Dirty Lay (12 page)

       After waiting 25 minutes Dr. Mason entered the room and reviewed my chart.  She asked, “How long has it been since your last period?”

       “A couple of months ago but my cycle has always been irregular so that’s nothing new,” I said with a nervous laugh.

       “Any other symptoms besides vomiting in the morning; any dizziness, fatigue, increase in appetite?” she asked.

       “Well I’ve always been tired, my job is very tedious.  I did have a lil dizzy spell a couple of times but assumed it was because of stress.  Why all the questions?  Is it something serious?” I asked getting nervous.

       “Well nothing life threatening but your urine sample shows that you’re pregnant!” she stated.

       I almost fell off the exam table.  Did she just say that I was pregnant?

       “Did you just say I’m pregnant?” I asked taking a huge gulp as I waited for her response.

       “Yes and if it’s been about two months since your last cycle, my guess is that you’re almost two months pregnant.  I am going to refer you to Dr. Young who is one of the best OB/GYN doctors in the area.  He can schedule you an ultrasound but you have to wait until your fourth month for that.  So what I am going to give you is a prescription for prenatal vitamins and my receptionist will call you when the appointment with Dr. Young has been made,” Dr. Mason said handing me the prescription and the chart.

       I walked out of the exam room in a daze and approached the counter.  I handed the receptionist my chart and she told me that she would contact me with the appointment.  When I walked out the into the waiting room area the girl was still sitting there with the older woman.  I heard the girl say, “That’s her!  That’s the fat bitch that said she was Ant’s girlfriend,” right before I walked out.  I had no idea they had been sitting there waiting for me until I heard the older woman call out to me.

       “Hey!  Hey you!” I heard the woman calling behind me but I pretended I didn’t hear her ass; hey was for horses so she had me fucked up.

       “Excuse me!  Damn Girl, I know damn well you hear me talking to you!” the woman yelled.

       Against my better judgment I turned around to face the duo.  I saw the young girl holding her stomach and looking as though she still wanted to cry.

       “May I help you?” I asked.

       “Yea my daughter told me that you have a boyfriend named Antoine, is that true?” she asked.

       “Yes Ma’am,” I answered.

       “So you and she have the same boyfriend?” she asked.

       “I don’t know that Ma’am. For all I know my man and her man may not even be the same dude and she asked me how he look and,” before I had a chance to finish my sentence the young girl cut me off.

       “I didn’t ask you shit!  You the one was asking me all dem questions cuz you was ear hustlin’ and shit!” she cried.

       “I apologized for eavesdropping, it’s just that when I heard the names Ant and Shine it caught my attention,” I said.

       “So how long y’all been dating or sleeping together, whatever y’all doing?” the woman asked.

       “My boyfriend and I have been dating almost three months,” I said.

       “Why would Ant want you when he has me?  He don’t even like fat chicks!” the young girl said.

       “Shut the hell up Shaniqua!” the older woman told the young girl.

       Turning her attention back to me she asked, “Have you spoken to your boyfriend since he been offshore?”

       “Yes Ma’am but only a couple times though because it’s hard for them to get a signal out on the water,” I said.   

       I was getting sick of answering this woman’s questions but because I didn’t want any trouble from them I kept my comments to myself.

       “Do you know when he will be back?” the older woman asked.

       “Sometime next month,” I said.

       “Well you tell him that his baby mama needs to see him and he better have some fuckin’ money to help support his kid!” she said.

        “Okay,” I said.

        I turned to walk to my car, taking a deep breath for being able to keep a level head and not pop off.  When I opened the door to my car I heard the young girl say, “He don’t want you Fat Bitch!  He was just using your ass!  He don’t even fuck with fat chicks!”

       I don’t know what was wrong with this young girl because I wasn’t fat in the least.  I was thick but never fat but I guess to a lil skinny bitch like her, I was fat.  I couldn’t wait to talk to Ant and ask him about this shit.  This couldn’t be true that he has a baby on the way with that lil immature chick.  And to top it off I had just found out that I was pregnant too.  This couldn’t be true!

CHAPTER FIFTEEN- CARAMEL

       When Christian and I told my mom that I was pregnant a month ago she wasn’t happy about it but she wasn’t mad either.  Because Christian stood up and told her that he loved me and wanted to be there to support me with the baby, she took it well.  I was now five months pregnant and making it through my senior year in high school.  My eighteenth birthday was in two months and I was definitely looking forward to that.  I would have the best birthday present because Christian would be coming back home.

       When I saw Shaniqua at school waddling towards me that day I just knew from the look on her face that there was more drama in her neck of the woods.  I was so happy that Christian hadn’t acted the way Ant did but I couldn’t share my happiness with her because she was so bitter.

       “What’s up Girl and why you look like somebody stole your good shoes?” I laughed. 

       “You are never going to believe this!  Yesterday I went with my mom to the doctor and I ran into this chick that was sitting in the waiting room.  She told me that Ant is her man!” Shaniqua said.

       “What?” I asked.

       “Yea she had overheard my mom and I talking about Ant so when they called my mom to the back she started asking me questions,” she explained.

       “What kinda questions?” I asked.

       “Questions like did I say Ant was my baby daddy, was Shine his friend, did he drive a blue Monte Carlo, shit like that! I cannot believe he’s been cheating on me!” she cried.

       “Well maybe you shouldn’t jump to conclusions; you should just talk to him about it,” I suggested.

       “How can I talk to him when he won’t even answer my calls or text messages?” she asked.

       “Well he is offshore Nae so I’m sure he doesn’t have any service.  I know that Christian has been out there for a couple of months and I haven’t spoken to him that much,” I said.

       “But you two have spoken right?” she asked.

       “Well yea!  He calls when he has service to check on me and the baby,” I said and as soon as the words escaped my mouth and I saw the look on her face, I regretted saying them.

       “I’m sorry Nae, I just meant,” I was saying but she cut me off.

       “Don’t apologize!  At least your man is taking care of you and is happy about your baby.  My man has been running ever since he found out.  He is supposed to come back in a couple of days according to his “girlfriend” but do you think he’ll call to check on me?  He won’t, he hasn’t called since I told him!” she cried and I held my friend because I could feel her pain.

       Shaniqua and I had been friends for a long time and when she hurt, I hurt.  I never wanted her to suffer like this and hoped that when she and Ant got together he would be a good man to her.  I wasn’t going to feel bad that my man was standing by me and hers wasn’t but I felt bad for what she was going through.  Why couldn’t we both have gotten good men that day?  Here she was seven months pregnant and her man was cheating on her. 

       “Maybe you should talk with Mr. Peterson about what’s going on,” I suggested.

       Mr. Peterson was our school counselor and he was a pretty good listener but this is not something I wanted to speak with him about; it was too personal and I felt way too stupid.

       “I can’t talk to Mr. Peterson about this, it’s too personal!” she said.

       “He might be able to help you in some way,” I said.

       “No thanks, I rather talk to you,” she said.

       “We better get to class before they count us absent,” I said.

       We made our way to class and I hoped that she would find a way to get through this.  We had been through a lot together and now we were going through our pregnancies together.  She was in her seventh months while I was five and a half months.  Our baby’s daddies were best friends and so were we so I hoped that she and Ant could find a way to work through their issues.

        I don’t know what I would have done if Christian had treated me that way.  I sat in class and thought about how much I loved him and our baby.  I rubbed my growing belly as our baby moved around.  I wanted to know the sex of the baby but didn’t want to find out until Christian was able to attend the ultrasound appointment with me.

        When school was over I walked to the front of the building to wait for my bus to come and pick me up.  I was getting tired riding the bus but my mom sure wasn’t gonna let me drive her car to school and she always had some excuse as to why she couldn’t drop me.  Nae was also waiting for her bus so I sat with her and we talked about how our day went.  While sitting with her my phone vibrated and when I checked the screen it said I had a new message from Christian.  I immediately opened it and it said “I love and miss you.”  I was so happy that I started to smile and Nae looked at me like she was pissed at me for being happy.  This is exactly why I felt she needed to talk to someone else; all she did was complain about Ant and I could never share my happiness about my own man.

       “What are you smiling like that for?” she asked while rubbing her belly.

       “Oh nothing,” I said but I know that she knew I was lying because I couldn’t stop smiling.

       “Oh so we keeping secrets now Mel?” she asked.

       “No, I just don’t want you trippin’!” I said.

       “Oh, so now I’m trippin’?” she asked.

       “You know I didn’t mean anything by it Nae.  I just got a message from Christian, that’s all,” I said.

       “What did he say?” she prodded.

       “He just said he loves and misses me,” I beamed.

       “Well that’s nice,” she said but I could tell by the expression on her face that she was pissed.

       “Nae why do you do that?” I asked unable to avoid this conversation any longer.

       “Why do I do what?” she asked.

       “Why do you get all uptight when I mention Christian?  I know that you and Ant are going through something but why can’t you be happy for me?  Why can’t you support me the way I’ve been here for you?” I asked.

       “You’re buggin’!  I am happy for you!  Look, doesn’t this face look happy?” she asked as she plastered on a fake smile.

       Before I could answer her bus pulled up and she stood up and said, “I’ll talk to you later.”

       I prayed that this friendship could be saved because I loved Shaniqua like a sister but the way she had been treating me lately was just not right.  I have always been there for her and now when she’s going through all this I’m still trying to be here for her, but she hasn’t been there for me.  Her issues with Ant are making her bitter towards me because Christian wants to be here for me.  I just didn’t get it.