Arm Candy

by T. C. Littles

  Rayna

  “Did he answer, Tiana? Is he on his way?” Concentrating on the beeping noises of the many machines I was hooked up to, I could barely focus on anything else knowing my baby was coming before he was done baking. This shit with King had really turned for the worse.

  “Naw, that ho-ass nigga is not on his way. I didn’t even get to tell him you were in labor!” Tiana was fuming as she pressed REDIAL, placing the phone back up to her ear. “Bad enough I had to download that spoof application putting in Jamila’s number, with her fake ass, for him to answer.”

  “How’d you even get her number?” I had to question even though it wasn’t an important detail.

  “You already know I’m like the female Inspector Gadget of the dirty D. Plus she listed it on her Facebook page. Damn, I think King’s ass turned his phone off now ’cause it’s going straight to his voicemail.”

  “Just take a few more pictures for Instagram so Mila can go back and report on ’em. They can’t hide from me and mine.” Rubbing my belly as the nurse wheeled me to the room where I’d deliver my premature bundle of joy, I smiled as Tiana snapped and recorded away. “Hey, Insta! I’m getting ready to pop li’l King Jr. out. It’s about to go down, but I must admit I’m a little scared. Help ya girl get prayed up, boos!”

  “Oh, that’s cute. They are gonna fall the fuck out ’cause I’m about to tag Jamila, King, and Samira. Private or not, she’ll get the notification then won’t be able to help but to lurk.” Tiana was thinking on her toes just the way I needed her to. With me being hooked up to monitors and IVs, my motion was limited.

  “Rayna Robinson, what are we doing here so early?” Dr. Wang walked in, grabbing my chart then coming to the side of my bed.

  “Um, sir, let me excuse you two for one moment. Dr. Wang, can you take a look at this monitor please?” The nurse stepped in, stopping my explanation before it could get started. Truth be told, I didn’t know what reason I would give my doctor for being in labor two months early.

  “Rayna, I have a few concerns I must speak to you about,” Dr. Wang cut into my thoughts with urgency. “Your son’s heart rate keeps dropping.”

  Chapter Six

  Samira

  Back at home, I was running through the house like a madwoman trying to pack enough clothes for me and King to stay gone until Wednesday. He was downstairs getting him enough paraphernalia to get himself through. Plus he’d promised while down there we could celebrate with Johnie and Jamila. It was about to be bottles popped because I’d finally snatched my man up for good. Truth be told over it all, I was glad he’d suggested going to the room before leaving for Miami. He wasn’t playing me into a trick bag. He was reading my mind. I didn’t want no parts of ol’ trick-ass Rayna either. For some reason, her roommate called on the tip, but since today was me and King’s start on a new life, I wasn’t turning that phone of mine back on.

  “Come on, wife, let’s be out!” King shouted upstairs.

  Damn, I loved the sound of that! “Coming, baby!” Throwing my duffel bag over my shoulder then pulling out the handle to drag King’s luggage out of the room, I did a double check around just to make sure nothing we needed was forgotten.

  Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Ding-dong!

  “Who the fuck is that, King? Don’t tell me that bitch is at my house again!” Dropping my bags and running full speed out of the room down the stairs, I was getting ready to bust a bitch’s ass this time for sure. “King, you heard me calling you!”

  Seeing Johnie but no female with him, I stopped dead in my tracks. “Hey, J, what are you doing here? King? Why ain’t y’all answering?” Something about the looks on their faces, not to mention the vibe in the air, told me whatever they were gawking at on Johnie’s screen would ruin everything good about my wedding day.

  “Baby, listen, look, um . . .” King couldn’t stop himself from stuttering.

  “Nigga, talk. What is going on? Don’t sugarcoat shit with me right now.” I was scalding hot, standing now with my arms crossed. Johnie couldn’t do much but look down to the ground, shaking his head.

  King stared at me head-on, trying not to blink, trying to read my mind. “Wife, I promise I’m sorry. Before these words even leave my mouth, I know they’re gonna hurt you.”

  “Spare me all that malarkey. Spill it.”

  “Rayna is at the hospital giving birth to my son.” He pushed Johnie’s phone into my face. I smacked my lips, grimacing at each picture and video of my husband’s baby momma.

  “You shouldn’t ever forget this date, King Wallace. You got your first wife and your first son on the same day. Not related.”

  King

  “I ain’t got time to nurse your feelings right now, Samira. I’ve been doing that shit all day. My son wasn’t due until November, so some shit must be wrong.” Brushing past her to grab my keys, seeing her face turned up with an attitude had me pissed. I’d already gone too far by putting my hands on Rayna to spare Samira from the cold, harsh truth. But that was what probably had my little one coming too early. No way in hell was I going further into the dog house letting her birth him alone. Everything had gotten out of hand. “Look, it’s time for me to be a man about my shit and quit letting y’all puppet master me around. I married yo’ ass, so please be happy about something!”

  “I’ll be happy when you grow up into a man, King. It ain’t a day I ain’t buying your ass an extra-value meal, a bag of weed, or even a fresh outfit to rock for these tricks like you’re a real boss. Boy, I made you. The only reason why Rayna checked for your slimy-dick ass anyway was because of me, Samira Taylor.” Throwing more than a few low blows, she was going for the jugular. I had to give her credit.

  “Well, baby girl, be that as it may, you’re Samira Wallace now. You made sure of that this morning. And since you’re so good at raising boys, making their lives worthwhile, and being a saving grace, you surely won’t mind changing Junior’s diapers or making his bottles.”

  I left Johnie at the house to make sure Samira stayed put and calm while nursing her wounds. When I closed the door behind her cursing, screaming, and crying that she’d get me back, it was taking everything out of me not to run in to lay her ass out cold. I’d bent over backward trying to right my wrongs, even marrying her to prove she was the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. But right about now, even that wasn’t good enough.

  Lighting a freshly rolled blunt, trying to get high as a kite, I couldn’t believe that after twenty-seven years of dodging bullets I was about to be a father. Rayna wasn’t the ideal baby momma, but what was done couldn’t be reversed. You couldn’t have told me that Samira wasn’t gonna be the mother to my firstborn, but the way I kept my dick swinging in the streets, this shouldn’t have been a surprise.

  Mira wasn’t wrong about everything she’d done for me, no doubt. I’d taken her car for days, leaving her alone in the house, taken money from her account, and let the bailiff come to our last house when I lied about paying the rent. Naw, it wasn’t like I’d always been a man in our relationship, but I’d been there with her ass every night dicking her down making sure she didn’t have a day of pent-up juice. To me, we were serving each other’s needs.

  “Oh, look who decided to call back. You must be on your way,” Tiana smartly answered the phone, reminding me of how much drama I was getting ready to deal with on their side of the game.

  “What hospital are y’all at?” Being straightforward, I wasn’t trying to feed into her attitude.

  “Hutzel.” Taking my hint, she was up front too.

  “I’m in the car. Let her know I’m on the way, T.” Hanging up the phone not wanting to hold a friendly conversation, I turned the radio back up and kept puffing on the blunt, trying to zone out.

  Rayna

  The palms of my hands were inflamed as I gripped the steel bars of the hospital bed. I was screaming to the high heavens, and my body was shaking in regret. Each time a contraction kicked in, my eyes rolled to the back of my head as this so-c
alled premature baby was prepping to tear my vagina to shreds.

  “Come on, baby, you can do this! You heard the doctor. You’re doing wonderful!” Screaming over all other voices in the overcrowded city hospital, King burst into the delivery room like he owned the right to be calling shots in this motherfucker. “Come on, baby girl, do what the doctor tells you so you can deliver me a healthy boy.” Grabbing my hand from the bar, King tried to fall right into his role of what I wished he would act like 100 percent of the time to me: my man.

  Cutting my eyes at him with the look of pure repugnance, I didn’t want his slimy, cheating hands anywhere near me. Had it not been for him roughing me up on the porch, I wouldn’t be in labor now.

  “You can breathe easy now, babe. I’m here for you and my little soldier.” King leaned down, kissing my sweaty forehead and having everyone immediately fooled. The nurses and even the four-eyed Asian doctor himself had the nerve to smile, approving of King’s award-winning presentation of a nigga who really cares.

  I tried playing the role too, happy that he’d gotten some sense finally putting me first, but his presence was disgusting me. King reeked of Samira’s Beyoncé Heat perfume, and that band on his finger hadn’t gone unnoticed. This ain’t the time, Rayna. Be cool just ’til this baby is out. You know what the doctor said. Looking up at everyone smiling at us, happy that I was no longer solo dolo giving a high-risk birth infuriated me more. They didn’t know my struggle, because this charade King was putting on was some straight bullshit!

  “That’s so wonderful that you made it, Mr. Robinson.” The nurse smiled at King, in my eyes halfway flirting. “I wish more fathers were as supportive as you.”

  “That’s what’s up, thanks. But ain’t no way in the world I’d leave her up in here to bring my junior into the world alone.” He leaned down to kiss me again. I’d had enough, snatching my head back, letting him know I was done playing along. This nigga was dead-ass wrong for coming up in here with a band on his wedding finger after all that was said and done earlier like he was my number one supporter.

  “Please quit punk faking for these bitches, K.P.! Give ’em room to fall back,” I growled through my clenched teeth, fighting away the pain of another hard-hitting contraction. Going straight into it, I let out a tear-jerking cry because the pain was unbearable and I couldn’t give King the ass whipping he deserved. Starting to spaz like the Tasmanian Devil, my body was losing control like in The Exorcist: shaking, shivering, and screaming. After the gruesome contraction was over, I fell back knowing another one would be hitting me soon. The Pitocin dripping through my IV had them suckers slamming back-to-back, but anything they could give me to get this baby out was well worth it.

  The grin the nurse once couldn’t wipe from her face had been replaced with a look of uncertainty. King still stood by my side, looking dumbfounded and not knowing what to say. As I panted hard trying to catch my breath, I pushed the few loose strands of hair in my face up into my ponytail. Biting my lip with anger, I was fed the fuck up. I was up in this bed going through the struggle with his kid while he was with her. That’s some bullshit! He wasn’t worried about her stanking ass while he was ramming this troublemaker up in me! “Get the fuck up off me, K.P.! I can’t stand your stanking, trifling ass!”

  “Chill with that shit, Rayna, and let a nigga be there for you. This ain’t the time for all that!”

  “I been blowing you up since I got here, King. I wasn’t important then, so don’t play me like I’m important now.” Out of breath through my sentence, feeling another gush of pain nearing, I was tired of being his dedicated jump off while he played the streets like a boss. “Plus you hung up on Tiana when she called. This isn’t the time for that. I ain’t forgot about earlier!”

  “Okay, Rayna, remember what we talked about earlier? The baby’s heartbeat is starting to drop again because your pressure is rising, plus there are my other concerns. My team is prepping the O.R. for surgery,” said the doctor.

  Before I could blink, the nurse was shoving papers into my face for me to sign. I wasn’t a fan of having a Cesarean section, but my options were bleak. The baby’s heartbeat dropped drastically earlier, so the doctor warned me about his concerns for continuing with natural labor. Had I not wanted to give ol’ jackass King more time to make it here, the doctor would’ve been cut me open.

  “Whoa, Doc, and slow up signing those papers, Rayna. I need to know what conversation was had, then why the fuck an O.R. needs to be prepped. What concerns? Somebody better get to talking about my son!”

  “Well, Mr. Wallace—” the doctor started to explain, but I cut him off straightaway.

  “Naw, Dr. Wang, you don’t have to explain nothing to Mr. Wallace.” I rolled my eyes at King with hate. “And, King, had you not set me on my ass earlier for the so-called love of your life, you would be in the know about what was going on with our son. So don’t come in here chin checking me or the doctor.” Snatching the pen from the nurse, I signed my name quickly, feeling another contraction hitting. “Ahh!” Grabbing King’s hand, I couldn’t help but squeeze it hard enough to release my tension. He tried snatching it back, but my grip was too tight.

  “Prep her now!” Dr. Wang commanded, grabbing the clipboard and turning to walk out of the room. Lying back on the pillow, I felt my contractions easing as the nurse slipped something into my IV.

  “Hey, yo, Doc, what the fuck?” King yoked Dr. Wang up, slamming him against the wall. “Null and void on what that bitch said. You better tell me about my boy right goddamn now.” Dr. Wang’s glasses were cracked and smushed close up on his face. As the nurses hit the button for security, King kept shaking the small Asian doctor like a ragdoll, manhandling him as threats flew from his mouth. “You better start talking before I fuck you up! What’s wrong with my son, Yang, Wang, whatever your name is?”

  “Let him go, King! What, are you crazy? You’re gonna go to jail, nigga, so stop!”

  The monitors I was hooked up to started beeping loudly and quickly. “Oh, my God, her pressure, the baby’s heart rate, Dr. Wang, um . . .” The nurse didn’t know what to do. Running across the room, she tried pulling King’s hands from around the speechless doctor’s collar, but nothing was working.

  I tried gripping the bars of the bed again, but any energy that I had once before was starting to slip from my body. As my eyes rolled into the back of my head, I tried whispering out for K.P., Dr. Wang, and the once-flirtatious nurse. I was starting to feel a stinging, burning sensation ripping open my vaginal walls, but I couldn’t force out the words.

  “What the fuck? King? What in the hell did I miss going to grab a Pepsi?” Tiana’s voice was the last thing I heard before everything blacked out.

  Chapter Seven

  Samira

  “Oh shit, yes, daddy! Oh, my God, you feel so good inside of these walls.” Panting, screaming, not caring if my neighbors heard me begging for more of his long strokes, I was getting whipped on the dick, and that’s exactly what I needed. As wrong as this was, I had to have this man. For King to have been cheating on me with Rayna, now off to console and hold her hand while bringing a kid I already despised into this world, I had to get mine in.

  “How good?” He slammed his meat into me harder. I shrieked from a mixture of pleasure and pain. “Tell me how much you love this dick, ma!”

  “It’s the best. You’re the best. I love it, I swear.” My legs were spread wide as he dug deep into my guts. Each time I tried wrapping them around his waist to control his thrusts, he slammed my legs back down, refusing to give in.

  “You feel better? Is this what you need?” He was grunting, thrusting, and breaking my back with each word. My pussy was taking the fierce pounding I needed. “Yeah, ma, here’s your honeymoon dick!”

  I felt his manhood swell inside of me. Johnie leaned down, kissing my neck then sucking on my enlarged nipples. The rougher he was with me, the more turned on I was. I hadn’t had a different dick inside of me since the first week of me and King
dating. That meant seven years of the same ol’ stroke. “I’m about to cum, J,” I purred.

  “G’on and get that nut, girl. It’ll really make you feel better.” He stroked me deeper. I could feel him in my stomach. Shivering, losing complete control of my body, I let the orgasm take over, creaming all over him. Never once did he stop his stroke, which drove me even crazier.

  “My turn.” He grinned once I calmed down. He pulled back then slammed inside of me like a slingshot back-to-back. I felt his body tremble then watched his eyes roll to the back of his head.

  “Pull out! Don’t cum in me. I ain’t on no pill, nigga, so pull out!” Those were the last words I said before I felt his semen fill me up. “Aaah, aaah!”

  “No wonder my manz married ya ass!”

  Damn, King just was busting like a fully loaded Uzi in me last night. Now Johnie. Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!

  * * *

  Stripping naked in the bathroom and climbing into the shower underneath a stream of hot water, I still had Johnie’s cum dripping from my hot vagina. My thighs were sticky, my legs were weak and wobbling, and my mind couldn’t come up with one reason to regret what just went down. It wasn’t like we planned for him to slip into my coochie. Somewhere during the tantrum of me throwing things around the house to having a meltdown of tears I couldn’t stop, Johnie’s touch soothed my body, making me lust for even more of his coddling. King shouldn’t have left him here in the first place. I tried rationalizing cheating on my newlywed husband, but the harder I tried to feel guilty, the more I remembered he was the one who’d created this dynamic in the first place. I was just a victim of playing by the rules King invented. He thought our love life was getting ready to be like some overdramatic R&B song he wrote, sang, and sold. Naw, bro, over for that. Now you’re the one gettin’ played!