43. Baby
BABY
“What the fuck happened to you?” Jayda got straight to the point.
I was a little more apprehensive than she was. A part of me wanted to send her away, another part wanted her to answer the question. Leah was sitting on the front steps, her arms wrapped around her knees. She had bruises on her knuckles, her eyes were swollen, and dry blood was under her nose.
She cut her eyes at me, I guess wondering if I wanted to know. The only answer I gave was a short nod of my head.
With her chin quivering, she spoke, “Tranae invited two of her friends to T. K’s house.”
Must’ve been the ones from my job earlier. “I wasn’t feeling good all day, told her I didn’t wanna be bothered.”
Jayda sat beside her, but I remained standing.
“Out of nowhere, they started talking about me like a dog, saying how could I go against my sister for a nigga, that I was just an easy fuck T. K. just wanted to slide into,” she rambled, sobbing softly.
“Tranae had to tell them all that stuff. How could they know?” Jayda and I looked at each other discreetly.
“I confronted her about telling my business. She said she ain’t tell them nothing that wasn’t true.
Said I couldn’t even keep a man that I stole. ”
Damn, cuz knows how to hit below the belt.
Jayda hung her head in embarrassment. But I didn’t fault her, just because her sister was a bitch.
“Then, what happened?” Jayda asked.
“I got mad and tried to hit her. The other two jumped in, and started swinging on me. She didn’t get in the fight, but she ain’t stop them either.” She flexed her hands to show how busted up it looked. “I can barely move it.”
When she cast a glance at me, I averted my eyes elsewhere. The hurt was written all on my face. I was not over what she did. I heard her exhale deeply.
“Baby, I’m sorry for what I did to you. I was calling you because I know I messed up real bad.”
I twisted my head around, narrowing my eyes at her.
“I don’t want your sorry. You should be telling Derek that,” I spat. That’s the first thing I said to her since we been here. Her shoulders slumped.
“He won’t answer my phone calls,” she confessed, whispering.
“Leah, how could you be so damn stupid to let this man talk you into robbing people?” I was on a rampage, couldn’t stop talking. “After everything I did for you. Now, look where you are, back here, asking for my help! You so fucking selfish.”
Choking out a sob, she wiped her nose. “It was only supposed to be a onetime thing. He said he needed money for his rent, told me to trick somebody into following me out of the club. He was just supposed to take the money and leave. Nobody doesn’t get hurt when he does it.”
I raised my eyebrows. “So, that make it alright then?”
Disregarding my statement, she continued. “It was 340 dollars in that wallet. He liked the income he got from it, wanted to do it again.” T. K. always been a greedy muthafucka!
“And y’all just kept it up,” Jayda added, rubbing my sister’s back to comfort her. She may feel sorry for her, but I didn’t. She deserved this for what she did to me.
“Yeah. Then, other people got involved. Tranae started doing it with his two friends. They all split the profit.”
So, that’s why she saw her at the restaurant with them.
“Why you here?” I finally said what I wanted to say after the last five minutes.
“After Tranae and her friends left, T.K. came home and found me on the bed in the room. I wanted to go to the hospital to check on the baby, but he said we had work to do. When I told him I wanted to stop robbing, he kicked me out.” Her voice cracked as she tried to hold back tears.
“He said he never loved me, and he loved what I did for him.”
I wanted to go kick him in his nuts for mistreating her when she was pregnant with his child.
“Still tryna go to the hospital?” Jayda asked, a sympathetic expression on her face. Leah shook her head back and forth. Jayda looked like she was on the verge of shedding tears her damn self. “Well, you can—.”
“She can’t stay here.” I folded my arms across my chest, stopping her from saying what I knew she was gonna say.
She tried to communicate with me with her eyes, but I was not having it. “Baby—.”
I shook my head. “No, Jay.”
My attention went to my sister, who sat there with a snotty nose and teary eyes. “I don’t trust you no more, Lee. Find somewhere else to go.”
Jayda shook her head. The disappointment on her face was crystal clear. “I’ll take you to my house. Tranae probably not there.” Helping her up, she led her to the car while I stood motionless, trying not to break down.
Before she got in, Leah turned to me. “I’m sorry, Baby.”
My whole body trembled as I watched them drive away.
I couldn’t believe I let her go like that.
With shaky hands, I put the key in the door and opened it.
As soon as I shut it behind me, I leaned against it, sobbing loudly.
Dropping everything on the floor, I cried into my hands.
Her whole life, my sister counted on me because she knew I’d always clean up after her and make everything better.
This time, it broke my heart into a million pieces knowing I couldn’t.
“Baby! Open the door!” I woke up to banging in my ears.
Peeking one eye open, I realized I was still on the floor by the door, lying in the fetal position. My neck strained as I lifted my head up. The sun was slowly shining in, which let me know it was morning already.
“Love?” I asked, voice groggy from sleep. My face felt stiff from crying, and I probably had bags under my eyes.
“I’m at the window. Open the door, Baby.”
Huh? Sitting up, I could see his figure looking at me through the side window in the living room. Groaning, I struggled to stand, my body was sore from the hard tiled floor. Twisting the lock, I walked over to the couch, waiting for him to come in.
“What’s wrong?” He strolled in with a confused expression, sitting down next to me. “Why was you sleeping at the front door?”
“Rough night.” I yawned, wiping the sleep from my eyes.
“Rough night?”
Thinking about it all over again, my chin quivered. I laid my head back on his chest, curling against him while he wrapped his arms around me. “Leah came by last night. It’s why I told you it’s not a good time. She was busted up, and just got into a fight.”
“Ain’t she pregnant, though?” he questioned, his chest vibrating as he spoke.
“Uh huh, she said T.K. kicked her out of his house.”
“That nigga ain’t no good,” he said, looking over the couch towards the hallway. “Where she at?”
“Not here.” I swallowed deeply. “Told her she can’t stay.”
His neck stretched as he glanced down at me. Moving from his hold, I brought my knee towards my chest. Jayda was already mad at me for turning her away. He probably thought I was a bad person, too.
“You think I’m wrong for sending her away?” I watched as he sat with his elbows on his knees. He stroked his jaw in thought.
“Nah.” He looked at me. “Do you?”
“A part of me, yeah,” I nodded, biting into my bottom lip. “I guess I wanted to teach her a lesson.”
“Did it make you feel good?” he asked, leaning up to throw his arm on the back of the couch. I shook my head back and forth.
“Sometimes, you got to do things you don’t wanna do to protect your peace, Baby.” He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “Nobody will fault you for choosing yourself.”
Blinking back tears, I let out a sigh. “How you always know what to say?”
He gave me a quick peck on the lips. It happened so damn fast, I ain’t have time to enjoy it.
“Because I see you.” We locked eyes intensely, my face breaking into a small smile.