Coveted (18 page)

She was not letting me off the hook easily. She was going to have a day with me.

“That sounds good. Come over when you are all done here. I’ll be home.” I walk over and kissed her forehead. “Nice meeting you Emeri,” I say without looking back. Once I was finally out the front door, I could breathe again.

What the hell happened to me in there? Emeri was trouble, I could tell. She smelled like trouble, looked like trouble, and had a sexual aura that screamed trouble - and yet there was no way I could stay away from her. No way.
Lord help me
.

Sitting on the edge of my bed, I contemplate how I am going to break the news of Amber’s pregnancy to Naima. She just called to tell me that she was on her way over, and for the life of me, I could not put two whole thoughts together in my head.

Hearing the phone ring snapped me out of my self-induced pity party. I answer on the third ring.

“Hello?” I say into the receiver.

There was shallow breathing on the other end, but no response.

“Whoever this is, I’m flattered as hell that you called to breathe on my phone, but I have other things to do at the moment.”

Just as I was about to hang up, I heard, “D, I’m here don’t hang up.”

D? What the hell? No one has ever called me that, except my baby sister Alanna, and that is how I wanted it to stay.

“Who is this?” I ask, cursing myself for answering the phone without checking the caller ID first.

“This is Emeri.”

Emeri, what in the hell?

“
Emeri, how did you get my number?”

“
I got it out of Naima’s cell before she left. I figured you might be missing me, so I wanted to give you a call.”

What in the world, have I gotten myself into? Everything about Emeri screamed crazy. Look at all that had taken place between us, and I had just met her today.

“
Emeri, what happened between us this afternoon was a mistake. I am dating your sister. I take responsibility for whatever part I played in leading you on, but nothing is going to come from it. Do you understand?” I ask her.

I hear her laughing on the other end.“D, you want to play hard to get? Fine. We’ll do it your way.”

“
No Emeri, I do not want to play hard to get. I do not want to play games period. I do not want to do anything to hurt your sister. I had a weak moment and lost my head. That is all. And I would prefer that you didn’t call me D. No one calls me that. No one.”

“
You don’t want to hurt the princess?” She snorted on the other end of the line. “What about me? Why is she better? She is the one that grew up with the family I always wanted. Why does she get to have everything?”

What the hell kind of psychological issues does this girl have? And why am I the one she thinks will play therapist with her?

“
I don’t have an answer to your question, and I would like to recommend that you see someone about your issues. As much as I appreciate your call I must go now.”

I hear her sobbing softly.

“
D, didn’t you like what I did for you earlier? You seemed to like it.”

The doorbell rings at that moment. Naima has arrived. Thank goodness. This crazy conversation was getting the best of me.

“
Emeri, it was a weak moment, nothing more. I have to hang up now. Take care.” I hang up the phone without listening for a reply.

Making my way down the steps to the door, I begin to wonder what I am going to do about Emeri. How could I possibly have a problem with someone I have only known a few minutes? I look out the peephole.
Shit
. Could my day get any worse?

I open the door.

“
Amber, this is certainly an unexpected surprise, what are you doing here?” I ask her as I lean in the doorframe. I have no intentions of letting her inside.

“
I came to talk to you face-to–face,” she says shifting her weight. “Aren’t you going to let me in?”

“
I hadn’t planned on it,” I tell her. “Once again, what are you doing here? What do you have to say to me that you couldn’t say over the phone?”

“
I wanted to see you Baby. I missed you.”

“
Amber, you see me at the doctor appointments,” I pointedly remind her. “I check on you all the time, so let’s cut the bull and get to the real reason you decided to pop up. I have plans this evening and I don’t really have time for your games today.”

Her eyes began to water, “Baby why are you being so mean to me? I thought that you would be happy to see me.”

I slowly run my hand down my face. Had all the women on the planet lost their minds today? Damn. I was becoming immune to tears. Women used them to get their way. She had the wrong man on the wrong day.

“
I’m confused,” I tell her. “I thought we had this discussion months ago about seeing other people. I thought we were only to have contact when it came to the baby. Was I the only one present for that conversation?”

She was looking for a way to get inside my house. I could tell before she even opened her mouth.

“
No, I heard you loud and clear. It is just that I am not feeling that great today. This baby seems to think that I am not supposed to eat, sleep or walk. My ankles are beginning to swell. I just need a massage and some comfort. I feel so alone.”

“
And yet you felt well enough to drive yourself clear across town to my house so that I could play nurse to you?” I ask looking at her skeptically. “Amber you should have called first. I have plans this evening. I really cannot play nurse to you right now. I do want you to be safe, so please go straight home and call me when you get there.”

No sooner had the words come out of my mouth, does Naima’s car pull up. I look to the sky, trying to ask God for moral support, but He must have been on break, because I was left to sort out this mess alone.

Amber could barely wait for Naima to get out of the car before she pounces on her like a cat after a mouse.

“
So, is she the plans for this evening, the reason that you can’t take care of the woman pregnant with your child?”

That stops Naima in her tracks and she turns to head back to her car.

I take off running down my steps to get to her. I could only shake my head.
Damn, damn, damn
. I imagine what must be going through her head.

I caught her by the waist and turn her to face me.

“
It’s not what you think.” Before she could say a word, I go into a full-blown explanation. “I have not slept with Amber since before I met you. I found out after you and I started dating that she was pregnant. I was going to break the news to you tonight.” I look into her frosty pain-filled eyes. “Please Baby, believe me. I never want to hurt you, ever. I love you.” I could see the surprise in her face. I have never said that to her before. “I’m trying to be as honest as I can be. I cannot deny that Amber is pregnant and will be a part of my life. It is what it is. I don’t want to lose you, but I must take care of my responsibility.” I saw it then. Her eyes were softening. She believed me; we could survive this.

“
Damir, the baby is not a problem. I have two children of my own. Who am I to judge? But why didn’t you feel you could tell me?”

“
I didn’t want to ruin anything. I know you had issues with your soon-to-be ex-husband and I wanted to be everything to you that he couldn’t be.”

“
Baby, you already do that by being who you are. Above all though, I have to be able to trust you. This is a life-altering situation. You have to be able to talk about these kinds of things.” She reaches up and caresses the side of my face with her hand.

“
Excuse me!” Amber yells.

Damn, I forgot that she was there. I turn to face her, and so did Naima. I do not know if I am supposed to introduce them or what. Amber was already in one of her moods. Naima surprised me by brushing past me and approaching Amber first.

“
Hi, I’m Naima,” she says with a smile and sticking out her hand for Amber to shake.

Amber looks at her through narrow eyes. She passed Naima her to get to me.

“
I cannot believe that you are already dating someone else. And then of all people, her.” She is directly in my face at this point, looking at me through anguished eyes. “This is not over. We are not over, you mark my words.” Having said her piece, she gets in her car and leaves.

Haven
18

“
You will never believe who Damir is dating.” It was Wednesday morning, Amber had not been to work in two days, and we
were catching up with our daily gossip in the kitchen when she came in shouting.

“
Probably not,” I tell her as I continue to stir my coffee. She gives me one of her ‘bitch please’ looks.

“
What?” I shrug indifferently, as I taste my coffee. “I’m probably not going to guess who Damir is dating. How would I know?”

“
He is dating Naima,
your
Naima.”

My mouth fell open and I almost dropped my cup. “Shut up! Are you serious?”

“
More serious than this baby I am carrying.”

“
How did you find out?” I ask, eyeing her intently.

“
Okay,” Amber begins, already assuming her dramatic story-telling position by talking with her hands.

“
I went over to Damir’s on Saturday because I wanted to see him. I pull up and he comes out to talk to me. He wouldn’t even let me in. Can you believe that shit? I mean I’m carrying his baby for goodness sake.” She looked at me expectedly.

I was not sure if I was supposed to respond or not. Choosing not to say anything, I continue drinking my coffee.

“
Anyway,” she continues, “He’s talking to me like a salesman he is trying to get rid of. A short while later, your girl pulls up. As soon as she got out of the car, I announced my pregnancy, because I was not letting the shit go down like that. When she turned to leave, he took off running to explain the situation to her. He just left me standing there, assed out. Literally.”

“
Wow” was all I could think to say.

“
I just told you that your friend is fucking my baby daddy and the first thing to come out of your mouth is wow?” Amber gazes at me in bewilderment.

“
I mean, shoot, I don’t know what I mean. It’s just so crazy.” Consumed with my own thoughts, I could not believe the ways of the world. Naima is dating Amber’s ex. I chuckle softly to myself. All our lives were a mess.

“
I am not going to let this shit fly. Damir picked the wrong one to mess with. They’ll be sorry - him and his hazel-eyed whore,” she whispers with ill-concealed contempt.

Hearing Amber say, ‘they’ll be sorry’ quickly snapped me out of my trance and I gave her my undivided attention.

“What do you mean by they’ll be sorry?” I ask her cautiously. Naima and I may have our differences, but that did not mean I wanted anything bad to happen to her.

Amber, realizing her mistake, quickly relents and says “Nothing,” and walks out of the kitchen. I sit there a little longer thinking about our conversation. I had a bad feeling about Amber. The chick just does not seem to be wrapped too tight to me. I think she has a few loose screws in her head.

Picking my child up from football practice that evening, I notice that he was talking to a man whose silhouette seems vaguely familiar to me. Getting out of the car, I walk over to satisfy my curiosity. When I was in the vicinity of them, I recognize him immediately. Running over I yell for Kaven to get into the car. Upon reaching them I say, “How dare you come here and speak to
my
son?” My voice barely containing the rage I am feeling.

I looked down at Kaven who was eyeing both of us strangely, probably trying to figure out why his mother was acting like a raving lunatic.

“Kaven, I told you to get in the car.”

“But Ma, I wa-”

“
Go now and if I have to tell you again, it’s going to be me and you. You understand?”

He hung his head down and muttered, “Yes, ma’am,” and retreats to the car.

Turning back to face the object of my rage, I speak to him again.

“You have no right to be here. How dare you?”

“Actually,” he says finally speaking, “I have every right to be here and I will continue to be around.”