Side Chic 4 (Forever Ratchet) (2 page)

             
“Yes, I need to finish speaking with you about what happened. Can I trust you to come in on your own or will I be having to make a trip back here to pick you up?”

             
“No sir, I will come in on my own.”  I promised.

             
They turned me a loose and I went inside the house. Inside Nisey was sitting on the sofa holding Lola. She’d put some clothes on her. Laila was in her walker. I walked over and took Lola from Nisey’s arms. I hugged her tightly rocking from side to side and just cried.

Lala

             
At the hospital the doctor did a complete examination of Lola and determined that there had been no penetration. I was thankful for that. He assured me that she was fine and let me know that it was okay for me to take her home. After dressing Lola, I walked out of the examination room headed to the waiting area where Nisey was with Laila to inform her that Lola was fine and that we could go.

             
When I walked into the hallway there was a petite black woman dressed in a brown pants suit standing next to the door holding a briefcase. Her thick coarse hair was pulled back into a bun. The silver hair around her hairline hinted her age. She wore a serious expression as she eyed me over the rim of her thick bifocals.

             
“Hello are you, LaQuela Chambers?” She pursed her thin lips and waited for my response.

             
“Yes ma’am, I am.” I eyed the woman suspiciously wondering why she’d been waiting outside the door and more importantly how she knew my name.

             
“Hmph, I see. My name is Marlene Reynolds.” She extended her small hand to me and I slowly reached out and shook it. “I work for The Department of Social Services.” She informed me. I immediately became nervous. “I am here to speak with you about the incident that took place earlier involving your daughter.”

             
“O-Okay.” I replied holding onto Lola a little tighter. I wasn’t sure what I should expect but no one was taking either of my babies.

             
“We can go over there in that little area right there.” She pointed to a small waiting area next to the nurse’s station. “There’s no one in there and we can have a little bit of privacy.”

             
“Okay.” I replied. That seem to be the only word that my brain could form at the moment because I was so distracted with wondering whether or not she was there to try and take my daughter.

             
She took the lead and I followed her into the small waiting area and took a seat in one of the comfortable leather chairs, placing Lola on my lap. She took a seat next to me leaving one seat empty between us. She placed her briefcase in the empty seat, opened it and took out a yellow pad and a pen.

             
“Okay, let’s get started.” She told me. “First could you please tell me your daughter’s first and last name and her age?”

             
My mouth felt dry when I opened it and tried to speak. The first attempt nothing would come out. My nerves were getting the best of me. I swallowed hard and cleared my throat before attempting to speak again. “Her name is Lola Jefferson and she’s eleven months old.” My voice was low and shaky.

I sat and watched as she scribbled down the information that I’d just given her. Without looking up, she asked. “And you are the child’s biological mother?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Father’s name?”
              “Tremaine Jefferson.”

She looked up at me. “Reginald Wade is your boyfriend, correct?”

“Incorrect.” I corrected her. “Reginald Wade was my boyfriend.”

“
At the time that this incident occurred earlier, Reginald Wade was your boyfriend. Correct?” She snapped.

“Yes but…”

She held up her hand. “Ms. Chambers all I need is a yes or a no and I believe that you have given me that.” She scribbled something else on her notepad before looking back at me. “So tell me how long have you and Reginald been together?”

“Three months.”

“How long have you known him?”

“Eleven months.”

“How did the two of you meet?” I told her how we’d met when I’d gone into labor. “I see…and does Mr. Wade live with you?”

“No ma’am
, he lives in South Boston, VA. He comes to visit me every other weekend.”

“And where is the father of the child?”

“He lives in Boykins, VA?”

“Does he know about the incident that occurred earlier?”

“Yes ma’am, I contacted him after I called the police.”

“So tell me what happened earlier today.”
I told her the story from beginning to end. By the time that I was done, I was crying again. “Why didn’t you take your daughters with you or why didn’t you leave them with your best friend instead of both of you going to the store and leaving them with Mr. Wade? Has he ever babysat the girls before?” I wasn’t sure of how I should take the disgusted look she was giving me or the snappy tone that she used to speak but I knew that things weren’t looking too good for me.

“No, he’
s never babysat the girl’s for me before. Today was the first time.” I sniffled and used the back of my hand to wipe my runny nose. “I was going to take the girl’s with Nisey and me to the grocery store but Reggie volunteered to watch them. He suggested that it would be better for me to leave them since Laila was asleep and I would be able to go and return a lot quicker without having to juggle the girls.” I paused and took a deep breath, staring up at the ceiling I continued. “Ms. Reynolds…”

“It’s
Mrs. Reynolds.
” She corrected me in the same snappy tone that she’d been using since we’d sat down.

I took another deep breath. I was already frustrated and nervous. I
really didn’t need her judgmental ass attitude on top of everything else. “Mrs. Reynolds...” I began again finally tearing my eyes away from the ceiling and looking her directly in her eyes. “I know that you don’t know me and all you have to go off of is this one incident. I totally understand. I get that you are doing your job and I can respect that but while doing your job try to remember that as humans we sometimes make mistakes. We sometimes misjudge people’s character because of what they show us. Reggie never showed me a bad side of him. He was always kind and respectful. I’ve never even witnessed the man raising his voice. That part of him he kept hidden very well. I realize that in this situation, I was very naïve. I was fooled by a wolf in sheep’s clothing. That man has been preying on me since day one but I couldn’t see it. I opened my door and allowed him into my home giving him access to my children. That is something that I will have to live with for the rest of my life. However, everything that has happened today has taught me a very valuable lesson and nothing like this will ever happen again. I love my daughter’s more than anything. Anyone who knows me can verify that! I would’ve never left them with Reggie if I’d had any idea that he would do anything to harm either of them.” I paused and wiped my tears and also repositioned Lola on my lap. “You can’t imagine the relief I felt when that doctor told me that there had been no penetration. It was worse enough that he’d even touched her but I thank God that I’d left my pocketbook and went back when I did because this could’ve turned out so much worse. I look at this as a learning experience and you best believe I have learned my lesson. I hate so much that this happened…”

“Are you done with your little speech?” Mrs. Reynolds snapped roll
ing her eyes behind her glasses and letting out a frustrated breath.

“Excuse me?”
I asked sitting up in my seat. This bitch’s attitude was the worse and I wasn’t sure how much longer I could deal with it before I slapped the shit out of her! The only thing that had been stopping me was knowing that if I touched her. I was no doubt going to jail and Social Services wouldn’t hesitate to snatch my daughters. For those reasons, I kept telling myself that I had to remain calm.

“Listen, I am going to be totally honest with you.” She started. “I have no sympathy or respect for wom
en like you. You allow these men that you barely know to come into home around your children and then things like this occur. When you lay down and bring a child/children into this world your life is no longer about you, Ms. Chambers. That means every decision that you make affects your children but obviously you weren’t thinking about your children when you allowed Mr. Wade into your home. All you were thinking about was how
kind, nice, and respectful
he seemed to be.”

“Hold up, that’s not fair. You have no right to sit up here and act as if I am some man-hungry female who puts a man before my children! You don’t know me! I am a damn good mother to my children. I didn’t bring this man into my home overnight. I’d known him for months.” I checked her bougie ass! “How was I supposed to know that he was a pedophile?”

“While you had been knowing him for months did you ever visit him in South Boston? Ya know…get to know his family…learn a little bit about his background.” She stared at me and waited for my answer.

“No
but…” 

“Exactly because had you taken the time to visit him and gotten to know a little bit about his background beside
s the fact that he was nice, kind and respectful Reggie. Maybe his sister could’ve told you that he’d spent four years in prison a while back for molesting her daughter!” She opened her briefcase and placed her pad and pen back inside. Then she stood with her briefcase in hand. “You’ll be hearing from me soon. Sometime during the week.” With that she strutted off down the hallway her heels making a loud clicking noise against the tile floor with every step that she took.

             
The news about Reggie molesting his own niece hit me like a ton of bricks! I sat there for several minutes after she’d left replaying everything over in my head. “Lord what have I done? What kind of monster did I let into my home?” I asked aloud. “Please don’t let them take my babies away. I realize that I made a huge mistake by allowing that man into my home but I don’t know what I’d do if I lost my girls.” I sat praying and holding on to Lola. I lifted her up and kissed her cheek. “Mama didn’t mean for this to happen, Lola. I swear, I didn’t. You know that don’t you? I would never do anything to hurt you or your sister.” She stared at me as if she was trying to understand what I was saying. “I promise you that nothing like this will ever happen again. I will never leave you or Laila alone with another man unless it’s your daddy.”

At the mention of Tre, I realized that he should be arriving soon if he hadn’t already. I gathered Lola in my arms and made my way out of the waiting area. We went down the hall to the m
ain waiting area where Nisey was waiting with Laila. I looked around but there was no sign of Tre.

“Tre hasn’t made it yet.” Nisey informed me obviously knowing who I was looking for.

“Oh okay…I’m ready.” I told her. “I still have to go by the police station.”

She stood placing Laila on her hip. “Is everything okay with Lola-Bug?” She asked reaching out and playing with Lola’s hand.

“Yeah, she’s fine. The doctor said that there was no sign of penetration. That’s a relief. I can only imagine what that sick…” My voice cracked and I couldn’t continue.

Nisey wrapped her free arm around me. “Shhh…don’t cry Lala. Everything is going to be alright.” She did her best to comfort me. “I hope they put his sick ass beneath the prison! I also hope
that a group of guys fuck him in his ass until his sorry no good ass croaks over!”

“
Nisey, I am so scared.” I wiped my eyes with trembling fingers and looked up at her. “I spoke with a social worker while I was back there. She had a real nasty ass attitude and from the way she was talking, I think she’s going to try and take my babies. She acted like I meant for this to happen. She said that I should’ve taken more time to get to know Reggie before letting him into my home.”

“Damn you had known him for a minute before y’all hooked up!” Nisey snapped smacking her lips and rolling her eyes. “How long did she want you to wait?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “I wish that I had checked him out a little bit more now. She said that Reggie had been in prison before for molesting his niece.”

“What?” Nisey all but yelled. “What the hell? Ol’ nasty motherfucka! Uh-uhh!”

I shook my head and let out a sigh. “Nisey what have I done?”

“You didn’t do anything! You can’t blame yourself for the fact
that he is trifling as hell going around touching babies. You and I both know that you are a good mother to your babies and I don’t give a damn what that social workers says. I don’t know too many people who go out and dig up a person’s entire history before they start dating them.”