BFF's

by Brenda Hampton

  “I’m so glad that Daddy’s home,” I said between sloppy, wet kisses. “I’m . . . so . . . glad . . . you’re . . . home . . .”

  “Me too.”

  Cedric tore into me like a maniac that night. He didn’t leave until noon, causing me to miss my interview. Truthfully, I didn’t even care. I had Cedric back on my team, and when I checked my account the money had been flowing again. I smiled and fell back on my bed, screaming “Yes!”

  Later that day, I got a call from Trina that came from out of the blue.

  “I need to speak to you as soon as possible. It’s very important, Evelyn, and I can’t go another day without getting this off my chest.”

  I wasn’t sure if Cedric was coming back today or not, but I told Trina that we could meet. She wanted to meet at a downtown bar and grill that we used to meet at, but I thought that was odd because she knew I couldn’t drink. I still agreed to it, and as soon as I put on some clothes I left.

  When I arrived at the bar and grill, Trina was sitting at a booth in a pink-and-black sweat suit. There weren’t too many customers inside and the lighting was so dim that I could barely see her. I made my way over to the booth, but immediately noticed the blank expression on her face when she saw me.

  “I suspect this isn’t going to be good by the look on your face.” I eased into the booth and set my shades on the table.

  “Unfortunately, it’s not going to be, especially if what I suspect is going on winds up being the truth.”

  I had a feeling where Trina was going with this, but the first thing I needed was a cold soda. I flagged down the heavyset waitress with dirty-blond hair and asked her to bring me one. I then opened my clutch purse and pulled out my compact mirror. I dabbed my lips with red lipstick then smacked them together.

  “Okay, Trina, go. The floor is yours and I’m all ears.”

  She didn’t beat around the bush. “Are you having sex with Cedric and is that his baby you’re carrying? I want the truth, Evelyn, and I want you to tell me now.”

  I folded my arms across my chest, as if I were offended. “I don’t know why you keep confronting me with this dumb shit, but to answer your question again, no. No, I’m not having sex with Cedric and I’m not having his baby. I told you that I was pregnant by Marc and we are still seeing each other.”

  Trina glared at me and sighed. The waitress brought my soda over to the table and asked if I wanted anything to eat. “We got hot wings, hamburgers, hot dogs—you name it, we got it,” she said, smacking on gum.

  “No, thank you. The soda will be fine.”

  The waitress looked at Trina. “What about you, cookie? Can I get you anything other than the milkshake you’re drinking on?”

  “Not right now. If I need anything else, I’ll let you know.”

  “Okay,” she said, then squinted to get a closer look at Trina. “Say, anybody ever tell you that you look like that chick from Destiny’s Child? You know the brown one with the cute tush and not that Beyoncé.”

  “Who Kelly? Kelly Rowland?” Trina questioned.

  “Yeah, Kelly. I like her a lot.”

  “No, that’s the first time I heard that, but thanks for the compliment.”

  “No problem,” she said, and then looked me over. “You gals are really pretty. Your hair looks curly like Beyoncé, but you’re much prettier than she is. I guess you can tell that I’m really not a fan and the way my husband looks at that woman pisses me off. I know I got lots of weight to lose before I can look like she does, but I’m slowly working on it.”

  There was no doubt that the waitress was working my nerves, but she was helping me get my thoughts together, now that I knew what this conversation would be about.

  “Well, good luck and don’t be too upset,” Trina said. “Beyoncé would probably die to have your crystal-blue eyes and so would I.”

  “Really?” The waitress smiled harder and showed her stained teeth. Yucky, I thought. Her eyes weren’t really all that, either.

  “Thank you, but I’m not going to keep disrupting you two. Enjoy y’all’s day and holler if you need anything.”

  She walked away and Trina picked up where we left off. “Marc, huh,” she said. “Well, I need to let you in on something right now. I saw Marc at the grocery store last week. We talked and he said that he hadn’t heard from you. When I mentioned a baby, he damn near fell on his ass because he hadn’t a clue what I was talking about. So either he’s lying or you’re lying. I have a strong feeling that it’s you.”

  I cut my eyes at Trina and looked away, thinking hard if I should tell her the truth. Eventually, I expected it to come out and if Cedric and I were planning to be together then maybe it was time to admit to the breaking news.

  “Yes. Yes, I have been seeing Cedric and I am pregnant with his child. The last thing I ever wanted to do was hurt Kayla, but she has always had certain things that I wanted and desired to have for myself.”

  Trina had a look on her face that could kill. You would have thought that I just told her it was her husband. I didn’t understand why she thought any of this was her business to begin with.

  “I don’t know if I should reach across this table and smack the shit out of you or if I should feel sorry for you. I can’t believe that you have that much jealousy in your heart for Kayla—and for God’s sake, Evelyn, she is supposed to be your best friend. What are you thinking?”

  “You want to know what I’m thinking? Well, what I’m thinking is that Kayla may have been a good friend to you, but she hasn’t been one to me. She knows—and has known for quite some time—how messed up my situation is, but all she does is sit back on her millions and get a kick out of me begging her for money. She shops at Saks while we shop at Target. She pretends like she doesn’t know what’s going on in our lives, and the first thing she always says is, ‘Why didn’t you tell me you needed something?’ Why tell someone who already knows? If she really cared about us, she would offer to help us.”

  “Evelyn, you need to get it through your thick head that Kayla doesn’t owe us anything. And please tell me what your messed-up financial situation has to do with your decision to fuck around with her husband? I’m not making the connection here. What you’re saying sounds like a bunch of bullshit.”

  “Bullshit or not, it’s the truth. If I had her money, you would be set. You would have everything you ever wanted and so would she. We’ve been friends for a long time. Shared our lifelong dreams, talked about our futures, and prayed for doors to open for all of us. They opened for her, but she never looked back. You can’t deny that, Trina, and now that her world has come crumbling down, she has to come to us for help. I just couldn’t find it in my heart to help her.”

  “Okay, fine, that’s how you feel. But tell me again where Cedric comes into all of this. He’s a lowlife bastard. I swear if I ever get some alone time with him, I could just . . . just kill him.”

  “Violence won’t solve anything and you need to stop poking your nose where it doesn’t belong. Cedric is my ticket to get out of the rut I’m in. He’s been giving me money from time to time, but I’m so far in debt that it may take a while for me to get out of it. I didn’t plan to get pregnant with his child, but it happened. All I can do is take this opportunity and run with it.”

  “Opportunity? You really see this as an opportunity?”

  “Yes, I do. An opportunity to have some of the things in life that I’ve never had. For once, I just want a taste of the good life. I want to shop until I drop. I want to drive in fancy cars and live in a house like the one Kayla lives—or should I say, lived in. I want to know for a fact that the electric company can’t turn off my lights, and I want to travel the world and see more than just the end of my street.”

  “You can have all of that one day, but this is not the way. Cedric is not going to be your ticket to anywhere but hell. Look at what he’s doing to Kayla right now. She depended on him to take care of her and stick by her side, for better or worse. Now, she has to figure out a w
ay to make it on her own. You can’t trust a man like him and having his baby is not going to save you.”

  “It may or may not, but it’s a start. I don’t trust Cedric, but I’m going to milk him for every dime that I can, while I can do it. During the process, some people’s feelings may get hurt and some things may have to come to the light. Meanwhile, I have to see about me. I need to take care of me and my child, and at any cost I will do it.”

  Trina rubbed her forehead and squeezed it. “If you’ve been feeling like this, why don’t you tell Kayla? As long as we’ve been friends, you owe that to her. While she may have done some things that you disagree with, you should have gone to her and said something about how you felt. This is so awful, Evelyn, and I don’t think you realize how much damage this is going to cost all of us.”

  “If you want her to know, and if you’re so worried about damaging your friendship with her, then you tell her. You consider yourself a true friend, so tell me, Trina: What’s holding you back and keeping you from saying anything?”

  “Because, it’s not my place to say anything. I feel as though I’m caught in the middle.”

  “I’m giving you permission to get out of the middle. I won’t feel betrayed if you tell her about this and it’s just a matter of time before she finds out. Cedric has filed for divorce. I suspect that things are about to change real soon.”

  “Meaning? Are you planning to marry him or something? Is it really that serious?”

  “Not hardly. But we will be spending more time together. At my place, as well as at his.”

  Trina’s phone rang and when she looked down at it she decided not to answer. “I can’t take any more of this right now. I don’t know what I’m going to do, but all I can say to you right now is that you’re wrong, Evelyn. So wrong for all of this. You have shown me what kind of friend you really are and this shit is scary.”

  “A good friend to friends who are good to me.”

  Trina didn’t bother to reply. She left five dollars on the table and walked out. After she left, I reached for my cell phone to call Marc. I was ready to chew him out for talking to Trina, but I was startled when he said he hadn’t seen or spoken to her.

  “I don’t know why she would lie on me like that, but either way, I need to call you back. I’m busy right now,” he said.

  I hung up and sucked my teeth as I thought about that lying bitch. She found out what she wanted. The question was, what was she going to do with the information?

  Chapter Seventeen

  Kayla

  I was still feeling hung over from Sunday and it was Tuesday. Trina called last night and told me that she was spending the night with Keith. I hoped that she wasn’t staying away from her apartment because I was here. The last thing that I wanted was to inconvenience her. I called her cell phone to check on her, but she didn’t answer. As I was leaving her a message, a call interrupted. It was coming from an unknown number.

  “Hello,” I said.

  “I want to meet my real father,” Jacoby said. “Can you pull some more of your tricks to make that happen?”

  I wanted to go off on him for speaking to me that way, but I had waited so long for him to call me that I didn’t want to blow it. “I don’t do tricks, but I can see what I can do to make that happen. Where are you?”

  “I’m at Adrianne’s house right now.”

  “How have you been?”

  “Just fine, Mother. Perfectly fine and I couldn’t be better.”

  His voice was filled with sarcasm and I hated it. “Have you been to school?”

  “Of course.”

  “Have you been staying at home?”

  “Yes, I have, but I’ve also been in and out. I’m trying to keep busy, but the thoughts of my father keep bugging me.”

  “I know and I get it. I take full responsibility for what I’ve done and I didn’t want to hurt you like this. You have to believe me when I say that. It pains me that you believed what Cedric—”

  “I couldn’t care less about Cedric. All I want to do is look my real father in the eyes. I want to talk to him and possibly get to know him. You denied me that opportunity. I’m so angry with you for doing this.”

  “Fine. Then allow me to make this right. Give me a number where I can reach you and I’ll call you back as soon as I reach him.”

  Jacoby gave me a number where I could reach him and hung up. My heart was heavy. I hadn’t spoken to Arnez since I gave him a measly ten thousand dollars to stay out of our lives. He would have taken five and the truth was that he didn’t give a damn about Jacoby. I wasn’t even sure if Arnez would meet him, but to settle this once and for all, I kept my word to Jacoby and called Arnez.

  “Is this who I think it is?” he said, obviously having my name and number locked in his phone.

  “I’m not sure who you think it is, but it’s me, Kayla. How are you, Arnez? Did I catch you at a bad time?”

  “Nah, not really. I’m just sitting on this bed, playing with my musty nuts and waiting for you to call me.”

  The thought made me want to puke. Yet again, though, I had to be careful with my words. “My call is here, but I assure you that it has nothing to do with your musty nuts. I’m calling because my son wants to see you.”

  He laughed then started coughing. I guessed the fool was choking because it took a minute for him to get himself together. “Excuse me. Something got caught in my throat and I had to clear it. You said your son, but don’t you really mean our son?”

  “My son, your son, whatever, Arnez. Jacoby wants to see you.”

  “How old is he now? I forgot, so tell me again.”

  “He’s sixteen. He recently discovered that Cedric wasn’t his real father and now he wants to meet you.”

  “Discovered, huh? Why all the fancy words when you know we don’t run around here discovering shit like that everyday. We may find out that a muthafucka lied about some shit, but a discovery is kind of pushing it, don’t you think?”

  “I guess, but either way he found out that you are his biological father. Are you up to meeting with my son or not?”

  “Just from your attitude, I can tell yo’ ass is in hot water. What has Cedric done to you now? It must be something real deep because ain’t no way in hell you would be calling me for anything, unless something deep is going on.”

  “Whatever is going on between me and Cedric is our business, not yours. Now, I’m trying to be nice, Arnez. All I want to know is if you have time to meet with Jacoby?”

  “Of course I do. I tried to meet with him years ago, but you wouldn’t let me, remember? You pushed me away and told me you were embarrassed—”

  “All you wanted was money, so stop with the lies. You got what you wanted and that was your drugs, whores, and freedom. Don’t be mad at me because things didn’t work out for you.”

  “I see you’re still the same evil bitch that you’ve always been. Hell, yeah, I want to see my son, but not in your presence. Take my address down and bring him to me. I’m eager to see him.”

  I hated that some people brought out this ugliness in me. I had a feeling that this was a bad move, but I hoped that once Jacoby got one look at this drunk, crack-smoking idiot that he would run far away from him.

  “What’s the address?” I asked.

  Arnez gave it to me and then ended the call. I paced the floor, still not a 100-percent sure about this. Realizing that I didn’t have much of a choice, I called Jacoby back to give him the address.

  “I want you to go with me,” he said.

  “I don’t want you to go at all, so please reconsider doing this. Let Arnez be, please.”

  “No. Now, are you going with me?”

  “I don’t want you to go alone, but he doesn’t want me anywhere near him. We don’t get along and I don’t want to cause any trouble.”

  “I’m asking you to go with me.”

  I scratched my head then told Jacoby I would meet him at Adrianne’s house within the hour.

  When
I arrived at her house, Jacoby was already outside waiting for me. I got out to give him a hug. It felt good to see my son. His hug wasn’t as tight as mine, but it didn’t even matter.

  “I’ll drive too and follow you,” he said.

  I nodded and not wanting to prolong this, I drove to Arnez’s place that was on Martin Luther King Avenue. I parked in front of an old brick house that looked as if it would fall down if the wind blew any harder. The porch was leaning and several of the windows were cracked. Black bars covered them and the grass that was supposed to be in front of the house was mud. I knew where Arnez lived was bad, but I didn’t expect for it to be this bad. Jacoby got out of his car first with a nervous look deep in his eyes. I tried to be the brave one, but as I got out of the car a heavyset man rolled up to me in a wheelchair. He appeared to be barely hanging on and his gray beard looked as if it hadn’t been shaved in ages.

  “You got any change on you, ma’am? Maybe a quarter or something.”

  I wasn’t sure what he could buy with a quarter, but as I was about to dig in my purse, Jacoby tugged on my arm, pulling me away from the man.

  “Sho’ nuff,” the man said. “That’s how I get treated? Daaaam, yawl colder than a muthafucka.”

  We kept it moving to the front door and the man kept on rolling down the street in the wheelchair. “Bubba!” a lady yelled at him from the other side. “Butch and them lookin’ for you!”

  Looking for him for what? I wasn’t sure. But whatever it was, Bubba got out of the wheelchair and broke out running. It was a miracle and all I could do was shake my head at the foolishness.

  “I figured he was full of it,” Jacoby said, then knocked on the door.

  My stomach tightened and when I heard the chain being removed I could feel beads of sweat forming on my forehead. I hoped and prayed that Arnez didn’t look as bad as he did when I saw him last, but when he swung the door open, his appearance was even worse. I didn’t understand how a thirty-seven-year-old man could look like he was damn near sixty. He used to be one fine man, but there was no doubt that drugs, alcohol, and too many women had done him in.