41. Baby
BABY
“Girl, when you gone tell your boo he representing your ex-boo?” Jayda focused her attention on Tiffani. I hit my feet against hers under the table.
We’d been at TGI Fridays for the last hour, and this was the first time we really addressed the elephant in the room. After she dropped the bombshell on us in the car, me and Jayda sat in shock for a few minutes; then, it kind of got pushed to the wayside when another conversation came up.
“Don’t pay her no mind, girl,” I spoke to Tiffani next to me, before my eyes narrowed at Jayda across from me.
She giggled.
“It’s cool. Honestly,” she exhaled deeply, “I don’t know how he’ll react. Trey is all about his business, so a part of me thinks it wouldn’t matter.”
“How y’all met?” Jayda asked while I sat there munching on a mozzarella stick.
We all had appetizers, so we could share. Her face lit up like a Christmas tree, and you could tell she loved him. She had already told me this story earlier, but that didn’t stop me from listening in as she relayed it again.
“Oh! I was home for Thanksgiving break, and me and my cousin went to the grocery store. We had a lot to get but there were no more buggies left, so we had to carry everything in our hands.” She smiled.
“He walked over with an empty one, asked us if we needed help.” That was so sweet.
“Then what?” Jayda asked, intrigued. I rolled my eyes, dipping the other half of my cheese stick into the red sauce.
“We exchanged numbers, had a long-distance relationship for over a year. Got married in the beginning of senior year, moved back home once I graduated,” she finished off, sipping her Coke.
“Long distance for a year?” Jayda tilted her head back, appalled.
“Oh nah! So, what? You had a toy to help you?” We shared a laugh.
“Jay, shut up!” I blurted out, smiling.
“Girl, no.” Tiffani giggled. “Trey didn’t want me using those. I don’t find them useful anyway. I need the real deal.”
“Shittt, now you tripping friend,” I butted in the conversation. “Don’t hate on the big snake.”
Jayda spit her drink out, me and Tiffani screamed in sync.
“Bitch! You nasty,” I screeched, wiping my shirt off.
“Girl, you done wet my lash up.” Tiffani touched her eye.
“Fuck both of y’all, I ain’t mean to.” She looked between us, grabbing a napkin to wipe her side of the table.
We all let what just happened settle in for a minute before we cackled loudly.
“But, for real y’all, I need some mandingo,” I confessed with a pout. Tiffani chuckled, and Jayda gave me a pointed look.
“Girl bye. You know damn well you can call Love and he’ll gladly quench that thirst,” she exclaimed, swirling pasta around her fork.
Tiffani asked, still smiling. “Y’all together together?”
It was my turn to light up like a Christmas tree because the blush was definitely visible.
“I don’t know,” I shrugged, replying honestly.
Everything had been so hectic since I came home. Since he walked into my auntie’s house the day after he got out, we hadn’t had a serious conversation about where we stood.
“I liked him for a long time,” I whispered.
“Amen to that, “Jayda cosigned. My eyes narrowed at her, and she stared back with an innocent look.
“What? Bitch, you did. Every time you saw him, you were drooling.” Tiffani and I laughed.
“Don’t listen to this hoe!” I sipped my Sprite.
She sucked her teeth, waving at me.
“Tiffani, you should’ve seen her.” I ducked my head with a small smile on my face as she carried on. “He took all her attention when he came in a room, she be like T.K. who!”
My eyes moved to the ceiling. “Okay, you exaggerating now.”
“If you say so.” She reached for a boneless wing.
“Anyway, I wanted him for so long, but now just seems like bad timing.” I raised my hand to stop them when they both tried to object. “It is.”
Leaning up with my elbows on the table, I started listing off reasons, “His mama is in the hospital, his brother in jail, I’m on parole, Leah pregnant by my ex. It’s just so much against us right now.” I sat back.
“We better off friends,” I admitted, my eyes moving towards my hands in my lap.
“The devil is a lie! No, you are not.” Jayda peered at me like I done lost my mind. “I saw the looks he gave you too and ain’t nothing about those looks say friends to me.”
“So, y’all think I should try? I’m still on parole.”
“And?” Tiffani questioned. “You on parole, you ain’t dead.”
Jayda and I snickered at her comment.
“I hate y’all hoes!” I joked, my eyes moving between them.
“Uh huh, hate us after you get that dick,” Jayda suggested. She all on me when she got her own messed up situation. I thought for a second.
“Okay.” I sat up, sitting my hand on my chin. “If I do this, you got to give Messiah a chance.”
“Girl, I have Kai. Ain’t nobody thinking about Messiah.” She rolled her neck.
“Yeah?”
“Yup!” she countered.
“Well, why you blushing then?” Tiffani drank from her straw to hide her smile. Giving her a knowing look, she finally gave in and spoke her mind.
“I don’t know how this turned into pick on Jay Day, but okay.
” She raised her arms in mock surrender.
“I still have feelings for him.” Putting them down, she picked up her fork, moving food around on her plate.
“I don’t want him hurting me again.” She avoided eye contact with us by keeping her head down.
“I can’t take him breaking my heart a second time. ”
I could see her side. When her and Messiah broke up, I witnessed how depressed she was. I didn’t want that for her either. However, I also knew how much she still loved him, despite what her mouth was saying.
“I think you should try again,” Tiffani spoke her mind. “I’m not sure of the situation, but you obviously love the man.”
“Do you still love him?” Reaching my hand in the basket, I grabbed a fry, waiting for her to admit she did.
“Maybe.” She was still in denial.
“Girl, ain’t no damn maybe.” I swallowed the food in my mouth before adding, “Maybe you wanna have his babyyyy.”
I dragged it out, being extra as hell.
This time, Tiffani was in the middle of her sip before she almost choked.
“Nu uh, let’s go. Check!” I called out. “Y’all hoes don’t know how to consume y’all food.”
These bitches didn’t have manners.
We cackled the entire time, even after the check was paid for and we were back to the car. We were dropping Tiffani off home first, then me and Jay was going to my auntie’s house. Since she was off tomorrow, we gone have a little sleepover.
“I had so much fun y’all. We gotta do this again,” Tiffani pouted, grabbing her stuff to leave. “I ain’t got no real friends. All I do is work and take care of Treasure.”
“Well, you have two now and we aggravating,” Jayda let her know. I agreed.
She giggled all the way out the car. “Y’all gone three-way me, right?”
“Yup!” I smiled. We waved and waited for her to open her front door before pulling off.
“Girl, she cool as hell. Who would have thought?” I said sarcastically, stretching my legs out.
“Ain’t it, though.” Jayda smiled. We rode in silence for a while, both of us in our own heads.
I twisted in my seat. “You serious about Messiah? You still love him, don’t you?”
She huffed out a breath, chin wobbling slightly. “I never really stopped. Just...” she shrugged nonchalantly, “...accepted that we weren’t gonna be together.”
“You still feel that way?”
“I wanna try.” She looked to me for confirmation.
I nodded, smiling. She finally came out with her true feelings, and I loved to hear it. Anything to get rid of Kai, I’d do it. “You should.”
“If I do, you and Love need to make this work.” I bit my lip while thinking. I’d had boyfriends in my life, but Love brought out a whole other side of me I didn’t know I was missing. That’s gotta be worth exploring.
“Deal.” I smiled, holding out my pinky.
She sucked her teeth and wrapped hers around mine. “You and this pinky shit.”
I giggled, remembering how Love acted when I did the same thing to him. He was talking big shit, but he did it anyways. We were pulling up to the house when we saw a figure outside on the step.
“Who the hell is on the porch? I thought auntie was out with Kenny tonight?” Jayda inquired with a frown.
“She is.” I even had a text saying she was gone be with Kenny until tomorrow, so I knew this wasn’t her.
“Leah?” Jayda blurted. My head snapped up so fast, I could’ve gotten whiplash.
“Why the fuck is she here?” she added, but I was still tryna get around the fact that she was on this porch.
“I don’t know,” I mumbled out, while she parked her car in the driveway. My eyes scanned over her body for bruises, and I knew that was just the sister in me. Even though I was still mad as hell.
“Baby, she has a black eye,” Jayda spoke frantically.
Narrowing mine, I leaned up to get a better look at her. Her eyes were black, her nose was busted, and she looked physically shook up. Somebody beat the shit out of my sister!