telling me that it’s not Air force appropriate attire and I need to learn how to live up to that creed. That was the just the tip of the ice berg. It’s like he got comfortable in the relationship all together.
The trips were ceasing and the fucking had almost stopped all together, but I still loved Keith a lot. I remember when I told him that after my contract was up, I wasn’t going to reenlist. He got mad as hell. We argued for what seemed like a month straight about it and when he saw that my mind was made up he became distant. That’s when I started messing around with Thomas. He was a correctional officer, and could fuck me sideways honey! Not to mention he was fine as hell. Those reasons alone made me take to him real easy. Once I officially got out the service I moved back to my hometown. Although Keith and I were technically still in a relationship, we were really not on the same page at all.
One day he decided to do a pop up to my place and caught me and Thomas going at it. I guess I don’t have to say that that was the end of us. I knew Keith was hurt, and for a moment so was I. I mean overall he was a good man; he just wasn’t the man for me anymore. Anyways, I discovered I was pregnant a little while later, so I assumed that it was by Thomas, because we were fucking more than Keith and I. With that thought in my mind I went on about my life with Thomas, as we waited on our little bundle to arrive. Truth is though; I never stopped loving and missing Keith. I guess Thomas didn’t feel the spark anymore either, because once I was able to be with him with no strings attached, he became less interested in me. The excitement must have been in the fact that we had to sneak. But before long, I didn’t even want his ass anymore either.
Keith had totally cut off all contact from me and I didn’t want to go through my pregnancy by myself, so I just kept Thomas around. Everything was going fine as far as us being parents, until right after Destiny turned one. That’s when Thomas really began to show his ass. It seemed like every time I turned around he was going out. Then it was the secretive bullshit with his phone. Thomas started being home a lot less, and I couldn’t remember the last time that we’d had sex. When I would confront him about it he would just try to throw me off with the ‘I’m tripping’ excuse. I had already heard stories about how correctional officers got down with the inmates, especially the men, so I wasn’t tripping by a long shot.
One day I was at work when I received a phone call from Destiny’s day care telling me that she had to be rushed to the hospital. Apparently she’d had a seizure and fell and hit her head. That was new to me, because my baby had never had a seizure before. In no time I rushed to the hospital calling Thomas on the way and let him know what was going on. By the time I arrived, he was already there having words with the doctor. I hurried to his side crying as I asked the doctor where my baby was and what was going on.
“I’m Dr. Adams and I’m treating your daughter. She’s currently in the ICU getting prepped for surgery.” Dr. Adams filled me in.
“Surgery? What do you mean Surgery? What for?” I questioned back to back, because I was terrified.
Thomas had his arms wrapped around my shoulders as he tried to console me, all while he struggled to grasp an understanding of the situation himself.
“When Destiny had the seizure she fell on her head and lost a significant amount of blood. Thank God she got here when she did, because we were able to stop the bleeding. Because of the blood loss, she now needs a blood transfusion, so we need you both to give some. This way we can match her up and began.” The doctor explained.
“No problem, where do we go to give blood?” Thomas asked with anticipation.
I on the other hand still tried to take in all the information that he just gave us about my baby. I wanted nothing more than for her to be okay so I would give blood, an arm, leg, hell my life to save hers.
“Follow me, right this way. The nurse will be right in to collect the samples from you both.” The doctor told us as he led us to a small room that was set up for our arrival.
“Oh my God Thomas, I can’t believe this is happening to our baby!” I cried almost falling into his arms.
“I know baby. Thank God they were able to stop the bleeding and that we’re both able to help her by giving blood for her transfusion.” He whispered holding me tight.
Soon after the nurse came in and immediately began the process of getting our blood drawn. When she was done she let us know that Destiny would be taken into surgery very shortly, and that we could see her for a second before they took her back. When we entered the room and I saw my baby I almost passed. She wore a bandage on her head, and her tiny and frail body looked sickly hooked up to all the machines. Thomas had to help hold me up to keep me fr
om meeting the floor. I walked over and kissed her on the forehead and let her know that mommy and daddy would be right there when she got out of surgery.
When Dr. Adams came to take her down, I cried like a baby and prayed like no other. Thomas and I sat in the waiting room for what seemed like hours as we tried to console one another, all while each of us prayed for our baby girl. After what seemed like an eternity the doctor finally emerged from the back. We both stood to meet him in the middle of the waiting area.
“Well the transfusion was successful. Destiny is going to be fine. We did have a little problem in the beginning with the concern that there wasn’t going to be enough blood.”
“Why wasn’t there enough blood?” Thomas blurted out interrupting him.
“Well only one of you were a match. Luckily she’s still a small child, so everything worked out.” He said with a smile.
“Wait a minute,” Thomas interjected once again. “What do you mean only one of us was a match?” He yelled.
I watched the interaction and stood frozen. I knew there was no way that he could have been talking about me not being her match; I was her fucking mama. That’s when it dawned on me that it must have been Thomas who wasn’t the match and Keith was actually Destiny’s father. That was exactly the case, and once they confirmed that Thomas wasn’t Destiny’s blood type he was irate; well for the moment at least. He stood in that waiting room and called me every name under the sun; he even accused me of deliberately deceiving him. I never responded to a word he said because all I was more concerned about my baby. I could care less about Thomas at that point. When he saw that I had no emotion what so ever to his rant, that’s when he decided to try and cut me deep.
