by Tynessa
“To the doctor with Destiny. I wanna go with her but her pops ain’t going for that. He won’t even let me be a part of my own baby’s life,” Man said with much anger. Destiny could hear Robyn ask if Man was talking to her on the phone and once he said yes, she asked for the phone. Destiny really didn’t have time for the extra stress they were about to bring.
“Hey sweetie, how are you feeling?” Robyn asked once she was on the line. Destiny let her know that she was fine. “Where’s Ronny at? I’m sick of this shit. That’s my son’s baby too and he should be thankful that he wanna be in that baby’s life. Him and his wife might as well accept it because my son is here to stay and they’re not gonna be able to keep him away for too much longer. What the hell is Ronny’s problem?” Robyn really felt it was Shaniqua that had a problem with her son because of the shit she was saying at her apartment.
“I don’t know but he’s not here. My mama is though.”
“I don’t wanna talk to that bitch! What is Ronny’s number?” Robyn didn’t have time for Shaniqua’s snobbish ass attitude. She was pissed herself and had Shaniqua got wrong with her, she would surely go to her house and beat her ass, herself. Destiny gave her the number and when she got off the phone, Destiny thought for sure she was calling him right then, but she didn’t. Little did Destiny know, Robyn had no intention on calling Ronny that day.
****
It was the next day and time for Destiny’s appointment. Ronny nor Shaniqua had said anything about Robyn calling them, so she didn’t know what the deal was with that. She was just ready for it all to be over with.
“Are you going with us Ronny?” Shaniqua asked as she grabbed her purse from the foot of the bed.
“Nah. I gotta be heading to the bar in a few. Just bring me something to eat back with you,” said Ronny over his shoulder. He had an unlit blunt resting between his lips and he was scrolling through his phone.
“Now, how are you gonna say you have to go to the bar in a few then tell me to bring you something back with me? All in one sentence, Ronny.” Shaniqua knew Ronny wasn’t going anywhere and was just using that as an excuse not to go with them. “You know; I’m starting to wonder if you’re gonna even be there when she has the baby.”
“Only time would tell, huh?” was all Ronny said back. He didn’t even look up from his phone and all Shaniqua could do was shake her head.
“You pitiful Ronny!” With that being said, she walked out the room. It had been months since they found out Destiny was pregnant and Shaniqua thought it was time for her husband to accept the fact. Him not talking to Destiny wasn’t gonna change anything. She was going to still be pregnant and he would be a grandfather soon, so he might as well go on and get over it.
Walking into the doctor’s office, Destiny thought she’d seen a ghost. There sat Man and his mother. They were sitting there as if they didn’t have a care in the world. Turning to look at Shaniqua, Destiny noticed she was looking just as surprised as she was.
“Aw shit,” Shaniqua mumbled. Maybe it was a good thing Ronny didn’t come. He would’ve surely nutted up. With a heavy sigh, Shaniqua took a seat on the opposite side of the room with Destiny sitting right beside her. “Why you didn’t tell me they were coming Destiny?” Shaniqua asked her.
“I didn’t know. I talked to her last night and she asked for my daddy’s number, but I didn’t know she had called him,” she answered honestly.
Nodding her head, Shaniqua said, “Ronny must’ve talked to her ass then.” Just as the words left Shaniqua’s mouth’s, Destiny’s phone went off.
Man: Is she mad?
Looking up from her phone, her eyes landed directly on Man.
Destiny: Nah. She just asked why I didn’t tell her that y’all was coming. I told you that she is okay with it, my daddy is the one that is upset.
“Destiny McDay?” the nurse called from the door. Putting up her phone, Destiny stood and so did everyone else. Once they were in the back room there was an awkward silence until the doctor came in.
“We’ll I see you got a full house today. I’m Dr. Michaels and you are?” the doctor asked as he extended his hand towards Robyn. She shook it and introduced herself.
“I’m Robyn and this is my son, Marcus. He’s the father of the baby,” she explained.
“Well nice to meet you, Dad. I’m so glad you could join us today,” Dr. Michaels said as he hooked the machine up and prepared Destiny for her ultrasound. “Let’s let daddy meet his little princess.”
As hard as Man was trying to hold back that smile, he couldn’t. Seeing his little princess on the monitor caused his heart to melt and it finally hit him; he was really about to be someone’s dad. Looking up at him, a tear fell from Destiny’s eyes and she smiled. Throughout her whole six months of being pregnant, this is the first time she’d smiled and it wasn’t forced.
Once Dr. Michaels informed them that everything was good, they headed out the door. Just as they reached their vehicles, Shaniqua turned to Man and said, “Thanks for coming today. That really meant a lot to Destiny and me both.”
Before Man could reply, Robyn spoke up. “Well if it meant a lot to y’all then why are y’all singling him out of everything? He can’t never come to the appointments because y’all don’t tell him until the last minute, so don’t sit up here and act like it’s his fault that he hadn’t been coming. Talking about ‘thanks for coming’, please!” Robyn went clean off on Shaniqua. The whole time she talked Shaniqua looked at her as if she’d lost her mind.
“Look, until you know what’s going on in my household, please don’t come at me like that. I’m not the one that’s not wanting your son to come to any of the appointments—,” Shaniqua started before being cut off.
“But you have some kind of input in it. Whether Ronny wanted my son here or not, you as the mother could’ve easily overruled it. And please don’t say you couldn’t.”
Robyn had no idea that Shaniqua wasn’t Destiny’s biological mother and she really didn’t have as much authority as she thought she did. Yes, she took Destiny in and raised her as her own, but at the end of the day, she wasn’t her child and her husband had the final say so in the whole situation. That was the mentality Shaniqua had.
“But do you know if Destiny even asked me if he could come or not? My husband hasn’t been to nan one of her appointments so if she wanted him to come, then she could’ve went behind our backs just like she’d done today.”
When Shaniqua put out there that Destiny hadn’t mentioned to them that Man wanted to attend the appointments, Robyn looked at her. Though Ronny said for Man to stay away from his daughter, this was a different situation and Shaniqua had no problem going behind his back, because he was the father of the baby and he had a right to be there. She was the one that would have to face the consequence if Ronny found out and Shaniqua had no problem with that.
“I thought you asked them could Marcus come and they said no? Do you not want Man to be a part of this baby’s life?” Robyn asked Destiny.
“No, I said I already knew my dad wasn’t going to let him come so why ask,” Destiny said with a shrug.
“Well you wouldn’t know unless you ask. And if you would’ve been informing Man with the appointment dates then I would’ve saw that he got here whether your dad wanted him to come or not.” Shaniqua didn’t like the tone Robyn was using with Destiny one bit. She understood where she was coming from but raising her voice at her child, was what she wasn’t going to do.
“Okay, there’s no need to raise your voice at her. That’s what you not gon’ do! Ronny made it clear that he didn’t want Man around her and though it might’ve been crazy for him to demand that, Destiny was just obeying her father. I will talk to Ronny personally when I get home—.” Once again, Shaniqua was cut off.
“It doesn’t matter because whether Ronny is okay with it or not, Man is going to be at every appointment.” With that, Robyn turned and walked off with Man following closely behind.
“I’ma end
up beating that bitch ass!” Shaniqua said before turning to head to her car. Her patience was really running thin with that woman. From day one, all she wanted to do was put her foot so far up her ass. Robyn was really lucky she didn’t meet the old Shaniqua, a few years ago.
Chapter 17
Walking into the house, Shaniqua set her belongings down then flopped on the couch next to Ronny. It was only a little after eleven and she’d dropped Destiny off at school for the remainder of the day. Ronny was on the phone talking and laughing as if he was talking to a childhood best friend or somebody. Laying on her back with her head resting in his lap, Shaniqua listened to his phone conversation and knew he was talking to none other than Ray’Shun. They swore they were best fucking friends instead of father and son, but that was the shit Ronny was accustomed to, so Shaniqua couldn’t really say shit. Shaniqua had even become accustomed to it to a certain extent.
“Ask Ray’Shun when is he bringing his ass back home. Grandma Thelma don’t need him and Slim worrisome asses up there getting on her nerves.” As soon as Shaniqua started talking, Ronny had placed the phone on speaker. Ray’Shun’s few days of visiting his grandmother turned into two months and he had no intentions of coming back anytime soon. He was truly enjoying himself.
“Man, I ain’t never coming back. They treat me way better up here than y’all do down there. I feel love here with grandma,” Ray’Shun teased with a laugh. He did miss his mother’s craziness. Some days he thought about visiting for a few hours but he was still trying to escape his relationship with Trinity. Ray’Shun knew once he saw her he would fall back into her trap. He missed her, there was no denying that, but he didn’t have the time and energy for her insecurities nor her nagging and complaining about every little thing he did.
“Whatever boy! Ain’t nan one of those lil bitches you up there fucking around with or your grandma gon’ ever treat you better than I do. Yo’ ugly self felt love here, too. Don’t think I don’t know the real reason you left. It takes you that long to get over Trinity?” Shaniqua said with a smile.
Who did Ray’Shun really think he was fooling? Little did he know, Shaniqua had done the same thing when she moved away with Dre. She was trying to escape Ronny only to run right back into his arms. True love never dies and even though Ray’Shun is young, he needed to realize that. Running isn’t the answer to their problem.
Rolling her eyes upwards, Shaniqua then stated, “I hope you don’t think Trinity is gonna sit around and wait for you to come back. If she does, she a damn fool.”
“Man, I don’t care Ma. I ain’t ask her to wait for me. She free to do whatever she wanna do because I’m damn sho’ gon’ do me,” Ray’Shun clarified. He probably didn’t mean it, but it sounded damn good rolling off his tongue. He didn’t know what he would do if he got home and saw Trinity with another man. That was part of the reason he hadn’t returned just yet. He wanted to make sure that she was fully out of his system where he didn’t give a damn what she did.
“And who are you trying to convince son? Me or yourself?” Shaniqua continued to taunt him. She was loving every minute of it because she knew her words were upsetting Ray’Shun.
“I ain’t trying to convince nobody,” Ray’Shun mumbled as he rubbed his forehead. His mother was really aggravating him. The thought of just ending the call crossed his mind but he didn’t want to disrespect her by hanging up in her face.
“Yeah, yeah, tell me anything. You probably got your daddy fooled but not your mama, baby boy,” Shaniqua laughed as she looked up at Ronny. He was shaking his head because her ass had no chill. “Anyways, how do you know that boy ain’t ready to come back home?” she then asked, referring to Slim.
“Because I know he ain’t. Man Mama, you really think I’ll be sitting here for two months and this nigga ready to go home? What you think I am, a kidnapper or something?”
“I just asked baby. Maybe he scared to tell you he’s ready to go home.” Hearing his wife say that caused Ronny to look at her as if she’d lost her mind. Sometimes, Shaniqua said some dumb shit.
“Now Shan, why would that nigga be scared to tell Ray’Shun’s ass that he’s ready to go home? Ray’Shun don’t run no damn body,” Ronny had finally said something for the first time since his wife and son have been going at it.
“Exactly Pops! Bruh, I told you yo’ wife is crazy. Man, I love you, Ma, but you got a few screws loose up there,” Ray’Shun laughed. He keeps telling his mother that she wasn’t wrapped too tight in the head. It was like she would say the dumbest crap just to get under his skin.
“Whatever. And you better not be up there getting nobody pregnant either. Hell, we already got enough going on here as is. So you better strap up that little wee-wee you got.” Shaniqua was dead ass serious. Bad enough, Destiny was walking around there pregnant.
“I stay strapped, Ma,” he laughed, which caused Shaniqua to roll her eyes upwards. His ass really thought he was grown.
“Yo’ ass better. That would hurt mine and my boo Trinity’s feelings,” Shaniqua said with a smile.
“Aight Pops, I’ll holla at you later on,” was Ray’Shun’s reply. Shaniqua laughed as she professes her love to her son. She knew he was upset but did she care? Of course not! Who was going to check her for anything she said? Certainly not him nor Ronny.
Once they ended the call, Ronny looked at her as he shook his head. “You just have to fuck with him don’t you?” he asked.
With a smirk on her lips, Shaniqua looked at him dead in the eyes and said, “Yup! And ain’t nobody gon’ do a damn thing about it.”
“Yeah and keep thinking that. Where the fuck my food at anyways?”
“I didn’t think you was gonna be here when I got back. What happened to you going to the bar? I knew your ass was lying,” she replied as she looked up at Ronny through narrowed eyes.
“Nah, I was gonna run over there for a few but I got on the phone with yo’ crazy ass son and forgot about it. How was the visit? What the doctor say?” Though he might not have gone to the doctor visits with them, he still wanted an update on everything that went on. He was upset but at the end of the day, Destiny was still his daughter and he only had her best interest at heart.
“Everything was okay and the baby is healthy.” The tentative in the Shaniqua’s voice caused his brow to raise. He knew there was something more to the story.
“What’s up? What happened?”
“Man and that bitch he calls mama came. My patience is really running thin with that bitch. I don’t know what y’all had going on and the reason she’s feeling some type of way towards me, but you better let her ass know that I’m not the one. I started to snatch her ass by that little bit of hair she got and beat her ass right there in the parking lot,” Shaniqua explained with her eyes closed, as she visualized her beating Robyn’s ass.
“Man,” Ronny dragged. “What the fuck did she do?”
“Okay, I understand that she wants Man to be a part of the baby’s life and believe me, I have no problem with that. You’re the one that does. And Destiny never came to neither one of us saying that he wanted to attend the appointments so how were we to know. I know you said for him to stay away from her but it’s also his baby, so if he wanted to be there then I had no problem with that.”
Ronny then looked down at Shaniqua with his head tilted to the side. “So you would’ve went against what I said and let him be around my daughter when I said I didn’t want him to?”
Shaniqua sat up and gave Ronny the evil eye. “You know what? Why the fuck you always hollering about ‘my’ daughter?” She air quoted ‘my’ as she emphasized it at the same time. “When you found out she was pregnant and you wanted her to have an abortion, it was me you wanted to take ‘your’ daughter and now I’m the one that’s taking ‘your’ daughter to all of her appointments because her damn daddy is such an asshole and won’t do shit. I’m the one that took her in as my daughter and though I said shit to you when we first found out she was yours, I never mistr
eated her or treated her any different than I treat my own four. But since you feel that way about her, then how about you do all the shit that I’m doing. I mean, I have no say so over her anyways, right?” With that being said, Shaniqua stormed off to the direction of the kitchen, leaving Ronny sitting there with his mouth wide open in disbelief.
He didn’t mean anything by it when he referred to Destiny as his daughter. Yes, one would’ve thought the same thing as Shaniqua, but that wasn’t his intention at all. To him, Shaniqua was much of Destiny’s mother than Denise would’ve ever been. She didn’t have to accept Destiny but she did, and he would forever be grateful.
Getting off the couch, he walked in the kitchen to find his wife bending over and coming back up with a pot. She was wearing an unreadable expression but he knew she was upset and her feelings were hurt by his words.
Walking over to her, he placed both hands on the counter, one on each side of her, blocking her in. Not saying a word, he placed his mouth at the nape of her neck and planted soft kisses there. With a shrug of her shoulder, Shaniqua tried to brush him off.
“Man Shan, you know I didn’t mean nothing by that. If I didn’t consider you as a mother to Destiny, then why would I even have you doing all this shit that I could easily do? Because you are her mama! I don’t give a fuck who birthed her or what name is on her birth certificate. You became her mother that first day you brought it to my attention that she was my daughter. Even when I didn’t wanna believe it because I was afraid of losing you, you pushed me to accept it and let me know straight up that you might not like it, but you ain’t going nowhere. So with all that, how could I not acknowledge you as a mother to her?” Ronny whispered into her ear. Shaniqua still had her back turned towards him and refused to turn around and look into those damn green ass eyes of his.
Her feelings were beyond hurt and she refused to let him know how much his choice of words affected her.