5. Alisha #2
Mama shook her head. “Lord.”
“And then she started talking about her bringing gifts for her and Deuce’s twins.”
Mama blinked. “Their twins?”
“She said she was pregnant with twins.” I shrugged.
“By Deuce?” Mama asked.
“That’s what she said.”
Mama stared at me. “What did you do?”
I looked at her. “What do you think I did?”
She raised an eyebrow. “Did you whoop her ass?”
I couldn’t help but smile. “Yes.”
Mama nodded. “Mama taught you well.”
“Ma!”
“What?”
“You were supposed to tell me I was wrong.”
“I’ll get to that.” She took a sip of her coffee. “But I’m not mad you defended yourself.”
I leaned back. “She had me fucked up.”
“I can see that.” Mama shook her head.
“But let me tell you something.”
I knew that tone here comes the life lesson.
“Men ain’t nothing but trouble.”
I laughed. “Here we go.”
“I’m serious, especially cheating ass men.” She pointed at me. “And before you start defending your husband…”
“I’m not.”
“Good.”
She leaned back. “Because your daddy cheated on me.”
I almost choked on my tea. “What?”
“Yep.”
“When?”
“A long time ago.”
“Why didn’t I know that?”
“Because I wasn’t about to put grown folks' business on my child.”
I stared at her. “What did you do?”
“What did I do?” She shrugged. “I cried, I cussed his ass out. I thought about leaving, then I stayed for a while.”
“Why?”
“Because I loved him.” Mama looked down at her hands.
“But loving somebody don’t make what they did right.
Your daddy made the choice to cheat. That woman made the choice to deal with a married man.
They both knew what they were doing.” She looked back at me.
“So don’t sit here blaming yourself because some woman decided to chase behind your husband. ”
I nodded slowly. “But Kim knew about me.”
“Then she got her part too.”
“Exactly.”
But…” Mama held up her finger. “Don’t put all of it on her.”
I frowned.
“Deuce got a whole lot of blame too.”
I looked down.
“If what she said is true…”Mama paused. “Then your husband is the one who stepped outside them vows. He is the one who knew he was married. He is the one who allowed that situation to get that damn far.”
I swallowed. “I know.”
“Kim ain’t innocent, but she ain’t the only problem.”
I sat there picking at the edge of my napkin. “I don’t even know what to believe anymore.”
Mama reached across the table and grabbed my hand. “Then don’t force yourself to believe anything today. Let the truth come out, and when it does…”She squeezed my hand. “…deal with it.”
I looked at her. “I still love him.”
“As you should.”
“I hate that I do.”
“You don’t turn love off because somebody pissed you off.” She paused. “But don’t let loving him make you stupid.”
I nodded.
Mama leaned back in her chair. “And that whole situation with Shante?”
My stomach tightened. “What about it?”
“Something ain’t right.”
I looked at her. “What makes you say that?”
“Because you know your friend. You told me she passed out.”
“Yeah.”
“A pregnant woman gets stressed, her blood pressure goes up, she passes out, that part makes sense.” She shook her head. “I’m talking about everything else.”
“What about everything else?” I asked confused.
“The way she's been acting y’all used to be inseparable “Something about that whole situation don’t sit right with me.”
I didn’t answer because I’d been feeling the same thing. Mama squeezed my hand again. “Whatever Deuce got himself into, that's his mess. And if them allegations about them babies are true? Baby, that’s a whole different kind of fucked up.”
I looked toward the living room where Brittany was still sleeping then back at Mama. “I don’t even know who my husband is right now.”
Mama sighed. “Sometimes the person you love ain’t the person you thought you married.”
That one hurt because I was starting to wonder if that was exactly where I was. I was at the point where I was getting tired of all the accusations and lies, I just wanted peace.
I stayed at Mama’s until I finally decided to head to the hospital. I hated leaving Brittany, but she had begged to stay with Grandma, and honestly, I didn’t mind letting her. Mama loved having her around, and I knew my baby was good. I grabbed my purse and keys. “I’m about to go see Shante.”
Mama nodded from the kitchen. “Tell her I said to stay her ass in that bed.”
I laughed. “You know Shante.”
“Exactly why I said it.”
I looked toward the living room. Brittany was stretched across the couch watching cartoons with Minnie tucked underneath her arm.
“Baby, Mommy about to go.”
She looked over at me. “Okay.”
“That’s it?” I frowned.
“Bye, Mommy.”
I shook my head. “Come give me a kiss.”
She jumped off the couch and ran over. I bent down and kissed her forehead. “Be good for Grandma.”
“I will.”
“And don’t be begging her for nothing.”
She smiled. “I won’t.”
Mama laughed from the kitchen. “She already asked me for ice cream.”
I looked at Brittany. “See?”
She giggled and ran back to the couch. I grabbed my purse. “I’ll be back later.”
“Take your time,” Mama said. “I’m good.”
I nodded and headed out. Once I got in my truck, I sat there for a minute before pulling off.
I wasn’t rushing, I just wanted to see Shante for myself.
The hospital wasn’t that far from Mama’s house, and traffic wasn’t bad, so I made it over there pretty quick.
I parked, grabbed my purse, and headed inside.
After checking in, I took the elevator upstairs. When I got to Shante’s floor, I followed the hallway until I reached her room and I knocked.
“Come in.” Shante yelled.
I opened the door and Shante was sitting up in the bed with her hair wrapped, watching something on the television. Malik was sitting in the chair beside her with his head leaned back and his eyes closed.
I smiled. “Hey.”
Shante looked over. “Hey Girl!”
“Hey, mama.” I walked over and hugged her carefully. “How are you feeling?”
“Better.” She shifted around in the bed. “They got me hooked up to all this shit, but I’m good.”
I looked at the monitor beside her. “Your pressure?”
“Better.”
“That’s good.”
She pointed at the chair. “Look at him.”
I looked over at Malik and he hadn’t moved.
“He been knocked out like that for almost an hour.”
I smiled. “He looked tired.”
“He is.” She replied.
I walked over and tapped his shoulder. “Malik.”
He opened his eyes. “What’s up?”
“Nothing, I came to check on her.”
He sat up and rubbed his face. “She good.”
“I can see that.”
Shante looked at him. “You need to go home.”
He frowned. “I’m good.”
“No, you’re not.”
“I’m fine.” Malik replied.
“You look like you've been sleeping in that chair.” Shante frowned.
“I ain’t leaving you.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m not going nowhere. You've been here all night.”
“And?”
“And you need to go shower, eat something, and get some real sleep.” Shante fussed.
He looked at her like she had lost her mind. “I’m staying.”
I laughed. “Malik, go home.”
He looked at me. “Why is everybody trying to get rid of me?”
“Because you look like shit.” I let him know.
Shante started laughing. “See?”
He looked down at himself. “I don’t look that damn bad.”
“You do,” I said.
Shante nodded. “Bad.”
He shook his head. “Both of y’all funny.”
I pulled the chair closer to Shante’s bed.
“Go, I’ll stay with her.”
He looked at me. “You sure?”
“Yeah I can stay Malik.” I gave him a look. “Go home.”
Shante reached for his hand. “Please.”
That finally got him, he sighed. “Aight.” He leaned over and kissed her forehead. “I’m coming back.”
“I know.”
“And call me if you need anything.”
“I will.”
He looked at me. “You call me too.”
“I got you.”
He grabbed his things and headed toward the door. Before he walked out, he looked back at Shante. “Love you.”
She smiled. “Love you too.”
The door closed behind him and I looked at Shante and she smiled. “That man is something else.”
I laughed. “Yeah, he is.”
“He was sitting right there all night.” Shante said while pointing at the empty chair.
“I can tell.”
“He kept waking up every time one of them machines made a noise.”
“That’s because he was scared.”
“I know.” She smiled to herself. “He wouldn’t admit it. Men don’t like admitting when they scared , especially him.”
I sat back in the chair. “So…”
“What?” She asked
“Are you hungry?”
Shante made a face. “They brought me some dry-ass hospital eggs this morning.”
I laughed. “Girl, you just ate.”
“That ain’t food.”
“What do you want?”
She thought about it. “Chicken.”
“Of course.”
“With fries.”
“Of course.”
“And don’t bring me no little ass portion.” She frowned.
I laughed. “I knew you were about to ask for something.”
She smiled. “You know me.”
“Unfortunately.”
She grabbed the remote and changed the channel.
For the first time since everything had gone crazy, I felt like I was sitting with my best friend again.
Just me and Shante, talking shit like we always did and that’s exactly what I needed.
We had been sitting there talking for almost an hour when somebody knocked on the door.
Shante looked toward it. “That better be Malik with my food.”
I laughed. “He ain’t been gone that long.”
The door opened before either of us could say anything. Malik walked in carrying two bags and a drink tray. “Look what I got.”
Shante sat up a little. “See, now you're talking.”
I laughed. “Boy, you went all the way out there for food?”
“She said she wanted chicken.” Malik shrugged.
“I wanted good chicken.”
“You got good chicken.” Malik put the bags on the little table.
Shante started looking through them before he even finished setting everything down. “You got my fries?”
“Yeah.”
“My sauce?”
“Yeah.”
“My drink?”
He held it up.
“Girl, you got everything.” I laughed.
She smiled. “See why I keep him around?”
I shook my head. “Y’all are ridiculous.”
Malik looked at me. “Are you heading out?”
“Yeah, I told my mama I’d stop back by and pick up Brittany, but I think I’m about to go home.”
“You good?”
“I’m good.”
I stood up and grabbed my purse.
Shante reached for my hand. “Thank you for coming.”
“Girl, you know I was coming, you rest.”
“I will.”
“And don’t be trying to sneak out of here.”
She laughed. “I ain’t.”