Forever a Hustler's Wife (6 page)

“With your life?” Des gazed at his nephew.

“No question. Shit, I’ll die for her, as she’d die for me.”

“So, if she ain’t who you think she is, then you’ll take the hit.”

“However I got to.”

“Even if it means death?” Des questioned.

“Don’t you trust Yarni?” Nasir answered with a question of his own.

“A’ight,” Des said, giving Nasir a five before slapping him on the back. “I’ma take your word.”

Just then, they heard the bathroom door open and then Lava appeared. Des studied her from head to toe. She wore her jet-black hair in a ponytail. She had on jeans with a T-shirt and the same brand-new Air Jordans that Nasir was wearing.

“How’s the baby?” Nasir said, changing the conversation so that Lava wouldn’t be able to tell by the awkward silence that they had been talking about her.

“The baby is good.” Des smiled.

“Is she sleep, Unc? Lava would love to see her,” Nasir said.

Des pushed the intercom button and spoke. “Baby girl,” he addressed Yarni just as he had been doing for the past decade and a half, “is Desi sleep? Nasir and his girl want to see her.”

Yarni sat up in the king-size bed where she had been going over some case files and pushed the intercom button to respond to Des.

“As long as they’re quiet,” Yarni said, “they can come up to see her.”

Des led them up the huge, wide spiral staircase to the nursery. Yarni met them in the hall.

“Lava, this is my wife, Yarni,” Des introduced. “Baby, this is Lava, Nasir’s girlfriend.”

“Hi, how are you?” Yarni said. She initially went to extend her hand, but then hesitated. There was something about Lava that made Yarni want to give her a hug. Lava had her own arms extended to embrace Yarni back.

“I don’t know why,” Yarni said after hugging Lava, “but I feel like you are already a part of the family.”

Nasir looked over at Des and winked before his face broke into a huge grin. Des shrugged and smiled back.

“I feel the same way,” Lava said. “I feel like I know both you and your husband, as much as Nasir talks about you.”

Yarni smiled. “Your hair is so pretty. You know how many women wish they could pay to have that beautiful silky hair?”

She smiled at the compliment.

Yarni proceeded to lead them to the nursery. “Follow me.”

“I saw her at the hospital when you gave birth,” Lava said, “but I know she’s gotten really big since then.”

“I didn’t know you came to the hospital,” Yarni replied.

“Yes, but I didn’t come in to see you. There was so many people there,” Lava said. “I didn’t want to bother you.”

“Awwww, I wish you would have.” Yarni smiled as she opened the door to the nursery.

Both women entered the room, followed by Des and Nasir.

“I would love to hold her,” Lava said, “but I know if I were a new mother, I wouldn’t want anyone holding my baby.” Lava had read Yarni’s mind.

Yarni chuckled, “That’s exactly how I feel, but here…” Yarni lifted Desi out of the crib. “You can hold her.”

The men just stood back and watched Yarni and Lava interact like they had been friends for years.

Lava cooed over Desi, and she and Yarni made more small talk while Lava gently rocked the baby.

After they all finished admiring the baby, Yarni and Des walked Nasir and Lava to the front door.

“Lava, you are invited back here anytime,” Yarni offered as they stood in the open doorway.

“Thank you,” Lava said, hugging Yarni again.

“All right then, Unc,” Nasir said, giving Des a hug. “All right, Yarni.” Nasir then hugged Yarni, and soon he and Lava were on their way down the walkway.

Nasir and Lava weren’t even in their car good when Yarni said to Des, “You know what?”

“No, I don’t. What?” Des wrapped his arms around her.

“They remind me a little bit of us fifteen years ago.” Des didn’t respond. He just watched Nasir and Lava drive off. “Lava’s a good girl,” Yarni added. “And Nasir aspires to be a big-time hustler like you were. He wants to follow in your footsteps.” Only Lady Fate would know where those footsteps would carry young Nasir.

CHAPTER 5

Whose Baby Is It?

“M
ake sure you lift the baby’s neck and wash up under there,” Des’s mother, Joyce, nagged as she stood over Yarni. “You know when babies be spitting up, that milk will get all up in their little fat rolls up under the neck and get to stinkin’ if you don’t, so you got to wash up under there good. Grandma don’t want her baby stinkin’.” She began to coo at Desi, “No, she doesn’t. You tell your mama to wash that baby’s neck. Tell your mama she gotta clean you real good up under that little baby fat. Yes, she does.”

“I know.” Yarni cringed, knowing damn well that Joyce was using her cooing at Desi as an opportunity to tell her how to take care of the baby. Two can play this game, Yarni thought as she followed Joyce’s lead. “Yes, Mommy does know,” she cooed. “You tell Granny that Mommy knows how to wash that baby up, yes she does. Mommy doesn’t want her baby stinkin’ any more than Granny does. Isn’t that right, Mommy’s baby?”

Joyce rolled her eyes, quickly catching on to Yarni’s sarcasm. She watched for a second as Yarni undressed the baby and double-checked the temperature of the water before placing her in the tub. “I don’t know why y’all young kids use those bathtubs,” she started up again, tapping the blue Fisher-Price bathtub with the yellow sponge lining. She stood over Yarni’s shoulder. “Shoot, when I was raising my kids and they were that little, we used to sponge bathe them right in the kitchen sink.”

Since her back was turned to Joyce, Yarni rolled her eyes and made a face before she spoke. “That was like thirty years ago, before they even had invented these baby tubs.” She snickered under her breath at the shot she took at Joyce’s age.

“Yeah, that’s what I did with
my
Des,” Joyce said, ignoring Yarni’s comment. Yarni didn’t respond. When Desi’s bath was done, Joyce watched Yarni like a hawk when she lifted Desi out of the tub and onto the towel that she had placed in her lap. “Did you get her ears good before you finished up?”

“Yeah, I did.” Yarni nodded.

“Because a lot of new young mothers forget about the ears, and they’re important. All kinds of little crud will form in the baby’s ears if you don’t get in there with those Q-tips.”

“I know,” Yarni said. Her patience began to wear thin, but she tried to keep her composure.

Ever since the baby came home from the hospital, Joyce had hounded Yarni about Baby Desi. At first it was just phone calls all day, checking on Desi or offering some unsolicited advice. Then Joyce started stopping by to drop off whatever it was she had purchased for Desi while she had been out shopping that day, but now she was just doing drive-bys like a crazy, deranged, jealous girlfriend.

Yarni hated that Joyce treated her like she wasn’t Desi’s mother as if she had just been babysitting for a spell. It was making Yarni feel like a surrogate mother, like all she had done was go through nine months of pregnancy only to hand her baby over to her mother-in-law.

Joyce did everything for Desi, but don’t get it twisted, Lord knows with all the drama in Yarni’s life, she did appreciate it. But the fact that Joyce had practically moved in and taken over was really starting to get to her. Joyce was always riding her and being critical about every little thing she did when it came to Desi. But it was hard for Yarni to set Joyce straight, because, after all, she was Des’s mother, and their past wasn’t always peaches and cream. For the first few years of Des and Yarni’s relationship, Joyce hated Yarni and the ground she walked on. It wasn’t until the past couple years that she had embraced Yarni as more than just her son’s wife—as a woman—and Yarni wanted to keep it that way. She found herself biting her tongue so much, she was surprised it hadn’t fallen out of her mouth.

Yarni wrapped Desi up in the towel and carried her from the bathroom over to her changing table. She then proceeded to dry her off and put a Pamper on her. Packs of Pampers in every size imaginable covered one of the nursery’s walls. Des had been bringing home Pampers since he found out Yarni was pregnant. Where he got them from, she never asked, but it would be a while before Yarni would have to purchase any, and she was glad.

Joyce was on Yarni’s heels, continuing to watch every move Yarni made when it came to her grandbaby. “I don’t know why you don’t use the cloth diapers like I suggested to you in the beginning of your pregnancy,” Joyce said, shaking her head in disagreement. “I used cloth diapers with my kids.”

“Like I told you before,” Yarni said, never looking up at Joyce, “it’s a new day and a new time.” She gave a tight smile.

“Well, that’s what Des had. That boy wore cloth diapers. Natural cotton. No telling what they use to make them Pampers.”

“Joyce, listen,” Yarni said, sighing, “both Des and I are always on the run, and neither one of us has time to fool around with washing cloth diapers. Plus nobody in America uses those things anymore. This is a new day. You need to get with the program.” She couldn’t resist getting another dig in.

“All you have to do is dump the number two out into the toilet, then let the diaper soak a little bit and—”

“We’re on the go too much for that,” Yarni interrupted, barely holding on to her anger.

“Well, I think it’s something you should consider. At least use them when you know you’re going to be at home for at least a couple of changes. With all these diaper rashes going on from the chemicals and deodorants in the Pampers and things, the cloth diapers would be good for her little bottom, wouldn’t they, sweetie?” she cooed at the baby.

“It’s simply not an option, plus we have a room filled with enough Pampers to last her until she’s graduated high school,” Yarni joked.

“Me and my sisters all used cloth diapers,” Joyce said, having to get in the final word.

Yarni decided to ignore her mother-in-law. Instead, she focused more on getting her daughter in a clean sleeper. Once Yarni was done dressing Desi, Joyce swooped in like a hawk and picked up the baby and paced the floor with her.

“I’m going to go fix her a bottle,” Yarni said, leaving Grandma and her grandbaby alone. She headed downstairs to the kitchen to warm up the baby’s formula.

Once in the kitchen, Yarni grabbed one of the bottles she had prepared that morning and placed it in the microwave. As she stood waiting, Joyce entered the kitchen and startled her.

“I know good and well that you ain’t warming up that baby’s bottle in no microwave,” Joyce admonished.

“And why not?” Yarni asked, getting even more irritated with Joyce for telling her how to take care of
her
baby.

“Because radiation isn’t good to put in the baby’s body, and, besides that, the heat isn’t distributed evenly, so you might burn her tongue. Don’t you read the articles?” Joyce said, stomping across the room. “Now just move out the way and let me show you how to do this.”

With Desi on her shoulder, Joyce used her wide hips to move Yarni aside, almost knocking her down. She stopped the microwave, went to the cabinet where Yarni kept the pots and pans, and pulled out a little saucepan. She filled it halfway up with water and then placed it on the stove.

“YaYa gonna take care of her baby,” she said to Desi as she cut on the burner, removed the bottle from the microwave, and then set it down in the pan. “These young kids don’t know nothing about raising a baby. But don’t worry,
my
Desi, your YaYa is here.”

YaYa this, Grandma’s baby that. Yarni was sick of it all. She rolled her eyes and walked out of the kitchen, finding it almost unbearable to stay in the same room with Joyce. Although the house was over ten thousand square feet, it just didn’t seem like it was big enough for the both of them. Yarni took a deep breath and thought about how much Des loved his mother, how much he wanted them to get along, and how far they had come even to be able to be under the same roof, period. She would just have to learn how to live with Joyce and her constant interference.

Joyce was indeed a piece of work and would give anybody hell: man, woman, or child. For many years Joyce made it her business to give Yarni a hard way to go. Since Yarni was so much younger than Des and was the first girl Des ever truly loved, Joyce suspected that Yarni would break her son’s heart. But over the years, time and time again, Yarni had proved her undying love for Des. It didn’t happen overnight, but Joyce finally accepted Yarni. Having Joyce as an ally was better than being at war with her, so for those reasons, Yarni decided that she wouldn’t give Joyce a piece of her mind and kick her bossy butt out. Instead, Yarni did herself a favor. She left the house to get some fresh air, air that she didn’t have to share with her mother-in-law.

Yarni headed to the office to pick up the résumés of attorneys who wanted to work with her pro bono on the Samuel Johnson case. Most people didn’t realize that if you committed a crime heinous enough, you could get a team of lawyers for free who just wanted the publicity. And Johnson’s was just the type of case the local attorneys salivated over. Their names would be in the paper for months. People thought O.J. had the dream team because he was so rich, but the dream team would have been there no matter what, dreaming of all the money they’d make on future clients—not to mention the book deals.

While at the office, Yarni called Des. Johnson’s case wasn’t the only one on her mind.

“Hey, baby,” Yarni said after he answered the phone. “I just got a message from Mark to remind you that we have to meet with him next week to discuss your case.”

“Yeah, I know,” Des told Yarni. “He called me, too.” Des switched the subject. “So, you at the office, huh?”

“Yes. Your mother ran me out the house.”

“How?” Des inquired.

“Because nothing I ever do is good enough. She’s riding me like a drunk behind the wheel of a car…all over the road.”

Des laughed. He was happy that Yarni was able to make light of the situation, but he knew that it wasn’t easy. “Baby girl, she’s only trying to help.”

“But baby, she’s so overbearing,” Yarni whined.

“I know,” Des agreed. “If it makes you feel any better, she does me the same way with the baby, too.”

“But you don’t get it as hard as I get it,” Yarni said, now sitting in her chair and flipping through the stack of résumés.

Des could hear the uneasiness in his wife’s voice. “Look, since Mom Dukes wants to take care of the babysitting needs, how about we let her? Let’s do dinner, get a hotel room, and make love while Grandma is at home loving her grandbaby. You had your six-week checkup yesterday, right?”

“Yeah. The doctor says everything looks good. An evening alone with you sounds like a plan to me,” Yarni said, sighing. “A night away from
YaYa
is just what I need.”

“So, I’ll come by there in about thirty minutes to scoop you up?”

“I’ll be waiting with bells and horns.”

As soon as Yarni hung up the phone, it rang. She picked it up, thinking that it might be Des calling her back for something. “Law offices,” she said.

“Yes, is Mrs. Taylor in, please?” the deep voice asked.

“Who’s calling?”

“Marvin Sledge, of Sledge and Associates.”

Yarni recognized the name from the stack of messages on her desk. “This is Yarnise Taylor. How may I help you?” she said.

“You’re a hard lady to catch up with,” the caller said.

“Please forgive me, Mr. Sledge. I usually return all calls within twenty-four hours,” she said, rummaging through the résumés on her desk in an attempt to find his. “However, I just had a baby, and I’m technically still on maternity leave.”

“Yes, I heard. What did you have?”

“A little girl.”

“Well then, congrats are in order.”

“Thank you,” Yarni said as she placed her fingers on his résumé. It was the only one that had a photo accompanying it. Marvin Sledge was definitely easy on the specs.

Switching the subject, Marvin continued, “I am interested in assisting you with the Samuel Johnson case. I heard you were looking for a second chair.”

“That’s correct.”

“I think that’s a great idea. And I feel I would make a great co-counsel.”

“Oh, and why is that, Mr. Sledge?” Always up to see if a man could suck his own dick until he burst, Yarni leaned back to get comfortable, not knowing just how long he might be able to verbally gratify himself.