Side Chic (20 page)

I really wasn’t ready to leave Tre but I knew that he had to go home. I was glad that we had come to some type of agreement. I knew that his reasons for being
nice to me and deciding
to act civilized were more so to benefit him than anything. I knew that he was trying to keep me happy so that I wouldn’t slap a paternity test on his ass or child support! He wasn’t fooling anyone but I was willing to deal with that for now. Even through all of the bullshit that he’d just thrown my way to make me happy, one thing was for certain. There was still an undeniable chemistry between t
he two of us, Kisha may have had
his heart but somewhere in there he possessed some feelings for me. They may not have been as deep as my feelings for him but they were there.

When I got home it was a little after 3:00, I took a quick wash up and went straight to bed. I was still having pains in the bottom of my stomach so I tossed and turned for a little while before I was able to fall asleep. My alarm went off at 5:30, I turned over and cut it off and then went back to sleep. When I woke up again it was 7:15. I got up and got
dressed, I was still having a few pains in the bottom of my stomach but they weren’t as bad as they’d been before. I figured it was j
ust Braxton Hicks.
My dad had taken my things out to the car the night before so I grabbed my pocketbook and closed the door to my room. The smell of food invaded my nostrils as I made my way down the long hallway. I sat my pocketbook down on the sofa and went into the kitchen. My dad was sitting at the table having his morning cup of coffee and my ma was fixing plates.

“Good morning baby.” My dad looked up at me as I entered the kitchen.

“Good morning.” I replied taking a seat at the table. “What are you two doing up?” 

My ma placed a plate with fried apples, turkey bacon, cheesy eggs, grits and biscuits in front of me.
“Now you know goodness well that we weren’t going to allow you to leave here without seeing you off! Plus I had to feed grandmama’s little boogers!” She rubbed my stomach.

I giggled. “Thanks ma.” I bowed my head and said my grace before digging into my food. “Ma, I cannot eat all of this food. You do know that right?”

“All that you don’t eat I will put it in a Tupperware plate for you to take with you, no big deal.” She placed a plate in front of my dad and then fixed her own plate and sat down.

“Are y
ou sure that you don’t want me to drive you back
,
Lala?” My dad asked.

“I’m sure daddy. I’ll be fine.”

He let out a sigh and placed his fork in his plate. “Girl, I tell you. You are just like your mama when you get your mind set one way that’s it. There’s no use in trying to change it. You don’t need to be out there on that road by yourself as far along as you are girl!”
             
I seriously didn’t feel like arguing with him. “Daddy, I will be fine. I have my phone in case anything happens and I promised that I would call you two every hour. Stop worrying so much…okay?”

“Alright.” He shook his head, picking up his fork he continued to eat.

After we were done eating my ma packed me a to-go plate and then her and my dad walked me out to my car. I gave them both hugs and kisses and then I got in my car and headed back to Danville.

Two hours into my drive, the pains in my stomach had gotten worse. They were so bad that I had tears in my eyes. There was no way that I could continue to drive so I got of
f on the first exit that I saw stopped at the first little store that I saw, it didn’t look l
ike it got much business. The only way that I knew it was open was because of the neon sign in the window that said open. I parked and leaned my head back against the seat and closed my eyes. I didn’t bother to turn off the ignition because it was pretty
warm and I needed to keep the AC
running. I leaned the seat back a little. “Whew lord please let these pains go away.” I prayed. I thought about calling my parents but I didn’t want to worry them if it was only Braxton Hicks.
Plus I didn’t feel like hearing them fuss because they had warned me about driving back alone.
I sat there with my eyes closed for a few minutes before there was a tap on my window. I opened my eyes and look to see who it was. There was a tall muscular brother with skin the color of dark milk chocolate standing outside of my car.

I rolled down the window. “Hey.”

“Hey there…I came out to see if you were alright.” He asked in a thick country accent.

“Yeah…I’m fine.” Sweat had begun to pour from my pores and the pains were getting sharper. “Oh jesus!” I screamed as another pain came.

“Ma’am, you don’t look alright.” The man
said looking at me wearing a concerned expression.

“I think…I may be going into labor…but I’m not due for another month and a half.”

His expression went from concerned to scared. “Shit! Ummm
...
are you from around here?”

“No, I am from Boykins, VA but I live in Danville. That’s where I am headed now.”

“Where’s your boyfriend or husband? I could call him for you?” He offered.

“Don’t have either.”

“Well what about your family? There has to be someone that I can call for you.”
             
A pain hit me and I had to grab ahold of the steering wheel! I tried breathing the way that I’d been taught in the one Lamaze class that I’d gone to but that shit wasn’t working. When the contraction finally subsided, I was able to answer. “I’ll call my parents. Thank you but you don’t have to stay out here with me. I’ll be fine.”

“I know I don’t have to but I wouldn’t dare leave you out here alone like this. Where are your parents?”

“In Boykins.”

He looked at me like I had lost my mind. “In Boykins? Woman that is like two hours and some change away! You can’t sit here that long and wait on them! I have to get you to a hospital! I don’t know much about having no babies but I do know that you can’t just sit here and chill.”

“I’m…” Another contraction came and then I fel
t like I’d just peed on myself. I panicked, “Omigod…I think my water just broke!”

“Huh? Okay…hold on. I’m going to call the ambulance for you.” He took out his cell and called the ambulance and told them the situation and gave them the address to where we were.

I grabbed my cell and called my parents. The phone didn’t ring but once before my ma answered. “Girl, I was just…”

“Ma, I’m in labor.” I blurted between contractions.

“What? Oh my goodness. Baby, where are you?”

“I’m in
South Boston, VA. It’s a small town before you get to Danville.”
I informed
her.

“I know where it is.” I heard her yell to my daddy. “Earl, we have to go! We have to go right now! Lala done went into labor out on the road! I knew something like this was going to happen! I knew it! That’s why I didn’t want her out there by herself! Lord please protect my baby until I can get to her.” Her voice cracked. I knew that she was worried sick.

“Ma, I am not on the road. I am at a store.” I tried to comfort her by assuring her that I was fine. “There’s a nice man here with me. He has called the ambulance for me and they are on the way.”

“What is the name of the hospital that they are taking you to?”

I took the phone from my ear. “Sir, can you tell me the name of the hospital that they will be taking me to?”

“Yes, ummm…Halifax Regional.”

I repeated what he’d said to my mama. “Alright we are on our way. You
hang up and try to stay calm and breathe
. I know that you are in a lot of pain but it will all be over soon and you will be holding those two beautiful princesses in your arms.”

“Okay ma…I’ll talk to you in a few.”
I hung up and texted Tre.
I’m in labor. Call me asap!!!

Tre

I woke up the next morning to help get the boys ready for school. As I helped them get dressed I thought about Lala and the babies that she was carrying and what it would be like knowing that I had two other children in the world that I wasn’t there for. I wasn’t sure if I could live with myself if I turned my back on my own flesh and blood. I hadn’t been raised that way. I’d done a lot of shit in my life and in my relationship but the one thing that I always took pride in was being a father to my children. I watched Quan and Shaun as they stood at the sink and brushed their teeth. There was nothing
in
the world that I wouldn’t do for my two little men. I knew tha
t I’d done the right thing by talking to Lala, now all I had to do was make this shit work.
Even though I didn’t want to risk losing my family, I also didn’t want to risk missing out on my daughter’
s lives either
.
They didn’t deserve that and to keep it one hundred Lala didn’t deserve to have to worry about raising them all by herself either. She wouldn’t have to though because regardless of what had to do and how many lies I had to tell to cover my ass I was going to be there for my seeds.

“Baby, I was thinking that you and I could go out for breakfast after we put the boys on the bus.” Kisha walked into the bathroom interrupting my thoughts. “What do you think?”

“Yeah, we can do that.” I agreed.
I felt a little bit guilty as I stood there looking at her knowing all of the shit that I was hiding and that I’d just been unfaithful to her again just a few hours ago. I was definitely playing with fire!

“I’m finished daddy.” Quan announced running over to me. “Smell my breath! I brushed really good!”

“Me too! Smell mines too!” Shaun was right behind him.

I leaned down and gave them both the sniff test. “Good job fellas!” I gave
them both a high-five. They
ran out of the bathroom and headed in their room to grab their backpacks. “Y’all hurry up now. The bus will be here in a few.”

Kisha wrapped her arms around me and
stood on her tiptoes to give me a kiss. I gave her a light peck on the lips. I really wasn’t in the mood for kissing. I had too much on my mind. If she knew the shit that I’d done the last thing on her mind would be kissing. “What’s wrong baby?” She asked looking up at me.

“Nothing.” I lied running my hands down her back and then lower to palm her round backside. I gave it a light squeeze. “Everything is good.”

“Okay well I am going to go get dressed.” She gave me another peck and then went into the bedroom to get her clothes. I went down the hall to check on the boys. They were in their room playing with their toys.

“Time to go outside and wait for the bus…let’s go.” I told them. They grabbed their backpacks and we went outside.

After the boys got on the bus I went back inside took a quick shower and then got dressed. Kisha wanted to go to the Huddle House for breakfast which was like a twenty minute drive from where we lived. On the drive there she talked nonstop about random stuff. I didn’t hear most of what she was saying because I was too wrapped up in my own thoughts. Every now and again I would nod my head like I was paying attention.

We were seated
in a booth near the window enjoying blueberry waffles and turkey sausage when Kisha put down her fork and looked up at me. “Baby, I was thinking that maybe we could go ahead and get married
in like the next six months.” She smiled. “I’m ready. Aren’t you? I mean we don’t have to have anything big just a small intimate get together with our closest family and friends.”

Getting married was totally out of the question right now until I
saw how this arrangement was going to work out with Lala. 
I knew that if I told her that I didn’t think that
it
was a good idea or that I wasn’t ready it would more than likely lead to an argument. So I decided to use a different approach. “Baby, I was hoping that we could move into a bigger place before we get married. I want a house, somewhere where the boys have a big backyard to play in. You know something really nice. Maybe we could look into renting to own.”

She rolled her eyes. “Tre what does us getting married have to do with us getting a house? What you done changed your mind about us getting married?”
             
“See there you go! That’s not what I said. Why do you always have to turn shit around and make more out of it than what it is?
We can’t afford to do both right now. A wedding costs money Kisha regardless of how big or small it is. I say we move first and then do the wedding later. We might be able to even do the wedding in the backyard at our house.”

She rolled her eyes again. “
Tre a wedding won’t cost that much! Dag you acting like we about to have some big fancy wedding!
I just want something simple! That’s it!
” She folded her arms and leaned back in her chair.

“Have you forgotten that we have bills and shit and that I am the only one working? We just can’t afford it right now!” I stressed to her. Even though I really wasn’t ready to get married the things that I was pointing out to her was real. We really couldn’t afford
to have a wedding. Especially not with me having two more babies on the way! Shit I already knew I was going to need to start looking for a new job soon and to keep it real her getting a job wasn’t a bad idea either. I know that may seem fucked up being that I was the one who got somebody else pregnant
but it was what it was
! This shit just seemed to get worse and worse. Every time that
I thought I had
shit half way un
der control something else came
up!