Side Chic

by La'Tonya West

  It was Saturday night and I had just finished the final chapter of my book. Nisey was sitting on the sofa reading over it. I sat across from her on the loveseat waiting to hear what she thought. The anticipation was killing me! “Hurry up Nisey!”

  “Girl, be quiet! I’m reading as fast as I can!” She said without looking up from her laptop.

  I needed to do something to take my mind off of the book so I decided to call my mom while I waited for Nisey to finish. I took out my cell and dialed my mom. I got up from where I was sitting and walked into the kitchen. The phone rang several times before my mom picked up.

  “Hey baby, I was just lying here thinking about you. How are you doing?” She asked sounding happy to hear from me.

  “I am doing great!” I replied excitedly. “Guess what?”

  “What? I am too old to be doing a lot of guessing so just tell me!” She laughed. “What are you all excited about?”

  “Come on ma…guess!” I whined. I didn’t want to just tell her my good news. That would take all of the fun out of it. I’d told her and my dad about the book that I was working on a few weeks earlier and they’d been thrilled about me writing a book.

  “Okay, ummm…you found another job?”

  “Nope.”

  “Met a rich man?”

  I giggled into the phone. “I wish!”

  “Met a handsome man with a good job and even better credit?”

  “Shoot…I wish but nope!”

  “Okay, give me a hint or just tell me already!”

  “I finished my book!” I blurted.

  “Awww…Lala that’s great!” She sounded just as excited as me.

  I heard my dad in the background asking. “What’s great?”

  “Lala finished her book!” My mom replied.

  “That’s my girl! Tell her that I want an autographed copy and don’t forget about us little people when she becomes a famous author!”

  I laughed. “Tell him he will most definitely be getting an autographed copy! Also tell him he doesn’t have to worry about me forgetting anybody because no one will probably even buy this book so there is no way that I will become famous!”

  “Oh hush your mouth girl talking that nonsense!” My mom’s voice took on a serious tone. “Don’t speak negative about your project! Speak positive and positive things will happen! Every little thing started out small and became something bigger! Don’t you dare doubt what you can become. You can become anything that you put your mind to and that includes a New York Times Best-selling Author!”

  Hearing her say that made me feel empowered like I really could become a best-selling author if I wanted to. I’d done research about self-publishing my book. I’d found out how to upload my book to Kindle and Nook so that is where I planned to start. Nisey had made me a hot cover using her photoshop program so I was all set. “Thanks ma! I really appreciate that.”

  “You are welcomed baby. I am so proud of you! My baby is an author!” She beamed!

  I couldn’t help but laugh at her. “Ma, you are a mess but I must admit, I am very proud of myself. Just a couple of months ago it felt like my world was falling apart because of the bad choices that I’d made but now it feels like I am finally headed in the right direction.”

  “That’s good baby. I am glad to see that you are not letting your mistakes hold you back from moving forward. We all make mistakes and that’s alright because that is what life is all about, making mistakes and learning from them. You have taken something negative and made it into something positive and I couldn’t be more proud of you for that.”

  I knew that it was time for me to come clean with her about my pregnancy. It was better to go ahead and get it over with. I’d hid it long enough. I took a deep breath. “Ma, I’m pregnant.” I held my breath and waited for her response.

  “Huh? What did you say LaQuela?”

  Hearing her say my real name told me that she’d heard what I’d said but wanted to be sure that she’d heard me correctly. So I repeated myself. “I said that I’m pregnant. That’s why I left Boykins.”

  “Oh my goodness, Lala.” I heard her let out a sigh. “So you’ve known all this time and you are just now telling me? When did you start keeping secrets from me and your daddy? We raised you better than that!” Just that quickly the excitement about my book and how well I was doing was replaced by disappointment.

  “Yes ma’am. I knew before I left but I was too ashamed and afraid to say anything…”

  “Ashamed of what?” She cut me off. “Girl, I am your mama! If you can’t come to me and talk to me then who in the hell can you go to? I have always been here for you! Whether you were right or wrong! I have had your back through everything! Me and your daddy have always made it clear that there was nothing so bad that you couldn’t come to us! We may be disappointed in some of your choices but we are going to love you regardless! You know that!”

  “Yes ma’am, I do.” The waterworks had started and I now had tears meeting beneath my chin. “I apologize, ma.” I sniffled.

  “Oh hush that darn crying! You should’ve been crying when you were lying to me for months!” I heard my dad ask what was going on. “She’s pregnant and we are just now finding out!”

  “Pregnant? Since when and by who?” I heard him yell.

  I rolled my eyes up in the ceiling. “Lord, I knew that I shouldn’t have said shit.” I mumbled as I listened to the two of them fuss back and forth about me hiding my pregnancy.

  “Lala, what in the hell is your problem?” My dad’s voice boomed through the phone. “I knew there was something else to you leaving other than what you were telling us! Did that boy put you up to this?”

  “No! He doesn’t even know!” I quickly defended Tre. “I didn’t tell anyone. I wasn’t sure if I was going to keep it or not at the time but then after I left I decided that I would.”

  “Okay, so how far along are you spose to be?” He asked sounding as if he was speaking through clenched teeth.

  “I’m five months and one week.”

  “Oh my goodness girl, I don’t know what to say. I can’t believe that you would keep something like this from me and your mama. This is our first grandchild. Don’t you think that we have the right to know?”

  I wiped the tears that stained my cheeks. “I wanted to tell y’all but there was so much going on. I’d already seen the disappointed looks on your faces when I’d told you about Tre and me. I just didn’t want to see those looks again. I’m sorry daddy. I really am.” I cried.

  He let out a frustrated breath. “Oh hush up that crying now. It’s going to be alright but don’t you be hiding things like this from us. Your mama is over here upset and crying. It’s one thing to have you up there living in a hotel but on top of that you’re pregnant. That’s not good.”

  “I know.” I wiped my face again.

  “Now I know that you have been saying that you didn’t want any help from me and your mama but it’s not up to you anymore. I refuse to have you living in a hotel pregnant with my grandbaby. We are going to help you get a place and the things that you need for this baby, okay.”

  “Okay.” There was no way that I was going to argue with him right now. I also decided to leave out the fact that I was pregnant with twins. I’d tell them that part later. “Thanks daddy.”

  “You don’t have to thank me baby. I’m doing what I am sposed to do.” He explained. “Speaking of doing what I am sposed to do. Don’t you think that you need to tell this boy that you are pregnant so that he can do what he’s sposed to do?”

  I’d known that this question was coming and I knew that he was about to get upset all over again by my answer. “Daddy, I’m not going to tell him. I can’t because he has a family already and that would just mess up his home. I couldn’t do that.”

  “That’s bullshit!” He fumed. “I don’t give a damn about him already having a family! This baby is his family too! He should’ve thought about his family at home before he went out in the streets a
nd made another baby!”

  “I know that’s right!” I heard my mom cosign from the background. “If he’s man enough to play, he’d better be man enough to pay!”

  “You damn right he’d better!” My dad continued. “This child deserves to have a mother and a father! You owe it to your child to tell this man the truth and let him decide whether or not he wants to be there. You have no right to take it upon yourself to decide that. He has a right to know.”

  “I can’t daddy.”

  “Lala, you are twenty-eight years old, about to bring a child into this world. When are you going to grow up and act your age? Grown women handle their business not run and hide like little children! You were woman enough to lay with this man and get pregnant, now be woman enough to do what’s right. This isn’t about you anymore. It’s about your child. Let that man worry about his home and what happens after his ol’ lady finds out about this child. Hell you weren’t worried about her at first! What are you going to do hide this child forever? Does that even make sense? What are you going to say when this child asks for its daddy? Are you going to say I couldn’t tell him about you because he already has another family? Think about what you are going to be doing to this child Lala.”

  The things that he was saying really made sense. I hadn’t thought about it that way but now he had me thinking. Maybe I should contact Tre and let him know about the babies. That way I could say that I did my part by letting him know about his children. Whether he chose to be a part of their lives would solely be up to him.

  “I will give it some thought.”

  “Alright, you do that. I am going to talk to your mama and we will call you back tomorrow and talk some more about getting you a place.”

  “Alright, thanks again.”

  “You’re welcome…I love you, Lala.”

  “I love you too. Tell ma, I love her too.”

  “I will. Good night.”

  “Good night.” We hung up. “Thank you lord, I finally got that off of my chest. Now all I have to do is tell them that its twins. I still have a ways to go but at least now I’ll have some help.”

  I walked back into the living room where Nisey was sitting on the sofa watching TV. When she saw me walk into the room she switched off the TV. “Chic that book is off the damn chain! I love the ending! Oh we have to upload this to Kindle and Nook tonight!”

  “Girl, we can do that tomorrow. I am really not in the mood tonight. These babies are moving around like crazy and my mom and dad are mad at me…”

  “Mad? Why?” Nisey asked a concerned look taking over her chubby face.

  “I told them that I was pregnant.”

  “Sooo…why are they mad?” she looked at me waiting for an answer.

  “They’re mad because I kept it from them.”

  She started laughing and waved me off. “Girl, I thought you were talking about something. They aren’t really mad. Their just a little disappointed but everything will be just fine.” She sat down at the computer. “So when are they coming up here?” she asked as she powered up the laptop.

  “Huh?” I asked confused. I stood behind her with one hand on her chair. “What are you talking about?”

  She turned to look at me briefly before turning her attention back to the computer screen. “Girl, you know just like I do that your mama will be up here with the quickness now that she knows you’re pregnant!”

  “Oh, I have no idea when they are coming but my dad said that they are going to help me get a place.”

  “That’s good.” She went to the Kindle website. “Okay now create your account.”

  She got up and I sat down. I put in all of the information that they asked for and uploaded my book cover and files. Then I hit save and publish. When I was done I turned and looked at Nisey. “Well it’s done!” I said excitedly!

  “Almost, now go to Pubit.com so that you can upload to Nook as well! Girl we about to let everybody know who Lala Chambers is! Okaaay!” She raised her hand for a high five. I smacked her hand and then turned back around to the computer. When I was done at Pubit.com, Nisey and I both looked at each other and started screaming! “Awwww snap! My girl is an author! We can go through the paperback process tomorrow so that you can order copies and we can go out and sell them to people. Pretty soon you can say good bye to your job at the hotel!” She sounded more excited than I was.

  “I sure hope so but how are people going to find out about the book?” I asked.

  “Facebook, Twitter and word-of-mouth! We about to do the damn thing!” She squealed. “I am so proud of you and happy to be the friend of a soon to be famous author!”

  All I could do was blush.

  Part 2

  BabyMama Drama

  Lala

  Two Months Later…

  Things were finally starting to look up for me. My mom and dad had helped me get a nice two story house with three bedrooms, one and a half baths, a den, living room, kitchen, basement and one car garage. The rent was a little steep but they were paying half every month. The best thing that had happened was my book was doing great! It was selling like hotcakes, getting mostly five star reviews. I couldn’t believe the amount when I looked at my royalties for the first month. All I could do was thank God because for a first time author that no one knew, I was doing the damn thing! With the first book doing so well I’d decided to do a part two. In a lot of the reviews people were asking about a part two. I figured that it only made sense to give the people what they wanted and make this money while it lasted.

  Nisey was still hanging in there right by my side, doing everything that she could to help me and make my book a success. I couldn’t begin to describe how much I appreciated her. She’d turned out to be a true blessing.

  Two weeks ago, she’d given birth to a 7lb. 8oz little boy. She named him Evan. Of course I was right by her side through it all, her mom and brother came to the hospital but I was surprised to see that none of Jonathan’s family showed up. I called his parents like Nisey asked me to but no one answered each time that I called and I left several voicemails. Still no one called back. I started to wonder would things be that way after I told Tre about my pregnancy. I wondered if he would want nothing to do with my babies or how his family would react once they found out. It scared me just thinking about how ugly things could get. I didn’t want to deal with any drama at all but I knew that I had to come clean about my pregnancy. A lot of the things that my parents had told me concerning the reasons why he should know made a lot of sense. I did owe it to my children. I’d planned to take a trip back home this weekend to talk to him.

  I moved around my room preparing to hit the road for my long drive home back to Boykins. My Bluetooth was in my ear so that I could talk to Nisey while I packed my last minute things.

  “Did you already put the books in the car?” Nisey asked. “You know that everybody and their mama are going to be bugging you for a copy! Everybody is going to be treating you like a celebrity when you get back home!”

  “Yeah I put the books in the car last night.” I responded dryly not really too excited about going back home to face Tre. I wanted to see everybody back home because I did miss my family but knowing what had to be done and not knowing how he would respond was making me dread going.

  “Why do you sound so down?” Nisey asked. I heard Evan start to cry. “Awww don’t cry mama’s little man.” I waited until she got him quiet.

  “Is little man alright?” I asked. I’d fallen in love with her baby and couldn’t wait to meet my own. I’d found out at my last visit that both babies were girls. I was overly excited about having two little girls to spoil and shop for.

  “Yeah he’s fine. He’s wet, that’s all.” She replied. “Now tell me, what’s the matter with you? Is this about Tre?”

  I sat down on my bed beside my small bag that I was packing. “Yes, girl I am so nervous. I have no idea how he is going to respond once I tell him about these babies. I mean I’m not just pregnant but pregnant with t
wins! Not only that but he may think that these babies aren’t even his being that I left!” I shook my head. “I don’t know Nisey.”

  “Don’t know what? Look, go down and there talk to him. If he doesn’t believe you then tell him you will holla at him once those babies are born and he can have a blood test done…simple as that!”

  “All of that sounds good but you and I both know that shit is never that simple.” I reminded her. “I can already feel that this shit isn’t going to go well. I have a feeling that he is going to be on some bullshit! I have been trying to do the right thing and keep the drama to a minimum but if he gets stupid I don’t know how I am going to react!”

  I heard her let out a frustrated breath. “Lala, I ain’t trying to be mean or anything but grow up! Stop sitting around whining and trying to predict what will happen and handle your business! You have been running from this situation long enough. Now it’s time to step up to the plate. You knew when you decided to keep these babies that you would eventually have to tell this man about them, so do it!”

  I felt slightly offended by her words but how could I argue with her when I knew that what she was saying was right. I’d made my bed and now it was time to lie in it. “I’m not whining.” I corrected her. “I just have a not so good feeling about this trip that’s all.” I let out a sigh. “Look, I’ll holla at you later. I need to finish getting my things together and get on the road.”

  “Alright, call me whenever you stop to let me know that you are okay. I will be praying for you to have a safe trip.”

  “Thanks.”

  “No problem. You’re my girl and I love you.”

  “I love you too.” We hung up and I finished packing my things. I put everything in the car, checked the house to make sure that I had unplugged everything and then I headed out the door.

  Tre

  Things between Kisha and I were finally back on track. The only problem was she had gotten a new best friend…Tamika. I’m not sure how this shit happened! One day I came home and heard giggling coming from the kitchen, at first I’d thought that it was Kisha and the boys but then I heard another female voice that sounded kind of familiar. I stuck my head in the kitchen and saw Tamika braiding Kisha’s hair. They were laughing and giggling like they’d been best friends for years. Tamika looked at me with a slick ass smirk on her face.