Trickin', page 33
“The hell you are! I didn’t have no abortion wit’ you, and I ain’t lettin’ you have one either. I was seventeen when I got pregnant too, and I’ma tell you like yo’ grandma told me, may God rest her soul, ‘If you fuck for ’em, you gon’ fend for ’em.’ You not takin’ the easy way out, so get prepared for motherhood,” her mother snapped.
“But Brick don’t want no kids, Mommy,” Ra’Keeyah said.
“Brick tellin’ a damn lie. If he didn’t want no kids, then he woulda’ never went up in you without protection, knowin’ there could be a strong chance of you gettin’ pregnant. So I don’t wanna hear that ‘Brick don’t want no kids’ shit. Brick gon’ take care of this one, or he gon’ hafta answer to me,” her mother fussed.
Ra’Keeyah had never heard her mom talk like this before, so it was kind of funny. She didn’t know if she was angry or just trying to get her point across.
“The first thing we gon’ do is make you a doctor’s appointment Monday mornin’. I’m gon’ take you over to Pauline’s to get yo’ stuff ’cuz I want you here wit’ me, at least until after you have the baby. You gon’ get signed back up for school so you can get your education. I refuse to let you turn out like me; I want you to be better so you can get you a good job and not have to struggle to raise your child if the baby’s daddy decides to turn his back on you.”
Ra’Keeyah didn’t see Brick as being the type of man that would turn his back on his child, but you never know. Movie stars and athletes are always in the news for not supporting their children.
“Let’s get one last thing straight. I will keep the baby for you when you need to do somethin’ important like go to school or work or when I want to. Don’t think just ’cuz y’all live here that you got a built-in babysitter,” her mother said.
“I got chu’, Ma,” Ra’Keeyah smiled. “So does this mean you’re not mad at me for gettin’ pregnant?”
“Mad, no, a little disappointed, yes, but I’ll get over it,” her mother smiled.
“I love you, Grandma,” Ra’Keeyah laughed, wrapping her arms around her mother and giving her a hug.
“Girl, I’m too young and too fine to be a grandma. The baby gon’ hafta’ call me nanny or somethin’ like that,” her mother laughed too, hugging her back.
Ra’Keeyah was relieved to know that her mother had her back and was going to be there for her at all costs. The hardest part was over; now, the only challenge she had left to face was Brick. No matter what the outcome of telling him the news about the baby would be, she knew she had the right person in her corner. Watching her mother struggle and work her fingers to the bone in order to care for her and Jaylen all by herself gave Ra’Keeyah a new perspective of strong, single, independent women everywhere. So she figured as long as she had her mother standing by her, nothing else really mattered.
Chapter Forty
Almost one year later . . .
“Do you got everything in the diaper bag?” Brick looked over at Ra’Keeyah and asked as he grabbed Brice Jr. out of his crib, kissing him on his chubby cheek.
“Yeah, I got everything. Why wouldn’t I?” she asked as she scrambled around the bedroom looking for her psychology book.
“You remember last time you forgot the diapers?” Brick reminded.
“Shut up, nigga. You ain’t gon’ never let me live that down, are you?” Ra’Keeyah laughed.
“Why would I?” he laughed too.
“Have you seen my psych book?”
“Last place I seen you wit’ it was in the kitchen studyin’ and breast-feedin’ BJ.”
“Oh yeah, that’s right.” She whizzed by Brick, but not before stopping to kiss BJ on the cheek.
“Tell Mommy to get off you,” Brick said to his son in a funny voice.
Ra’Keeyah shot down the stairs to the kitchen and grabbed her psych book off the table. “André, turn that game off and finish gettin’ ready for school,” she yelled into the living room before heading back up to the bedroom.
“Okay, so what all you gotta do today?” Ra’Keeyah asked as she stuffed her books into her book bag.
“Well, after I drop BJ off at your mom’s, I gotta meet the contractor over at Momma’s otha’ restaurant and talk to him about a few things. Then I have to go by the house to see if they got the hardwood floors down in the kitchen yet,” Brick said.
“When is the house gon’ be ready?” Ra’Keeyah asked anxiously.
“Hopefully before the snow hits the ground. I would like to celebrate Christmas with our families in our new house,” Brick said, laying the baby back down in his crib.
“That would be excitin’ to have everybody at our house for Christmas,” Ra’Keeyah said, stressing our. Even though Ra’Keeyah had only given Brick twenty thousand toward the purchase of a two-hundred-thousand-dollar home, she still considered it half hers since her name would be on the lease too, making it almost impossible for her to be put out a third time.
“You ain’t gon’ neva’ let me live that down, are you?”
“Why would I?” Ra’Keeyah laughed.
“Too bad Peggy can’t be wit’ us for the holidays,” Brick said, sounding down.
“She’ll be there wit’ us in spirit and in our hearts,” Ra’Keeyah replied.
“You gon’ make a great psychologist. You gon’ be able to save a lot of our young, troubled youths ’cuz you know just the right words to say,” Brick complimented.
“Thank you,” Ra’Keeyah said, before planting a kiss on her man’s lips.
“Oh, don’t forget, you gotta be at the Men’s Wearhouse by three,” Ra’Keeyah said, pulling her hair back into a ponytail.
“Damn, I forgot about that.”
“You betta’ be there ’cuz Bob T ain’t gon’ have no understandin’ if his best man don’t show up to get fitted for his tux,” Ra’Keeyah said, slipping on her shoes.
“Now you know we next, right?” Brick smiled.
“You think you can handle bein’ married to Ra’Keeyah Jaz’mire Jackson?” she asked, playfully.
“It’ll be a piece of cake,” Brick laughed.
“I’m happy for my girl, Peighton. Speakin’ of which, I picked up some clothes for Bianca the other day. My goddaughter is gettin’ so big,” Ra’Keeyah smiled.
“Just like her daddy,” Brick laughed.
“You know you ain’t right,” Ra’Keeyah laughed too.
“The newspaper’s here,” André said, running into the room and handing it to Ra’Keeyah.
“You eat breakfast?” Brick asked.
“Yes,” he replied before hurrying back down to finish his game.
“It don’t never have shit in it anyways. I don’t know why you don’t cancel the subscription,” Ra’Keeyah complained.
“You signed up for it,” Brick said before walking over to put BJ’s coat on.
“Let me see what’s goin’ on in the world today,” Ra’Keeyah said while unrolling the newspaper.
WOMAN FOUND BEATEN TO DEATH was plastered on the front page. Ra’Keeyah was curious to see if she knew who the person was found dead behind the same hotel that she, Shayna, and Quiana had made all their money at.
“Oh my goodness!” Ra’Keeyah gasped as she began reading the article.
“What’s the matter, li’l mama?” Brick asked concerned.
Malcolm Benton was apprehended and charged with the murder of eighteen-year-old Quiana Monay Parker. She was found beaten to death behind the Holiday Inn. Witnesses report seeing Mr. Benton continuously beat his victim with a blunt object while yelling, “You gave me that shit!” According to police reports, Miss Parker was wanted on charges of having sex with at least a dozen men and not disclosing the fact that she was HIV positive. If convicted, she would have been facing life in prison. When initially brought in for questioning, Detective Horsley asked Mr. Benton the reason behind the vicious beating/ murder of his victim. Without showing remorse, he simply stated:
“Everybody ain’t to be tricked!”
Urban Books, LLC
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Trickin’ Copyright © 2012 Brandi Johnson
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without prior consent of the Publisher, except brief quotes used in reviews.
ISBN: 978-1-6016-2512-0
This is a work of fiction. Any references or similarities to actual events, real people, living or dead, or to real locales are intended to give the novel a sense of reality. Any similarity in other names, characters, places, and incidents is entirely coincidental.
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Brandi Johnson, Trickin'
