Synergy (32 page)

Dee
couldn’t help but keep looking over at Kiki as she washed the
dishes at the sink. Dee stared at her stomach, trying to see if
there was even an inkling of a pregnant stomach, but she couldn’t
really see one. She was probably going to be one of the lucky ones
that hardly showed, a neat little bump even when it was labour
time. In saying that, Dee hadn’t grown as big during this pregnancy
as she had in her first. Tushaun wasn’t particularly a big baby,
but by the sounds of the doctor’s comments at her last check-up,
this baby was even smaller. She was starting to worry a little, but
she had another check-up due soon that she could express her
concerns at. During her first pregnancy, she’d only had the one
check-up, her first scan, after that, she didn’t go back. She knew
she was supposed to have blood tests and further scans and tests,
but the medical bill was too expensive and she decided people had
had babies for centuries without the need for scans and check-ups.
This time around, Jason was footing the bill for everything, and he
made sure he’d booked her in for everything she needed.

While
she knew she may need a hospital if something went wrong, Dee had
decided early on that she would have Tushaun at home. Again, she
knew this had been a reality for women for a long time, and unless
she needed medical attention, she didn’t see why she needed a
hospital, other than for the obvious, drugs. However, as her
pregnancy and start of the labour had gone well, Dee, Trey and
their families decided she would give birth at home, with the help
of Monique and a local old lady that lived close to them who used
to be a midwife before she was fired due to her drug addiction. It
was the worst pain of her life, and while she would have
appreciated some drugs to take the edge off, Dee finally delivered
Tushaun at home healthily. This time around, she’d already decided
she wanted every drug she could get her hands on in hospital,
because she was already dreading the pain that made her feel as
though she were dying.

Dee felt
excited to give Tushaun a little brother or sister, and as she
thought about Kiki’s pregnancy, she imagined having another niece
or nephew for her own, as well as a little cousin for Tushaun.
Jarell already had Shontelle, but as she was already four, it would
be nice to give the new baby a cousin the same age as them. Dee
realised her and Kiki would give birth only months apart, and she
looked forward to having two new babies in the family. She knew it
would be a challenge but she thought they could handle
it.

“
Hey, have you
told Jarell
?” Dee asked her sister from
across the room, as she remembered her brother in
prison.

“
Not yet. I
thought I’d tell him in person on visit day
.”

“
Yeah, that’d be
better
.”

“
It’s only a week
away so it can wait I guess
”

“
You know he’s
gonna kick your ass
” Dee told her sister,
and Kiki agreed. Jarell could be protective of his sisters, and
he’d always given their boyfriends the ‘
hurt my sister, and I’ll kill you’
 speech, so his 16-year old sister being pregnant was
probably not going to go down too well. Dee still hoped that Jarell
didn’t bump into Trey on the street, which to be honest was going
to be a lucky escape in such a small neighbourhood, but she knew
there would be trouble if it happened. The pair had already got
into a fist fight just after Dee and Trey split, and it took
several men to tear them apart. Jarell didn’t appreciate hearing
the reason they split was because Trey had got into drugs and
disrespected his sister by cheating on her. As far as he was
concerned, nobody disrespected his family like
that.

Once
Tushaun had finished his dinner, Dee took him upstairs to put him
in the bath and read him a story in bed. She cherished moments like
these because at night, when it was just the two of them, she
didn’t have to worry about Monique saying anything out of turn, or
rushing around to get him ready in the morning, she could just take
her time with him and enjoy his company. She loved his questions,
and the way he knew the stories off by heart. Even though he
couldn’t read yet, he’d know if she missed out part of the story,
and make her read the page again. He always knew when it was the
last page, and when Dee finished the last sentence, he would say
‘The End’ before lying down under the covers. Once she’d given him
a kiss goodnight, she hovered in the doorway for a minute, just
looking at him, cherishing him. She smiled as she shut the door
over.

There
was only one person that was on her mind that night after her crazy
weekend. She was exhausted and glad to be home, but she couldn’t
stop thinking about Kiki’s news, and her own plans for her and the
baby. She thought about her brother sitting in his jail cell and
wished he was home. She thought about her mother having to live
with another of her grandchildren when Kiki’s baby came along and
she felt almost guilty for it. As Dee processed everything that had
happened over the weekend, she stared at the text screen on her
phone and sent a simple message,

‘
Kiki’s
pregnant
’

Chapter 29 – Birthday Plans

Dee must
have been more tired than she’d thought because when her phone rang
half an hour later, she didn’t hear the vibrating next to her;
instead, her dreams were filled with cameras and flashing lights,
and angry paparazzi. The next morning, she realised that Jason had
tried to call her after her text message about Kiki. He’d left her
a text too, to tell her he’d try calling her again tomorrow
afternoon. Until then, Dee had adult shit to get done. It was
Monday, and as usual, Monique would be working at the Laundromat
till late afternoon. Since she was a kid, Dee had taken her washing
to the Laundromat when her mother was on duty, that way; she got to
use the machines for free when the boss wasn’t there. It was a good
way to save money, and while she didn’t think the boss knew, she
didn’t really think she’d be bothered; after all, Monique was a
loyal worker despite everything.

Before
the afternoon was over, Dee had taken her laundry to get washed and
seen her mom in the process, cleaned her house top to bottom and
she was now heading over to her mom’s house to see Tushaun. It was
now September, and Dee was 28 weeks pregnant. Her energy levels
were starting to dip the more pregnant she got, and by the end of
the afternoon, she was exhausted. She’d made the mistake of sitting
down at home before she set off for her moms, and found it hard to
get back up again. On top of that, she was starving, and in
desperate need of food, since she’d only managed a bowl of cereal
that morning before the cleaning process started.

On her
way to her moms, she text her sister, knowing she’d be at home. The
day before, Kiki had told her sister she’d be off school the next
day due to teacher training, so she would look after Tushaun for as
long as she needed. It gave Dee a chance to get back on top of the
housework, and she appreciated her little sister so much for
helping out. As she walked, Dee text Kiki asking if she’d eaten,
and told her how hungry she was. She hoped there was something
there to eat.

It was a
exactly a week today till Tushaun’s birthday, and Dee knew she had
her work cut out for her to organise a kid’s party. The time had
been getting away with her and though she’d mentioned it in passing
to the kid’s mothers from pre-school, she still needed to send out
invitations and buy a cake, food and decorations. She didn’t have
anything fancy planned, Lord knows she couldn’t afford it while she
wasn’t working, but she still wanted her son to have a good day
with his friends. She knew Kiki would be on hand to help her
organise so she’d taken the blank invitations with her.

When Dee
walked in her mom’s house, she saw Tushaun sat at the TV, engrossed
in his favourite show. He greeted her without even looking up from
the screen, and she carefully placed a kiss on his forehead as not
to disturb him too much and let him watch his show. On one sofa,
Kiki and her boyfriend J were sat side by side, Kiki with her legs
strewn across his lap. They both greeted Dee happily, and Dee
wasted no time in telling Kiki about the invites while Tushaun was
distracted. Talking quietly, she asked the pair what they thought
about a cake and decorations.

“
Can’t you just
bake a cake yourself
?” J asked, which had
the sisters bursting into surprise laughter.

“
Do I look like I
bake
?” Dee asked J sarcastically, and he
shrugged before suggesting something even more ridiculous to
them.

“
What about
Monique
?”

The
girls laughed even harder this time.

“
Mom
baking
?” Kiki mused.
“I 
don’t think she ever did that in
her life
.”

“
Ain’t women
supposed to know how to cook
?” J asked,
and Kiki slapped her boyfriend playfully.

“
Ey, sexist. Why
don’t you bake a cake
?”

“
Yeah
right
”

Dee
watched the interaction between the couple and smiled. She’d always
liked J, from the minute she met him. Sure, he was a typical moody
teenage boy at times, and he’d had his fair share of trouble, but
he had a good heart. Looking at where he came from, Dee was
surprised he wasn’t dead, in jail or at least in care by now. His
mother had to be considered the worst mother she knew, and that was
saying something. She made her own mother look like Mother Theresa.
Jon Banks, aka J to his friends had grown up with a single mother,
Debbie. Debbie had him when she was fourteen after she was raped by
a family member, and she never wanted a baby at her age. J’s
grandmother looked after him for the first two years of his life
until she became ill and Debbie had to have him back, much to her
displeasure.

Debbie
had never been a good mother to J, not physically or emotionally.
As a child, he learnt very quickly to look after himself, whether
that meant bathing himself, feeding himself or dressing and taking
himself to school. He did such a good job of it that social
services never got in touch with the family. J learnt to hustle as
a child, whether it was for money or for food. If he knew there was
no food in the house, he’d invite himself to other children’s homes
for dinner, and the parents knowing what type of mother Debbie was,
they’d never oblige.

Debbie
struggled with a drug addiction which made her mood swings out of
control. If she’d been unable to get hold of her drugs, she’d take
it out on her son, making him feel unloved and vulnerable. However,
if she’d had a good day and managed to get her hands on drugs,
she’d go on a high, and try to spoil him, buying him all the candy
and junk food he could ever want, which didn’t always work out well
either. As a child, J had no limits or knowledge of what was
enough, so as long as Debbie was allowing him to eat it, he did,
after all, it was a rarity. This resulted on several occasions of
him throwing up everything he’d eaten that day, then being shouted
at for being ungrateful. Debbie threw around emotional abuse as if
it was going out of fashion, and for sixteen years, J had carried
that around. Luckily, J was popular and he did his best to stay out
of his own house whenever he could. As he got a little older, he
found solace in friend’s homes and public libraries where he could
study for school and use the computers. Despite everything, J
wasn’t doing badly in school; in fact, he was pretty much on track
with everybody else.

Dee had
known about Debbie Banks just as everyone else in the area had. J
had always gone to school with Kiki and though the two weren’t
friends as kids, Dee was aware of whose son he was and what a tough
life he must have had. When Kiki brought him home as her boyfriend
at fifteen, her family all fell in love with him. Through stories
and rumours, they expected him to be a trouble kid, a thug, but he
was nothing like that. It was a natural progression that J spent a
lot of time at Kiki’s. At first, they were a little worried about
them spending so much time together, but it turned out they were a
positive influence on each other. In a way, they grew up together,
and though they were dating, they were like best friends too. J
would come over for dinner most nights and they’d study together,
making sure neither of them slipped off the radar in
school.

Dee
handed a pen to J and Kiki, a stack of blank invitations in front
of them. They all decided it would be cheaper to bake a cake rather
than buy one, and if they could get somebody to make food too, even
better, though they all decided they didn’t really know anybody
that was that way inclined. While Monique could cook a wholesome
meal, Dee wasn’t sure she could bake. She’d sure as hell never seen
her bake anything before, besides getting herself baked.

“
What about party
games
?” Kiki asked as they filled out
invitations.