29/Danielle
Leave it to that wench to make me look like a fool.
I bet the second Renee walked in the house, she raced to the computer and logged onto the Boone County Courthouse website so she could get the dirt on my man.
What she needs to worry about is that little shrimp cocktail of a man she’s screwing and his fiancé finding out.
Damn! She’s my girl and all, but sometimes I can’t stand her.
If I thought she had looked up Chance’s info because she was looking out for me, that would be one thing, but I know she was just trying to hate on me.
Shit! There is probably another Chance Garrett in Boone County.
And who’s to say I even spelled his name right? I was just guessing.
Nevertheless, I couldn’t face him and made sure I stayed busy all day. For lunch, I ate what one of the patients left on her tray. After giving report, I took the stairs to the parking garage, hopped in my car, and peeled off before Chance could catch me.
I went into the house and hopped in the shower, trying not to think about what Renee discovered, but I couldn’t get it off my mind, so I went online myself to confirm the information.
To my disappointment, there was only one Chance Garrett in the database, and it was the psycho Renee had told me about.
I couldn’t stop thinking that this was the same man I planned a future with. The same man I gave up Calvin for.
Around seven, my house phone rang. It was a private call and my heart started pounding because I thought it might be Ron.
“Whassup, baby girl, why haven’t you called me?”
Damn, it was Chance. The last thing I wanted to do was discuss what I had discovered about him over the phone. What I needed to say needed to be said in person.
“We need to talk. I asked you last night if there was anything you needed to tell me, and you said no, but I’ve heard otherwise.”
He hesitated, and I could feel his frown.
“I don’t like the sound of that. I’ll be over in a second.”
That second turned into almost two hours before I heard his beats coming down the street. He knocked twice before I opened the door and let him in.
“Damn, you look good.” He greeted me with a crooked smile and a searing kiss. It felt so good being in his arms that I almost forgot what I was angry about. Not to mention, he looked good in a fitted Rams cap and matching jersey.
He moved over to the couch and took a seat across from me. “Baby girl, tell your man what’s bothering you.”
He looked so concerned, I almost felt guilty even bringing it up.
“I looked your name up online.”
He looked confused. “And what did you find?”
“A hit-and-run and a protection order against you.”
He swiped a hand across his face and gave a defeated sigh. “Yeah, you’re right.”
I couldn’t believe his ass was admitting to it.
“But can yo man explain?”
I nodded, then leaned back in the chair with my lips pursed so he would know that it better be good.
“My ex-girlfriend Yolanda and I had gotten into it one night. She was yelling and acting a damn fool, so I told her, ‘Yo, I’m fin to bounce.’ I went out to my vehicle and hopped in, and that fool came running out of the house in her pajamas acting crazy.
She started banging on my glass ’cause I wouldn’t roll down the window.
I told her to move so I could leave and she wouldn’t, then she had the nerve to grab hold of my SUV as I tried to pull away.
She fell flat on her ass in the driveway.
But then the neighbors came out and found her lying there, and I bounced because there was a warrant out on me for failure to appear, and if I stuck around, I sho nuff was going to jail.
Next thing I know, they got a warrant out on me for hit-and-run. ”
He sat there staring, waiting for me to say something. Did he honestly expect me to believe that lame-ass story?
“I know it sounds like I’m lyin’, but I swear I’m telling you the truth. We’re going to court next month and I want you there just so you’ll know yo man is telling the truth.”
I rocked my leg and didn’t say anything for a long time. Maybe he was telling the truth. After all, I wasn’t there. Wasn’t he supposed to be innocent until proven guilty?
“What about you owing back child support?”
He dropped his head, and when he looked up at me again, tears clouded my man’s eyes. I felt so guilty because whatever he was about to say appeared to be quite painful.
“Baby, I told you I didn’t have any shorties because I don’t.
Wait a minute, let me finish. I had met this girl named Charlise and we had just started kicking it when she told me she was pregnant and the baby’s daddy didn’t want to have anything to do with her.
I really liked her and hung in there with her.
I took care of her, and when she went in labor, I told her I would give her baby a name and I signed the birth certificate.
Later she dumped my ass for another nigga, then had the nerve to put child support on me even though she knows good and damn well that the baby ain’t mine!
I’ve been trying to get a blood test for three years, yet she comes up with one excuse after another, telling folks I’m wrong for wanting her son to get stuck with a needle just so I can prove something that is already in writing.
As far as the state is concerned, since I signed that birth certificate, Trenton is legally my responsibility until I prove otherwise. ”
Damn, he was good.
“I really loved that kid like he was my own, but she won’t let me see him. That bitch is grimy.”
He wiped his eyes and I could tell he was fighting tears. The last thing I wanted to see was a grown man cry.
“Baby girl, anything you want to know about me, all you have to do is ask. You don’t need to ask nobody and you definitely don’t need to be going on the computer looking. Hell, I ain’t got shit to hide.”
“Uh-huh,” I mumbled, not sure how to respond.
He rose. “Look, I came over here not to argue but to give you this.”
He reached inside his pocket, pulled out a vanilla envelope, and handed it to me.
I took it and glanced at him suspiciously. “What is it? A warrant for your arrest?”
He gave me a sexy smirk. “I see you got jokes. Just open it.”
I looked inside and removed a gift certificate for a one-hour body massage.
“I heard you saying you could use a massage, and since I don’t have skills in that department, I thought I’d treat my baby to the best.”
I didn’t know what to say because no one, I mean no one, had ever done anything that nice for me.
“Thank you.”
He dropped down on his knees in front of me and took my hand.
“I love you, baby girl.”
He leaned in to kiss me at the same time I felt him slip something on my finger. I looked down and noticed the sparkling cocktail ring on my finger. There were so many stones my hand was heavy.
“Oh my God!”
“I take it you like it.”
I was speechless. “I-I do. I-I don’t know what to say.”
“Saying you like it would be a start.”
“I love it! I really love it.”
“Good, because I love you. I know you probably think it’s too soon. This ring is simply my promise to be yo man and to take care of my girl the way she deserves to be treated. That’s if you still want me in your life.”
I sprang into his arms. “I love you, too!”
He kissed me and held me tight. “That’s my girl.”
As far as I was concerned, Renee needed to learn to mind her own business.