Novah wrinkled up her nose. He had some fucking nerve.
“Carter you and I both know this is not your baby! I can’t believe you would stoop to a level so low. How does your wife feel about this?”
Carter chuckled into the phone.
“All of this could have been avoided if you would have stopped fucking with that nigga. I told you shit would get ugly. I don’t like that nigga, and I don’t want him in your life. Let that nigga go, and I’ll leave you at peace. If you can't, then you can get ready for me to dog your ass every second I get. Shit, you act like you too fucking good to even see a nigga anymore. I miss you,” he confessed, turning serious.
Novah shook her head. She was positive that he was suffering from some mental disorder. He was all over the place.
“Carter, I can’t do this with you,” Novah said as Billie stepped back into the room.
Billie looked down at Novah with curious eyes.
“Novah is that Durand?”
“Durand! Fuck that hoe ass nigga,” Carter spewed hatefully.
Novah ended the call on her bitter ex-boyfriend, and immediately messages began to come into her phone as Billie sat beside her.
“Girl, Carter got my people tripping,” she sighed.
Billie swallowed hard. She cleared her throat as she peered down at Novah.
“Well it could be Carter, but it could also be Durand. I hate to do this while you're stressing about Carter, but Normani just sent me this,” Billie said and passed Novah her phone.
Novah’s hand shook as she clicked on the link. The title stood out in bold lettering, and the words made her stomach tighten up instantly.
Recording of R&B Singer discussing her secret sex life with Durand to his assistant! You heard it here first!!!
Novah shakily went to the recording, and the audio instantly turned on.
Thank you for meeting up with me. I just needed someone to talk to. I try to pretend it didn’t happen, but I can't. I love him. I’m still in love with him and to see him with her drives me insane. That should be me carrying that baby.”
“I know Naiyana, but it isn’t, and Durand really loves her. His mom and I have never seen him like this before. He’s happy and at peace. Especially after everything that happened with you two. It took him a while to even do music and shit. I think you should drop off the tour and part ways with him,” the second assistant said quietly.
“I can’t do that! You and I both know he’s only with her because she’s pregnant. Had I kept my baby he would be with me but I didn’t, and he’s trying to hurt me. He wanted a wife and a kid, and I chose my career. Now he’s faulting me for that. Hell, he got mad that I didn’t let us go public. She’s not me, and she allows for him to control everything with his demanding ass and that’s why he’s with her but you and I both know he wants me! I’m the one that got away,” Naiyana said harshly.
The recording ended, and Novah could feel her heart shattering slowly.
“Wow,” she whispered with fresh tears streaming down her face.
She opened her mouth to say something else, and her baby kicked her hard in the stomach. Seconds later, fluid leaked down her leg with a light stream.
“I think my water just broke,” she whispered.
Billie’s eyes widened.
“What! Oh my God, where’s Durand?”
Novah shrugged. Her tears fell freely down her face as she replayed the audio in her head.
“He has a UK show today, and after that, he was coming home until I had the baby. A UK show with his old bitch that he replaced me with.”
Billie stood up and shook her head.
“Okay, this is a mess, but I’m here for you, and so is your family. We're going to get you through this Novah. A new baby Royale is on the way,”
The next few hours trickled by as Novah prepared for the delivery of her baby girl. With her emotions in disarray, her mother chose to keep her cellphone away from her. Novah had been hounded with calls concerning both Carter and Durand, and her blood pressure was uncomfortably high.
“Novah we need to talk,” Novah’s doctor Pierce said, walking into the room.
Novah glanced over at her as she felt another contraction subside.
So far, she’d been able to handle them, but she was worried with how much longer she could take them without needing relief.
“Yes,” she answered weakly.
The doctor smiled as she walked up on her.
“With your blood pressure rising, the baby’s heart rate has slowed down. We’re beginning to get concerned.”
“What does that mean, doctor?” Durand’s mother asked, walking up.
Because of the nature of Durand’s issues coming out, she’d been quiet in the room, but her presence was still felt. She’d been at Novah’s beck and call and had come in toting gifts and a big smile.
“We’re going to start with the cesarean process to bring the baby out,” Doctor pierce explained, and Novah began to cry.
She’d done the cesarean with her boys, and it had been scary even back then, but she’d had Carter. Durand was on a flight home, but what would that do for her now?
“I can’t do this alone,” she cried and blubbered hard as tears fell down her face.
“And you won’t have to. I told you we’re all we got. You know I got you,” Quez said, walking up with his wife by his side.
Novah nodded as she continued to cry. Arquez hugged her as best as he could and wiped her face.
“You good, so relax. Okay?”
Novah nodded weakly as her cousin consoled her. Like always, he was there for her, and she was learning that no matter what she could count on him.
“I appreciate you Arquez, I really do,” she whispered, and he nodded while looking down at her.
“You know it’s all love. Let’s get ready to bring this spoiled ass girl into the world,” he cracked.
A few people laughed as Durand’s mother walked up on Novah. She caressed Novah’s cheek and cleared her throat.
“Can I pray over you?”
Novah nodded. She could always use a prayer.
“Of’course.”
Durand’s mom smiled.
“Heavenly father in the midst of chaos you bring us blessings. I ask that you safely carry Novah and her precious daughter through this delivery. Bring them both out unscathed and in one-piece Lord in Jesus name. Amen.”
“Amen,” everyone said in unison including Novah.
Novah was then wheeled away as her cousin changed into a pair of scrubs. Novah closed her eyes and said a prayer of her own as they prepped her body for surgery.
“Watch over us daddy,” she whispered and winced when the needle to numb the lower half of her body was pushed into her skin.
“Do you think he’s playing me?” Novah asked Quez as he stepped into the room.
Quez walked up on her and cleared his throat.
“I can’t answer that but what I can say is that you should never go off what another muthafucka says bout your man. Talk to him first; then you decide what you want to believe. If he’s been good to you, then don’t throw that shit out the window because of some shit some bitch say,” her cousin replied making a few nurses gaze their way. Quez smirked at them before looking back to Novah. “If he loves you, then he’ll come home and do whatever he has to make this shit right. For Palmer, I’ll push my pride to the side, say a million I’m sorry’s and empty the account. I changed for her and if he loves you, then he gone change for the better too. It's as simple as that,”’ he replied, and Novah smiled.
“Your daddy would be proud of the man you’ve become,” she told him quietly.
Quez’s eyes saddened at her words. His father had passed when they were on bad terms.
“I pray he is,” he murmured, avoiding eye contact with her.
Novah smiled, knowing that her uncle would and was pulled away from her thoughts as the doctors placed the blanket at her stomach. It was time to have her baby regardless of wh
at was happening, and she refused for anyone or anything to take away the joy of that.
8
#forgivnessforwho
“The point of this marriage group is to share our experience and find effective ways to navigate through our marriage. God is our guide, and with the word, we can have a happy marriage. Right?”
A few people nodded while some people Normani included stared blankly ahead at the attractive couple that sat in the center of the room. Normani and Tru were fresh off the plane from visiting Novah and back in Tennessee.
“I know it seems impossible, but it's not. As long as you use God as your weapon against the problems in your marriage, you can make it. My husband and I got married at 18. We dealt with everything from infidelity to emotional abuse. I was determined to divorce this man then God happened. One day my husband woke up and we went to church. Slowly he became someone that I dreamed about but never thought could exist. We began counseling through the church, and it was then that I realized I wasn’t perfect; heck, I was far from it. We both had so many things to work on, and to this day we still do. The bible doesn’t work unless you do. This week we want you all to do an assignment. You have to go on two dates. You both get to plan out the perfect date and do the date your partner's way. At the end of both dates right down how it was to serve them and how it made you feel to do that. Like always, we have our confession hour. This is a judgment-free zone, so please don’t be scared to talk. None of us are perfect but Jesus. Who would like to speak today?” the lady minister.
Slowly a handsome man clad in a black custom suit with brown eyes and a sad smile walked to the center of the room. He dropped his head and said a quick prayer before looking at the group of people watching him. Normani noted how tall and lean he was. Even in his suit, she could see he held a bit of street to him. Maybe it was the hand tattoo, or it could have been the diamond earring. His skin was a burnt umber tone, and he wore his hair in a curly taper with a well-groomed beard. He was a looker, but even he couldn’t compare to the man that was beside her.
Tru was still garnering her attention even after all they’d gone through. Since the miscarriage Normani was extremely uncomfortable around Tru. He was acting as if the matter hadn’t happened and that angered her. She wasn’t sure why but it did. So yes, even as he sat beside her looking sexy as hell inside of the church in his blue faded designer jeans that he wore a red crew neck with and Cuban chain that was flooded with diamonds she frowned. Normani didn’t know what the hell she wanted from him anymore. This new Tru was driving her insane with his praying, caring, loving ass.
“My name is Damari. I’ve been coming here for a few months now and honestly; I thought it was a waste of my time. My wife had to beg me to come. She’d been coming for a year…” he stopped talking and shook his head. “A year she came without praying for me and praying when I didn’t even deserve it. Now she’s gone. Six months ago, she suffered from an aneurysm, and she didn’t make it….” he stopped talking and Normani’s throat clogged up at his revelation. “I sat inside of that hospital room mad at God. I want to set the world on fire, you know? She was only 27; she didn’t deserve to die. I needed more time with her man. I want more time with my wife…,” he said and wiped his tears. As he looked out at the crowd, Normani swallowed hard. “The same wife that I cheated on for two years. The same wife that I neglected and berated. I used the love that she had for me against her, and the last thing I said to her was that she was too needy. That she needed to get a hobby and now here, I am alone…. if y’all don’t listen to anything else I say listen to this. Life is too short to be playing games. I played games with the love of my life for four years now I would give all I had to spend four minutes with her. Wake up. Repent for your sins and change your ways before it’s too late,” he said and walked away.
Normani dropped her head, and Tru pulled her to his side. Her body stiffened as his Tom Ford cologne assaulted her nostrils. He smelled as good as he looked.
“You okay?”
His voice was deep like always as it held a hint of concern to it. Normani nodded, and he let her go.
“Aigh’t, let’s get out of here,” he said and stood up.
Normani waved to a few people she’d seen at Tru’s fathers’ home before leaving out of the building with him. As she headed for the car, Tru glanced over at her.
“Let's walk for a minute. You know it’s good for me,” he said and grabbed her hand.
Normani nodded with furrowed brows. First, the praying, then church, even counseling, and now they were walking? Tru was becoming an enigma to her. She shook her head as they bypassed the white Maserati they’d rode in and strolled down the street.
“Wow,” she murmured, feeling like she was in someone else’s life.
Normani just knew she wasn’t with a man that loved walking down the street. It was something so small but very personal. The Tru she knew would much rather ride in style and listen to his rap. He didn’t care about creating moments with her.
“What's wrong?”
Normani shook her head. She watched a tricked out old school car that sat on rims so high she wasn’t sure how they got into the car ride by before looking back to Tru.
“Tru, what are we doing?” she asked the burning question as they walked towards Beale street.
Tru brushed both hands over his hair. Two women walked towards them, and Normani watched the southern, sexy women salivate over Tru. He paid them no mind as his eyes ventured back down to her.
“We spending time with my pops.”
Normani nodded as she looked up at Tru.
“I know that. I also know that a lot has happened. You cheated, I shot you, and I filed for divorce. I got pregnant by someone else and well you…” Normani stopped talking, and her eyes watered. “You walk around like none of this happened. You go to church. You take River to the park, and you cook for me. Like what the fuck is going on? This isn’t the Tru, I know.”
“When I was a kid, this was me. Even in school, I was a chill dude. I had my ways like fucking the lil chicks and shit like that, but for the most part, I stayed in church with my people all damn day. I hung out with the church kids I grew up with, and I was good. It wasn’t until my mom moved to the “D” that I stopped going to service. I started kicking shit with the niggas on the block, and I forgot about God. Look at how that shit turned out for me. I fucked up everything with us. I’m trying to be better. I’m trying to right my fucking wrongs Normani. Is something wrong with that?”
Normani shrugged. She slid a few strands of hair behind her ear and checked out the downtown Memphis scenery. The weather was nothing like Michigan’s, but she liked it.
“I’m having a hard time accepting the new you. You’ve messed up so much. You broke my heart,” she said quietly.
Tru nodded with narrowed eyes. He looked straight ahead as they walked down the block.
“And you broke my shit too. You think it was easy for me to nurse you back to health after losing another niggas baby? What the fuck! That was the hardest shit a nigga ever had to do. I wanted to say fuck it and sign the papers right then,” he revealed in a deep tone.
Normani wiped her eyes as her anger with him resurfaced.
“Then why didn’t you?” she snapped.
Tru stopped walking and peered down at her.
“Because I love you and I’m man enough to admit I pushed you into that niggas bed. I forced you to step out of character. All of this shit happened because of me, and I would never put that shit on you. That’s why I didn’t. I’m not gone give up on us but if you can’t accept that I am trying what the fuck is the point of all this shit? Do you wanna be with that hoe ass nigga?”
Normani swallowed hard. Did she want Azariah? No, but she had in the past. When Tru had first fucked up, but it was clear to her that wanting him and having him were two different things. It wasn’t meant for them, but that also didn’t mean she and Tru were meant to be together.
“I don’t. Not anymo
re.”
Tru nodded. Hurt flashed over his face as he took a deep breath before exhaling.
“And you don’t wanna be with me either, do you.”
Normani shrugged. Tears fell down her eyes as Tru’s eyes watered. Before a tear could fall, he briskly turned around and headed for the car. Normani hugged herself as she watched him swagger back down the street.
“It’s not fair for him to act like the victim. He cheated on me. I don’t even wanna be with him.”’
Diana sighed into the phone.
“Then why are you down there with him, baby?”
Normani groaned. She looked around the large bedroom and shook her head. Because Tru’s father’s home was filled with all Tru’s siblings on his father’s side, Tru had rented them out a beautiful home in Memphis. Normani loved everything about the two-story house.
“Because his father is dying,” Normani huffed as she watched River play with her toy guitar on the bed beside her.
“Girl cut the bullshit. You’re down there because a part of you still loves him too. I believe he’s changed, but it only matters if you believe it. Do you think Azariah can be a better man to you then Tru can?” her mom asked.
Normani’s face flushed with embarrassment.
“Azariah? Where did that come from?”
Diana laughed.
“Girl I may have been born at night, but it wasn’t last night. I know what happened between both of you. Well, I know all of Tru’s stuff because he told me. You’re the one being tight-lipped about your extramarital affairs.”
Normani held her head in confusion.
“What exactly did Tru tell you, and since when did you and he become good friends?”
Diana laughed.
“Good friends? Honey stop it. He came over once he was back moving around good and he apologized for everything. He said he was sorry for not asking for your hand in marriage then he told me about his affair from the beginning. He owned up to everything and said that he stopped right before you all went to Vegas for the wedding,” her mom replied.
Upside of Love Page 15