Flawbulous (4 page)

“Don't be fooled for a second by those big brown doe
eyes. I've seen the way she looks at you!”

 

–
Angel King

 

“I wish I didn't have to go. I hate that I have to leave with you feeling this way,” lamented Duke, zipping his suitcase as he and Angel prepared to part ways at the Thomas Square Streetcar Historic District home he once shared with his late wife and hoped to share again with Angel.

“I know I've been a little down since the accident, but I'm fine. I'm not giving up on Sullivan,” vowed Angel.

“It's not too late for me to cancel, you know. You, Miley, and Morgan are my priorities. If you need me here to help you get through this, say the word.”

“No, don't do that. You've already booked the flight and hotel, and you have people at work depending on you to make this deal happen. It's only two days,” said Angel with a smile. “I should be able to survive that long without you.”

Duke kissed her forehead. “You always take other people's feelings into consideration. It's one of a thousand things I love about you. Thanks again for volunteering to come over and look after the girls. They love having you here.”

“Duke, neither Miley nor Morgan has my blood coursing through their veins, but you know those girls are as much mine as they are yours. You never have to thank me for loving them, or you, for that matter.”

“I hope you know how much you're appreciated. Not only for watching the girls, but also for the way you stepped up to help out after Reese died. You have so much going on in your own life, but I don't think there's ever been a time when you weren't here for us.”

“Nor will there be! We're a family.”

Duke nodded. “Indeed, which is why I've been trying for months to get that ring back on your finger and make it official! You keep blowing me off.”

“You know nothing could be further from the truth, babe. I just want to be sure this time, you know? We've broken up so many times before.”

“But we always find our way back to each other, Angel. All those issues we had with infidelity and trust—that's over now. I'd never hurt you that way again. You believe that, don't you?”

Angel exhaled. “I'm getting there. At Sullivan's party, Lawson said any couple who has been through everything we have and still wants to be together must be soul mates. I'm starting to believe her.”

“Well, I've known that since seeing you that day in the library at Howard,” recalled Duke. “I knew at that moment, you were going to be the woman I was going to marry.”

“Did you know I was going to be the woman you divorced too?” Angel replied, ribbing him.

“What can I say? I was young and selfish when we got married the first time. Not to undercut anything I felt for Reese, because I loved her until the day she died, but my heart never strayed too far from you.”

The painful memories of their split came flooding back to Angel. “Maybe not, but the rest of you did.”

“I won't make the same mistakes twice, though. Angel, having you in my life is the reason I know God is real. I know I don't deserve those girls or you, but God looked past all my faults and sins and led me back to you. I'd die before I'd do anything to screw it up again.” He planted a tender kiss on her lips. “I love you, baby.”

“Aww,” gushed Angel, moved. “When you say things like that, you make it almost impossible for me not to be crazy in love with you!”

“Do you want me to stop?”

“Yes, unless you want me to rip up this plane ticket so you can't go anywhere,” quipped Angel. “Actually, I don't mind you going to LA as much as I hate that you're going with your starry-eyed assistant.”

Duke laughed. “Mya is harmless, trust me!”

“About as harmless as a rattlesnake!” exclaimed Angel. “Don't be fooled for a second by those big brown doe eyes. I've seen the way she looks at you!”

“Mya's a kid. She's what? Twenty? I like my women grown and seasoned like you.” He leaned down to kiss her. “Honestly, she's a good girl. She has never crossed the line and is always professional. She's there trying to fulfill her internship requirements, that's all.”

“If you say so,” said a doubtful Angel. “A woman knows these things, Duke.”

“There is nothing that girl can do for me. She's practically Miley's age. However, I know exactly what you can do for me. . . .”

She pulled away from him. “Now, now . . . we agreed to wait, remember?”

Duke released his sexual frustration in a heavy sigh. “That's a lesson I've learned the hard way, pun intended.”

Angel giggled. “I know, but I want us to get it right this time, which means no shacking up, no sleeping over, and no sex until we get married . . . again.”

“I guess we're working our way backward. We got married first, divorced, then shacked up, and now we're waiting to have sex.”

“It'll all work itself out in the end. In the meantime, you better get out of here. I don't want you to miss your plane.”

“You're right. I'm just going to run upstairs and kiss the girls good-bye one last time. Then I'm coming back to kiss my other girl one last time too.” Duke winked at Angel before heading upstairs.

Duke's phone vibrated, signaling that a text message had just come through. Angel's curiosity got the best of her, and she picked up the phone and read it. Looking forward to a great time in LA. Mya.

Angel placed the phone back where Duke had left it, trying to convince herself that the text was innocent and that she had nothing to worry about. She smiled, remembering both Lawson's and Duke's words about their relationship. For a moment, she wholly believed that Duke could go with Mya and keep everything platonic and professional while they were in Los Angeles.

Then she eyed his plane ticket and remembered her mother's harsh warning to her the first time she took Duke back after he cheated on her. A
leopard never changes his spots. He changes only his location.

“You know the saying . . .
Mama's baby,
Daddy's maybe.
”

 

–
Lawson Banks

 

Sitting on Lawson's living room sofa, Mark lowered his head into his hands as the news sank in. “
Pregnant?
You all are just kids yourself.”

“Yeah, kids who've been playing grown folks' games!” retorted Reginell and poked Namon. “Boy, what happened to all those condoms I gave you?”

“You too?” murmured Garrett.

Lawson eyeballed Shari with suspicion. “And you're positive that Namon is the only one who could be this child's father?”

Shari nodded. “He's the only one I've been with.”

Namon was offended. “It's my baby, Ma, so stop asking her that.”

Lawson sucked her teeth. “You know the saying . . .
Mama's baby, Daddy's maybe,
” she grumbled.

“Lawson, don't make it worse,” cautioned Garrett. “Namon says it's his child, so let it go.”

Mark sat up. “Well, look, what's done is done. Now we've got to figure out how to make the best of this situation.” He turned to Shari. “Do your parents know?”

Shari shook her head. “Not yet. I'm going to tell my mama when we leave here. I'll write my dad and tell him sometime next week.”

Mark was confused. “Write him?”

“He's in jail,” said Lawson, filling in the blanks. “He'll make a fine grandfather, won't he?”

Namon groaned. “Mama . . .”

Lawson threw up her hands and walked away from him.

“What are y'all going to do about school? Living arrangements?” questioned Mark. “How are you going to take care of this baby?”

Namon stepped forward and spoke up. “I was thinking maybe Shari and me could find a place together, maybe even get married in a year or two—”

“One mistake is gracious plenty!” interjected Lawson, returning to the fold. “We don't need the two of you making another one.”

“Lawson, this baby isn't a mistake,” announced Reginell. “Just a surprise.”

“I wasn't talking about the baby. I meant the situation,” explained Lawson. “At the same time, we're not going to stand here and sugarcoat this disaster, either! Neither one of them is in any kind of position to take care of a baby!”

“I can get a job,” volunteered Namon.

Lawson rolled her eyes. “Doing what? Flipping burgers or waiting tables somewhere? I hope you realize that's all that's out there for an eighteen-year-old with no education, no experience, and no connections.”

“She ain't lying!” added Reginell, recalling her own odd jobs waitressing, which soon blossomed into exotic dancing to make ends meet. “Why do you think I'm back in school?”

“And what happens to school?” Lawson asked her son. “Are you simply gonna drop out?”

Namon gulped. “If I have to, I can leave school for a little while or go online.”

Lawson tried to reason with him. “Namon, I don't think you're being realistic. Everybody can't excel in online classes, and if you drop out, chances are that you're not going back. I've seen it too many times.”

“You didn't go to college right off, but you made it, and you were younger than me,” asserted Namon. “If you did it, we can do it too.”

Lawson shook her head. “It wasn't easy, son, by any stretch of the imagination. You don't remember this, but there were plenty of winter days when we were somewhere cold because I couldn't afford to pay for heat, and more than one night that we had to eat sleep for dinner. It was a daily struggle for years. You think I want that for you and Shari or this baby?”

“We're not stupid, Ma. We know it'll be hard at first, but we can do it.”

Lawson was confounded. “How, Namon?”

Namon shrugged his shoulders. “I don't know, but Shari and I will figure it out.”

“‘We'll figure it out' is not a plan! When that child is hungry or needs a doctor or day care, ‘we'll figure it out' can't be your response.”

“We plan to give this baby all the love he needs,” said Shari. “That counts for something, doesn't it?”

Lawson dismissed her comment. “You can't feed and clothe a baby on love, Shari. That takes one of the many things you all don't have, which is finances. I bet you don't have the cost of a package of diapers between the two of you!”

“Lawson, they're scared enough without you being so negative,” chimed in Reginell.

“I'm trying to get them to see reality, Reggie. This baby started costing money the second it was conceived, and they don't even know it. You kids are living in a fantasy world. You have no idea what you're about to face. Everything costs money—
everything!
The only thing free these days is salvation. You can't even bring this child into the world without paying off the doctors and the hospital. Who's paying for that and prenatal care? Have you gone to the doctor yet, Shari?”

“I had a pregnancy test at the free clinic on campus, but I can get on Medicaid,” Shari answered in a quiet voice.

Lawson sighed. “It's not the government's responsibility to take care of you or this child.” Lawson turned to Namon. “You don't even have the money to pay for the vitamins the baby needs to come out healthy.”

“Well, we were kinda thinking our families could help us out too,” admitted Namon.

“Oh, really?” Lawson laughed. “You see that, Mark! They're already planning to pawn this responsibility off of us! I don't think so.”

“Lawson, you're not being reasonable,” said Mark. “We can't act like we don't know what it's like to be in their position.” He placed a hand on Namon's shoulder as a sign of support. “Of course we'll help you, son.”

Lawson fired back. “No, Mark, you mean
you
don't know what it's like to be in their position. I know exactly how it is. I was going through it alone, while you were living your carefree life in college!”

“And we both know why that is, don't we?” Mark's temper flared, as evidenced by his throbbing veins. “Nobody told you to keep my son from me! That was your choice!”

“Mark, you wouldn't have stepped up to the plate, and you know it!” ranted Lawson. “You were in no better position to take care of our son than Namon is to take care of his child.”

Mark frowned. “You don't know that. And if you hadn't been so selfish—”

“
Selfish?
” Lawson interrupted and charged toward Mark, ready for a full-on verbal attack. “First of all, if you hadn't brought your li'l nasty self to the party—”

“Wait a minute,” protested Reginell, stepping to her sister. “You ain't gon' be gettin' up in my man's face like that, Lawson!”

Garrett cut in and pulled his wife away. “You know what? I think we need a time-out. Let Reggie and me take the kids in the kitchen and talk with them, and we'll let the two of you hash this out and try not to kill each other.”

Lawson rolled her eyes and exhaled heavily.

“Babe, you okay?” asked Garrett.

“I'm fine,” huffed Lawson, before deep breathing to allow her anger to subside. “You're right. Mark and I need to discuss this alone, rationally and calmly.”

“I know that's asking a lot of you,” grumbled Mark. Lawson and Reginell both pierced him with stinging glares. “Sorry. We'll discuss it calmly and rationally, like you said.”

Garrett led Namon and Shari into the kitchen.

Reginell kissed Mark on the cheek. “Be good,” she warned him and followed behind Shari.

“You know we can't let this happen, don't you?” asked Lawson once they were all out of earshot.

“Lawson, he's eighteen. He's an adult. All we can do at this point is support his decisions.”

“Are you kidding me? Being eighteen makes him an adult by law, but we both know that Namon lacks the wisdom to make adult decisions. This is the same kid who, just six months ago, couldn't decide between Pop-Tarts or Toaster Strudels! We're talking his future, Mark. This could affect Namon for the rest of his life. We can't let him decide all willy-nilly without having some input.”

“Okay, we'll tell him where we stand, but the rest is up to him. I know you don't like it, but those are the facts.”

“And where
do
you stand, Mark?” Lawson demanded to know.

“I agree with you. I think they're in way over their heads, but I'm going to support whatever they decide to do.”

“Including keeping the baby?”

“Of course,” he replied flippantly. “Why wouldn't I?”

“Mark, you know they have no business having a baby.”

“Well, I think that's a moot point now. Shari's pregnant.”

Lawson looked up at him. “Being pregnant isn't the same thing as having a baby.”

“I'm no doctor, but isn't that what usually happens at the end of a pregnancy?”

Lawson began slowly pacing the floor. “Usually . . . not always.”

Mark watched her with misgivings. “What are you getting at, Lawson?”

She stopped. “All I'm saying is that there are options.”

“Yes, but those are options for Shari and Namon to ponder, not us.”

“But he listens to you, Mark,” beseeched Lawson, clinging to his arm. “If you told him that an abortion was the best thing—”

Mark eased her aside. “Do you hear yourself, Lawson? I'm not going to tell our son to make Shari abort their baby!”

“You don't have to put it in those terms. Just help him to see that it's the best thing.”

Mark shook his head in disbelief. “You're a piece of work, you know that?”

“Call me what you want, but I'm trying to protect my son.”

“From what? Accepting responsibility?”

“From taking on more responsibility than he can handle!”

“I think you underestimate him, Lawson. He's smart and resourceful. Besides, Namon hasn't done anything we didn't do at his age.”

“And you see how well that worked out! Namon and I struggled, living off welfare and food stamps in poverty for the first fourteen years of his life.”

“That's because I didn't know he existed. I would've provided for you and Namon. You know that.”

“I know you would like to think that, but, honestly, how much different would it have been if you had known, huh? You probably would've had to drop out of school to work, forfeiting your football scholarship and your chance to play professionally overseas. You would've ended up resenting him. Even though you were able to thrive professionally, look how much your relationship with him suffered. It was months before Namon could even stand to be in the same room with you.”

“Yeah, but we got through it. He will too.”

“Mark, Shari's home life is a mess. Her dad's a career criminal. Her mother is in and out of rehab when she isn't strung out on God knows what. Her sister already has three bastard babies, and she's only twenty-one. Her gangster brothers are following in their dad's footsteps to the nearest prison, to boot.”

“Yet despite all that, Shari finished high school with honors, got into college, and rose above her circumstances. From what I can see, she seems to have a good head on her shoulders.”

“Really? She got pregnant less than two months after being in college! Where was that
good head
then? I guess we know the answer to that one.”

“I believe our son played a big role in that conception too.”

“I'm not saying that Shari's a hood rat or anything like that, but she does come with a lot of baggage. Do you really want to introduce all that drama into our family?”

“We're not exactly a picture-perfect family, either. I have slept with you and your sister and have two baby mamas. Your husband fathered another child during your marriage. Reggie was a stripper. You were a teen parent. We're a far cry from the Huxtables!”

“We have morals and God in our lives,” Lawson stated, reasoning with him.

“Yet you're asking me to tell our son to kill his unborn child. How does that fit into your morals and spirituality?”

Lawson was silent.

“I shouldn't have said that,” admitted Mark. “I'm sorry.”

“It's fine. I know I won't earn any crowns in heaven for feeling this way, but, Mark, we're both educators. We see firsthand every day what happens to kids born to parents who aren't prepared to raise them. We see the cycle of poverty perpetuated generation after generation. We don't have to guess how this'll turn out, because we already know. I don't want that for my son or my grandchild. Namon isn't ready to be a father. You know he isn't ready. Nor is Shari ready to be anybody's mama.”

“It's not our call, Lawson. Believe me, I don't like it any more than you do. I wanted more for Namon, but actions have consequences. We had to learn that the hard way. Because he didn't listen, now he does too.”

Lawson couldn't hold back the tears any longer. “I wanted better for him. I didn't want him to repeat the same mistakes we made,” wailed Lawson. “He's my baby, Mark.”

Mark pulled her into an embrace. “I understand. He's my baby too.”

Lawson sobbed softly in Mark's arms.

Reginell returned to the living room unnoticed and was unsettled by the sight of her sister wrapped in her new husband's arms. “Oh, am I interrupting something?”