by La Jill Hunt
“I’ll call her.” Roni reached for her cell but Kayla snatched it before she could dial. Yvonne laughed at her two friends who always provided her with comic relief.
“Put that phone down! She’s right over there.” Kayla pointed to Tia who was waving her arms to get their attention. She was decked out in a black linen pantsuit and heels. She had her braids pulled to the top of her head and looked like she had just stepped off the cover of a magazine with her beautiful face.
“Hey, Ms. Thang,” Roni said as the ladies made their way to the table.
“Hey yourself. Everybody ready to get their groove on?” She raised her glass toward the bar where a nice looking gentleman was smiling at them.
“Cute. Friend of yours?” Yvonne asked Tia.
“Too early to tell, girl. But he did buy me a drink and he hasn’t been all up in my face. That’s a good sign,” she told them. They all took their seats and a waitress came over to take their drink orders.
“Blue Malibu,” Roni said.
“Apple Martini,” Yvonne added.
“White Zinfandel,” Kayla murmured. She felt drained and really didn’t feel like hanging out. The thought of having to be at the music store the next day from nine in the morning until four, was not helping her mood.
“What’s wrong with you?” Tia frowned at her.
“I’m okay, just tired,” Kayla said to her friend.
“I told her she needs a couple days off,” Roni said. “That’s why they give you vacation and sick days.”
“Not at our school. We are so short staffed that it is not even funny,” Yvonne told them. “Mrs. Warren guilt trips employees into not calling out.”
“Well, maybe you’ll feel better after you’ve eaten. Let’s hit the buffet,” Tia said as she led the way to the soul food buffet the club offered every Friday night. Usually, Kayla could not get enough of the chicken wings, but she didn’t even have an appetite. She watched her girlfriends pile their plates up as she put a dab of ‘this and that’ on her own plate and maneuvered her way through the crowd, returning to her seat. Suddenly, she felt someone put his arms around her and whisper in her ear.
“I knew you’d be here. Why didn’t you call me back?” the husky voice said.
She tried not to smile, but could not help herself. “Because I knew you would give me some lie about not being here, so I figured why bother?” She turned and faced him.
“Come on, Kayla. Why you wanna treat a brother like that?” Craig asked her.
“Geno, I’m tired. I’ve had a long day and I don’t feel well,” she said.
“Yeah, you must really be sick, because my name is Craig, not Geno. Call me when you feel better.” He turned and walked away. Kayla could not believe she had called him Geno. She knew it was time for her to leave.
“What’s wrong with him?” Yvonne asked. She knew Kayla talked to Craig every once in a while, but from what she saw across the room, it looked like Kayla had hurt his feelings.
“I accidentally called him Geno,” Kayla said as she sat at the table and took a big gulp of her wine.
“You what?” Tia laughed out loud, causing Kayla to smile.
“I called him Geno.”
“Oh, no you didn’t. What did he say?” Roni was tickled to death.
“He told me to call him when I could get his name right, basically,” Kayla said. She picked over her food, watched her girls dance and flirt, had a second glass of wine and decided to call it a night. As she stood up, she nearly lost her balance.
“Are you all right, Kayla?” Yvonne reached out to grab her before she could fall. Roni took notice and rushed over to the table.
“How much did she have to drink?” Yvonne glared at Roni.
“Two glasses, and why are you rolling your eyes at me? It was your idea to meet here, if you recall. Kayla never gets lit,” Roni threw back at her.
“I’m okay. Dang. I just got a little light headed. I’m fine.” Kayla regained her composure and gathered her purse.
“I’m gonna drive you home,” Yvonne said and looked for her keys.
“Von, I am fine. I told you I’m tired. I’ll call you and let you know when I get home.” Kayla hugged Yvonne and Roni and waved at Tia as she left. Her eyes met Craig’s as she watched him dance with another female on the dance floor. Good, let him find someone else to lie to for a change.
5
As broke as she was, Kayla called in and didn’t go to work the next day. After a full week of teaching, she was too tired to even move. When Roni called, Kayla told her that she had the flu and assured her that she would be fine. She got up to get some water and a wave of nausea came over her. Grabbing the side of the toilet, she threw what felt like her entire insides up. Then she remembered she had missed her period. Hell, she had missed two periods. Beads of sweat began to form around her brow and she crawled back into bed. Please God, let me just have the flu.
She slept until Sunday afternoon and somehow found the strength to make it to the drugstore and get a pregnancy test. She sat on the side of her bed and looked at the pink line, thinking that it must be wrong. There was no way that she could be pregnant. She had been on the pill for years, ever since her mother took her to the doctor when she turned fifteen and told her to take them “just in case.” Her mother. She was going to be so pissed. She and her father had worked so hard for her and Anjelica, giving them a good home. Her dad worked as a city bus driver for the past thirty years and her mother was a secretary. Both still worked hard. She had never even told them the truth about Anjelica and Geno. She didn’t want to cause conflict within the family, even though it wasn’t her fault. Kayla hated to disappoint her parents. Their respect was too important to her. But she knew that her having a baby would be a letdown for them, because she had let herself down.
Kayla needed to talk to someone, but she was too embarrassed to tell her girlfriends. She hadn’t told anyone that she had slept with Geno a few months ago. It wasn’t anything that was planned. She was working at the music store when he walked up to the counter.
“Do you all have any Go-Go?” he asked, so focused on the sales paper that he didn’t look up.
“G?” she asked, looking at him and smiling.
“Kayla. What in the world are you doing here?”
“What does it look like? I work here,” she said.
“For real? You get a discount?”
“Only for my family and friends. You don’t fit either category.” She smirked at him.
“That is real cold, Kay. You act like you ain’t got no love for a brother.”
“When I did have love for you, you did my sister. What are you doing on this side of town anyway?” she asked.
“Funny. I came to visit my moms.”
“You here alone? Where’s your new woman I heard so much about?” She couldn’t resist asking. Rumor had it that he was living with some older chick.
“Jealous?”
“Please. I just hope she doesn’t have any sisters. The Go-Go section is this way,” she said and led him to the right aisle.
“You are a real comedian, you know that?”
“Whatever. You’d better hurry up because we close in ten minutes.” She turned and went back to her register. He returned with three CDs and she rang them up.
She handed him his bag, adding sarcastically, “Thanks for shopping. Have a great night.”
“I really want to talk to you, Kayla. Can we go somewhere after you get outta here?” he asked.
“I don’t think that would be a good idea, G,” she answered and watched as he reluctantly walked out of the store. She tried not to admit it, but she missed him terribly.
Her manager locked the store up and Kayla quickly braved the cold wind and ran to the parking lot. When she got there, Geno was standing next to her car.
“What do you want?” Kayla inquired. It was cold and she wanted to go home.
“Kayla, can we just go somewhere and talk?” Geno asked her.
; “About what, G?” She unlocked her door and hopped in her car. Geno remained standing in the cold. She cranked the engine and rolled down the window enough to hear what he was saying.
“Shit, Kayla, I don’t care. I just want to talk to you. I miss you. I miss hanging out with you. We used to have fun, Kayla. I ain’t saying we gotta talk about what happened, but let’s just go out and chill for old time’s sake. Please?” She could see the mist coming out of his mouth as he talked.
“Are you begging?” she asked.
“What?”
“I said, are you begging?” She knew Geno hated to be played like a sucker, but she wanted to see how far he would go to talk to her.
“Don’t play with me, Kayla. It’s cold as hell out here.” He blew into his hands and rubbed them together. “Yeah, Kay, I’m begging.”
“Where you trying to go?” She couldn’t help but smile.
“Follow me. And you need to get this raggedy car of yours checked out. It sounds like a moped.” He laughed.
“Don’t push your luck, Geno. I ain’t followed you yet,” she warned.
She followed him to an old hangout spot they used to shoot pool at back in the day. They laughed and talked like old times, taking shots of tequila and drinking beer. She got caught up in the moment, enjoying just being with Geno. She didn’t resist when he suggested they get a hotel room. The good feeling ended when she awoke, curled by his side with his arms around her, to the sound of his cell phone ringing. He nuzzled against her and kissed the top of her forehead while she pretended to be asleep.
Geno slipped out of bed and quietly retrieved the ringing phone out of his pocket. He looked over at Kayla again and went into the bathroom. She could hear him mumbling through the door, lying about where he was and who he was with. Knowing this had been a mistake because she still had feelings for him, she quickly got dressed and left him without saying a word.
Now here she was facing a situation she never thought she’d have to face. They were no longer together and the night they shared had just been one of physical pleasure, not emotional. She threw the white plastic entity in the trash and went back to bed, too depressed to think about her next move.
Somehow, Kayla made it to work by seven o’clock Monday morning. She knew she looked a horrid mess with her hair barely wrapped the night before and not a drop of makeup on other than a little foundation, but she had to get to school early and talk with the principal, Mrs. Warren. Kayla dreaded telling the woman that she needed the day off, because it was a well-known fact throughout the staff that unless you were dead, Mrs. Warren expected you to be at work—no exceptions. It was one of the few things Kayla hated about her job.
“Mrs. Warren. I need the day off,” Kayla told her.
“What seems to be the problem, Ms. Hopkins?” she asked.
“I think I have the flu. As a matter of fact, I was sick all weekend. I really need to go to the doctor and maybe take a few days off,” Kayla pleaded.
“Ms. Hopkins, you know we are extremely short staffed and subs are hard to come by these days. Why don’t you at least get started this morning and then we’ll see how you feel. Get your class settled and I will work on finding someone to cover your class this afternoon,” she told Kayla. Kayla dragged herself to her classroom and Yvonne stopped in to see how she was doing.
“You look like death warmed over. You still don’t feel well, huh?” She placed a cup of hot tea on Kayla’s desk.
“Thanks, Von. No. I’m trying to go to the doctor this afternoon, but Mrs. Warren swears she can’t find a sub for me. Go figure, but she can go and get her hair done every Friday morning with no problem.” Kayla stirred the hot liquid.
“I can cover for you today. No one has anything scheduled in the library, so I don’t think that would be a big deal,” Yvonne suggested.
“Thanks, Von. Can you go and tell her?” Kayla greeted her students half-heartedly as they entered the classroom. Once Yvonne had cleared with Mrs. Warren that she would cover for Kayla and her students were settled, Kayla went home.
I need to make an appointment with Dr. Bray as soon as possible,” Kayla told the receptionist at her doctor’s office.
“I’ll be happy to see what we have available. Name?”
“Kayla Hopkins.”
“Okay, Ms. Hopkins, let’s see. She has a cancellation at ten fifteen. Can you make it then?” she asked.
“Yeah. That’s fine,” Kayla mumbled.
“Ten fifteen it is. And what is the nature of your visit?”
“I think I failed a pregnancy test,” Kayla told her.
Sitting in the examination room, she waited for the doctor, trying not to throw up. I have finally done it. I have ruined my life. My dad is gonna have a heart attack. How am I gonna have a baby and work two jobs? What am I gonna do? What is Geno gonna say when he finds out he’s gonna be a father? Me and Geno are having a baby. This can not be happening to me.
“Kayla, Kayla, Kayla. How you doing, girl?” Karen was her usual chipper self. She had been Kayla’s doctor since her junior year of college and she always made her feel comfortable.
“Hey, Karen. I’m not doing all that great. I failed a home pregnancy test.” Kayla sighed.
“You failed an office pregnancy test, too, sweetie. But let’s not look at it as failing. I know many women who would love to have these positive results.” She washed her hands and read Kayla’s chart.
“I wish it was them rather than me. I can’t believe this.”
“Believe it. Well, let’s check you out. Lie back.” Kayla lay back on the table and Karen began her examination. Kayla closed her eyes and tried not to think about why she was there. For a moment, it felt like a regular exam until Karen pulled out an odd looking probe and said, “Now, how about we take a look and see what we’re working with?”
“What’s that?” Kayla almost began to panic.
“I’m gonna do a vaginal ultrasound and see exactly how far along you are. It may be a little uncomfortable, but no pain.” She could see Kayla was worried.
“I been on the pill for years. How did this happen?”
“Well, even the pill isn’t one hundred percent foolproof. Women get pregnant on the pill too, Kayla.”
Karen wasn’t making Kayla feel any better. She didn’t know what she wanted to hear, but she knew that it wasn’t what Karen was saying.
“How far along am I?” Kayla asked. She figured that she had been with Geno about three months ago.
“Well, the ultrasound puts you at around ten weeks. That would give you a due date of about November twenty-first. Thanksgiving Day. I guess that would give you a conception date of, uh, February Fourteenth, Valentine’s Day,” Karen said matter-of-factly as she calculated.
“Dear God, no.” Kayla sat stunned and could not move.
Kayla went home, called both her jobs and took the rest of the week off. She turned the ringer off on her phone and climbed into bed. She thought about the baby she was carrying and what she should do. Here she was single, not even able to make ends meet while working two jobs, and now she may have another mouth to feed. And she didn’t even want to think about the father. That bastard couldn’t even commit to a movie date, let alone a baby. She had barely even talked to him in a few weeks, now she was gonna call him and tell him she was knocked up? Be for real. Kayla didn’t even want to think about her parents’ reaction. Everything she had worked so hard for could now be ruined by a fucking one-night stand. There was no way she was gonna keep this baby. It made no sense.
I can’t have this baby, she thought as she drifted off to sleep. She woke to the sound of her doorbell ringing. “Hey, girl,” she said and opened the door for Yvonne.
“I see you’re not feeling better.” Yvonne followed Kayla into her bedroom and watched her climb back into bed. “I tried to call you, but you didn’t answer. Mrs. Warren just left a message that I would be subbing for you the remainder of the week, so I decided to come by. Did you go to the doctor?”
“Yeah.”
“And?” Yvonne sat at the foot of the bed.
“She said I have a virus and it has to run its course.” Kayla slid deeper under the covers. She wasn’t ready to share the truth with anyone, especially after she decided to have an abortion. She knew that would be one decision she’d take to her grave.
“I figured you did. You know it’s been going around the school. I’m surprised I haven’t gotten it yet,” Yvonne told her.
“This is one virus you don’t want to catch,” Kayla murmured.
“Let me get you something to drink.” She took Kayla’s empty glass off the nightstand and went into the kitchen. When she came back, she gave Kayla a cup of tea and a bottle of water, then filled her in on her students. “Do you need me to do anything else while I’m here?”
“No. I just wanna sleep.” Kayla managed a weak smile. “But can you let Tia and Roni know that I am okay? I turned my ringer off and I don’t want them to worry.”
“Done.”
“Thanks, Von.” She sat up and took the saucer holding the steaming liquid.
“Okay. Call me if you need anything.” Yvonne gave her tired looking girlfriend a hug and made sure the door was locked behind her as she left.
She was lying back in her bed trying to watch Law & Order when there was another knock. She grabbed her robe and hobbled to the door. She looked through the peephole and saw Roni standing outside.
“Didn’t Yvonne call you?” Kayla shook her head at her.
“Yeah, but I wanted to check on you myself. And since you’re not answering your phone, here I am. What’s wrong with you?” She followed Kayla back to the bedroom.
“I got the flu, that’s all. Damn.” She could not look at her as she answered. Roni knew her too well. The two shared a sisterly bond that she and Anjelica never had.
“The flu, Kay?”
“Yeah, Roni. The flu. Let it go, okay?”
“You’re the one on the defense, Kayla. I just asked what the hell was wrong with you. Now it would be something else if you were lying, wouldn’t it?”