by Traci Bee
“Wow, just like that? I should’ve moved a long time ago. I’ll call Melanie. I know her and Nic are doing something. She’s leaving tomorrow.”
“Dang, I forgot she was going away to school,” Kevin said. “Call Lavon, too. See if she wanna go. If she need somebody to go wit’ her, I can call James.”
“Yeah, right.” Simone chuckled. “I don’t have to call her, though. I’m right down the street from her and her mom now.”
“Oh, y’all met around there?”
“Yeah, I met her and Melanie around here. Melanie moved a few years ago.” Simone heard a faint tapping sound. “Somebody’s knocking on your door?”
“Yeah,” Kevin said as the taps turned into anxious banging, echoing throughout the apartment as he headed to the door. “You can hear it?”
“Yeah, real good now.”
“BOY, I BEEN OUTSIDE KNOCKING ON THIS DAMN DOOR…” an angry female yelled.
Simone’s natural antennas shot up. “Kevin, who’s that?”
“I’MA CALL YOU BACK!” The phone went dead.
What the hell? Simone thought.
She called Kevin back, but his phone rang several times with no answer. Okay, I know I ain’t stupid, Simone said to herself, knowing damn well she’d heard an irate female. Something wasn’t right.
She snatched off her nightie and threw on the sweatpants and T-shirt she’d worn to move in. She stepped into her tennis shoes and pulled her silky tresses into a ponytail. Unable to sit still, she paced the floor and tried calling Kevin again. You better answer this phone.
“Hello!” a female answered.
“May I speak to Kevin?” Simone asked, a slight edge in her voice.
“For what?” came the response.
“Excuse me?”
“I said, for what?”
“Is your name Kevin?”
“Ah, no, but he’s my boyfriend. So whatever you have to say to him, you can say to me.”
“He’s your boyfriend?”
“Yeah, bitch! What, you deaf?”
Simone chuckled sarcastically. “You know what? Let Kevin know his pregnant girlfriend is on the phone.”
“What?”
“Yeah, bitch,” Simone replied. “Now who’s deaf?”
Sucking her teeth in pure ghetto fashion, the female said, “Bitch, I will fuck you up!”
“Please, you’ll get fucked up. Give the fucking phone to Kevin. I didn’t call to play with you.”
“Here, take the phone, you sorry-ass muthafucka.” Simone knew she was yelling at Kevin. She could hear their conversation.
“What the fuck you doing?” Kevin asked.
“Take the fuckin’ phone!” she yelled. “You got some bitch pregnant?”
“Girl, hang up the got damn phone!”
“No, muthafucka, talk to your pregnant bitch.”
“HANG UP THE MUTHAFUCKIN’ PHONE!” Kevin ordered, and then the phone went dead.
Simone’s entire body shook in a heated fury. She denied the tears pooling in her eyes permission to splash down her cheeks. There was no time for a pity party. She was too pissed to cry. She needed to get to Kevin’s house. She picked up the phone and called Melanie.
● ● ●
“Who the fuck told you to answer the phone?” Kevin yelled, grabbing Rhonda’s arms as she flipped out, swinging crazy punches. He’d been so engulfed in his conversation with Simone that he’d forgotten about Rhonda’s surprise call earlier that morning. Worse yet, Kevin knew his outlandish reaction on the phone just now would probably make Simone think he was cheating on her.
“You got some bitch pregnant?” Rhonda screamed, snatching her arms from Kevin as tears flooded her face. “I don’t fucking believe this shit! What the fuck did you want me to come over here for, huh?” she said, pushing him in his chest.
“I told you. I needed to talk to you.”
“About what?” Rhonda asked through her sniffs. “The bitch you got pregnant!”
Shit, Kevin thought as Rhonda stood there crying. He let out a deep sigh.
“Look, just calm down,” he said, embracing Rhonda and her madness. She accepted his embrace and bawled into his chest.
Oh my God, Simone, Kevin thought, knowing she was probably going crazy and there was no one to comfort her. His mother’s warning danced in his head. He should’ve called Rhonda months ago and let her know that this time he was really done with her. Now she stood before him in a cloud of havoc. Such was life with Rhonda.
Rhonda had called that morning at the crack of dawn, announcing she was in town for Labor Day. “You know I gotta come see my baby,” she’d purred into the phone.
“Good,” Kevin mumbled, half asleep, “’cause we need to talk.” This was his opportunity to sweep up the remaining crumbs of their so-called relationship and toss them into the trash where they belonged.
“Talk?” Rhonda had snickered. “Yeah, we can talk afterwards. I’ll be over later.”
Whatever, Kevin had thought as he hung up the phone and drifted back off to the slumber he’d just captured. When he awoke, the only thing on his mind was Simone.
“You want something to drink?” Kevin had asked Rhonda when she walked in.
“Who was that on the phone?” Rhonda asked as he sat the phone on the coffee table.
“Damn, how you walk in the door jockin’ me? Do you want something to drink? Yes or no?”
“No,” Rhonda said seductively. She strutted over to Kevin and eased her arms around his neck. “I want a kiss.”
He moved her arms.
“Ugh, why you acting all whack? What… you mad ’cause I ain’t been calling? Shit, you ain’t been calling, either. So, stop buggin’ and give me a kiss,” she said, replacing her arms around his neck. Kevin pecked her quickly on the lips, leaving Rhonda dumbfounded. “What the fuck was that?”
The phone started ringing. Kevin moved her arms again. Rhonda’s eyes bounced back and forth between the phone and Kevin’s uneasiness.
“Answer it,” she said.
“For what?” Kevin asked. He knew it was Simone, but there was no way he could talk to her now. I’ll explain it to her later, he thought, as the phone finally stopped ringing. “You want a soda or what?”
“Or what,” Rhonda said as she plopped on the couch, looking at Kevin suspiciously. “I wanna know why you acting so funny. Normally, by now you’d be pounding me in your mother’s bed.”
Kevin ignored her and headed down the hall to the secret stash of sodas his mother kept in her walk-in closet.
Shit, Kevin thought. Rhonda was right. Normally, they’d be on their second wind. Rhonda took the it however, wherever. Just the mere thought was getting him aroused.
Where the hell the sodas at? Kevin dug farther and farther through the closet. He moved a shoe-box out the way and couldn’t help but laugh at the weight of it. A few sodas were hidden inside. He grabbed two cans and put everything back where he’d found it.
I’ll buy you some more sodas, Ma. He knew why she hid them. LeCount guzzled them one behind the other, as if he’d bought them himself. As he closed the closet door, he heard Rhonda yelling.
Who the fuck she talking to? Then it dawned on him as he hurried down the hallway. Oh my God! Simone musta called back.
“Here!” Rhonda yelled. “Take the phone, you sorry-ass muthafucka!”
● ● ●
“I can’t believe this! See, men ain’t shit!” In her sweatpants and tennis shoes, Lavon paced back and forth as they waited for Melanie. “And you fucking pregnant.”
“Yeah, but I’ma take care of that as soon as I get another job.”
“Girl, you need to go with me on Tuesday to take the civil service test. I’m trying to get a job in the government.”
“Say no more. I’m there,” Simone replied as she sat on the concrete stoop in front of Lavon’s building, tapping her feet.
“Look, Simone,” Lavon said as a white Jeep Cherokee pulled into a parking space. “There go Big Bob. He been asking ’bout y
ou, too! Look at him smiling.”
Big Bob stepped his huge, six-three, 260 pounds of solid muscle from his truck.
“Welcome back, beautiful! Your brother told me you were moving back over here,” Big Bob said, smiling from ear to ear. His crush on Simone had been no secret. “What y’all getting ready to get into?”
“Simone’s ’bout to go whip this bitch!”
“Girl,” Big Bob frowned, “don’t you know you too pretty for all that nonsense?”
“Too late,” Lavon said, bouncing around like a professional boxer, when Melanie pulled up in her broken-down blue Buick. “Melanie’s here.”
“Damn, y’all serious!” he said as Simone and Lavon headed to the car.
“Yeah,” Lavon said. “You thought it was a joke?”
“Ah, shit. Hold the fuck up. I’m goin’ wit’ y’all,” Big Bob said, heading back to his truck. “Hey,” he hollered to a group of guys standing on the corner. “Git that and c’mon.” He climbed into his truck and rolled down the window. “What’s up, Melanie? What you going for? You ain’t gon’ fight no damn body.”
“Whatever,” Melanie yelled through the passenger window. “You going?”
“Yeah, I’m going. All us going,” Big Bob responded as his herd of friends crowded the Cherokee.
“Simone!” Melanie warned. “Kevin is gonna trip for real when he sees a truck full of niggas.”
“I don’t give a fuck,” Simone said, more irritably than she meant to. She wasn’t mad at Melanie.
“Okay, so what the hell you gonna do when you get over there anyway?” Melanie asked. “I thought you were going to talk. You can’t be fighting—not with my godchild.”
“Whatever!” Lavon added from the backseat. “Just drive, Melanie. I ain’t got on sweats for nothing. Let that bitch step. I’ll stomp her ass into the ground, Simone, even if you are having an abortion.”
“What?” Melanie was shocked. “You having an abortion?”
“Why would I keep it now?” Simone looked out the window, struggling with the array of emotions stirring inside her. In less than twenty-four hours, her life had turned upside down.
Bob started his truck and yelled out the window, “C’mon! What the hell y’all waiting for?”
Melanie backed from the parking space and led the way. Within a matter of minutes, the convoy arrived at North Hill Apartments. As she drove through the gates, Melanie noticed three individuals walking up the hill.
“Simone, ain’t that Kevin right there?”
Simone looked out the window and spotted Kevin, James, and the infamous female. Ugh, that’s her, she thought.
Rhonda was attractive, but for some reason, Simone was expecting more competition. To her surprise, though, there was nothing spectacular about Rhonda. Her complexion mirrored Kevin’s and her hair was pulled into a simple ponytail that brushed against the back of her neck. Beyond those few supposed selling points, she was homely, dressed in pinkish skintight jeans and a gray and green striped sweatshirt. She wasn’t at all what Simone had imagined.
“Pull over!” Simone yelled, coming to life as Melanie swiveled into a parking space. Simone and Lavon jumped out before the car was parked.
“Kevin!” Simone yelled. The threesome stopped and looked her way.
“Is that that bitch?” Rhonda yelled. “That’s your pregnant bitch!”
“Girl, shut the fuck up!” Kevin grabbed her by the arm. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“Ugh, Simone,” Lavon said, kneeling down to tie a double knot in her shoes. “She a bamma-ass bitch, too. Look at her fuckin’ outfit and her outdated-ass tennis shoes. We wore that shit two years ago.”
“Kevin!” Simone called out again, attempting to gain Kevin’s attention as he and Rhonda fussed. “What’s up? Who the fuck is that?”
“Come see who I am, bitch!” Rhonda yelled, trying to free herself from Kevin.
Big Bob and his fellas got out of the truck. “Don’t even think about it,” Big Bob said, grabbing Simone by her arm. “She got all that mouth, let that broke-down bitch come over here. Then you pound her ass into the ground.”
“Here, Simone.” One of Big Bob’s friends handed Simone a wooden bat. “Go bust that bitch in her head.”
“Boy, I don’t need no damn bat!” Simone yelled back.
James tapped Kevin on the shoulder and pointed to the little mob that had formed. “Look at this shit! Who the fuck is all these niggas, man?”
“What the fuck,” Kevin mumbled, shocked by the crowd. “Who all these niggas?” he hollered to Simone.
“Man, come see who the fuck we are!” Big Bob yelled, letting Simone go as he stepped out into the street, raising his arms, sending Kevin an invitation.
“What?” Kevin frowned.
“Yea,” Big Bob said. “Nigga better check himself ’fore he wreck himself.”
A car turned into the apartment complex and screeched to a halt. LeCount jumped from the driver’s seat. “Hey, man,” he said to Kevin. “What’s going on?”
Ignoring LeCount, Kevin opened the back door, grabbed Rhonda by the arm, and shoved her into the backseat. “Get the fuck in the car!” he demanded. James ran around to the other side and jumped in the backseat.
“Stay your big ass right there. I’ma show you some wreck,” Kevin said before jumping in the car. After surveying the crowd, LeCount jumped back in the car and sped off toward their building.
“Ain’t that some shit,” Simone said as the car disappeared down the hill. “He’s probably going to get his gun. Then what he gon’ do with it? Shoot all of us?”
“Let his ass go get it. We’ll turn this muthafuckin’ parking lot into the wild, wild west,” Big Bob said, pulling his shirt up to reveal his own pistol. “This is my American Express card, and my credit is damn good ’cause I got more than one of these muthafuckas! A real gangsta’s always strapped. And if his punk ass had any heart, we coulda went toe-to-toe right here in the street. Bitch niggas always run for their pistol.”
“Big Bob, who the hell wanna fight your big ass?” Lavon joked. “And you got a damn gun.”
“Come on, Simone,” Melanie said from the car. Everyone had gotten out but her. “Let’s go. It’s not even worth it. Kevin comes back shooting, then what?”
“What he do, Simone, cheat on you with that raggedy-ass red chick?” Big Bob asked as they headed back to their vehicles. “Niggas kill me chasing these broke-down red chicks. That muthafucka crazy. I’d take your pretty chocolate ass over her any day.”
“Yeah, whatever,” Simone mumbled half-heartedly. “She can have him.”
“Well, all this excitement don’ made me hungry. Let’s go get somethin’ to eat,” Big Bob said as he climbed back in his truck.
“I’m down!” Lavon yelled.
“I can’t. Me and Nic going out,” Melanie said. “Remember, I’m leaving in the morning.”
“Y’all, let Scared Britches go,” Big Bob said, referring to Melanie. “I’m just playing, baby. But you are the only muthafucka who didn’t get outta the car. Come on, Simone and Lavon. Y’all can ride with me, but Simone sittin’ up front!”
“Naw, Bob,” Simone said. “I don’t feel like going.”
“Simone, c’mon. Don’t let that shit get to you. Fuck that soft-ass punk.”
“Naw, I’m cool.” Simone climbed back into Melanie’s car.
“A’ight,” Big Bob yelled, backing up. “We’ll see y’all ‘round the way.”
“Thanks, Melanie, for coming to get me,” Simone said as she fought the urge to cry. She wanted to scream and fall to the ground in a pool of tears, but she couldn’t. Not in front of Melanie and Lavon.
“That’s alright, Simone. I’m just glad you weren’t out here fighting. I can’t believe Kevin, though. Dang, I wish I wasn’t leaving tomorrow. Wait ’til I tell Nic.”
“Simone, I gotta give it to you. You the most def-est bitch I know. You took that bullshit to the chin like a soldier,” Lavon voiced from the
backseat. “I’da been a mess, but you haven’t shed a single tear. That’s my muthafuckin’ girl.”
● ● ●
“Stan? Simone?” Thomas hollered from the back bedroom as the front door closed. “Who is that?”
“It’s me, Daddy,” Simone yelled, locking the door.
“Some Kennard lady called here looking for you. She said to call her.”
“A’ight,” Simone yelled back, but she had no plans to call Beatrice back.
Simone felt the queasiness resurfacing. I thought this shit was called morning sickness. There was no time to spit up. All she wanted to do was bury her face in her pillow and cry. Heading to her bedroom, that’s what she did.
Chapter Eight
The ringing phone woke Simone from the sleep she’d captured merely hours ago. Her eyes burned from the tears she’d shed all night long.
“Hello?” she answered, hoping it was Kevin with an apology or some type of logical explanation for yesterday. Something that would straighten things out and bring back some form of normalcy.
“Hey, Simone. I wanted to call before I left. Have you heard from Kevin yet?” Melanie asked.
“No.” She sighed in disappointment. “Not one word. You getting ready to go?”
“Yeah, we leaving at ten. It’s what, nine-thirty now?”
“Something like that,” Simone mumbled.
“So are you going to call him?”
“And say what? My father said Ms. Kennard called last night, but I’m not calling her either.”
“Simone, maybe you should. I mean, Kevin spent too much time at your house to have had another girlfriend.”
“But he spent just as much time on the strip.”
“I think you should call Ms. Kennard and talk to her.”
“Yeah, whatever. You can call and talk to her.”
“Actually, that’s not a bad idea.” Melanie said. “Maybe I will call her. You can just stay on the phone and listen.”
“No, I don’t have to be on the phone.”
“Yeah, Simone. I’ll pretend like I’m worried about you and I haven’t spoken to you since yesterday.” Simone didn’t respond. “I mean, what harm could it do? All you gotta do is listen.”