by Renee, Mimi
Bright lay in the hotel room where she spent most of her school days, sleeping, smoking Kush and masterminding her escape from the city, without getting caught. She received a call from an unknown number in the middle of a good rest. Who the hell is this? Bright thought, rolling over in bed.
“Yeah,” she answered.
“Baby, I just got hit with a gun case,” Terrence yelled through the phone. “I don't have a bond, so I’ma need you to get a prepaid account established on your phone so that I can call you on your cell phone.” Then he read a number out loud to her.
“Jail!” Bright said, sitting up on the bed. She was more
concerned about him giving her money than him actually being in jail.
“I know, baby, don't trip,” he said, hearing the disappointment in her voice. “I'll be out of here as soon as I get a bond, but for now, call that number I gave you and get that prepaid account set up so I can call you and keep you posted.” After a few more moments of speaking, Terrence had to get off the phone. Bright was expected to pay her mother three hundred dollars tomorrow, and she wanted to get her mother’s bedroom set out of layaway as a surprise for her. What the fuck am I gonna do now? Bright thought.
“The ring!” she said out loud, snapping her fingers. She knew she could get at least nine or ten grand for the engagement ring that Terrence had given her, and if he got out before she got ghost, she would just tell him that she lost it...That simple.
********** “My goodness Suge, what’s been up with you?” Treasure asked her when she finally returned her call. “I've been calling you for weeks and no response,” Treasure said irritated on her way home from school. She was dying with anticipation to find out what she had to tell her about Bright. Suge had lost the courage to tell Treasure what she had wanted to tell her for months, because she didn't want to come in between Bright and Treasure's friendship, so she temporarily decided to keep quiet and ignore Treasure’s calls. But when she could no longer endure the guilt that was eating her up inside, she made her mind up to call and tell Treasure everything.
“I'm sorry, Treasure,” Suge said, then she told her everything, on down to the conversation they had at Bright’s house before she had arrived.
“She did what!” Treasure yelled, stopping in her tracks. Thinking on it, she did remember asking Bright to grab the mail for her awhile back.
“Calm down, Treasure, that's the reason I didn't want to mention it to you. But after hearing the whole thing about Nicole and Lil Boo, I thought something was very suspicious about the whole situation, and that Bright wasn't right,” she said honestly.
Tears fell down Treasure's face. She felt betrayed in the worst way and by one of the people that she trusted the most, Bright. “So you’re telling me that she wrote Chrome back, saying that even if he didn't rape my homegirl, he was still wrong for putting his hands on her and he deserve all the time that was given to him for messing with her in the first place?” Treasure said making sure she was properly hearing the words coming out of Suge's mouth.
“Yup, that’s my word, Treasure, and I gain nothing for telling you this. If anything, I'm gonna lose Bright as a friend,” she sighed. “I just thought telling you was the right thing to do,” she admitted sadly.
Treasure knew that Suge wouldn't lie to her about something like this, so she thanked her. “Thanks for not keeping me in the dark...I love you,” she said to Suge.
“I love you too, Treasure.”
********** After going to the pawn shop, Bright sold the ring for eighty-six hundred dollars. Then she took a cab to the city of Paramount to search for apartments, that she was later going to suggest her mother move into. She had no plans of speaking to or seeing Terrence ever again, and since she had enough money for a security deposit and the first couple of months’ rent she decided that now would the perfect time to make her move and get out of Long Beach.
After finding three decent apartments that accepted Section Eight in low traffic areas. Bright took a cab to the liquor store by her house, grabbed some snacks, then made her way home to tell her mom the good news. Her mother had been talking about moving, since the area was getting worse, so she was sure she'd be ecstatic about the location.
Walking down her street, Bright felt as if she had peed on herself. Looking down at the urine-like fluids twinkling down her legs, she panicked. “My water just broke!” she yelled, looking for help. Seeing Rat climb in his hoopty, she called out for his help. “Rat, help me, I'm going into labor!”
Rat quickly drove in her direction. Meeting her at the curb, he laughed in her face. “I guess yo stuck up ass got a problem then, huh? Because you ain't getting yo gold diggin’, think you all that, fake ass in my car you trifling, BITCHHHHH!” then he sped off laughing. He didn't forget easily, and figured this would be a great opportunity to get back at her for treating him like a scrub that day he dropped her off over at her homegirl Treasure's house.
“Fuck you!” Bright screamed at the top of her lungs. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, she began to experience back-to-back pains in her stomach. Falling to the ground, holding her stomach, she cried out for help. The doctor had told her to expect an early labor carrying twins, but she was only seven and a half months pregnant. She had at least expected to make it to her eighth month.
Being noticed by an elderly couple that was driving down the street, they immediately pulled over to help her. Bright told them that she was going into labor, and then asked if one of them could go to her house to get her mother. The man walked over to her building as quickly as he could while the elderly woman tried to help coach Bright's breathing. Confused as to how the proper breathing technique went, she told Bright, “Oh baby, just make sure you breathe,” she was agitated that she was of no use to the young girl in need. She hadn't birthed a child in over 40 plus years and had honestly forgotten the whole routine.
Moments later, Deja and Cordell ran out the courtyard with the elderly man trailing them. “You having the baby?” Deja asked, nervously but was excited at the same time. Cordell picked up Bright's cell phone that was lying on the curb.
“Yes,” Bright managed to say in between pains. “It seems like I'm contracting every two to three minutes. Get Mama down here to take me to the hospital,” she whined.
“Mama went to lunch and Bible study with Gale,” Deja replied.
Looking around to find his sister a ride to the hospital, Cordell asked the neighbor across the street if he could take Bright to the hospital. “Aye homie, can I throw you a hot dub to take my sister to Long Beach Memorial?” he asked, grabbing a wad of dope money out of his pocket.
“I can't, lil man, my tags are bad,” he explained regretfully, then he stepped across the street to see if he could be of any other use.
“We can take her to the hospital,” the elderly woman said, looking to her husband, who nodded his head in agreement.
“Cool,” Cordell said happily, then he asked the guy from across the street to help him put Bright in the back seat of the car. Before they drove off, he gave the man a twenty dollar bill and thanked him. Deja rode in the backseat with Bright while trying to get in contact with Larry for Bright.
“I called him five times, Bright, he's not answering,” Deja told her.
In agonizing pain, Bright said, “Keep calling until he answers.”
Finally at the hospital, Bright thanked the elderly couple for all of their help before being put in a wheelchair and rushed inside. Still with no luck of getting in touch with Larry, Bright became frustrated and cried even more. “He is supposed to be here with me!” She vented, then she told Deja to call his mother's house. Since Bright had dilated over three centimeters, they promptly, admitted her into the hospital.
Moments later, her mother and Gale rushed inside the room. “We having them early, Queen Bee,” she said with a comforting smile on her face. She had recovered from her stroke well and was back to her old self minus the drinking and smoking.
Inside the restroom, Gale g
rabbed cold towels to wipe Bright’s face when she heard her continue to complain about being hot. “Ma, where is Larry?” Bright cried.
“I don't know, sweetheart, Deja is still trying to contact him for you,” she said, coaching Bright to breathe properly.
After getting the news, Mrs. Lane rushed inside the hospital room, excited to be there in enough time to help. “I couldn't get in touch with Larry, Bright, but I did leave a message for him at the university, and I'm sure he'll be here soon. He left his phone on his bed this morning,” she said, showing her his phone. Then she kissed her on the forehead and asked her how she was feeling.
“I'm feeling awful because I'ma have these babies without Larry being here,” Bright cried.
“Let's just be grateful for all the love that you have in this room at this very moment,” Mrs. Lane said with a pleasant smile on her face.
“Praise God!” Rosette shouted, reminding Bright to remain calm and to breathe.
Once they sent Bright off to the delivery room, the nurse told her that she could only choose two people to come inside the room with her. She chose both her mother and Larry's mother to come in. “But if the father comes, please let him in,” Bright instructed in tears of pain and unhappiness. She was really heartbroken that Larry wasn't there.
“I'll be sure to send him right in,” the nurse assured her.
Bright had a speedy delivery. Within twenty minutes of pushing inside of the delivery room, she had birthed two premature baby girls that she and Larry agreed to name Lari and Lori Lane. Both weighing four pounds and six ounces, they were almost small enough to fit in each palm of her hand. Unhappy with the way they looked she cried, “Are they okay? Why are they so small?” she asked.
“Twin babies ninety percent of time come out earlier and smaller than normal pregnancies,” the doctor told her.
Giving the babies back to the nurse, Bright turned her nose up at the sight of them. They didn't look normal to her, they had wrinkly skin, cone shaped heads, and on top of that, they looked nothing like she had expected them to.
“So precious,” she heard Gale say as the nurse made her way out of the room with the twins and to the nursery.
People only call ugly babies precious, Bright thought. Hearing Gale's comment made tears form in her eyes. It confirmed that Gale thought her babies were ugly too. Mad at how everything was going, Bright closed her eyes and went to sleep.
Moments later Larry arrived. He was furious that he had accidentally left his cell phone at home, and that it caused him to miss the birth of their babies. More importantly he was disappointed for not being there for Bright.
********** Treasure was hot as fish grease. She had not only found out that Bright had fucked Chrome, but Lil Boo had also fessed up about sleeping with her too. He not only admitted to sleeping with Bright the night of his party, but that he had also slept with her again a few months back when she came to his house to find out what he had told her when she confronted him about the situation.
That’s why that bitch was avoiding my question all that time when I asked her what happened that night, Treasure thought. And though Lil Boo had only told her the truth because Bright had keyed up his car when he refused to give her money, she was still happy to finally know the truth. Lil Boo didn't owe her anything as far as she was concerned, but Bright did, and for her disloyal act of betrayal, Treasure planned on seeking revenge on her in the worst way. After making it inside of Bright's courtyard, Treasure climbed the stairs, then banged on her front door. When her mother answered with the Bible in her hand, Treasure's tone immediately changed. She wasn't used to her being home at this time of the day.
Giving her a strange look, Rosette asked her, “Is there a reason you’re knocking on my door like you’re the police?”
Treasure wanted to cuss Miss Rose out and spill the beans on her hoe ass daughter. However, because she had just recovered from a stroke, and Treasure respected her elders, she had to remind herself that Bright's mother had nothing to do with it. It was between her and Bright. “I'm sorry, Miss Rose, is Bright here?” she asked as humbly as she could in her frame of mind.
With a surprised look on her face, she said, “No baby, you didn't know? She had the babies earlier today. She's at the hospital, and will probably be there for the next three or four days,” she said with a happy smile on her face.
“Congratulations, Miss Rose,” Treasure said, struggling to put a smile on her face. Noticing the tension in her face, Rosette asked her if everything was alright.
“Everything is alright now,” she smiled. “I'll stop by in the next couple of days or so,” she said, heading down the stairs.
“You’re not going to go see Queen Bee and the babies at the hospital?” Rosette asked, confused.
Treasure shook her head no, “I'm afraid that I won't be able to,” she said, and she left out of the gate.
“What has Bright gotten herself into?” Rosette said out loud to herself. Then she closed the door and finished having Bible study with her two youngest.
********** Terrence was pissed off that Bright hadn't accepted any of his calls, so he had his homeboy call her on a three way for him.
“Hello,” she answered in a sleepy tone.
“Where the fuck you at? And why the fuck you haven't been answering my calls, girl?” Terrence yelled through the phone, instantly frightening her.
Happy that Larry had stepped out of the room to grab snacks, she spoke. “You out yet?” she asked nervously. She had already spoken to her mother about moving, so she was praying that he stayed behind bars until they relocated.
“Hell naw, I ain't out yet, and it don't look like these muthafuckas is tryna let me out either!” he fumed. “So I’ma need you to start answering yo damn phone, before you have me fuck something up around here, you understand?” he said with authority.
Without further words Bright ended the call. All she wanted to know was whether or not he was in jail; she didn't care what he had going on, or what he was going through. Like I really give a fuck! She thought, then powered her phone off.
********** Larry was happy that he was the father of two healthy little princesses, Lari and Lori, and that they each had all ten fingers and toes. After catching Bright smoking and drinking wine that day at the hotel, he had become concerned about his babies’ health, because he figured if Bright was careless enough to indulge in weed and alcohol that day, that she had probably done it many more times before. “Look at all three of my sleeping babies,” Larry said sitting next to Bright's bedside, holding his two daughters in his arms.
Her eyes fluttered open, and she instantly smiled seeing Larry there with her. “I love you, Larry Lane,” she said, stretching and waking herself up.
“I love you too, Pretty Bright, and guess what, baby? I signed my deal, and as soon as you get out of here, we're going house shopping, you hear me, baby?” he said, then reached over and kissed her on her beautiful face.
“My big house,” she smiled. “Yup, wherever and whatever house you want. I just wanna make you happy,” he smiled.
Bright smiled, then reached her hand out to his. “I must be the luckiest girl alive to have a man like you in my life, Daddy Lane. You make every risk or chance that I've taken, done or gone through worth it.” She paused. “Now I have no regrets,” she smiled, holding on tight to his hand. Her life was finally going into the direction that she had worked so hard for it be.
********** After coming out of the bathroom and climbing back into her hospital bed, Bright asked Larry if he could get her some King Taco. She hadn't really been eating, and now that everything was going perfectly, her appetite had finally come back and she was dying for some of the best tacos in town. Larry kissed his three angels on their foreheads then headed out of the room to grab Bright some tacos.
Wondering why Treasure and Suge hadn't stopped by or called her yet, she dialed Treasure up on her cell phone, but her number was disconnected so she called her house phone. When her gra
ndmother answered, she told her that Treasure wasn't home, so she called Suge up.
“Mohammad residence, Sister Shirley speaking,” Suge's foster mother said into the phone.
“Can I speak to Samantha, please?” Bright asked,
Suge told them whenever they called the house to ask for
her by her real name.
“Can I ask who’s speaking?” she asked.
“It's her friend, Bright Sheldon,” she said, feeling the
need to give her full name.
After a few moments of silence, she said, “She's busy
right now; can you call her back tomorrow evening?” Bright thought that was very odd that she told her to
call her back the next evening, instead of later on that
day, but she figured, oh well maybe it’s just a Muslim thing,
then she hung up the phone.
********** At King Taco, Larry stood in line a few customers behind Bright's asshole uncle talking big shit about how upset he was at some chick. Larry was gonna step up and attempt to introduce himself for the second time, but he figured his day was going so well that he didn't want to let him spoil it for him. So he patiently waited in line and continued listening to him vent to his friend.
“This bitch don't even know that I'm out right now, but after the way she played me for the last few days I was locked up, on everything, I'm cool on that bitch. I'ma take care of my responsibilities with the twins and everything, but her gold digging ass ain't got shit coming from me!” he stressed.
His boy nodded his head in agreem ent. “That's why I be telling you, you gotta watch out for these hoe's, because a lot of 'em just be out for the money, homie,” he said seriously.
“I can't believe her ass, though,” he said, looking at the caller ID on his ringing cell phone. A devilish smirk appeared across Terrence face. “This bitch wanna return my calls now that she see a nigga out,” he sarcastically said.