by Tiece
Damn, what am I gonna do now? He questioned himself. Noticing that his hat was on the ground from the squabble, he leaned down and picked it up before getting in the car. He looked over at Breanne, and the look on her face told him that it couldn’t get any worse than this. She rolled her eyes at him and stared out the window as he pulled out of the hotel parking lot.
Thirty minutes later, Anton pulled up to Tommy’s house. He parked in the driveway and sat in the car for a moment, seeing that Tommy was already outside with a couple of his homeboys clowning around. His thoughts were stuck on Samantha and how she’d caught him red handed coming out of a hotel room with another female. He really didn’t know what to do. He had called her at least five times after dropping Breanne off, and she didn’t answer. He sighed, feeling lost as hell in his thoughts until his phone rang. He looked at the caller ID and saw that it was Scarlett.
“What’s up, sis?”
“What’s up with you, big head lil boy,” she teased. “Where you at?”
“I’m just pulling up to Tommy’s house.”
“You must’ve been gone by the time I woke up?”
“Nah, sis. I stayed out with Bree last night. I left after you closed up in your room with Luke.” he responded. “I didn’t want to disturb you, being that you actually had overnight company.” He knew that Scarlett never let Luke stick around long, because Gwen could pop up at any time.
“Oh okay, when are you coming home? We need to talk before I leave in the morning,” she said.
“I’ll be there in ’bout an hour or less. I’ma holla at Tommy for a lil bit first.” he said, noticing that the boys were leaving.
“Okay, I’ll be here when you get back.” She paused for a moment as Anton waited for his cue to hang up. “Hey, are you alright?”
He frowned. “Yeah, why you ask?”
“I don’t know, you just sound a lil different.” she responded, sensing something wrong in his voice.
“I’m good, sis. We’ll talk when I get there.” He ended the call before she could respond. He knew that Scarlett was no dummy, and if nothing else, she always kept a faithful eye on him. He knew eventually he’d have to tell her what happened at the hotel, and that Samantha had had an abortion. But not before she left to go on her trip. He didn’t want her worrying about him while she was gone. That wouldn’t be fair to her.
He stepped out of the car and walked over to the porch where Tommy was sitting, already rolling a fat blunt of that O.G. Kush.
Tommy stood up to dap his best friend. “What’s up, boss?” Anton just shook his head and sat down. Tommy could sense something wrong with him. “What’s going on with you? Cuz ain’t acting a fool, is she?”
“She was good until this morning when shit stirred up about Samantha.”
“Well you know that’s gonna come up. She’s not used to being nobody’s side chick.” he said, thinking about Breanne’s popularity amongst her circle of friends. “You know how she feels about your main chick.” He chuckled while lighting up the blunt.
“Well, you wouldn’t believe that the main chick showed up at the hotel this morning and caught me with your cousin.”
Tommy almost choked off the cloud of smoke that spat out his mouth. “She did what?”
“You heard me, man.” He regretfully shook his head. “She came out of nowhere and slapped the fire outta my ass.”
“DAAAAAMN!” Tommy commented in disbelief. “What the fuck did cuz do?” he questioned, knowing that Breanne was a firecracker herself.
“She tried to get out the car, but I wouldn’t let her. I mean, Samantha wasn’t going at her, she was coming at me.” he explained. “There wasn’t a need to have them out there fighting like that. Plus, after a few good licks across my head, Samantha just left.”
Tommy looked confused. “Just like that?” he questioned.
“Just like that,” Anton responded. “Maaaaaan, that shit happened so fast, I didn’t even see it coming.” Tommy tried passing him the blunt but he shook his head no.
“Damn man, you are fucked up.” Tommy commented, feeling bad for his boy. “I bet cuz gave you the stank face all the way to her house, didn’t she?”
He shook his head. “You already know it.”
“Well, I hope you at least tried to call Samantha once you put her out.”
“I did, but she won’t answer,” Anton responded. “I believe it’s really over now. She already had lil resentment towards me, I believe.”
“Why you think that?” Tommy asked, dumping the ashes from the blunt.
“She doesn’t feel like I fought for her to keep the baby, but like I told her, she wasn’t no more ready for a baby than I was.”
“I feel ya, boss.” Tommy agreed as his eyes tightened from the good bud that he was puffing on.
“She doesn’t even look the same, man,” he said hating to even discuss her. It was like he was talking bad about her behind her back. “It’s like after the abortion, she turned into someone else.”
“That shit probably affected her more than you know, man.” Tommy responded.
He thought about what Breanne said to him at the hotel room. “I believe it did, but it’s too late now. She gotta live with her decision just like I do.”
“Maybe you just need to be by yourself for a little while. Just leave them girls alone and focus on getting this money.” Tommy suggested. He was always scheming on ways of coming up.
“I feel you man, but I gotta make sure that I can smooth things out with Samantha first. I don’t wanna feel like the bad guy here.” he said, already knowing that it wouldn’t be a problem making it up to Breanne, because side chicks always forgave quicker. He rested his head back on the chair with deep thoughts of what Samantha was probably doing since she wouldn’t answer his calls.
Chapter 4
Samantha had been sitting out in the driveway of her sister’s brand new condominium. She wished so badly that she could just leave the keys in the ignition and jump in her car and leave, but she couldn’t because she had nowhere else to go. She felt alone and hurt with no friends to talk to. All she wanted to do was get past Sheila without her million questions, and head straight into one of the empty guest rooms, lock up, and rest.
She wiped her tears and cleaned her face as best as she could, then she decided to get out of the car. She walked up to the four-bedroom condo and used the car key to let herself in. Peeking her head around the door, she made sure the coast was clear as she dashed for the stairway.
“Hey lil sister,” Sheila called out before she could get halfway up the stairs.
“Yeah,” Samantha answered, stopping in her tracks.
“Weren’t you supposed to be bringing me something back from the Waffle House?”
“The cook looked nasty, so I left it,” she lied.
“Don’t you just hate that?” Sheila frowned. “Well, we can go out later to eat, but for now let’s have a drink together.” Sheila suggested, completely taking her baby sister by surprise.
“Uh, I don’t feel well,” Samantha stated then continued up the stairs.
Sheila felt a bit saddened. “Please,” she called out. “I don’t have anyone to celebrate with. I need a friend.” Samantha finally turned to face her sister, and Sheila could see that she’d been crying. “Hell, from the looks of things you could use one too.”
Samantha didn’t know what the story was with Sheila’s weird, caring behavior, but since she was right about her needing a friend too, she started down the stairs and followed her into the kitchen. She sat at the dining table, where Sheila began to mix her a strong margarita with Tequila and Ciroc.
“You do understand that I’m only seventeen, right?”
Sheila smiled. “Not today, lil sister. I’ll pretend you’re of age as long as you play along.”
“Sounds good to me,” she commented, feeling like she needed that drink more than her sister knew. She looked over at Sheila, who looked down in the dumps for some reason. “Are you okay?” Samantha asked as
Sheila handed her the drink.
“I’m ‘bout as okay as you are,” she stated while sitting across from her sister and sipping her drink.
“I just asked because you said that you needed a friend, but we all know that you hate me. Plus, Scarlett’s your best friend, why didn’t you call her?”
“Scarlett has been a little preoccupied with her new boyfriend lately.” She smacked her lips as if it bothered her. “We’ve not kicked it like we used to, except for at work. Come to think about it, we’ve not chilled together since she started living the glamorous life.”
“Does that bother you?” Samantha asked.
“No, not at all,” she tried convincing herself. “It’s just funny seeing her in such a different light. I’ve known her since middle school, and she was nothing like she is now. I guess I just have to get used to it.”
“I agree, and I think you should be happy for her,” Samantha insisted while taking a sip from her strongly mixed drink. She frowned and quickly set the drink down. “GOD! Are you tryna kill me?”
“It’s not that strong.” Sheila laughed. It felt good to be actually talking with her sister, instead of about her.
“So, what did you wanna get off of your chest?” Samantha asked.
“Hmm,” she said and paused. She definitely wanted nothing more than to relieve the stress off her chest, but her pride wanted to hold her back.
“How are we ever gonna learn to like or even trust each other as sisters if we can’t confide in the other about things going on in our lives?”
Sheila thought about it for moment and Samantha was right. “I believe that Jay is cheating on me,” she blurted out.
“Huh?” Samantha said before she knew it. It was hard to believe that Jay was cheating, because Sheila never let on that they were having problems.
“You heard it right,” she admitted.
Samantha sat with a blank stare on her face. “How did you come to this conclusion?” she asked, knowing that Sheila had closed on her new home just days prior, and the only reason she moved so quickly was so she and Jay could live together.
Sheila shook her head. She wasn’t quite ready to reveal everything just yet. “Now it’s your turn to tell me something, so I’ll know that I can trust you.”
Samantha rested her head back on the chair and sighed. The sad look on her face from earlier appeared again as she hung her head low. “I had an abortion a couple weeks ago.” The confession quickly relieved the heavy burden off her chest.
Sheila’s mouth dropped open while she stared at her. She searched her eyes to make sure that she wasn’t lying. It was a definitely a hard pill to swallow. She couldn’t believe that her baby sister had gone and gotten herself knocked up, then aborted the baby, all on her own in secret. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.
“Well,” Samantha said, breaking the ice. “Say something.”
Shelia cleared her throat and grabbed the Ciroc. “Think I’m gonna need another drink.”
“No you’re not,” Samantha stated, snatching the bottle of liquor out of her hand. “And you’re not gonna tell mom or dad about this conversation either.”
“Okay, I won’t,” Sheila promised.
“Now just chill out and rest your pretty lil mind on that for a second. It’s now your turn. How do you know that Jay is cheating? I mean isn’t he the reason for you moving out on your own?”
“I’ll answer that, but you already know that we will come back to this conversation.”
“Deal,” Samantha assured her.
Sheila sighed. “Because, I just do. And honestly it was way time for me to move out of Mom and Dad’s house, but yes, I moved out quicker because of him.” She sadly acknowledged.
“Okay, so is he still moving in with you?”
Sheila smugly grinned. “He doesn’t even know that I’ve found a place yet.” Samantha raised a confused eyebrow. “See, I wanted to surprise him, but I didn’t expect that I would find a place so soon that I felt like we both would like. So I mentioned this place like two weeks ago, and told him that I wouldn’t mind settling on it, but since then he’s been acting a little distant.”
“Distant how?” Samantha questioned.
“For instance, while we were talking on the phone last night, I told him that it would be nice if we could move in our own crib this week, being that we only had to work Monday and Tuesday. Our vacation started on yesterday for this Memorial Day weekend.”
“And what did he say?”
“He said that he’d rather wait for awhile.” Sheila paused to collect herself. “He claims to have things on his mind, and that his mom has started hassling him about moving to Atlanta since she’s opening up her own clothing boutique. Let him tell it, she wants him outta the shop fixing cars, and I can probably believe that part, but I’m telling you his ass is up to something.”
“Or he’s just trying to be slick and break up with you.”
“Damn, you could be right. I just never thought that it had gotten that bad with us. I mean, damn, it’s only been two months.” She sadly pointed out. “I thought things were good. Plus, he was the one that mentioned moving in together.”
Samantha cut in. “Then you jumped right on it, which wasn’t good. You probably moved to soon. He could’ve just been falling in love with the cat, and talking out the side of his neck at the moment.”
“You’re right too,” she said then grinned. “How do you know so much, lil sis?”
“I learned by observing your past relationship. I just know that I’m not going to be fooling around with men the way you did with Mike.”
Sheila smiled. “You know what? You’re gonna be alright. No man is gonna run over you, no matter how many times you fall for one.”
“Because I’m not having it,” she said, while thinking that Anton had already stung her one time when she caught him with Miley, but not again.
“Wish I caught on at an early age, like you. Then I wouldn’t be sitting here talking myself out of thinking that Jay is cheating.”
“I understand you trying to think rationally and give him the benefit of the doubt. There is nothing wrong with that. I mean, he could just be getting cold feet.”
“Apparently, his heart is just as cold as his feet, because when he left his phone on my desk Tuesday before we left work, I went snooping and found that he’s been casually texting the same number back and forth for quite some time now. I know it’s a chick, because she’s told him several times that she misses him. He replies that he misses her too, and he said that he would be coming home this weekend to spend the holiday with her. Lying motherfucker,” she spat. “He told me that he was heading out of town to go fishing with his Father and his uncle.”
“Damn, are you serious?” Samantha sincerely asked.
“As serious as I’ll ever be.” She confirmed. “From what I’ve gathered over the string of messages that I’ve read, is that he supposedly lives in Atlanta already with his mama, and whoever this chick is lives right here in Augusta.”
Samantha disappointedly shook her head. Wow, men are just so trifling. She thought about just having caught her man coming out of a hotel with another woman. “Sounds like the guy I talk to.”
“Was this guy the baby’s daddy?” Sheila asked as she started to think less about her problems and more about her sister’s.
“Yes,” Samantha admitted without sharing his name. “I caught him this morning coming out of a hotel with another female.”
Sheila was shocked. “You did what?”
“You heard me, and I lost it. I jumped on him and fought him until I was tired of being in his presence.”
“Who could blame you? And how long has it been since you aborted his child?”
“It’s been exactly two and a half weeks now.” She confirmed.
“Wow,” Sheila stated. “I can’t believe his ass would be that cold. I really wish you would’ve spoken to me about that. I know you see me as this cold hearted bitch, and
for the most part I am.”
Samantha smirked. “You’re telling me.”
“But I would’ve held your hand through it.” She tenderly said, as the glossy mist in her eyes turned to teardrops.
Samantha found herself thinking about that day as if it was yesterday. It was the worst day of her life, and she endured the whole procedure alone. Anton didn’t even know until after the fact.
“Would you have done that for me, for real?”
“Of course I would’ve.” Sheila said. “You’re my only sibling, and believe it or not, I love you. This truly hurts me to know that you’ve been dealing with this all by yourself.”
Samantha dried her tears. “I’ve been going through the motions, and it’s definitely been hard on me.”
“Look at it this way. You weren’t ready for that baby, and neither were Mom and Dad.”
“I know right,” Samantha sadly commented.
Sheila shook her head. “I knew it was something going on with you, because I’ve never seen your hair looking this desperate for a do in my life.”
Her joke caused Samantha to smile a bit. “It looks bad, huh?”
“Come here,” Sheila said as she stood up and walked over to Samantha. Before she could even stand up, Sheila had already wrapped her arms around her with a gentle hug. This was the first time since they were little girls that Sheila showed Samantha such sincere warmth and attention. It was just what the doctor ordered, as both girls cried in each other’s arms.
After the touching hug was over, Sheila backed up a bit and wiped her tears. “Who is this guy anyway?” She asked with her hand on her hip. “I’ll go kick his ass for you if you want me to.” Nothing tickled Samantha more than that, because Sheila couldn’t fight a lick. “Don’t laugh at me, I’m being serious.”
“I’m sorry,” Samantha said between chuckles.
Sheila smirked. “Yeah, okay I was lying about kicking his ass, but I will slap the shit outta him for you.” They burst out laughing. One thing that Samantha had forgotten about her big sister was that she had a corny sense of humor, but her corny was funny corny.
“Look, let’s not worry about who he is, because right now his existence is irrelevant. I just wanna forget about him and not look back.” Samantha really tried to sell herself on those words as she spoke them.