Chapter 14
Pernelle
Sitting on the couch and watching the party through social media had me tight as hell, but at least I was comfortable here.
Well, as comfortable as someone eight months pregnant could be, because I had a stomach that felt like it was hard as a rock.
My baby was ready to come, and I was prepared to meet her, especially since everything was finally falling into place with her father.
Being at Crew’s house was surprisingly comfortable. His couch felt soft under my bottom, the covers were soft, and they smelled just like him, which I loved. His house wasn’t decorated from top to bottom, but it felt cozy, and that's something I hadn’t experienced in a very long time.
Besides the subtle knocking on the wall during the day, there was really no sound on this side of town.
I wasn’t used to the quiet that Crew's place offered.
Growing up in the Bronx, you get accustomed to hearing yelling, screaming, gunfire, police sirens, and all the other chaos that comes at night in the projects.
Here, the silence was almost shocking. Too quiet if that makes sense.
I laid back on the couch, doing my breathing exercises because I was sure my baby girl was sitting right on my lungs tonight.
When I closed out of Snapchat after watching the last snap Ciara put up, I got up from the couch and walked into the kitchen to get a cup of water.
I was trying to eat better, do better, even though I told him getting healthy was too late, but I would do whatever Crew needed me to do.
He obviously cared about our daughter, and I couldn’t ignore that.
I poured a glass of water and leaned against the counter. Once I drank it, my bladder reminded me it wasn’t worth shit these days, and I practically ran to the restroom.
After unloading my bladder, I returned to the kitchen and heard the door open, smiling because my fine ass baby daddy was back home.
When I walked around the corner to greet Crew, I stopped in my tracks, seeing two tall men standing there instead of Crew and they rushed me so fast, I barely had time to scream.
“Where the fuck is he at?” one of them snarled, grabbing me by my collar and my feet left the floor.
I gasped, twisting, my body jerking away from them.
“Where is who? What are you talking about?” My voice cracked.
“Where the fuck is Crew at, huh?” another one shouted, shaking me until my teeth clacked together.
“He’s, he’s not here!” I cried. “I don’t know where he is!”
Their hands were rough and invasive, showing they had not one care about me being visibly pregnant. They tossed me like I weighed nothing, slamming my back into the wall so hard the air left my lungs.
“Tell us where the fuck he is, bitch!”
“I don’t know!” I sobbed. “I’m just staying here for the night. I don’t know where he is! Crew left me here alone.”
“Yo, this bitch is pregnant. She must be his baby mama,” one of them said suddenly, stepping back just enough to stare at my stomach.
“Oh yeah, just what we need for that get back,” another nigga muttered, then a fist flew straight into my stomach.
Agonizing pain exploded through me, my knees buckled, but my hands went straight to my belly.
“My baby!” I cried, bending over myself, trying to protect her with my body. “Please don't hurt my baby!”
“Shut the fuck up, bitch!” one barked, yanking my hair so hard my neck snapped backwards.
“Get your ass up! Let’s go! Take this hoe!”
“Please!” I begged, reaching out to grab anything to hold on to.
My words didn’t matter because they dragged me across the apartment floor, and out the door and the stairs, shielding my screams with their hands.
When we got outside, they shoved me into the back of a van, and when I hit the metal floor, the impact vibrated through my belly, my spine, and my skull.
Once the door slammed shut, the darkness swallowed me, and all I could do was cry.
What the hell is happening, and how did this become my life? Was I dreaming, and was this even real?
If it is, I don’t care what they do to me.
I just don’t want them to hurt my daughter.
She doesn't deserve the wrath of whatever her father did, but something was telling me that her or I won’t make it through the night to see tomorrow.
I see now that Crew finding out about the baby was a mistake after all.