Nadine lifted her head to look at him. “Before you know it, I’ll be back. Trust me. I won’t allow my parents to keep us apart.” She kissed Suave with passion. “Nothing will keep us apart.”
But that was easier said than done.
* * *
Over the next few months, Nadine’s parents did everything they could to end her relationship with Suave. They threatened to ban her from their house, to disown her, and take her out of their will.
“You don’t even know him,” Nadine shouted one day. She was having another argument with her parents about Suave. “If you meet him, you’ll see he’s a nice guy.”
“We don’t need to meet that thug,” her father snapped. “And if he knows what’s good for him, he better not let me see him.”
But Nadine continued to see Suave. She mostly drove to meet up with him, and if he were picking her up, it would be at work or some other prearranged location, with him dropping her off at her car. Suave never came to her house nor had any interaction with her parents. It was her way of trying to keep her two worlds apart while seeing the man she loved.
“I’m pregnant.” Tears seeped down Nadine’s face as she sat hunched over on the edge of Suave’s bed, wringing her hands together nervously. “The doctor said I’m about eight weeks along. I’m sorry.” She had been dating Suave for almost a year now.
“Sorry? Sorry for what, babes?” Suave knelt before her, his face flushed with happiness. “This is good news.” He took her trembling hands into his, tears of joy in his eyes. “We’re having a baby!”
Nadine pulled her hands out of Suave’s and jumped to her feet. She walked over to the open window that overlooked the backyard and stared out into the night. “I’m in my second year of college,” she began. “I want to finish school and pursue my dreams of becoming a teacher. . . .”
Suave was still on his knee, a perplexed look on his face as he listened.
“... then later, I want to get married and have children. This pregnancy isn’t a part of the plan right now.”
Suave rose slowly to his feet as he peered at Nadine through squinted eyes. “What are you trying to say?” He swallowed loudly against the big lump that was lodged firmly in his throat.
“My parents almost had a heart attack when I told them.”
“You told your parents before me? Why would—”
“They are my parents,” Nadine snapped as she turned around and glared at him. “I need them. You don’t have any parents, so you wouldn’t understand.”
Suave winced as if he were sucker punched in the gut. As if they had a mind of their own, the tears leaked down his face.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.” Nadine looked ashamed. Suave had shared with her how much he loved his parents and the effect their death had on him, and now she had used it to hurt him. “I’m just so angry right now.”
Suave didn’t answer. He used the back of his hand to wipe his face and walked over to a used ottoman in the corner of the bedroom where he sat down.
“I’m getting an abortion.” Nadine dropped another bomb. “I’m leaving for Miami. . . .”
In a flash, Suave had crossed the room and grabbed Nadine by the throat. He pulled the gun from the back of the waist of his pants and rested the muzzle on her temple. “You’re going to kill my seed?”
Nadine trembled with fear as she struggled to breathe. “Please,” she said a little above a whisper, but Suave’s hold on her neck only tightened.
“Your parents told you to kill my child, and you agree?” Suave’s eyes blazed with anger. He looked like a savage pit bull.
Nadine slapped at the hand around her throat, kicking at his feet. “Suave, I-I can’t breathe.” Her eyes were wide open, a small river pouring down her face. “Please, stop.”
As if he were coming out of a trance, Suave released her neck, but the gun was still directed at her head. “You are not going to have an abortion,” he screamed.
Nadine coughed as she took gulps of air into her lungs. She stared at Suave as if she didn’t know him. What was he doing with a gun? Where had he gotten it?
“If my baby dies,” Suave was yelling in her ringing ears, “I swear you will die along with it.” The baby was the only family that Suave had now. Nadine’s thinking about taking that away from him was the ultimate betrayal in his mind. “Tell your parents they will die with my child too!”
Nadine saw the look on his face and knew he was serious. Fear filled her heart. “Okay, Suave. I won’t get an abortion.”
“Don’t play with me, Nadine!” Suave rested his nose on hers, his bulging eyes holding her hostage. “I will not allow you to kill my child.” His nostrils flared; the veins stood up in his neck. He cocked the gun, and Nadine jumped in fright. “I don’t want to hurt you. I love you. But you don’t love me.”
“Yes, I do,” Nadine whispered, glancing at the gun through the corner of her eye. “I love—”
“If you love me, then you wouldn’t want to kill the baby we made together.” Suave was weary. The anger was now giving way to despair. “If you love me, you will cherish our child.”
Suave refused to let Nadine leave his apartment. He feared if she left, then she would go and get an abortion. So, he kept her locked up for three days, without allowing her to call her parents.
During this time, Nadine pleaded with him to let her go, promising on everything she loved that she wouldn’t get an abortion. “I’m sure my parents have called the cops by now,” she told him.
