by Sequaia
“Ouch.”
“You owe me, Rae, baby. Why would you leave a nigga, knowing how good I was to you?” The grip on my hair gave me an instant headache.
“Why are you doing this? Let me go, Adrian.” My hands clawed at his, trying hard to remove them from the death grip on my head.
“Bitch, scratch me again, and I’m going to break your fucking neck,” he yelled with so much force I knew he wasn’t lying. I removed my hands from his, and my eyes shut tightly as I hoped it would alleviate some of the pressure.
“You took shit out of my house. Left before making me some money and came out here and got pregnant by another nigga.” The grip on my hair loosened as he tossed me to the floor.
“A-Adrian, it wasn’t like-like that.” I tried pleading with him.
“That’s exactly what it was like, you ho-ass bitch. Did you tell that nigga how many times I prostituted yo’ ho ass? Damn baby in yo’ stomach probably not even his,” he laughed.
“It is,” I boldly defended as my hands subconsciously went to my stomach. The feel of it shocked me, and when I looked down to see my belly, it was as big as a basketball.
“The fuck?” I mumbled. There was no way my belly should have been this big when I hadn’t known but a hot second that I was pregnant.
“You either come back with me and finish doing the only damn thing you’re good at, which is selling your pussy, or I’m offing you, that nigga, and the damn baby after I gut the little mothafucka from your stomach,” he seethed.
Everything about him right now was catching me off guard: his tone, his attire, his demeanor. Adrian stood before me looking like hell spit him up. He was still handsome, but anger and hatred poured out of him as his hand rose with a gun.
“No, no, Adrian. Please don’t do this.” I was sure my cries fell on deaf ears as he looked at me blankly.
Still on the ground, I backed away from him as quickly as possible, only to be blocked by a sleeping Prentice.
“Prentice, get up. Run, baby.” I tried waking him, pushing, and screaming at him as Adrian drew closer to us.
“You may as well let me kill you. All of you, because once he knows who you really are, he won’t want you, and he damn sure won’t want you as his baby mother.” Adrian’s laugh rang through my ears, sounding like the evil villain he was.
At one point, this man loved me. At least, I believed he did, and I’d have to try using that to my advantage to save my baby, Prentice, and me.
“Whatever you want me to do, Adrian, I will. Just please don’t hurt us. You promised never to hurt me again.” Tears rolled down my face as I tried pleading with him.
“Fuck you” was the last thing he said before his size eleven foot collided with my stomach.
“Noo.” My body jolted up as my scream penetrated my ears.
“Aúrea, baby, what’s wrong?” Prentice’s worried voice sounded like music to my ears as his arms wrapped around me and brought me relief. However, the nightmare I’d just awakened from felt so real that my body still shook from fear, and my tears were still flowing.
“I saw-saw them,” I sobbed.
“Saw who, babe?” he asked, stroking my back softly.
“V-Von and A-Adrian.”
“They’re gone, A. They can’t hurt you,” he whispered.
“I know, but . . .” Before I could finish speaking, thoughts of what both Adrian and Von said about me came rushing to the forefront of my mind. This life Prentice promised me was one I didn’t deserve because I wasn’t meant to be loved. I was meant to be hurt, raped, beat, and most of all, not meant to be someone’s mother. That reality broke me, and I sobbed hard and loudly in his arms.
“Baby, it’s okay. I promise, they can’t hurt you again.” The certainty in his tone soothed me enough to calm the shakiness of my body.
“I-I need to tell you something,” I whispered.
I didn’t want to admit to him what I was about to, but I knew it was something that had to be done, especially with me being pregnant.
“You can tell me anything, and it won’t change how I feel about you.” He kissed my forehead.
“When living in L.A., I prostituted and stripped.” Pushing the words out felt like I had just been punched in the stomach. I could only imagine what my words did to Prentice.
“Dude made you?” he asked, pulling back to look me in the eyes.
Nodding my head at him provided the answer.
“It’s a good thing he’s gone. Otherwise, I’d kill his ass.”
“You keep saying he’s gone. How do you know that?”
He just looked at me, and I knew the answer.
“Prentice.”
“Don’t worry about it. It won’t lead back to you or me. I couldn’t do nothing, knowing another nigga had violated you. Now that you told me what you just did, he got exactly what he deserved by what happened to him.”
“What if I’m not a good mom?” That question was more important to me than dwelling on Adrian.
“You’ll be the best mother. You love hard. You’re dedicated, loyal, kind, beautiful. All the makings of a bomb-ass mother. Don’t doubt that.” He kissed me.
Taking a deep breath, I tried letting his words move from my ears to my heart, but I still had a hard time placing them there. The doubt I was feeling was a bit stronger.
“You still want me, even though I sold my body?”
“I still want you. That’s never going to change, Aúrea. What you did was what you had to do; it’s not who you are. Who you are is everything I need and want in my life and more . . . baggage and all. Now, just let me love you so much that everything you don’t like about yourself is a distant memory, all right?”
“Okay.” For the first time since waking up, I smiled.
“You know I got you, right?” He sexily licked his lips.
“I do.” And I did.
“I love you, a’ight?” He smiled at me.
“I love you too.” I smiled back, finally feeling at ease.
Epilogue
Prentice
Aúrea was squeezing the shit out of my hand as her legs were propped in the stirrups of the hospital bed. I stood to the left of her with Nijah to her right as we waited for another contraction to hit so she could push.
“Nahji, give me your hand,” Aúrea whined with her right hand slightly bent at the elbow and lifted in the air, awaiting Nijah to oblige her request.
“Hell no. I love you, Aúrea, but if I allow you to squeeze my hand once more, I’ll need surgery to fix the bones you break and even to be able to spread my fingers apart.”
“Why are y’all laughing?” Aúrea asked me and the nurses, who couldn’t help the light chuckles that fell from our mouths. Her scowl shut us all up as another contraction hit, prompting her to squeeze the shit out of my hand.
“See, even Prentice’s face shows discomfort. Aúrea, I swear you’re about to give birth to the Incredible Hulk.” Nijah sucked her teeth while shaking her head.
“I’m about to have you kicked out.” Aúrea cut her eyes at her.
“Girl, please.” Nijah waved her off, knowing the threat was empty.
“Okay, Aúrea. I can see the baby’s head. One more big push is all it should take.”
Aúrea sucked in a huge breath, squeezing my hand again, then pushed with all her might.
“It’s a boy,” the doctor exclaimed.
“Are you really watching that video again?”
Aúrea came into the room, interrupting my view of the television.
“Sure am,” I admitted taking the remote and powering off the television. It had been a year ago today that Aúrea gave birth to my baby boy. Since she had him, I found myself watching the video of her giving birth every so often. I had been so into the video that I could sense everything that took place that day, which was why I hadn’t heard her walk into the room.
My son’s birth was a huge milestone in my life, just like me getting out of the drug game had been. His birth into the
world was the moment I didn’t mind repeating, though.
“Best day of both our lives, huh?” she beamed, taking a seat next to me.
“One of the best days. Where’s my Junior, anyway? He has a party to be getting ready for.” Leaning over, I kissed her cheek.
“He’s napping. The party isn’t for another four hours. He needs to rest so he can wear himself out.”
“You always trying to wear my boy out,” I chuckled.
“No, he does it to himself. P. J. is a ball of energy and a little terror,” she giggled.
P. J., short for Prentice Junior, was a ball of energy and a little terror, and that’s because his ass was spoiled. He had all the women in his life wrapped around his finger. They let him get away with anything, including his mother, sitting next to me. Between Aúrea, my mom, Nijah, and Prima, my son was loved on left and right. At only 1 year old, he was eating that shit up.
“Wait until he gets some cake and ice cream. Then he’s really gonna be turnt.”
“I know,” she exaggerated, sighing like she was already exhausted.
“You love to act like he wears you out when you one of the main reasons he so spoiled.” I took my arm, throwing it over her shoulder, pulling her into me.
“And you made him rough. He thinks he’s a boxer and stuntman.”
“He’s a boy. He’s supposed to be rough and tough.”
“I agree, but it still baffles me how he’s going through a terrible two-phase at 1.”
“All right, it’s time for you to get off my boy.” I sucked my teeth, and she laughed.
“How long do we have before everybody gets here? I know a few more people are coming to set up—when are they coming?” I asked her. There were already a few people in the backyard setting up. P. J.’s party was a carnival theme, so there were way more decorations to go up, including a couple of rides. My son’s first birthday was going to be lit, and the $25,000 bill was proof of it.
“Um, about another hour or so,” she shrugged.
“You have anything else you need to do?”
“No. Your mother and Nijah have taken over. Told me to take my ass in the house,” she pouted.
“Oh, so that’s why you’re in here? It wasn’t to come to check on your son and man?”
“I would have done that, regardless.”
“So, are you upset they took over?” She needed to be honest with me. If the answer were yes, I’d go outside and check both my mom and Nijah. I knew they were excited about P. J.’s first birthday just as much as we were. However, he was our son, and if anyone should have been running shit for his first birthday party, it was his mother.
“Oh yes, I’m fine. The things I’m worried about directing won’t be here for a while. When they come, both your mom and Nijah will be stomping in here with attitudes because they will not get to control that,” she said seriously, and that shit brought a grin across my face.
Aúrea knew how important it was for them to feel like part of this process, so she let them have a piece of it without allowing them to take her moment.
“You the shit, you know that, right?”
“So are you.” She puckered up, waiting for me to kiss her lips, and without hesitation, I pressed mine to hers.
“Since we have time, I think you should come ride my dick.”
“Really, Prentice?” She sat up and popped me in the chest. Not hard, of course.
“What?” My crooked grin was all it took to remove the little frown she had on her face.
“Come on,” she huffed, standing, taking a few steps away from me and the sofa.
“Oh, shit, you gon’ do it?” I leaped up, excitedly rubbing my hands together.
She looked at me over her left shoulder, grinning.
“Not if you don’t hurry up.”
“Shit, you ain’t gotta tell me twice.”
Stepping on the cushion of the couch, I hopped over it and rushed to her, picking her up bridal style as she giggled uncontrollably in my arms.
“You better not drop me.” She held me tightly as I practically ran up the stairs carrying her.
“Never.”
* * *
“You don’t think y’all went overboard?” Mr. Lewis came up to me and asked as we stood at the door of my backyard watching the party.
“Nah, why you say that?” I asked him.
“Because P. J. is 1. He won’t remember none of this shit.” He shook his head like he was in disbelief, making me laugh.
“It’s cool. Aúrea wanted to go all out for his first, so I told her she didn’t have a budget. This is what she came up with. Even though it’s a lot for a 1-year-old, you gotta admit it’s fun as hell for us adults.”
“Yeah, you got me there. My ass hasn’t been on a Ferris wheel in forever. Your mother convinced me to get on that one with her.”
Mr. Lewis and my mom had grown close since my party. I wasn’t sure if they were at the point of bumping uglies yet, and I didn’t even want to know if they were. It wasn’t surprising that them growing close didn’t bother me because for once in my mother’s life, she liked a man who was actually good for her.
“So business is good, I take it.”
“Business is great. Will be even better once we get that second restaurant opened.”
“I meet with the contractor in two weeks,” he informed me.
My consultation business was booming. My last consult had made my client a whole lot of bread, $2 million to be exact, and he wasted no time telling his other rich friends that it was me who helped him. After that, I was getting clients left and right. With the money I gained, I helped my mother open another business, plus invested in Mr. Lewis’s second restaurant across town. Everyone I loved was eating real good, and I couldn’t be happier.
“All right, let me get my ass back over here and make sure these cooks ain’t fucking up the food.”
“You know you aren’t the chef, right?”
“Cooking is what I do. Besides, it’s my restaurant catering this shindig . . . You know if my name on it, it gotta be right.”
He extended his hand to me, and we embraced before he hurried off.
“What the old man was talking ’bout?” Sonic asked, walking up, giving me dap.
“The food,” I chuckled.
“He refuses to let them cooks fuck up. Aye, bro, this a nice-ass party for nephew. When I have my shorty, I’m gon’ have to steal this theme. I’ma wait ’til he or she about 4 or 5, though, so they remember. I refuse to spend a grip, and it goes unappreciated.”
“Nigga, whatever. So you and Nijah planning to have a little one?”
That’s right, Sonic and Nijah were official. Had been since the night of my party. She decided to stick around, claiming that living in L.A. without Aúrea was not possible, so we all took a trip to L.A., cleaned out her apartment, and she moved into Aúrea’s old place.
“Nah, we not planning it. We also not opposed to it happening. P. J. run me crazy enough, and he ain’t even mine. So I can only imagine what my own shorty would do.”
“Prentissss!” The soft yet loud tone of my name being dragged out drew near as my eyes settled on Prima and my son rushing toward us.
“What’s up, baby girl?” I picked her up, kissing on her cheek.
“Hi, Uncle Sonic. Prentissss, can you come get on the rides with us?” Prima spoke, batting her pretty, long lashes at me.
“Which one?”
“The one over there that twists fast.” She pointed.
“Ah, hell no!” Sonic spoke up as he too caught wind of the ride she was talking about. That shit was bound to make me throw up. I didn’t know why Aúrea ordered that shit, anyway.
“P. J. is too small for that ride, Prima, and I don’t like going in fast circles.”
“It’s his party. He can get on anything he wants to, and he wants to get on that ride with you and me.” She placed her hands on her invisible hips.
“This my cue to dip,” Sonic chuckled. He patted th
e top of P. J.’s head before leaving my ass there with my sister and son.
“Prima, not that ride, okay? I’ll get on any other ride with you.” Her bottom lip poked out, which was how she usually got me to do whatever she wanted me to. This was one thing I wasn’t budging on, though. I picked her up, placing her on my left side, then lifted my son and put him on my right. Carrying both their asses toward the bumper cars, this was the ride we were getting on, and they both were gonna like it.
“What’s wrong with her?” Aúrea asked, stepping up to us, kissing my lips. She noticed Prima’s attitude.
“She wants to get on that death trap of a ride you ordered with my son and me, and it’s not happening.”
“Ugh,” Prima groaned, causing Aúrea and me to laugh.
“It’s not a death trap. That ride isn’t for the kids. It’s for the adults who aren’t scared,” Aúrea informed me.
“So, I guess your ass got on there?” My brows rose in question.
“Sure did. Me and Nijah.” She said that shit like she was supposed to get a reward.
“See, Prentice?” Prima cut in wiggling out of my arms. I let her down like she wanted me to.
“You still not getting on there.” I cut my eyes back to my little sister.
“Mommy will let me,” she sassed.
“No, she won’t, Prima.”
I was seriously going back and forth with my little sister, which shouldn’t have been the case because I was the man and in charge.
“Prima, how about we ride the bumper cars first? Then you can find your mom to see if it’s okay to get on the ride. If she says yes, I’ll get on with you.”
“No, you won’t, and she’s not getting on that,” I emphasized again. Both Aúrea and Prima were trying to test my gangsta.
“Fine, can it be girls against boys?” Prima asked.
“Yes, we will beat them.”
“Oh, all right. It’s like that? Come on, son, let’s show them who the real drivers are around these parts.” P. J. giggled as we all headed to the cars.
Prima and Aúrea weren’t giving any mercy to me and P. J., so my plan to let them win went out the window. We smoked they ass. I wouldn’t be surprised if my little sister woke up with whiplash in the morning.