It was embarrassing that it took knocking up the right girl that had changed everything for me.
Chris
When I walked toward the store, Lisa was standing out front. We were meeting to purchase things for the babies’ room, so why wasn’t she inside? I frowned down at her as I continued walking toward her.
She stood with her arms resting on top of her stomach, which had grown exponentially now that she was thirty-three weeks. Yes, we had waited a long time to buy things for the baby, but she was trying to get experience being a doctor before she had purchased anything. And, I didn’t see the point not waiting to purchase baby things. It wasn’t like they were going to come tomorrow.
My eyes narrowed when I saw the look on her face. She looked pissed without actually trying to look pissed. But, I knew every inch of her. I learned her moods and body language over the course of these months. It was hard for her to hide anything from me.
I knew when she wasn’t happy.
“Let’s go,” she stated looking directly at me.
“Why?” I asked trying to figure out what was going on with her. Her body practically vibrated with irritation. I turned to look behind me at the store. Had someone said or done something to her?
“I don’t want to purchase anything from here.”
I watched her closely. She wasn’t speaking her mind. I knew my wife. Speaking her mind was a religion to her. No one was safe from the barbs that she constantly threw.
“Why don’t you want to get anything from here?” she wasn’t getting away that easily. She had to have known me better than that by now.
“I just don’t want anything from this store. I can get baby stuff from anywhere,” she stubbornly reiterated.
Right because they didn’t have good baby things? No, something had happened. We were going to stand in front of the store until she told me what the hell was going on.
“What happened in there?” I canted my head to the side indicating I knew something had gone wrong. She couldn’t have been in there more than ten minutes. She had texted me to let me know that she had arrived and would be looking around the store. Something major had happened between the text and my arriving.
She looked up at me defiantly.
I tensed. I knew that look. It was the one that screamed that she was going to be difficult.
“You do not want to know.” She looked at me daring me to go further.
I guessed she didn’t know me. “I really do want to know what happened.” She was my wife. I was concerned about anything that concerned her. We were still working on her trust and faith in me. That crap with Taylor hadn’t helped either. That situation was the other reason why I was being careful about how I treaded in this conversation. Some conversations were like landmines, ready to blow me the hell up if I didn’t watch what I said.
I was honest enough to admit that Lisa was more feisty than other women that I had dated in the past. She didn’t mind being confrontational. I knew the stereotypes as it pertained to black women. I knew that stereotypical thoughts were that black women were aggressive, hard, and bitchy. I considered Lisa determined and refused to back down when she knew that she deserved respect. I wondered sometimes if black women got a bad rap because the respect that came naturally to white women had to be demanded by black women.
They weren’t allowed to be soft because life didn’t allow for soft. Lisa had once told me that black women were the black community. They kept the black family running when fathers were nonexistent, in jail, or simply uninvolved. They were literally like Atlas from the Greek mythology, carrying everybody on their back.
“No, you do not want to know what happened. You’ll probably tell me that I’m making it up or overreacting.” She put her hands on her hips and glared at me.
I shook my head and pulled all three of them toward me. Damn, I loved this woman. “Why would you think that I would think you were making anything up?” I asked bending down to kiss her. My wife could make a preacher curse with her sass.
“Fine. Those people in there are rude.” She looked at me waiting for me to contradict her statement.
She was good at this. She was goading me. Yes, I remembered what happened at the hockey game with Taylor. I had no desire for a repeat performance.
“What did they do?” I asked hoping that I sounded like I was on her side. Lord knows, if I wasn’t on her side, she would go from one to one hundred pretty fast.
She relaxed minusculy.
Good, that crisis was avoided.
“First of all, that damn store is high as hell for some cribs. I don’t know what the hell they think the babies are going to do in them, but it must be attend damn college,” she growled.
I didn’t want to remind her that money was not a problem. We could afford to pay for whatever we wanted without any issues. Hell, I made twenty-one million a year. I was good at investing and took care of my money. We were not hurting for money by any means.
“Ok.” I still didn’t see what the problem was.
She glared at me.
“What happened, Lisa?” I was getting aggravated and trying not to let it show. Patience was not my name.
“They refused to wait on me.”
I looked at her for a second. Tension radiated from her body. “What do you mean they refused to wait on you?” I was confused. They sold baby products. It was there job to assist customers.
“I stood in that store for five minutes before anybody came to me, which is fine. I get it. I like to look without people interrupting me too. But, I had questions. None of the cribs had prices.” She glared at me like it was my fault that a price tag wasn’t on anything.
“Ok,” I said prompting her to finish. Please don’t let this be a race issue. Nothing pissed Lisa off more than feeling like someone was purposely being rude to black people, poor people, or anyone she felt had been persecuted by the one percent.
“I called someone over, and she told me that crib was probably too high for me, and maybe I should consider looking at a different store because everything in the store was above my paygrade if I needed prices.”
“What?” I seethed. People actually talked to people like this? It was mind boggling. One of Lisa’s favorite phrases came to mind. People needed to stay in their lane. She should have just given the damn prices and moved on even if she felt the person couldn’t afford it. People had the right to dream even if they couldn’t afford something.
“Right. I felt the same way.” She nodded her head.
“I wanted to curse her out, but you know Michelle Obama said when they go low we go high and all that. Also, I didn’t want to prove anyone right with the whole black girl aggressive problem. Even though I wanted to be aggressive as hell.” She waved her hand around.
I bet she did.
Lisa had a habit of quoting famous black people when she wanted to get her points across. I thought it was pretty funny and cute. It worked for her.
“What did you say back to her?” I was curious how my wife handled anybody trying to tell her what to do.
She rolled her eyes. “I told her that I wasn’t asking for her opinion. I wanted to know prices.”
I wanted to laugh. She was pissed.
“What did she say to that?” I wondered how the sales lady handled my feisty wife.
“She said she was trying to help me out. I told her I didn’t need her help.” She put her hands on her back, which managed to push her stomach out. She was adorable.
“Do you want to go back in the store and prove that you can afford it?” I didn’t know what she wanted to do it.
She glanced over at me considering what I said.
“You could give someone else the commission, not the woman that was rude to you. I wanted her to be happy. If she wanted the cribs, I wanted her to have them.
She blew out a breath. “I don’t know.”
I pulled her back into my body and kissed her neck. I felt her shiver beneath me. She made me feel powerful. She
made me feel important. Her arms went around me, and she squeezed tightly. This was the soft Lisa that I loved. Actually, I loved all the facets of Lisa. Complicated, loving, difficult, sweet, kind, spicy, and giving. They were all her. “We can do whatever you want.” The babies moved against my body. I loved the feeling of all three of them being with me.
She pulled back. Her face had taken on another look. This one I could read easily. She was not up to any good. She had made some sort of decision.
“Let’s go back in.” She moved to the side waiting on me to open the door for her.
“Okay.” I had no idea what was going on in that busy brain of hers.
We walked back in the store together. She intertwined my fingers with hers. I admit we didn’t hold hands often, but when we did, she softened me even further. She was so independent that holding my hand made me feel like she was gathering me for support.
I turned to look around the store trying to determine which of the four women had been rude to my wife.
“Which woman was rude to you?” I asked trying to remain calm.
She glanced over at a black woman with long hair and mocha colored skin. She was pretty in that ‘I am better than you’ kind of way that some women gave off.
I would be lying if I didn’t say that I was happy that she was black. I didn’t want anymore white issues for a while. Actually, if racism would just disappear, I would be happy as hell. I didn’t want my wife to deal with it, and I could see how it had affected both white and black people alike.
Lately, I had been thinking about all the things that I would tell my biracial kids about life. There were conversations that I would hate that I would ever have to have with them. But, loving Lisa meant that our children would be prepared to go out in the world and be strong biracial children that would respect their black and white side.
I nodded my head to my wife letting her know that I understood which woman she was talking about that had been rude. I was waiting to see what my wife would do.
The black woman being rude to my wife because of the prices of the cribs was another example of how people could discriminate against themselves. She assumed because my wife was black that she didn’t have money. She was wrong. Lisa made good money as a doctor. It wasn’t athlete money, but it was enough money that she had the ability to live a good life without me or any other man.
The woman turned her head looking at me then back at Lisa. I could see the wheels turning in her head. She was wondering who I was and if Lisa could now afford the cribs.
Too late. You pissed off my wife, and she’ll never let you sale her a piece of gum.
My wife didn’t take kindly to discrimination of any kind. She was like Captain Defend Anybody.
Another lady walked up to us first. This lady was an older white woman with a short haircut and petite. She appeared nice. I wasn’t sure how Lisa was going to respond.
“May I help you?” she asked smiling at me and Lisa.
Lisa shook her head. “No, the lady at the register was helping me earlier.” She pointed to the lady that was rude to her.
I knew my wife. This lady wasn’t selling her anything.
“Oh. Tanya. I’ll get her for you.”
I watched the older lady tell Tanya that we were waiting on her. I quietly watched Lisa’s eyes spark with anticipation.
“Hi, may I help you?” She smiled at me. Then, Lisa.
I hoped she felt this trap that was about to clamp around her neck because I was pretty sure that Lisa was about to let her have it.
“Do you know who my husband is?” Lisa asked smiling innocently at the lady.
The woman glanced over at me. She stared at me for a second. I wasn’t sure if she knew who I was. I knew the hockey market did not necessarily cater to African Americans. She could have seen me in commercials for various things, but I wasn’t even sure about that.
She shook her head.
The older lady walked back up to us. Apparently, she had been watching the interaction.
“My husband plays for the Tennessee Pelicans. Do you want to know how much he makes a year?” Lisa asked Tanya warming up to her taking her down.
Tanya looked nervously at the older woman. “He makes twenty-one million a year, not including his endorsements and commercials.” Lisa smiled condescendingly at the young lady.
I took pity on the woman. I knew that she now had a distinct impression that she had blown a huge commission.
Lisa squeezed my hands. “We’re having twins. I was prepared to come in here and order two of the majority of everything for our babies, but you were so rude to me that you put me off from purchasing anything in here. I thought about being petty and allowing someone to make the commission while you watched, but I don’t think I’ll do that either. People who are not welcomed in certain establishments should take their business to other establishments. We shouldn’t spend our money where it’s not wanted. For future references, you don’t know what people have or don’t have. Your biases and ignorance have cost you a very good sale.”
I glanced at the older lady. I could see her face turn red in anger. I wasn’t sure if she was the owner or another sales associate, but I was pretty sure that this story would get back to whomever needed to hear it.
“I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to offend you. I’ll be happy to help you.” Tanya said wringing her hands and looking at the older woman.
“No, it is fine. I’m good. I just hope that you learn that you can’t always go on appearances.” Lisa squeezed my hand and turned toward the door.
I was proud of my wife. If she had wanted to purchase something from here, I would have gone along with her. Now, I realized she was right. They didn’t deserve our business. There were other places to spend money.
As we walked out the store, I heard the older lady calling Tanya to the back. I didn’t want her to lose her job, but in real life, there were always consequences for actions. We didn’t always like them or agree with them, but they were there all the same.
Epilogue
I was exhausted. Chris and I were barely getting any rest trying to adjust to their schedule because they certainly didn’t give a damn about ours.
I looked down at Hannah sleeping peacefully in my arms. Her slightly tanned skin contrasted with mine. Her hazel green eyes fluttered back and forth trying to resist sleep. She had been playing possum for days trying to trick me that she was asleep. Then, as soon as I put her back down, her green eyes would pop back open.
She was going to be a heartbreaker. I guessed Taylor had that one thing right. My daughter was going to be beautiful.
When I looked back up, Chris was staring directly at me.
“What?”
“You’re beautiful,” Chris said looking at me with desire in his eyes.
I smiled ruefully, “You mean for someone that just pushed out two babies two weeks ago.”
I know I looked a mess. My eyes had to be blurry from constantly waking up to see which one of them was refusing to go to sleep. Usually, it was Hannah. She was the little rebel. Cole was all his daddy.
Chris had Cole cradled in his muscular arms and love shined through him every time he gazed at either one of us. I would be lying if I didn’t say that I felt absolute love from him.
“No, you’re beautiful because you’re mine, and you’re the mother of my beautiful children. You make my heart happy. You make me happy,” he whispered trying not to wake Cole.
Chris had a way with words that made me believe everything that he told me. Living with him, growing with him was going to be an adventure. When he had first told me that he was all in, I didn’t know if I had truly believed him. But, with every touch, every gesture, every moment, he proved that he was in our marriage for the long haul.
“So you love me, huh?” I murmured trying to keep little Miss Possum from waking up.
I loved this man so much. With every passing day, I loved him more. Cole and Hannah had a wonderful daddy, and I had a great man.
I was well aware that not all relationships worked out the way that ours had, but whatever I saw in him in Vegas must have been real. No, I don’t remember what I said to him that night, but I’m glad that I had said that shit.
“Yes, I love you and all your black girl magic.” He winked at me. Yep, I still let him know about all the magic I sprinkled when I walked into the room. He settled me. Yes, I was still vocal. Someone had to bring up issues that were facing the world. We couldn’t all remain oblivious to the pain and suffering that people were facing every day.
Chris and I had started an afterschool organization to assist underprivileged students with homework, tutoring, and college testing. Originally, I had only wanted to program to be for African American students. African American students were statically behind in the educational arena, but my husband convinced me that African American kids were not the only ones that were suffering.
That became an argument that got pretty heated. Ultimately, I agreed that we should focus our resources in diverse schools that were populated by various minority groups. If they happened to have a majority of African American students, that couldn’t be helped. Hispanics and African American students did struggle the most in our society. But, I was learning that the world wasn’t always kind to white people that didn’t have financial stability either. My husband was teaching me that pain and suffering didn’t have color.
Yes, I still believed that black people suffered more, but no one in the world was immune to pain and suffering.
“What are you thinking about?” Chris asked standing up with Cole.
“I’m thinking that I’m so glad that what happened in Vegas didn’t stay in Vegas. I’m glad I took all those shots. I’m so glad that I fell in love with you.” I winked.
“Yeah, these two are kind of a reminder of that.” He glanced over at me. “I think when we decide to have more children we should probably go back. Make some new memories that can’t be forgotten.”
I eased off the bed with Hannah following Chris to the nursery.
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