“So can’t you come home and sleep on it? I haven’t seen you in days, and we’ve only been around each other for like thirty minutes. Are you that damn bothered by my presence?” I said, nearly crying. I was getting so tired of this shit. And to make matters worse, Jemar didn’t even respond. Then his phone started going off. I couldn’t get a real glance at the screen, but it definitely looked like it said, Tia.
“Just take me back to Chianne’s house,” I said.
∞∞∞
And he did just that. He dropped me off, and I didn’t even say anything to him before I got out of the car. I spent the night over Chianne’s house, had her drop me off at Jemar’s apartment, so I could change my clothes. I put on a white t-shirt, gray PINK gym pants, and a pair of Pink/Grey/White Nike Air Max 90.
“Hello?” She answered. She probably didn’t recognize the number.
“Hey Keke, it’s me- Bre,” I said.
“What’s up? You have a new number?”
“Yeah, make sure you save it. I’m just bored and thought to call my favorite cousin.”
“Well, I’m chilling today and have the house to myself. Do you want to come over?”
“Yeah, I’ll have Chianne dropped me off in a few minutes.”
“I’ll see you when you get here,” She said.
Twenty minutes later, I showed up, and we hugged as I entered.
“Where is everybody? I asked.
“They went to go see Aunt Loretta,” Keisha said.
“You didn’t want to go?”
“Girl, you know I can’t stand her.”
“Me, either, she told my mother that she needs to send me away to a boarding school,” I said, rolling my eyes. Way before all of this drama started, I overheard Aunt Loretta tell my mother that she should send me to a boarding school because I looked fast. She said that boarding school would keep me on the straight and narrow like her daughter Heaven. However, all of the cousins knew how wild Heaven could get once liquor hit her system. I don’t think boarding school would have done anything for me. Maybe I wouldn’t be pregnant, but it had nothing to do with being fast. I wasn’t really into boys, and when I finally was, I picked the wrong one. Unfortunately, I did get pregnant, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t hope for a better outcome.
“Maybe it is too much for Aunty Rere to deal with. She probably just needs time to think about everything. Don’t forget that she was pregnant with your brother, Wayne, at fifteen and had your sister Jessica a year later.” Keisha said, walking into the kitchen and grabbing some snacks. We went downstairs to her room. Grandma Pep ended up building a room for her a couple of years ago because sharing a room with her thirteen- and fourteen-year-old sisters wasn’t going to work. Keisha had a girly ass room. It was plenty of pink and Marilyn Monroe all around. One thing I admired about Keisha was that she worked hard for everything she had. Our grandmother made sure they were taken care of, but Keisha got a part-time job to help out and buy her own stuff, so Grandma Pep didn’t have to. Grandma Pep and her sister, Kiara, bought her a car last year, and Keisha decided to help with the payments. That’s how I hoped things would’ve worked out for me. I just wanted my mother to give me a chance to get things right before she wrote me off.
“That is true, I guess I didn’t think about that,” I said, taking off my coat and placing it on a chair near her bed. I saw Keisha notice my stomach; it was starting to become noticeable, especially since I’ve always had a flat stomach. She reached her hand out and rubbed my stomach as I smiled.
“How far along are you?” She asked.
“Four months and some change.”
“What does your boyfriend think?” She asked.
“At first he thought we could manage, but now I think he’s just as scared as me. It’s different now, I can feel it and see it. I feel kind of stupid for thinking that this could all work out, but I was wrong?” I confessed. I could no longer keep this in and needed to talk to somebody about what I was going through.
“Why do you think that? Last night you had a plan and was certain about it.”
“Ever since I moved in with him, he has been neglecting me. We don’t chill like we used to, and he barely comes home now. I was over Chianne’s house for three days in a row. He was supposed to pick me back up after he left the barbershop. I called like thirty times, but his phone kept going to voicemail. When he finally answered, he told me that he had to drop something off to somebody at the party. I made him come get me because I didn’t believe him. I had to pee, so I went to use the bathroom. When I went back outside, that’s when I saw KD. On the ride back from the party, he told me he was dropping me off again. He didn’t ask me how I was feeling or if I was hungry. He was about to leave me at home again and not care about us. I think he’s seeing somebody else.”
“I don’t want to lie to you and say you’re overacting, but he probably is. I mean, if I was a guy, I would be there for you and not run away. If he didn’t want to step up to the plate, why did he ask you to move in?” I asked.
“Guilt probably because I had no one else to go to. My dad was overseas at the time, visiting his family. Raquel is in college, and Wayne barely has a pot to piss in himself.”
“You had us. Why didn’t you ask grandma to let you stay here?”
“Keke,
