“Oh no,” she whispered as tears formed in her eyes.
She had still had her period so she was hoping that she was in fact not pregnant.
“Sweetie, don’t cry, I wasn’t trying to get you worked up. I just was trying to rule out all possible conditions here. My next suggestion was going to be food poisoning but if you do think that there’s a possibility that you could be pregnant, please let me know so I can run to the pharmacy real quick and pick you up a test or three,” Ms. Joyce said without a hint of laughter in her voice.
“Honestly, Ms. Joyce, I’m not sure. When Zeek first left, I had stopped taking my birth control pills. Then he had popped up unexpectedly one day out of nowhere and caught me off guard, we were intimate and…”
Ms. Joyce held up her hand to stop Coco in mid-sentence. “Say no more, I know exactly how that goes. I’ve been pregnant three times and believe me, none of them were planned. You just get back in that bed while I run out real quick and get those for you so we’ll know for sure,” Ms. Joyce said as she helped Coco off the floor and back in the bed.
When Ms. Joyce left, Coco laid in the bed fearing the worst. She wasn’t ready to have a baby, especially Zeek’s baby, but she knew the option of having an abortion was off the table since she had already went that route when she found out she was pregnant with Trae’s baby after the rape. Having a baby by a man that couldn’t be committed to her was not something that she wanted to do nor was she prepared to do.
She had watched her sister play the single mother role for eight years and she knew just from watching Jayliah that it wasn’t easy raising a baby. Not saying that Zeek would leave her hanging but if he couldn’t get his shit together, there was no telling what she was going to have to end up doing.
Coco hadn’t even realized she had dozed off until Ms. Joyce came in the room and lightly shook her.
“Here, baby. I got you three different ones so you can know for sure,” she said as she handed a CVS bag to Coco.
“Okay, thank you.”
“No problem, just take all the time you need.”
Coco slowly took the dreaded walk back to the bathroom where she opened all three of the pregnancy tests. She sat down on the toilet and handled her business as she stuck all three of them under her so they could be urinated on. After wiping herself, flushing and washing her hands, Coco put the toilet seat down and played the waiting game.
After what seemed like forever, Coco checked all three tests and her fears had come to pass. She was in fact pregnant by Ezekiel Clay and there was nothing that she could do about it. Coco walked out of the bathroom with a blank expression on her face that Ms. Joyce couldn’t read.
“Well?”
“You’re going to be a grandma,” Coco said just above a whisper.
“I take it that you’re not too happy about it,” Ms. Joyce said.
“Not really, I’m not ready to be a mother. Zeek and I aren’t even in a committed relationship or a relationship, period, and now here we go adding a baby to the mix to complicate things even more,” Coco said.
“Who says the baby will complicate things? Maybe this baby will be exactly what you two need to see that you belong together,” Ms. Joyce said.
Coco had to let out a little chuckle on that part. “Yea right but can we just keep this between us for now? I don’t want Zeek trying to come here or even back to Michigan and getting himself into more trouble than he’s already in.”
“Sure thing, it’s not my business to tell. You just make sure you call and make you a doctor’s appointment to see how far along you are and get you start on some prenatal vitamins as soon as possible,” Ms. Joyce said.
“Yes ma’am, I sure will,” Coco assured her.
Coco had a lot to think about now. This baby was a definite game changer for her. Every choice she made now would not only affect her but it would also affect the wellbeing of her child.
Chapter Eighteen
Jayliah kept staring at her phone at the text message that was sent to her two hours ago. She had only been back in Detroit for a day when she received a text message from an unknown number with an address in Grand Rapids, Michigan telling her to be there at four o’clock and to come alone. Now, she didn’t know why somebody would want her to meet up with them two hours away from her hometown in a whole other city, but against her better judgment she did it.
She had been sitting outside the address for the pass ten minutes to see if someone would come out the house that she could recognize or if any familiar faces would stop by but there was nothing. Finally saying to hell with it, she grabbed her gun and got out of the car. When she walked up on the porch, she knocked with the gun and waited for an answer. When the door opened, all Jayliah saw was red.
“Muthafucka!” she yelled as she hit Quadir in the face with the gun.
“Aw fuck! Chill out, Jay, damn!” Quadir yelled as he tried to get her to stop.
“MOM, STOP! IT’S OKAY!”
Hearing that voice caused Jayliah’s body to freeze up. She wasn’t sure if she was tripping or not but when Quadir moved to the side and she saw Quaid standing there alive and in the flesh, she didn’t know what to do.
“Lil Q, come get your mom before I kill her ass,” Quadir said as he walked in the house to nurse his wounds.
Jayliah still stood there frozen, not believing her eyes as her son walked over to her.
“It’s me, ma,” Quaid said as he rubbed her cheek, letting her know that it was actually him.
That was all the confirmation Jayliah needed before she broken down crying as she swooped her son up in her arms. She couldn’t believe it, it was her baby, her son. He was alive and had only been two hours away from her this whole time.
“Don’t cry, ma. It’s okay. Everything is going to be okay,” Quaid told her as he kissed her cheek.
“I missed you so much,” she cried.
“I missed you, too.”
“Y’all can come in the house,” Quadir said as he held a towel up to the gash Jayliah had just given him.
“Wait,” Quaid said as he reached for his mom’s gun. Before Jayliah could even respond, he had snatched it out of her hand and tossed it to his dad.
“Good looking,” Quadir said.
“Whoa, what the fuck is this?” Jayliah asked, confused.
“Mom, I think you need to hear my dad out. He has something he needs to tell you. I really got to know him, the real him; and he’s not that bad. He’s just made some bad choices. Remember how you always tell me that if I want God to forgive me, I have to forgive others? Well, now is the time to practice what you preach. He didn’t hurt me, beat me, touch me, none of that, and as you can see, I’m okay,” Quaid told his mother.
Jayliah looked at both Quadir and Quaid with the side eye and her son led her deeper in the house. From what she could tell, there was no funny business going on and her son did look okay and the same as he did the last time she saw him, besides the fact that he needed a haircut so she was able to relax a little.
“Okay, dad, tell her the story you told me,” Quaid said as he sat next to his mother.
“Alright, Jay, I’m about to give it to you straight, no more lies and no more bullshit,” Quadir said.
“Well isn’t that nice of you.”
Ignoring her sarcasm, Quadir just went ahead and laid everything on the table. He told her about how her mom basically blackmailed him into leaving her when she was pregnant with Quaid and he wasn’t man enough to stand up to her and stay out of fear that she might have actually gone to the law. He also told her about how Sharon was the one who called him and told him where he would be able to find her and that’s how he just showed up at her house out of the blue. He was honest with her about Sharon threatening to kill Quaid and that being the only reason he came back into the picture and how she was the mastermind behind the whole kidnapping.
“She was supposed to be paying me four g’s every Friday to keep him but when I looked one day, I was like yo, I can’t
do this shit. This my flesh and blood. I helped make him. Ain’t no way in hell I’m doing this to my own son,” Quadir explained. “Like seriously, Jay, I know you hate me right now and I really wouldn’t expect any different. I’ve made peace with Lil Q and that’s all that matters to me. I know this was really fucked up of me to do and I really apologize from the bottom of my heart,” he said as he gave her her gun back.
To say that Jayliah was pissed would be an understatement. She would never understand how someone could hold that much hatred in their heart for somebody that they would stoop that low as to plan a kidnapping and then make someone think that their child was dead.
“Quaid, tell your dad bye and go get in the car,” Jayliah said.
“But ma—”
“Do what I said, please,” she said through clenched teeth.
Sadly, Quaid hugged his dad and said his final goodbyes.
“You be good for your mom and don’t give her any troubles, alright? You remember what I said, right?” Quadir asked.
“Yea, you want me to be better than you and no matter what, you always love me regardless of what anyone else tell me,” Quaid said with tears in his eyes.
Jayliah kept her eyes trained on Quadir as her son solemnly walked out of the house. He was really hoping that his father was going to have a better outcome but he knew his mom had a hard time forgiving people.
“Jay, I—”
“Thank you,” she said, surprising him. “Even though a part of me hates your fucking guts right now and wants to shoot so bad, it’s obvious that someway, somehow you won your son over and he wants you as a part of his life and who the hell am I to take that from him? You could have said to hell with him and did him dirty but you didn’t and I really appreciate you for that,” Jayliah sad.
“It’s no—”
POW!
“Aw shit, Jay!” Quadir yelled as he held him arm.
“Nigga, I know damn well you didn’t think I was letting you off the hook that easy, did you? You made me think my son was dead for months, I was depressed and all that extra shit! Don’t ever do no stupid shit like that again! The fuck wrong with you?” she yelled.
Jayliah just shook her head as she left the house. She was so happy that she got her son back that she didn’t know what to do. Her life could finally get back on track now.
“I didn’t kill him,” she said as she got in the car.
“Promise?” Quaid asked.
“I promise,” Jayliah said.
___
When Jayliah touched back down in Detroit, she went straight for her parent’s house. It had been so long since she had been over there but she was on a mission today. She had never laid her hands on her so-called mother but today she was going to fuck her up, no doubt about it. She was not going to let what she did to her and her son go unpunished. Fuck that, Jayliah thought as she sped in the driveway.
“Come on, baby,” Jayliah said as she threw the car in park.
“Who lives here?” Quaid asked.
“You’re about to find out.”
When they walked up to the house, Jayliah rang the doorbell like a mad woman. She kept pressing it until someone swung the door open.
“Who the hell is ringing my doorbell like that?” Sharon yelled.
“Me, bitch!” Jayliah said as she punched her in her face.
“Ahhh! Steven!” Sharon yelled for her husband as she tried to fight back but was no match for her daughter.
Everything that Jayliah had been holding, all the hurt, all the anger, all the eight and a half years’ worth of pain her own mother had caused her was being unleashed and coming out blow by blow. Jayliah was getting her for old and new. For every disrespectful comment she had ever made about her, every dirty look, every sly remark, all the pain she put her son through, for running Quadir off; Jayliah was getting her for all of it.
“JAYLIAH, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!” her dad yelled as he tried to get her off of her mother.
“This bitch his foul, dad, she’s foul as fuck!” Jayliah yelled.
“Stop it, stop right now before you give me a damn heart attack!” Steven said, finally prying Jayliah away from her.
As Steven was helping his wife off the floor, Quaid was trying to help his mom calm down and catch her breath and that’s when Sharon realized she had fucked up. She was silently cursing herself and Quadir for being a punk bitch.
“Yea, bitch, you thought I wasn’t going to find out, huh?” Jayliah said as she tried to catch her breath. “Surprise, dumb ass! My son is here to tell his grandpa how you orchestrated his kidnapping.”
“What?” Steven asked baffled.
“Yea, daddy, that’s not all though. She was paying Quadir four grand a week to keep him and act like he was dead. Who does shit like that, you old miserable bat? Whose son did you have killed so you could use their arm and act as if it was Quaid’s? Don’t be quiet now, you usually always have a lot to say,” Jayliah taunted.
Sharon stood there feeling really small. None of this was supposed to go down like this.
“What do you have to say?” Steven asked her.
“I knew I should have killed that bastard when I had the chance!” she yelled as she tried to get at Quaid.
“Bitch, I wish the fuck you would. Please run up on my son again, please do,” Jayliah said as she pushed Quaid behind her.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Steven asked with disgust dripping from his voice. “Get the fuck out of my house.”
“Excuse me?” Sharon questioned.
“You heard him, get to stepping,” Jayliah said.
“I’ll be contacting a divorce lawyer but until then, leave…now,” he said sternly.
“What about my things? I need—”
“Nothing in this house belongs to you. You should have thought about that shit before you was paying four thousand a week for a kidnapping. I’m not going to tell you again to get the fuck out of my house,” Steven said with fire in his eyes.
With squinted eyes, Sharon walked out of the house pissed. She didn’t have her purse, any shoes on, any money, no car keys, a phone or anything. On top of that, it was pretty clear that she had just finished getting her ass whooped. She didn’t know where she was going but she knew she wasn’t about to be out here like that.
“Dad, look I’m sorry but…”
Jayliah stopped when he dad put his hand up to stop her.
“I don’t want to hear that shit, it’s done and over with. I think someone has some acquainting to do. Now introduce me to my grandson,” he told her.
“Well, excuse the hell out of me,” Jayliah huffed. “Quaid, this is your rude ass grandpa. Rude ass grandpa, this is your grandson Quaid,” she laughed.
“Hey, grandpa. It sounds funny saying that,” Quaid laughed.
“I bet, but you’ll get used to it.”
Jayliah just smiled. Never did she see this day coming where her dad and she soon would be meeting but she was happy that she was able to let bygones be bygones as far as where her dad was concerned.
Chapter Nineteen
Shanae pulled up to the abandoned house and flashed her headlights twice and waited for someone to come out. Checking her surroundings, she hit the locks as three hooded figures came out and approached her car.
“Y’all ready?” she asked.
“You know better than that, we stay ready,” the leader of the pack responded for everybody.
Tonight was the night that Shanae was going to get her payback on Jayliah. She had sat back for a little while and let things cool off to make her think everything was cool so she could use the element of surprise when she attacked. Since Jayliah was so bad and liked to use guns, she recruited the help of one of her crazy cousins and her home girls. They were known to be ruthless and not give a fuck.
“Yo, Nae, who this bitch be with?” Shanae’s cousin asked.
“Nobody but her sister. The bitch is a loner.”
“That’s even better for us.”
For the duration of the ride, nobody said anything as they prepared themselves for what was about to go down. Shanae never had been a fighter and growing up, her cousin always had to fight her battles for her. It would be no different tonight. She just didn’t like all the disrespect Jayliah had been throwing her way and the final straw was her being shot. She had to show her that she wasn’t to be fucked with and she wanted her to leave her child’s father alone once and for all.
When they got to Jayliah’s house, everyone jumped out of the car ready to attack.
“Nae, you knock on the door so she’ll see your face first,” her cousin said.
“Wait, you want her to see my face?” Shanae panicked.
“It’s cool, I highly doubt she’ll make it after we’re done with her.”
“Hold up, Danger. I didn’t say shit about killing her. I just said for you to fuck her up,” Shanae said through gritted teeth. She was all for beating some ass but she wasn’t for that killing shit. No matter what Jayliah had done to her, murder just wasn’t her steelo.
“What the fuck you call us for then? Take your scary ass back to the car and let us handle this shot on our own then,” Danger spat.
She wasn’t here to bake no cookies or no shit like that. Shanae called her for so reason and that reason was because she knew how she and her girls rolled. That bitch had shot her and put her in the hospital, now all of a sudden she was acting like she cared or couldn’t go through with it.
“Fuck that shit. Whatever happens, happens.” Danger shrugged.
Shanae shook her head as she headed back to the car. She had a mind to pull off and leave those bitches because she wasn't trying to be an accessory to a fucking murder.
“Scary bitch,” one of Danger’s friends mumbled.
“Aye, shut the fuck up and let's just get this shit over with, alright?” Danger said as they walked up to Jayliah’s house.
The Wrong Side Of Love 2: A Hood Love Story Page 9