You're My Little Secret 3 (23 page)

KENNEDI

“Dominic
I swear that it only happened one time,” I lied. I’d actually
slept
with Scott a total of three times, but we
only used protection twice. I
never would
have thought that the one time we didn’t use protection I would get pregnant. I
slept with Dominic the same day and two days after that. I just automatically
assumed that he was the father. I was so embarrassed when the nurse came back
into my room with my baby and Mrs. Liz saw her. She looked at me like I was
crazy and laughed right in my face. She didn’t even attempt to hold my daughter
before she walked out of my room.

“One
time is all it takes Kennedi. There’s no need to apologize to me. You just made
me one of the happiest men in the world,” he said seriously.

“I
never meant to hurt you Dominic,” I cried feeling like a damn fool.

“What
part don’t you understand? I’m not
hurt
I’m
relieved. Both of my kids are with my
wife,
and that’s all I’ve ever wanted,” he said.

I
cringed when he referred to Brooklyn as his
wife,
even though,
that’s who she was.

“You
don’t have to say it like that. She’s an innocent baby, don’t act like she’s a
disease,” I snapped.

“This
has nothing to do with your baby. This is about me finally being rid of you for
good. That’s what I’m happy about. As far as your daughter, you need to call
Scott and make him man up and handle his business,” he said seriously.

I
didn’t want any advice from
him,
and I
was about to go off on his ass until Mrs. Liz walked into the room. I don’t
have a problem with her, but it’s who came in with her that I had the problem
with.

“Who
told you to bring her into my room?” I yelled angrily when I saw Brooklyn walk
in. I don’t know why, but looking at her always made me feel so ugly. She had
her long hair curled and flowing down her back while the dress she wore showed
off her almost perfect shape.

“She’s
here for her husband, but you better watch your tone with me. I’m done being
nice to your stuck up ass,” Mrs. Liz replied.

“Bring
me my baby,” I demanded as Dominic stood up with my daughter. He walked over to
let Brooklyn get a good look at her. She looked at my baby long and hard before
she laughed and shook her head.

“What’s
funny hoe?” I snapped as I felt my pressure start to rise.

“I’m
a hoe, but both of my kids are with my husband. I didn’t have to wait until I
had them to know it. I knew it from the start. Give her back her baby and let’s
go Dominic. That’s one birth certificate that you won’t be signing,” she
replied before she walked out of my room.

Dominic
handed me my daughter and followed behind his wife like a
little trained
dog. Mrs. Liz looked at me and frowned
before she walked out on me as well. Tiffany came rushing back into the room
and sat on the side of my bed.

“Are
you alright Kennedi?” She asked right before I broke down and cried. She held
on to me and let my liquid pain fall onto her shoulders.

Aside from her and my new
bundle of joy, I feel like I’m all alone. Sad thing
is
I don’t have anyone to blame, but myself.

****

I
stayed in the hospital for four days before
Starr,
and I were released three weeks ago. I had a fever that wouldn’t go
away,
and I stayed in a little longer than
usual. I finally
called
Scott and told
him about his daughter. He came to the hospital with his mother and aunt who
demanded a paternity test. They paid to have it done at the
hospital,
and the results came back two days
later. He was upset when I told him that I wanted to name her Diamond because
he thought that it was too close to Dominic. We agreed to name her Starr
instead. Since the paternity test proved that he was the father, he signed her
birth certificate and gave her his last name. He’s been talking about us being
together, but I’m kind of unsure about that. Scott is very handsome, but he can’t
afford to give me the life that I’m accustomed to living. He has a job, but he’s
barely making it on the little money that he’s being paid. His family seems
nice, but I can tell that he’s not very close
with
them. They’ve been going crazy buying Starr all kinds of clothes and everything
else that they can think of. Tiffany laughed when I referred to them as trailer
park trash, but that’s what they seem like to me. Family or not, Starr would
not be associating with them too much if I can help it. His mother was always
asking when she can come and get her, but I didn’t want to hurt her feelings.

“Please
tell me that you’re not going to meet up with Kyle again,” I said as Tiffany
walked into the kitchen. I stood at the counter making Starr’s bottles when she
walked in fully dressed.

Tiffany
stayed at the hospital with me the entire time that I was there, but she was
always on the phone with Kyle. Her black eye had finally
healed,
and I would hate for him to give her
another one. He’s been wining and dining her trying to get her
back,
and I could tell that it’s working. She had
her hair and nails freshly done
yesterday,
and I could see that her outfit was new. He’s buying his way back
in,
and she seems to be for sale.

“Yes,
I’m going to meet up with Kyle again,” she repeated sarcastically. “What is
your problem with him anyway?”

“My
problem is that he uses you like you’re a human punching bag. Then he comes
around and sweet talks his way back into your life like nothing
happened,
and you let him,” I replied.

“We’re
not getting back together Kennedi. I’m not even moving back in with him. We
need
money,
and he’s going to help me get
it. We’re both unemployed and damn near broke. Your plan to get child support
from Dominic backfired since he’s not Starr’s father. Scott is broke as hell so
he can’t help you with too much. I’m doing this for the both of us, not just
for me,” she rambled.

“I
still don’t like it Tiffany. As much as I don’t want to, I’ll call my father
for help if it means that you don’t have to do anything illegal. He’s less than
a man to even have you doing that shit.”

“Just
trust me Kennedi. Two more days and we’ll have enough money to last us for at
least four months.”

“Yeah
okay,” I said brushing her off.

“And
you need to stop being so mean to Scott. I know he’s not paid like Dominic, but
he really does love you. That’s more than you can say for your ex-husband. He’s
been here every day since you and Starr came
home,
and you won’t even let the man stay the night over with his daughter.

“Don’t
try to take the focus off of you. We’re continuing this conversation whenever
you come back,” I replied.

“Okay,
I’m out of here. I’ll be back later on tonight to get fussed at,” she said as
she kissed me on my cheek.

“Yeah
right, just like the last time,” I yelled after her.

She
told me a few days ago that she would be back later and didn’t come back for
two whole days. I don’t know what kind of hold Kyle has on
her,
and I don’t want to find out. I finished
making Starr’s bottles and put them in the refrigerator just as someone started
ringing my doorbell.

I
peeped out of the window and saw Scott standing there in his work uniform. For
the past few
days,
he’s been coming to
see the baby right after he got off. He would always ask to stay the night, but
I never let him.

“Hey,”
I said when I opened the door for him.

 
“Hey. Is she up?” He asked referring to Starr.

“Nope,
she never is when you come over so stop asking,” I replied nastily.

“Why
do you always have an attitude? I just asked a simple question,” he said
shaking his head.

I
didn’t mean to snap like I did, but this is not how I pictured my life. It’s
not Scott’s fault, but he’s the only one here for me to take it out on.

“Look,
I’m sorry for going off, but I’m just aggravated.”

“You’re
not
aggravated
you’re miserable. You’ve
spent your whole life getting your
way,
and you can’t handle the fact that things have changed. I’m trying to help you
with
Starr,
and you won’t even let me do
that. I’m cool if you don’t want to be with me, but at least let me be here for
my daughter,” he
ranted
.

I
stood there in shock. Scott has never spoken to me like that before. He’s
always been so
passive,
and I took
advantage of that. I guess he must have a
backbone,
after all.

“I
appreciate you wanting to help, but she’s too young for you to take her to your
house. And honestly, you need to clean that place up before I ever allow my daughter
to even visit.” I had been to Scott’s house a few times and it’s no place for a
baby.

“Well,
what’s wrong with me staying over here once or twice a week? I can sleep on the
sofa or the floor if that’ll make you feel better. I’m not trying to get close
to you, I’m trying to get close to my daughter,” he said.

“Maybe
you can stay over tomorrow night Scott,” I offered.

“What’s
wrong with me staying tonight? I can run home and pack a bag right now,” he
said sounding hopeful.

My
mind was telling me to say no, but my
sleep
deprived
body screamed yes.

“I
guess it’s okay,” I replied sounding unsure. He jumped up and left as soon as
the words left my mouth. I just hope I don’t regret it.

Scott
is cool, but I don’t want him to get the wrong impression about us. Me sleeping
with him was a mistake that I didn’t want to happen again. He caught me at my
most vulnerable
time,
and he took
advantage of it. He would always tell me something about Brooklyn and Dominic
and then turn around and tell me how much he’s been feeling me. The first time
we slept together was when Tiffany and I ran into him outside of Starbucks. That
was the same day that he told me about Dominic buying Brooklyn a car. He
invited me to
lunch,
and we went back to
his place after that. The whole time that we were there he kept telling me how
much Dominic loved Brooklyn. He made me feel like a fool for being faithful to
a man that he said was not faithful to me.

It
was about two in the morning when I woke up to hear Starr screaming at the top
of her little lungs over the baby monitor. Scott had her before I went to
sleep, but he must have been sleeping now too. I got up and headed down the
hall to her nursery. She must be hungry because she was trying to stuff her
whole fist
into
her mouth. I picked her
up and walked downstairs to warm her bottle. I saw Scott knocked out on my sofa
with two empty beer cans and an empty bottle of some other kind of liquor on
the floor. He must have bought it from home because I never kept liquor in the
house since Dominic left.

After
dealing with Starr for half of the
night,
I don’t blame him for wanting a drink. I sat down in the recliner next to where
he slept and fed Starr her bottle. I turned on the TV to keep me company since
I would be up for a while. I turned on the news just as the rebroadcast came
on. I listened intently as the reporter talked about a shooting that left a man
and woman dead. They were found in a car in the parking lot of a casino a few
hours ago. The reporter went on to say that two masked men dressed in all
black
were caught on camera opening fire on the
couple, but they still had no leads or witnesses. They switched the camera to
the earlier crime
scene,
and I almost
dropped my baby when I saw Tiffany’s car surrounded by yellow crime scene tape.
I knew it was her silver Lexus because she has a bumper sticker with Bryce’s
shop info on the back. I had
called
her
twice before I went to sleep, but she never answered.

“Oh
God no, please don’t let that be her,” I mumbled as I tried to call her phone
again. When it went straight to
voicemail,
I really started to panic. I was about to dial her father’s number when someone
knocked
on
my door.

“Scott
get
up,” I yelled as I shook his arm. It
was after two in the
morning,
and I knew
that a knock at the door was not good.

“What’s
up?” He asked sitting up on the sofa.

“Somebody’s
knocking, I know that something is wrong, I can feel it,” I said as I began to
cry.
 

“Calm
down Kennedi. Give me the baby and go see who it is,” he replied calmly.

I
handed Starr to her father right as my phone began to ring. My heart dropped to
the pit of my stomach when I saw my uncle Thomas calling.

“Hello,”
I answered in a shaky voice.

“Kennedi
I know it late, but I’m at your door,” he replied.