38/Danielle
I got off work Wednesday evening and called Mama.
The second she told me she'd made collard greens, I hit my turn signal and made a left.
A good Southern meal will change your whole damn day.
I was halfway there when Chance's name flashed across my phone.
I stared at it.
Then let it ring.
I wasn't up to dealing with him today. His jealousy was starting to get on my nerves.
Two days earlier, he'd caught me talking to one of the doctors assigned to our floor. The second Dr. Kemp walked away, Chance grabbed my arm and dragged me into a supply closet.
"Chance, what are you doing?” I jerked my arm free.
"Are you fucking him?"
I blinked. "What?"
"Don't play with me. You heard what I said."
His eyes were narrowed, and I could tell he was dead serious.
"No. I'm not fucking him."
"Then why you all up in that mothafucka's face?"
"Because we were discussing a patient."
"Yeah, right."
Before I realized what he was doing, he slid his hand inside my panties.
I slapped his hand away. "What the hell are you doing?"
He looked at his fingers. "Why your pussy wet?"
I threw my hands in the air. "What? I don't have time for this shit."
I tried to walk around him, but he caught my arm again. "Didn't I tell you I don't share my pussy with nobody?"
“I don’t have time for this bullshit!”
He pressed his lips to mine, silencing me, then slid his hand back inside my panties and this time slipped his fingers inside my mouth.
“Taste that? That’s my pussy you’re tasting. See how good that tastes? That’s why I don’t want no otha mothafucka hitting it. You feel me?” He stroked my clit with each word. I couldn’t do anything but agree.
“Yes, baby,” I moaned. “I’m not giving it to anyone but you.”
“You better not be lying,” he whispered near my ear, then released me and left the closet, leaving the door wide open behind him.
I should've been offended. Instead, that fool had me standing there agreeing with him.
Ever since that day, he'd been acting like my personal security guard.
If I talked to a man, he appeared.
If I walked down a hallway, he appeared.
If I blinked too hard, I halfway expected him to appear.
Even after his shift ended, he'd somehow still be around.
Then I'd get home and five minutes later he'd be pulling into my driveway.
At night he wanted to fuck, and if I refused because I was tired, he swore up and down I was giving it away to another nigga.
I was starting to think something was wrong with my man.
I loved him, and that was one of the reasons why I was trying to stick it out and make it work.
The other was, of course, the sex. Damn, I’m a slave to his dick.
Lord, that man had me treating common sense like a telemarketer call… I kept sending it straight to voicemail."
By the time I pulled into my parents' driveway, I’d managed to push Chance out of my mind.
Mostly.
Daddy was sitting in his favorite recliner watching the evening news.
"Hey, Daddy."
"Well, hello there, Pumpkin."
I bent down and hugged him. "You bowling tonight?"
Daddy nodded. "Yep. We got a tournament."
For the last five years, bowling had become his thing.
At sixty-three, he was slowing down a little, but he still looked forward to league night like a kid waiting on Christmas.
As I studied his salt-and-pepper curls and growing belly, something tugged at my heart.
"Daddy, you okay?"
He frowned. "Feel better than I have in years."
I hugged him again. "I love you."
The words slipped out before I realized I hadn't said them in a while.
His face softened. "I love you too, Pumpkin."
I headed toward the kitchen. Mama was pulling cornbread from the oven. The smell alone almost made me cry.
"Hey, Sunshine," she said. "Glad you could make it. Is your friend coming for dinner too?"
Hell no.
The last thing I needed was Chance sitting across from Daddy trying to figure out whether he'd ever looked at another woman.
"No. He had to work." The lie rolled right off my tongue.
I heard movement upstairs. "Mama, who's up there?"
The look on her face told me everything. "I let Portia move in."
"What?" I nearly swallowed my tongue.
"Alvin was supposed to keep her."
Mama waved me off.
"I asked her to come here. That child doesn't need to be somewhere she isn't wanted."
I hated how much sense that made.
"Plus, I'll be able to help when the baby comes."
I rolled my eyes. "Mama, quit talking like you're ninety."
She smiled. "I'm not ninety. But taking care of the baby will give me something to look forward to."
"Mama, you're not dying."
"Not today." Then she grabbed my hand. "Come upstairs."
Mama removed her apron. “Let me show you something.”
“Mama, I don’t feel like talking to Portia.”
“Quit being stubborn and come up and see.”
I released a heavy sigh and followed her up the stairs. We moved down the hall, where there were four bedrooms. My room now belonged to Portia. The door was shut but you could hear her music. My mom opened the door to my older sister’s old room and stepped aside so I could enter first.
I stopped cold.
The room had been transformed into a nursery.
The room had been painted yellow. Clouds had been stenciled on the ceiling. Gold rug was on the floor, and teddy bears was the decor. My eyes filled with tears. “Who did this?”
“Your uncle Charles did it for me. He took your old baby furniture and refinished it for me as well.”
I walked over and fingered a little brown bear that was inside the crib.
“That used to be your bed.”
I knew it was nothing like the cheap shit they sell in the stores today. There was a solid wood matching dresser, changing table, and a rocking chair.
“I’ve been planning to ask Portia to live here ever since we found out she was pregnant. Taking care of a baby will give me something to live for.”
“Mama, quit talking stupid. You’re not about to die.” I hated when she talked like that.
She shrugged. “Not yet. But one day. In the meantime, I get to help my granddaughter.”
I heard a door open down the hall, and seconds later, Portia peeked her head in the door. She gave me a shy wave.
“Hi, Mama.”
“Hello,” I said and almost choked. I looked at my little girl with her big swollen stomach and felt my heart melting. “What do you think of the baby’s room?”
Portia smiled. “It’s really nice. Uncle Charles and Grandma did a good job.”
“Yes, they did.”
There was a long silence as we each waited for the other to make the next move. Mama decided to step in.
“Why don’t we all go down and have dinner like a family?” She was smiling, pleased to know that we were at least speaking.
I nodded and followed Portia down the stairs. Together we set the table. The doorbell rang. Before Daddy could get off the couch, I went to answer it.
On the other side of the door stood a short honey-colored woman with a ghetto fabulous hairdo. A tall boy was standing behind her with his head hung low.
“Does Portia live here?”
I gave her a suspicious look. “I’m her mother, and yes, she does.”
She turned and grabbed the boy by his arm and pulled him up to the door. “This here is Demetrius and supposedly he’s her baby’s daddy.”
He looked like this was the last place he wanted to be.
What Portia wrote in her diary was true.
He wasn’t much to look at. He had an extra-wide nose, thick lips, and was light skinned with a severe case of teenage acne.
Hopefully my granddaughter will take after our side of the family. “Why don’t you both come in?”
She nodded and practically shoved her son through the door. “Forgive my manners. I’m Toni Carlson, and this here is my son Demetrius.”
I took her proffered hand, then turned to her son. “Hello, Demetrius. I hope you’re ready to be a father.”
He nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”
His mother glared at him, then propped a hand at her slim waist. “He better be. He had no business out there in the first place making no babies, but since he did he’s gonna get a job and help take care of his responsibilities.
Won’t be no deadbeat daddies living in my house. ” She popped him upside his head.
“Ow! Mama, I said I was going to take care of her.”
“Damn skippy.”
I smiled. I’d just met Toni and I already liked her style. “I think we’re going to get along just fine.”
She nodded. “I’m glad to hear that. Now where’s your daughter? I want to meet her. If she’s anywhere as pretty as her mama, I’m gonna have me a beautiful little grand- baby.”
We can only hope so. “We’re just getting ready to sit down and have some collard greens and fried chicken. The two of you are more than welcome to join us.”
She licked her thick lips the way a dog does when he sees a chicken bone. “I don’t want to put you out of your way, but I do love me some collard greens!”
I signaled for them to follow me into the kitchen. As soon as Portia saw Demetrius her eyes grew round.
“Mama, Daddy, this is Demetrius and his mother, Toni Carlson. He’s the baby’s daddy.”
She and my dad rose and shook hands.
“So nice to meet you. Young man, you know you got a baby to take care of, right?”
He nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Good. Well, welcome to the family.” Mama embraced him. As soon as she released him, he moved around to where Portia was standing.
“Why have you been avoiding my calls?” he asked.
Portia shrugged and avoided eye contact. “I don’t know.”
“Well, she won’t be avoiding him no more because we got diapers to buy!” I said with a rude snort.
“I know that’s right!” Toni said and gave me a high five.
Mama reached for two more plates. “Y’all have a seat. There’s plenty for everyone.”
We all took a place at the table, and by the end of the meal Demetrius and Portia were talking and he was rubbing her belly. I couldn’t help but smile. Even though my daughter and I had yet to talk, I had a good feeling that everything was going to be all right.