“Nigga, I wish you would put your hands on my Baby,” my daddy said towering over him.
He backed away and sat down on the sofa. Brian sat down next to him and shook his head in disappointment.
“This nigga is about to marry somebody else and you went and got pregnant by him? How stupid can you be?” Jaden said as a lone tear slid down his cheek. He wiped it away just as quickly as it appeared.
“You act like you’ve never made mistakes. It’s done and there’s nothing that we can do about it,” my mother said.
I used my shirt to wipe away the tears that blurred my vision. The looks that my brothers were giving me were enough to make me run and hide. I’d let them down and it was written all over their faces.
“That nigga is dead,” Jaden said as he jumped up from the sofa.
“Bring your ass back here boy!” My daddy yelled stopping him in his tracks. He turned around and walked over to our father like a scared little boy. He pulled him into the kitchen, but I couldn’t hear what they were talking about.
“So are y’all letting her have the baby?” Caleb asked my mother.
“Yes, she is having the baby and I don’t care who doesn’t like it,” she replied.
He lowered his head and covered his face with his palms. Brian got up and walked to the back of the house without saying anything. After a few seconds, we heard one of the bedroom doors slam.
“I knew that this was going to happen,” I said crying to my mama.
“Stop crying Brooklyn. I’m not worrying about them. They crowded you so damn much. I’m surprised something hasn’t happened before now.”
I wiped my face in an attempt to get myself together. Even though I was happy that my brothers knew, the worst was yet to come. Bryce still wasn’t here so I had to go through this madness all over again.
CHAPTER 26
BRYCE
“What’s up Jay?” I said when I answered my phone for Jaden.
“Where are you man?” He asked sounding upset.
“I was on my way to drop Tiffany off t home. Why, what’s up?”
“Man you need to come by mama’s house before you do that,” he said.
“I’ll be there as soon as I take her home,” I replied.
“Man leave that hoe in the car. You need to come over here right now,” he said angrily.
“Alright bruh, I’m on my way,” I said right before hanging up the phone.
“Where are we going?” Tiffany asked me. We were on our way back from Wal-Mart and I was more than ready to get rid of her nagging ass.
“I need to stop by my mama’s house for a minute,” I replied dryly.
“Why do we need to stop over there? I hate going to your mama’s house,” Tiffany pouted.
“Good because you’re not getting out of the car anyway,” I replied.
She looked at me sideways, but she didn’t say anything. I had one more week to put up with her bullshit and I was out the door. I planned to tell her about everything tonight. I’d already made up my mind that if she starts acting a fool, I will be gone sooner than she thought.
“I’ll be right back,” I said as I hopped out of my car. I walked into my mama’s house and the smell of seafood hit me as soon as I opened the door.
“Damn, what you got cooking in here?” I asked as I leaned down and hugged my mama. I kissed Brook on her cheek and made my way straight to the kitchen. I got excited when I lifted the lid of the huge pot of gumbo that she’d cooked. I didn’t waste any time filling up a bowl and digging in. I didn’t care that Tiffany was in the car. I was taking my time. After downing a second bowl, I joined the rest of my family in the living room. I never noticed before, but everybody was sitting around with somber looks on their faces. I was so busy rushing to eat that I never bothered to ask Jaden why he needed me to come here so bad.
“What’s up? Why is everybody looking all pitiful and shit?” I asked.
“You need to ask them that question,” Jaden spat angrily.
“What’s going on?” I asked as I looked around at everybody.
“Oh, you finally made it, huh?” My father asked when he walked into the living room.
“Yeah, I’m trying to see what’s up. You called me over here for something,” I said looking at Jaden.
“Let me tell you just like I told your brothers. I don’t want no bullshit and no drama behind all of this. What’s done is done,” my daddy said confusing me even more.
“Okay, but I’m still lost,” I said looking at him.
“Brooklyn is pregnant,” my daddy said knocking all of the wind out of me.
“What you mean she’s pregnant?” I asked in shock. “When did she even start having sex?”
“Nigga, are you crazy or something? Her ass is pregnant! It doesn’t matter when she started having sex,” Jaden yelled.
I looked over at Brooklyn who was so close to my mother it looked like they were joined at the hip. She had a look of fear on her face, but I really didn’t care about that right now. I jumped up in a fit of rage as the news of my baby sister being pregnant finally sunk in.
“You pregnant Brooklyn?” I said as I towered over her small frame on the sofa. “You that fucking stupid that you would let one of them lil niggas go in you raw?”
“Y’all are something else. You must have forgotten that Taylor was only seventeen when she had your first child and Kia was sixteen when you got her pregnant Jaden,” my daddy yelled.
“And let’s not forget that I was only sixteen when I had you Bryce. I still graduated high school and went to college. Having a baby is not going to stop her from pursuing her career,” my mother chimed in.
“But you know better Brook. I don’t understand how you could do something so stupid,” I said.
Right as I was going off on her someone knocked at the door. Jaden got up and looked through the peephole to see who it was.
“Man that’s Tiffany,” he said frowning at me.
I briskly walked to the door and snatched it open. “What do you want Tiffany?” I asked angrily.
“I have to use the bathroom, I’m about to pee on myself. You must have forgotten that I was out here,” she said walking through the door.
“Go ahead and hurry up,” I replied.
“Hey everybody,” she spoke as she passed by my family. None of them said anything so she kept going towards the bathroom. I turned around and refocused my attention on Brooklyn once again.
“So who are you pregnant by Brooklyn? It’s not like I don’t already know, but I want to hear it from you,” I said. She just sat there and looked at me like I was crazy.
“Don’t act shy now. You weren’t acting shy when you were making a damn baby. And when I see Kevin’s punk ass, it’s over for him,” I said enraged.
“What the hell does Kevin have to do with this?” My mother asked.
“He has a lot to do with it. That’s who she’s pregnant by, right?”
The looks on everyone’s faces let me know that my theory was incorrect. I didn’t know how much more I could take right now. I really wanted to take Brooklyn and choke the life out of her.
“So what, you don’t know who the hell you’re pregnant by?” I yelled outraged.
“Shut up, don’t talk about this while her messy ass is in here,” my mama said referring to Tiffany.
I was so furious that I forgot all about her being in the bathroom. I paced the floor while quietly waiting for her to come out. After five minutes had passed, I marched down the hall and started banging on the bathroom door.
“Hurry up Tiffany, it doesn’t take that damn long to pee,” I yelled.
A few seconds had passed before I heard the toilet flush and the water turn on.
“My bladder was full,” she said when she opened the door.
“Man, whatever,” I said, unconcerned. Once she went back outside, I started in on Brooklyn once again.
“So talk to me Brooklyn,” I said looking down at her.
“Yeah, tell him who you
’re pregnant by,” Jaden said.
“It doesn’t even matter who she’s pregnant by. She’s not having a damn baby,” I said.
“You niggas must have forgotten who Brooklyn’s daddy is. Y’all don’t call the shots around here. She made her bed and she’s going to lay in it. She’s having that baby and that’s the end of this discussion,” my father said.
“Daddy how can you let her have a baby? You know we gon’ be the ones that end up taking care of it. This is crazy,” I fumed.
“The baby’s daddy is going to help, but of course we’re here if she needs us,” he replied.
“Who the hell is the baby’s daddy?” I yelled in frustration.
Once again, everybody looked around, but nobody had anything to say. I was about to blow up again when Jaden finally spoke up.
“She’s pregnant by that nigga Dominic,” Jaden said.
“What! What Dominic are you talking about?” I asked.
“What other Dominic do you know?” Caleb asked.
“When the hell did you start messing with him? Wait, I’m really confused now,” I said as I took a seat on the sofa.
“Open your damn mouth and say something,” Jaden yelled at Brook.
“We’ve been messing around for a few months,” she replied sounding scared.
“You do know that he’s about to get married right?” I asked her.
“Yeah, I know.”
“And you still let the nigga hit it? I know you can’t be that dumb,” I told her.
“I hope you don’t think he’s leaving his girlfriend to be with you. That nigga probably told your stupid ass all kinds of lies just to get what he wanted,” Jaden fussed.
“I can’t believe this dude was all up in my face knowing that he was fucking my little sister behind my back,” I said angrily.
“Y’all keep acting like Brook is innocent in all of this. It takes two to make a baby. And from what I can see he wants this baby more than anything,” my mama said.
“How do you know that?” I asked her.
“He came over here with Brooklyn yesterday,” she replied pissing me off.
“So y’all already knew what was going on?” I yelled.
“No, we just found out about it yesterday. I know he’s about to be a married man, but he seems like he’s going to do right by his baby. That’s all that really matters to me,” my mama replied.
There was no doubt in my mind that Dominic would take care of my sister’s baby. He really wanted kids, and Kennedi hasn’t been able to give him any yet. I would never have thought in a million years that my baby sister would be the one to get the job done. I sat back and replayed all the times that Dominic and Brooklyn were at my house together. Nothing gave me any indications that they could have been messing around. She was never any different around him so there was no way for me to have known that. Lately, I’d been so preoccupied with my own drama that I’d completely forgotten about Brooklyn. She was spending a lot of time with our cousins. Knowing them, she was probably doing whatever she wanted to do. As bad as I wanted to find Dominic and do him something dirty, my mama was right. Brooklyn was just as much to blame as he was. She could have said no, but obviously she didn’t. I still planned to go holler at him about a few things, but I had to get my mind together before that could happen. I stood up from the sofa and headed for the front door.
“Are you leaving?” My mama asked me.
“No, me and Brooklyn still have a lot of talking to do. I’m going to tell Tiffany that she can leave,” I replied.
I walked to my car and saw Tiffany talking on her phone. She jumped when she saw me and put the call on hold.
“It’s about time,” she said when I opened the door.
“You can take the car and go home. I’ll probably be here for a while,” I told her.
“How long is a while Bryce?”
“I don’t know, just go home and I’ll be there when I finish talking to my mama,” I yelled.
“Well, I hope you don’t be too long. I don’t want to be home by myself all night,” she said.
I ignored her and watched as she moved from the passenger’s seat into the driver’s seat. As soon as she pulled off I took out my phone and called Taylor. I was feeling down and she was the only person that could help me feel better. Tiffany said that she didn’t want to be inside by herself for too long, but that’s exactly how it was going to be. Once I finished talking with Brooklyn, I was going to spend the rest of my night with Taylor.
CHAPTER 27
KENNEDI
“Hold on,” Tiffany yelled into the phone. She and I had been playing phone tag for the past thirty minutes. When she called me earlier, I was on the phone with the wedding planner. She claimed that she had something important to tell me so I rushed to call her right back. I heard her and Bryce talking in the background, but it sounded kind of muffled. I was sitting at my kitchen counter trying to find out what I was going to order for me and Dominic for dinner. He kept trying to get me to cook, but that was not happening. I was not the domestic type and Dominic just had to accept that. He loved home cooked meals and he got one whenever his mother cooked it for him. There was no way in hell that I was slaving over a hot stove when I could pick up the phone and have a meal delivered to me.
“Dominic,” I yelled upstairs to my fiancé.
He’d been locked down in our bedroom watching TV since he came inside. For the past few days, all we seemed to do is argue. I was sick of him spending all of his free time at David’s house. We hadn’t done anything together in a while, but he always made time for his brother. I heard him walking down the stairs until he was finally standing in front of me. I swear I never got tired of looking at him. He was so perfect to me. He had the perfect body and a face that I loved to wake up to every morning.
“What’s up?” Dominic said as I lusted over his tall frame.
“I’m starving and I don’t have a taste for none of this,” I said gesturing at the take out menus in front of me.
“Well, you need to cook sometimes Kennedi,” he said sounding disgusted.
“Please don’t start with all of that. We always eat out so I don’t know why you’re acting like this is something new,” I replied.
“That’s exactly my point, we’re always eating out. We can take turns and cook sometimes or we can cook the food together if you want to,” he said.
“You can cook if you want to, but I won’t be helping you.”
“What did you call me down here for Kennedi?”
“I just told you that I’m hungry. We need to go get something to eat,” I whined.
“Just tell me what you want and I’ll go get it,” he said making me smile.
“You are so sweet baby,” I cooed as I stood up and kissed him.
“Yeah, you only saying that because I’m doing what you want me to do,” he laughed.
“You always give me my way so that’s nothing new and I want Chinese food if you don’t mind.”
“Alright, I got you. I already know what you want,” he replied. He went upstairs to get his wallet and keys right before he walked out of the door.
“Hello,” Tiffany said when she came back to the phone.
“Yeah, I was just about to hang up on your ass,” I complained.
I’d completely forgotten that she was still on the phone. I had her on the speakerphone, but the phone was sitting on the counter.
“Girl I have something to tell you,” she said loudly. “You are not going to believe this shit.”
“What happened?” I asked giving her my undivided attention.
“You won’t guess this in a million years,” she screamed excitedly.
“Well, I don’t have time to be guessing so just tell me,” I snapped.
“Girl that heifer Brooklyn is pregnant,” she screamed.
“I just know that you are lying,” I said.
“No, I’m not. I heard them talking about it when I was at Bryce’s mama’s house,” she said.
“I can’t believe that they discussed it in front of you.” It was no surprise that Bryce’s family didn’t really care for Tiffany too much. She rarely went over there and they only came to his house for parties.
“They didn’t discuss it in front of me. I was sitting outside in the car, but I went in to use the bathroom. I heard Bryce fussing and I stood in the hall and listened,” she said laughing.
“Your ass is too nosy,” I said laughing with her.
“But that’s not all girl. That heifer doesn’t even know who the baby is by. I heard Bryce yelling at her saying that she doesn’t know who she’s pregnant by.”
“I know Bryce is going crazy right about now. You know that’s his heart right there,” I said.
“That’s good for his ass. He’s always trying to put her on a pedestal. I told him she was going to make him cry and that’s exactly what she did,” Tiffany said.
“He was crying Tiffany?” I asked my cousin.
“He probably was. His eyes were all red and shit. His brothers looked like they were pissed too,” she said.
I could tell that my cousin was enjoying all of this a little bit more than she should have. She hated Brooklyn so I wasn’t surprised by her reaction. I could only imagine how Bryce was feeling. As long as it wasn’t me I wasn’t too concerned about it.
“Girl, this is crazy. I just told Dominic that I thought her and David have something going on. They were acting a little too friendly when we were at your house that last time. Then he let her drive his car and stuff. You know he loves that car more than life itself,” I said.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if she gave it up to him too. Her little ass is hot,” Tiffany said.
“Girl, I can’t wait until Dominic gets back so I can tell him,” I said.
“That’s the only way he’s going to find out. I know damn well that Bryce won’t be telling anybody,” Tiffany said. “Where is Dominic at anyway?”
“He went to get us something to eat. He should be back in a few minutes,” I answered.
“Wouldn’t that be a mess if she was pregnant for your brother in law?” Tiffany said laughing hysterically.
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