Get It Girls (24 page)

T
he next day, Jessica was in an especially upbeat mood because she was no longer on someone’s hit list and she could now breathe freely and get closer to Kenny.

She went down to Cleveland’s apartment and he explained to her everything that had gone down after they left. He told her to not worry too much about the killings because they left all the drugs and some money behind to set it up and made it looked like the gunman was Li’l man. They made it look like he was one of the robbers and that Cookie got caught in the crossfire. He looked at Jessica and said sadly, “We had to put a bullet in her to make it look consistent.”

Jessica agreed that it was the right thing to do. “What happened to Li’l man?”

Cleveland smirked and said, “He got it worse than them all—we turned him into a crackhead! And it’s no turning back for him now because we made him smoke at least twenty grams of crack in one sitting before his heart exploded. We also took out an insurance policy and put his prints on all the guns and left them inside the apartment just in case.”

“Cleveland, how you get so much information on Bosco, his location, and everything in the first place? You never told me.”

With a sly smile, Cleveland answered, “I never told you what my occupation in the military was?”

She shook her head.

“I was counter intelligence.”

She looked at Cleveland with surprise. “You were a spy, Cleveland?”

He tilted his head. “If I tell ya, I have to kill ya.”

They both laughed.

“Oh,” Cleveland remembered, “this is you guys’ share of the money from last night. We split it fifty-fifty, between the four of you and the four of us. That’s over ten thousand dollars for the each of you.”

Jessica was dumbfounded when he said how much their take was. He handed her their share of the money.

“I want you to know, Jessica, I wasn’t in it for the money. I did it because it was the right thing to do.”

Jessica nodded and truly believed him. “I know you were, Cleveland. So was I. And that reminds me, I never got a chance to thank you or the other guys.”

He waved her off. “You don’t have to thank us. I would have did it any old way because you like a daughter to me now. As far as the other men are concerned, they’d do it just to do it because they are patriots.”

Jessica nodded and gave him a hug and a kiss on his cheek.

**********

Jessica arrived at Kenny’s apartment later that night and knocked on his door. Kenny opened the front door and simply stared at her. Jessica eyed the floor like a little girl trying to make up with her best friend.

“Are you ok?” asked Kenny in an emotionless tone.

Jessica folded her arms. “Yes, I’m ok, now.”

Kenny continued to lean on his door. “So, what do you want now, a place to lay your head for the night and leave as soon as you wake up again?”

Jessica knew that Kenny was taking the short end of it all and wanted to make up with him.

“No, Kenny, I came to spend some quality time with you.”

Kenny nodded and opened the door for her to enter. Jessica walked into his apartment and sat on his sofa and let out a loud sigh of relief.

Kenny stared down upon her and asked, “Long night?”

Jessica remained silent.

“What’s the matter, Jessica? Don’t you think I have the right to know what I’m involved in?”

Jessica simply stood up and gave him a long passionate kiss and then led him into the bedroom.

Jessica stayed with Kenny for nearly a week and they made love the whole time she was with him. They grew even closer as they talked for nights on end. She told him everything about Cleveland and his crew, getting back with her crew of Vonda, Tiny, and Lynn, and even Bosco and Cookie. She held nothing back, and he was glad that she came out of it alive and they could now build a life together.

**********

It was almost fall, and three months had passed since the Bosco incident. Everything was going well for Jessica. Her relationship with Kenny was as strong as ever, and she was spending her time between her mother’s house and Kenny’s. Her mother was back home and back at work, and their relationship couldn’t have been better—but, just when things couldn’t have been better, something would come up to rock Jessica’s world. She was pregnant.

Jessica had been throwing up and feeling nauseous for weeks, refusing to believe that she was in fact pregnant. But when she missed her third menstrual cycle she began getting worried and asked Vonda to come with her to the local health clinic at Harlem Hospital. The doctor later told her that she was around three months into her pregnancy. Jessica went numb and wasn’t sure what to do, and most of all, how Kenny would take it. Jessica knew that she wasn’t going to have an abortion under any circumstances and had no other choice but to tell the father—Kenny.

Jessica decided to break the news to Kenny in public, so she invited him out to dinner at a popular restaurant on the Upper East Side called One Fish Two Fish.

They were enjoying their dinner and having a good conversation and company when Jessica came out and said, “Kenny, there’s something I got to tell you.”

Kenny smiled and said, “What is it, babe?”

Jessica couldn’t keep eye contact with him and hung her head down low. “Kenny, I’m pregnant.”

Kenny continued to smile. “What?”

She finally raised her head to face him and repeated, “I’m pregnant, Kenny.”

Kenny was momentarily at a loss for words but continued to smile at her. The pause was excruciating to Jessica.

She lowered her head again and asked, “Kenny, could you say something?”

He regained his equilibrium and gathered his thoughts. “Are you sure?”

Jessica nodded. “Yes, I got the results back from the clinic yesterday.”

He nodded, but still remained silent.

“Can you say something, Kenny? Anything?”

He suddenly shook his head and asked, “So are you going to keep it?”

“Yes, Kenny. I’m going to keep it.”

He looked away from her for a moment, then stood up and sat down next to her on the other side of the table and hugged her. “So you mean, I’m going to be a father?”

Jessica smiled and nodded her head rapidly. She couldn’t fight back her tears because she was so happy.

“It’s ok, baby. It’s ok,” said Kenny as he stared off in a distance while softly rubbing her back.

J
essica eventually told her mother, but Ms. Jones wasn’t too excited about hearing the news. She felt that Jessica wasn’t ready to have any children because she wasn’t financially stable, and above all, she should be married first. Jessica knew her mother was right, but she didn’t have much of a choice.

Kenny had been asking her for weeks to move in with him, but each time she declined and said that she didn’t want to leave her mother alone. She argued that she still didn’t feel safe with her mother being in that block all alone even though it was now drug-free. Kenny said that he understood and would accept it for now, but when the baby came she would have to make some concessions for a better environment for the baby.

Jessica and her mother began looking for a bigger apartment but found nothing that looked good in their price range. The apartments that they liked were always in a drug infested area, and that was not an option for them anymore.

One Saturday Kenny drove Jessica and her mother around to look at an apartment. Since Kenny was already in the real estate business, he called up one of his business associates and asked for a favor. On this day, he turned his vehicle into a neighborhood that they both were familiar with: 139th Street between 7th and 8th Avenue.

Ms. Jones looked at her daughter and asked excitedly, “Jessica, you found us an apartment in our old block?”

Jessica looked at her mother and smiled slyly. “Something like that.”

They found a parking space and got out of the car and began walking up the block together, admiring the perfect row homes and reminiscing on their formidable years growing up in the neighborhood. When Jessica and her mother came to their former place of residence they stood and looked over their old home with nostalgic sadness and pride. Jessica put an arm around her mother’s shoulder because she knew her mother was thinking about the good years she’d had in the building with her, her brother Jordan, and especially her father.

Her mother exhaled deeply and said, “Let’s go,” and waited for her daughter to take the lead and show her what building they would be living in, but Jessica stood there and smiled. What Jessica did next almost caused Ms. Jones to lose her breath—she extended her hand and presented her mother with a new a set of keys.

Her eyes widened, and Ms. Jones placed her hands toward her mouth. “Jessica, what is this?”

She smiled and said proudly, “It’s a set of keys to your new home.”

Mrs. Jones let out a cry. “Jessica, what are you saying?”

“I’m saying, this is our new home. I bought the building for you, Mama.”

Ms. Jones let out a huge scream and jumped excitedly in her arms and hugged her with all her might and kissed her and Kenny.

“Mama, Kenny found out that the bank still owned the mortgage and it was still up for sale. I had some money put away and made a down payment and took over the mortgage.”

Jessica stared at her mother looking over the building again and she seemed to sadden. “What’s the matter, Mama? Aren’t you excited about us having our home back?”

She nodded and said, “Yes, but I can’t move in here with y’all. I would feel out of place. I just wouldn’t feel right coming between the two of you.”

“Ms. Jones, I will be living at my own building. Jessica put the building in your name so this is actually your home and you are the owner.”

Ms. Jones looked at her daughter and was speechless.

Jessica confirmed it. “That’s right, Mama. I put enough money down that the mortgage is only six hundred and twenty four dollars a month. That’s if you don’t mind having your child and your grandchild as roommates for a while?”Jessica waited with anticipation for a final response.

Her mother suddenly smiled and nodded. “Yes, yes, I would love you and the baby as roommates.”

They were excited and ready to enter their old home until Kenny said, “Hold on, just one more thing.”

Mother and daughter turned around and looked at Kenny. He approached Jessica and took her by the hand and bended to one knee and showed her a ring. Jessica couldn’t believe what was happening and put her hand over her mouth and then looked at her mother.

He looked her in the eyes and spoke in French. After he was finished he said, “That means, Jessica Jones, would you do me the honor of marrying me and being my wife forever?”

Jessica nodded her head rapidly. “Yes, Kenny, I would love to marry you.”

Kenny stood up and gave her a long kiss and swooped her off her feet and carried her into her new home. Jessica beamed with elation. She promised herself at that moment to love him forever. She decided right then and there that she would start brushing up on the French that she’d learned in prison and surprise him on their wedding day as she said her vows to him in French. She dreamed about that moment for years when she was in prison and thought it would only be just that—a dream. But now it was becoming a reality. She made a mental note to go downtown and purchase some tapes to aid her in speaking French fluently even if it killed her.

**********

Jessica and her mother moved into their new home immediately. Since Jessica’s mother still had all their furniture placed in storage, they were able to put everything back into place as they’d once had it with help of Cleveland and some of his friends from the neighborhood. Cleveland ensured Ms. Jones and Jessica that they didn’t have to lift a finger as he allowed them enough time decorating their home on every floor.

When they finally completed the move, everything looked exactly as they last remembered it.

**********

Everything couldn’t have been better as life went on, as they once knew it. Ms. Jones was the happiest that she’d ever had been as her relationship with her daughter grew by leaps and bounds. Jessica even noticed her mother had started wearing makeup again when she knew Cleveland who still was coming around, doing minor and major repairs around the house and boiler room. She was happy to know her mother had a close friend and had come out of the hardened shell she’d worn since her father died.

Jessica still spent many nights with Kenny at his home in the Bronx, and he treated her like a queen, waiting on her hand and foot, not allowing her to do anything for herself. Even though she wasn’t showing much, Kenny would rub and talk to her stomach at night and ensure his unborn child knew that their father loved them very much. That brought so much joy to Jessica that she’d cry. She finally felt that all the drama in her life was well in her past, and she looked toward a new future with her child and Kenny being one happy family, just like the one she once knew.

Everything was going perfectly, until one day out of the blue, Jessica saw a letter with her name on it slipped under her door. She took the letter upstairs and opened it when she got to her room.

Dear Jessica,

We have to meet up immediately because something went wrong. I don't want to say too much, but somehow somebody found out what the four of us did. Do not use the phone to call me. Me, you, Lynn, and Tiny will meet at Burger King on 125th tonight at 6 o'clock on the dot to discuss it. Don't mention this to anybody until we find out what's happening.

Peace,

Vonda

Jessica read the typed letter and immediately felt a sharp pain in her stomach. She thought about calling Vonda up, but remembered what the letter said. It was already three o’clock and figure she had only three hours to find out everything that was going on, so she decided to wait it out.

**********

When Jessica arrived at the restaurant, it was already ten minutes to six, and she saw that Lynn was already there sitting at one of the tables in the rear. They greeted each other with a hug and sat down.