by Hazel Mills
Chapter 17
Shannon
My ever-growing stomach was a constant reminder that I couldn’t put off telling Ahmad about the baby any longer. I figured now would be the perfect time. He should be graduating from Georgetown in a few weeks and the draft is a just a couple of weeks after that. My baby and I were going to be set for life. I didn’t necessarily need Ahmad to marry me. I don’t think I could be tied down to one man for the rest of my life. I just needed to get in on the ground floor to insure that we’d be first in line for our cut of millions.
I’ll go to his apartment after my doctor’s appointment tomorrow afternoon. Maybe I should call him before I go. That way, he can come with me and be there when they do the ultrasound.
He’ll be shocked at first but I know he’ll do the right thing.
I couldn’t wait to have this baby either. Three more months to go. The kid wasn’t even born yet and already was cramping my style. There were so many dos and don’ts; I could hardly remember them all. I was used to doing what I wanted, when I wanted without hesitation or accountability. Now, it was hard for me to get laid because when men caught a glimpse of my protruding belly, the thought of fucking a pregnant woman would make some of them feel guilty and ultimately sent them running in the other direction.
Every two or three months, I would go to the free clinic for a checkup. I knew that I needed to get some prenatal care. I hated going because those nosey ass nurses asked me all kinds of stupid ass questions and rolled their eyes at my responses. I knew that I wasn’t supposed to drink or smoke while I was pregnant but I needed something every now and then to calm my nerves. A little bit of this or a hit of that was not going to hurt this baby. Hell, it probably helped to calm the baby’s nerves, too. Nothing was going to stop me from partying like I wanted to. This was my child and my body. I would do as I damn well pleased. Once the child was born, I’d have the money to hire a nanny or something to take care of it while I did my thing.
I wonder which team will draft Ahmad. It would be nice if the Lakers drafted him. I’ve always wanted to live in sunny California. If I had to, I could see myself living in Boston, if the Celtics picked him up. It really doesn’t matter. The money will be green no matter what state we’re living in. What if Ahmad does ask me to marry him? He’d probably want the baby to have his last name. I guess we could do it right after graduation. That way I’d already be his wife by the time the draft comes around. Yeah, that’s all I need to…
“Hey, Shannon,” Bone called from the other room, interrupting my thoughts.
“What,” I answered, waddling down the hallway.
“What’s up with your boy?”
“What boy? Who are you talking about?”
“Ahmad Jacobs. They say on the news that he quit the Georgetown basketball team a while back.”
“What?”
I sat down on the couch next to Bone to listen to the story for myself but it was already over.
What? Ahmad quit the team? There has to be some mistake.
“So, does that mean he won’t be drafted into the NBA?”
“Bitch, please. That’s exactly what the fuck it means. Hell, his ass wasn’t even that good of a ballplayer any damn way,” Bone explained, laughing. “What? Don’t tell me you didn’t know that?”
“No,” I said, almost in tears.
Bone and his boys laughed harder and louder.
“That bitch thought she had tricked a niggah with some money,” one of them said, continuing to laugh.
“See that’s what’s wrong with these crackhead ho’s. They ain’t smart enough to do their research. Now, a resourceful bitch would have hooked up with that flying fool down in North Carolina,” Bone explained. “That niggah right there is ‘bout to be crazy paid.”
How could I have been so stupid? What am I going to do now? No clinic is going to give me an abortion this late in the pregnancy. I don’t want to be tied down to a kid for the next eighteen years. There has to be a way out of this mess. Shit!
“What are you gonna do now,” Bone asked.
“I don’t know.”
“I bet you don’t.”
“Have you told him yet?” one of his friends asked.
“No.”
“I’m a charitable type of niggah so you can stay here until you have the baby. But as soon as you drop that load, you’ve got to bounce. Babies is bad for my business,” Bone said, as he and his crew got up and left the apartment, still laughing.
Months of planning had all been destroyed in five minutes. I didn’t have a Plan B. It had never occurred to me that I needed a backup plan. Everything was lined up perfectly.
Why in the world would Ahmad quit the goddamn team? His ass has made a huge mistake and now he is the one who is going to suffer the consequences. Not me.
I need to get a hit to calm my nerves so that I can plan my next move.