Chapter 11
“Shake your ass, bitch! You’re a big fuckin’ deal!” Jenifer hyped me up.
I stood up from my chair and did a cute little wiggle with my booty. I shook my legs, which created a ripple effect on my ass. In the long sun dress I wore, it moved like Jell-O.
We’d knocked down one mimosa tower and were working on the second. The berry drink had me feeling great, to say the least. I reclaimed my seat and finished the cold beverage in my cup before I refilled it and took a bite of my honey glazed chicken wing on top of fluffy, thick waffles.
“One thing about Houston, they know how to do a brunch.” Jenifer took a sip of her mimosa.
“Facts! Girl, I’m so drunk.”
“As you should be. You work too fuckin’ hard. You deserve this break.”
“Agreed.”
We bopped our heads to the music as we ate in peace. It felt good to have a drama free day out with my girl. It soothed my soul. Since I found out about Marquise’s involvement in the deaths of those young boys, things hadn’t been great between us.
“How are you doing?” Jenifer asked.
“I’m okay. I feel like I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place because I want to take the job, but I’m afraid of what Marquise will say.”
“All he can say is congratulations, and when do you need him to pack. Y’all can do long distance, too, if you need to.”
“Girl, no the hell we can’t. I don’t do long distance.”
“Why not?”
“I need to be in my man’s skin. Also, I don’t trust these bitches out here. They would break my man down until he folds. Men are the weakest link with fighting temptation. I’m not trying to end up on a true crime documentary.”
Jenifer tittered. “Please, Honey.”
“No. I’m dead ass serious. I love my man, but after the fifth big booty bitch with a cute smile, he’d fold.”
“A damn shame.”
“Ain’t it.”
We refilled our cups again. I was drunk as hell, and it felt amazing. The more I drank, the more my inhibitions left me.
“How are you and your new boo doing? What was his name again?”
“Calvin is perfect. He treats me so good. He works as a legal associate in a law firm. Girl, he puts on these nice ass suits every morning, and sometimes I make him late because I have to taste him from head to toe.”
“Oop. I know that’s right. You deserve to be loved unconditionally like that. We have to double date one night.”
“Definitely. I will say, he knocked my screws loose so good, my period was a whole week late. I thought I was pregnant, but after he dug his dick deep inside of me, my period came the same night.”
“Ooh! You’re living the life.” I squealed.
“And is.”
As I snapped my fingers, a thought halted me. When was my last period? It had been so long since I’d needed a heating pad and ice cream; I had to pick my phone up off the table and open my period tracker app.
“What’s wrong?” Jenifer asked in a gentle tone when she noticed my shift in moods.
“It’s been two months since I had a period…”
She gasped. “Oh, shit…”
“Right…”
“Do you want to go get a test?” she asked softly.
“I think I already know, but yeah. I’ll probably go get a test when we finish here.” I looked at the cup in my hand and set it on the table. I couldn’t drink anymore, knowing there might be a fetus in my womb.
“Will you keep it if you are pregnant?”
“Yes.”
She cheesed. “I’m finna be a Tee Tee.”
I giggled. “Yeah, you are. You’ll have to fight my sister, though. I know she’ll be ready to kidnap my baby all the time.”
“I’ll get a calendar going. No matter what happens, you know you’ve got a solid foundation and village behind you.”
“I know. I’m blessed, no matter what.”
We talked for a little while longer. Conversation was hard to keep going because my mind kept wandering to the potential baby resting inside of me. The poor thing was probably confused with my bad eating habits and love for a good alcoholic beverage. If I was pregnant, I needed to get my diet under control to make sure the child inside of me got the proper nutrients it deserved.
“Thank you for brunch and bringing this to my attention. Once I take the test and get the results, I’ll probably text you instead of calling. I might be too busy crying.”
“Aww, pooh. It’ll all be okay.”
I gave her a tight hug, and she kissed my cheek. Once inside the Uber, I released a breath and made a game plan. I ordered the box of tests to be delivered to the front door so I wouldn’t have to get on the road when the driver dropped me off.
* * *
Pregnant.
Pregnant.
Pregnant.
All three tests read the same thing as I looked at them on the bathroom counter. I would be twenty-one when the baby graced their presence in the world. From my calculations, I should be about eight or nine weeks pregnant, but I’d find an ob-gyn to confirm next week.
How will I tell Marquise?
I’d have to butter him up for sure. My mind mulled over my options. He was a man who loved to eat. I’d make him one of his favorites and make the announcement after he got properly fed and thoroughly fucked.
I sent a picture of all three tests with my face in the selfie to the girls’ chat I had with my sister, Jenifer, and one of our other friends, Cyera. Cyera was always traveling, so keeping up with what time zone she was in was tough.
The chat went crazy with reactions. It wasn’t a surprise when my sister called me.
“Hello?” I answered innocently.
“Don’t. Are you pregnant for real?” she asked softly.
Chamille was a few months shy of eighteen years old. She was grown as hell and living her best life as a senior in high school. She received acceptance letters from almost every school in Texas. I told her she didn’t have to be confined to in-state schooling. She told me that most schools were anywhere from two to five hours away from where our parents lived. She said as long as she was a safe distance away she didn’t mind living in-state. Plus, tuition was cheaper for in-state students.
“I am. I took all three tests, and they damn near yelled the results at me before the pee was on them good.”
She burst into tears. I sat on the phone with her, quietly letting her release her emotions. She was my baby sister, and she couldn’t believe I was about to bring a life into the world.
“Have you told Mommy and Daddy yet?” she asked once the wave of emotions had settled.
“No. I’m going to tell them once I’ve gone to my doctor’s appointment and got more answers to the inevitable questions they’re going to ask.”
“Smart. Granny’s finna be a great granny. I am cackling.”
“Please don’t remind me. She’s going to have a lot to say when I tell her. She’s been distant since I started dating Marquise. It sucks. That used to be my girl.”
“She’ll come around. You know she wanted to see you with someone else—someone safe. She’ll get over it when she meets her great grandbaby.”
“I hope so.”
We talked for a while as I got dinner prepared for my man. Smothered chicken over white rice, green beans, and dinner rolls. I poured his favorite wine and took a hot shower. When I got out, I moisturized my skin and put on a red and black lingerie set.
I applied his favorite perfume of mine onto my hot spots and skipped down the steps to wait for him to arrive. In my impatient waiting, I paced around the house. Would he be excited about a baby? Would he want me to abort? What kind of parents would we be?
I’d known him for almost five years, but five years wasn’t a long time at all. We’d transitioned from teenagers to young adults. I got away with buying alcoholic beverages because a lot of spots we frequented didn’t card me. I looked old enough, and when I did drink, Marquise or Jenifer were the ones to supply the liquor.
Would my pregnancy journey be easy or hard? Would I deal with postpartum depression? Would I be able to produce enough milk to keep my baby fed? Would the baby need formula?
My irrational questions paused when the sound of the front door broke me away from my thoughts. The butterflies swarmed my stomach as I sauntered into the main hallway. The nervous smile shifted into a look of pure horror as I took in the man standing in the hallway.
“Marquise?” I asked in bewilderment.
“Hey,” he replied. He lifted his busted lip into what was supposed to be a smile but resembled a grimace more. It looked like it hurt for him to stand.
I didn’t want to touch him and risk aggravating any of his wounds or bruises, so I stayed a few steps away from him and frowned. “What happened?”
“I did what I thought would be best for us.” Each word sounded like it hurt him to speak.
“What do you mean? Well… Let’s tend to your wounds first. You can tell me what you mean by that after I’ve cleaned you up. Dinner might be a little cold, but I can warm our plates up after I care for you.”
I interlocked our fingers and made our way up to the main bedroom. We went into the bathroom, and I ran him a hot bubble bath. While the tub filled up, I helped him undress. Purple, red, and black bruises adorned his light skin. The internal bleeding created a muddy appearance underneath his tattooed body.
“Jesus…” I lightly brushed my fingers along his rib cage, which resulted in a soft wince.
“Sorry.” I snatched my hand back, afraid to touch my man.
It was clear I couldn’t tell him about the baby yet. Not when he could barely stand the touch of someone else. This was a sign to hold off for a day or two… maybe longer.
While he stood naked in the bathroom, I wet a few washcloths with hot water to wipe away the blood on his face. I dapped at his busted lip gently and felt my heart ache when he flinched a few times.
“I don’t like to see you like this, Marquise.”
“I know, baby. I know.”
He got in the tub, and I let him soak for a few moments while I sat on the toilet and looked at him with gentle eyes.
“Tell me what happened.”
“I went to Uncle Merlot and told him I wanted out of the business.”
My jaw dropped. “What?”
“Yeah. You know he’s an old-school nigga. The rule of the business is blood in, blood out. It was me versus twenty mothafuckas. I held my own, though.”
“I don’t know what to say…”
There were too many emotions running through my mind. He’d done what I’d been begging him to do: quit the business. He could get a real job and live without fear of getting arrested. We could have a normal family.
Relief washed over me like a warm blanket in the wintertime. He’d done what he had to do for the child he didn’t even know I was carrying. God, thank you for guiding him in the right direction .
“Look, I’m gon’ figure my shit out. I’m going to get a job and really show you the type of man I can be. I want to be a man you’d be proud to have on your arm when you’re accepting those awards in the future.”
I giggled. “I love that, but you need to do all of this for you . I don’t want you to resent me for changes in your life. I want you to be proud of the man you see in the mirror because it’s who you naturally want to be.”
“Fa sho. I’ll do it for the both of us.” He closed his eyes and leaned his head against the back of the tub.
Things were going to be all right with us. Tonight wasn’t the night to reveal my pregnancy. Instead, I’d wait a few weeks while we both got used to our new normal.