Chapter 15 #2
I looked around him and there Karim stood, much smaller than his tall lanky frame with a gun to the back of his head.
“Like I could really end your shit right here, but getting rid of you would be too much. So do me a favor and get the fuck out of here before my common sense takes a ride. Spend the time you got because your shit is coming to an end.”
By the time she finished speaking, he had already scurried out. It was at that moment I realized I had been holding my breath the entire encounter. Then, as if there was something sickening in the air, I felt like I needed to throw up, so I ran to the back to empty my guts.
By the time I was finished, I felt like I needed to be in bed and not here. I didn’t know if it was being in his presence or the fact that I’d microwaved my omelet this morning, but I felt extremely ill after this whole encounter.
Instead of going to lunch with Karim, I had her drop me off at Oden’s place.
My appetite had disappeared with my need to throw up and the act of doing so.
As soon as I came in, I stripped out of my clothes and took a warm shower, then got in bed.
I was drained and so exhausted. I just needed sleep.
I was on my way to getting it, then out of nowhere, my phone started to ring.
When I looked at the phone I sighed, momentarily irritated because I knew Reminisce would call back if I didn’t answer.
“Yes, Reminisce?” I answered, pissed about it.
“Yo, why the fuck I’m looking at the ceiling?” he asked ,alerting me to it being a FaceTime and not a regular call.
“Because obviously she’s in bed, dumbass.” Rennix’s voice alerted me to his presence also.
“Yo, you good?” G’s voice also flowed through the phone.
“Yeah, she’s good. She’s fucking pregnant.”
“Pregnant? Get the fuck outta here, my sister isn’t pregnant. She isn’t even having sex for real.” Rennix dismissed Reminisce’s claim.
Usually, I would have had a rebuttal of my own, but the fact that I was dog tired paired with my own realization that I hadn’t seen my period in a while, as well as the numerous times I had recently felt ill. The oh shit popped into my mind. I couldn’t be, could I?
“How the hell are you going to tell me about my sister’s uterus? Jade, tell this nigga you’re pregnant so we can get down to business.” Reminisce’s voice was heavy, so damn weighted that my thoughts dissipated.
Then there was Dimitri, laughing at both of them. “Y’all are a fucking mess. If my sister was pregnant, I’d know.”
“Shit, that’s my sister too.”
I had to click out of my thoughts to shut them all up. “Would all of y’all please stop discussing my uterus? I had a very annoying afternoon and am trying to take a nap. Was there a real reason for this call?”
“Yeah, I talked to Karim. That nigga showed up to your shop. Crazy as fuck because we damn sure been on the hunt for him, but he been missing in action. He don’t even take shifts at that damn shop like that.”
I sighed. “We who?”
“Me, these two niggas on the phone, and your baby father,” Reminisce answered.
“Reminisce.” I mugged the air.
“What? I’m stating facts, even if these two niggas on the phone are in denial.” He grunted and it was then that I realized I wouldn’t be getting any sleep. Well, not right now at least.
“You spoke to Oden?” I asked.
“Hell yeah. That’s my brother-in-law, who else I’m supposed to be talking to?”
Both Rennix and Dimitri were laughing at this fool while my mind was all over the place. “Wait, he knows about what happened earlier?” I didn’t have to wonder how he knew what happened earlier, Karim had surely told him.
“Yeah. Ain’t like you was gonna tell anybody. He’s about an hour outside the city. I should be your way in a few.”
I half listened to my brothers talking, finding myself in my own head.
The thought of being pregnant both excited and scared me.
In a matter of minutes, I had asked myself what the hell I would do with a baby while also assuring myself that this wasn’t rocket science and this was what I wanted.
If I was, I wanted this baby just like I wanted the one I’d almost had with Gavin.
Oden wasn’t Gavin and I wasn’t who I was when I was with Gavin.
I’d grown and matured in ways unimaginable.
“Earth to Jade. You don’t hear me talking to you.” Reminisce’s voice broke my thoughts as he spoke loudly.
Immediately my mind was back in the bedroom. Damn, I had really zoned out. “I didn’t, my bad, what did you say?”
He sucked his teeth. “I said I’m downstairs; what floor are you on?”
“The nineteenth.” I then noticed it was now just him and me on the phone. “Where did your brothers go?”
“To be family niggas. I’m on my way up.”
“Okay.” Once I hung up, I threw the cover off my body and went to grab a T-shirt from Oden’s closet.
All his items swallowed me, which was why I loved throwing them on.
Once I had his shirt on, I moved toward the front of the condo, cutting on the lights.
I was about to go to the fridge but there was a knock at the door.
I beelined for it instead. I didn’t get to the door fast enough, because as soon as I was standing in front of it, Oden was coming in with my brother in tow.
Damn, I thought he was an hour outside the city.
They were engrossed in conversation about real estate and land while I just stood there looking at them.
I mean Oden was in his element, but Reminisce, I was extremely taken aback by because he seemed interested in what Oden was talking about.
Neither of them were talking to me, but I was unaware that Reminisce of all people wanted to know the ins and outs of rehabbing his own home.
I knew my brothers, at least I thought I did, but Reminisce had this explorative spirit about him that both scared and excited me.
Not only could his comedic ass blend in anywhere, he could do almost anything if he put his mind to it.
That was why I found myself wondering how he’d gotten into the business he was in.
Oden kissed my forehead before placing the wooden crate of fruit and legumes on the counter. His conversation with my brother continued, which prompted me to take my ass to the couch and scroll through my phone until Oden found his way over to me while my brother spoke on the phone.
“You weren’t going to call and tell me he showed up to your shop?” He was seated beside me, thumb rubbing against my knee.
“I was going to tell you, but no, I didn’t intend to call and tell you while you were on a four-hour drive. Because knowing you, you would have turned around and come back. I didn’t want you dropping everything to come deal with me.”
He sighed. “Jade.”
“What? I’m right. You would have busted a U-turn on the damn highway and come back here, never mind the fact that you had your own business to tend to. I was fine. Karim handled it, and trust me, I would have worn his ass out with the metal rod in my hands.”
I could tell he didn’t mean to, but he chortled. “Jade, you are my business. So the fact that I would’ve been here as soon as you called means I’m handling my shit right. I’m handling you right.”
“But, Oden…”
“But Oden what?” he asked, face holding all the tension in the world.
“Nothing. You’re right.” I conceded, because he was right. I should have called him, but I didn’t because I was all in my head.
He looked shocked. “No fight, just I was right, huh? You feeling alright, love?” His hand was on my forehead in seconds.
I laughed and moved his hand. “Shut up, but I mean I could go for something to eat if you’re cooking.”
He nodded, eyes narrowing as he studied me. “You feel better from earlier?”
“Damn, somebody gave you a play by play, huh?” I looked up from him and my eyes landed on my brother. He didn’t know I was looking at him because whoever was on the phone had all of his attention.
My chin was turned from my brother back to Oden. “What made you throw up earlier?”
I shrugged. “Could be a plethora of things.” I was not willing to talk about a possible baby in the room with my brother who had been damn near telling me I was pregnant every time we talked.
“Like what?”
“Can we talk about it, later please?” I said lowly.
He didn’t get the chance to agree or disagree because Reminisce was speaking and rounding the couch before he could.
“Ol’ girl said he didn’t come in today. She said he was supposed to but called and said he wouldn’t make it. I gave her my number to let me know when he comes in. I’ll let you know when she does.”
Oden nodded. “Aight.”
Reminisce left a little while later after giving me a lecture about being bullheaded. From the moment Oden closed the door, his eyes were on me. They were itching for me to talk. “Later is now, love.”
“There are a variety of reasons I could have thrown up earlier. I know you told me not to, but I warmed my omelet up this morning.”
He looked disgusted because I had put a microwave in his microwave-less kitchen the third week of being here and he hated it. “I’ma throw that thing away, watch.”
I chuckled at his response. “Then it could have been the fact that seeing ol’ boy made me feel so ill that I couldn’t hold it. People can make you physically sick with just the sight of them.”
He nodded, understanding where I was coming from. “True.”
“Then lastly, it could be because I haven’t seen my cycle in a minute.
With everything going on, it could have been that plus the fact that I’ve always been an irregular girlie.
Though I’m on birth control, I kinda sort of haven’t seen them either…
well shit, I’ve never been good at taking them when I’m supposed to. My excuse is I wasn’t having sex.”
That last possible reason had him pushing off the storm-colored door, moving in my direction with quickness. His hand was at my abdomen before the words could escape his lips. “You could be carrying my child?”
“Possibly, but it could be one of the other two reasons.”
“Then let’s be sure. Ain’t that Whole Foods over here open late?” He looked so serious, like he was about to tell me he’d run over there and get it.
“Oden, they don’t carry pregnancy tests.” I just looked at him, trying to gauge his reaction or response, but he didn’t have much of one. I couldn’t tell if he was happy or disappointed. I didn’t know why that bothered me so much.
“Somebody does. C’mon, we boutta go grab that.” He was now on his feet, moving toward the door.
“Are you mad at me?” I found myself asking, hanging on to an answer I had yet to receive.
He turned around and rushed me once again, his emotions in his eyes. “No, I’m not mad at you, Jade. How could I be? You’re nine times out of ten carrying my child, our child.”
“Then why do you seem off?” Maybe that wasn’t the right question, considering one had to process the idea of kids.
“Because I’m tryna keep my excitement at bay until we’re sure. With the possibility of legacy, I can’t be raising my hopes until we know for sure.”
His words had me smiling immediately. “Legacy?”
“Yeah, legacy. Now go put bottoms on so we can run to one of these grocery stores down the block.”
True to his word, we ended up at a store a block from the house.
It was one of those uppity grocery stores and I was so shocked they had such an in-depth pregnancy test section.
At his insistence, I grabbed the box of four tests.
I didn’t know who had all of that pee in them, but I guessed it was going to be me because on the way to the register he grabbed the largest bottle of water I’d seen in my life.
I thought it was his until we stepped out of the store and he opened the cap before handing it to me.
“Drink up, love.”