Chapter 10
“Hi, Mommy! Hey, Auntie Nay!”
“Hey, baby!”
“Hey, Pooh!”
We were at the park down the road from my parents’ house. I’d gotten off work early after my last client. After calling my sister to see where she was, I met them here to spend some time with my baby. This girl loved the park. She’d be here every day if she could. I guess it was because I had a jungle gym for her in our backyard. Every day after school and finishing her homework, she would play out there for hours.
We had an adjoining gate to our neighbor’s yard, so their little girl would come over to play with her. Since Korri had been staying with my parents, she came over to play by herself sometimes and always asked about her.
“Maybe I should get her into gymnastics,” I said to my sister as we watched Korri swinging from the monkey bars.
“I’m sure I can see her flipping all over those mats and balance beams. Her auntie would be right there in the stands with a big ass sign being loud as hell as I cheered her on.”
I giggled because that was right up Renay’s alley.
“I don’t know if I ever said it, but thank you for always being the best sister and auntie to me and my babies.”
“These are my babies too. The only ones I’ll ever have.”
Sadness passed over her for a moment. Renay had suffered from uterine fibroids since she was a teenager. They would grow big enough to cause her pain, and her periods were always so heavy. She’d had several surgeries to remove them, but they always grew back bigger. Finally, her doctor gave her a hysterectomy as a very last resort.
She’d never be able to carry a child at this point, and she made peace with that… well, as much peace as she could make with it. I told her a long time ago that if she wanted a baby, I would happily carry for her.
I grabbed Renay’s hand and squeezed it. “You know you’re my unofficial baby daddy,” I jested.
She giggled. “You remember Corey calling me that?”
“All the time. He would be happy to see how close you and his baby are.”
“I miss joking around with him. That was really my brother, man.”
“I miss him too, sis.” I looked out at Korri coming down the slide. “It’s crazy how much she looks like him. She’s his literal twin. That’s how I know he annoyed you your entire pregnancy.”
I giggled because she was right. I’d been very irritable my whole pregnancy. Corey was a natural goofball, and his energy just set me off at times. I’d be irritated, and he’d be in front of me crumping and shit, trying to make me laugh. There were so many memories of him teaching Korri to crump too. Sometimes, I scrolled through my camera roll watching the plethora of videos I had of the two of them. My heart broke all over again, especially now that I was pregnant by a man that I was afraid of.
Renay squeezed my hand, breaking me from my thoughts.
“It’s okay, sis,” she said, knowingly. “I’ll forever make sure you and these babies are good.”
“I know you will.”
“Who knows? Maybe one of these days I’ll adopt or meet and marry a man with kids. Just no baby mama drama because you know I beat bitches up for playing with me.”
I laughed. “I know. Mama and Daddy almost had a permanent seat in the principal’s office when we were in school.”
“You know I never started anything, but I always finished it. I did better after my anger management classes, though! Nobody has tried me in a while.”
“Thank God for that.”
“You’ve been good this week, sis?”
“I’ve been decent.”
“Any more impromptu sleepovers?”
I rolled my eyes. “No, Renay.”
“I already told you. You need to hop on that so you can introduce me to a brother or cousin or something.”
“What are you gonna do with a Dillinger?”
“Live my best life as a happy housewife. I’ll do the cooking, the cleaning, and the laundry. We can adopt a few babies, and I’d sex his ass on the regular. Take care of me, and I’ll take care of us. I’ll be that man’s peace and occasionally his headache ’cause you know I don’t like to listen. Maybe I’ll give him a reason to spank me.”
I gasped. “Renay!”
“What! You’ve never been spanked?”
“No.”
“Choked?”
“No!”
“You’ve never had a nigga slut you out to the point where you’re questioning your morals?”
“Renay.”
“Sister… What are you doing with your life! Sex between you and your man is supposed to be fun and exhilarating. You aren’t supposed to just lay there. I know you’re a good girl, but you’re supposed to be a good girl , you feel what I’m saying?”
I scoffed. “Well what I was doing worked out enough for me to get pregnant twice.”
“First off all, little sister. Getting pregnant only means that nigga nutted in you. Let’s face it. It doesn’t take much to make a man cum. Hell, half the time, he gets his before you, and that’s if you get yours at all. You need a man that’s gonna make sure you get yours every time and sets your soul on fire while he does it.” She shivered. “Whew! Damn, it’s been too long. The freak ho in me is defrosting.”
I broke into laughter. “I can’t with you! I swear we are like night and day.”
She giggled. “Mama and Daddy say the same thing. Opposites attract. That’s why you’re my bestie.”
“And you’re mine.”
She looped her arm through mine as she leaned over and kissed my cheek. “I love you, sissy.”
“I love you, too, Nay.”
“Mommy! Auntie Nay!” Korri called. We looked to see her motioning to us. “Come play with me!”
“Come on, baby mama,” Renay said, standing. “You’re gonna take your ass down this slide today.”
She helped me to my feet, and we headed over to the huge jungle gym. Of course, I had to take it easy, but I’d do anything to see my baby smile. For the next hour, we played with Korri, until my mother sent a text that dinner was done. We headed back to the house, and even though it was only a five-minute ride, my baby was knocked out by the time we pulled into the driveway. I knew that after she ate and showered, she would be down for the count.
That was exactly what happened.
She ate about half of her dinner before she said she was tired. I excused her from the table and led her to her room where I gathered her pajamas while she started the shower. Once she was done and dressed for bed, I tucked her in and sat next to her.
“You wore yourself out,” I said, stroking her hair.
She smiled. “I had so much fun.”
“I’m happy to hear that.”
“Mommy?”
“Yes, baby?”
“When can I come home? I like staying with Granny and PaPa, but I miss living with you.”
I fought back the tears stinging my eyes. “I miss you living with me, too, baby. I hope you can come home soon.”
“I hope so. Who’s gonna take care of you when you have my baby sister?”
I smiled. “I can take care of me.”
“But what if you get tired? I won’t be there to help you.”
“I love that you want to help me, but I’ll be okay. If anything, me and your baby sister will stay with Granny and Papa for a little while.”
“You can put her crib in here with me. I’ll make sure she’s safe.”
I chuckled. “I know you will. You’re gonna be a great big sister, just like your auntie.” I leaned over to hug her. She wrapped her little arms tightly around my neck. “I love you so much, Korri.”
“I love you more.”
“I love you most.” I smothered her face in kisses, causing her to erupt in giggles. “Get some sleep. I’ll see you after school tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
She blew me a kiss before snuggling under the covers and closing her eyes. I stood from the bed and walked to the door, looking back as I touched the light switch. I prayed to God I could bring her home soon. Something had to give… it just had to.
I got back to my house about nine.
The neighborhood was quiet, and streets were still. Pulling into my garage, I kept watch of my surroundings and waited until the door was down to get out. Inside the house, I made my way into the kitchen. The only brightness in the house was the dim light from the nightlight in the corner of the kitchen. I kept it for Korri in case she got up in the middle of the night for a drink of water.
I put my bag down in the kitchen and went to the fridge to grab a bottle of water. Standing in the open doorway, I gulped half of it down before placing it back in the fridge. When I closed the door, I almost screamed at the sight of Patrick standing there. Even in the dim lighting, I could see that smug look on his face.
“Hey, baby mama.”
“What are you doing here?” I asked, backing away.
I bumped into a body, causing me to spin around. I came face-to-face with what looked like a woman in all back from head to toe. The only thing visible was her eyes, but I couldn’t make them out.
“What do you want?” I asked, turning back to Patrick.
“I have another package for you. My boy is waiting to deliver it. Since you weren’t where you were supposed to be, I had to come track you down. I gave you the courtesy of not running up in your people’s place, but it ends there. Let’s go.”
“Patrick, I’m tired?—”
His hand came across my face, causing me to stumble back.
“Did I ask you what the fuck you were? I said let’s go. Put this bitch in the car.”
The woman grabbed me and led me out the back door. Roughly, she led me through the backyard and out the back gate that led to the street behind the house. The entire time, she was silent as she shoved me into the back seat of Patrick’s car and got in with me. Patrick jumped in the driver’s seat, cranked up, and pulled onto the street.
I sat there quietly, rubbing my belly in a soothing manner. The need to keep calm and not stress my baby was vital. I hated that muthafucka with a passion. He just felt like he could do whatever he wanted with me. If he was making money from selling illicit drugs, why couldn’t he get a place of his own to trap out of? What was so special about mine?
We got to my shop, and Patrick parked around back. There was a delivery van sitting in the parking lot with the lights on. He got out, and so did the girl, who all but jerked me out of the car.
“I can fucking walk!” I snapped, shoving her.
“Bring yo’ ass then!” Patrick snapped.
He tossed me my keys and motioned for me to open the back door. Begrudgingly, I opened the door to let them in. I watched as the driver brought in several boxes. There was no way I could keep this here without my staff going through it, thinking it was stuff for the shop.
“Patrick, I can’t keep all of this here,” I said.
“You can and you will. Just close the shop until we can pack it all up.”
“I have clients! I can’t do that?—”
Another slap to my face caused me to fall backward against the wall. Patrick grabbed me by my neck, squeezing tightly.
“I’m about tired of you telling me what you can and can’t do. You gon’ do whatever the fuck I say. You want me to beat this fucking baby outta you?”
I frantically shook my head.
“I thought not. I don’t care what you have to do. Don’t bring them bitches in here until I get this shit out.”
He released me, pushing my head into the wall. I tried my hardest not to cry. I was going to have to pay my people out of pocket for this. I couldn’t let them suffer for the shit I’d gotten myself into, fucking around with this man. Slowly, I walked to my office and took a seat behind my desk. Pulling up the appointment log, I got to work, canceling every appointment for the rest of the week. Judging by the number of clients we had on the schedule, I was going to come up off a good bit of money.
When I was done, I sent a mass text to my team, letting them know we were closed for the week due to unforeseen circumstances. Once I hit that send button, I dropped my head into my hands and cried profusely. This couldn’t have been the plan God had for my life. It just couldn’t be. What did I do to deserve this shit?
I cried my eyes out for a good twenty minutes before I had nothing left in me. Gathering myself, I went back out to see if Patrick was done. All I wanted to do was go home, shower, and climb in my bed to wallow in self-pity. I noticed how quiet it was when I stepped into the hallway. The door to the basement was closed, and I didn’t see anybody. Walking to the back door, I looked out to see that both the delivery truck and Patrick’s car were gone.
“What the hell…” I muttered.
He’d left me. He’d really left me here. Fighting back more tears, I went to the front and called my sister.
“Romi? Why are you calling me from the shop?”
“Can you come get me?”
“What—”
“Please, Renay. I’ll tell you everything when you get here, just… please. Come get me.”
“I’m on my way.”
“Thank you.”
As I hung up, I felt like the weight of the world was on my shoulders. This was never going to fucking stop.