Mr. Wrong After All (10 page)

“Then what is it?”

“Will you be my maid of honor?”

Sabrina covered her mouth and let out a muted scream. Initially, I couldn’t tell whether she was excited or angry.

“Me?”

“Yeah, who else?”

“I’d be happy to, girl. You know that. I’m sorry for being an ass about this whole thing earlier. It’s just that I worry about you. This just came up so suddenly, you know?” Sabrina said, apologetically.

“Yeah, I know.”

“Well damn, that sure doesn’t give us a lot of time to shop for dresses. We better get to looking ‘cause I don’t know about you but I plan to be fly as all get out.”

Everything sounded good as I explained it to Sabrina but I was beginning to wonder whether it would all come together as perfectly as we had planned. Ahmad and I had made some major decisions that would affect not only the rest of our lives but also Corrie’s life. Sabrina was right about one thing. Corrie could be more of a problem than I’d bargained for. She could actually resent me for trying to take her mother’s place.

I had enough trouble effectively dealing with my own screwed up childhood. How could I take on the challenge of helping Corrie cope with all that she’d been through?

I decided to pick up the phone and call home. I had to tell my mother the news regardless of how it went over.

“Hello.”

“Hello, Mama.”

“Nicolette? Is that you?”

“Yes, Ma’am. How are you?”

“I’m fine now that I’ve heard from you. How are you?”

“Good. Mama, I’m getting married.”

There was dead silence on the other end but I wasn’t surprised by it at all. I continued to talk.

“His name is Ahmad Jacobs and we met here at Georgetown University. We’ve been seeing each other for a while. The wedding is planned for the day of graduation. I just wanted to let you know.”

“The day after graduation? So soon? Are you—”

“No,” I interrupted. “I’m not pregnant. Just madly in love.”
Why the hell is that always the first question people ask?

“Oh, well, congratulations, honey. You do know that we’re planning to drive up there for the graduation, right?”

What? My parents are coming to DC? In the four years that I’d been here, there has never been any talk of my parents coming here.

“No, I didn’t know that.”

“What? Did you think that I was going to miss my first-born child graduating from college? Your father plans to charter a bus and bring some of the people from the congregation, too. Ooh, wait ‘til I tell everybody about the wedding.”

I wish you could come to DC alone, without my father.

For the first time that I could remember, I actually heard excitement in my mother’s voice.

“Wow, a chartered bus?”

“Yes, indeed. I look forward to meeting your husband-to-be.

Is he handsome?”

“Yes, Ma’am, he is,” I smiled as the image of Ahmad’s face flashed in my head.

“Where is he from?”

“New York.”

“Oh my. That’s so far away. Is that where the two of you are going to live after you’re married?”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“Nicolette, have you spoken with Shannon?”

“No, Ma’am. I haven’t spoken to her in a while. I’ve stopped trying because it’s obvious she doesn’t want to be bothered. She’s grown. I’m sure that she’s fine.”

“You can’t give up. Shannon’s your sister. You can never give up on family.”

Is she serious? Mama gave up on so many things. She didn’t give a damn about any of the things that were happening right under her nose. Now she wants to lecture me on the importance of family? What a joke.

“Well, when you come to town, you can track her down and find out what’s going on.”

“Yes, I pray so. But I tell you, I’ve got a feeling that Shannon is in trouble.”

“I wouldn’t doubt it. Okay, Mama. I need to go and study for finals. Tell everyone I said hello.”

When I hung up the telephone, I was instantly flushed with dread at the thought of having my family in town for graduation and the wedding. These were times to be celebrated. But all

I could see was a weekend filled with schizophrenic drama. I didn’t bother to mention Corrie. My mother would find out all of the details when she got to town.

Chapter 17

Shannon

My ever-growing stomach was a constant reminder that I couldn’t put off telling Ahmad about the baby any longer. I figured now would be the perfect time. He should be graduating from Georgetown in a few weeks and the draft is a just a couple of weeks after that. My baby and I were going to be set for life. I didn’t necessarily need Ahmad to marry me. I don’t think I could be tied down to one man for the rest of my life. I just needed to get in on the ground floor to insure that we’d be first in line for our cut of millions.

I’ll go to his apartment after my doctor’s appointment tomorrow afternoon. Maybe I should call him before I go. That way, he can come with me and be there when they do the ultrasound.

He’ll be shocked at first but I know he’ll do the right thing.

I couldn’t wait to have this baby either. Three more months to go. The kid wasn’t even born yet and already was cramping my style. There were so many dos and don’ts; I could hardly remember them all. I was used to doing what I wanted, when I wanted without hesitation or accountability. Now, it was hard for me to get laid because when men caught a glimpse of my protruding belly, the thought of fucking a pregnant woman would make some of them feel guilty and ultimately sent them running in the other direction.

Every two or three months, I would go to the free clinic for a checkup. I knew that I needed to get some prenatal care. I hated going because those nosey ass nurses asked me all kinds of stupid ass questions and rolled their eyes at my responses. I knew that I wasn’t supposed to drink or smoke while I was pregnant but I needed something every now and then to calm my nerves. A little bit of this or a hit of that was not going to hurt this baby. Hell, it probably helped to calm the baby’s nerves, too. Nothing was going to stop me from partying like I wanted to. This was my child and my body. I would do as I damn well pleased. Once the child was born, I’d have the money to hire a nanny or something to take care of it while I did my thing.

I wonder which team will draft Ahmad. It would be nice if the Lakers drafted him. I’ve always wanted to live in sunny California. If I had to, I could see myself living in Boston, if the Celtics picked him up. It really doesn’t matter. The money will be green no matter what state we’re living in. What if Ahmad does ask me to marry him? He’d probably want the baby to have his last name. I guess we could do it right after graduation. That way I’d already be his wife by the time the draft comes around. Yeah, that’s all I need to…

“Hey, Shannon,” Bone called from the other room, interrupting my thoughts.

“What,” I answered, waddling down the hallway.

“What’s up with your boy?”

“What boy? Who are you talking about?”

“Ahmad Jacobs. They say on the news that he quit the Georgetown basketball team a while back.”

“What?”

I sat down on the couch next to Bone to listen to the story for myself but it was already over.

What? Ahmad quit the team? There has to be some mistake.

“So, does that mean he won’t be drafted into the NBA?”

“Bitch, please. That’s exactly what the fuck it means. Hell, his ass wasn’t even that good of a ballplayer any damn way,” Bone explained, laughing. “What? Don’t tell me you didn’t know that?”

“No,” I said, almost in tears.

Bone and his boys laughed harder and louder.

“That bitch thought she had tricked a niggah with some money,” one of them said, continuing to laugh.

“See that’s what’s wrong with these crackhead ho’s. They ain’t smart enough to do their research. Now, a resourceful bitch would have hooked up with that flying fool down in North Carolina,” Bone explained. “That niggah right there is ‘bout to be crazy paid.”

How could I have been so stupid? What am I going to do now? No clinic is going to give me an abortion this late in the pregnancy. I don’t want to be tied down to a kid for the next eighteen years. There has to be a way out of this mess. Shit!

“What are you gonna do now,” Bone asked.

“I don’t know.”

“I bet you don’t.”

“Have you told him yet?” one of his friends asked.

“No.”

“I’m a charitable type of niggah so you can stay here until you have the baby. But as soon as you drop that load, you’ve got to bounce. Babies is bad for my business,” Bone said, as he and his crew got up and left the apartment, still laughing.

Months of planning had all been destroyed in five minutes. I didn’t have a Plan B
.
It had never occurred to me that I needed a backup plan. Everything was lined up perfectly.

Why in the world would Ahmad quit the goddamn team? His ass has made a huge mistake and now he is the one who is going to suffer the consequences. Not me.

I need to get a hit to calm my nerves so that I can plan my next move.

Chapter 18

Ahmad

Things in my life were moving so fast, I could hardly keep up. In the next few weeks, I’d graduate from college, get married to Nikki, move to New York and start a new job. Not to mention that for the first time, Corrie will be living with me full time. I was a little apprehensive about telling Corrie about Nikki and I getting married. I didn’t know how she would handle it after all of the changes she had already gone through in her short life. I wanted to make sure she would be able to adjust to living in yet another new place and having yet another woman in her life. But to my surprise, Corrie was cool with it.

“Corrie, I have something very important to talk with you about,” I began.

“What is it, Daddy?” she asked, looking at me with those big doe eyes that always melted my heart.

“How do you feel about Nikki?”

“Ooh Daddy, I really like her. I think she’s nice and I think she’s pretty.”

“Well baby, I asked Nikki to marry me. Do you understand what that means?”

“Yes.”

“Tell me what you think it means.” I needed to be sure that Corrie had a clear picture of what was about to happen. I couldn’t take her “yes” for granted.

“It means that you and Nikki will have a wedding and then you’ll live together, happily ever after forever.”

“Okay. That’s close. Nikki and I will have a wedding and we will
all
live together. You will come and live with us.” “Will she be my mommy?”

Oh shit! How do I answer this one? I have to be careful.

“Well sweetie, Kim will always be your mom. Even though she is no longer here with you, nothing can change that. But Nikki will be my wife and that will make her your step-mommy.”

“Like in Cinderella,” Corrie asked with a look of sheer horror on her otherwise innocent face. It was hard for me to keep from laughing.

“Kind of but not really. She will not be mean or anything like that. She will help me take care of you and be there for you just like Kim would if she were still alive.”

Corrie didn’t respond right away. She sat on my mother’s couch in deep thought with her eyes closed. I had no idea what was going to happen next. Although she hadn’t done it before, I braced myself for an all-out tantrum.

“I don’t think I like that, Daddy,” she finally said when she opened her eyes.

Okay, here we go. I can do this. I can do this.

“You don’t think you like what?”

“I don’t want Nikki to be my step-mommy.”

“You don’t?”

“Nope.”

“Why not?”

“‘Cause I don’t like step-mommies.”

“Why not?”

“Step-mommies are ugly and hateful. I want Nikki to just be my mommy. Mommies are pretty and nice.”
Whew! My balls could drop now.

“Okay then. Nikki will be your mommy, if that’s what you want.”

“Do you think she’ll let me call her mommy?”

“Why don’t you ask her that?”

“Okay.”

I felt like Corrie’s seal of approval had single-handedly lifted the weight of the world from my shoulders. She was truly my wonderful little fighter and I admired her strength. I became even more excited at the thought of all of us living together as a family.

I drove back to DC with what seemed like ten million thoughts racing through my head. There were so many things to do and so little time in which to do them.

When I arrived at my apartment, I noticed someone sitting on the stoop in front of the building. At first, I couldn’t tell who it was.

Why is a pregnant woman sitting out here this time of night? Who in the world could she be waiting for? It can be dangerous out here. I bet whomever she is here to see is not at home and none of these jackass tenants would let her wait inside. These neighbors can really be inconsiderate assholes sometimes. Oh shit! Is that Shannon? Shannon’s pregnant. Why is she here? Shit!

I just sat in my car and peered out of my window at Shannon. She remained on the stoop, motionless. From the look of her protruding belly, she had to be at least six or seven months pregnant.

Why is she here? I know damn well that I’m not the father of her baby. Besides that one time, every time I had sex with Shannon, I made sure to put on a condom. Shit, sometimes I even wore two. What could she possibly want from me?

I finally emerged from my car.

“Hey, Shannon, what’s up?” I asked as I removed my bag from my trunk.

“Can’t you see what’s up, Ahmad?”

“What’s that got to do with me?”

“Everything.”

“Naw, bitch. That ain’t got shit to do with me.”

“How can you say that? Do you know how many times you’ve fucked me?”

Shannon’s voice was booming. I noticed a few people peeping at us through their blinds. I figured I had better move this little conversation inside before everybody on Georgia Avenue knew my business.

“Shannon, I only had sex with you once without a condom, two years ago. The way you fuck around, this kid could belong to anybody.”

“It’s yours, Ahmad.”

“The only way it could be mine is if your ass has been pregnant for two damn years.”

For the first time, I noticed the resemblance between Nikki and Shannon. Their skin was the same caramel hue and their

eyes, although different in color, were the same slight almond shape. I felt like a complete idiot for not noticing all of this before now.

“It’s yours because I made it yours.”

“What the fuck does that mean?”

“It means that after we fucked the last few times, I stole your condom from the trash and took them back to the dorm with me. It means that I took a turkey baster and filled it with your shit and squirted it inside of me,” Shannon explained as she sat down on my couch.

“What!”

“You heard me. You heard me loud and clear. Of course, this was when I thought you were gonna be about something. I thought your ass was going to be a NBA star.”

What kind of nasty ass bullshit is this? You stole a condom? What in the hell have you done to me?

I had to fight the instinct to grab Shannon around her throat and choke the life from her. Then I realized that Shannon’s little story didn’t mean a thing. The fact remained that she had a reputation of being a tricky skank. This baby could belong to any man in the tri-state area. There was no need for me to catch a case over this bitch.

“Yeah, right. That still doesn’t prove a goddamn thing. You could have done that same scandalous shit to any niggah in the tri-state area and now you’re just trying to hang me with it.”

“Why would I do that? What would be in it for me? You ain’t got shit and you ain’t fixin’ to be no NBA draft ‘cause your ass up and quit the goddamn basketball team for whatever reason. So you tell me why I would be here if this baby wasn’t yours?”

“I don’t know, Shannon. You tell me. Why ain’t you trying to hook a niggah with some money since it’s obvious I ain’t got none?”

“‘Cause that wouldn’t be right, Ahmad. The person responsible for this mess is you.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Shannon was trying to sell me a big pile of shit and I wasn’t having it. I was beginning to lose my patience with this whole scene.

“Okay Shannon, I’m going to ask you for the last time. Why are you here?”

“I want you to do what’s right by me and this baby.”

“What the fuck does that mean?”

“I don’t have anywhere else to go, Ahmad. I need your help. My baby needs a father.”

“That is not my problem. Why don’t you just go and get rid of it?”

“Look at me, Ahmad. I’m too far along to have an abortion now. It is your problem because it’s your child. ”

What if it is my child? Could Shannon have been so low down that she would have stolen my shit and impregnated herself? What am I going to do? I already have a child that I can barely provide for. What would I do with another? What about Nikki? What will she do when she finds out that I’m going to have another baby?

“It is not my problem until you provide me with proof that it is,” I answered, as I tried to sort through my thoughts.

Shannon looked around the room as if she’d just noticed all of the packed boxes stacked in the corner. The only items that were not yet packed were two photographs on the mantle. She got up and waddled over to the fireplace. She picked up one of the picture frames. She smiled slyly as she turned around and looked at me.

“Is this your new girlfriend?”

“What’s it to you?”

“It’s everything to me ‘cause Nikki is my sister.”

“So?”

“So, I bet your little miss goodie two shoes has no idea that you’ve been fucking her little sister, does she?”

I refused to answer Shannon’s question. I knew exactly where she was going with this. She was going to threaten to tell Nikki everything. There was no way I was going to let Shannon ruin everything for me.

“Of course she doesn’t,” Shannon continued with a smirk on her round face, “because there is no way she’d still be your girlfriend, if she knew. I must admit, knowing that Nikki is your girlfriend certainly explains a lot. I know that her stuck up ass ain’t giving up no pussy. So, you have to get it from another source. What would Glenda, the good witch, say when she finds out that your alternate source of entertainment is her baby sister?”

An unfamiliar rage swelled inside of me. I lunged over to where Shannon was standing, grabbed her by her shoulders, and slammed her into the concrete block wall, lifting her fullness from the floor.

“Listen to me, bitch. You are not going to tell Nikki a goddamn thing, do you understand me?”

“Ahmad, you’re hurting me…”

“Yeah, I know. If you say anything to Nikki, you’ll hurt much worse.”

I removed my hands from Shannon’s shoulder and let her drop to the floor like a rag doll.

“Your threats don’t scare me. I know people that can make your punk ass evaporate,” Shannon said, struggling to stand on her feet.

“Your threats don’t scare me either. I meant what I said. Now, until this little bastard of yours is born and we can get a blood test to prove who the father is, you ain’t gonna say shit to Nikki or anybody else.”

What am I saying? This baby can’t be mine.

Shannon left my apartment without saying another word. I prayed that she wouldn’t run straight to Nikki and tell her everything. Nikki would be devastated and that would be the end of our relationship. I wouldn’t have a chance to explain to her how Shannon tricked me. She wouldn’t understand that I met Shannon long before I met her. Nikki wouldn’t listen to anything I had to say ever again.

I thought about confessing everything to Nikki myself. Then she would have to listen to my side of the story.

No she wouldn’t. No matter what you say, all she’ll hear is that you fucked her sister. That will be the end of the road for the two of you. Don’t say a word. Just sit back and see how this all plays out. Shannon ain’t gonna say anything. She doesn’t have anything to gain by telling Nikki. Just wait. Meanwhile, go on with your plans to marry Nikki. Just wait.