by Nikki Brown
“Denari, I’m pregnant and I don’t know if it’s yours or your brother’s.”
My hand immediately went to my face and slid down. I knew I should have never fucked her raw but that shit felt too good not to. This shit was too much to talk about right now. I looked over at Heaven and I could see a glimpse of hurt in her eyes. She just shook her head and walked to the back of the apartment and shut the room door.
“I guess your little girlfriend ain’t ready to be a stepmom.” She laughed.
“Bitch you getting rid of that shit one way or another.” I pointed in her face.
“No, I’m not killing this baby, me and Jaako are gonna raise this baby together.”
“You don’t think his ass gonna ask for a DNA you fucking idiot? And I’m telling you right now that I ain’t father material so you can dead that shit right now. I ain’t trying to be nobody’s daddy.”
“Well you need to help me get Jaako back in my good graces.”
I thought about it for a minute and as bad as I hated to admit it she was right. She needed to make up with Jaako so he could take care of this baby whether it was his or not. Shit Ma did it with us, he surely could.
“Yo if this shit don’t work you need to get rid of that fucking baby and I ain’t playing. You’ll do it on your own terms or on mine.”
“Just talk to him.” She ignored my threat.
“I’ll talk to him but I don’t think it will matter. Jaako been looking for a way out.” I hit her with some truth. “Yo’ mouth and attitude make you so unattractive.” I shook my head.
“I didn’t ask for you to analyze me, I just need you to talk to your brother.” She rolled her eyes and walked out. This shit was not gonna work. I knew my brother and he low key hated her, so this baby was not gonna make a difference. I had a feeling I would be getting rid of Ms. Krista sooner or later.
Chapter Seventeen
Krista
Leaving Denari’s house I felt defeated. I just knew that he would have some sympathy for me, but his ass basically threatened to kill both me and the baby. I knew that Denari wasn’t someone that I wanted to settle down with, but I thought that my sex game had him wrapped up enough that he would at least understand where I’m coming from. I was even hoping that if shit didn’t work with me and Jaako that I would still have one Barnes brother under my spell but it ain’t working out like that.
I pulled up to the only place that I knew that I could get solace from, my parents. My mom would have the perfect answer that I needed and my dad would baby me. I got out and used my key to get in and as soon as the door was open I heard the norm, arguing.
“Damn it Roman, why can’t you just do what the fuck I say?”
“Chelsey I did, I don’t know what else you want me to do.” My dad said in his normal soft tone.
“I told you to take out chicken legs and here sit a sink full of chicken breast.” My mom yelled.
“Chicken is chicken.” He said under his breath but my mom had those bionic ears so she heard him.
“I’m so sick of your useless no good ass, I don’t even know why I married you. I hate you, I should just go and run off with the fucking mailman. I bet he would know the difference between a chicken leg and breast.” She went on and on until she saw me walk in, my dad had already left and went outside to his building, where he normally went when she got like this. “Well hello my baby.”
“Hi mom.”
“How are you?” She smiled.
“I’m okay, how are you?”
“Besides sick of your father, I’ve been doing good.” She smiled and continued to season the chicken in the sink. “How are things with that rich Barnes man?”
“Not so good.” I admitted and she looked at me like I had sprouted five heads.
“What do you mean not good, what’s going on?”
“He thinks I’m sleeping with his brother for one and two, he is in love with his lawyer and is only with me because I’m assuming that she won’t be with him.” I shook my head on the brink of tears. “I don’t know how things got so bad so quick.”
“So his brother is rich too?” I nodded. “And you’re sleeping with him?” I nodded again. “Well then you’re set, what one won’t do the other will.” She turned back around like she had just solved the riddle.
“Denari is only 20 and he acts his age, he is nothing that I want to settle down with.” I shook my head.
“Then why does he have access to your money maker?”
“Because he was fun and exciting where as Jaako was all about the love making and stuff. I wanted someone who knew what I wanted in bed and Jaako fell short of that just a little bit.”
“Sex ain’t gone pay yo’ bills and keep you laced sweetheart. Sex is only there for you to secure the bag and then after that, you can worry about sex and stuff. Don’t you listen to anything I say?” She had a confused look on her face. “See your father was good in the bed and he has money, but he’s weak. When I want something strong I go out and find it, but I have my bread and butter when I get home. You never secured your bag before you went out looking for a substitute that was empty.” She raised an eyebrow.
“I understand but that’s not even the worse part.” She turned completely around and gave me her undivided attention. “I’m pregnant and I don’t know if it’s Jaako’s or his brother Denari.”
“Who’s do you want it to be?”
“Jaako’s,” I said like she should have known.
“Well then it’s Jaako’s baby.” She shrugged and turned her back to me and finished what she was doing in the sink. “Just stick to the fact that it’s Jaako’s baby no matter what anyone says and eventually he will believe it. Your father did.”
My eyes got big and I threw my hand over my mouth. I knew my mother was ruthless but I didn’t know she was like that. I would have never thought that she could pin a baby on my dad that didn’t belong to him but then again it was my mom.
“Dad’s not my dad?”
“Of course he is, he feeds you and takes care of you.” She never turned back around. “He’s your father you just may not have the same blood through your veins or hell you might.” She shrugged. “We will never know, now will we? All because I stuck to the story and that was what it was.” She winked over her shoulder.
I honestly didn’t know how to feel. I wanted to protest and ask who the hell my father was but I knew she wouldn’t tell me. That little story was for teaching purposes only and not up for debate any further. I was gonna take her advice though, this baby that I was carrying was Jaako’s and I didn’t care who said what about it.
Chapter Eighteen
Jenacia
It had been two months since me and Kayson decided to make things official and I must say that it was everything that I had hoped for. We were still working on building trust and I still have some doubts about his fidelity, but until he gave me a reason to think otherwise it was gonna just be worthless doubt.
“Hey bitch.” Zemia said coming into Olive Garden. The heffa was supposed to be here thirty minutes to go.
“Don’t hey bitch me, you’re late.”
“Ah shit I’m always late, just love me hell.” I laughed because she was right. She was always late; if she wasn’t one hell of an editor she would have been fired from our job.
“I hate you hoe.”
“Yeah yeah so you say.” She rolled her eyes up in her head.
I met Zemia when I started working for The Word. Everyone told me that she had an attitude from hell and that she was rude. I was never one to go off someone else’s opinion so I decided to get to know her for myself and boy was I glad I did. She quickly became the closest person to me. I loved every crazy personality and her smart mouth. She said whatever it was that came to her mind and didn’t care how you felt about it.
She was with me through the abortion I had after me and Kayson slipped up last year. I wasn’t in the best head space afterwards and she stayed with me until she was sure that I would
n’t kill myself and I was grateful. Zemia was loyal as they come and hell, she loved me more than my own mother. That says a lot.
“So, what you been up to girly? I don’t really get to see you like that anymore since you been boo’d up with Mr. Barnes.” She smirked and turned to the waitress who had a sour look on her face when she mentioned the name Barnes.
“Drinks?” the waitress said and rolled her eyes.
“Ooouuuu you gotta ‘tude and I ain’t feeling it. You can leave and come back when you feel better or matter of fact send someone else.” Zemia scrunched up her pretty face and turned back to me. “Girlll bitches rude as shit though right?”
My attention was focused on the waitress who was staring me down. She looked so familiar to me. I just couldn’t put my finger on where I knew her from. I looked at her name tag and it read Brayla, then I remembered that she was the bitch that came and picked Kayson up that first night I stayed with him. She was the chick that blew his phone up constantly. I guess she realized that I had figured out who she was because she smirked.
“Well hey sister wife.” She laughed.
“Yeah, so I’m not about to play these games with you sweetheart. I got the keys, I got his heart so whatever you’re about to try and say you can stop, it won’t work.”
“Is that what he told you?” She crossed her arms and put all her weight on one leg and popped her hip out.
“Nah bruh you ain’t about to do this, don’t yo’ ass got some pasta or something to make? Where the hell is yo’ manager.”
“Anyway,” Brayla rolled her eyes. She went in her pocket and pulled out her phone and started to scroll through it. She had this fucked up smile on her face the whole time. “This look like you got his heart?” She turned her phone toward me and my heart dropped to my stomach but I would never let her know what she was showing me was affecting me.
“Okay you just swallowed the babies he hadn’t put in me yet.” I clapped back, something about what I said changed her demeanor.
“Babies?” She damn near yelled. “You really don’t know your man like you think you do.” She laughed. “Kayson don’t want kids boo boo.”
“No sweetheart he just don’t want kids with you.” I pointed at her. I was starting to get mad but at myself. Why in the hell am I sitting here with her arguing about my man. I really needed to have a conversation with Kayson, I was not about to be in the streets arguing with every bitch that he’s stuck his dick in. “Me and Kayson talk about starting a family all the time so I don’t know where you are getting your info from but they are sadly mistaken.”
“Girl stop arguing with this whorebanger, you know ya man and don’t let no bitch tell you otherwise. She just bitter.” Zemia mugged her.
“Bitch you don’t know me.” Brayla turned her attention to Zemia.
“No hoe, you clearly don’t know me because if you did you would know that you getting mighty close to catching these hands. Try me.” Zemia said in a calm voice that let me know it was probably time to go before shit got real.
Brayla rolled her eyes and turned to look at me. “Well our man was at my house last Tuesday when he said that he was at the club with his brothers, I made sure that he was satisfied because we knew you had to work.” She laughed.
I laughed with her. “That’s funny because last Tuesday Kayson and I rode to Cherokee and went to the Casino because I didn’t have any shoots for the rest of the week.” I raised my eyebrows and she stood there looking stupid. “I’m not about to sit here and argue with you about MY man, if you have an issue you need to take that up with him. I’m trying to keep my composure because unlike you I have a career to worry about. Now if you don’t mind, we would like to speak to your manager.” I said that with finality. She looked back and forth between me and Zemia and stomped off.
“That fucking picture had better be old as fuck.” I said more to myself than Zemia.
“Girl you know it is, did you just not hear her say that she was with him Tuesday and it was a lie. That shit was probably something she snuck when he was high or drunk.”
“I’m still asking him about it.”
“Girl don’t go causing trouble in your relationship on the strength of no bitch like that. I’m not playing with you.” Zemia warned.
I knew she was right but in the back of my mind I knew that if I didn’t talk to him about it the shit was gonna fester and I would turn it into something that it wasn’t and I didn’t want to do that. The key to every relationship is communication and we promised that if there was ever a problem that we would talk about it.
“I see your mind over there working, you bout to fuck up a good thing.”
“Shut up and let’s go, I ain’t about to eat here knowing this bitch work here. She gonna spit all in our shit.”
“Right! But I still wanna see her manager.”
“Let that girl keep her little job. She needs it.” I stood up and laid a ten-dollar bill on the table, but Zemia scooped it up.
“Fuck that bitch.” She smacked her lips, I laughed and we headed out of the restaurant. I was gonna make sure that I talked to Kayson about this and soon. We walked out of the restaurant, “Where to, ‘cause a bitch hungry.”
“Let’s go to the TGIFridays, I want that Jack Daniel's steak they got.”
“Sounds good.”
Both restaurants were in the same area as Northlake Mall so it wasn’t a far drive. We actually could have walked but the heels we had on wouldn’t let us be great. Let me stop I didn’t want to walk any damn way. We pulled up and got out, the hostess showed us to a table near the bar because I was gonna need a drink after that bullshit I just dealt with.
“Girl that was some shit.” Zemia said reading my mind.
“I know, I don’t want to have to deal with that every time I run into one of his little bitches though.”
“You may as well get use to the shit because being with one of them Barnes brothers, you got to have thick skin and if you ain’t prepared for that maybe you need to take a step back.”
“I’ve put in my time with Kayson and I’ll be damn if I let him go over some bullshit.”
“Okay, well shut the hell up and ignore the hoes.”
I flipped her off and we ordered our drinks, me a glass of Sangria and Zemia ordered her norm, a Whisky Sour.
“Speaking of Barnes brothers, what’s been up with you and Omari?”
“Nothing.” She smiled. “He’s really cool and I love spending time with him but I know what he’s about. Hell, he damn near told me that he was a hoe and wasn’t planning on settling down no time soon.” She shrugged her shoulders and looked somewhat disappointed.
“You like him don’t you.”
“Bitch that’s what I just said?” She tilted her head to the side.
“I can’t stand you I swear.” I laughed.
“Nah but seriously, I do like him. He’s so sweet and attentive when we’re together. We talk about anything. He even opened up about some things that happened in his childhood to me. I felt like we were getting somewhere but I ain’t trying to get my hopes up because I know how he is. So, for now, we are just gone chill and be friends you know?” She finished off her drink and called for the waitress to order another one. “After what I witnessed with my mom and dad, I refuse to ever feel that way.”
“Z you can’t do that, their situation is not your situation. You can’t keep pushing people out of your life because you think that they will do you like your dad did your mom.”
I felt sorry for Zemia sometimes because that situation will be forever etched into her mind. She bases everything off what happened to her parents. Her ex-boyfriend Lan was like the sweetest person ever and he would do anything for Zemia but she wouldn’t let him in out of fear. So, he got tired of waiting and broke up with her. She never let him in enough to feel anything so the breakup didn’t bother her. I hated that for her.
“Girl I ain’t got time to nursing no broken heart, I got checks to run up.” She waved me
off and focused on the fresh drink the bartender had just put down.
“I know somebody who can break down them walls.” I tried to lighten the conversation back up.
“I got some damn walls he can break down, humph,” we both laughed.
About two hours later we were both full and tipsy, we were standing at the car trying to decide if we were going to call an Uber or not. We couldn’t do anything without laughing so we knew for a fact that we shouldn’t drive. I picked up the phone and called Kayson but got no answer, Zemia called Omari and got the same thing. We chalked it up as they were working so we submitted to calling an Uber. We stood by the car and talked while we waited when I noticed a familiar car pull in.
“Fuck, there’s Roger.” My high was blown that quick, I was praying that the Uber would pull up at any minute.
“He bet not come over here with that bullshit either.” Zemia slurred, she had like six or seven Whiskey Sours so I knew her ass was blowed. I just shook my head and pretended to be busy with my phone.
“Damn ya man left you out here fucking drunk and shit?” Roger laughed but I didn’t even dignify his question with an answer. “Oh, so because you dealing with a big ass drug dealer you can’t talk to a regular nigga like me?” He walked toward me.
Roger was a supervisor at a local plant down here and he made decent money. I mean he took good care of himself. His problem was that he didn’t know how to keep his fucking dick in his pants. He got caught up with them fucking twins he had on the way.
“How’s Treyquisha?” I asked about his baby mama. “Your twin girls should be here any day now, right? Make sure you let me know, I would love to send them a gift.” I smirked and Zemia started clapping.
“Good,” clap, “Fucking,” clap, “Answer.” she slurred. I wanted to laugh but I didn’t feel like making the situation any worse. This day was already a bust, running into both me and Kayson’s exes was not what I was expecting.