Layover (27 page)

“Ny, you up already?”

“I’ve been up for a while. I was going to wait until I thought you were up to call.”

“Well, I’m up. I just wanted my voice to be the first one you hear today. Mine is the first right? I mean, Kenny is not there, is he?”

“No, he left this weekend. I’ve been all alone.”

“You’re not alone. You have me.”

“I got your note. It was a wonderful surprise. That’s why I love you so much. You are so thoughtful.”

“Ny, I want to see you happy - now and always,” he reminded me.

“So, today is the day - for both of us.”

“Yeh, I’m going to meet Akina at the lab and settle this thing for once and for all.”

“Call me the minute you get the results,” I told him.

“I will.”

“Ok, so we’ll talk later.”

“Ny, I love you. Take care.”

“I love you more,” I reminded him.

I hung up the phone. I now had the incentive and the drive to put this thing in motion.

After I got dressed and did some work on the computer, it was time to fight that traffic into downtown. I wanted to be on the courthouse steps when the doors opened.

I made it down the courthouse without incident. As usual, parking was a nightmare, and when I finally did find some parking, it cost a fortune. It was almost cheaper to stay married to this man. Other than that, the only thing that really struck me was the fact that you get your marriage license and your divorce decree all in the same place. It’s just business as usual for them. When I walked up the counter and handed the clerk my documents, she just shook her head. I felt somewhat badly, but then I thought, who is she to judge me? She doesn’t know what I put up with. I mean, I’m sure there are people who have endured far more than I have and have remained together for many years, but that is just not something I am willing to go through. I know I deserve better, and what’s more is that I have something better waiting for me. I gladly paid my filing fees and went on about my business. I felt little sentiment as I got on the elevator and passed the floor where I came over three years ago to get my marriage license. I just had to accept that it was over and life was to go on - with Allen, not Kenny.

While I was downtown, I decided to walk a few blocks and stop by Kita’s office. I was still very proud of the life she made for herself. She had an office in one of the most prime real estate sections of downtown Birmingham. Not bad for a once-single, teenage mother on welfare. Kita was no slacker. She was just a young girl who happened to be born into a bad situation. Still, she made the best of it and she persevered through the difficulties. The irony of it is that she and I had very little in common. When we met, she could barely stand me. She thought of me as some stuck-up, hair slinging, bourgeoisie, wanna-be. I thought of her as some low-life, two-bit, relaxed haired, naive tramp. I mean, anyone who got pregnant at the age of 15 really couldn’t tell me anything. Still, we had to work together so we made the best of it. We both realized that we had prejudged each other and that we could really learn from one another. I showed her how she could get off of public housing and buy her own house. Soon, she had the confidence she needed to climb the corporate ladder and go from a drive-up teller to bank manager in less than a year. There was no stopping her after that. She became interested in healthy hair and teaching women to care for their hair. Initially, it was newsletters and articles on hair health. Before I knew it, she started her own magazine. At first, the circulation wasn’t that large. But, one year, we both decided to rent a booth at the annual “For Sisters Only” event. She was able to increase her circulation by 100-fold. I was able to build my real estate business to the point where I could be self-employed, instead of making millions of dollars a year for the bank where we were employed by running their real estate department. We both quit our jobs at the same time and neither of us have had any regrets. Still, Kita is to be revered a lot more than me. I had a husband, a savings, a degree, and ultimately rich parents to fall back on if I failed. She had none of those things. She stepped out on faith alone. Even though she says I inspired her, little did she know that she was my inspiration. I figured if anyone could overcome all of those obstacles and still make it, there was no reason I couldn’t make it, given the easy life I had. I made it to her office.

“Hi, I’m here to see Kita Jones,” I told the receptionist.

“She ain’t here,” the young lady told me.

See, and I thought my receptionist was ghetto. April was super-ghetto. Kita hired April because she reminded Kita of herself at that age. April had just turned 20 years old and she did not want to work in a fast food restaurant. She begged Kita for a job, and Kita could not tell her no.

“She went to lunch. She’ll be back later,” April continued.

“Thanks April.”

I left and decided to grab a bite myself before I headed to my office. I still had the ugly task of transferring Haily’s real estate license out of my office. I hate that she did not work out. I was just going to have to hire another agent to give all of her leads to. It wasn’t that Haily was bringing in all the business, it’s just that she was able to close them quickly because she knew her shit. If I thought for one minute that Dee Dee could sell real estate, I would pay for her to take the class.

After lunch, I decided to call Allen to see how things were going. When I got in my car, I dialed his cell phone.

“Hey Allen, it’s Nya. How’s it going?”

There was a pause. Then he spoke.

“Hey, Ny,” he said in a low voice.

“What’s wrong,” I wanted to know.

“Ny, you are not going to like what I have to tell you.”

“What is it Allen?” I was dying to know.

“Ny, I don’t know how this happened, but the test could not exclude me as the father of Akina’s baby.”

My heart dropped. I pulled the car over to the side of the road.

“Allen, what does that mean? Does that mean you are the father? I thought you were sure you didn’t sleep with her.”

“It just means that I can’t be excluded.”

“The only way you can get a result like that is if the real father is a close relative, like a father, a son, or a brother.”

Allen got quiet. I could hardly even hear him breathe.

“Allen, did you hear what I said?”

He did not answer. Then it hit me.

“I said, like a brother, Allen.”

“Ny, there is something I never told you,” he began.

“Allen, don’t even say it. Please don’t say it. My heart is not ready for this.”

“Ny, when I came back on school break, everyone had been telling me that she was cheating on me. I confronted her. At first, she wouldn’t tell me who it was. I continued to press her until she told me. She admitted that she had been sleeping with Kenny. She said it wasn’t her idea. She said that Kenny had come on to her. She said he manipulated her because he was older. He told her that I was going to go off to college and meet a lot of pretty, smart girls and I was going to forget all about her. He told her that
he
cared about her.”

I was sick. My heart had just quit beating. That was soooo Kenny to do something like that. It made me ill to think that I married someone who could do such a thing.

“So even if you did sleep with her when she got you drunk, you still can’t be the father because by that time, the child was already conceived.”

“I guess. I got back a month or so after all this initially happened.”

“So now we have to prove that Kenny is the father.”

“How can we do that? I’ve already taken the test. She is probably down at child support right now filing a case.”

“Don’t worry. We can file an injunction and then have Kenny subpoenaed to test as well. They will test you both until one of you is positively excluded. Allen, I just need to know one thing. Why would Kenny do something like that?”

“Ny, Kenny was always jealous of me. He hated the fact that I had a pretty girlfriend like Akina. What’s more is that he hated the fact that I wouldn’t sleep with her. He thought all pretty girls should be fucked. Since I wouldn’t do it, I guess he felt it was his duty. I know you think this is crazy, but I was angrier at Kenny than I was at Akina for sleeping with my brother. I mean, she was a young girl. He was supposedly an adult and should have known better. I still loved her, but I just couldn’t be with her anymore. God knows I wanted to stay with her. That’s why I went over her house that night and let her get me drunk. I was looking for a reason to stay with her. But, my intelligent mind told me to just let her go. If I stayed with her, Kenny would have always reminded me that he fucked my girlfriend.”

My heart was crushed. I could hardly believe what I had heard. How did this mess get so twisted? All I ever wanted was a normal life - now I’m stuck in this Negro Twilight Zone.

“I’m sorry that happened to you, Allen. I understand why you never told me before. I thought the tension between you and Kenny was because of me, but as I see, it has always been there.”

“Yeh, most of my life.”

“Allen, still, you need to go ahead and file that injunction. Get an attorney right away. The sooner we can sort out this mess, the better. I want all of this behind us. I want to start my life with you.”

“Not as much as I want to start a life with you.”

“Well, I’ll go ahead and prepare Kenny for what’s ahead,” I told Allen.

“I’ll call you after I talk to an attorney,” he assured me.

“Love you,” I told him.

“Love you more.”

We both hung up the phone. I pulled my car back onto the highway and continued to drive to my office. I couldn’t wait to get there so I could call Kenny and tell him the news. I can’t believe I married someone who would do such a thing, especially to his brother. What’s worse is that he hasn’t even stepped up to claim his child. How could he? I’m just thankful that I’m getting out of this marriage before I procreate with him. Who is to say that he wouldn’t leave me with a child, too?

When I got to my office, everything seemed normal. I went into my office and shut the door. I dialed Kenny’s work number.

“Kenny speaking, how may I help you?” he answered.  

“Kenny, we need to talk when you get some time.”

“Oh, you ready for big daddy to come back home already. Well, I don’t know girl, you are going to have to beg if you want me back.”

“Don’t even dream about it! Look, it’s important.”

“I can come over after I get off work. I need to get the rest of my things anyway.”

“Ok, call me when you are on the way,” I told him.

I couldn’t believe him. I don’t even see how he could live with himself all these years knowing what he had done. Maybe that’s why he is so unhappy in his life, because the guilt has been eating away at him all this time. I just know, if it was me, I would have a hard time sleeping knowing that I had deflowered the young love of my brother’s life.

I stayed at the office for a while, until I thought the mid-day traffic had died down, then I headed home. I didn’t know what I was going to say to Kenny, but I was going to let him know that he can expect to be called to submit to DNA. How could someone do what he did and act like he is God’s gift to the world?

When I got home, I laid across the bed and stared at the ceiling. I was so worn out from getting up so early and from the day’s events. I fell asleep thinking about Allen. I was awakened later by the sound of keys rattling and the door opening and closing. I knew it was Kenny.

“Nya,” he yelled throughout the house, trying to locate me.

“I’m up here,” I guided him.

When he walked into the room, I started in on him.

“You are the lowest! I’m just glad I decided to divorce you when I did.”

“What are you talking about, crazy woman?”

“Let’s just say that you are a father and it will be proven in the next few weeks.”

“Oh, you’re pregnant? That’s great news!”

“Not me idiot, Akina.”

He got quiet. He stood there with a blank look on his face for what seemed like hours, but was actually a few seconds.

“That baby is not mine. That’s Allen’s baby.”

“Liar! I scolded him. ”Don’t worry, it will be proven. You will be subpoenaed to test.”

“Ok, Nya. I know your little boyfriend told you everything, so I won’t lie. I did fuck that girl, but she came onto me.”

“You are such a liar. You are so jealous of Allen.”

“Look, I have no reason to lie now. I have lost everything. The truth is that she seduced me. She said Allen wouldn’t do it and she needed some physical attention. I didn’t want to but she begged.”

“Why should I believe that? Besides, even if that’s true, it was still your brother’s girlfriend. Why would you do that?”

“Look who’s talking! You are divorcing me to marry my brother. Both of you are hypocrites.”

“It’s not the same. We told you before anything happened. You went behind Allen’s back!”

“Look, Ny. You can believe what you want. I admit I should not have done it, but I never meant to hurt my brother. He knew that girl was a little whore. He just doesn’t want to admit it. That’s why I never thought the baby was mine because she was letting all kinds of nigga’s hit that ass!”