by Angie Hayes
When I saw her big round belly, I wanted to grab her and plant a kiss on her lips, while I rubbed on her stomach. At that moment I wondered if she was having a boy or girl, before I realized that I knew absolutely nothing about what was going on with her. Suddenly Keisha grabbed her arm and pulled her to leave and they left; I haven’t seen or heard from her since. There was no doubt in my mind that Cass was gonna ask questions. I was already working my ass off to get her to come back home and then that shit happened. She didn’t say a word while we were in the store, but once we got home, I knew it was coming.
I had vowed to her that I would be honest from then on, and I had kept that promise, up until she asked me if I was responsible for Alicia being pregnant. I looked my wife right in the face and with no hesitation I told her no. Dead wrong right? Wrong! I had already told her that she didn’t have to worry about me having anymore discretions with any more hoes; especially after I told her that the bitch that had left the letter in the mail box had a miscarriage. After that there was no way in hell I was going to admit to being the father of Alicia’s baby. I know this sounds fucked up, but honestly I wanted to protect Alicia. She was always the one affair that I kept from my wife. When she found out about the others, I ended up owning up to them because although they had my kids, I never gave two shits about the women. .
Alicia was different. I actually had a relationship with her, and I knew that if Cass found out that I carried on a full blown relationship with her; she would leave me for sure. The one thing about a woman is that they can forgive a one night stand because they know we only had one intention, and no feelings were involved. They won’t forgive if you’ve carried on a relationship with just one woman while being with them. They know you more than likely loved that woman and that you’ll never stop fucking around with her, and that honestly would have been the case with Alicia if she wouldn’t have left me. I know for a fact that I would have still been with her.
So when Cass asked me about Alicia being pregnant by me I lied to her face. I love my wife and wanted her back home, but I would be lying if I said the real reason I wanted Cass back was because I didn’t have that security I had with Alicia any more. I’m not saying I love Alicia more than my wife, but I’m still in love with her, and seeing her after all that time pregnant with my child made those feelings have a pulse again. I knew Alicia wasn’t the drama type, so I didn’t have to worry about her confronting me and telling my wife anything or even putting the white folks in our business down at the court house. What fucked me up was the fact that she was laid up in another state, with another dude rubbing on her stomach and feeding my baby; but what the fuck could I do about it?
I had two options, to either link back up with Alicia and demand to be in my child’s life –which means Cassandra will find out about everything that went down with me and her– or just let shit be. Normally just letting shit be is usually the route I took when it comes to my other baby mommas, but like I said Alicia is in a category of her own. Truthfully, I need to start doing right by all my kids. I wouldn’t have a problem with being in their lives if their momma’s would just accept the fact a nigga don’t want they ass no more. I do know one thing though, and that’s that I do have the right to know how my baby is doing and whether it’s a boy or a girl. Since Alicia has changed her number, I don’t know how to get in contact with her. As soon as the thought popped into my mind, an idea came to me.
I know my boy Keith won’t leave me hanging.
Chapter Seventeen
Keith
I knew it was going to be a good day. Keisha and I are having a date night, and Stacy has finally come to her senses and decided to let Destiny come over to the house this weekend to spend some time with us. I couldn’t wait to tell Keisha later on tonight at dinner; maybe this will finally ease up the tension we’ve been having with one another on the account of Stacy. I have been thinking about Shawn lately and the fucked up situation he’s in. I know Alicia had the baby and he was waiting until after that happened to tell her the truth. I assume he hasn’t done it yet though, because I know Keisha would have said something to me about it. She and Alicia talk every day, at least three times a day that I know of, so if he would have broken the news, you better believe Keisha would know about it.
Shawn is a cool cat and I know that he really does love Alicia. It’s just that he fucked up big time with not telling her what the deal was with him having a contract marriage. It’s bad enough that Alicia had to go through the shit she did with Troy and now she has to deal with the fact the Shawn is married too. She is going to fucking flip when she find out! In all honestly I feel bad for her, and can only hope that the two of them can get past this.
Just as I was about to pick up the phone to call Shawn to see what was up on their end, Troy called in. I have been meaning to give him a ring also. I didn’t really have time to hook up with him when we were down for Alicia baby shower, so a telephone conversation is well over due.
“What’s up my dude?” I answered.
“Shit nigga you tell me. I ain’t hear from ya ass when you was down at the bottom. Damn it’s like that?” Troy asked laughing in the phone.
“Naw, my bad dog I was tied up down there, you know, running around and shit. I meant to get up with ya though. What’s good with you?”
“Shit kosher this way. Cassandra finally decided to bring her ass home where she belongs.”
“What! Damn, how you managed to pull that off?” I asked not believing that she’d come back after all that.
“Come on man you know me, and know that when I really want something, I don’t stop until that shit is mines. I wanted her and my kid’s back home so I did what I had to do to get them back.” He answered.
I swear it was like this dude can always get himself outta shit, no matter what it is.
“I hear that play boy, even though I know yo’ ass was probably over there begging like Keith Sweat in that bitch!” I clowned him.
“Hey I had to what I had to do.” Troy confessed. “Listen though; I wanted to ask you something.” He said in a serious tone.
“What’s up?” I asked.
“Well first off, I ran into Alicia and ya wife at the grocery store while I was shopping with Cass and the kids when y’all were down here.”
“Yeah? Keisha never mentioned anything to me about it.”
“Stop playing, you already know that I’m not one of ya wife’s favorite people so I’m not surprised she didn’t say anything about me.”
“So what happened when you saw them?” I asked. I wanna know if some shit went down, and if it did why the hell Keisha didn’t let me know.
“Nothing really, Alicia and I just basically stood there looking at one another until Keisha grabbed her arm and led her away.” Troy said solemnly.
“What did Cassandra say, did she trip?” I asked.
“No, but when we got home she did question me. She wanted to know if I was responsible for getting Alicia pregnant, and I lied like a muthafucka, straight up.” Now this nigga just got his ass outta some shit and yet here he go right back in it.
“My dude, you just got through going through some bullshit with the wife, why you just ain’t tell her the truth?” I questioned, giving him a glimpse into my thoughts.
“I didn’t tell her because like you said, I had just got through going through the shit with her and I didn’t wanna add more bullshit too it; besides Cass never knew about Alicia anyways, and I wanted to keep it that way. You know, Alicia wasn’t a jump off; she was my woman away from home. We actually had a relationship and if Cass was to ever find that shit out, I can really forget about my marriage for sure.” Troy voiced.
“Yeah, you damn sho right about that!” I agreed.
“Now here is my question. I know you don’t wanna be in the middle and all, but can you tell me what Alicia is having? After seeing her and her glow, I really wanna know if she’s having a boy or girl?” Troy asked me.
He was right; I didn’
t want to be in the middle. I also know that Alicia probably doesn’t want Troy to know what was going on with her pregnancy. The issue is, a man has a right to at least know the sex of his baby, regardless of what the parents are going through.
“A'ight, man listen. I don’t wanna be in the middle, and Keisha ass will kill me if she knew I was telling you this, but Alicia had a girl.” I answered.
“Wait, what you mean had? She already had the baby?!” Troy shouted making my ears pop.
“Damn nigga quit yelling! Yeah, she had her about three weeks ago, and she’s healthy and beautiful from the pictures I’ve seen. We’re supposed to be flying up there up there to visit next week.”
All I hear on the other end of the line is silence. It lasted so long, I had to say hello just to make sure he hadn’t hang up the phone.
“Yeah man, I’m here. Damn. So I guess I’m a father of another baby girl again.” Troy spoke. “Hold up, who signed the birth certificate, because I know she ain’t let that nigga sign for my shorty?” Troy said. Suddenly his voice was filled with anger.
“Now I don’t know about all that. That’s a conversation y’all need to have.” I told him letting it be known that I didn’t want anything more to do with it.
“Shit, I would if I knew how to get in contact with her ass! She up and switched her number and shit on me!”
This was the first time I had ever heard of Troy being in his feelings about a woman; I guess he really was in love with her.
“Well you know I can’t give you that info son, that’s not my place.”
“I know I have you in a tough position right now, but do you think you could at least let Alicia know that I really wanna talk to her. I need to know how we are gonna handle this situation with our child.” Troy paused. “I ain’t trying to start shit with her or anything, but I do wanna know what’s up though.” he pleaded.
“I can’t make no promises, but I’ll see what’s up and let you know.” I told him honestly.
“Alright thanks man, I gotta go. I just got a message on my work phone saying I need to come into the office ASAP, and I need to see what the fuck this all about.”
“A’ight I’ll holla at you later, one.” I hung up the phone and thought about what Troy was asking me to do.
I know there was no way in hell Keisha was gonna approve of me asking Alicia to get in contact with Troy, and although I’ve known Troy a lot longer, Shawn is my boy now too! He might see me telling Alicia about Troy as some type of disrespect. I then thought back to when Destiny was first born and how nobody told me about it. I definitely would have wanted to know, so I can see where Troy’s coming from.
Damn, this a tough one.
Chapter Eighteen
Alicia
Something is definitely up. Here it is going on three weeks after having Zaria and Shawn’s ass is still giving me the run around about waiting to get married. Now I could understand the whole wedding planning part, because that can be stressful, and I did just have a baby, but then I suggested that we go down to the court house and his ass is still being hesitant. Shawn really has me thinking that maybe he doesn’t want this anymore. Perhaps he now realizes that he doesn’t want to raise another man’s child. I don’t know what it is, and I really don’t know what to believe, so I called up Keisha. Hopefully she can help me make sense out of all this.
“Hey boo what’s good?” Keisha answered into the phone.
“Girl a whole lot!” I replied.
“Aww, being a new mommy is tough boo, but it’ll get better in time.” she told me thinking that was the reason for my call.
“No, it’s not that, although I do miss my sleep. This call is about Shawn.” I said, defeat evident in my voice.
“Shawn? What about Shawn?” Keisha asked in a panic.
“Girl, it’s like every time I mention getting married lately all he does is shoot me down. He told me that he thinks that I should put the whole wedding planning on hold because I just had Zaria and I needed to focus on her, so I accepted that. Then I suggest let’s just go down to the court house and get married, and do the whole ceremony thing later. He said he was okay with it, but now when I ask him about going to apply for a marriage license it’s like he never has the time. He’s either working late, or too tired. I don’t know what the fuck is going on!” I started to cry.
I knew my hormones were still in effect after having the baby, but I really am confused and lost as to why Shawn is hesitant to get married.
“Damn Alicia, I didn’t know all of that was going on. I’m confused as well. I can’t think of any reason why Shawn would want to stall in getting married.” Keisha inquired.
“I know! The only thing I can think of is that he probably realized he doesn’t want to raise another man’s child.”
“Hold up Alicia, first off stop crying boo. Secondly, Shawn loves Zaria as if she was biologically his; I mean he signed her birth certificate with no hesitation! So I honestly don’t think that’s the case.” Keisha told me.
What she said made sense though, Shawn loved Zaria like crazy.
“Well if that’s not it, what else can be going on then Keish?”
“Maybe he has cold feet. You know that’s not unusual for men and women when it comes time to get married.” She explained.
Although she has a point, my gut is telling me that wasn’t the case, and if it’s one thing I learned, it’s to go with your gut feelings.
“I hear ya Keish, but something is telling me that’s not it. Then I’ve noticed that lately it seems like he’s always spaced out thinking about some heavy shit. Something is definitely going on.”
“Well how about you just talk to him? Let him know how you feel and ask him if this is what he wants or not.” Keisha suggested.“You right. I’m going to have to just sit down with him and ask his ass what’s up, and depending on his answer is what I’ll decide to do next.” I told her.
“That’s what's up. Listen though, don’t do that shit until after we leave from visiting y’all. We don’t wanna come up there into a relationship tornado. I’m trying to see my beautiful lil cousin and enjoy a little getaway, not referee a fight.” Keisha said laughing in the phone, lightening the mood.
“Alright I’ll wait until after you guys leave to confront him.” I promised. “Anyways, how’s everything with you?” I asked thinking it was enough about me and my issues. Keisha and I always try to stay current with what’s going on with one another.
“Whew, I had been meaning to call you but got side tracked. First off, check this. Stacy’s ass finally decided to let Destiny come over to the house and spend the weekend with us.”
“What? I wonder what finally brought her to her senses.” I asked.
“Girl, she ain’t got no senses.” Keisha laughed. “Keith told me at dinner last night. We finally had a date night to ourselves after all the drama we been going through with his baby momma. He’s so excited. I really hope that she doesn’t have any other motives than to just co-parent.” Keisha said.
I definitely don’t blame her for thinking that, because Stacy has been a piece of work since she came into the picture.
“I hope so to, especially for her sake. Stacy just don’t know that you will whoop her ass and won’t think twice about it.” I giggled, but was dead serious.
Keisha can go from 0-60 in only a matter of seconds if you try her.
“Hell yeah, I will be all over that ass if she think about fucking with my husband! Hopefully it won’t have to come to that, but we shall see. Anyways, speaking of coming to their senses, I got a call from David last week telling me that he was in town and wanted to meet up and talk about him seeing Jass.” I sat up on my couch to hear this shit.
“David? Was he out in California?” I asked.
“Yup, apparently he was out here handling business.” Keisha said letting out an exaggerated sigh.
“So I agreed to meet up with him after I dropped Jass to school. Girl, I met him at his so called homeboys sp
ot, and from the looks of that place and how it was decked out, I already knew what type of business David’s ass was up here for. So he goes to tell me that he’ll be coming out this way three times a month for the next six months and that he wants to see his daughter while he’s here.” she went on to explain.
“So what did you tell him?”
“I told him sure, just as long as my baby isn’t around his bullshit. You know I never had a problem with David seeing and getting Jass, that was his choice. Then as I was leaving he gave me three grand for Jass, saying that if I needed more or anything else for her to call him.”
“Damn, I guess David did finally come to his senses on being in Jass’s life.” I said. “What did Keith have to say about it?” I asked.
I never really knew how Keith felt about the whole David situation; that’s one thing Keisha never talked about.
“Not a damn thing because I didn’t tell him.” Keisha admitted.”
That was a shocker, because why wouldn’t she tell her husband that her daughter’s father wants to be in his child’s life?
“Why didn’t you tell him?” I asked confused..
“I don’t know, I just didn’t.” she answered nonchalantly.
“Uh, ok? Do you plan on telling him?” I asked.
“Yeah, I’ll tell him. When David comes back down for a visit, I’ll let him know then.”
The whole thing sounded a little suspect to me. Like, why wouldn’t you tell him ahead of time to give him a heads up? Something just doesn’t seem right, and I was going to find out just what it is. Right when I was about to call Keisha out on her bullshit, Zaria woke up from her nap crying.
“Uh oh, Miss Zaria is awake, so you know what means. I gotta go chica. I’m a call you back later and we gone finish this conversation.” I told Keisha as I got up and went into the nursery to get my baby.
