Dirty Lay (20 page)

       “Here you go trying to blame this shit on me now?” he said.

       “Because you were the adult; you should have known better!  And if you didn’t know better at twenty, how the fuck you wanted me to know when I was younger than yo ass?” I asked.

       I was getting pretty bored with this conversation because he was just too fuckin’ childish to continue talkin’ to.  I decided to end the conversation and go to class.

       “You know what just forget it!  This conversation is giving me a fuckin’ headache and you’re stressing out our kids.  Before I leave let me kick it to you like this, be ready to go to court so you can get your little DNA test because you will support our kids; whether you like it or not!  How bout that Muthafucka?” I asked.

       I turned on my heels and started to walk back into the building.  When I was on the last step he cried, “Shaniqua!”

       I turned around to look at him and he walked towards me and said, “So it’s like that huh?  You know I love you Girl.  Stop trippin’!”

       “What did you just say?” I asked.

       “I said I love you!” he said with the biggest smile spread across his face. 

       There they were; the three words I had been waiting to hear this whole time.  But I knew he didn’t mean them now.  He was just saying them to try and manipulate me so I wouldn’t take him to court.  It’s sad that he would use those words to try and get me to not go through with my plans.

       I looked at this man who had hurt me to the core; not only had he gotten Taylor pregnant but this other chick too, all while we were sleeping together.

       I stuck him the middle finger and said, “Fuck you Ant and see yo bitch ass in court!”

       I turned back around and walked into the building and headed to my third period class to get my things.  It was almost time for lunch and I had missed my whole fourth period fuckin’ around with Ant’s triflin’ ass.  When I got back home I was gonna take the necessary steps to put his ass on child support.  Little did I know that my mom had other plans for me.

       “Hey Mom,” I said as I came through the front door.

       “Shaniqua sit down because we need to talk,” she said.

       I did as I was told not knowing what she wanted to talk about.

       “Did I do something wrong?” I asked.

       “Shaniqua you got yourself pregnant again so I would say yea you did!  How could you be so careless when A.J. is still in diapers?” she asked.

       “Mom I know and I really didn’t mean for this to happen!  I wasn’t even thinking about getting pregnant again; it just happened!” I said.

       “I mean please explain how your son is only six months old but you’re four months pregnant.  I want you to tell me that,” she said with her arms crossed over her chest.

       “I don’t know Mom; I only wanted him to come by and see A.J. and the next thing I know we’re having sex.  I didn’t mean for that to happen, I swear!” I said.

       “Well that’s water under the bridge.  Here’s what you need to do now; you need to apply for food stamps and Section 8 because yo ass has got ta go!” she said.

       “What?’ I asked, thinking I couldn’t have possibly heard her right.  Did my mom just threaten to throw me out? 

       “It’s hard on me Shaniqua; I am busting my ass every day to take care of you, your baby and your siblings and then you go and get yourself knocked up again!  That’s almost like a slap in the face to me!” she said.

       “I’m sorry Mom and I’m ready to file child support on Ant!  You can’t put me out!  How am I supposed to take care of three kids on my own?” I asked.

       “That’s not my problem Honey.  I have been helping you all this time and then you turn around and do this!  You’re having twins for Christ’s sake!  All of us can’t live here and you have got to find your own place!” she said.

       “But Mom I’m still in high school!  How will I do that and go to school?” I asked.

       I couldn’t believe we were having this conversation.

       “You can wait til after you graduate; I mean the chances of Section 8 having availability for you right now is slim to none anyway.  But you can fill out your application so tomorrow we are going to the Section 8 office so you can find your own place!” she said.

       “Mom please don’t put me out!  I don’t think I can make it on my own with three kids!” I cried.

       “You should have thought about that before you let that loser crawl into your space again.  I been tellin’ you that nigga wasn’t about shit!  Don’t you think I know a loser when I see one?  Your father was a loser; giving me thirty bucks a month for three kids!  Thirty lousy dollars for three kids!  What the fuck was I gon feed y’all on thirty dollars a month?” she asked.

       My mom actually wanted me to get out after graduation and raise my kids on my own.  What the hell did I do to deserve this shit?

       “Tomorrow instead of going to Section 8 can we just go to the District Attorney’s office to see what they tell us?  If we can get a good bit from Ant why can’t we just move in a bigger place?  Please Mom!” I begged.

       “We can go to the courthouse but if they can’t do anything for you, Section 8 can!” she said and walked to her room to get dressed for work.  

       That night before I went to bed I put all my paperwork together including Ant’s social security number, address and last name that I got from Caramel who did her research because she now lived with Shine.  I don’t know how she got the information but I thanked her and told her as soon as I had some extra money I would treat her to lunch or something.

       I woke up bright and early the next day so my mom could take me to the courthouse once I got my sister and brother ready for school.  After they were safely on the bus I went to dress A.J. and wake up my mom so she could take me.  She took about thirty minutes to get dressed and by the time she was done, A.J. and I were ready too.

       We drove to the courthouse in silence with the radio playing as she stared at the road and I looked out the window.  I sure hoped these people could do something to help me because I was at my wit’s end.  It really wasn’t fair that Ant got to do whatever he wanted with three, four, five and six months of pay from his great offshore job but I had to suffer on this end.  I walked into the office and told them I wanted to file child support charges on someone.  The lady asked if I had all the necessary information to get the paperwork started and I told her yes.

       She gave me a set of papers attached to a clipboard with a dangling pen and I sat to fill them out.  My mom held A.J. and played with him as I filled the papers out to get the ball rolling.  Once I finished the stack of papers I took them back to the receptionist and she asked me to have a seat telling me someone would be right with me.  She walked to the back with my papers and came back to her desk.

       Shaniqua sat for another fifteen minutes before she was called to the back.

       “Have a seat Miss Castle,” the woman said as she went to sit behind her desk.

       “I am Hailee Turner and I will be working on your case.  So you want to file child support on Mr. Antoine Williams right?” she asked.

       “Yes Ma’am,” I said.

       The woman looked through the papers that I had filled out minutes ago and asked, “Are you sure he is the father of your baby?”

       “Babies!” I said as I rubbed my protruding belly.

       “So you are pregnant for him now?” she asked.

       “Yes Ma’am, with twins and we have a six month old son too!” I said.

       “So you are positive that he is the father of all your kids?  Because he may request a DNA test so I need you to be absolutely sure,” she said looking at me.

       I pulled out a picture of Ant when he came to see A.J. for the first time and showed it to her. 

       “This is my son’s father holding him for the first time.  Let me see my phone please,” she handed my phone back to me.

       I found another picture I had made on a photo grid with Ant and A.J. side by side.  I handed it to her and watched a smile spread across her face because the resemblance between my son and Ant were very visible.  My baby had his nose, his eyes, even his lips, and now she knew that he was my son’s father.

       “How long did you and Mr. Williams date before you had your first child?” she asked.

       “About six months,” I said.

       “Has he ever given you any money, bought any clothes, milk, anything for your son?” she asked.

       “No Ma’am,” I answered.

       “And you are positive he works for this offshore company?” she asked.

       “Yes Ma’am, as a matter of fact he just returned yesterday after being on the water for four months!” I said.

       “Four months?” she asked.

       “Yes Ma’am, he always leaves for three to four months at a time,” I said.

       “Okay we will subpoena Mr. Williams with a court date and he will have to bring his paycheck stubs for the past four pay periods and then we will make a determination then.  If he doesn’t request a DNA test we will begin garnishing his wages once a set amount has been determined,” she said.

       “How long will that take Ma’am?” I asked.

       “I realize that your circumstances are dire so I will do you a huge favor.  I will start working on your case right away and if I’m able to get everything in order, I will have him in court in two weeks, three tops!” she said.

       Three weeks wasn’t long considering I had been waiting for him to help with A.J. for six months so I was just gonna have to wait.

       “Can I ask you something Ma’am?” I asked.

       “Yes,” she said looking at me.

       “If he is ordered to pay child support and he makes about three grand a month, how much will he have to pay me?” I asked.

       “It depends on how much he makes in a month but if he does make three thousand dollars a month, he could be ordered to pay 750-800 dollars a month for your kids,” she said.

       “Okay, thank you so much!” I said.

       “We will contact you by mail when your court date has been set.  You must make this court date or you will have to refile your paperwork and I might not be so helpful next time,” she said.

       “I will be there, don’t worry!” I said standing up to leave.

       “We’ll be in touch Miss Castle,” she said.

       “Thank you Ma’am!” I said.

       I walked out of that meeting feeling like I had finally accomplished something.  I was super happy and couldn’t wait to tell my mom the good news.  She was sitting there looking aggravated as she held A.J.’s lil bouncing ass.  He was such a happy baby and I was happy for that because sometimes when I was having a bad day, just being around him for five minutes made everything better.

       As we walked to my mom’s car I couldn’t stop smiling.  As soon as we got in the car she asked, “What the hell you smiling like that for?”

       “Mom that lady said that she would file the papers and we should get a court date in about two to three weeks.  She also said that I could get between 750 and 800 dollars a month from Ant!” I said.

       “Wow!  That’s great!  I know they gonna have to subpoena his ass.  I wish I could see the look on his face when they serve him with them papers!  Choooooo that nigga will be pissed!” she said as we laughed.

       “I know right!  He will definitely be mad!” I said.

       “You better than Mel for giving you all that information because if it wasn’t for her, you wouldn’t have a leg to stand on,” my mom said.

       “I know and I thanked her from the bottom of my heart!” I said.

       “How is she doing anyway?  Her baby daddy still with her?” she asked.

       “Yep and they’re all doing great!  You know she’s living with him now at his apartment, well actually they just moved into a townhouse!  And not too long ago Christian bought her a car!  I’m so jealous because I could have picked him that day.  She didn’t even wanna approach them; he shoulda been mine!” I said.

       “You made your choice and now you are stuck with it!  You chose to be with that loser so you got him!  I told you all along that man wasn’t gonna do shit for you or A.J. then you turn around and let him fuck you again so now you pregnant with twins!  That wouldn’t have happened if you had just listened to me in the first place!” she said.

       “I know Mom, we’ve been through this before!” I said getting irritated because I was tired hearing her say that shit.

       “Yea you know now but why couldn’t you have just heed my warnings the first time?  You make shit hard on yourself and on me!” she said.

       It didn’t pay for me to say anything because she was just gonna keep harping on the same shit over and over.  I never answered her as she rattled on and on about my having a hard head.  The last thing I heard her say before I tuned her out completely was, “A hard head makes a soft ass!”  That was something my grandmother used to say all the time before she passed away.  I missed my grandmother and if she were here she would tell my mom to leave me alone, which is something I prayed she would do soon.