That fake little bitch knew she was getting a ring!
Mrs. Westcott cleared her throat. Knox looked in her direction. Nivea watched her mother mouth the words and motion with her hand, “Down! On your knee!”
Being a good sport, Knox got down on one knee. Nivea wanted to vomit over the hypocrisy that was unfolding before her eyes. Her parents and Courtney all knew that Knox was going to propose today. It was vulgar and insulting to be forced to watch Courtney and the rest of her family pretend that this proposal was a goddamn surprise.
Revelling in all the attention she was getting, Courtney held out her hand and smiled joyously. Knox slid a hell of a rock on her finger. When Nivea noticed the size of the diamond, which appeared to be at least three carats, she felt her stomach lurch. She shot out of her chair and hurried from the dining room. Cheeks ballooning and a hand covering her mouth, she ran toward the powder room that was on the other side of the kitchen.
Nivea was on her knees, heaving into the toilet bowl when her mother opened the door. It felt like the whole world had turned against her and she was open to being comforted by her mother. Instead of seeing a mother’s sympathetic face, she was met with a cold expression.
“You ruined Courtney’s moment. How could you?” Mrs. Westcott said bitterly.
Nivea looked up at her mother. “I can’t help if I’m sick. Do you think I planned it?”
“You’ve been pulling attention-getting shenanigans since the day your sister was born. I wouldn’t put anything past you.”
“I have a queasy stomach. I’m sick. If I wanted to intentionally ruin Courtney’s moment, I would have stayed in my seat and spewed all over the table.”
Lips drawn tight in anger, Mrs. Westcott waved her hand in the air. “Wipe your face. You look revolting,” she snarled.
Wounded by her mother’s sharp words, Nivea dropped her head. When she forced herself to look in the mirror, she was mortified to see traces of vomit at the corner of her mouth. She grabbed a tissue, hurriedly wiped her mouth, and then filled a Dixie cup with water.
“You need more than water. There’s mouthwash in the medicine cabinet,” her mother said, running her hand over her hair, clearly aggravated. “You are seven years older than your sister; it’s not normal for an older sister to constantly compete with her baby sister. You need to see a shrink. I’m serious, Nivea. This sibling rivalry is really unhealthy.”
“Mother, my stomach is upset. Why are you yelling at me when I’m obviously not feeling well?”
Mrs. Westcott sucked her teeth. “I hope you’re not pregnant.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“You feel that it’s acceptable to marry an uneducated laborer, so I wouldn’t put it past you to walk down the aisle, heavy with child.”
Nivea groaned. She wasn’t pregnant nor was she walking down the aisle anytime soon. This conversation was disgusting.
“I’ll tell you one thing, Nivea, if you’re brazen enough to sashay down the aisle in God’s house with a big belly, don’t expect your father to escort you.”
“I said, I’m not pregnant. I have more sense than to get knocked up.”
“Stop using vile terminology. That thug you intend to marry is really starting to rub off on you. The way you speak, your lack of concern over punctuality—”
“Mother, I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not. Something is wrong you. What is it?” Her mother’s eyes searched Nivea’s face for the truth. Nivea looked away.
Everything’s wrong, Mother. Eric cheated on me. He fucked a stripper and had a baby. But Nivea couldn’t reveal the true source of her ailment without facing harsh ridicule. She looked down at her engagement ring. Compared to her sister’s new bling, Nivea’s ring looked like junk jewelry. Nivea sneered down at the meaningless piece of glitter on her finger, angry at the fact that she would have to keep up the payments if she intended to maintain good credit.
Nivea’s life was joke, while Courtney’s future seemed as bright as her new diamond. Nivea’s stomach roiled again. She dropped to her knees, sticking her face back inside the toilet.
“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” Mrs. Westcott said in a voice filled with loathing. “If you’re that sick, why’d you come here in the first place?” Her mother paused for a moment. “Don’t return to the table. I want you to go home, Nivea. I can only pray that you haven’t infected the rest of us with that nasty bug you’ve got.” Her mother expelled a long sigh of disgust before closing the powder room door, leaving her daughter behind, groaning and retching her guts out.
CHAPTER 24
“Something smells funny.” Yuri wrinkled his nose.
“I’m cooking collard greens,” Vangie responded, busy peeling sweet potatoes.
“They stink.”
“No, they don’t. You’re not used to the strong smell of collards.”
“I’m not used to the smell of anything cooking.” Yuri giggled.
“Oh, listen to you. You’re starting to sound like your dad.” She shook her head, smiling at her precocious child.
“Daddy says I need to eat more home-cooked meals if I expect to be strong enough to play football.” Yuri pushed his sleeve up and flexed his muscle. “Look at the muscle I got from drinking two glasses of milk this morning.” Teeth gritted, he strained to pump up the little knot in the middle of his arm.
“Wow! You are getting strong,” Vangie said, indulging him. “If milk did that, imagine how big you’ll get from eating collard greens and other vegetables.”
“I like milk. But I don’t like vegetables.”
“What did Daddy tell you?”
“He said I have to start eating vegetables,” Yuri mumbled.
“That’s right. We’ve been eating nothing but junk food, but we’re going to start eating healthier.”
“Daddy, too?”
Holding back a wistful smile, Vangie nodded. “All of us.”
“Does Daddy live with us now?”
“No. He still lives with Nana.”
“How come he doesn’t sleep at Nana’s house? I always see him sleeping in your bed with you,” Yuri added. “Are you and my Dad married?”
Vangie took a breath. “No, Yuri. We’re not.”
“Divorced?” He looked worried.
“No. We were never married.”
Face scrunched in thought, Yuri scratched his head. “If Mommies and Daddies sleep in the same bed, doesn’t that mean they’re married?”
Vangie rubbed her forehead, thinking hard on how to respond. “Yuri, I don’t have time to answer a million questions,” she said, dodging his question. “Your dad bought a ton of food and I have to cook all of it by tomorrow, so give me a break, okay?”
Yuri didn’t look happy and Vangie felt guilty. “Do you wanna help me cook? Want me to teach you how to use this potato peeler?” She held the kitchen tool up, waved it back and forth as if she were tempting him with a fun toy.
Yuri recoiled. “I don’t wanna cook. I wanna play Smackdown vs. Raw.”
“Okay, go ahead.” Vangie was glad to get him out of her hair.
Yuri dashed out of the kitchen, and took off down the hallway. She could release a sigh of relief now that the interrogation was over. But Vangie felt troubled and unable to resume her culinary duties. Yuri’s probing questions had really struck a nerve. She sat down at the kitchen table, and thought hard about her predicament. Sure, Shawn was back in their lives, but he hadn’t proposed.
Tomorrow was Christmas and he hadn’t asked her about her ring size, and hadn’t taken her to look at any jewelry. She hoped that Shawn’s idea of family life wasn’t having a toothbrush in her bathroom, some clothes in her closet, throwing money her way, and sleeping in her bed when he chose to.
So far, Shawn was proving to be a good parent. Vangie didn’t want to lose that, but she really preferred a husband to a hands-on baby daddy.
Deep in thought, Vangie sat down at the kitchen table. She had to figure out a way to get Shawn to put a ri
ng on her finger. But she couldn’t pressure him, or spring the idea on him suddenly. She had to be patient.
God, she wished she hadn’t lied to Nivea. The lie had slipped out of her mouth in a moment of anger. Now instead of enjoying the fact that her little family was reunited and preparing to celebrate their first Christmas together, Vangie was staring at her bare ring finger, wishing Shawn loved her enough to put a ring on it.
Vangie had always been hardworking. By the time she was nineteen, she’d been employed as a bank teller for over a year. She was driving a new Honda, had her own, modest, one-bedroom apartment, a closet filled with designer-labeled clothing from TJ Maxx and Marshall’s. Possessing a fake ID, she was very active on the Philadelphia club scene.
Mature for her age, back then Vangie only became involved with men who were about their financial business. From ballers to married men, she’d had her share of love affairs gone wrong and way too much drama.
She met Shawn while she and Harlow were waiting in line to place their orders for cheesesteaks at a joint with the crazy name Gooey Looie’s. Harlow had lived all over the city while in foster care and she was familiar with South Philly. Harlow had sworn up and down that Gooey Looie’s cheesesteaks were bigger and better than Pats, Geno’s, and Jim’s. Vangie doubted it, and had only made the trip to the crazy-named place to prove Harlow wrong.
She ended up loving the melt-in-your-mouth huge cheesesteak. And she also fell in love with Shawn.
Shawn was there with one of his friends. While his friend flirted with Harlow and tried to get her number, Shawn stood in line, minding his business, not making any moves on Vangie. In fact, he acted as if he didn’t even notice her.
Intrigued by his handsome face, athletic physique, and his short haircut with beautiful deep waves, she was challenged by his seeming lack of interest, and so Vangie made the first move.
“My girl’s from around here in South Philly, and she swears these cheesesteaks are banging. What do you think? Are they really better than Jim’s on South Street?”
Shawn scowled. “Jim’s ain’t got nothing on Gooey Looie’s. We were feenin’ so bad, we drove here from the northeast.”
“Oh, okay. I live on Belmont Avenue in West,” she said, mesmerized by his smooth, coffee-colored skin.
“You got a man?”
“Not at the moment.”
His luscious lips formed into a smile. Then he took out his cell. He didn’t have to say another word; Vangie took her cue and began rattling off her number.
If Vangie hadn’t been so thrown off-guard by his cool demeanor and exceptionally good looks, if her judgment hadn’t been clouded by the sex appeal that he oozed, she would have done a reference check and found out what was what with Shawn’s money situation. Unfortunately, she fell hard for a dude who was living in his mom’s basement, cutting hair to pay for weed, booze, and his gear. She fell deeply in love with someone who was living in the moment with no goals or future plans.
Her pregnancy came as shock. Abortion occurred to her, but she also saw the unexpected pregnancy as an opportunity to force Shawn to grow up and settle down. Throughout the entire nine months that she carried Yuri and during his first five months of life, Vangie’s life was pure hell. Shawn rebelled against fatherhood and settling into a stable lifestyle by continuously lying and cheating.
It all came to a head when Nivea reported seeing Shawn’s car parked near Drexel University, where Vangie was going to school.
Vangie ran out of her apartment carrying Yuri. She didn’t have time to get his car seat. Holding her baby in her lap, Vangie rode with Nivea to Shawn’s secret love nest.
They arrived at the spot and Vangie’s heart stopped beating when she saw Shawn and a cute chick emerge from the house that Nivea had pointed out. With eyes that went blurry from shock and disbelief, she watched Shawn walking with another girl—a chick with a banging body. The girl’s tummy was exposed, unmarred by childbirth.
Giving birth to Yuri had put a hurting on Vangie’s young body. Her breasts sagged a little and her stomach would need surgery before she could ever flaunt it in public again. Her envy of that girl’s body was enough to send daggers shooting out of Vangie’s eyeballs.
Shawn had his arm draped around his jumpoff, lowering his head and kissing her cheek as they strolled toward his car.
Seeing Shawn all booed up with another woman sent Vangie into uncontrollable rage.
Vangie placed Yuri in Nivea’s arms and yanked Nivea’s bottle of Pepsi out of the cup holder. Shaking the bottle up and down, she ran toward Shawn and the chick. She unscrewed the cap and shot Shawn in the face with a blast of Pepsi. Momentarily blinded, he yelled and bent over, holding his face.
Vangie recapped the bottle and turned on the jumpoff chick. When the jumpoff saw Vangie shaking up the Pepsi, the girl turned around and tried to run back to her house. But motivated by jealousy and the desire for revenge, Vangie outran the competition. She caught the girl, grabbing her by the back of her collar before she could get to her front door.
The girl struggled and yelled for Shawn to help her, but Vangie yanked her into a headlock. With her free hand, she gave the Pepsi bottle a couple more furious shakes.
“No!” the jumpoff pleaded, but Vangie flicked the cap off and stuck her thumb into the opening of the soda bottle, fizzing the girl’s perfect makeup job.
“Whatchu doing fucking around with my man, bitch?” Vangie hissed while spraying the chick’s luxurious curly weave.
Vision restored, Shawn came running fast. With what seemed like unnatural strength, he unlocked Vangie’s grip on the jumpoff. “Let her go, Vangie!”
“Is this where you’ve been spending your nights? Huh? You’ve been staying over here with that bitch instead of seeing about me and your son?”
“Take your ass home, Vangie.”
“Or what? What are you going to do, Shawn? You gon’ whip my ass in front of your son over some random slut?”
“Her name is Tanya and she ain’t random. I thought you’d get the message. A normal person would take a hint.” He leaned close to her face. “Check this out; Tanya is my new jawn. Now that you know, don’t come over here starting no more shit. I’m with Tanya now. Accept it and move on.”
Shawn’s words hurt like a punch in the gut. “Wh…what about Yuri?” she stammered. “You’re just gonna walk away from your son for that tramp?”
“Trust and believe, I’ma take care of mine. But that don’t mean I have to deal with your nutty ass. Take my son home, Vangie. What kind of mother would bring her child out in this hot sun while she goes berserk in public? You on some nut shit!” Grimacing, Shawn turned.
Vangie grabbed him.
Nivea intervened. “Come on, Vangie. Let him go. Any man that would do you like this is not worth it.”
“Shawn!” Vangie screamed. “All those nights that I was sitting up waiting for you, you were over here with your bitch?”
“Vangie, you need to listen to your girlfriend, and take your monkey ass home!”
Vangie gasped. Shawn’s words were degrading and contemptuous. Vangie threw the empty plastic bottle at Shawn, clunking him on the shoulder.
“You better get your nutty girlfriend,” he told Nivea through gritted teeth. “She got one more time to throw some shit at me.”
“Are you threatening me, Shawn?” Vangie lunged for him.
Holding Yuri, Nivea jumped in front of Vangie.
Shawn shook his head, giving Vangie a look of contempt. “I’m trying to figure out what I ever saw in you,” he spewed, twisting his mouth in loathing. He snatched the door open, and went inside, slamming it shut in her face.
CHAPTER 25
Harlow would have loved for the trip down Memory Lane to have stopped at the part when she fell head over heels in love with Drake, but her mind was swiftly rewinding. Unable to stop the blast of cruel memories that began exploding in her mind, Harlow stretched out on the bed, grimacing at sights and sounds she wished she could forget.
1995
“What the hell is this?” Jody frowned at the letter from the school nurse. “You passed out on the playground?”
Eleven-year-old Harlow nodded.
“You alright, now?”
“Uh-huh.”
“So why is that nurse trippin’? Why do I need to come up to the school because you were running around and got dizzy?”
“I wasn’t running around.”
“Well, what happened, then? People don’t faint for no damn reason.” Jody was acting anxious—twitching like she did when she wanted to get high. Harlow didn’t want to get her more upset than she already was.
“I was talking with some of my girlfriends, and I got dizzy. I was trying to go sit down on the steps, and the next thing I knew, I was in the nurse’s office. The nurse tried to call you.”
“I don’t have any minutes on my phone. I have to get some when I get my check.”
“That’s why you have to come to the school. She said she has to talk to you.”
“That nurse can kiss my ass. I have better things to do than to be sitting up in your school. You probably got food poisoning from that garbage they serve in the cafeteria. Hmph, they better hope that I don’t hire me a lawyer and file a lawsuit against the whole damn district.” Jody popped some pills. “That nurse is working my nerves, trying to make me responsible for something that happened at school. You got sick on their watch, not mine!” Jody tossed the letter in the overflowing wastebin.
“Did you read the whole letter, Jody?”
“I read enough. I got shit to do tomorrow. I’m not breaking up my day to go talk shit with that nurse.”
“She said I can’t come back to school unless you sign me in.”
“You’re suspended?”
“I think so.”
“For fainting? Are they fucking serious? I’m going up there tomorrow, and I’m cussing everybody out. The principal, the teacher, and that fucking nurse. Everybody!”
“Please don’t embarrass me at school, Jody.”
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