Chapter 10
Delilah
The next morning
I slid my phone into my purse to go to the store after Amir didn’t answer yet another call.
I grabbed my keys from the kitchen counter before heading out of the house.
Sitting around waiting for him to call me back was only making me think too much, and lately, my mind had already been all over the place with this pregnancy.
One minute I was excited, the next minute I was nervous, and then, somehow, hungry in the middle of both.
When I got to the grocery store, I was happy that it wasn’t too crowded because of the time of day it was.
I still moved slowly through the aisles, trying to figure out what exactly pregnant women were even supposed to eat because my parents didn’t have anything Google agreed with.
Now every time I grabbed something in this store, I ended up putting it back after reading the ingredients on the side.
Too much sodium. Too much sugar. Too much caffeine.
At this point, it felt like carrying a baby came with a thousand rules nobody warned me about, but this baby was a big investment for me, so I was going to stick to the rules, even if I didn’t agree with them.
I left the snack food aisle and went over to the produce section, where I knew my selections would be safe.
I grabbed a container of strawberries before tossing it into the cart along with grapes, yogurt, almond milk, and some healthy cereal I normally would’ve never touched in my life.
Half the stuff I was buying looked nasty, but everybody online kept saying the baby needed nutrients, especially with having lupus.
While standing in line to check out, I pulled my phone back out and stared at my last messages with Amir.
The last message I sent him was at 12:00 last night, and he still hadn’t responded almost nine hours later.
I smacked my lips softly before locking the screen again.
He was probably busy, and hopefully not still mad about our argument, because I was over it.
Yeah, he hurt my feelings with what he said, but that didn’t stop me from wanting to hear his voice.
Feel his touch and smell his skin and hair.
I’d gotten used to sleeping with him, so last night I tossed and turned all night.
His big frame not there to stop me from rolling over on the bed too far or keeping me warm with the cool air flowing through the basement.
I know when I have this baby, I’m not letting him out of my sight.
Hopefully by then he and I will be married, raising our kid together with all financial troubles out of our way.
That’s if he doesn’t sign all of his money away and this trouble, I’m putting my body through would be for nothing.
Instead of going straight home after leaving the grocery store, I drove over to my best friend Dess’s house because sitting alone with my thoughts all day was going to have me emotional after a while,.
As soon as I knocked and she opened the door, her eyes instantly dropped toward the grocery bags hanging from my wrist.
“Ouu, I’m glad you showed up with food. I’m hungry as shit. Did you get some Lays chips? You know they are my favorite.”
“You will have no chips, no candy, none of that junk you love to eat this early in the morning. I am on my health kick.” She started digging through the bag while it was still on my wrist.
“Oh, nah,” she laughed while stepping aside so I could walk in. “Who are you and what did you do with Delilah? You buying fruit voluntarily now? I thought you hated fruit.”
“I didn’t hate fruit; I just prefer mango over any of the other fruits. I’m, however, trying more types now.” I laughed while kicking the door closed behind me. “I’m trying to eat better.”
“For you or the baby?”
I rubbed my stomach subconsciously. “Both.”
Dess smiled before leading me over to the couch. She was one of the only people outside of my family who knew about the baby. I just had to tell her because she was my confidante in a world where I had to be that for others.
“Sit, my pregnant friend. How are you feeling today?”
“Tired. Hungry. Irritated. Happy. Honestly, I don’t even know.”
“That means the pregnancy is normal then. Trust, my sister used to be mad irritating when she was pregnant. You never knew what level of bitch you were going to get with her. ”
I laughed softly while she reached over into one of the bags by my ankles, grabbing a grape.
“So, did you come up with any names yet?”
“A few.”
“Okay, let me hear them.”
I smiled, gently resting my hand over my stomach.
“Safiya. Maybe Jamira. I also like Nadira. All if it’s a girl, of course.”
Dess pressed her hand against her chest instantly. “Okay, wait because Nadira Quatar sounds rich as hell.”
I laughed, shaking my head while she kept talking.
“No, seriously,” she continued. “That sounds like a little girl who already got stocks and property in her name.”
“Stop Dess.”
“I’m dead serious. That baby is about to come out wearing gold bracelets and yelling at housekeepers.”
I laughed harder while leaning back into the couch cushions.
“But all jokes aside, I do think Amir would spoil a daughter too much. He’s so gentle with women, even though he can be kind of rough to the rest of the world.”
A smile spread across my face because I could picture it so clearly. Amir acting hard all day just to fold the second a little girl with curls and big eyes reached for him.
“He's going to be carrying her around like a designer bag,” Dess added.
“Yes, and teaching her bad habits.”
“No, teaching her how to threaten people properly.”
I shook my head, laughing while she kept rambling about spoiled rich baby behavior.
I sat there, listening to Dess talk, imagining what life would look like once the baby got here. That’s what I needed to focus on, because worrying about Amir wasn't good for my health. That or my baby’s to be honest. I can’t believe his ass has went ghost like this.
I stayed at Dess’s house about two hours and around 10:00 am I decided it was time for me to go home and take a nap.
After traveling across the city, I walked into my house, surprisingly finding my mom and dad back home.
“Darling, your dad was just wondering where you were. Were you out with Amir preparing for the baby?”
“Nah, I was with Dess for a minute this morning. Amir has been busy.”
I made an excuse for him as I kissed my father, who had a warm cup of tea in his hand, rocking in his chair, and reading a magazine that he got sent here from back home.
“I see you two are home early this morning.”
“Yeah, everything is running smoothly so he and I decided to come home and get some rest before we go back later and collect our earnings from the laundry mat machines. Do you want me to make you anything to eat in the meantime?”
“No, I’m okay. I got fruit and stuff to eat this morning. I’ll probably just do that in bed and rest since I don’t have to go to my office today.”
“Sounds like a plan darling.” My father smiled at me.
I went downstairs and decided to take a shower, so that I could stretch out in my bed comfortably.
Once I was done with my mid-morning shower, I laid in the bed, staring up at the ceiling while my phone rested against my chest. I picked it up and called Amir, but it just rang a few times before it went to voicemail.
Amir: You good? I just woke up. I’ll call you back in a few, sorry, I been busy.
I'm fine Amir. But call me whenever you get a chance. If me and the baby is still important to you.
I rolled my eyes before tossing my phone beside me on the mattress. If I weren’t fuckin okay, he wouldn’t have known it. Being patient was really starting to wear off of me.
I pushed myself up from the bed slowly, and I walked over to my mirror. I picked up my brush from the dresser and dragged it slowly through my hair before pausing when a few long strands wrapped around the bristles, showing me the hair loss was never-ending.
“Man,” I muttered under my breath.
“At least I know our kid will have plenty of hair because of Amir, even if all of mine falls out. Ain’t that right, baby?”
My free hand rested over my stomach while I talked to a baby that hadn’t even formed limbs just yet.
After setting the brush down, I grabbed my prayer beads from the nightstand and wrapped them around my fingers before lowering my head slightly.
“Allah, please protect my child. Protect Amir, too. Remove whatever darkness follows us around and let us have peace as we welcome our child into the world.”
The prayer came out barely above a whisper, but once I finished speaking, a strange calm washed over me. I stood there quietly, rubbing the beads between my fingers, breathing slowly, and enjoying the peace in my room.
That feeling, however, didn’t last long when a loud thud and yell came from upstairs, taking my mind completely out of the zone I’d drifted in.
“Stop!” my mother screamed.
My eyes instantly lifted toward the ceiling before another loud thud shook the house hard enough to make me jump.
At first, I thought maybe my parents were arguing, but once furniture started scraping violently across the floor upstairs, and heavy footsteps stomped throughout the house, fear immediately crept into my chest. Somebody was fighting, and it sounded like for their lives.
I turned toward my bedroom door and realized it wasn’t locked, so I nervously crept toward it, trying not to make noise against the hardwood floor.
I could hear my father yelling now, but his words sounded muffled beneath the sound of whoever was shoving things around upstairs.
Every step I took toward the door made my heartbeat pound harder inside my chest until it felt like my entire body was shaking.
I reached for the lock with trembling fingers, but before I could even twist it, the bedroom door exploded inward so hard it slammed against the wall behind it.
“No! Please!’
Three masked men rushed inside the room.