Another Man Will (4 page)

“Okay, I'll bring them over now, because we are leaving first thing in the morning.”

Now that I had a sitter, it was time to leave Frank a message letting him know I wouldn't be in tomorrow, and call Geneva back and let her know I was going.

I was now extra excited and began packing for my trip. I had so many things I needed to do. I had to do something with my hair, get a pedicure, go to the bank, pick a few things up from storage, and drop the kids off. I called down the hall to my son. Brandon was fourteen and was starting high school in a few months. He thought he was grown, but he was still part baby. He came in my room, smelling like an entire basketball team after practice.

“Go pack. You're going to Mom Mom and Pop Pop's for a few days.”

“Why?”

“Because I'm going out of town with Ms. Geneva and Stacey for a few days.”

“Man, I don't want to go over there. It's boring! Pop Pop's going to be telling all those back-in-the-day stupid stories.”

“You don't have a choice. You can't stay here by yourself.”

“Can I at least take my Xbox?”

“I don't care. Take your game, but take a shower and get ready.”

My daughter, Mercedes, whom we all called Mimi, wouldn't be as hard to break the news to. I could leave her anywhere as long as she had a few books to read, her skates, and a rope. Mercedes came in my room, bouncing and lively. She was very thin and smaller than the other nine-year-olds in her class.

“Mom, where are you going?”

“On a little trip with Miss Geneva.”

“Where are we going?”

“To Mom Mom's.”

“No, Mom, please. I don't want to go there.”

“Too bad. Get ready. I think Jewel will be there, too!”

“She will?” Her attitude changed a little, like maybe she could deal with her grandparents if her cousin was with her.

“And whatever you do this time, do not talk to her about Santa Claus not being real or her dad's college.”

“Okay, Mom, but there isn't such a thing as Santa Claus, and her dad is in jail, not college. Why does Aunt Crystal tell her that stuff, and why does she believe it?”

“Because she does, Mercedes. Just go get ready.”

 

 

I pulled up to my parents' West Oak Lane home. It was a semidetached brick home. The neighborhood had changed a little, but it was still a decent area, where everyone worked, trimmed their hedges, and swept in front of their home. My mom came to the black iron security door. I could tell she was surprised to see us. I was tall, caramel brown and shapely like she was, but I didn't inherit her thick brown hair, which she kept flipped up at the ends.

“What are y'all doing here?”

“Daddy didn't tell you? The kids are staying over for a few days.”

“Your father doesn't tell me anything. But, of course, they can stay.” My mother reached her arms out to Mercedes and Brandon. Mercedes gave her a pathetic hug, and Brandon quickly patted her side.

We walked in the house that I grew up in. Everything was still the same: My parents still had the big black sectional, next to the wall unit that took up the entire wall, pictures of all our proms, hung on the wall. The pictures reflected a time when we had long ponytails, missing teeth, too many barrettes, and hadn't quite grown into our looks. My dad came out of the basement. He gave me a quick peck on the cheek.

“Daddy, why didn't you tell Mommy we were coming?” I asked.

“Oh, I forgot.”

“Brandon, your grandfather was just saying he was going to call you to see when you wanted to finish working on the planes in the garage,” my mother said.

Brandon looked over at me like,
Why, mom
? I turned away, laughing to myself.

“Here is some money if they want to order a pizza or something,” I told my mom.

“A hundred dollars for pizza?”

“Yeah, Mom, and if they need anything else. Call me if you need me. Love y'all.”

“Yeah, bye, Mom,” Brandon shouted with an attitude as he lowered his eyes at me from the top of the steps.

Mercedes pouted, her lips poked out and her arms crossed.

“Don't worry about them. They'll be fine,” my dad said.

“I'm not worried.” I wasn't worried. They could spend a few days with their grandparents while their mother had much-needed fun.

C
HAPTER
4

Crystal

I
t was a quarter to one, and the line was already wrapped around the corner of the family court building. I wasn't excited about taking a paternity test, but at least my sister would be there with me. The only problem with Dana was she thought she knew everything and she didn't. I never got why she was always in someone else's business and giving out advice. She was not married, either, and didn't even have a steady boyfriend that I knew of, but she was quick to tell someone what they were doing wrong in their life. However, she was the first one to go to college in our family and had a really good job and a nice apartment, but that didn't make her life perfect.

I walked into the dreary beige room filled with rows of empty, blue, hard plastic seats and sat in the back. I wanted to have a full view of the room when Kenneth arrived. I looked out the corner of my eye and saw Kenneth and Syreeta walk in the room. He gave me an evil stare, like I was the enemy. Behind him was his manly looking sister, Syreeta. She was skinny and tall, dressed in sagging blue jeans and an oversize orange polo shirt. Her brown hair was two inches long and slicked back with gel.

Kenneth made me so angry. Here he was, a few feet away from his only child, and he wasn't even acknowledging her. I had to put my head down and try not to let them get to me. But even with my head down, I heard Syreeta say something like “That baby ain't yours. Look at her.” Instead of responding to her, I gave Kori her bottle and checked the time on my phone, because I was only minutes away from the truth.

A few moments later I heard the click of high heels approaching. I looked up and saw my sister. I smiled and spoke to Dana very loudly. Kenneth and Syreeta looked up, and I gave them a look like “What now, bitches? I have back up, too.” Dana grabbed Kori from me, gave her a kiss, and started playing with her, which garnered more hateful stares from “the uglies.”

Finally, this older black man came into the waiting room and called out, “Mr. Haines and Ms. Turner, follow me please.” I stood up and grabbed Kori and followed him down the hall. The man took us into a small room and instructed us to have a seat. A woman with a white lab coat came in and began to explain the testing procedure.

“I'm going to insert this in your mouth, and I need you to hold it against the inside of your cheek for me. Okay?”

We both said yes and took turns opening our mouths and being swabbed. Afterwards the lab worker inserted the swabs into vials and then sealed them. She scribbled a few things down the side of each with a black marker and said that she was done and that we would receive our results in two to four weeks. I was surprised it took only ten minutes. I thanked the lady and gathered Kori and my bag and began walking out the door. Kenneth was right in front me. I had so much I needed to say to him. I sped up a little and tapped his shoulder.

He turned around, backed up, and said very rudely, “What's up?”

“So, when you get the results, are you going to come and get your daughter?”

“Yup, but if she ain't mine, then it is a done deal and you better not say anything to me.”

“I don't say anything to you now. You are ridiculous; you know this is all stupid and unnecessary.”

“No, I don't. That's why we are here.”

I didn't know why I was still shocked that Kenneth was acting like an ass. “You are a fucking idiot,” was all I could think to say.

“Whatever,” he said as he flagged me, pulled up his sagging pants, and then bent the rim of his hat down and said to his sister, who was waiting for him, “Man, let's get out of here.”

She rolled her eyes at me one last time, and I just shook my head.

“Kenneth, you got this,” she had the nerve to tell him. “I don't know why chicks be trying to blame babies on dudes. You don't have anything to worry about.”

I couldn't hold back anymore. Syreeta was always saying whatever the hell she wanted to someone, and no one was supposed to respond.

“Why don't you stay out of this, Syreeta? Kori is his. She is your niece, whether you like it or not.”

She walked over to me, pointing her finger in my face, and said, “That's yet to be proven.”

“Nothing needs to be proved. I know who I slept with, and so does your brother. You weren't there.” I stood toe-to-toe with her and looked her directly in her face, as if to say, “Try me, bitch.”

Kenneth grabbed Syreeta, and Dana began pulling on me. Syreeta was still talking trash, but I was happy that I had finally stood up to her.

“Girl, you lucky I don't feel like getting a case, because I would smack the bullshit out of you,” Syreeta yelled.

“Syreeta, please! You still a woman, and I will fight you like one. Like I said, you need to mind your business.”

“I ain't got to mind shit,” she said like she was ready to throw a punch, but Kenneth grabbed her before she did. She kept trying to yank her arm away from him, screaming, “Get off me. I'm cool. I ain't even got time for this dumb bitch. She the one who don't know who her baby father is.”

All she was doing was a bunch of hollering, making herself look foolish. People were staring, shaking their heads, and the security guard was on his way over. I thought I had won our match and felt like I had a victory, until she screamed, loud enough for the entire family court building to hear, “Crystal, your ho ass is nothing. You hear me? You have three babies and three baby fathers. Ain't none of them with you, and no one will ever want your ass. Because you're just a whore-ass baby mom. Okay? Just a baby mom. You're not a girlfriend. You're not a wife. You're just a baby mom. Find out who your baby daddy is before you say anything to me. Okay. Let's get out of here before I snap on a bitch,” she said and then walked off.

I wanted to give a quick rebuttal, but I couldn't think of anything to say back to Syreeta that would hurt as much as the words she had just hurled at me. I did have three baby fathers, but I wasn't a whore. And I knew for sure she had slept with more men than me, and she was a lesbian, but nothing came out. Her words stung, and she was kind of right. I wasn't a girlfriend or a wife. I was just a baby mom.

On Fridays I usually ordered pizza or made some kind of finger food for the kids. It depended, because my children were picky. On different days they decided what they would eat and wouldn't eat. Sometimes I'd end up making three meals: one for Nasir, one for me, and the other for Jewel. My mom said, “Don't fix a bunch of different dishes. Make them eat what you cook,” but I didn't want them to be hungry.

While I prepared the ground beef for our tacos, Nasir played with his toys in the middle of the living room floor and Jewel entertained Kori as she sat in her bouncy seat. Jewel was my little helper, my big girl. She was only nine, but she was always telling me that when she grew up, she wanted to be a teacher and a mommy like me. She had a very nurturing personality and always helped me with her brother and sister.

My house was a three-bedroom house. Initially, I was renting, but then my landlord retired and sold it to me before she moved to Florida. It was a nice home on a quiet block, but by the time Kori got big, I was going to have to move because there wouldn't be enough room.

My living room had a big green love seat and sofa. In the middle was a large rug, which the children played and watched television on.

“Nasir, we are going to clean this living room and then your bedroom tonight. Okay?”

“My room is clean.”

“No,
clean
means everything off of the floor and out from under the bed. We are going to clean this entire house.”

My house wasn't dirty, but it is hard keeping everything together. But as long as we had a clean kitchen and bathrooms, who cared if there were a few toys on the floor? I didn't. I'd rather spend time with my kids and take them out for a day in the park than make them spend the day cleaning.

“Hey, Mom,” I said, picking up the ringing phone after checking the screen.

“What are you doing tonight?”

“Cooking tacos for the kids and trying to clean the house.”

“Dana told me about what happened in court. Don't worry about Kenneth or his sister. But I know one thing. He has to help you with that baby or he is going to deal with me. Anyway, I didn't call to talk to you about that. I just wanted you to know I have Brandon and Mimi over here, so if you want, you can brings yours over, too.”

“The kids? Tonight? Mom, that's okay. I already started dinner, and I don't have any plans.”

“It's Friday night. You had a long day, and you need a break. Bring them kids over here.”

“No, Mom. I'm okay. Maybe next time.”

“Next time, I don't know about that. I'm not going to call you every week and beg to watch your children.”

“Okay, I'll bring them over after they eat.”

I welcomed the break my Mom was about to give me, but I didn't have anywhere to go. Jewel would be happy to spend time with Mercedes, even though you could never tell they were the same age. My niece acted just like her name: spoiled and entitled. Yvette bought her everything; she even got her hair and nails done and my little girl still plays with dolls.

 

 

Mercedes was waiting on the steps for us to arrive. She called out to Jewel and ran over to the car as soon as she saw us. Her hair was in long rod curls and she was wearing all pink. Jewel was as excited to see her and jumped out of the car to hug her cousin.

“Mercedes, look at you. You look so pretty,” I said as I gave her a sideways hug and grabbed Kori out of her car seat.

“Thank you, Auntie Crystal. Can I hold the baby?”

“Let me get her inside and I'll let you hold her.”

I walked in my parents' big home. You could see both the kitchen and the dining room from the front door. It was one big, open space. Every time I walked through my parents' door I felt like time stood still and I was a kid again. My nephew Brandon had already taken over my mother's television with his game. I spoke to him, but he was too busy killing people on his game to respond.

“Look at my baby. She is getting so big.” My mom grabbed Kori, who then began to cry.

“She is probably still hungry. That's why she being fussy.” I got her bottle out of her bag, warmed it up, and gave it to my mother, and she began feeding her.

My mom looked down at Kori as she fed her and shook her head and said, “How can a man not want to be a part of this precious baby's life? Now that you took the test, explain to me what's going to happen next.”

“We'll get the results, and everything should be okay after this. It will prove she is his.”

“Okay, he better hope so, because he sure has a lot of nerve. I'll tell you, these men today have lost they damn mind. Making babies and then not taking care of them.”

“Yeah, well I think he is going to get it together. At least I hope.”

I talked to my mom a little more, then went upstairs to put the kids' bag in my and Dana's room. It was the back room. My half was the right side, and her half was the left. We used to jump on the bed and stay up all night in this room, sharing so many secrets, dreams about who we were going to be, who we would marry, and where we were going to live. Back then I would never have thought my life would turn out like this.

“Mom, I'm going to get out of here.”

She gave me a kiss on my cheek and asked if I had packed enough diapers.

“Yeah, and I already made the formula, so all you have to do is put the bottle in warm water for, like, two minutes and it will be ready.”

“I raised three babies. I'll manage.”

“I know you will. Thanks for taking them, and I'll be here first thing in the morning,” I said as I was leaving and tried to figure out what I was going to with my free time.