He would come sit in her room and talk for a long time, staring at her with love-struck eyes. At first she was nervous about saying dumb stuff or talking bad English, but it didn’t matter. If she forgot to talk proper, he laughed and said she was down-to-earth instead of stuck-up like Darla.
The first few times he talked about something she didn’t understand, she tried to fake it, but couldn’t. When he figured out that she didn’t understand, he was patient and sweet and broke stuff down to explain it to her. Not like she was stupid, but like she was a smart person who wasn’t familiar with what he was talking about. Shauntae didn’t know whether he was being nice, or whether he really thought she was the smart person she was pretending to be.
They talked about his business—which she was finally starting to understand—politics, and church stuff. Shauntae remembered Sherice’s advice and asked him lots of questions about himself. Partly to learn more about him and how to make him happy, and partly to keep him from asking questions about her.
It was nice. She had never spent time talking to no man like that. Usually, men only wanted to have sex with her, not talk to her. Lots of times when they was talking, Gary told her how beautiful she was. He would kiss her and tell her how much he loved her. A few times he tried to lie down so they could snuggle, but then he had to leave the room so they wouldn’t end up having sex.
The last time it happened, he came back in the room and sat on the bed next to her. “Shauntae, can we talk?”
She sat up and clicked off the television. She was always watching the Cooking Channel and was thinking about trying some dishes when she could get out of the bed.
“I think we need to go ahead and get married.”
He had Shauntae’s full attention.
“I’ve been waiting because of the girls and was worried about what it would do to them while their mom is still in the hospital. I’ve been worried about how it might affect things with the whole custody situation with Darla.”
Shauntae almost shuddered when he said Darla’s name. She was waiting every day for her to wake up, open her laptop, do the background check, and bust Shauntae’s whole game.
Gary kept talking. “But, really, this is what I want. It’s what we want. I know it’s important for parents to make sacrifices for their children, but I’m not sure there’s a best time. The girls don’t want me to get married because they think I’m gonna marry their mother again. That’s never going to happen. I’m going to marry you and whether we do that now or we do it six months from now, it’s still going to hurt them.”
Was Gary expecting her to say anything? Shauntae waited until he did what he usually did—talk for a while, and then stop and ask what she thought.
“And, in thinking of Daphne and Morgan, I haven’t thought about our new baby. I want this baby to grow up in a normal family with a mother and father. I can’t give that to Daphne and Morgan anymore, but I can give it to our new baby. Right?”
“Right, baby.” The way Gary thought was so different. Most people she knew just had babies. They didn’t care whether they was growing up in a good family. They didn’t think about they children when they was making decisions; they just did what they wanted. She could tell he thought about his kids with everything he did and how the stuff he did would affect them.
“Plus, with you not working, you don’t have health insurance. When we get married, you’ll be able to get on my insurance. Dr. Murray is expecting you back in her office soon for your first prenatal visit. And we have to get that full ultrasound she talked about and find out if you are indeed having a boy.”
He looked around at the guest room. “It would be perfect if it’s a boy. The room is already blue. We’d only have to get baby stuff. I’m thinking you don’t want to use the stuff that we kept from when Morgan was a baby. You wouldn’t want to use the crib and stuff that Darla picked out, would you?”
Shauntae hadn’t even thought about it. “It’s fine with me. No sense in buying all new stuff if you already have it. We need to do some decorating to make it a boy’s room. I’m sure all Morgan’s stuff is pink. Let’s wait and see what we’re having first.”
Gary smiled. “Yeah, I guess we should wait. If it’s a girl, maybe we’ll do yellow. We already have a pink room.”
Shauntae had to work on herself. Gary couldn’t be more excited about all this baby stuff than she was.
“I guess your girlfriends will want to throw you a baby shower. You’re welcome to have it here if they like.”
Shauntae almost laughed. She could imagine Candy and Sherice and some of their other girls tipping up 40’s to celebrate Shauntae’s baby shower. “Thanks, but Sherice will probably have the shower at her place.”
“And we need to get you a vehicle. I’m sure that now more than ever you’ll be ready to get out of this house when the doctor releases you. What kind of car do you want?”
“Whatever you think is best.” Shauntae had learned early in her hustling career that you always let a man pick what he wanted to give you. If you order filet mignon and he’s only trying to pay for an appetizer, you could get yourself embarrassed. Always let him decide, so you don’t get embarrassed by picking something that costs too much.
“You don’t have a certain car you’d prefer?”
“No, it’s all about our child. Whatever has the best safety ratings. I’m sure you’ll do some research on the Internet and pick out whatever’s best.”
“Okay. I’ll surprise you.” Gary thought for a second and then said, “I’m sure you’ll want to go shopping for the baby and for yourself; your belly is starting to show. You’ll need some maternity clothes. I’ll have to order you a credit card.”
Shauntae could hardly contain her excitement. If she knew that hearing the heartbeat and seeing the baby on the ultrasound would have done all this, she would have faked bleeding or cramping much sooner. “Baby, you’re so sweet. You think of everything.”
“There’s nothing that’s too good for you, Shauntae.” He leaned over and kissed her on the lips. He lingered for a few minutes and kissed her deeper. “Yeah, we need to get married. What is it that you do to me?”
Shauntae giggled. She couldn’t believe she was acting like a silly teenage girl. Giggling and feeling all romantic and in love and all that dumb junk. She could hear her mother mocking her, telling her how stupid she was for falling in love with a man in the biggest hustle of her life.
Girl, you so dumb. Do you really think you can keep this man? Bad enough you dumb, now you got your head all clouded up with some so-called love and you gon’ mess this up. And then you ain’t gon’ have no man, and no check.
Gary kissed her again and she turned off her mother’s voice in her head. She reached up and wrapped her arms around him and pulled him toward her. He grabbed her arms. “Shauntae!” He laughed at her. “You know we can’t.”
She giggled again. “Yeah, but soon we’re gonna get married and then we can as much as possible.”
He gave her one last kiss. “I’m going back downstairs. Almost finished with this deal. I’ll call Dr. Murray’s office and see if it’s okay for you to come off bed rest. If she says yes, then we’re going to the justice of the peace tomorrow.”
Shauntae’s eyes got big. “Tomorrow? Are you serious?”
Gary nodded. “I’m ready for us to be Mr. and Mrs. Gary Jackson.”
Shauntae waited until she heard Gary’s feet hit the downstairs foyer and then she did a little celebratory bed dance. She kicked her feet in the air and waved her hands and sang in a loud whisper, “I’m getting married. I’m getting married.”
She tried to calm herself down. It lasted for only a few seconds and then she was kicking and waving her hands again. “Mrs. Gary Jackson. Shauntae Jackson.” She hoped Gary couldn’t hear her.
She calmed down when she heard him on the phone. God, please let Dr. Murray release me. Please let me get married tomorrow.
She couldn’t hear exactly what he was saying, but G
ary’s voice sounded worried. Dr. Murray had told her that everything was fine when she left the emergency room. Had they found something on her blood work later? Shauntae got more concerned when she heard Gary’s footsteps coming back up the stairs. She sat up on the bed as he opened the door. She couldn’t read the look on his face.
“Shauntae, I just talked to the doctor—”
“Is something wrong with the baby?”
Gary shook his head. “No, I didn’t get a chance to call Dr. Murray yet. That was Darla’s doctor. She just woke up.”
Nineteen
Shauntae’s wedding dreams crashed. Gary left for the hospital and all sorts of crazy thoughts went through her head. Darla was gonna wake up and the first thing she was going to do was reach for her laptop. Instead of standing in front of the justice of the peace to get married, Shauntae would be standing before a judge to decide what her bail would be.
What to do? Should she rush to get on a bus, risking a miscarriage? Even if she didn’t get married, she could still get a child support check. She wanted to call Sherice, but her only suggestion would be a seat on a Greyhound headed to Cali.
She stood and paced the room for a few minutes and then remembered she wasn’t supposed to be out of bed. She sat back down on the bed. Think, girl, think.
Shauntae remembered Sherice agreeing with her that Darla’s first thought when she came out of the coma wasn’t going to be about her. So she at least had a few days. But how could she sleep for the next few days, knowing that the police could show up at any moment? What would happen if she told Gary everything? He said he wanted to know everything and that there was nothing she could do that was bad enough to make him stop loving her. But that was fake Shauntae, not the real Shauntae.
She wondered what Darla had done with the paper with her name and social on it. What if she could get that paper back and make up a fake number? Did they have Internet at the hospital? Was Darla’s laptop at the hospital? What if she called somebody at her office to do the background check for her?
For the next couple of hours, Shauntae was a mess. She packed all her clothes, and then unpacked them. She picked up the phone to call Sherice at least twenty times and then put it back down. She paced the room and kept making herself lie back down on the bed. The baby fluttered the whole time, like he was upset right along with her.
Finally, she couldn’t stand it anymore. She picked up the phone and called Gary.
He answered on the first ring. “Hey, honey, I was about to call you.” It sounded like he was in the car.
“Is everything okay? How’s Darla?”
“It’s amazing. The doctors are surprised at how well she’s doing. She’s awake and talking and it seems like her brain function is fine. She recognized her mother and then recognized me when I got there and she asked me to go get the girls. We talked for a while and other than looking banged up and tired, she seems fine.”
Shauntae’s heart leaped into her throat. She could hardly breathe. “That’s great news. God is good. I’m so glad she’s okay.”
“Yeah, the doctors think she’ll make a full recovery. Of course it’s still early and we’ll have to see how things go, but for now, things look good.”
“Wow . . . I don’t know what to say. It’s a miracle.”
“It is, baby. God is good. I’m gonna get the girls and take them to spend some time with her and then I’ll take them home. It may be late when I get in. Sorry.”
“It’s okay. I’m glad we got to spend all that time together over the past few days.”
“Me too. The next few days may be a little hectic, but I promise I won’t neglect you like before. You’re the number one woman in my life now.”
“Um, does Darla have her laptop at the hospital with her?”
“Huh? Why would she have her laptop?”
“Like you always say, Darla is so focused on her job and career. I’m sure she’ll want to get back to work as soon as possible. Make sure she rests. Rest is important for her to get better.”
“She’s in no condition to do any work. I’m sure that’s the last thing on her mind right now. Thanks for being concerned about her, though. That’s real sweet of you after the way she treated you. That’s why I love you, Shauntae.”
“I love you too, baby. Kiss the girls for me. I’m sure they’ll be so happy that their mom is awake.”
“Yeah, they will. I’ll call you later. I promise.”
After they hung up, Shauntae flopped back on the bed. Even though Darla was just waking up and probably wouldn’t do the background check in the next few days, how long would it be? Probably the next time she saw Shauntae’s face and remembered how she didn’t want her anywhere near her daughters. Or the first time Gary did something to piss her off and she wanted to get revenge on him. Whatever the case, Shauntae’s days were numbered.
She got up and started packing. This time she didn’t unpack. She put the packed suitcases into the closet and left only a couple of outfits out. Last time she had to run from the police, she had left all her cute clothes and shoes behind. This time, she’d be ready. She was taking her stuff with her.
She reached down and rubbed her belly. “Hey, li’l baby. Looks like we gon’ be making a trip to California soon.”
Twenty
Shauntae tossed around in the bed until she finally fell asleep. When she heard the alarm chime and the garage door open, she bolted up out of bed. She forgot all about her bed rest and ran down the stairs.
She found Gary in the kitchen, putting a carryout container in the refrigerator.
“Baby, how is everything? Were the girls okay?” she asked.
Gary turned around. “What are you doing out of bed?”
Shauntae walked over to him and laid her head on his chest. “I’m tired of that bed and those blue walls.”
He put his arms around her. “I know you are, but what about the baby?”
“The baby is fine. He’s been turning flips in my belly all day.”
Gary reached down to rub her stomach. “I can’t wait to feel him kick. We’ve both convinced ourselves that this is a boy, huh?”
I’m pretty sure of it,” Shauntae said.
“You hungry? I brought home some roasted chicken and vegetables.”
Shauntae nodded and he put the carryout container in the microwave. Shauntae sat down at the table while he got her a fork, a napkin, and a glass of water. She loved it when he waited on her.
When the food was hot, he brought it over to the table. Shauntae blessed her food and then asked, “How’s Darla? How are the girls?”
“The girls are great, now. I didn’t realize how scared they were that she was going to die until they saw her sitting up in that bed awake. They cried and kept hugging her.” Gary took a sip of her water. “It was good to see them that happy. I haven’t seen smiles on their faces like that in a long time.”
Shauntae took a big bite of chicken. She hadn’t realized how hungry she was. “I’m glad Darla is okay. Is she still talking and acting normal?” Shauntae’s hopes of Darla having amnesia had gone out the window, but maybe if she had a little brain damage, it could buy her more time.
“She’s still talking, but I wouldn’t say she’s acting normal,” Gary answered. “Or maybe she’s acting more normal than she’s acted for years.” He thought for a moment. “She’s like she was when we first got married. Nice, kind, and considerate. Talking to her was like talking to the woman I met eleven years ago. It was strange.”
Shauntae took a sip of water to wash down the big hunk of chicken breast she had just swallowed. “Like what? What did she say?”
“She was nice to her mother and thanked her for being such a good mother and for taking good care of her since she was a child. She said she could hear her mother praying over her while she was in the coma and she started praying herself.” Gary shook his head in disbelief. “That by itself is a miracle. Except for praying bedtime prayers with the girls, Darla hadn’t prayed in years.
That was one of the problems with our marriage.”
“Maybe almost dying made her realize how important God is.”
Gary nodded and kept talking. “She told the girls how much she loved them, and apologized for being busy all the time and not spending time with them and being the mother they needed her to be.”
Shauntae ate some of her vegetables. They were barely cooked and were still crunchy. She had learned on one of her cooking shows that it was healthier to lightly steam vegetables rather than cook all the nutrients out of them. It didn’t taste as bad as she thought it would.
Gary took another sip of Shauntae’s water. “Darla apologized to me for her part in what went wrong in our marriage and for the custody battle. She asked me to apologize to you for the way she treated you. She admitted that she was angry about us and the baby and wanted to hurt me, but she apologized and said she would never do anything like that again.”
Shauntae dropped her fork. “What?”
“Yeah, she apologized. She said she should have never asked for a background check because it was an insult to me and to you.”
Shauntae wanted to push back from the table, get up, and run around the house dancing.
Gary didn’t look as happy as she thought he should with such good news. He might not have had a reason to celebrate as much as she did because he didn’t know about the warrant. But, still, he should have been happy that his custody issues were over.
“Baby, what’s wrong? You should be happy about this. Sounds like almost dying made Darla into somebody who will be a lot easier for us to get along with.”
“It’s what she said next that’s the problem.” Gary put his hand on hers. “I don’t want you to get upset or worried about what I’m about to tell you. It doesn’t change anything between us.”
“What is it?”
Gary let out a deep breath. “Darla apologized for the way our marriage ended. She said it was her fault and that she could have fought harder for us to make it. She said she knew it was terrible to ask with you being in the picture and being pregnant, but . . . she asked me to give her another chance.”
Becoming Mrs. Right Page 13