Sunny rain, p.18
Sunny Rain, page 18
I said, “Look what the wind blew in.”
Derrick placed the pampers and milk on the floor. “I didn’t come to see you, I came to see my baby.”
“Oh, now she your baby?” “The test confirmed it.”
“I confirmed it, but that wasn’t good enough huh?”
“I didn’t come here for all that. I’m here to spend time with my baby.”
Derrick approached Trinity’s crib. I jumped in front of him. “Oh, no you don’t. I just got her to sleep and you are not about to wake her up.”
Derrick pushed me aside. “Move. She’ll go back to sleep.” Derrick cradled Trinity in his arms. She remained asleep while he stroked her hair and kissed her tiny fingers. Trinity smiled when
Derrick kissed her on the forehead.
That sent me into a jealous rage. “You think you can come here once a month and drop off milk and pampers and everything is all gravy. Being a father when it fits into your schedule ain’t good enough.”
“See, there you go. Your mouth. The main reason I don’t want to be bothered with you. But you ain’t gon keep me from doing my part.”
“What your part gonna be, Derrick? Dropping off milk and pampers? What about getting up all hours of the night to feed her? Or how about taking her to all those damn doctor appointments!”
Trinity awoke and began crying.
Derrick placed Trinity on his shoulder and rubbed her back. “You scared her with your big ass mouth.”
I reached for the baby. “Give her here.” “I got her. Chill out.”
Trinity continued to cry, as Derrick changed positions. “Give me her bottle,” he said.
I handed Derrick the bottle. “She just ate not too long ago.”
I watched in amazement, as Trinity sucked the nipple like she was starving.
“See, she eats for her daddy,” Derrick said confidently.
“Whatever. Here, Daddy, take her out there so I can get some rest.”
“You got two hours.”
Derrick took Trinity in the living room while I collapsed on the bed. I fell back to sleep before my head hit the pillow good.
I carried Trinity on the deserted beach. The thick sand buried my feet, as each step became more challenging. Exhausted, I plopped down in the sand and sat Trinity on her blanket. I unfolded a portable chair and retrieved a book from my bag. When I turned around, Trinity was no longer sitting on her blanket. My heart raced. Trinity was crawling quickly towards the water.
“No!” I screamed, running towards Trinity. The sand was too thick to move quickly in. It felt like quicksand. “Help my baby!” I cried hysterically.
No one heard my cries for help.
Trinity stopped on the edge of the water and turned to look at me. Suddenly, a high tide erupted, pulling Trinity under the ocean’s current. I jumped in frantically, searching for Trinity.
“Trinity!!” I screamed, bobbing under the choppy waters searching for my baby.
“Leslie. Leslie. Wake up,” Derrick pulled at my arm.
I sat up breathing hard. Wiped the sweat from my forehead, struggling to catch my breath.
“You were having a nightmare.”
I burst into tears. “Trinity was drowning. I—I turned my back for one minute. One little—”
“Calm down. It was just a dream. Trinity is fine. She’s in her swing.”
“I know,” I said, “but I can’t control it. It keeps happening.”
“Control what?”
“These nightmares about the baby.” Derrick asked, “What did the doctor say?”
“I didn’t tell him. I was trying to see if they would stop.”
“You gotta take care of that. You can’t be taking care of my baby girl wild n’ out.”
I thought for a moment. “I’ll handle it.”
Derrick stood and headed to the living room. I staggered behind him.
“I got to go,” he said. “I’ll come back tomorrow after work.” “Okay thanks.”
Derrick kneeled down to kiss Trinity, who had fallen asleep in her swing.
“Oh, about earlier,” I said, “I’m sorry. I was tired and—” “It’s all good. Just don’t let it happen again,” Derrick joked. I laughed, “I can’t make any promises.”
Monica Davis
“Hurry up. They’re going to give our table away,” Ray said. “I’m coming, give me five more minutes” I called from the bathroom, where I was rushing to get ready for our long awaited date night.
Ten minutes later, I rushed out the bathroom looking like a true fashionista. I wore a purple halter-style wrap dress that accentuated my curvy hips and tight ass. The silver heels gave my calves amazing definition. A simple necklace and earrings completed the look. I felt beautiful despite that my scars were visible.
Ray starred in awe for a moment.
“What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue?”
He pulled me into his muscular chest and whispered in my ear, “It will tonight.”
I playfully pushed him away. “You bad. Come on, I’m starving.” Ray escorted me to my Mustang. He opened the passenger door for me. Suddenly a familiar car pulled up blowing the horn. Tasha double-parked her car next to us and jumped out.
Ray walked towards Tasha’s car. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“I gotta go to work today, so you gotta watch Raven,” Tasha said.
“Wait, wait! You can’t just spring this on me like this.”
Tasha opened her back door to get Raven out the car. “Well you shoulda answered your damn phone and we wouldn’t have this problem. I left you like ten messages.”
I had enough of Tasha’s nonsense. I walked around to face her. “We’re going out tonight, so I don’t know what you think you doing.”
Tasha pulled Raven’s carrier from the backseat and shoved it at Ray. “If I don’t go in tonight I’m fired.”
Ray shoved the carrier back at Tasha, “Well take her over your momma’s house and I’ll pick her up later.”
“My momma sick. Don’t you think I thought of that!” Tasha tried to give the carrier back to Ray, who refused it. Tasha then sat the carrier in the street next to the car.
“Quit playing, Tasha! I’m tired of your bullshit!” I yelled. Tasha walked in my face. “Get use to it bitch, cause I’m here for the next eighteen years!”
“Who you calling a bitch!” I demanded.
Ray jumped between the two of us and tried to guide me back to my car. “Baby, just calm down.”
“You!” Tasha answered me, “Did I stutter?”
I broke free from Ray’s grip. Grabbed the carrier and tried to place it back in Tasha’s backseat. Tasha quickly slammed the door, pushing the carrier away from her car.
“Get your baby!” I pushed the carrier at Tasha.
Ray stood beside me trying to defuse the situation. “Ladies—” “You take her!” Tasha shoved the baby hard into my chest. The impact caused me to lose my balance. The unrestrained baby went crashing to the pavement head first.
Natalie Ellis
Bringggg. The ringing phone interrupted my brief nap. I grabbed the cordless phone from the nightstand careful not to awake Bryce, who was sleeping next to me.
“Hello.”
“Hey girl. It’s Monica.”
“Hey. I was going to call you today and see if you wanted to go out to eat. Bryce is working tonight and BJ is with his mother for the day.”
“Not today. With all the drama that’s going on in my house, I want to lay low,” Monica said. “How’s the baby doing?”
“She’s doing much better. They supposed to be releasing her tomorrow.”
“That’s good. Now how are you doing?”
“Still kicking myself for letting this even happen. I keep replaying that day over in my head thinking of so many ways it could have been avoided.”
“Don’t beat yourself up about it. It could have been much worse. What kind of mother rides around with their baby just sitting in a car seat?”
“I know right,” Monica replied. “She would have never fallen if she’d been strapped down in the first place.”
“She stupid. Who knows how long she’s been riding around with that baby like that?”
“Um hmm. Ray told her he’ll seek full custody if she don’t get her shit together.”
“How do you feel about having another baby around?” I asked. “I don’t know. Things are already tight enough as it is.”
“Why don’t you just ask your parents for some money? I know they got it. Shoot, you can’t drive on the South Side without seeing Davis CPA and Associates.”
“My dad just gave me some money that I invested in Ray’s club and haven’t seen a return on that yet. But that’s a whole other story. I don’t want to keep running to him every time I get in a bind.”
“Yeah sometimes you gotta figure it out for yourself. Hang on in there, girl. Things will work themselves out. Well let me get off here so I can start my day.”
Monica said, “Okay. Oh, I know why I called. Don’t forget to bring my books with you tomorrow.”
“I won’t. They’re already in my bag.”
“Okay,” said Monica, “I’ll see you tomorrow then.” “Bye.”
We hung up.
I rolled out of bed, letting my legs dangle over the edge while I stretched. Bryce was lying naked on his stomach snoring softly. A good orgasm knocks him out every time. I pulled the sheet over his chiseled body and went into the master bathroom to run my bath water.
I retrieved my diary from my hiding place and took it in the bathroom with me. Once the water reached the ideal height, I eased in the soothing hot water. Grabbed my diary from the side of the tub.
Dear Diary,
Today is going to be a lonely day. I let BJ go over my mother-in-law‘s house. Bryce has to work tonight, so he‘s sleeping. Monica is doing damage control. Leslie is occupied with the baby, and Kenneth is nowhere to be found. Bet he‘s with his wife. I‘m starting to get a little jealous of her. She gets to have him every night. And I have to get squeezed in when he don‘t have plans with her. I‘ll have him at night, too, real soon. We are going to Mexico in two months and I‘m counting the days. I‘m so excited.
* * *
The doorbell rang. I closed the dairy and placed it back on the side of the tub.
Who could that be? I‘m not expecting company. Deciding to ignore the doorbell, I began washing up.
The doorbell rang again. Damn, must be those Jehovah Witnesses. I finished washing up and got out the tub. By the time I wrapped my terry cloth robe around my body and slid in my house shoes, the doorbell rang again.
I‘m gonna curse whoever this is out!
I quickly walked down the stairs to give my impatient visitor a piece of my mind.
Snatching the door open without bothering to look out first, I gasped when I recognized my visitor from a picture I’d seen so many times before.
Kenneth’s wife stood there with her arms folded across her chest.
Leslie Morgan
“My mom wants to see the baby tomorrow.” Derrick cradled
Trinity in his arms while feeding her.
I sat on the sofa next to Derrick. “Tomorrow’s cool. I don’t have nothing to do in the evening.”
“I was talking about taking Trinity alone.” “Oh,” my gaze lowered to the floor.
Derrick said, “So we can have some daddy and daughter time.” I shook my head. “I’ll have to think about it.”
“What do you mean you have to think about it? What you saying? You don’t trust me?”
“I do, but—”
“But what?” Derrick interrupted.
“I just have to see you with her more.”
“I know how to handle her. You always crying about how you never get any sleep, and now I’m giving you the opportunity and you don’t even want to take advantage of it.”
I shifted on the sofa. “I know it’s crazy, but I’d worry about her if she wasn’t with me.”
“I ain’t trying to hear all that. She hanging out with me tomor- row.”
“I said I’ll think about it,” I said, trying to keep my cool. “Do you have to control everything?”
“I did spend twenty-two hours in labor—”
Derrick cut me off. “Just because you had her don’t mean you get the final say.”
“You want the final say? Then deal with her twenty-four/seven and then you can dictate where she goes.”
Derrick sighed. “You tripping.”
“I have an idea. We can move in with you, and you’ll really get to see what it’s like to be a full time daddy.”
“Now you talkin crazy.”
“I’m serious,” I said. “Put your money where your mouth is.” Derrick shook his head. “That’s not an option.”
“I ain’t talking about being a couple. I’m just talking about so you can help at night with the baby.”
Derrick finished feeding Trinity and propped her up on his shoulder to burp her. “With your mouth, it’ll never work.”
“This new medicine I’m on knocks me out cold. My mom has to do Trinity’s two and four a.m. feedings.”
“My answer is still no.”
“She shouldn’t have to do that. Trinity’s not her child.”
“Your mom don’t mind helping you with the baby,” Derrick protested.
“That’s not the point.”
Derrick said, “It’s a bad idea. We can’t get along for four hours a week. How you think it’s going to be twenty-four seven?”
“We can make it work. I won’t get into your personal life or anything. It could be like a roommate situation.”
Derrick shook his head. “I don’t know. You kind of crazy. You might wild out and kill me in my sleep.”
I laughed. “I guess you’d better sleep with one eye open then.”
Monica Davis
“Where you going?”
Ray put his watch on and grabbed his wallet off the dresser. “I got to take care of some quick business at the club. I won’t be long.”
“How you know I didn’t have something to do?” I asked. Ray picked up my car keys from the dresser. “Cause you said you didn’t.”
“Yeah, but that’s not the point. You keep making plans with my car without asking me first.”
Ray sighed and threw the keys on the bed. “If you need your car I’ll find another way there.”
“I didn’t say I needed my car, I said I want to be asked first.” I tossed the keys toward Ray who snatched them off the bed and exited in a huff.
I sat on the edge of the bed lost in my thoughts for a moment. Peeped in on Rene’s room to make sure he was still watching cartoons. He was sitting in the middle of the floor Indian-style with his face glued to the TV.
I decided to kill time by cleaning my room. Started in my junk drawer, shredding old mail and organizing bills that needed to be paid. The overdue pile was over two inches thick.
The short while Ray has been back in my life has been a financial nightmare. All my credit cards were now maxed out. I struggled just to pay the minimum payment each month. Had to do something and fast. I was sick and tired of borrowing from my parents.
I opened Ray’s MasterCard bill and sighed when I noticed he was two payments behind. The late fees on top of the over- the-limit fees made $219 due immediately.
Shit. If it ain‘t one thing, it‘s another.
Frustrated, I threw the pile of bills back in the junk drawer, slamming it shut. Made my way to the closet. I organized all my shoes by season and threw all my old clothes in a donation bag. Ray’s side of the closet looked like a tornado hit it. Most of his clothes were sprawled on the floor. Piles of shoeboxes obstructed the right corner, making it difficult for the door to slide.
I started by hanging his clothes. The clean clothes were mixed in with the dirty ones, making this a longer task than I anticipated. I then placed the lids on all the shoeboxes. Began stuffing them on the top shelf one by one. The last box split open and the contents poured over the floor.
Shit.
I kneeled down and began sorting the contents of the box. Came across a sealed white envelope. Running my fingers up and down the package, I knew it had to be pictures.
I‘ll take a quick peek and seal it back.
My curiosity got the best of me, so I tore into the envelope. My mouth flew open. I held several Polaroid’s of Ray in very compromising positions with a blond dominatrix-type woman. She looked so strong I couldn’t be certain she was a real woman! In the first picture, Ray was on all fours while the woman was pulling a leash around his neck. The last three pictures were of Ray wearing a red lace bra and panty set with matching fishnet stockings. He even had on bright red lipstick!
Ray sure made one ugly woman!
Tears streamed down my cheeks.
I ’m such a fool! How can I be in love with a gay man!
Natalie Ellis
It’s nice to finally meet the woman fuckin my husband.” A sly grin formed across Kenneth’s wife’s lips.
My first instincts were to slam the door in her face, but with
Bryce home, I didn’t want to chance her banging on the door waking him.
She stood about five feet seven with a medium build. Pretty. Her cream jogging suit fit snugly on her hips.
“I… I don’t want any trouble.”
She laughed in an evil tone, revealing slightly crooked teeth. “No, no, Natalie. See you have it all wrong. I not here to start trouble, I’m here to end it.”
My blood ran cold. I was sweating like a pimp with one ho. Her whole demeanor said she was quite capable of bodily harm.
“How did you find me?” I asked.
“Well, sweetie, in this day and age it’s quite simple to find anyone. And I must say they’re getting younger and younger each time.”
I stared at her, surprised by her comment.
