Secret Surrogate for My Best Friend's Man

1. Alisha

ALISHA

Ain’t that right, baby daddy?” Kim smiled.

For a second, I just stood there, stuck. Like… did this bitch really just walk in Shante’s whole baby shower lying like that? And what twins was she talking about? I looked at Kim and then at Deuce.

Kim stood there like she hadn’t just said some bullshit in front of everybody interrupting somebody else’s baby shower, holding those big ass pink and blue bags like she was bringing blessings instead of drama.

Smiling hard, eyes wild. It was that same thirsty, obsessed ass look she always had when Deuce was around.

Yeah… she had lost her damn mind. I dropped my purse right there on the floor and went straight for her. “You delusional ass bitch!”

Those bags hit the ground at the same time my fist cracked across Kim’s face. “Bitch!” Kim screamed.

She stumbled, but I grabbed a handful of her expensive weave before she could even catch herself. The whole room went crazy. “OH SHIT!”

“Alisha! Get them! And move that damn cake!” Grandma Lorraine yelled.

Somebody slid the cake table out of the way just in time, because me and Kim were tearing through everything else. Kim grabbed my hair and I swung again. “You been playing in my fucking face!” I growled.

“Get off me!” Kim screamed.

“I’m about to beat your ass!” I had been holding that in since the day Kim popped up at my shop acting weird, watching my husband like she knew something I didn’t. Now she was here talking about babies? Nah, she had me fucked up. I continued to beat her ass like she stole something.

“Alisha, let her go!” I heard Deuce behind me, but I wasn’t hearing none of that shit. I was pissed and out for blood. We crashed into a table and blue candy went flying everywhere.

“Damn!” somebody yelled. “I was eating those!”

“Shut up and help!” Grandma Lorraine snapped.

Kim scratched my neck and that did it. “Oh, you got me fucked up.” I yanked her down hard. She hit the floor, and I climbed right on top of her.

“Get off me!” Kim screamed.

“You should’ve thought about that before you came in here lying!”

“I’m not lying!” She screamed while trying to protect her face. I pulled my hand back again, ready to swing.

“Alisha! Enough!” Deuce grabbed my wrist.

I snatched away. “Get the fuck off me!”

He wrapped his arms around my waist, dragging me off Kim. I fought him the whole way kicking, swinging, and cussing. “Put me down!” I yelled while trying to break free.

“Calm the fuck down! Did you forget our damn daughter is here?” Deuce yelled.

“Don’t tell me to calm down!” I yelled back while still trying to break free. At this point my adrenaline was rushing and I didn’t give a damn who was watching. I warned this bitch in that restaurant but I guess she thought I was playing wit her ass!

“Alisha!” Deuce yelled again.

I elbowed him hard.

“Ow! What the fuck?” Deuce groaned.

As soon as my feet hit the floor, I turned and started hitting him too. “This your fucking fault!”

“What did I do?”

I hit his chest again. “You keep bringing this crazy ass bitch around me! And don’t try to act like you don’t know her because you do!”

“Aight, stop hitting me!”

“Then say something nigga!”

He grabbed my wrists. “What is wrong with you?”

“What’s wrong with me?” I tried to kick him again but he stepped back just in time. “You lucky I missed.”

“You done lost your mind.”

“Nigga I’m insane right now. This bitch come in here talking about she bringing gifts for y’all twins what fucking twins. If you got this bitch pregnant I swear to God I’ll be at the damn court house in the morning filing for divorce.” I yelled.

Behind us, Kim was getting up, looking crazy as hell, hair all over the place, lash hanging, dress twisted. I pointed at her. “Look at her. Look at this shit.”

Kim pulled away from Deuce’s cousin. “I’m crazy?”

“Hell yeah you crazy! This man sitting up here denying you in public and you in here talking about your pregnant by my fucking husband.” I yelled while trying to get a hold of her ass again.

“You sure?” Kim smirked.

“You came to somebody else’s baby shower uninvited, what does that sound like?”

She opened her mouth, but I stepped toward her again.

Deuce grabbed me. “Stop.”

“Let me go.” I let him know.

“No.”

“I’m not done.” I said.

Grandma Lorraine pushed through the crowd with her cane in her hand.

“Enough!” She yelled. Everybody froze and she pointed at me.

“You get yourself together.” Then she pointed at Kim.

“And you.” Kim blinked. “You come in here dressed like a funeral hoe starting mess at my grandbaby shower, get out.”

I almost forgot I was mad. Funeral hoe? Somebody laughed behind me and tried to choke it down.

Grandma snapped around. “Ain’t shit funny.” That made it worse and Kim looked embarrassed now.

“I came here because…” She tried to get out.

“I don’t care why you came.” Grandma Lorraine yelled.

“But…”Kim pleaded.

“Keisha.” Grandma Lorraine replied. Auntie Keisha stepped up quickly. “What?” She smirked.

“Get her out.” Grandma Lorraine demanded.

“With pleasure.” Keisha let her know while walking towards Kim.

Kim backed up. “Don’t touch me.”

Keisha looked her up and down. “I’m trying not to.”

“Keisha, leave her alone,” somebody said.

“I am, I’m just escorting her trifling ass outside.”

“Don’t put your hands on me!” Kim yelled.

Grandma pointed to the door. “Then walk.”

Kim looked at Deuce. “Deuce, are you really about to let them put me out?”

My head snapped toward him. Why was she looking at him like that? Deuce’s jaw tightened. “I don’t know what the fuck you talking about, but you need to leave.”

Kim stared at him. “You don’t know?”

“No.” He responded.

“Are you serious?” Kim asked again.

“I don’t know why you're here starting all this bullshit.” He let her know.

I watched both of them, something about that felt off but I let it go for now. I had seen women get obsessed before and whole relationships in their head. Kim felt like one of them, she probably convinced herself Deuce wanted her because his trifling ass finessed her.

Kim let out a little laugh. “Okay.”

Deuce pointed to the door. “Go home.”

“I ain’t going nowhere until you tell the fucking truth.” She snapped.

Auntie Keisha grabbed one arm, a cousin grabbed the other. “Come on, Beyoncé.”

“Get off me!” Kim yelled dramatically.

“You not Beyoncé?” Keisha laughed.

“BITCH!” Kim snapped. Now she was fighting them too.

I stood there watching while Deuce kept his hand on my waist. “Let me go.”

“No.” He said.

“I’m not about to hit her again.” I lied.

“You're lying.”

“I’m serious.”

“You not.”

I turned and hit his chest again.

“Let me go.”

He finally let me go. I fixed my dress, smoothed my hair while they dragged Kim toward the door.

Kim was still yelling. “You gon’ regret this!”

Grandma waved her shoe. “I regret not locking the damn door!”

“Deuce!” Kim screamed.

Everybody looked at him and shook his head. “Get her out.”

I folded my arms. “Why does she keep saying your name like that, you fucking this bitch Deuce?”

“I don’t know why she keeps screaming my name.” He shrugged.

“You don’t know shit today, huh?”

“Here you go.” He mumbled.

“What the hell does that mean?” I asked.

“Nothing Alisha let that shit go.” Deuce snapped, sounding irritated.

“So now I’m the problem? Let that shit go?” I asked.

“I ain’t say you were the problem. I said let that shit go that bitch crazy and obsessed apparently, because I don’t know what the fuck she talking about.”

“You a damn liar.”

He rubbed his face. “Can we not do this here?”

“Do what? Ask why she keeps popping up talking about you?” I snapped.

“I don’t control what the fuck she do.”

“But you know her right?” I asked.

“She came to your shop.” He responded.

“That ain’t what I asked.”

He looked irritated but I didn’t care. “You know her?”

“I saw her a couple times.” He said.

“Where?”

“Alisha come on man stop with this interrogating shit right now! The bitch leaving let that shit go!”

“Where?” I asked again.

Before he could answer… “SHANTE!” Grandma’s voice cut through everything.

My whole body went cold, I turned. Shante was standing by the gift table, but something was wrong. Her face wasn’t just pale, it looked gray. Her hand pressed to her stomach. Malik stood right in front of her. “Shante?”

She blinked slowly then her legs gave out and Malik caught her. “Baby!” He panicked.

Everything stopped, even Kim went quiet by the door. Malik dropped to the floor with her. “Shante!” Her eyes closed. “Open your eyes.” He yelled. “Call an ambulance!”

“I got it!” somebody yelled.

Malik wasn’t looking at nobody else. “Come on, stay with me.” He tapped her cheek. When she didn’t respond, something in his face shifted and it scared me.

“Where is the ambulance at?” Malik yelled.

“They coming!” Someone yelled.

“Tell them to hurry up!” Malik replied with tears in his eyes.

Grandma pushed people back. “Give her space!” Everybody was still crowding.

“Back up!” Malik snapped.

They moved and he rested her head on his leg.

“Open your eyes baby.” Her eyelids fluttered. “Shante?”

She made a small sound. “What?” He asked.

“My stomach…” She whined.

He looked down. “What about it?”

“It hurts.”

His face tightened. “Where?”

“I don’t know… it just hurts.”

“Ambulance on the way,” somebody said again.

“They are taking too damn long.” Malik snapped.

Deuce stepped closer. “Is she good?”

Malik looked up. “How the fuck would I know? Apparently not if she was lying on the ground talking about her stomach hurt.”

“I’m just asking my nigga.” Deuce spat.

“And I said I don’t fucking know.”

Deuce was about to say something else, but Grandma stepped between them. “Not now.”

For once, they listened. I glanced toward the door and Kim was gone. Good because I didn’t have the energy for her anymore. My best friend was on the floor, pregnant with twins and guilt started creeping in. All that yelling… all that stress…

I dropped down beside her. “You scared me.”

Shante opened her eyes a little. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

She looked at me, eyes filling up with tears. “I’m sorry.”

I frowned. “You ain’t do nothing.”