When He Cheatin' and You Still Love Him 2 (12 page)

“I know you’re probably mad baby, and you have every right to be.” I start to explain. “The thing is she’s old news. I stop fucking with her after we broke up the first time, and I swear I haven’t seen her since.” Shanair doesn’t say anything. She only stares straight ahead. “Can you say something to me please?”

She turns to face me, and even though she’s trying her best to play hard, I can tell she’s hurt.

“It doesn’t even matter.” She scoffs. “It’s not like we’re together anymore. You have the right to do whatever the hell you want to. By all means, please don’t let me stop you!” She exclaims throwing her hands up in the air.

“Come on Nair, don’t be like that.”

“I gotta go Terry.” She tells me starting her truck.

“Okay, but can I call you later?”

“Nah, I’m going to be busy.”

I take a step back when I see her put the gear in reverse. As she pulls backward, Kendrick waves to me. I wave back as I watch Shanair straighten her wheel and pull off, leaving me standing there dumbfounded. Once her truck is out of sight, I start to walk to my car. A few minutes later I slide into the driver’s seat and just sit there.
I can’t believe Charlotte’s raggedy ass fronted me in front of Shanair. I knew I should have never fucked with her dumb ass. Now I know Shanair ain’t gone take my ass back.

My cell phone vibrates and snaps me out of my thoughts. When I pick it up and glance at the screen, I see that the call is coming from an unknown number. Thinking that it may be Brittany’s stalking ass, I send the caller to the voicemail. No sooner than I hit the button, it rings again in my ear. Knowing that Brittany can be persistent, again I send the caller to voicemail. Not even a minute later the alert sounds letting me know that whoever the caller was has left a voicemail. At first I start to ignore that as well, but something tells me to listen. After tapping a few keys, Katrina’s voice can be heard through the speaker.

“Terry, this is Katrina,” she says, and I can tell she’s crying.

This immediately makes me sit up from my seat in fear that something may be wrong with my son. My phone ringing interrupts the message, and once again
unknown
flashes across the screen. This time I hurry and hit the send button because I’m sure it’s Katrina calling back once again.

“Katrina?”

“Yeah, it’s me.” She sniffles.

“Is everything alright?” I ask praying that there’s nothing wrong with my son.

“I’m in jail!” Katrina cries so loud that I have to momentarily pull the phone away from my ear.

“Jail? What the fuck you doing in jail?” I ask getting loud as well.

“The fucking police came to my apartment a few hours ago talking about they got a call that there was drug activity going on. I told them they were crazy because there were no drugs in my house.” She went on to explain. “Anyway, they asked if they could come in. Since I knew I wasn’t hiding shit, I told them they could.”

“Damn Katrina, you never let the police in your house unless they have a warrant.” I remind her.

“Shit, I didn’t see any problem with it because I was clean!” She retorted raising her voice before bringing it down to a whisper. “Well, at least I thought I was anyway. “Next thing I know they are handcuffing me and hauling me off to jail, talking about…”

Katrina continues to talk, but I zone out. The only thing I want to hear about is my son, and what’s going on with him.  

“Where the fuck is Shad?”

“CPS came and took him.” Katina breaks down crying even harder.

“Aww, hell nah!”

“My mother said that she’s going to go down there and get him, but you already know how she is. I can’t afford to play with her right now. You gotta go get my baby Terry before they put him in the system. You gotta get him and keep him with you until I’m able to get out of here.”

“I’ll be going to do that as soon as we get off this phone,” I tell her. My mind is racing so fast that I remember that Katrina hasn’t even told me why the hell they’ve taken her to jail. “Wait a minute, you never told me why they took you. Did they find anything?”

“I did,” she smacks her lips. “You just weren’t listening. They arrested me talking about they’ve found my stash.”

“Your stash?” My eyes buck because I know damn well this girl ain’t finna tell me that she’s been selling drugs. “Yo’, lil ass better not tell me you been selling, especially with my fucking son in the house!”

“Come on Terry, you know me better than that. I wouldn’t dare do no shit like that where my baby lay his head!” She yells, and I can tell that me accusing her has hurt her feelings. “Look, I swear that shit wasn’t mine. Whatever they found in this house, if they found anything had to belong to Junior.”

My face instantly frowns up when I hear the unknown nigga’s name.

“Who the fuck is Junior?!” I yell. I don’t even give her a chance to respond before I hit her with another question. “Better yet, why the fuck is his shit in yo’ house?”

Katrina sniffs a few more times before she replies, “He’s this guy I’ve been talking to, who comes over from time to time.”

This is news to me. Last time I checked Katrina wasn’t fucking with anyone. I guess that’s why she was so cool the last time I saw her. She had another nigga and wasn’t worried about my ass no more. A part of me is upset because that’s my baby momma, and I don’t want no other niggas fucking with her, but another part of me understands that she had to move on. Since I wasn’t planning on fucking with her no more, I guess she went and found someone who would. Before I get a chance to ask her more about this dude, I hear a male voice in the background telling Katrina that her time is up.

“I gotta go. I’ll call when I can to let you know when I go to court. Don’t forget to go get Shad.”

“I’m going to head there in a few minutes,” I promise.

Katrina starts to cry again. “Go get my baby and take care of him, Terry. Do you hear me?” Before I get a chance to answer, the phone hangs up.

Confused, I shake my head before dialing Katrina’s mother’s number. As soon as she answers the phone and finds out that it’s me, her attitude immediately turns sour.

“What Terry?” She snaps. I don’t know what that woman’s issue is with me, but right now I don’t give a damn. I’m calling to see if she’s picked up my son.

“Hey, did you go pick up Shad yet?” I ask getting right to the point. I ain’t got time for small talk.

“Nah, I ain’t got a chance yet.” She starts. “I’ll probably go down there tomorrow.”

Instantly I get pissed because I know that this bitch didn’t plan to go get my son at all. It’s fucked up because he is her grandchild, and no matter how she feels about Katrina, he should always be her priority. What I really want to do is curse her stankin’ ass out, but I’m not even going to bother because I got more shit to worry about than her miserable ass.

“Don’t even worry about it. I’m headed to get him now.” I tell her before hitting the end button on her dumb ass.

Frustrated, I open the internet browser on my phone. After tapping a few keys, I’m able to find the contact information for Child Protective Services. Quickly, I dial the phone number. As it rings, I start my car and pull out of the parking space. Once the operator answers, I ask her a few questions and I am given the address to come down and fill out the proper paperwork. Since I now know exactly where I’m going, I pull out of the mall parking lot and head toward the freeway. As I drive I say a little prayer that they allow me to get my son. I haven’t dealt with the system first hand, but from what I’ve heard they can be assholes sometimes and I can’t afford to play games with them right now. Not when it comes to my son. 

Shanair

One week later…

I’m so damn happy to be back home! It took them a fucking week to get my lights cut back on. If it would have taken longer, I don’t know what the hell I would have done because I missed the hell out of my house. I like being away from home sometimes like everybody else, but when it’s because you have no choice, that shit is annoying. Don’t get me wrong, the hotel suite we stayed in was cool. There was free breakfast, a fitness room, a pool which Kendrick loved, but it wasn’t home. It’s been three days since we’ve been back home, and I’ve been lying around the house enjoying being in my own shit. 

With it being summer vacation, Kendrick and I have been lounging around, and sleeping in late. He’s supposed to begin his Karate classes next week, so he’s looking forward to that. Honestly, I am too. It’ll give him a chance to not only get out of the house, but to meet some new friends as well. Right now the only friend that he really he has is Terrance Jr. Now don’t get me wrong, I love that little boy as if he were my own. I’ve basically been around him since he was damn near a baby. My thing is when he’s around he always reminds me of Terry, and I’m about tired of thinking about him.

Speaking of Terry, I still can’t believe what went down at the mall the other day. We were in Finish Line, and I was trying on a pair of my favorite shoes when the chick that works there revealed the fact that she and Terry used to fuck around. I should have known something wasn’t right when I noticed Terry with his face glued to the screen of his phone. When I called his name to help me to put on the shoe, he acted like he didn’t even want to come over to where I was seated. He knew that bitch was there. He just didn’t want to get caught up. It was too late for that because she told it all. It killed me to stand there in that store and let that bitch say all kinds of crazy shit. The only thing that would have embarrassed me more was to get into an argument with her knowing that she fucked my man. That’s why I stood there and didn’t utter a word.

After everything was said and done Terry had the nerve to try to tell me that he ain’t fucked with her in months. Talking about he cut her off when we broke up the first time. Yeah fucking right! I don’t know what kind of fool he took me for, but whatever kind it was, I ain’t it. When I said I was done with Terry’s bullshit, I meant it. This is why I’m glad that I didn’t allow myself to get sucked back into his trap. If so, I would have been more hurt than I was. I ain’t gone lie, that shit ate me up. I tried my best not to break down and cry in the car. Even though we aren’t together, to hear that he’s fucked another bitch—no matter when it happened—hurt my feelings. I held it for the entire ride back to the hotel, and only after Kendrick went to bed did I let it out.

Yeah, I’m done with Terry. He can try all he might, but that chick put the nail in the coffin. These hoes can have him. As long as he takes care of our daughter, I don’t care about nothing else.

“Mommy, your phone was ringing,” Kendrick tells me handing me my phone.

“Where did you find it?”

“It was in the kitchen.”

“I did have it earlier today when I was cooking lunch,” I say scrolling through my missed calls. “Thank you, baby.”

“You’re welcome.”

When I see that Toya had called me, I hit the send key and call her back. The voicemail picks up on the first ring. I start to leave a message, but before I get a chance to my phone begins to ring. It’s Toya.

“What’s up boo,” I say once the call is connected.

“Shanair, is Terry around you?” She asks frantically.

“No, he’s not over here. I haven’t spoken to him all week. What’s going on?”

With a shaky voice she says, “Girl, Greg has gotten into an accident. I need Terry to come and get the kids so I can go meet him at the hospital.”

“Oh my God, is he okay?” I ask in a panic.

“I don’t know. They aren’t telling me anything over the phone. Terrionna!” She yells to her daughter. “You and your brother put some clothes on! Hello, Shanair?”

“Yeah, I’m here.”

“Let me go, I need to find Terry.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I tell her. “Give me a minute to get dressed, and I’ll come over and get them.”

“Thank you so much Shanair. I really appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome. I’ll be there in a few.”

After hanging up the phone, I tell Kendrick to get dressed before throwing on something quick myself. As I race around the house as fast as my growing stomach will allow, I say a quick prayer that Greg is alright. I’m not sure how bad the accident was, but I hope that he’s wasn’t hurt too bad. I can’t imagine how Toya feels right now. To find out that the person you love has been in an accident is already scary enough, and then to not be told anything more about it would drive anyone crazy. It takes me all of five minutes to get dressed. As I pass Kendrick’s room, he comes out dressed as well. Together we head down the stairs and out the door.

Thirty minutes later I pull up in Toya’s driveway and see that she’s already outside. Tears are streaming down her face as she paces back and forth in front of her house. When she sees me she walks over to my car, and when I climb out we hug.

“I’m so scared girl. I don’t know what’s going on.” She starts to cry.

“It’s going to be okay, babe,” I whisper in her ear as I rub circles on her back.

As we continue our embrace, I see a black car drive by out of the corner of my eye. It’s going extremely slow up the street, almost too slow. If I were a gang banger and we were in the hood, I would swear that it was about to be a drive by. The car continues its pace, and if I didn’t know any better, I would swear it feels like the driver is looking right at me. I can’t make out whose inside because the windows are tinted so dark, but something about it gives me the creeps. I continue to stare at it for a few moments as it continues up the street and out of sight.

“Where are the kids?” I ask shaking off the eerie feeling.

No sooner than the words leave my lips, they both come running out the front door. With smiles on each of their faces, it seems to me that Toya hasn’t told them anything about Greg’s accident. Either that or they don’t completely understand. Not wanting to scare the kids of something being wrong, Toya and I break our embrace. She turns her back to the kids and wipes the tears from her face, before turning back to face them with a weak smile. Terrionna is the first one to the truck, and as she opens up the back door, she tells me hello before sliding into the seat beside Kendrick. Terrance Jr., on the other hand, runs around to the truck and gives me a big hug. I’m not sure if it’s because of Kendrick or not, but he and I are much closer than I am with Terrionna.

“Hey, big boy!” I greet him, bending down to kiss him on the cheek.

“Hey Shanair, I’ve missed you!” He squeals.

Hearing this makes me feel bad because I haven’t allowed him come over in a few weeks because I’ve been upset with Terry. Like I said before, it’s also because I really don’t want the reminder of Terry around. Looking at the way this little boy is squeezing me tightly around my waist lets me know that I’ve been selfish as hell, and I need to stop it. It’s not his fault that his father and I have decided to call it quits.  

“I’ve missed you too baby,” I tell him lifting his head with my finger. “I’m sorry I haven’t been to pick you up in a while.”

“Can I spend the night tonight?” He asks looking up at me with those puppy dog eyes.

I swear this boy looks just like his father,
I think to myself before glancing over at Toya. She simply nods.

“You sure can. I can do you even better. How about we make it two nights?” I give him a wink.  

Terrance Jr. smiles brightly before yelling, “Two nights are perfect!”

“Can I spend the night too Shanair?” Terrionna asks.

“I don’t see why not.”

I stick around for a few more minutes while Terrionna and Terrance Jr. go grab their overnight bags. With the kids now strapped into the back seat, I prepare to leave, but not before I tell Toya’s to call me when she finds out something about Greg. As I’m pulling out of the driveway Terry calls. I answer and let him know what happen to Greg, and let him know that I have picked up the kids and are taking them home with me. He asks if he could come over, and since his children would be there I tell him yeah, but only for a little while. Even though I’m still upset about the mall thing, I’m tired of holding a grudge. We speak for a little while longer before we disconnect the call.

On my way home, I decide to make a pit stop to get something to eat because I’m not in the mood to cook anything. Since I have a taste for Chipotle, it’s my next destination. When I pull into the shopping plaza, I’m lucky to find a parking space right in front of the restaurant. That luck seems to disappear when I see just how many people are inside. As always the line is damn near out the freaking door. I sigh as I gather the kids and go inside. It takes us close to twenty minutes to get to the front of the line, and once we do it takes another ten for the kids to decide what they wanted on their burritos which irritates the group of young females behind us. After hearing a few of them smack their teeth and say little slick shit to one another, I cut my eyes at the ignorant bitches, and just like I thought they shut the hell up.  

Once we left Chipotle, the rest of the ride home is spent with me in deep thought. Even though the kids are in the backseat excitedly talking about the fun things they are planning to do these next two days, I’m completely zoned out. I have finally acknowledged the fact that I have less than three months before I’m due to give birth to my princess, and that’s if I make it full term. My emotions overcome me when I come to terms with the fact that the things that I planned are not turning out the way that I intended for them to. The biggest being the fact that Terry and I are broken up. Although I’m coming to terms with it finally being over, it doesn’t change the fact that it hurts. It hurts because this is not how I imagined us. I pictured to two of us married and raising out children together.

Thinking back, I can honestly say that if I had known years ago that this would be us at this moment, I would have never stuck around as long as I did. I ain’t gone lie, the reason I stayed with Terry for as long as I did was because I thought that he would finally change, and we would make it work out in the long run. Unfortunately for me, it didn’t work out that way, and even though it isn’t my fault, I once again am forced to accept the fact that I’ve had yet another failed relationship.

*****

It’s almost eleven, and I’m just now able to kick my feet up and relax. Terry came for a few hours to see the kids as promised. Once here, he shared with me the reason why he had Shad with him. He told me that as soon as we left the mall that day Katrina called him from jail. Apparently, she had gotten arrested for drugs that the police found in her house, and because Shad was home at the time they took him down to Children’s Services. Terry had to go down there and get him, and since that day the two of them have been living at the hotel where Terry has been staying. With Shad only being three, he doesn’t really know what’s happening with his mother, but even then it’s sad that he has to go through this.

While they continued their visit, I warmed up the leftovers that I’d cooked the day before yesterday because knowing Terry, he and Shad had been living on nothing, but McDonald’s. Obviously that was the case, because as soon as I put the orange chicken, sautéed Brussel sprouts and rice pilaf on the plate in front of them, they both dug in. The kids and I laughed at how fast Terry cleaned his plate. He didn’t seem to care at all, though. I guess it was because he was happy to be eating. Before he left, he asked if it was okay if Shad stayed the night because he had to work. Since I already had all of the other kids I didn’t see a problem with it, and just told him to come by in the morning with him a change of clothes.

It seemed like as soon as Terry was out the door, Toya called. She decided to stay the night in the hospital with Greg who thankfully is doing alright. He ended up walking away with a broken arm, fractured wrist, whiplash and a few stitches in his forehead from hitting it on the steering wheel when he collided with a tree on the side of the road. With the injury to his neck and head, the doctors are keeping him under observation for a few days until they are sure that he hasn’t sustained any further injuries.

Toya explained that detectives had come up to the hospital and asked both her and Greg a bunch of questions. They wanted to know if there was anyone that they could think of who wanted to harm them. Toya said they both looked at one another baffled. Neither of them knew what the detective was trying to say until they revealed their reasoning behind the questioning.  Come to find out the break line to the car had been cut. Toya cried as she told me how scared and nervous she was about the entire thing because she knew that Greg wasn’t the intended target for whoever set up the accident. You see, it was her car that Greg was driving that day. Since Toya was the last one to come home the night before, she had blocked him in. She and the kids were sleeping when he got up for work this morning, so he grabbed her keys and took hers instead of waking her up to move it.

I tried my best to calm her down. I even told her about what had happened with Katrina, but after we both agreed that her being jailed was messed up, Toya started right back talking about the incident. She just kept saying that it could have easily been her and the kids in the car, and the accident could have turned out worse than it had. Although I wanted to calm her down, I knew she was right and hoped that whoever had tampered with her car didn’t try to do it again. I can’t believe that someone would be so cruel as to do something like that. With a car being so powerful and fast, having no breaks could have ended in quite a few fatalities. Even though it’s messed up, I’m thankful that Greg hit a tree because it could have easily been a crowd of people instead. Once Toya was good and tired from crying all day, she asked me to kiss the kids for her and promised to call me tomorrow.