by Amber Monroe
19. Bre
Knock-knock-knock
“It’s the police. Open the door!” The officer shouted. I almost forgot that they were out there. I casually walked to the door with my seventh-month belly.
“Coming!” I said as I got closer to the door. I opened it and saw two officers examining my appearance. I probably had a new busted lip, and my hair was all over the place.
“Ma’am, are you okay? We received a disturbance call from someone in the building about a man and woman fighting.”
“It was probably Carol’s noisy ass. The nerve of her when she’s running an illegal daycare.” I said nonchalantly.
“Is the person who did this to you still here?” The dark skin officer asked.
“Yeah,” I said as I opened the door up some more to let them in. “He’s right there,” I said, pointing to Jemar, holding a bag of ice to his eye.
“Who did that to you?” The light-skin officer asked Jemar. Jemar’s bitch ass nodded towards me. Go figure, he can dish it, but can’t take it. I got his ass good too. Gave him a black eye and a busted lip. He came in about two hours ago on his bullshit. He’s been gone for two days, and I told him about doing that shit. We ended up getting into it, he hit me, and I hit his ass back. I know y’all probably thought I was going to allow his ass to beat and mistreat me, but I wasn’t that kind of bitch. I may have been a little naive, but one thing my parents taught me was to never let a man put his hands on you. I never witnessed that with my parents, and I wasn’t about to become that girl. Jemar did a lot of shit that I put up with, but beating on me wasn’t one of them. As much as he hit me, I hit his ass back as much too. I probably let a month of his abuse go on because I was in shock and scared, but one day I woke up with super strength and fought back. Like I said, I was staying for my daughter, not me. And hopefully, you’ll understand that before this book is over.
“How many months are you?” The dark skin officer said, I looked at his name badge and saw Officer. Haywood. His partner’s name was Officer. Stanton.
“Seven, I’ll be eight next week,” I stated, proudly. Only a month and a half left, and I couldn’t wait. I had everything I needed for my baby girl, except for a stable living environment. However, I was working on that, and hopefully, I would have it before she gets here.
“What are you having?” He asked.
“A girl,” I said.
“How old are you?”
“Excuse me, officer, is this a damn social hour? You see how I look compared to her. She assaulted me!” Jemar said.
“You want to press charges? I mean we can take you too because she looks like a minor and she’s pregnant. You have more bruises, but we can’t ignore her bruised lip? Want to tell us how she got that?” Officer Haywood said.
“I was defending myself,” Jemar said.
“You liar!” I said as I started to walk over to him and bust him in his shit again. I didn’t care if the officers were there.” The two officers held me back.
“See! Look at her.” Jemar said.
“You’re under arrest. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you.” Officer Haywood handcuffed me. I started crying, I’ve never been arrested before. And to make matters worse, Jemar had a smirk on his face like he was enjoying this. We both were at fault, but yet I was being arrested.
“I think she should stay the night in a cell. Maybe she’ll learn something while she’s in there.”
“Shut up. Don’t give us a reason to arrest you or search the premises.” Officer Stanton said. That shut Jemar’s ass up.
“Are they too tight?” Haywood asked. With tears running down my face, I shook my head. They led me out of the apartment and down the stairs to their police car. I was so embarrassed as they walked out of the building. People looked at me, and it’s not like I made it easy for them to turn away. My hair was in an untamed ponytail, I was in a black tank top, gray biker shorts, and clear Fenty/Puma jelly slides. And I had a busted lip, a healing black eye, and bruises on my body. My life was spiraling out of control, and I was trying to do better for my daughter. Maybe I had shit wrong and was going about it the wrong way.
The ride to the station was awkward and silent. Once we got there, they got me out and led me in. I thought I was about to be booked, but Officer Haywood continued to lead me to down the hall and eventually downstairs. It was way colder downstairs, and I saw a sign that said, “Morgue.” I instantly got chills and was scared. Officer Haywood spoke to someone then led me inside where they handled dead bodies. I’ve never seen a dead body like this, so I was scared. I closed my eyes because I didn’t want to see anything that scarred me for the rest of my life. We stopped, then I felt him, uncuff me. I relaxed a little but still kept my eyes closed. Those handcuffs were very uncomfortable even though they weren’t that tight.
“Open your eyes, it’s okay.” Officer Haywood said. For some reason, I trusted him but instantly regretted it. Lying before me was a dead corpse. I immediately closed my eyes again.
“Open your eyes, Bre. You need to see this.”
“No, I don’t, and how do you know my name? I never gave you my name.” I said, and started to get even more scared. Did Jemar hire these cops to take me out or something?
“I know your dad.” He said. I relaxed a little bit. “Open your eyes, Bre. You need to see this. Trust me, okay?”
“I’m done trusting guys that I haven’t known long,” I said with tears streaming down my face. Hearing that he knew my father, I knew that my dad was getting tired of me ignoring him and wanted to send a message.
“What does my father want?” I asked.
“Open your eyes and see.” He said. I don’t know why I listened, but I did and saw the dead body again. It was a black female, she looked to be about my age or younger. Even though her color was pale and flushed, I could tell that she had beautiful brown skin once upon a time. There were bruises on her face and shoulder. A white sheet was covering the rest of his body. Her hair was black and in braids.
“What kind of message is this?” I asked.
“A personal one.”
“What happened to her?” It was hard to go back to closing my eyes now. I was scared but curious.
“Fell in love with the wrong guy. She experienced abuse from him, that eventually led to her death. Her parents had to come in this morning and identify her.”
“They didn’t know?”
“She went to go live with him when her parents didn’t approve of him. He seemed like the perfect guy until she started living with him. There were little signs that she ignored, like his controls and using love to manipulate her. She was only fourteen, and he was nineteen. They’ve only been together for about two months before her parents found out and forbid their relationship. He was a dropout, didn’t have a real job, but sold drugs to stay afloat. Once she moved in with him at his friend’s house, he used her to sell drugs. Things seemed to be okay until the beatings started. He abused her for a year. While the coroner examined her, he learned that she was pregnant- about three months.”
“Is that why he killed her?”
“We believe that he didn’t even know. We don’t think she even knew.”
“So he just beat her to death?”
“To be honest, we’re not sure what led to her death. We just know that we got a call about a body being found. We picked him up after we found his DNA all over her and found his semen inside of her. He wouldn’t talk, but his friends did. Told us that one day he came back to the crib, angry, took her into their room, and started beating her. After he beat her, he had sex with her, then left. The friend came to check on her and discovered her body. It was too late. The autopsy showed repeated head force trauma, and she had a tumor on her brain that developed before she met him. The constant abuse eventually made the tumor erupt.”
I immediately walke
d out of the room and found a chair in the hall to sit in. My knee was bouncing like crazy.
“Are you okay?” Haywood asked.
“No,” I said with tears in my eyes.
“I’m sorry I had to show you that, but your dad wanted me to. Her name is Danisha Hall, she was only fifteen years old. Your dad told me that you are only sixteen. I know that you probably think what you have going on back home is nothing serious, but who’s going to be the friend that discovers your body?”
“It’s not that bad. I fight back. I always fight back.” I cried.
“Is that enough, though? What if one day, fighting back doesn’t work. What he decides to pull a gun out or anything that could be used as a weapon. What if you reach your breaking point? What if you pick up something? Who’s going to raise your little girl?” He stated. I never thought about that. I felt like I was doing everything to help my future with my daughter. I was staying in this situation for her. I didn’t plan on staying with Jemar after I had my daughter, but I needed security until then.
∞∞∞
“I can’t go in there. He’s mad and disappointed in me.” I said to Officer Haywood when he pulled up to my dad’s house.
“He wants to see you.” He said as he parked the car and got out. I had no choice but to follow him. I dragged myself out of the car and followed him up the stairs.
Knock-knock
“How are you doing, officer. How can I help you?” My dad said while making eye contact with Officer Haywood like I wasn’t there.
“I believe I have your daughter in my care, and I’m just bringing her home.”
“Daughter? mi raise queens dat cova wid courage an chrent nuh bruises mi tink yuh ave di wrong yaad.” (Daughter? I raise queens that are covered with courage and strength. Not bruises. I think you have the wrong house.) He said. I burst out crying. He was right, he didn’t raise me to become like this.
“Sah shi cova inna mi courage an chrent, unfortunately, shi needs fi be dust off an repolished but shi a waah empress.” (Sir, she is covered in my courage and strength; unfortunately, she needs to be dusted off and repolished, but she is a queen.) Haywood said.
“Hmm, let me see.” My dad said as he finally took a look at me. My head was down, but he took his fingers and lifted my head up. “Shi get mi nose mi guess shi fi mi.” (She got my nose. I guess she’s mine.) He said, and Officer Haywood laughed.
“Tank yuh fi returning har.” (Thank you for returning her.) He said as they shook hands.
“No problem. Anything you need, I’m happy to help. And I have that background report for you.”
“Good. I’ll meet you with you later to get it. Thank you.”
“Anytime. Take care and remember what I said, Bre.” He said as he kissed my forehead. I smiled and watched as he walked back to his car. My dad ushered me inside. I was scared about this conversation that I was about to finally have with him, but it was time. And it felt so good to be around him and in a home that I knew. I made my way to the couch as my dad fixed us some tea. I was curled up on the couch and felt a blanket being placed on me.
“Here.” He said as he handed me the mug. I took a sip and instantly started to feel better.
“Still your favorite?”
“Yes,” I said as I took a sip of the peppermint tea.
“So, are you ready to finally talk to your father?” He said.
“Yes, daddy,” I said as a single tear fell down my face.
June
2016
20. Wayne
I woke up with a terrible headache, and my stomach feeling queasy. I honestly can’t remember what happened after I gave Aniyah back the kids. I enjoyed the weekend with them, using my time with them to distract my anger towards Mikayla. She didn’t really blow up my phone like I expected her to, and I was happy that she was giving me my space. I can’t lie even though I was beyond pissed with her, I still had a little love for her to at least hear her out. And I wasn’t even furious about her pregnant, hell that was nothing compared to her admitting that she was younger than she what lead on. That shit still bothered me, and I don’t know if I can forgive her about that. Or maybe I can. I mean, we can’t be together, but we can be cool at least until she's eighteen and older.
“Morning.” I heard a female voice say next to me.
“Morning,” I said as I got up slowly and planted my feet on the floor. I remember a little from last night, like how I wanted to be alone and got a room at a hotel. I definitely stopped at the liquor store to buy a couple of bottles. That’s how stressful I was because drinking is not really me, but I needed something on top of the weed to help with my feelings.
“What time is it?” The female asked as she rubbed my back. Her voice sounded so familiar, but I couldn’t put a face to it because my head was banging. I don’t think I’ll be drinking again.
“It’s 10:05 am,” I said when I picked my phone up off the nightstand. I got up slowly because I needed to piss, badly. I grabbed my head and made my way to the bathroom. Once I made my way to the toilet, I noticed that I was butt ass naked. I figured I probably called some chick up that I messed with over these past few months for some company. I hope I used a condom because I don’t remember getting up in the middle of the night to flush one. Please, God, I hope I strapped up. I won’t ever do this ever again.
After washing my hands, I went back into the room and damn near passed out. I now knew why the voice sounded familiar and was regretting so much shit. I walked closer to the bed where the very naked brown skin body laid, with the white sheet barely covering anything.
“Aniyah?!” I screamed and regretted because my head was banging even more now.
“Fuck you yelling for?” She said as she placed her hands over her head. Shit! She had been drinking too! No telling what happened last night, and she is the last person I ever wanted to in this situation with.
“What are you doing here? How did you get here? Where are the kids?” I asked as I looked around the small room for any signs of our kids. I mean, I probably would’ve heard them by now since they were early birds.
“See, I told you. I knew you were going be on this bullshit when we finally sobered up. You called me over here late last night, saying you wanted some company. I asked if you were sure because it was random, and I know we haven’t been on the best of terms. You claimed that you were sure and missed me. I left the kids with my mother and met you over here. You were already faded by the time I got here, but drank some more because, why not? You said I could stay, and I said I could sleep on the floor, but you wanted me to sleep in the bed with you.”
“Did we fuck?” I asked, wanting to get to the important part.
“Yeah…” She said with her head down. She was guilty of something and lucky for her, I can’t remember shit, so I can’t accuse her of anything. I could’ve sworn I called this chick I met around the way named Naiya and not my baby mama ANIYAH. Fuck!
“Did we use protection?” I asked, rubbing my temples because I beyond frustrated.
“Yeah, because you were alert enough to tell me we weren’t fucking if you didn’t put one on.” She said as if she was offended—this bitch.
“Where is it?” I asked while throwing the covers off the bed to find it.
“After we finished, you got up to flush it down the toilet.” She answered as she calmly stayed sitting on the bed. She seemed to have all the damn answers. That was suspicious to me since we both were drinking. Aniyah was a lightweight when it came to drinking, so, oddly, she seemed a little more okay than me.
“I don’t trust you,” I said, then grabbed my underwear and jeans off the floor. I started dressing while she stayed on the bed, looking all peaceful and shit.
“I know you don’t, and I understand that. I hurt you, but we talked last night, and you said there was a chance you could forgive me.” She shared. I didn’t say anything, but finished dressing and left out of the room after grabbing my phone and room key.
Once I g
ot to the lobby, I left out and walked down the street to familiarize myself with the area. I realized that I was uptown (Northwest DC) and knew that I wasn’t that far from a CVS that I knew was up the street. I quickly headed to the store to buy Tylenol and Pedialyte for this hangover and something for Aniyah’s lying ass. I never did this before, so I took my time to make sure I was grabbing the right thing. The cashier looked at me like he knew what I was going through because he wished me luck after he handed me the receipt. When I returned to the hotel, I stopped at the front desk to see how long I had the room for and what time was check-out.
I got back to the room and saw Aniyah still in the bed, on her phone like shit was sweet. I hope she didn’t think we were getting back together or making what happened last night a thing. I don’t care how drunk I was, I was never getting back with her. Hell, I honestly would’ve been happy if it was Mikayla in that bed this morning. Yeah, she lied about her age, but she didn’t play me. Hell, she was looking out for my best interest when it came to the pregnancy. She made sense and made her own decision based on my current situation. I mean, she probably didn’t want to become another one of my baby mamas, and she handling shit on her own. Aniyah’s ass wasn’t like that. She used this situation to her advantage and personal gain.
“Check out is in less than fifteen minutes, you better start grabbing your shit,” I said as I walked over to her and threw the CVS bag in the bed with her. She sat up, still naked, and pulled the content of what was in the bag out.
“The fuck is this?” She asked as she looked at the box.
“It’s a Plan B,” I said, nonchalantly. I took a swig from the Pedialyte because Roon told me it helps with hangovers then popped two Tylenol pills.
“I know what it is. Why did you give this to me?”
“I can’t take it,” I smirked.
“Wayne, I know that. Can you stop the sarcasm and just be serious right now.”