“Yeah,” Shawna said. “I believe you, somehow. Look, I just got done with Miss Susan’s hair. When I get done cleanin’ up, I can come over there and see Ebony for a minute, if that would be okay with you.”
“Yeah,” Tron said, smiling a little bit. “That’s fine. She been askin’ about you, Shawna. She really has.”
“Yeah,” Shawna said, thinking about how she enjoyed basically playing the role of the little girl’s stepmother. “I’ll be over there within a hour or so, okay?”
“Okay,” Tron said.
The two ended the call. When Tron sat his phone on the bed next to him, he went back to thinking. He felt relieved that Shawna was at least nice enough to come see Ebony before she left town.
Chapter 4
Desirae was pulling into a parking spot outside of her apartment building twenty minutes after leaving Tron’s place. The entire drive across town, she played the scenario over in her mind of when she walked up to Tron and his daughter, Ebony. She also thought more and more about how he looked at her in that moment. To her, it was the look of disgust, among many other things.
“That nigga jus’ gon look at me like I’m nothin’,” Desirae said as she thought about it. Her head shook as she turned her car off and headed into her apartment.
Once inside, Desirae quickly slid out of her coat and sat down into her usual spot on the couch. She looked around her apartment, knowing that she would soon move out of this place and live with her mother again. On top of all that, she would be doing all of this with two babies. Her feelings and emotions were everywhere; her fears were on steroids.
Just then, Desirae could feel her phone vibrating in her pocket. It was her mother calling. In all honesty, she did not feel like talking to her mother right now. However, she could also see UNREAD MESSAGE alerts in the background on her phone screen. There was no doubt that her mother was calling her about what she had found out at the doctor. After taking a deep breath, Desirae answered the phone.
“Hello, Mama,” Desirae answered. “Sorry I ain’t call you back, just been dealin’ with some stuff.”
“Well, how are you?” Karen asked, talking softly. “I got the text message you sent me.”
“Yeah,” Desirae said. “The doctor pulled up the inside of my stomach and everything on the computer. I saw it with my own two eyes. She said that she won’t be able to tell me the sex of the babies for a few more weeks or something like that, but I am definitely having twins.”
“Well,” Karen said, clearly sounding as if she was at a loss for words. “I can definitely say that you would be the first that I have known of in our family to have twins.”
“Oh, great,” Desirae said sarcastically. “That’s just perfect, Mama.”
“Look, Desirae,” Karen said, sounding as if she was going into her motherly mode. “I know it’s probably not the kind of news that you were planning to hear when you walked through those doors earlier. But there is no point in being down about it now. There is nothing that you can do to change this now.”
“Yeah,” Desirae said. “I know, I know. I’mma go ahead and start packin’ today, when I feel like it. I’mma prolly lay up and take a nap or something.”
“Yeah, well,” Karen said. “Have you told your father yet? Did you call him? And what about this Tron person you speak of. Have you told him yet that it’s twins?”
Desirae took a deep breath. “That’s where I’m comin’ from now, Mama,” she said. “I just came from his place. And no, I did not tell daddy yet. I was over at Tron’s, telling him.”
“And?” Karen asked. “What did he say? Knowing how men are, he is probably going to try to say that you not pregnant by him. Some men can handle hearing that they’re having one baby. But, baby, when you get to talking more than that, they get real scared all of the sudden.”
“Yeah, well,” Desirae said. “That’s one way of puttin’ it. He wasn’t even answerin’ my texts or calls when I left the doctor’s office. I was just calling and trying to tell him that it was twins, since he didn’t go to the doctor with me.” Desirae remembered that she needed to keep the lie up with her mother. “I don’t think he real happy about this.”
“Well,” Karen said. “Did he say that he was going to help you or what? I mean, I’m here for you, Desirae. And you know that I always will be. However, taking care of two babies at once is really going to put a strain on you, and your finances, once you have those again. Everything is going to have to cost twice as much. You do know that, right?”
“Yeah, Mama,” Desirae answered, sounding a little annoyed. “I know, Mama. I know. And he said that he was gonna help me and stuff.”
“Well,” Karen said. “Let’s just hope that he sticks to his word. Even if he doesn’t, you already know what you gotta do. Carry your ass right on downtown and put him on child support. Don’t be one of these women who says that they can do it on their own. Sure, you may be able to. And you won’t be the first, nor will you be the last to do it. However, you want to try to make things as easy as you can with this…for you…not easy for him.”
“Yeah, well,” Desirae said. “I’mma do some more thinkin’ about that. He offered to help me move and stuff this weekend, so that’s something.”
“Oh, okay,” Karen said.
Karen could sense that her daughter was not in the best of moods. When she was calling her, Karen debated on what she would say. There was no doubt in her mind that there would be a lot of uncertainty on Desirae’s end. Karen, herself, imagined the pressure a young, unmarried, unemployed woman must be under when she finds out that she is pregnant with not one, but two, babies.
“Well, I’ll let you go,” Karen said. “I was just calling to see how everything was going with you. You sound like you need a little rest. I’ll just talk to you later on or tomorrow or something.”
Desirae felt a little guilty – felt as if she was pushing her mother away a little bit. However, she knew that she would need a little time to herself. “Okay, Mama,” Desirae said. “I’ll talk to you later.”
The two of them said bye to one another and Desirae sat her phone on the couch next to her. She looked down at her stomach, as she began to think about just how much her body would change now that she was carrying two babies. Did that mean that she would gain twice the weight? Did all of this mean that it would now be twice as hard for her to lose the weight after the pregnancy?
Desirae’s thoughts turned to Reese. She could not even think about her former best friend without getting a sour taste in her mouth. The amount of betrayal was just too much to even stomach. However, at the same time, Desirae thought about how this would be one of those moments where she would jump on the phone and call Reese as quickly as she could to tell her the news. However, after talking to Reese earlier, she knew even more that she was nothing but a liar and that she was someone that could just not be trusted.
Desirae turned on the television, hating that she could not smoke a blunt or drink any wine right now. She knew that tonight would be a particularly sad night because it was Valentine’s Day. Whatever other friends and cousins she had would be out with their boos, being in love and having a good time. What had she done today? She had found out that she was pregnant with twins, only to go over to their father and be insulted and basically treated as if she was nothing.
While the television played as background noise, Desirae logged into her Facebook and Instagram accounts. She could not help but smile at all of the comments she got from different dudes online. Routinely – about once every couple of weeks or so – she would upload a photo of herself in either a cute outfit or lying under sheets on her bed, naked. It never failed: she would always get comments of praise about her body. Dudes hollered at her left and right. After thinking about how Tron treated her like she was some ugly chick, she looked at some of the guys who hollered at her online. And some of them actually seemed to have their shit together, based on what she saw of their profiles. There were quite a few that had decent jobs
, were handsome, posted pictures of nice cars, and, most importantly, appeared to be single.
“I don’t even know why I was wastin’ my time on that nigga,” Shawna said, starting to feel angry. “I believed that shit he said about wanting to break it off with his girl and come and be with me. I actually believed it, when I coulda been gettin’ with one of these dudes that would feel lucky to have me. Now look at me.” Desirae looked down at her stomach. “Who gon’ wanna date a bitch with two babies by some other nigga?”
Desirae set her phone back down, knowing that it was just too depressing to think about how her love life was going to change, let alone everything else. She really had slipped up and forgotten about taking her birth control. Hell, there were so many times that Tron came in her that she did not get pregnant that she just did not think much about it.
Desirae pulled a knitted blanket from the side of the couch. After spreading it across her body, she leaned back into the couch. The longer she sat there, thinking, she more she felt scorned and done wrong. There was just something about how Tron was talking to her and treating her that she could not let go of. Yes, she signed up for fucking around with him on the side, but she did not sign up for feeling invisible at the time when she needed to be seen the most. It would probably be safe to say that a sort of rage was brewing inside of her. And finding out that she was pregnant with twins only made it twice as strong.
***
Tron chilled out for a few minutes and smoked about a third of the blunt he had just rolled. Soon enough, he went back downstairs to hang out with Ebony. She talked to him about this and that, with somewhat long spurts of time when the only noise in the house was the television going. Within an hour or so, there was a knock at the door.
“Daddy, you hear that?” Ebony asked, looking at her father from her sprawled out spot on the floor. “Sound like somebody at the door.”
Tron jumped up, knowing exactly who it would be at the door: Shawna. He hated that she even bothered to knock, because it could send a message to Ebony that Shawna did not live there anymore. Tron hurried across the living room floor and along the stairway until he got to the front door. He looked over his clothes quickly, making sure that he did not look crazy himself, before he pulled the front door open.
Instantly, Tron’s eyes met with Shawna’s. It felt so strange, to the both of them, having not seen one another for a couple of weeks.
“Wassup?” Tron said, not really knowing what to say. “How you?”
Shawna, not really wanting to make eye contact, looked away. “I’m okay,” she said, flatly. “I’ll be a lot better if I could come in out of the cold, Tron.”
Immediately, Tron moved out of the way and allowed Shawna to enter.
“She still here, right?” Shawna asked, pulling her gloves then hat off.
Tron nodded, as he pushed the front door closed. “Yeah,” he said. He then pointed toward the living room. “She in there, Shawna.”
“Okay,” Shawna said.
Shawna put her game face on – smiling as if she was actually happy to be there – and headed into the living room. Tron, still standing by the doorway, listened for a moment. Ebony jumped up off of the floor and hugged Shawna, telling her how much she missed her.
“Where did you go?” Ebony asked. “Daddy told me that you went outta town. Where did you go, Shawna?”
“Well,” Shawna said, clearly caught off guard by the little girl’s question. “I went a couple of places, actually. I’m staying with my sister to help her out for a minute, but your dad told me that you were asking about me.”
“I did,” Ebony said. “I did.”
“Yeah,” Shawna said. “So, that’s why I decided to stop by and see you for a little bit.”
Tron came into the room and the three of them hung out. Tron thanked his lucky stars that Ebony was too young to pick up on the tension between himself and Shawna. He also, silently, thanked Shawna for going along with this – for being woman enough to look passed him and step out a little bit for his daughter.
Shawna visited for about thirty minutes, never really getting too comfortable. Just as it was getting dark outside, she decided it was time to go.
“Well,” Shawna said. “I gotta go back over to my sister’s so I can help her, Ebony. Your dad told me that you were here and I wanted to see you so bad that I just couldn’t help myself.”
Ebony smiled and bear-hugged Shawna, telling her goodbye.
Tron walked Shawna to the door.
“Thank you so much for doin’ this,” Tron said, graciously. Not only was he thankful for Shawna coming by, but also that this visit would keep Ebony from thinking about Desirae. Last thing he needed was for her to dwell too much on Desirae, at least not for a while.
“Well, Tron,” Shawna said. “I ain’t do this for you. And I just want you to know that. I decided to come over because you said that Ebony was asking about me. And it’s her birthday and Valentine’s Day, or whatever.”
“I know, Shawna,” Tron said, looking down toward the floor. “I know.”
Shawna could pick up on how down Tron was. After all, with the two of them being together for some years, she knew when something was up even when he was not going to say anything. Instead of asking what the issue was, Shawna slipped into her coat, put on her hat and gloves, and went on about her business.
When Shawna walked out of the door, Tron pushed the door closed behind her and stood there for a moment in thought. He really didn’t know when he would see Shawna again. Even though he had really messed up, he wished deep down that this would not be the last time. He knew that she would never even consider getting back with him. And that was something that he would just have to live with.
Tron went back to the living room and sat back down onto the couch. The word twins continued to swirl around in his mind. All he could think about, and kind of hope for, was that there was a way that Desirae was not pregnant by him. He felt so stupid for accomplishing all he had accomplished – going from dealing drugs in the streets to owning a strip club – and yet allowing some THOT to get pregnant by him. From time to time, Tron thought about it so much that he would just shake his head.
***
Later that night, Tron put Ebony to bed in his bed and headed back downstairs. The two of them had eaten dinner together before watching a movie in the living room. Tron could see that his daughter was getting a little sleepy and nodding off during conversation, but he waited until she was good and sleep to turn the television off then carry her upstairs.
When Tron was settling himself on the couch, he heard keys jingling at the door. He jumped up, wide awake again. He rushed to the front door as Tyrese came in. His eyes were red, and he had a bit of a smirk on his face.
“Hey, wassup, man?” Tyrese said as he walked in the door.
“What you doin’ here, nigga?” Tron asked, surprised to see Tyrese.
Tyrese looked at Tron. “What you mean what I’m doin’ here, nigga?” he said back. “You told me that your daughter was goin’ home Monday, didn’t you?”
“Naw, nigga,” Tron said. “I said she would be goin’ home Tuesday, not Monday. She upstairs sleeping, so watch how loud you talk. I don’t need your ass to go wakin’ her up, cause then she’ll be up all night.”
“Oh,” Tyrese said, turning back around. “My bad. I’ll just come back tomorrow.” He began to get his phone out to see what his options were as far as staying somewhere for the rest of the night.
“Naw, man, naw,” Tron said. “You ain’t gotta go right back out the door. Come in and chill for a sec, man. Ya boy done had a crazy day.”
Tyrese put his phone away and followed Tron into the living room. “Word?” he said, wanting to hear more. “What you mean, Tron? Wassup?”
“Desirae,” Tron answered, flatly. He then grabbed a magazine from the small table at the end of the couch. Earlier, when he had smoked some of the blunt, he put the remaining part inside of the magazine so it would not get broken. He op
ened the magazine, pulled the blunt out, grabbed a lighter, and then handed the two to Tyrese. “This some good shit,” Tron said.
“Awe, fuck,” Tyrese said. “What done happened now with her ole ratchet ass? What she do?”
“Man,” Tron said, shaking his head from side to side. “She just gon’ come stoppin’ by earlier, when I was playin’ outside with Ebony.”
“Damn,” Tyrese said. “Man, you need to move. All your hoes know where to find you, and come jump on you, I guess. Man, you need to just move. Why she stop by without callin’? What she want? Did she wanna come back through for a round two with try’na kill your ass with a fork?”
Tron looked at his boy with slanted eyes. “Nigga, you gon’ stop makin’ a joke about that shit,” he warned.
Tyrese laughed and held his hands up. “Okay, okay,” he said. “I’m bein’ serious, though, man. What that chick want that she would just be poppin’ up?”
“Bruh,” Tron said. “I had seen her callin’ and stuff, textin’ me sayin’ that she went to the doctor today. But I ain’t answer cause I was hangin’ out with Ebony and I ain’t really feel like none of her bullshit.”
“I know that’s right,” Tyrese said, handing the blunt to Tron. Tron grabbed it and took a long, hard hit. “But what she want though?” he asked. “I know she ain’t just come all the way over here from where you said she live – out south? – to tell you that she went to the damn doctor today. There had to be something else, man. Had to be.”
Tron allowed the weed to go to his head a little bit before he continued on with explaining.
“Man,” Tron said. “She came over to tell me that when she went to the doctor today, she found out that she pregnant with twins.”
Tyrese’s eyes bulged. For a split second, he thought that he had misheard. “Tron, nigga,” Tyrese said. “Are your serious? You got her pregnant with twins?”
Tron nodded his head, having just as hard of a time believing what he had just said as Tyrese was having heard it. “Yup,” he said, very somberly. “The bitch went to the doctor and found out that she was pregnant with fuckin’ twins.”
The Diary of a Side Chick 4: A Naptown Hood Drama (Side Chick Diaries) Page 7