by Carl Weber
“Oh, so when she saw it you just fucked her right then and there, huh?”
“No. I fucked her after she told me you said I was too rough. She said she liked it rough. After that, it was a wrap.” He got up from his chair. “Like I said before: you talk too much, Jazz. Don’t you know you never tell your friends what you’re working with in bed?”
I shuddered. There was some truth to what he was saying, but it hurt to realize it.
“Now, are you gonna let me come back home, or what? ’Cause I got shit to do. I ain’t got time to be baby-sitting you and your little tantrum.”
I thought I was so in love with this man, but it was so clear now that he’d never really cared about me. Sure, he bought me lots of things. And at one time I guess I confused that with loving me. But Derrick was never concerned about my heart. He kept me on a leash, and I was willing to do anything for him. He let his baby’s momma disrespect me more times than I wanted to count. And I was a fool. I stayed by his side, gave up my own life to wait for his ass for three years. Now here I was, scared as shit, trying to keep my own self out of jail. Well, those days were over. I was ready to live my life on my own terms. I was ready to say good-bye to Derrick. And I was doing it for me, not for any cop, not for the lawyers. Just for me.
“No. I’m not gonna let you come back home.”
It felt so good to tell him that. And I couldn’t believe his response. He didn’t fight at all. He reached into his pocket, pulled out my keys, and slid them across the table to me.
“Your loss,” was all he said as he left.
I sat alone at that table for five of the longest minutes of my life. I couldn’t wait to get the hell out of there, but I had to get the word from the cops. Even the undercover couple next to me were still playing their part, pretending they didn’t know I existed. Finally, my lawyer came through the front door, and he was smiling. I felt like I could breathe at last.
“He’s gone, Jasmine. You can relax now,” Robert told me.
“Did he go to the car?” I asked.
“No.” My heart sank when he said that. But then he explained, “While he was in here with you, he had one of his friends get the drugs out of your trunk.”
“What? Does that mean he’s not gonna be arrested?” I was so nervous.
“No one’s been arrested yet. The friend was waiting outside when Derrick left. Derrick got into his car, and the undercover car is following them now. They’re hoping that at some point Derrick will take the drugs into his possession so they can get him.”
“So what do we do now?” I asked. “I thought I was gonna be done as soon as I talked to him.”
“Your part is done for now. Now we just have to wait. As soon as I know something, I’ll call you.”
“Does this mean the charges are dropped?”
“Technically, no. We have to go in front of a judge to have that done. And the Commonwealth won’t do that until they have Derrick in custody.”
“Damn.” My shoulders sagged. “How long do I have to wait?”
“Hopefully, not long. Try to relax.”
Easier said than done. There was no way I was gonna relax if I thought Derrick was still out there. What if his friend kept the drugs after all this? Then they couldn’t pick him up. Might even stop trailing him. For all I knew, he’d come looking for me if he decided he didn’t like the outcome of our little conversation today. I walked to my car feeling like I had a lead weight tied around my neck.
Stephanie sat on her couch with me for almost two hours when I got back to her place. The kids were off at the day care center, so I had her undivided attention. It didn’t matter, though. It’s not like I could even talk. I was so upset by this point, I just sat and cried until the phone finally rang.
“Jasmine? This is Robert. He took the drugs back to Wendy’s house and they got him.”
My knees gave out and I grabbed the couch before I ended up on the floor.
“Thank God.”
“With what they found in that house, they arrested him and Miss Wood.” That put a little smile on my tearstained face.
“So does that mean I’m free?”
“Yes, Miss Johnson. It means they’re dropping the charges. First thing tomorrow, I’ll appear before a judge to finalize everything.”
I started crying—this time, tears of relief. Derrick was going away, and it was time to start my life over.
40
Dylan
“Child, where have you been? We almost finished eating.” Big Momma scolded Stephanie as she walked into my dining room and took a seat.
“I told you this morning I had to drop the kids off at Travis’s,” Stephanie replied as she looked around the table at all the food. “Lord, this stuff smells good. Who cooked it?”
“Dylan,” Big Momma answered. “Can you believe he cooked all this food? And Stephanie, you got to try them ribs. The meat just falls off the bone.”
“I don’t see no ribs.” Stephanie frowned.
“There’s some in the kitchen. I’ll go get you some. Anyone else want ribs?”
Big Momma headed to the kitchen as she offered everyone a second helping. Not one person other than Stephanie took her up on the offer. We were already beyond stuffed after tons of hamburgers, hot dogs, spare ribs, and other grilled goodies. I’d invited Jasmine and her family over for a barbecue as a way of thanking them for their kind treatment the past few months. Thank goodness I’d finished most of the cooking right before it started raining, but we had to eat in the house.
Since Jasmine had gotten out of jail, her family had done their best to thank me for getting her such a good lawyer. Both Stephanie and Big Momma had gone overboard to make me feel like one of the family. And Big Momma didn’t hide the fact that she hoped I’d be a member of the family through marriage someday. She couldn’t go five minutes without complimenting me on something or telling me what a good grandson-in-law I’d be. And from what Jasmine told me, she was getting the same pro-Dylan speech just as often.
But Jasmine and I were still taking things slow. She’d gotten rid of Derrick, and I hadn’t seen or heard from Monica since she disappeared from the hospital. I didn’t give a damn about Monica, but I spent lots of time worrying about the baby. I had Joe on the case, so I wasn’t worried. If Monica was in Petersburg, sooner or later he’d find her. In the meantime, Jasmine had become a great listener whenever I needed her. And I continued to do the same for her as she worked through her feelings about the whole situation with Derrick. There was no doubt that I had strong feelings for Jasmine, and she felt the same for me. If her family had anything to say about it, we’d be on our way down the aisle already.
But we’d both been seriously hurt by our past lovers, and neither one of us saw a reason to rush into anything until our heads and our hearts were straight. We were content to spend as much time together as possible but still let our relationship grow at its own pace. Sure, I knew that if things continued the way they were going, I would be giving her a ring in the not-so-distant future. But I didn’t share that information with Stephanie, or she and Big Momma would start picking out names for our firstborn child.
As for Stephanie, she was happy to be meddling in our relationship, since she didn’t have one of her own. Actually, it wasn’t as bad as it sounds. She and her sister had developed a much closer bond than they’d ever had before. Stephanie honestly seemed to be interested in keeping her sister from making the same mistakes she had made. And in that respect, she was trying to make the best of the damage that had been done to her family after she stepped out on Travis.
Not long after she moved out of Travis’s place, her daughter’s father, Malek, left town again. He went back to D.C., this time with a girl Stephanie couldn’t stand, named LaKeisha Nixon. Stephanie seemed so relieved to have him gone, and her family had actually hoped that would be the deciding factor to getting her and Travis back together. But by that time, Travis had moved on, started a new relationship, and seemed pretty ada
mant about being through with Stephanie.
From the way Jasmine described her, the old Stephanie would have tried to manipulate her way back into Travis’s life. But she didn’t. She worked with him peacefully, to figure out a way that the kids could get plenty of time with both of them. He got to see the kids twice a week, and they stayed with him every other weekend. Stephanie actually seemed satisfied with the arrangement, and hadn’t tried to make any problems for Travis and his new woman. Her family was very proud of her, and they made sure to tell her as often as she could stand to hear it. Yeah, all around, things were headed in the right direction for the Johnson girls.
“Come ’ere and give me a kiss.” Jasmine wrapped her arms around me and pulled me into the hall as I walked out of the dining room. I was more than happy to do as she asked. I gave her a quick kiss and she peeked around the corner, pretending to be nervous.
“I better be careful,” she joked. “Your girlfriend Big Momma might get jealous if she knew I was doing this.” She pressed her lips against mine and we kissed passionately until we heard footsteps.
Big Momma walked into the hall and we started to laugh.
“Mmm-hmm, what y‘all up to?” she smirked. “Don’t y’all be doing all that kissing and hugging around me unless y’all getting married some time soon.” Like I said, Big Momma took every opportunity she got to put in her vote for a quick marriage.
“Big Momma, why don’t you leave those two alone?” Stephanie chimed in from the dining room. “Can’t you see they’re trying to get their groove on?”
“That’s just what I’m sayin’. If they wanna act like that, they should hurry up and get married.”
I had to laugh at her persistence, but the phone rang.
“I’ll get it,” Stephanie offered. “Y’all keep on doin’ your thing out there in the hall” She got up and headed for the kitchen. Jasmine and I went back into the dining room, but before I could sit down, Stephanie called me to the phone. I gave Jasmine another quick kiss and headed to the kitchen to take the call.
“Hello?”
“Dylan, this is Ron Burns” It was the police officer who’d helped me out the night I was picked up in the crack house.
“Hey, Ron, what’s up? Everything all right?”
“Well, I’m not sure. Joe was telling me a while ago that you’ve been trying to find your son.”
“Yeah. Do you know something?” My heart jumped. Maybe there was finally some news about the baby.
“We just picked up your ex for possession.”
“Monica? She’s there now?” I hadn’t heard any news about her in so long, I was starting to think she’d left town.
“Yes. Monica’s here.”
“What about the baby? Was the baby with her?” I held my breath as I waited for his answer.
“The baby’s right here,” Ron answered. He sounded uncomfortable. “We were hoping you’d come pick him up. Otherwise, we have to turn him over to child welfare.”
There was no way I was gonna let that happen. Ever since that first day that I held him, I’d been waiting to have my son in my arms again. Now that I finally knew where he was, I didn’t want to waste any time getting to him.
“I’ll be right there, Ron.”
“Good. But listen, you need to do one thing before we can let you take him home.”
“Just name it; I’ll do it.”
“We just need to see some type of proof that he’s your son.”
“What about the lab results from my paternity test? We had it done right after he was born.”
“That’s perfect. Just bring those so we can make copies to keep on file here. You understand. We just have to keep everything documented.”
“No problem. I’m on my way.” I hung up the phone and went into the dining room, where everyone was listening to Big Momma tell a story about her own wedding.
“I’m sorry folks, but I have to go out for a minute,” I announced. “Just make yourselves comfortable till I get back.”
“Is everything all right, Dylan?” Jasmine asked as all eyes turned to me.
“Yeah, I guess. They found my son. I’m about to pick him up.”
“Who found him?” Big Momma was the only one talking. Everyone else had their mouths hanging open.
“The police. They arrested Monica, and they have the baby at the station now.”
The room fell silent. No doubt everyone was as shocked as I was at this point. My mind was racing. I couldn’t even think straight enough to give them any more details.
“Well, go on, then, son,” Big Momma broke the silence. “We’ll be right here when you get back.”
41
Jasmine
I threw my napkin on the table and got out of my seat.
“I don’t believe this shit!” I shouted to no one in particular as I headed for the back door.
“Where you going?” Big Momma demanded to know as she followed behind me. Stephanie was right on her heels.
“Jasmine, what is wrong with you?” Stephanie shouted at me.
I stopped and turned around to look at them.
“What do you think is wrong? I can’t believe he’s gonna bring that baby back here. Just when things were starting to get good between us.”
Big Momma raised her eyebrows and shook her head.
“Child, what else did you expect him to do? He can’t just leave that baby there, now, can he?”
My shoulders slumped. “No. You’re right. It’s just that I went through so much baby momma drama with Derrick and Wendy, I promised myself I’d never do it again. No more men with children.”
“Please, Jasmine.” Stephanie sucked her teeth. “You knew Dylan had a baby. Shoot, you been the one listening to him talk about how bad he wanted to find his child. Did you think this couldn’t happen?”
I couldn’t answer her. Of course I knew that this could happen. It’s just that things with Dylan had been going so well, I’d lulled myself into a false sense of security. Even though I never said it to Dylan, part of me thought Monica was long gone and she’d never become an issue.
“Child, don’t you see?” Big Momma said. “The fact that Dylan has a child don’t have to scare you away. You oughta be proud of him.”
“Proud?”
“Yes. Proud. How many baby daddies you know are even willing to acknowledge their children, let alone take them in and raise them without the momma?”
“I know,” I sighed. “But how do we know it’s gonna be without Monica? Eventually, she’ll get out of jail and she’ll be knocking on Dylan’s door. Then what?”
“You deal with that when it happens,” Stephanie said.
“Dylan is a good man, Jasmine,” Big Momma told me. “If you ask me, this just proves it even more. He ain’t the kind of man who’s gonna let Monica ruin things between you, even if she is his baby’s momma.”
Stephanie agreed. “She’s right, Jazz. If you’d stuck around long enough last time, he might’ve been able to prove how he could handle Monica. You never gave him a chance.”
I had so many regrets. So much of what had happened to me since Derrick got out of prison could have been avoided if I had just given Dylan the chance he’d asked for. He’d tried to tell me he wouldn’t let Monica ruin what we were just starting. But I was too scared to trust that. It was easier to stick with the baby momma drama I was already living than to take a risk with someone new who might bring me the same kind of shit. I wasn’t ready to take that risk, so I ran right back into Derrick’s arms. This time, I still wasn’t sure. But at least I could make my decision without another man ornnplicating my thoughts.
“I don’t know if I can do it,” I said. “I’m really scared.”
Big Momma put her arm over my shoulder. “its all right to be scared, child. But don’t let that stop you from living. We’re here to help you if things get rough. And Dylan is a good man. I have faith that he’ll do right by you. Just give him a chance to prove it.”
Big Momma led
me back to the living room. Someone turned on the TV, but I couldn’t tell you who did it or what we were watching. I was lost in my own thoughts until Dylan came back with the baby.
“He’s here!” Stephanie yelled when we heard the car door closing outside. They jumped up and ran to the door to greet him, but I couldn’t. I wasn’t excited about seeing the baby, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to hide my feelings. It would ruin Dylan’s moment for me to walk over there with my face all screwed up.
Dylan had a nervous smile on his face when he came through the door. Even if I had wanted to glimpse the baby from my seat on the couch, I couldn’t, ’cause Big Momma and Stephanie and Momma were all over him in a flash. From all the oohs and ahhs they were yelling, I guess the baby was pretty cute, all bundled up in his daddy’s arms. It didn’t take long before Big Momma told Dylan to hand the baby to her so she could hold him. Now the minicrowd gathered around her.
Dylan spotted me on the couch and left his son with the group of cooing women. I tried to smile, but I know I must’ve looked sad, because his face changed to reflect my mood as he approached. He sat down next to me.
“You okay over here?” he asked.
I shrugged my shoulders. I hated to be ruining this for him, but I couldn’t lie. “I don’t know. This is really scary to me.”
“Me, too.” He took my hand gently. “I’ve wanted this moment for months, but I can’t describe how nervous I was, walking out of that police station with my baby. I kept expecting someone to come tell me it was a mistake. Tell me to give him back.”
“What about Monica? Did you see her there?”
“Yeah. They let me talk to her for a few. She looked real bad.”
“Where’d they pick her up?”
Dylan explained to me the little bit that he knew. Monica had gone to Richmond with the baby right after she left the hospital. The guy who’d picked her up at the hospital was some old guy she’d been with a few times before. He took her back to his place in Richmond. They had an arrangement. She could stay there with her baby, and he’d supply her with enough crack to keep her flying high, as long as she was willing to give him some ass every day. That lasted for a few months, until Monica was so cracked out she lost her figure and her beauty. The guy drove her back to Petersburg in a hurry and dropped her in some rundown neighborhood where he knew Monica would find her way to the nearest crack house.