by La Jill Hunt
“Well, they’re right over there. Go over and I’ll bring your drink to you.” He pointed toward Kayla and the rest of the crew. She swept past him to join her girls, ready to hear about everything she missed.
He walked over to the bar and began fixing her drink. He looked up and saw Isis standing next to Uncle Jay. Her head was tilted up to the sky and he could tell that she was laughing. As if she could sense him staring, she turned around and waved. He gave her a nod and took Roni her drink.
“Thank you, baby.” Roni put her arm through his and leaned on him. “So, who is the girl you were with?”
“That’s my friend, Isis.”
“Your friend? Wasn’t she the girl that sang that night at Jasper’s?”
“Yeah,” he answered.
“I’ve never met her before. How long have you known her?”
“About three years. And she just moved back in town. That’s why you’ve never met her.” Toby began to be irritated by Roni’s line of questioning. “What’s with the third degree?”
“Don’t get loud out here, Tobias.”
“I’m not loud. You are, Veronica.”
Toby had struck a nerve and he knew it. People around them turned and stared. Roni’s face turned red and she looked as if she wanted to kill him. “Can I see you inside for a moment?”
He wasted no time following her into the house. They climbed the steps and went into his bedroom. He sat down on his bed, not even in the mood to argue. His day, although filled with unexpected events, had been pretty good until she showed up and started grilling him about Isis.
“What’s going on with you, Toby? Even if you didn’t plan to have a party, when people started coming, you could have called me. But it’s obvious that you’re not happy to see me anyway. I get no kiss, no hug, no affection period.”
Toby listened to what she was saying, wanting to answer her, but couldn’t. It was true, he loved Roni.
She hurt him, but he was healing. And there was still the possibility that they would wind up together. That’s why he didn’t mind that she wore his ring. He did still love her.
“I love you, Roni, but you are the one that got caught wit’ another dude. Or has that incident slipped your mind? And now you’re here making an issue over nothing. I ain’t even trying to hear that.”
“I know, but isn’t part of loving someone forgiving them? I’ve apologized time and time again. I love you, Toby, but I feel like you’re going to let this hang over my head forever. Do you love me enough to forgive me? If so, then we’ve got to move past this. If not, take your ring back and let me go on with my life. I can’t keep living in limbo like this,” she cried.
He hated seeing her like this. He reached out and held her close. “Don’t do this to me, Roni. Please, don’t. I love you, I do.” Not knowing what else to do, he grabbed her and kissed her passionately on the mouth. His mouth explored hers for several minutes until he pulled away.
“I missed you so much,” she told him as she ran her fingers along his back.
“We need to get back downstairs.” He turned and opened the door.
“I told Mama that I would help clean up after everyone left. You want me to come back when I finish?” she offered when they made it down the steps. Toby was hesitant in his answer, so she added, “We still need to talk.
“It’s cool. I’ll be here.” He kissed her once again as she got in her car. It’s just to talk, that’s it, he reminded himself.
People began leaving, and Tobias was glad that the bash he didn’t even know he was hosting was over. Instead of going inside the house, he walked back into the yard to make sure everything was put away and in order. He picked up two bags of trash and took them to the large garbage can located on the side of the house. When he got inside, he was surprised to find Isis washing the remaining dishes.
“Where’s Meeko?”
“She left with Stanley. He offered to give her a ride in his truck. I’m taking her car home. Everybody else gone?” she asked.
“Yeah, the party is over. I think everyone had a good time, though. Anybody heard from Terrell?”
“No, he rushed outta here without saying a word to anyone. Pass me that dishtowel.”
“You know you don’t have to do this, right? I could have finished all of this myself.” He handed her the towel. “I’m glad you did, though.”
“So, you and Roni made up? That’s good,” she smiled at him.
“How do you know that?” Toby leaned against the counter.
“Okay, I need to be honest with you.” She folded the towel and laid it on the side of the sink. Toby’s heart began to beat rapidly as he prepared himself for what she was about to tell him. “I didn’t stay here just to wash the dishes. I stayed for something else.”
She walked up to him and seductively ran her hands under his shirt.
“What’s that?” he asked. She looked up at him and licked her lips. This can’t be happening to me. I’ve wanted this woman for months and she rejected me. Now that I’ve reconciled with Roni, she’s coming on to me. What am I supposed to do?
“I stayed to tell you . . .” Her hands moved to his back and she ran her fingers along his spine. He shifted his weight so she could reach farther.
“Tell me what, Ice?” he whispered.
“I told you so! I knew you were gonna get back with her!” she laughed. “I knew you were getting back together, especially when she walked up and saw me with you. That was it right there.”
“You’re crazy. If I didn’t know it then, I definitely know it now. Why you playing with me like that?” He snatched her arms from around him, laughing.
“What did you think I was gonna say, Toby?” She raised her eyebrows at him.
“I thought you were gonna discuss your Slow Comfortable Screw that you didn’t get earlier,” he confessed.
“You can give it to Roni when she comes back. She is coming back later, isn’t she? And don’t lie.”
Toby looked at her. He couldn’t lie. “Yeah, she says she’s coming back.”
“I guess I’d better get outta here, then. I ain’t trying to get you in no trouble.”
“Wait a minute, Isis. I got something to give you before you leave.” He rushed up the steps and into his room. He opened the drawer and took out the small box. He was glad that he had left it in the bottom of his drawer instead of on top of his dresser where it had lain all week. Jermaine had ordered it for him from an exclusive jeweler he had done some work for in the mall. He hoped Isis would like it.
She was waiting at the bottom of the steps when he got there. “This is for you. Happy birthday.”
“Toby, you didn’t have to do this. The party was enough.” She hugged him. “Thank you.”
“Come over here and open it.” He pulled her to the sofa.
She slowly unwrapped it then looked up, her eyes filled with tears. “It’s beautiful, but I can’t accept this.”
“Yes, you can. Let me put it on you. You know I had to get some ice for my Ice.” He reached into the box and removed the platinum necklace holding the heavy platinum charm. It read True Love, and was encrusted with diamonds.
He reached around her neck and fastened it. “It’s perfect. This is the one true love you have to be willing to accept. You are such a special woman, and deserve everything your heart desires, but you’ve got to stop pushing people away and let them in. Part of learning to love is learning to trust.”
“Now look who’s the one giving advice on love. You’ve been back with Roni how long, thirty minutes, and now you’re giving out Tobyisms? Thank you, Toby. I’m glad that you’ve found your way back to that person that you believe in and trust enough to love unconditionally.”
She stood up and walked to the door. “Does this mean I have to find another workout partner?”
“Be there Monday, same time. Meet you at the treadmills.” He hugged her, enjoying the feel of having her in his arms. She was the most beautiful, intelligent, humorous, talented
person he knew. Whoever winds up with her is damn lucky, and I’ll be the first to admit it. Isis Adams was truly a gem, and he knew it.
64
Terrell made the forty-minute ride to the hospital in twenty minutes flat. He didn’t care that it was a holiday weekend and state troopers were on the lookout. All he cared about was making it to Nicole’s side. He skipped taking the slow elevator and climbed the five flights of steps to labor and delivery. He could barely talk when he got to the nurses’ station.
“I’m loo . . . looking for . . . my girlfriend. Some . . . someone called and . . . told me she was . . . here,” he managed to say as he struggled to catch his breath.
“Are you okay? Calm down. Breathe. Do we need to get you some oxygen?” the nurse asked him. He shook his head at her. She was a young girl and her nametag read PEACHES. “Okay, now, what’s your girlfriend’s name?”
“Nicole. Nicole Matthews.”
Peaches’ fingers ran quickly along the keyboard and she told him, “We don’t have a Nicole Matthews, sir. Are you sure she’s here at County?”
“Yeah, I’m sure. That’s who called me. Some nurse named Leah called and said she was in labor!”
“Calm down. Let me page Leah and we’ll see what’s going on. She could have been here and we released her.”
“That was less than forty minutes ago. I don’t understand why she came to County anyway.”
“Well, this is a county hospital. Does she have insurance? If she doesn’t, we would be where she would come.” Peaches picked up the phone and paged Leah to the reception area.
“She works at Mercy Memorial in labor and delivery. This is crazy!” He exhaled loudly. His nerves were already shot from the entire CJ fiasco, and now someone was playing games on his phone. He took his phone out of his pocket and was about to call Arianna when a short, plump brunette came through the doors. He could hear screams coming from one of the rooms and he shuddered.
“Hey, Peaches, you paged me?” she asked.
“Yeah, did you call this gentleman about his girlfriend?” Peaches asked.
“I called quite a few gentlemen this evening. Did you look her up? What’s your girlfriend’s name?” Leah questioned him.
“Nicole Matthews,” Terrell answered. “She looked but couldn’t find her.”
“We don’t have any Nicole or Matthews, I don’t think. What’s your name?”
“Terrell Sims.”
“Oh, okay. I remember calling you. You got here fast. Come on back. You’re just in time.” She smiled.
He looked back at Peaches, who just shrugged at him, then he followed Leah through the doors. As they walked down the hall, the screaming became louder. They entered the room where the howls originated and as he realized what was going on, the blood rushed from his head. His worst nightmare was coming true right before his eyes. Instead of Nicole, the love of his life, lying with her legs in the stirrups, there was Darla. Her hands were gripping the sides of the bed, and she was shaking her head back and forth like she was possessed, her hair standing on top of her head. A masked doctor was posted between her legs, ready to catch whatever was about to come out.
“What the hell is going on? Is this some kind of a joke? It has to be!” Terrell growled.
Darla’s eyes grew wide and she reached for him. “Oh, Terrell, you’re here, baby. I knew you would make it!”
“You need to get over there and hold her hand so we can coach her through this, sir. She’s been refusing to push until you got here,” the doctor told him.
“I’m not holding her hand. You’ve lost your damn mind, and so has she!” he snapped.
“Mr. Sims, if you’re not going to help the situation, then you need to leave. You can have a seat in the waiting room and we’ll come and get you when your baby is born. You would think you would be a little more concerned and sensitive at a time like this,” Leah huffed at him. She pointed to the door and he turned to leave.
“No, Terrell! Please don’t leave me! I need you here! This is our baby and you should be in here. Just stay in here, please!” Darla howled.
“She’s crowning. Okay, we’re gonna need you to push, Darla. Come on.”
“Just stay right there, please!” She begged him.
Terrell looked over at the doctor and the nurse, who was trying to calm her down and get her to cooperate.
“Can you just stand over there in the corner where she can see you?” Leah asked.
He quietly walked over to the corner of the room farthest away from the action.
This has got to be some kind of set up. I can’t believe I am in here while she’s over there having a kid—my kid, which I already paid for her to get rid of. She hasn’t called, come by, wrote me a note to tell me shit, but she wants me to be here to hold her hand. There’s no way.
Why, God? I’ve started living right, I don’t hang out, I don’t party, I work hard. I even started going back to church. All I wanted to do was marry Nicole, be a good father, a good employee, and a good person. Now here it is I got transvestites on the job harassing me, the woman I’m in love with won’t even see me, and now a girl I can’t stand the sight of is about to deliver my baby. Life can’t get any worse.
At that very thought, Terrell’s phone began ringing.
“You need to cut that off in here!” Leah yelled so she could be heard over Darla’s squelches.
He looked at his caller ID and saw Nicole’s number. He looked from his phone to what was going on in the room then back at his phone. It soon stopped and the screen read 1 Missed Call. Just as he was about to turn it off, it began ringing again.
“Turn it off!” the doctor yelled.
Instead of turning it off, he walked into the hallway and answered it.
“Terrell, its Arianna.”
“What’s up, Ari? How’s Nicole?” he whispered. The door was closed, but Darla’s screams could still be heard. He saw a sign for the waiting room and he headed toward it.
“Her water broke and her contractions are steady. We’re leaving for the hospital in about fifteen minutes,” she said.
If ever Terrell wanted to crawl in a hole and hide from the rest of the world, it was at that very moment. He hated the fact that God had a sense of humor and had proven his last thought untrue. He tried not to panic, and to focus on what had to be done.
“Is she okay? Does she need anything?”
“She’s in labor, Terrell. She doesn’t have the flu,” Arianna replied. “I don’t know where the hell Gary is. I can’t find him anywhere. I need for you to get here!”
“I can’t,” he confessed weakly.
“What do you mean, you can’t? Where are you, and what’s all that crying in the background?”
Terrell thought quickly. God, I know what I’m about to ask you is wrong, but please help me come up with a lie and make it a good one, he prayed.
“I’m across town at County. One of my friends had a little mishap, and I came to try to help out,” he blurted.
“Oh, okay. Well, get to the hospital as soon as you can,” Arianna told him.
“I will,” he assured her.
“And Terrell?”
“Yeah?”
“She’s asking for you. Please hurry up.”
“I’ll be there in twenty minutes,” he told her and put his phone back in his pocket. Leah was coming out of the room when he walked back down the hallway.
“Well, it’s a boy. Nine pounds, four ounces,” she announced.
“A boy,” he said to himself. I have a son. “Can I see him?”
“Sure,” she said with a confused look on her face. “I didn’t think you’d wanna come back inside.”
They walked into the room where the doctor was still with Darla. She was no longer screaming, but she was still moaning something terrible. Terrell focused his attention away from her and on the tiny creature lying on the warming bed, wrapped in a blanket. Terrell just stared, waiting to see if he would feel that instant bond he had heard so many
fathers brag about when they tell of the first time they laid eyes on their children. There was none for him. No tingling sensations, no overwhelming emotions; all he saw was a kid he didn’t want.
“Wanna hold him?” Leah asked, picking up the small bundle.
“No, that’s okay. I gotta go. Nine pounds. That’s pretty big for a preemie, huh?” He looked at Leah.
“Preemie? This kid definitely isn’t a preemie. As a matter of fact, she was two weeks past her due date.”
Terrell began to calculate. He counted months and days, and remembered the two times he had slept with Darla. Both times were in early December, before he was committed to Nicole. There was no way that this baby was his. As a matter of fact, she had to already be pregnant while she was sleeping with him.
She set him up. It took all the strength he had not to walk over to her and push her fat, yellow behind out of the bed. Instead, he looked up at the ceiling and gave God thumbs up. Without saying anything, he walked out of the room and never looked back.
65
Toby had just stepped out of the shower when he heard the doorbell. Hoping it was Roni, who never showed up the night before, he threw on a pair of shorts and went to open the door. He prepared himself for the pitiful excuse he knew she’d have. But instead of his fiancée, Stanley was standing in his doorway.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Toby. I thought you’d be up by now. I left my hat and I came back to get it. I guess I should’ve called,” he said, clearly embarrassed.
“No, it’s no problem, Stanley. Come on in. Where did you leave it?”
“It was on the bar. That was the last place I had it. I can get it later, really.”
Toby unlocked the back door and cut on the porch light. He looked down at his feet and told him, “You go ahead.”
“Okay,” Stanley said and walked outside. “I don’t see it. You think someone picked it up?” Toby went to the hall closet and slipped on a pair of old K-Swiss he wore whenever he cut grass. He joined his friend in the backyard in an effort to find his missing hat. While they were searching, Stan’s phone rang.
“Must be Meeko. I told her to call me when she got up.” He smiled and flipped the state of the art device open. “Hello.”