Crazy Love (27 page)

1. You totally lose his trust if he finds out
   
2. You feel like shit after doing it
   
3. Your fiancé will be devastated
   
4. You'll probably never be able to look him in the face afterward
   

S
tacie's name blared over the PA system. She glanced at Crawford; he was sleeping. Not bothering to wake him, she scurried across the waiting room to the nurses' desk. “Ms. Long, the doctor will see you now.” On leaden feet, Stacie followed the nurse to the exam room. At least she was out of the emergency room; the two-hour-long wait had been nearly unbearable. “Undress from the waist down, use this to cover yourself,” she said, tossing a sheet of paper at Stacie. “The doctor will be in shortly,” she announced before turning on her heel and stepping out of the room.

Stacie swore she saw a smirk on the nurse's face; but she was too tired to say anything. It was two o'clock in the morning and all she wanted was to be home in her own bed and not sitting on some life-size ice slab. As soon as she tucked the paper covering under her legs, the doctor strolled into the room. He was forty-something, gaunt, and tall. His black hair was plastered to his scalp with either water or gel; Stacie didn't know which and didn't care to find out. His clothes were wrinkled and two days of new growth hid his chin.

Without introducing himself or issuing a greeting, he said, “So Ms. Long, your chart says that you have a condom stuck inside you.” He said so matter-of-factly that it made Stacie wonder if her condition was a common occurrence and he extracted lodged condoms nightly.

Even if that was the case, it didn't alleviate her embarrassment. “Yep,” she muttered, and fiddled with the paper sheet.

“Okay, let's take a look,” he said as he set the chart down and plucked two latex gloves out of the box, then slipped them on. “Put your legs up in the stirrups,” the doctor instructed.

Stacie had been to enough gynecologist appointments to know to scoot all the way to the end of the table until it felt like she was going to fall off, then stuck her legs in the stirrups. “This will be a little cold and you're going to feel a little discomfort,” he said as he inserted the speculum and expanded it. It felt like hours to Stacie as he poked and prodded her, but it was really only a couple of minutes. “Yep, there's a condom in there,” he needlessly confirmed.

“Thanks for verifying that,” Stacie replied in a nasty tone.

“We'll get that right out of you,” he tersely replied. Then with all the warmth of an uptight Catholic schoolteacher, he inserted his finger and methodically rooted around until he snagged the offending piece of rubber. It dangled on the tip of his finger. It was empty. Stacie shot up on the table.

“What the—? What happened to all the stuff that was in it?”

The doctor gave her a strange look, then said, “It emptied inside you.”

“You mean,” Stacie gasped, “his
stuff
is inside
me?”

“I trust that you were using another form of birth control?”

“No,” Stacie moaned, then fell back on the examining table and curled into the fetal position.

“You know you have options,” the doctor said.

“What are you talking about?” Stacie mumbled.

“We have an emergency pill just for situations like yours. It's called the morning after pill, and you take it after having unprotected sex. It'll prevent pregnancy.”

Stacie's eyebrows shot up, then she slowly shook her head. “No, I don't want any pill. Sometimes life's problems can't be solved with a little pill. I'll just wait and see what happens,” Stacie said, jutting her chin out.

T
ameeka picked up the picture she and Tyrell had taken at the circus and studied it, looking for any signs that could have predicted their future. A smile teased her lips as she gently placed the picture in the “Tyrell box.” The box held everything that reminded her of Tyrell. She dragged it into her bedroom and pushed it into the back of her closet.

Reaching into her nightstand drawer, she pulled out her journal, then padded into the living room and stretched out on the couch to begin writing.

Tameeka closed the journal, picked up her mug of tea and wondered what the future might hold for her.

1. Getting a rectal exam
   
2. Having to take a fucking pregnancy test at 3:00
   A
   .
   M
   .
   
3. Finding out you're pregnant by someone who isn't your fiancé
   

H
as it come yet?” Tameeka asked.

“No!” Stacie moaned, then fell back on her bed. For the past two weeks, she had been doing something that she had never done in her life, praying for her period. “I'm never,
ever
late.”

“Have you told Jackson?”

“Have I told Jackson? Have I told Jackson?” Stacie hissed. “Are you fucking
crazy?
Not only will I lose the best man I've ever had, but I'll hurt him and Jam. And I can't do that,” she said, hugging the pillow to her chest. Her eyes welled with tears.

“Stace, I don't understand how you let this happen. Where was your head?”

Stacie shook her head. Her eyes were glassy, but she refused to cry. “I don't know. Guess that I didn't want to think about my problems. I was worried about all this shit! Finding a job. Lexie. Having to move in with my moms. And when he offered me dinner…” She shrugged.

“Well, it looks like you brought home a little something extra in the doggie bag,” Tameeka said half-jokingly.

“Stop being an asshole,” Stacie said.

“Hey, don't be jumping on me. I told you that the dick was going to get you in trouble one day,” Tameeka said.

“Well, we've both been fucked, because it got you in trouble too. So there,” she said. “Meek! What am I gonna do?” she wailed. “What happens if I
am
pregnant? And it's
Crawford's
baby? Jackson ain't gonna want me then. And he's the best thing that's ever happened to me.”

“So…you're saying that you'd keep it?” Tameeka asked incredulously.

Stacie looked at her friend as if she had just told her that she was an alien. “Yeah. What else would I do? I wouldn't want to kill my baby just because of my foolishness.”

“Oh! The good thing is that at least you'll have the green-eyed, curly-haired baby that you've been fiending for all this time. But the bad thing is that you'd better get down on your hands and knees and pray hard that you're not pregnant. Because if you are, and you're gonna keep it, you're on your own, 'cause Jackson will kick you to the curb.”

“Believe me, I've been praying so much that I've worn two little holes on the side of my bed.” They were both silent, then in a little girl voice, Stacie said, “I really don't know what to do if I'm pregnant. I don't have a job, I don't have a car and I'm gonna be living with my moms. You were right. I'm just like Nevia.”

“No you're not…you're human. A stressed-out sistah. I'm sorry I even said that,” Tameeka said. “But have you at least taken a pregnancy test?” she asked in a quiet voice.

“No.”

“Well…”

“Come with me?” Stacie squeaked.

“You know I will,” Tameeka said, then, “I hope you don't think I was too hard on you…you know with what I said earlier…about the dick getting you in trouble?”

“I didn't appreciate your attitude. If that's what you mean,” Stacie answered as she slipped into a pair of sneakers.

“I was mad at you. You saw what I went through with Tyrell because of my cheating. Now you're doing the same thing to Jackson. And I don't want to see you or Jackson hurt like I do.”

“Trust me, girl, after what happened with Crawford, no one but Jackson Brown has the combination to open these legs.”

Tameeka gave a nod of approval. “Good! Now let's go down to Wal-Mart and pick up that pregnancy test.”

T
his is our last night together,” Tameeka replied sadly. She and Stacie were sitting on their balcony with four bottles of wine between them. They were already mostly through the second bottle. It was nine o'clock at night and Jackson was coming first thing in the morning to help Stacie move into her mother's apartment.

“I know,” Stacie murmured. Then said, “Damn, girl, we've been living together for ten years, longer than most marriages,” she joked, and Tameeka simply nodded. “And now I'm getting married,” she said, eyeing her one-carat, princess-cut ring. “I truly can't believe it. I owe it all to you, girl.”

“To me?”

“Yeah, you're the one who made me give up my list. Otherwise I'd still be using that as a blueprint for a man.”

“You would've figured it out eventually,” Tameeka modestly replied, then gulped down her wine. It was her fourth glass.

Stacie cut her eyes at Tameeka. “I am so relieved that the pregnancy test came up negative. That was the first time in my life I was happy to have cramps. You can't imagine how scared I was.”

“You got lucky. So you're not gonna tell Jackson?”

“Hell no! I don't believe in all that confession stuff. It's not good for the soul, all it does is cause a lot of problems.”

“Ain't that the truth,” Tameeka answered, and poured another glass of wine. “So when's the wedding again?”

“June twenty-fifth, just three months away. I can't wait. And you're gonna be my maid of honor,” Stacie sang. “And when you get married—”

Tameeka gazed up at the moon. It was crescent shaped, it could've been either a smile or frown, depending on your point of view. “Stop it, don't bite your tongue. I'm okay,” she reassured her friend. “And I will get married. Thanks to all my journaling I think that I've gotten to the root of my problems. I feel whole.”

“I'm so happy for you!” Stacie exclaimed. “We've finally grown up!”

“I know,” Tameeka said. “And I have the perfect thing to celebrate with. I'll be right back.” Tameeka sauntered off and returned minutes later holding a large pizza box.

“Hey, where did that come from?” Stacie asked.

“I picked it up on the way home from work. Then I hid it in the oven,” she giggled. Tameeka opened up the top and pulled out an oversize slice of pizza loaded with pepperoni, sausage, olives, green peppers, anchovies, onions, and cheese. She immediately took a big bite.

“Hey, what happened to your diet?” Stacie asked as she took a smaller slice and began nibbling on it.

“Oh, the radish and tuna diet? Had to give it up. I was eating so much tuna that cats were beginning to think that I was a big ole fish and tried to have me for lunch.”

“Silly,” Stacie laughed. “I'm really gonna miss you,” she said softly.

“I'ma miss you more,” Tameeka joked, then her voice grew serious. “You're my girl. We have our ups and downs, but we always get past it. You've been there every time I needed you. You provided me with a shoulder to cry on, case in point,” she said, and rested her hand on Stacie's shoulder. It was still damp from her tears. “You've lent me an ear when I needed one and you've given me a place to call home. You've given me so much,” Tameeka said, and she could feel the tears welling again. No more, she willed. “My offer is still open. You can always stay here.”

“I would love to. You don't know how much I would. But moving in with Momma and Nevia will force me to do something. It'll be too easy for me to sit around and not do something if I stayed here,” she said.

“How's Nevia doing?”

“I'm happy to say that my little sister is back on track. She was like a fiend for that car.”

“So she never got it back from Carlos?”

“Nope. He kicked his uncle's butt, sold the car and blew the money in Vegas.”

“Nu-uh!”

“Yep. That's just how Carlos rolls.”

They grew silent then, both enjoying the food, the wine and each other's company.

“I have a toast,” Tameeka announced, and raised her glass. “To a long-lasting friendship with my girl, to happiness, to success and to the dick,” she finished, and they both burst out laughing.