4. Aaliyah
Aaliyah
“So how have you been feeling?”
“Like shit, but I suppose that’s to be expected.”
Bali looked up at me as she checked my thyroids. There was a smirk on her lips. She was pregnant too and probably knew exactly what I meant by that. She probably also knew about my ordeal with Royal. If Royal told anyone in their crew, I was pretty sure the shit spread like wildfire.
“Where’s Royal? Why didn’t he come?”
I frowned at her, and she said, “I mean, I know he isn’t the father, but I figured the way y’all were behind my place of business fucking after my wedding, y’all had made up.”
I rolled my eyes. “Why aren’t you on a honeymoon?”
“I leave Friday. Answer the question.”
“I guess that was a goodbye fuck. He told me he couldn’t keep fucking me while I was carrying someone else’s baby.”
“Damn. That nigga got standards?”
I smirked. Bali and Noni got on my damn nerves at times.
They didn’t know what a filter was. She chuckled.
“Well, you aren’t due for another ultrasound until your next visit.
Other than the regular shit, are you feeling okay?
Carrying one baby is a lot, so I have to believe that carrying two would be hell. ”
“I’m okay, Bali. Thank you.”
“Mm-hmm. Well, you can get your next appointment date up front.”
“Okay. See you later.”
She nodded and went to the door. “For the record, I thought you and Royal would have made a beautiful couple. I was hoping your babies were his.”
I lowered my head and nodded. “Me too,” I said softly.
She gave me a tight smile and left. I gathered my things and headed to the front to get my appointment card.
Once she gave it to me, I headed to my car.
Brian and I would be going to Houston on Thursday, and I told him I would be putting a rush on the results.
I couldn’t take not knowing. I wished they could tell me the same day.
Brian had called yesterday to ask if we could make a day out of it. I confirmed we could.
I wasn’t sure what all he had planned for us to do, but I was looking forward to getting away from Beaumont and Nome.
I wished I could go further for an extended vacay, but work wasn’t going to let me be great.
It was my own fault for signing up to teach summer school.
I didn’t like those lil demon fuckers throughout the year.
I supposed I let the extra money cloud my judgment.
I didn’t even need the shit, but they begged me to do it since there was a teacher shortage in BISD, especially with the TEA takeover. Teachers were resigning left and right.
These kids were a different breed out here though, despite the takeover.
If the school board and state took our sides more than they took those nappy headed bastards’ sides, we could possibly have a handle on these behavior issues.
More than half of these kids in summer school were there because they fucked around throughout the school year.
I was two seconds from just walking out on their asses.
Instead of going home, I went to my parents’ house.
Most times, if they weren’t at a rodeo, they were at home.
I wanted to tell my mama about Brian so bad, but I figured I would wait until we knew if the babies were his or not.
There was no reason to make that known if the DNA test came back saying he wasn’t the father either.
Asad would be angry at me for weeks. There was no point in all that drama if the test didn’t come out in his favor.
When I turned in the driveway, Mama was out in the pasture on her horse.
She had him galloping at full speed. I watched her for a moment.
She was such a beautiful dark chocolate woman.
Sometimes, I wished I had her skin tone.
I wasn’t as light complexioned as my dad or Red Squared, but I was much lighter than her.
Her skin glowed, and she just looked like African royalty.
I got out and made my way to the gate. When I did, I saw that my dad was out there with her.
They were so cute together. I was the last one to be coupled off.
Both my brothers were now married. Asad and Ashanni had a family.
Red Squared and Noni were starting one. I supposed my day would be coming soon.
I was already twenty-five . . . carrying a set of fatherless twins.
I slowly shook my head at the thought as I leaned on the iron fence.
I gently rubbed my belly and could feel a kick. “I’m sorry, babies. I’ve been putting you through a lot of unnecessary shit, huh?”
I closed my eyes and brought my other hand to my belly as well, gently rubbing it in circles.
“Liyah!”
I opened my eyes to see my mama waving. I waved back, and my dad ran over to me. When he got to the gate, he hurriedly made his way through it and came and loosely hugged me.
“Hey, baby. How you feeling?”
“I’m okay, Daddy. How are you? I heard you had a doctor’s appointment today too.”
“I’m good! Healthy and strong as an ox. Your old man still got it. I’ll wrestle a steer to the ground right now.”
I giggled. “That’s good, Daddy. I’m glad all is well.”
He nodded, then glanced down at my stomach. “So umm . . . your mama said Royal isn’t the father.”
I lowered my head, then shook it. “No, he isn’t. I’m sorry if I’m an embarrassment to you.”
“Embarrassment? Girl, please. I have the prettiest daughter in Nome. You smart as hell too. I wouldn’t trade you for the world. I’m still a proud father and will brag on my only daughter to anybody who will listen. There’s nothing you can do to change that. Okay?”
“Yes, sir.”
“If I wasn’t so sweaty, I would hug you tight after that. Hold your head high, baby.”
“Thank you, Daddy.”
When Mama joined us, she frowned. “What’s wrong?”
“Liyah was putting herself down. I had to fix her crown right quick. Nobody gets everything right. We’ve all done shit we regret, whether we can admit that shit or not.”
“That’s right, suga. Thank you for straightening her shit for her.”
She kissed his lips as I smiled at them.
“I just wanted to stop by and say hey before I headed home. My appointment went well, and when I go back in two weeks, they’ll do an ultrasound.”
“Oh! You’re gonna be going every two weeks now?”
“Yes. I’m getting further along. It’s getting close. I’m twenty-six weeks. Can you believe that?”
“Time is flying by. We are going to have five grandbabies by this time next year. Asad has two, you will have two, and Red gon’ have one. It’s only up from there.”
I giggled and rubbed my belly. “Well, we’re gonna head home. I’m hungry. That roast I cooked yesterday is calling my name. Y’all ought to come eat some later, so I don’t end up throwing it away. There’s no way I’m gonna eat it all before I get tired of it.”
“You ain’t said nothing but a thang. We’ll be by to clean it up for you. You know your mama like to eat.”
She pushed him playfully as he laughed.
“Yeah, y’all both like to eat. So do your children.” They laughed as I walked off heading to my car. “See y’all soon.”
They waved and headed inside to probably take showers.
With my brothers being married to Hendersons, I was pretty sure they ate well, whether it was at home or at the diner.
Red and Noni were on their honeymoon and would be back Sunday.
I assumed she and Bali didn’t want to both be away from the clinic at the same time.
When I got home, my phone buzzed. I never had my ringer on during the weekday, since I was a teacher.
I didn’t want to forget to turn the ringer off and it ended up ringing while I was at work.
A lot of times, it ended up staying on silent mode on the weekends also.
This pregnancy brain was eating me alive.
I forgot stuff easily and often had to make notes for the really important stuff.
After parking in the garage, I checked my phone to see a message from Ashanni.
Hey, boo. Just checking on you.
I closed my eyes briefly. It was like I was distancing myself from her.
Whenever I talked to her, I thought about Royal.
He no longer wanted to be around me or even talk to me it seemed.
I hadn’t heard from him since he left my house.
We normally texted each other every day, even if we were just saying hello.
I missed him so damn much, and talking to her only made the shit worse.
Me: I’m good. How are you?
Her: I’m good. Are you busy?
Me: No. I just got home.
Her: Is it okay if we come over?
Me: Yeah, sure.
I huffed. She wasn’t going to let me distance myself from her.
I wasn’t going to invite her over, but I couldn’t tell her no either.
This shit wasn’t her fault. It was mine.
I needed to see my niece anyway. She was around five months old or a little older, and I could count how many times I’d held her.
That wasn’t right. I needed to bond with her.
When I got inside the house, I took the food from the fridge.
I had pork roast, green beans, potato salad and cornbread.
There was more than enough roast and sides for everyone, but not enough cornbread.
I went ahead and took another box of Jiffy from the cabinet and whipped that up in a small loaf pan, then went to get comfortable in my sweats and a T-shirt.
Once I changed, I went back to the kitchen to get the food warmed.
I was looking forward to my family coming over.
I probably needed their love and support more than anything else right now.
My parents knew how to pump me up and have me feeling like I was on top of the world.
Lord knows . . . My soul had been in the trenches lately.
I’d been extremely hard on myself. Like my daddy said, everyone made mistakes and bad decisions.
No one was perfect. If only I could make my mind feel that.
All I could seem to ponder over repeatedly was how I didn’t have Royal anymore. I grabbed my phone and opened our thread. I had to reach out.