by Pepper Pace
For once, they weren’t slaving in the shop. They were actually in the living room, snuggled up on the couch covered by blankets with a bowl of popcorn between them. They were watching a DVD movie. TV gave him headaches but he didn’t say anything to Juicy. She needed to relax. She worked way too much. And he was just happy that she didn’t have to be doing hair. He’d even sit through this terrible martial arts movie if it meant that’d she’d be still for a few hours.
“I was wondering about something. I know you don’t like to talk about your past, but don’t you have any family? I mean real family; brother, sister or grandparent’s?” He knew that her parents were both dead. She’d explained about her Mom’s death in a strangely high voice, speaking rapidly as if she was trying not to let the words settle too closely around her. He had never brought it up again. Perhaps this wasn’t the perfect time to bring up something that might be considered unpleasant, but he’d been thinking about the future…
Juicy stiffened. “What?” She glanced at him. “You know that my people are dead—well the ones that matter. I mean, I have an Uncle but I don’t recollect ever meeting him. Plus he lives out of state.”
His arms tightened around her securely and she relaxed. “Okay…but, Juice?”
“Yeah?” She said, a worried look returning to her face.
“I’m your family, right?”
She smiled, face smoothing. “Yeah, Troy.” She snuggled closer to him. They’d been together nearly half a year. There was absolutely no one that she thought more of as family.
That night they made love so slowly that it was almost painful the need she felt for him. Then she had a dream in which she found herself walking. There were people on each side of her but she wasn’t focused on anything but walking. And then suddenly people came to a complete stop, one by one. Juicy looked at them and they just smiled at her, as if encouraging her to continue on her journey. Soon there was no one walking with her. She looked over her shoulder and there were many people that were just standing there, watching her continue on alone.
And she did.
CHAPTER 10
"That woman should be ashamed of herself!" Miss Marcie said, a perpetual grimace ever present on her wrinkled brown face. Juicy wrapped the stiff piece of hair around the curling iron, expertly pumping the handle until there was a smooth curl bouncing beneath her fingertips.
"What did that heffa do now?" Juicy asked, barely listening to the old woman's idle gossip. It was hard for her to focus when she had so much shit cluttering her head. Is that how Troy felt; head wanting to explode?
Miss Marcie continued. "Oh she came out wearing them stretchy slacks, with that big behind of hers! You know that woman shouldn't be prancing around-" Juicy listened as Miss Marcie's voice droned on and on while she threw in a 'hmph' or a 'you don't say?' in the appropriate places.
Finally the last curl was in place and Juicy liberally sprayed Miss Marcie's hair to 'set' the curls. The older woman's face broke into a smile, probably for the first time in a week. "Beautiful." She beamed then paid Juicy who quickly added it with the rest of the day's receipts.
"Alright guys, I'm heading off to the bank before it closes." Several of the workers of the shop just gave each other knowing looks.
"Mmmm, the bank you say." Shandra laughed. "I love the bank, especially when it has a hard dick."
Juicy suppressed a grin and ignored the jibes of her employees, though her face burned that they had peeped her so easily. Just thinking about Troy made her want to slip away and be with him...a perk of being your own boss. However, today, well that wasn't her plan.
She gave final instructions for locking up the shop then she hurried out. As usual she took a long moment to stare at the little shop that was all hers and Troy's. It still amazed her that she was finally the owner of her own business.
Troy had just finished his baking for the evening when she slipped into the apartment. The last item was the orange cranberry muffins which were Juicy’s favorite. He had actually just placed the last golden brown muffin into an oversized food storage container. Now everything felt right in the world. Juicy was home, the apartment smelled of fresh baked bread, and her pretty brown face held a smile that was now so natural as if she hadn't been that 'angry black woman' almost half a year ago.
He stopped what he was doing and gave her a broad smile. Over six months together and he was just getting better looking. Well to her, he was as sexy as a super model with his long lean body and unruly blonde hair and smoky grey eyes! She slipped into his arms, their bodies molding together as perfectly as two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. "Mmmm, smells good." She murmured absently.
He kissed her neck lightly. "You nibble on a muffin while I nibble on your neck." Passion suddenly flooded her senses at the feel of his lips on her sensitive flesh, and she no longer cared about muffins.
"I have a better place for you to nibble..." Troy didn't need any more encouragement then that, and though Juicy had some things to get off her chest...well hell, it could wait!
Troy allowed his lips to continue to graze her neck. He pressed his pelvis against hers, showing her that he was already hard and would rather do something more than talk.
He tugged her hand urgently, leading them to the bedroom. First he unbuttoned her blouse revealing a DD cup black bra. When he unsnapped it, mounds of breasts spilled from their confines. Troy caught his breath. Her nipples were so swollen that they were the color of a purple plumb and just like a succulent piece of fruit, it called for his mouth! He covered one quickly with his lips, pulling in as much of her breast as he could. Distantly he heard Juicy's moan and he began to strain against the zipper of his jeans.
He gently pushed her back onto the bed, and stripped himself naked but taking much longer to drag down the material of her ankle length linen skirt. His eyes were met with the sight of her matching black French cut panties and his full erection became even fuller. He slid his body against hers, his hands exploring her.
Feeling him lying heavily against her thigh caused Juicy to moan. "I want to taste you." Troy leaned over onto one arm and caressed the swollen head at the end of his shaft. When his fingers were smeared with the clear liquid he offered his fingers to Juicy's lips. Troy watched, his hips rubbing against her thigh until he felt that he'd climax just at the sight of her tongue lapping his fingers.
He quickly slipped his hand from her grasp and used his wet fingers to spread her juicy lips. The smell of her sex caused him to salivate and he quickly lowered himself between her thighs, lapping up as much of her as he could, sucking and inhaling her essence.
After he'd eaten his fill, he slipped himself into her hungry mouth and began to feed her as well. Each had a mutual love of oral sex. There was nothing that he loved more than being able to taste and kiss every inch of her chocolate body. She was a delicacy that he never tired of.
Juicy lapped and sucked him until she felt him suddenly swell. Knowing that he was coming close, she quickly released him and straddled Troy. Afterwards, when she lay spent and nothing more than a quivering mass of sensitized nerve endings, Troy gathered her in his arms and kissed her lovingly and gently, exchanging the flavors of their sex.
"Don't go to sleep, honey." Troy spoke when she yawned. "I made a meatloaf earlier and I want you to get a good meal. I bet you filled up on doughnuts and Coca Cola." He wasn't complaining about her bigger belly and bigger ass...which resulted in bigger tits. But if she was going to gain weight it should be at least due to a healthy diet.
"I'm not getting bigger because I'm fat-"
He flashed her a reprimanding look. "Listen, sexy, that word is not in my vocabulary." He retrieved his pants and slipped them on. "Come on and get dressed. I'm going to heat up dinner." He went into the kitchen. Juicy felt her stomach growl. Yeah she was hungry but it was also part nerves. She slipped on a robe so that she could bathe, but first things first.
She stood in the entrance and watched Troy moving easily about their kitchen...just like that first time he'
d made her pancakes. Eating right had caused Troy's form to fill out nicely. He was the type of handsome that caused women to take a double look. It amused her when people realized that they were a couple: He with his tall lean rockstar good looks, and she with her sculptured blonde dread-locks and coal black skin. Juicy was big but had an hourglass form that also got the double-looks. Now that she had learned to listen before leaping, people took the time to look into her almond shaped eyes and notice her heart shaped lips and to see that she was a beautiful woman beneath her brusqueness and anger.
"Troy. We need to talk."
Troy might be slow on the uptake at times, but now he could clearly see that something was worrying her. "Juice, what's wrong? Something happen at the shop?" He thought about those young men hanging around on the corner and cursed himself for allowing her to walk to and from the car that they'd just recently bought. They had gotten a used car because he couldn't stand the thought of her on the bus at night...now he couldn't stand the thought of her walking to her car alone. He still had images of the attack that he’d interrupted. Sometimes that image would wake him in the middle of the night—what if he hadn’t been there? What if he hadn’t run them off?
Juicy took his hands and placed them on her rounded stomach. Troy looked at her confused. What? Was she worried about her weight gain? So she'd gained a bit of weight, but that kind of stuff didn't bother him. She could grow as big as a house and he'd still think she was as pretty as a fashion model because Juicy was his. But...why in the hell was her stomach twitching like that. Did she have an ulcer? She was just under too much stress-
Juicy bit her lip nervously. "I'm pregnant."
Troy looked down at his hands on her rounded belly, the way it swelled with...with his baby. He looked at Juicy in confusion. "But..."
She answered before he asked. "I don't know. I'm on the depo shot and have been non-stop."
Troy looked back down at her stomach. "The medicine they gave you in the hospital. It must have worked against the birth control. A-anti...bi-bi-Otics do that." He began stuttering.
"Troy?" Her brow furrowed in concern. "Are you okay, babe?"
He nodded. "How how how MANY mo-mo-MONTHS?" He was beginning to sweat with the effort to speak.
"Just about five months."
"Five months!" Troy winced and walked into the living room...walked away from her. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing; he had actually walked away from her after she’d told him that they were pregnant…Juicy watched him wordlessly. Yes, she could see that his head was cluttered, because hers was too. But she was still surprised, and maybe a little disappointed that he had not jumped up and down in excitement. She waited, even began to nibble a muffin. Troy rushed back into the kitchen.
"Okay, Juice." He knelt on the floor by her chair. He took her hand. She smiled, her heart racing. "I need some time. I got to get right."
She gave him a confused look, trying to figure out the meaning behind those words. Wasn’t he supposed to be slipping a ring on her finger right about now? "What?"
He closed his eyes and turned his head so that he wouldn't see the disappointment there. "Juice...just...I'll be back, okay?" He stood up and walked out the door.
What...? Juicy stared at the door, long after it had closed.
***
She did not understand why Troy had just left with those few words. It was now the middle of the night and he hadn’t come back or called. They’d been living together since the nightmares had made it impossible for her to sleep through the night without him. Though living together was a slight stretch. He spent his nights with her and during the day, while she did heads, he did whatever homeless people did.
Once they had the shop and there weren’t people running in and out of the apartment, Troy could relax at home. They would lie in bed, snuggled under the quilt, watching a rented movie and Juicy would think, this is what other people do…
Working closely together on the shop had allowed Juicy to see Troy in a different light. Maybe in her world he showed a lot of insecurity, but in his own world, with his friends and working with his hands, he was relaxed and very accomplished. He handled the deliveries, ordering the material, did most of the gutting of the old building himself, and cleaned each night.
Juicy thought she loved him before, but she knew it without a doubt when he put so much effort into making her dream come true.
She looked at the digital clock on the bedside table once again. One am. Where was he?
The next day Juicy robotically prepared for work. Troy still hadn’t come back and that had hurt. But she had to do what needed doing; she had a business to run and soon would have a baby that she might have to take care alone. Could it be that he was so freaked by the idea of a baby that he’d honestly left her? Or maybe he was out on the streets suffering through one of his bad headaches, maybe a seizure or something equally as horrible had happened...Why in the hell didn’t he at least call?!
Grumbling, she went on to work. Even the girl’s idle chatter and gossiping did nothing to help her mood.
“Where are the free muffins?” Someone asked.
Juicy gritted her teeth. “People were eating five muffins at a time and we had to put a stop to feeding greedy-ass people!” The woman gave her a surprised look, but wisely didn’t respond. Juicy put her hand on her hips and tapped her foot in annoyance, staring at everyone in the room until they averted their eyes.
She continued, despite the fact that she had no one to focus her anger on. “And first of all; those are not from a box or from the corner store. Those are fresh made. Second; fresh blueberries cost good money when people gotta be pigs about things!” Juicy put her hands back into the woman’s hair. She pulled the comb through tensely. “So, if you all get hungry then you need to just pack a damn lunch, shit.” She mumbled.
When she got home she hurried through the apartment. Troy wasn’t there and it didn’t appear that he’d been back. Her heart dropped in her chest. ‘This is not going to be a repeat of my mother’, she thought. ‘I am not going to turn into my mother.’ She hurried to the bathroom and got sick. When she returned, she thought about the voicemail and quickly dialed in the code. Yes! There were two messages. The first was from the doctor’s office and she almost skipped it, instead she listened impatiently.
“Miss Robinson, your test results are back. We do need for you to make an appointment immediately to discuss them. You can call Monday through Friday-”
NEXT
“Hi, Juice.” It was him! She began pacing. “Sorry that I left the way I did. It’s not you or…th-the pr-pregnancy. I needed to…” He paused. “…I needed to get some things straight in my head. So I decided to go back home.”
What???? Juicy almost fell down while trying to sit on the couch.
“I’m at my parent’s house. I know you’re at the shop and I know you won’t be happy when you get this message, which is why I guess that I’m leaving it on voicemail instead of calling your cell phone.” He cleared his throat. “But I’ll be back as soon as I get things straightened out. I’ll call you later I love you.” The last sounded like an after-thought and then the call ended.
Juicy stared at the phone. That’s it??? He had gone all the way to Connecticut and all he could say is that he’d be back as soon as he got things straight?! “Go to hell!” She screamed at the phone. He was breaking up with her; the chicken shit! And he didn’t have the guts to do it face to face! Then tears sprouted in her eyes. ‘I can’t believe he just left…’
“GO TO HELL!” She screamed.
She felt lightheaded suddenly and decided to lay on the couch. She fell asleep there, still clutching the phone.
***
"You're not very healthy, Mrs. Robinson." The prenatal doctor said. The older man folded his glasses and gave her a reprimanding look with his faded grey eyes. "You haven't had any prenatal care. You're overweight, you smoke-"
"Smoke? I don't smoke!"
The doctor referred to
her chart. "Your file says you smoke. And..." He squinted at her. "And you were a victim of a rape just about the same time of your conception." Now his expression was embarrassed.
Juicy slid off the examining table. "Look, that file is all wrong!" She was wearing a hospital gown that was too small and she gripped it tightly in back. "I don't smoke! AND it was an ATTEMPTED rape! AND it was a month before I got pregnant." What was he trying to imply?
The doctor took a step back, away from the red eyed woman. "Mrs. Robinson, you need to calm down-"