Dirty Little Secrets (27 page)

“Ms. Blake, Mr. Dunn will see you now,” the pretty receptionist said, escorting me through the glass doors. When Brian refused
to budge financially, Chrissie said it was time to get an attorney. She referred me to some top dogs in Woodbridge, New Jersey,
and luckily I got a decent amount of money for the jewelry I sold, so I could afford them.

I’d felt quite intimidated when I first entered the building. Forget about having an entire floor; the law firm owned the
whole damn building. There were glass and marble everywhere, and wraparound staircases. The place was just plush, plush, and
plusher. They were way out of my league, and it would take every cent I had to retain them.

“Good morning, Tyler, it’s nice to finally meet you,” the distinguished older gentleman said, smiling.

“It’s nice to meet you too, Mr. Dunn.”

“Stop with the formalities; call me Richard.” We shook hands, and I sat down on an antique leather chair.

“Okay, Richard,” I said meekly.

“Let’s get right down to it. I went over the notes from our conversations and the one with Mr. McCall’s attorney.”

“He has an attorney already?”

“Yes. As a courtesy to you I mailed a letter to Mr. McCall to see if he was willing to sit down and come up with an amicable
solution, and his response was a phone call fromhis attorney, Ted Armstrong.”

“What did he say? Are they willing to try to work things out without a court battle?”

“Unfortunately, no. It’s actually going to be a longer and more complicated procedure than first anticipated.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, confused.

“Not only does Brian want a paternity test, but he is also seeking custody of the child.”

“What? There has to be a mistake.”

“I’m afraid not. It could well be a legal ploy, but Mr. McCall is his own man. He doesn’t have to do anything that he doesn’t
want to. From what you told me and from my conversation with his attorney, your ex is trying to make this as difficult as
possible. I’m sure he’s betting that you can’t survive a long drawn-out battle, and that you’ll throw the towel in. From what
you’ve said, your finances are extremely tight, but we can try to schedule an emergency hearing to get you temporary support.
I’m not sure how successful it will be since you and McCall aren’t married, but he has been your sole means of support, so
it’s worth a shot.”

“Can he actually try to get custody of my child?”

“New Jersey law states that he can, but in all likelihood, he will not prevail. But a custody battle is costly and time consuming.”

“So where do we go from here?”

“As I said, I will file an emergency hearing to try to get you temporary support, but I don’t know how successful that will
be. It is important, however, for you to stay at your current residence and maintain your expenses.”

“Why?” I asked, wondering if he was trying to make me go broke.

“Because your expenses will be an indicator of just how much child support you’re entitled to. When you fill out your Case
Information Statement, the higher your monthly cost of living, the more you can ask for in support.”

“But, Richard, I’m living on a hope and a prayer right now. The last bit of money I have is going toward your retainer.”

“I understand, Tyler, but see what you can do. Your baby will
be here in a couple of months, and after the paternity test, the case will pick up in pace.”

“Push, Tyler, push… I can see the head. Come on now, push a little harder,” the doctor instructed.

“I can’t; it hurts too bad,” I screamed breathlessly, falling back down on the hospital bed.

“You can’t stop; you’re almost there. I’m going to count to three, and I want you to take a deep breath and push harder than
you ever have before.” I glanced down at my swollen hands and sweat-drenched body, feeling that I had nothing left in me to
push with. I had been in labor for twenty-eight hours, and now the baby’s head finally wanted to appear. I was tempted to
tell the doctor that I’d done my part and the baby was going to have to do the rest. Realizing that wasn’t an option, I closed
my eyes, called on the angels above, and mustered all my strength for one last and final push before hearing the cries of
joy. The last words I heard before passing out were, “Tyler, it’s a boy.”

When I woke and the nurse brought my little angel to me, I gazed into his dark eyes and decided he was the most beautiful
baby I had ever seen. He was perfect. I nicknamed him Poncho because he resembled a little Indian. With his dark reddish complexion
and jet-black straight hair, I was in awe and I couldn’t believe he was mine. I held my angel and he naturally latched on
to my breast, and in an instant our bond was cemented. As I smelled, touched, and held my son, all I could think of was Brian,
that he made this possible. On February 12, 2003, I received the greatest blessing in the world, and because of that Brian
would forever hold a special place in my heart.

Don’t ask me why, but for some reason people like to fuck with me. They get the impression that I’m weak and soft. They don’t
understand that I follow Teddy Roosevelt’s advice, “Speak softly and carry a big stick.” The point is, don’t ever let them
see you coming. I like it when people make the usual assumptions because that means they always underestimate me.

“Tyler, he is gorgeous.” Chrissie grinned as she held my three-month-old baby. It was her first time seeing him because, as
always, Chrissie had landed on her feet. She gave up her fight with Brian and was now heading the publicity department at
MTV and traveling constantly.

“Who would have thought that something so beautiful could cause so much pain? Honestly I didn’t think I was going to make
it. But then I concluded that if I didn’t pull through, Brian would raise him, so I found the strength,” I halfway joked.

“But wasn’t he worth it?” Chrissie asked in baby talk.

“Yes, and then some.”.

“You still haven’t told me his name.”

“Christian Andrew Blake.”

“That’s beautiful, Tyler. You’re so blessed to have such a beautiful baby.”

“I am blessed, especially since everything else is going downhill. After not paying my rent for four months, I finally got
an eviction notice.”

“I’m surprised they let you get away with it for that long.”

“I know, but the building manager felt sorry for me. When I finally revealed why my life was spiraling out of control, she
said she would hold off on the eviction process for as long as possible. I figure it will take another two months for them
to put me out, and by that time hopefully the judge will have ordered temporary support.”

“You still haven’t received any support from Brian? What the hell is the holdup?”

“Brian’s attorney keeps having the case postponed, using a million and one excuses. In the court of law, one thing money can
surely buy you is time. Brian is still probably trying to figure out how I’ve been able to survive for so long. He didn’t
count on the fact that I’m a child of God, and with faith God will deliver me from any dark path.”

“Praise the Lord to that, Tyler! Honestly I don’t think I could’ve been so brave. Your strength is amazing. I know I’ve told
you in the past that I admire you, but it was always for superficial reasons. But now I admire you for being the strongest
person I know. You had this baby against all odds, and now look at you. This is the happiest I’ve ever seen you.”

“I am happy. During the last few months I had a lot of time to
do some serious soul-searching. For so long I was yearning for love from every man I was with. Finally it dawned on me that
everything I need to be happy is inside me. The greatest love one possesses is self-love. I have that now. It took a lot of
bullshit to get here, but now that I’ve found it, I’ll never let it go.”

“Oh, Tyler, I love you,” Chrissie cried as she gave me a long tight hug.

“I love you, too.”

“Tyler, did you receive the documents that I mailed over?” Richard asked as I tried to eat, read, and talk to him before Christian
woke up from his nap.

“Yes, I’m still stunned and haven’t quite digested all those lies.”

“Well, Mr. McCall is definitely playing hardball.”

“Could you please call him Brian?” I said, interrupting. “Calling him Mr. McCall makes him sound like a respectable human
being, which obviously isn’t the case.”

“I apologize, Tyler, but calling him by his last name is my way of keeping it impersonal. I’ll be more than happy to call
him Brian if you wish.”

“I understand; please continue with what you were saying.”

“With the allegations he is making, he’s definitely hitting below the belt. I must ask you though, Tyler, did you have a coke
addiction?”

“Hell, no! I briefly dabbled with pills, but that was way before I even met Brian, and I surely wasn’t addicted to them.”

“What about the allegations that you broke up because he found out you were a stripper and a call girl? He says that’s why
he is demanding a paternity test.”

“More lies. Why would I need to be a stripper or a call girl when he was taking care of me? I didn’t need the money.”

“He says it was to support your costly coke habit.”

“That is a bunch of crap!”

“Have you seen Brian at all?”

“As a matter of fact, he has been over here just about every day since Christian was born.”

“Really? What has the conversation been like?”

“I don’t really talk to him. I let him spend time with his son, and then he leaves.”

“Interesting…He is demanding a paternity test, but yet he is coming over to see a son he says he doesn’t know is his.”

“Don’t you get it? Brian knows Christian is his son. He is trying to drive me crazy. Aren’t you wondering why Christian is
six months old and Brian still hasn’t taken the paternity test?”

“Tyler, I never doubted that Christian is Brian’s son. I assumed Brian would play the I’m-not-sure-he’s-my-son card, at least
until we got to court. By visiting Christian on a regular basis, his actions show that he believes he’s the father. That’s
not going to sit well with the judge, especially since Brian isn’t giving you a dime.”

Two weeks later, Brian finally took the paternity test, and to no one’s surprise he was the father. It still didn’t motivate
him to write a check, but he insisted on seeing his son. None of my friends understood why I was allowing Brian to visit with
Christian when he refused to provide any financial help. I tried to explain that when you keep a man away from his child to
punish him, it doesn’t only hurt the man; it hurts the child, too. Also, if you keep a man away from his child long enough,
he will get over it. Especially if he has another child that he is able to be with whenever he wants. The first couple of
years are the most important,
because that is when men and their children bond. I didn’t want my antipathy toward Brian to interfere with the bond I hoped
he would share with his son.

After talking to Richard, I was weary and needed some fresh air. I was on my way out the door to take Christian for a walk
when the phone rang.

“Girl, turn your radio on to 107.5,” Ella shrieked.

“I can’t; I’mone foot out the door with Christian. Why, what’s up?”

“Wendy Williams is talking about Brian on her show.”

“What? What is she saying?”

“She is blasting him. She’s talking about how he threw his first baby mother, Beverly, out of the house with no car and no
money, and sent her packing back to Brooklyn. Now she’s talking about the court battle he has going on with you. She says
Brian needs to check himself because when you do dirt, dirt comes back to you.”

“Are you serious?”

“Serious as a heart attack. That’s what his trifling ass gets. Brian needs to get over his God complex. He thinks because
he has money and a little fame he can walk all over people. Obviously nobody has taught him about karma.”

“I can’t believe Wendy blew him up. But that’s why women love her, because she’s all about female empowerment.”

“You got that right,” Ella said. “Well, I have to get back to work. I just wanted to let you know that Brian’s secret is out
of the bag. Everyone knows what a jackass he is.”

Brian was on his way over to see Christian, and I hoped we could resolve our problems and put this nightmare behind us.
When I opened the door the first words out of his mouth were, “You ready to end this useless battle?” Surprised by his attitude,
I had a glimmer of hope that things would be easier to resolve than I had thought. Maybe he didn’t like the fact that the
Queen of Radio had put him on blast.

“Always have been,” I said coolly.

“No, you wanted to be Miss Free and Independent. But I’ve brought you to your knees, so I’m sure you’re ready to end this.”

“Excuse me?” I said, shocked by his cocky and over-the-top attitude.

“Tyler, listen. I always knew the baby was mine, but I needed concrete proof. You never can be one hundred percent sure these
days. But now that I have my proof, it’s time to move forward and end the bullshit. You read the documents, and you know I’ve
got you in a fucked-up predicament. Why don’t you stop with all this I-wanna-be-a-single-mother bullshit and come back to
me? I still love you, never stopped.”

“Brian, you never loved me, and if you did, you have a bizarre way of showing it. And whatever predicament you think you have
me in is a figment of your imagination. I’ve never done coke, and I definitely wasn’t a stripper or a call girl. No judge
is going to believe your lies. By the time we do go to court, the judge will be so turned off by your theatrics that you’ll
be begging me to settle.”

“I see you’re still the same naive bitch I met three years ago. Do you not know who I am? I already have my witness list prepared.
They will all testify about your out-of-control drug habit and how you sold your body to maintain it. Baby, you’re in the
big leagues, and money can pay for any lie you need. A broke bitch like you just needs to count your blessings that your baby
daddy got long paper. So you can either enjoy the benefits of
having some of my paper, or you can watch me win custody of my son and give you nothing.”