Fitness 4Play: One Night Stand (Novel 1) (11 page)

"Devin, isn't my little cousin adorable?"
says Lucy. Her light brown eyes gleam while caressing Antwan's
stomach. My palms are sweaty and my throat is dry as a desert. The
irony of my secret coming over to Lucy's house is a cruel twist of
fate. I refuse to let Lucy see me sweat. I attempt to hold it
together.

"Yes, he is a handsome little thing," I
murmur. I was being truthful. Keisha's baby is gorgeous. He is
almost five months old. Guilt overcomes me for covertly analyzing
his facial features for any possible resemblance. It's one thing to
examine Facebook photos but another to see him in living color.
Still, I'm not sure. Antwan has Keisha's eyes, mouth and nose. His
skin tone is milk chocolate like mine. Keisha has a caramel,
hazelnut skin complexion. Whoever the daddy is, chances are he is a
dark skin fellow.

As Keisha and Lucy converse amongst
themselves about family stuff, my mind drifts into deep thought. I
can't believe Keisha has the audacity to put me through this
bullshit. In addition, she fails to ever mention she was Lucy's
cousin. When Keisha was trying to hook up with me, I informed her
about my relationship. I even gave her Lucy's full name! I was too
desperate to get Keisha out of my life.

My mind churns out this revelation: Keisha
did all of that while pregnant. The puzzle pieces are starting to
fit. All those times Keisha texted "We need to talk", she wanted to
say she was pregnant. She decided to keep it to herself until after
Antwan was born. Her perverse logic suggests if she cannot be with
me, then this baby news would at least throw a wrench in my
relationship with Lucy.

Ironically, the relationship is with her
cousin. I bet she planned this scenario where she, Lucy and I would
be here together. This is some low-down shit Keisha is pulling. She
could care less about anyone else in this room (including her son)
except for herself. I want to confess to Lucy that her little
cousin may be my son. I just don't want things to get ugly; thus, I
remain mute.

"So Devin, you got a nice Mustang out there.
What you do for a living?" Keisha asks. Of course, she is aware I'm
a personal trainer. Keisha is being messy right now. To maintain
peace, I will play along.

"Thank you. I'm a personal trainer," I reply
with a facetious smile.

"Yes. My baby is the best trainer in Memphis!
So good that he is working on getting his own gym," Lucy says.

"Oh really? How interesting. What's the gym
name gonna be?" asks Keisha. I can tell she is enjoying every bit
of this. She is aware that Lucy remains uninformed about our one
night stand in which conceivably led to the existence of
Antwan.

"Fitness 4Play," I mumble.

"Huh? I can't here you. Please speak louder
Mr. Businessman," Keisha puts her hand up to her ear. Her sarcasm
infuriates me. This bitch is going to come into my woman's house
where I was trying to confess peacefully and make it all about her.
In addition, do this in front of my alleged son. I can't take it
anymore.

I turn my body towards Lucy and grab her
hand. "Lucy, baby, I got something to tell you."

"Ok. I thought you were going to wait until
later to tell me what was on your mind."

"I was but at this moment, it is the right
time to confess." Lucy eyebrow raises. I took a deep breathe.
Keisha interjects.

"What Devin is trying to say is Antwan is his
son and he wanted all of us to be together to break the news." Lucy
jaw literally drops. Her eyes appear to almost pop out of her head.
Surprisingly, she didn't respond. Not one word. Her body froze. Not
one movement. I can't believe Keisha seized my confession away from
me. I wanted to be the one to break the news to Lucy. In an
instant, I switch from confession mode to doing damage control.

"Wait a minute!" I exclaim. "For one, we have
yet to prove Antwan is my son. Secondly, I had no idea you were
coming over here. Hell, I was unaware you were related to Lucy
until today!" Antwan starts crying.

"Keep your voice down. You're upsetting our
son," Keisha replies. She rocks him back and forth. He eventually
stops.

I shook my head. I calm down a bit and focus
my attention on Lucy. Lucy remains in a state of shock. It as if
her mind took a vacation. My mind tries to conjure up something to
say to her. Nothing . I'm clueless what to say to comfort her,
especially with Keisha's presence. I touch Lucy's arm but she
barely budges. I can only imagine the disdain she feels for me at
this moment. I want to inform Lucy regardless of the outcome of the
DNA test (which will happen sooner than later), she is still my
lady. I pray she still wants me to be her man.

The room fell eerily silent for a few
moments. Out of nowhere, Lucy breaks the silence.

"Ummm, I think you both should leave right
now," Lucy says, still looking away from us.

"But baby. Let me explain. I know things are
misconstrued right now so please let me explain," I plead.

She turns her head towards me. Her stare is
akin to a lion seeing a gazelle in the wild. Her body language
reeks of lividness. Her face fiery red.

"Devin, you and your baby mama should take
your newborn and leave right now."

"But Lucy. We still don't know if…" She cuts
me off.

"Nigga, I don't care! You slept with my
cousin! That's enough right there! And you got her pregnant too?
You don't have shit to say me Devin! Now leave or I'm calling the
police!" I never seen Lucy this upset before. During previous
arguments, she got upset but not like this. But viewing the
situation from her viewpoint, I understand. I fucked up. I should
have told her about the Keisha-baby situation months ago. I let it
linger for too long. So long, Keisha was actually the one who tells
her.

"Before I go, just know he ate me out at his
mama's house during his dad's party!" Keisha blurts out.

Damn! I knew Keisha would expose that secret
too. With how irate Lucy is, why would you reveal that at this
moment? This girl has no conscious.

"Baby, now that was a mistake. She
blindfolded me! I thought it was you surprising me. I stopped as
soon as I seen it wasn't you," I said to Lucy. Lucy stares at me
with her arms cross. She breathes heavier than a fat man running a
marathon. Damn, I got a lot of damage control ahead of me to
perform. Tears stream down her face.

"Well at this point, I don't give a damn. I
just want both of you to leave. You first Devin," says Lucy, while
trying to fight back tears.

It was no use of trying to explain any
further. I stand up and exit Lucy's residence. I got in my car and
sped off before Keisha made it outside.

The quarrel I tried to prevent by going to
Lucy's house occurred by who else…Keisha! Lucy probably does not
want to talk for at least a few days. Nonetheless, I will try to
contact her tomorrow. I refuse to let our relationship, friendship,
love, and trust be destroyed by a one night stand with her cousin.
It is time to get a paternity test ASAP. Lucy and my relationship
can't continue until I do so. Besides, I cannot let Keisha hold
Antwan over me any longer. Times like this make an average man give
up. But not me. Not Devin Antwan Banks. I vow to make things
right.

A few days has elapsed after the debacle at
Lucy's house. I have not spoken to my woman ever since. My phone
calls, texts, emails, and Facebook messages go unanswered. Hell, I
am thinking about mailing a postcard. Back in my player days, I
prided myself on never blowing up a female's phone. If a woman were
feeling me, she would call most of the time. I was the prize.

Now that I'm in love, the prize is claimed.
It hurts Lucy is non-reciprocal to any of my attempts to contact
her. Can I blame her though? I did her wrong to withhold the secret
of possibly being the father to, of all kids, her little
cousin!

Back in the day, I remember my mom looked at
soap operas daily. General Hospital, Days of Our Lives, All My
Children, etc. You name it and she watched it. I never cared for
them. Soap operas were over-dramatic and never happened in real
life. Years later, I'm in a real life soap opera. I know one thing:
This is a soap opera my mama won't see!

I reached out to Keisha. I'm trying to
communicate with her so I can get a paternity test. Antwan is a
precious little kid but I pray to God and every angel that he is
not mine. Communicating with Keisha is similar to getting a root
canal. It seems like this woman gets more delusional every time I
try to talk to her. She believes a paternity test is unnecessary
because Antwan is mine. Yesterday, she told me my name is on his
birth certificate. That didn't surprise me. Still, I can't believe
Keisha would put my name on such a document without my knowledge or
consent. The audacity of this broad!

She claims I am trying to escape paternal
duties. Bullshit! I would not bother getting a paternity test to
determine if Antwan is my son if that was the case. I'm open to
co-parenting with Keisha if the test results are positive. I can
only imagine how difficult that will be.

This paternity testing ordeal is foreign to
me. So I decided to hook up with someone who got experience in this
arena, Big Rob.

(Triple 6 Mafia "Dis Bitch, Dat
Hoe" playing in Rob's truck stereo)

"Thanks playa. I really needed this favor", I
said.

"No problem Dab. I've been in your shoes on
two occasions. Hopefully, unlike for me, this turns out favorably
for you," Rob replies.

Rob and I both took off today so we can go to
the courthouse to file for a paternity test on my behalf. I rode
with him in his 2005 black Dodge Ram truck. They say one's car is
indicative of their character. Like his truck, Big Rob is huge,
rough and tough. When it comes to his two kids, he is soft as
tissue paper. On his dashboard was a picture of Big Rob and his
kids at Disneyland.

"So playa. How are your little ones doing?" I
ask. A warm, peaceful smile forms over Rob's face. He lowers the
music volume.

"Mane, they are doing well. I hate seeing
their mamas but it's all good. As long they're taken care of, I can
deal with them."

"Cool. They always want to throw brothers
under the bus for not being good fathers. But when we are handling
our fatherly duties, recognition is nowhere to be found."

"Yea Dab. That's true. Despite the issues I
deal with my baby mothers', I thank God for my little ones. I was
wilding out here in these streets before they were born. Back then,
I didn't give a damn anymore after realizing the NFL wasn't in my
cards. I just wondered what my purpose in life was."

Rob's facial expression illustrates the pain
he was in prior to fatherhood. I was aware of his discouragement
for not fulfilling his pro football dreams. However, I had no idea
it bothered him that much.

"Wow. I had no clue at all that is how bad
you felt about not making it to the pros," I said. He slowly shook
his head.

"Well now you got a little boy and girl who
give you all the purpose you need in the world." He nods his
head.

"Yep, I sure do. They saved me from myself.
Again, I thank God for them," replies Big Rob.

Despite all the strife he endures with his
baby's mothers, Big Rob loves his kids unconditionally. He easily
could have excused himself from his children lives'. Instead, he
takes care of them without regard, as a father should. Listening to
Big Rob's motivates me to be a better man for Antwan if he is
mine.

"Well Dab, here we are. 201 Poplar Avenue.
You ready to handle this business?" Rob asks. I nod my head.

"You gave me the advice I needed about not
keeping the secret away from Lucy. You taught me to not run away
from my problems, but run towards them. Well I'm running towards
this one too Big Rob." We exchange fist bumps.

"I'm glad to hear that. Speaking of Lucy,
just give her time. She's a woman so they internalize things longer
than us. She still loves you so she'll holler back at you soon. I
guarantee it."

"Mane, I hope so. A brother can't be
pussy-less for too many more nights," I joke. We start
laughing.

"You a fool Dab. Let's get out," Rob replies,
chucking.

"I'm just saying but okay."

I took a deep breath while scanning the
perimeter of the building. The sign on the building read Shelby
County Criminal Justice Complex. It's been one time when I came
here with my mother to bail my father out of jail for a DUI charge
back in the 1990s. Thank God, I never had a reason to frequent 201
Poplar. Despite growing up in the inner city, I was not enticed to
live a troublesome lifestyle unlike some of my childhood friends.
Other than a few schoolyard fights due to being bullied, I never
was a troublemaker. If I was going to be successful, steering clear
of and anyone involved in trouble was essential. That is why I
barely communicate with most of my childhood friends today.

I step out of Big Rob's truck and head
towards the entrance. This is going to be a life-changing event
either way. Regardless if I am the father or not, this Keisha-baby
ordeal will make me better a man.

"Hello. How may I assist you?" asks the
female Shelby County jail employee.

"Yes. I would like to file a court order for
a paternity test," I assert.

I am determine to make things right with Lucy
and this is the first step.

(Tavares "She's Gone" playing in
the background)

It is a Saturday afternoon. Here I am lying
in bed listening to sappy love songs like a 15-year-old schoolgirl.
Two weeks has passed since I last heard Lucy's sweet, womanly
voice. I check my phone non-stop in hopes of seeing her call or
text message. Any sound that resembles my call or text ringtone
makes me pick it up faster than the Roadrunner in those Looney
Tunes cartoons. She may be gone. Damn it! I cannot shake this woman
for anything. They say losing your first true love feels like a
punch to the gut. Not for me. Losing Lucy feels more like a punch
to the nuts!