“Of course I told them that. They don’t care. You had crack on you.” I tried to speak in a soft tone, hoping she’d lower her voice, but it didn’t help.
“Well, then, make them care!” she cried. “Don’t you care about the baby?”
She’d hit a nerve, and it took everything I had to control my own anger. Who the hell was she to ask me that question?
“I’m not the crackhead. So I should be asking you that. And stop yelling at me. You’re making a scene.” There was no use reasoning with her now. Shit, she was probably still too high to hold a conversation even if there weren’t a dozen other crackheads around to hear every word. “Look, I’m outta here. I’ll see you in court in the morning. Just pray they’re gonna let you back in the program.”
“Fuck you!” she shouted. “I’m not going back to no fucking program.”
“Yes, you are. Even if I have to drag your ass there. You’re not gonna fuck up my baby’s life.” With that, she jumped up and leaned against the cell bars to get as close as she could while she screamed the most hurtful words.
“It’s not your fucking baby, so leave me the fuck alone.”
“What did you say?” I could feel a rage building up inside me. I felt like everyone in the station house was staring at me.
“I said the baby’s not yours, motherfucker! Can’t you hear? Only reason I told you that it was is ’cause I needed a place to stay. And I knew you’d be stupid enough to let me stay in your house.” She was spitting as she spoke, shaking her head the whole time.
“Yeah, right. If it’s not my kid, then whose kid is it?”
“Jordan’s. Who do you think? When this baby’s born, he’s gonna be light, bright, and almost white. Just like his daddy.” She gave me an ugly smirk.
I swear it was a good thing those bars were between us; otherwise, I would have killed her ass.
“Joe was right about you the whole time. You are one hell of a bitch! How could you do this to me? How could you lie to me like that? After everything I’ve done for you!” Bars or no bars, I tried my best to grab her, and every woman in that cell scrambled. “You think you can play with my emotions? I’m gonna kill you, bitch! I’ma kill your fucking ass.”
“Dylan! Come on, man. She ain’t worth it.” Ron pulled me from the cell and into another room. I sat at the table and wiped my face with my sleeve.
He waited until I calmed down a bit before he spoke. “You ah’ight, man? Think you can go back out there without making a fool outta yourself?”
“Am I all right?” I stared at him like he was insane. “That wench just told me that I’m not the father of her child. And you wanna know if I’m all right? No, Ron, I’m not all right. I just lost a child that hasn’t even been born yet.”
34
Brittany passed by my bed on the couch as she walked from her bedroom into the kitchen. I’d been staying at her place for quite a while, so most nights I wouldn’t even pay attention to her when she went by to get a midnight snack. But then again, most nights she wasn’t wearing a cut-off T-shirt and a thong that exposed every inch of her perfectly round rear end.
“Travis, you awake in there?”
I lifted my head and pretended to be half asleep, but with the TV on she had to know I’d been watching her the whole time. Things had been strictly platonic between us the whole time I’d been staying at her place, but shit, I’m still a man. There was no way I was turning the other cheek when a half-naked woman walked into the room. Especially one as fine as Brittany.
“Yeah, I’m awake.”
“Good. We need to talk.” She walked out of the kitchen and sat in the chair next to the sofa.
“Ah‘ight, what I do now?” I sat up. “Don’t tell me you fell in the toilet again. ’Cause I made sure I put the seat down this time.” I was trying to keep things light because Brittany sounded pretty serious.
“No, I ain’t fall in the toilet again.” She pretended to be angry. “Why you always gotta bring that up, anyway?”
“ ’Cause the shit was funny, that’s why,” I laughed.
I will never forget the way she looked that night. Her legs and arms were flailing all over the place, but her ass was stuck in that toilet bowl. She was screaming at me to pull her out, but before I did, I couldn’t resist. I had to run into the living room and get my camera. I never developed the film, but man, was that shit hilarious!
“Look, I didn’t come out here to get laughed at. I came out here to talk to you about our living arrangements.”
“Ub-oh,” I sighed. “I knew this was coming sooner or later. You want me to give you some more money toward the rent?”
I didn’t really think she wanted to talk about money, but I threw it out there just in case. I had to show her that I appreciated what she was doing. I didn’t want her to think I was some deadbeat trying to take advantage of her kindness. But this little conversation we were about to have was about way more than money. This was about Brittany’s personal space and privacy, something she’d lost when I moved in to her living room. With me there, she’d been real careful about covering herself up when she came out of the shower, taking her phone calls in her bedroom, shit like that. But I know that had to be bothering her. She should have been able to walk around her place butt-naked if she wanted to.
So I knew what she was going to say. It was time for me to leave. And as a true friend, I could appreciate that. Shoot, I don’t think I could ever repay her for her kindness. She hadn’t complained once the entire time I was there. As much as I didn’t want to go back home yet, I owed it to Brittany to give her back her place.
“This is not about money, Travis,” she replied. “You’ve already given me enough money to damn near pay my entire rent. I just can’t have you sleeping on my couch anymore. It’s just not right-”
She sounded upset, so I cut her off. “Look Brittany, I can see where this is going, and I appreciate everything you’ve done for me. I’m gonna go find a place on the base in the morning. I’ll be out your hair by tomorrow afternoon, ah’ight?”
“No, it’s not all right.” Her tone surprised me. She really sounded frustrated. “Damn, don’t you men understand anything about women?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “Evidently not, because I don’t know what the hell is wrong with you.”
She got up and sat on the edge of the couch.
“You don’t know what I’m talking about? What I’m talking about is that I want you to move off my couch so that you can move into my bed, Travis.” She kissed me passionately and her hands roamed my body until my manhood sprang to attention.
“Whoa. Where’d that come from?” I muttered as our lips parted.
“It came from here.” She pointed at her heart, but her eyes never left mine. “Travis, I’ve tried to be respectful of what you have, or think you have, with Stephanie, but it’s been a while now and you haven’t even attempted to go home. I hope I’m not overstepping my boundaries, but you’re a good man and I’m sick of waiting for you to notice that I’m a good woman.”
I’m not gonna pretend like I never thought about Brittany and me getting together. Hell, everyone on base already thought we were together. But the truth is, I didn’t know what to do about her. I still thought about Stephanie a lot. I had to get over one hurdle before I could attempt another.
“Are you serious, Brittany? You really wanna be with me?”
“Uh-huh.” She bent down to kiss my neck. “I’ve never been more serious about anything in my entire life.” She blew in my ear and I instinctively wrapped my arms around her back, holding on tight. I was ready to give in right then and there. She felt so damn good, and I really missed a woman’s touch. But my conscience wouldn’t let me do that. At least not until Stephanie and I officially broke up. I mean, hell, she was still living in my house.