Single Ladies 7 & 8: " That's What Friends Are For" (2 page)

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Tammy pulled up to Chris’ mom’s house with the kids, to drop them off as she did every other weekend. Ms. Elaine couldn’t front though, Tammy was looking like a totally different woman from what she did a couple of months ago. Darious had her looking right. New car, new clothes, hair done just about every week, and even her attitude changed. She was way more confident in herself, and the stress bags that used to sit under her eyes had cleared up.

“Hey Ms. Elaine,” Tammy greeted walking up the steps with Sinniyyah in her arms.

“Grandma!” Anthony yelled out, running with the diaper bag over his shoulder.

When Tammy walked into the house, she was a little startled to run into Outlaw, who came out of the kitchen. In the living room sat Brea, Chris’s older sister, who used to like Tammy until she found out that Tammy had left her brother.

“You do know that its Thursday, right?” Ms. Elaine said, walking into the living room.

“Yeah, I know. Here,” Tammy said, passing Ms. Elaine some money. “I got something to do. I’ll be back Sunday night to get them,” Tammy said in a nonchalant fashion, sitting Sinniyyah on Brea’s lap like she was in a rush to get out the door.

Ms. Elaine looked at Tammy like she was crazy. She wasn’t feeling Tammy’s attitude one bit, and neither was Brea for that matter. When Tammy turned around to leave, she noticed the way Ms. Elaine was looking at her.

“What?” Tammy said, looking around the room. “If you don’t wanna watch them, I can take them somewhere else,” Tammy said with an attitude.

“Tammy sit down,” Ms. Elaine said, nodding to the empty seat next to Brea.

Tammy was feeling herself, but not that much to flat out disregard Ms. Elaine’s request. She knew that in a split second, it could get real ugly in that house.

“Now I don’t know if you lost ya mind or you just don’t have any respect for my son and this family, but don’t come up in my house with passion marks all over your neck and throwing around money like you dat girl now.” Ms. Elaine lashed out. Now don’t forget that my son took care of you and this family took you in when you didn’t have shit. Anything you needed, I gave you, and I treated you like no less than my own daughter from day one,” Ms. Elaine snapped.

Tammy sat there in silence listening to Ms. Elaine give it to her, but Tammy too had a lot of hostility built up inside, and wanted to share her thoughts.

“I don’t mean any disrespect, Ms. Elaine, and I hope you don’t take it that way, but I am a grown ass woman, and I don’t owe nobody shit, not even Chris. Don’t get me wrong, I love ya son, and I know everything he did for me. But let me tell you this, ya son left me out here by myself with two kids, and he ain’t coming home no time soon. Forgive me if I’m moving on with my life,” Tammy said, getting up from the couch.

Tammy grabbed Sinniyyah from Brea’s lap then called out for Anthony who was upstairs.

“My niece and nephew don’t have to go anywhere,” Brea said getting up from the couch and standing in front of the door.

Tammy looked at Brea like she wasn’t a threat at all. Brea could fight her ass off, but Chris had taught Tammy how to get down too, so if it was about to get physical between the two, it was going to be a bout to remember.

“Brea!” Ms. Elaine shouted. “Get away from that door. If she wanna leave then let her go.”

Just then, Anthony came down the steps with Outlaw, unaware of what had just happened. Tammy simply grabbed him by the hand and walked out the front door. After strapping Sinniyyah into her car seat and putting the seatbelt on, Anthony, Tammy got into the car and pulled off, not even worried about the baby bag she had left in the house.

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Lamar looked up from drying his car off, to see Falisha coming out of the house. His car was parked right in front of her apartment, so it was impossible for Falisha to ignore him, much like she’d been doing as of late. She still didn’t tell him that she was with child either, and that’s because she wasn’t sure if she was going to keep it.

“Wasssup Falisha,” Lamar greeted, standing in front of her steps. “You gon’ keep ignoring me or can we talk like two civilized adults?” he asked.

Falisha finished locking her front door then walked down the steps. She tried to brush by Lamar without saying anything to him. He grabbed her arm and stopped her. Falisha snatched her arm away from him then gave him a stern look. “Don’t touch me. I’m good,” she said then bumped him as she walked past him.

Lamar thought about chasing after her, but decided against it, not wanting Kim to pull up and get the wrong impression. He just watched as she walked down the street with her cell phone up to her ear. What happened next took Lamar by surprise. The all too familiar Cadillac truck pulled up and stopped at the end of the block. It was Fox, and before Lamar knew it, she was hopping into the passenger side and he was pulling off.

“What da hell,” Lamar mumbled to himself as the truck disappeared into traffic.

He really didn’t know what to think, and an unexpected wave of jealousy came over him and made him wonder what she was doing with him. He had made it clear that he wanted to be with Kim, but Lamar never thought about how he would feel if he saw Falisha with another man, especially with Fox. He surely didn’t like it, and became mad as hell because he couldn’t do anything about it. He loved Kim and didn’t want to hurt her, but after seeing Falisha and Fox together, and feeling the way he felt about it, Lamar questioned himself on whether or not it was possible that he still loved Falisha as well. It was a question that he needed clarity on, and he was bound to get it at some point.

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Kim sat in the lobby area waiting for Ms. D to pull up. She was still a little groggy and tired from the anesthesia, but was well aware of what had just happened. Getting an abortion was more difficult than what she thought it would be. Kim had heard many of her friends talking about their abortions, and on some occasions she even encouraged it, but talking about it was easier than actually getting it done. The emptiness in her gut began to tear away at her conscience almost immediately after she woke up. She began to wonder if she had done the right thing, and wished that she could reverse time and give it a little more thought before terminating her pregnancy.

As she sat there in her thoughts, Ms. D walked into the lobby and spotted Kim sitting there with her head down. She knew the feeling Kim was going through, having had a couple abortions in her lifetime. It was a feeling that couldn’t be explained. Ms. D sat in the chair next to Kim’s. Kim was so zoned out she still didn’t acknowledge her.

“You gon’ be alright baby-girl,” Ms. D said putting her arm around Kim. “You can’t dwell on it. What’s done is what’s done. You gotta keep it moving now,” she said, rubbing Kim’s back.

The more Kim thought about it, the worse she felt. The tears began to pour out of her eyes as the reality of the situation set in. “I… I killed my baby,” Kim cried, lifting her head up to look at Ms. D. “Oh God, I killed my baby,” she continued, now bawling her eyes out.

“Shhhhhh. Everything is going to be okay,” Ms. D said, lying Kim’s head on her shoulder.

It was an emotional moment for Kim, and even the tough, hard as nails, Ms. D couldn’t hold back her tears. She felt for Kim, but she also knew that this was part of being a woman. This was something Kim had to stand on and live with for the rest of her life. No matter what happens in her life from this point on, she will never forget this day. This was going to be her life changing moment.

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“Are you sure you wanna do this?” Fox asked looking over at Falisha sitting in the passenger seat.

Falisha stared aimlessly out of the window at the Medical Center and thought about the last time she was there, terminating a pregnancy at the age of fifteen.

“Can I ask you something?” Falisha said as she continued looking out of the window.

“Naw Shawty. I can’t help you make up ya mind on dis one. You gotta put ya big girl panties on and make ya own choice,” Fox told her, eliminating himself from the equation.

Falisha looked over at him and wanted his advice bad, but the truth of the matter was that Fox was right. Falisha just had to make the choice on her own whether or not to get another abortion. One thing she could count on was Fox keeping it real with her at all times. That’s the reason why she confided in him out of all people with her secret. Fox wasn’t going to judge her, no matter what decision she made, nor was he going to leave her stranded at a time like this.

“Look, Falisha, whatever you decide to do, I’ma roll out wit you. I told you a long time ago that I got mad love for you, and I meant that.”

Falisha looked at him and smiled. It was very comforting to know that she had somebody like Fox in her corner. She turned to look out of the widow again, and right before she was about to open the door to walk across the parking lot, Ms. D pulled Kim’s car up in front of the building. At first Falisha thought that she was trippin’ but then Ms. D exited the car and walked up to the glass double doors where Kim was standing. Ms. D helped the still crying Kim to the car, got her into the passenger seat, then pulled off.

Falisha didn’t have to wonder about what had just taken place. She was still too familiar with the process of getting an abortion, and knew that Kim coming out of the abortion clinic, crying her eyes out, and MS. D being the designated driver, could only equal up to one thing; a termination. It blew Falisha’s head back to have witnessed it with her own eyes. After seeing this, it made Falisha’s decision a little easier.

“So whatcha gon’ do, Shawty?” Fox asked, unaware of what had just went down.

She sat there quiet for a moment, allowing everything to register. She knew how bad she felt, even at the young age of fifteen. Every time she saw Lisa and Tammy’s children, she always wondered, what if she had kept hers. Would it have been a boy or girl, would it have looked just like her or the father. “Nah yo. I think I’m good,” Falisha said, reaching for her seatbelt. “Let’s get out of here before I do something I might regret.”

Lisa sat up in the bed, inching her way to the edge of it. She sat there, looking down at the patch on her stomach covering the bullet wound. Right when she was about to get up, Ralphy walked into the room stopping her before she could get to her feet.

“Come on, Lisa. Chill out yo. Whatever you need, just let me know,” Ralphy said, pulling his arm out of the sling. “The doctor said that you still need to rest.”

Lisa smiled at how good it felt to be catered to by Ralphy again. She missed him so much, and so did Naomi. Having him home just felt right.

“Can I ask you something?” Lisa said, looking up at him.

“Yeah, what’s going on?” he asked, taking a seat next to her on the bed.

“Who was that? I mean, who were those men who shot us and what was it about?”

Lisa had been curious about that the whole time she was laid up in the hospital, and the way the detectives questioned her about Ralphy’s involvement made her a little concerned.

“I don’t know who those niggas were,” Ralphy answered, and right there, Lisa knew that he wasn’t telling the truth.

“You know you can’t lie to me,” Lisa said raising her hand up to the back of his head and smacking it playfully. “Just tell me that we’re safe.”

Ralphy looked over at her with a serious face. “Yeah, you’re safe, and I don’t want you to worry about that situation. I’ma take care of it,” he assured.

That was a problem in itself, because Lisa was well aware of how ugly the streets could get. The hood didn’t have any picks when it came down to killing, and since Ralphy was back on the block, he was now fair game, and subject to be held for court on the streets.

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Lamar looked into the glass case, staring at a nice ring that caught his eyes. He’d been in Tiffany’s Diamonds for over 45 minutes looking for the perfect ring. The bank employees thought that he was going to rob them the way he browsed around without saying a word.

“Can I see that ring?” he asked the older white lady standing behind the glass.

She hesitated for a moment then called over to a male employee to assist her. Lamar could see that she was a little nervous, so he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a wad of money and placed it on the glass counter.

“Don’t be so quick to judge black people,” he looked over and told the lady, then turned back to Tim. “I’m looking for an engagement ring for my girl, and I like that one,” Lamar said, pointing to the ring.

Tim pulled the ring from the display case and sat it on the glass. He felt a little bad for how his fellow employee had treated Lamar, so he tried to be as kind and pleasant as he could to make up for it.

“This is a beautiful ring. It’s a 2 karat princess cut, surrounded by a half karat of canary diamonds,” he said, passing Lamar the ring.

Lamar looked at the ring and then at its price tag. It cost a little more than five grand. Money truly wasn’t the issue in hand. His real concerns came as he fought with himself on whether or not he was ready to make this kind of commitment this early on in the relationship. Things had been going well for him and Kim, but was proposing the right move at this point? It was no question on whether or not Lamar loved her, because it wasn’t a day that went by that he didn’t think about starting a family with her. He just wasn’t sure if Kim was on the same page, and didn’t want to make a fool of himself asking her to marry him and she says no. Rejection never sat well with him, and he didn’t know how he would take it if it happened. The crazy part about it was that Lamar loved Kim so much, he was willing to take a chance, even if it cost him fifty-three hundred dollars.

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Ralphy picked his head up from the stove as he sat in the kitchen cooking Lisa something to eat. He grabbed his gun off the kitchen counter and took the safety off then tucked it into his back pocket. He wasn’t taking any chances, and wasn’t about to get caught slipping again. He walked over to the front window and peeked out the curtains. It was Falisha and Tammy standing on the porch.