“Same people I’m always with, my crew.”
“Okay. Well according to my research, the people you’re always with are your brother, photographer, and three friends that are a part of some kind of crew, so I will look into that.” She stared down at her paper after writing some shit down. “And you’re sure, Mr. Khalil, that none of the people you were with were acting strangely or maybe made comments about Tiana that were sexual?”
“She’s a woman. Anytime a female is surrounded by niggas, they’ll make sexual comments.”
Olive stared at me and then nodded to say she understood.
“I have to ask you this, Mr. Khalil, and I’d like you to be honest. I won’t tell Blaise anything, unless you want me to let her know something. The conversations we have will always be confidential because I am here to help you and make sure we get you out of jail. To do my best, and I mean, I’m already great at what I do, I need you to be as honest as possible with me.”
“Get to the fucking point.”
“Did you ever sleep with Tiana? I mean ever, even if it was before she married Mason. Or did you ever go to her house to have consensual sex then maybe brush her off, making her accuse you of rape?”
“I’ve never in my life fucked that bitch. When she offered her pussy to me, like so many of these females do, I turned her ass down. And you ain’t gotta worry about me wanting to keep shit from Blaise. I want you to report every muthafuckin’ thing back to her.”
“I understand. I’ve just had clients in the past that did want to keep their wives and girlfriends in the dark on some things. It’s not abnormal.”
“Not me. You tell her every fucking thing she needs to know. That’s my wife, and we ain’t with that secret shit.” Leaning in a little bit, I stared deeply into this hard-faced bitch’s eyes. “But whatever you do, you make sure that she don’t get caught up in a got damn thing, or I’ll be back in this muthafucka for murking yo’ ass. Blaise, Island, and my son are more important than this shit called freedom, Olive. We clear?”
“Of course, Mr. Khalil.” She looked nervous, but I could tell her ass was a bull, which I appreciated. I ain’t need some timid bitch trying to defend a muthafucka like me. My rap sheet was a football field long, and I didn’t exactly have a reputation for being the nicest nigga.
“You have one minute left,” the guard Potter came to the table to let us know. “And sit back some, Khalil.”
I did as he’d asked me to after glaring at him.
“Well, I will get to work with what I have, and the next time I see you will be at the bail hearing. I promise you, Mr. Khalil, you will be going home to your family that day.”
“I better.” I watched her get up, pack her shit into her Louis Vuitton bag, and then leave the room.
After Potter shut the door behind Olive, he took me back to my cell in cuffs. I was only in there for a hot second before they made us leave to the outside yard and get some fresh air. I was thanking God, because a nigga was tired of being cooped up.
As I headed outside, I had to pass Elise’s husband, Nigel, and he gave me a weird ass look. I paid his ass no mind and continued to the empty table outside so I could sit down. I sat there, basking in the sun as the other niggas did whatever the fuck they wanted to do, before opening my box of playing cards. When I felt a presence near me, I glanced over my shoulder to see Elise’s crusty ass husband again.
“Leave me the fuck alone. I ain’t in the mood.” I continued to stare at my cards, so he came around to the side of me.
“My wife tells me you got disrespectful with her.”
Shuffling the cards, I replied, “So lock me up.”
“Listen, smart ass. I won’t tolerate anybody upsetting my wife. As soon as I get up from this seat, I will be letting the warden know about your behavior.”
“Good. I’ve been meaning to get at him too.” I started playing Solitaire. I felt Nigel staring at me, so I looked his way briefly with a smirk. “I think his ass needs to know that Elise has been begging me to bend her ass over, and she got me a cell phone. What you think he’ll say about the fact that yo’ bitch is bringing me phones and engaging in sexual misconduct, Nigel?” I put a few more cards down, playing my game as he sat there breathing heavily. “Exactly. Get yo’ ass up from my muthafuckin’ table for I have yo’ wife catching felony cases and serving jail time all ’cause her busted ass wanted to taste the tip.”
Not saying shit else, Nigel got his frumpy ass up from the table and walked off, leaving me to enjoy my outside time.
Alivia Farms
“How much longer?” I turned to face Dr. Terry, anxious. It’d been forty-five minutes it seemed, even though according to the clock, just five minutes had passed.
“Just a second, Miss Farms. Why don’t you sit down and relax?”
I did just that but couldn’t stop my leg from bouncing. That only lasted a few minutes before I sprung up.
“You know what? I’m going to make myself a drink.” I grabbed the bottle of vodka sitting out.
“You may not want to do that, Miss Farms.”
I turned to look at him, letting the liquor bottle slip from my hands and bounce down onto the carpet.
“Wh-why?”
I already knew the answer, but maybe he had something else to tell me. Maybe he just didn’t agree with me having a drink before 5 p.m.
“The pregnancy test is positive.”
“Are you sure? It can be a mistake. I’ve heard of false positive pregnancy tests.”
“I’ve yet to run across a false positive, but I’ve seen quite a few false negatives. If you’d like, you can go to another doctor and have them give you a full-on exam. But I promise you, Miss Farms, you are pregnant. The only way this could be a false positive is if some sort of ailment is growing within your body, and I highly doubt that. You’re a young girl and appear to be pretty healthy.”
“Some sick people look like a pillar of health.”
Dr. Terry chuckled.
“If you’d like, I can be there with you when you tell Yono.”
“Who?” I frowned, snapping out of my deeply depressing thoughts.
“Yono, Mr. Troy—”
“Oh yeah, him. No, no, it’s fine. I will tell him about this when I’m ready. I may get rid of it, so it’s no point in getting him all excited for no reason.” I started toward Dr. Terry. “You can go now, and keep this between us.”
“Of course, Miss Farms. I would say congrats, but I’m not sure if it’d be welcomed, so have a nice day.” Dr. Terry pulled the door open and left out.
I put the chain on for some reason then turned my back to the door before sliding down to sit on the floor. Not knowing how to feel, I cried.
“Ali V! Wake up, girl!” I heard Yono’s voice and realized I was on stage in the midst of a damn show, still thinking about the day my life was ruined.
“My bad. I was into the music.” I snickered, thanking God this was the end part of his show where he made a speech over a random song.
“Come down here, baby.” Yono waved me on, so like always, I tread down the steps and onto the lower stage portion with him. “I usually sing to my baby, but I wanna do something else special.”
“Troy,” I whispered, looking behind him since he’d glanced over his shoulder.
One of his security guards walked up with a bouquet of roses, making the crowd roar and cheer. I had no idea what the fuck was going on. My heart was beating out of my chest, and I felt like I was about to vomit all over Yono.
“These are for you.” He gave me the roses then kissed me. “Alivia, I told you as soon as we got back close again that I was all in this shit. I really wanna be with you. I ain’t never met a girl like you, that keeps me in line despite the type of nigga I am. I love you, baby.” He got down on one knee, making my eyes grow so wide that I felt my top eyelashes on my forehead. “I know you said you don’t wanna get married for a few years, and I respect that. However, would you take this ring as a promise we’re ma
king to one another that we’re always gon’ be together? And that when the time is right, in a couple years, you’ll be my wife.”
The sound of my heartbeat was louder than the music coming from my deejay station. I felt like the world was moving in slow motion as I looked at the waving, screaming crowd, then back down to a beaming Yono.
I didn’t want this ring, not because I didn’t like him, but because I didn’t deserve it. I was pregnant by another man, and for some stupid reason, I loved that man. Even if I aborted this child tomorrow, my feelings for Manny were still there. How could I accept this from Yono? I couldn’t until I fully got over Manny.
But what kind of person would I be to turn this man down in front of thousands of wild fans, cameras, his friends, and probably the whole damn world. On the bright side, it wasn’t a marriage proposal but simply a proposal to stick by him, so for now, I could promise that… I guess.
“Okay.” I nodded with a smile before Yono did the same, sliding the ring down onto my finger. He rose to kiss me, holding my face and meshing his mouth with mine so passionately.
“Aye, but when I do propose, the rock will be much bigger.” He pulled away to speak into the microphone.
The ring was a nice size, a couple carats. It was beautiful, but not on the level of Blaise’s ring. She had an iceberg on her finger.
I went back up to my booth, and we finished out the show, with Yono performing his last song of the night.
As people filed out of the venue, the set people cleaned up and packed all of our stuff up, while Yono got changed in the back. By the time I got back there to see him, he was ready to go, so we hopped into the back of the truck waiting outside for us.
“You know you didn’t need to propose in order to have a future proposal.” I looked over at him as he seemed to study the night scene of Nashville.
“Nah, I know, but I wanted to do something special and let niggas know that you’re officially off the market.” He glanced at me. “Just in case there was any confusion.”
The way he looked into my eyes gave me the impression that he wasn’t just saying that because he wanted me, but because he’d heard or seen something. I was praying like hell that damn doctor hadn’t told my business, or I was suing his ass.
“Why would there be any confusion, Troy?”
“Aight.” He licked his lips. “A little after you came on the tour with me, I got word from a few industry friends that you were still conversing with ya ex, Manny.”
“Okay? I was a single woman. I could converse with whomever I wanted to.”
“Relax. I’m not saying you couldn’t. But I’m pretty sure he’s still interested in you, so I wanted to make sure that he saw you weren’t available. I also wanna make sure you don’t feel the same.”
I stared down into my lap, toying with the gold chain on my Prada purse. Yono was so sweet to me and the exact type of man I wanted. He wasn’t too soft, and he wasn’t too rugged. The way he treated me in the past did bother me, because him doing it again always floated around the back of my mind. But other than that simple thought, I had no complaints.
“I don’t feel the same. I want you.”
“Good. So y’all don’t talk anymore at all, right?”
“No, we don’t.”
Yono pulled me over to him so that we could cuddle up. I asked the driver to turn on the heat then laid my head on Yono’s shoulder. This felt so nice and easygoing. I didn’t have to worry about baby mamas or if he was handling his responsibilities as if I were his mother.
Once Yono and I got to the hotel, we went up to our room to shower together. I told him I didn’t feel well, so we wouldn’t have sex, because I wanted to have my abortion before I did any of that. I felt nasty at just the thought of being pregnant by Manny but letting Yono fuck me. That was just too much for someone who grew up as sheltered as I did.
We had dinner in our room, once clean, and then climbed in bed together.
I did have to wake up in the middle of the night to vomit, per usual, but Yono didn’t notice, so I was good.
The next morning…
I’d woken up a little later than Yono, so by the time I was out of the shower, had brushed my teeth, and was dressed, there was breakfast waiting for me. I’d been really hungry lately, and I didn’t know if it was due to the baby or if it was because I was nervous about my current life’s state. But having food delivered to me fresh and hot had been a dream.
“Hey, I tried to wait, but ya boy was starving.” Yono got up to kiss me then pulled my chair out.
“It’s okay. I surely wouldn’t have waited for you.”
“Good to know.” We chuckled together as I filled my glass with some juice. “I’ve been noticing you get out of bed in the middle of the night a lot. You aight?”
“When?” That was the only thing I could think to say as I conjured up a lie.
“Uh, last night, the night before that, and so on.”
“Oh yeah. Whenever I travel, for some reason, it seems like my bladder weakens. When my family and I used to go on road trips, I would always wake up in the middle of the night to go pee. I guess it’s because I get homesick. I’m not sure.”
Damn, that was really good, Alivia.
“Well, we leave back to LA for the last show this evening, so all the traveling will be over soon.” He got up. “This won’t though, right?”
“No, of course not. Where are you going?”
“Have to run a few errands, but I should be back in a little bit. I’ll leave my driver to take you shopping or something, if you want.” Yono peeled off some cash and then placed his black card down.
“Thanks, baby.”
Yono kissed me and then left the hotel suite.
I finished my food then slipped into some clothes before getting ready to leave. I definitely wanted to explore Nashville a little bit.
As I grabbed my phone to put into my purse, I saw I had a text from Blaise, so I decided to call her. I always talked to her when I had issues, and I’m sure she was tired of me, but I had no one else.
“Hello?” she answered as I sat down on the bed, fully clothed.
“Hey, you’re not too busy, are you? I won’t keep you long, but I have something to say, and I can’t keep it in any longer. I need you to promise not to tell anyone, including your fiancé.”
“Not busy, and okay, I won’t.”
“I’m pregnant, but I’m getting an abortion as soon as I get home. Well not as soon as, but pretty quickly. I’ll be home tonight, and I plan to have it done in a few days.”
“Wow, Alivia. I was excited for you, for a second, but are you sure?”
“Yes. I’m sure.” I laughed. “I don’t want a baby, and especially not with… him.” I lowered my voice. I felt like Yono’s people were everywhere and I didn’t want them eavesdropping, despite me being in this suite alone.
“Wait, this is Manny’s baby?”
“Yes. I’m sorry I forgot to say that part. Yono and I have been using condoms, so it can’t be his. Plus, I was vomiting before he and I rekindled.”
“Wow! So you’re definitely over a month along. Are you sure about a termination? I’m only asking because you really have no reason to get an abortion, other than the fact that you’re not married.”
“What? I do have reason! I don’t like it’s father!”
“So what, Alivia? Say you did like him, had the baby, but then you guys broke up. Would you regret it? You have to separate it from its dad in this case. Don’t have a baby because you like a nigga, and don’t not have it because you don’t like him. You need to have it because you want it or not have it because you don’t want it.”
“It’s just my parents would have a fit. And I always thought when I had a baby it would be with my husband or someone I could at least talk on the phone with.”
“Alivia, you’re still basing the decision off of other people. Do you want a baby? Do you feel financially stable enough to take care of it? Is your life in a plac
e where you could be a mom?”
All the answers to Blaise’s questions were yes, but I still couldn’t bring a life into this world. This was not me. I wasn’t the girl who had babies out of wedlock. I was to be married and have kids then. Not to mention, I didn’t want to be a second baby mama; I wanted to have my man’s first child.
“I don’t know, Blaise. I just don’t want a baby without a husband.”
“Then don’t have it.” She got silent for a second as I pondered. “But remember, Alivia, a husband can still leave you with that child and not look back. Whenever you do have a baby in the future, always remember that it can be possible that you’d have to raise the child yourself.”
I never thought about that. I just knew I never wanted to get fat and go through all that pain for a damn boyfriend. Or shit, in this case, an ex-boyfriend.
“Thank you, Blaise.” I took a deep breath. “You think I could spend the night with you when I get home tonight?”
“Yeah.” She chuckled. “I need some company.”
“Okay. See you later.” I hung up the phone, made sure my makeup was still intact, and then went to leave. “Oh shit!” I jumped, bumping into Jillian, Yono’s tour manager.
“Hi.” She looked me up and down skeptically.
“H-how long have you been out here? Why didn’t you knock?”
“I heard you were on the phone, and I didn’t want to interrupt.” Again, her eyes left mine and went down my frame. “So you’re pregnant.”
“What? No.”
“Then why did I hear you say, ‘I don’t know, Blaise. I just don’t want a baby without a husband’?”
That must’ve been when she came up. Fuck.
“I—”
“Look, Ali V. I like you as a deejay for Yono, but I don’t need you messing up what he has going on.”
“Aren’t you just his tour manager? Why do you care so much? He has a regular manager.”
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