Nookie's Secret (Nookie 2) (Nookie Series) (7 page)

“It’s cool. I don’t want to hold y’all up or nothing, but thanks,” Joy said and jumped in the cab. She didn’t like the way Ronnie was looking at her.

As the cab pulled away from the curb, Joy knew that she wasn’t coming back. She headed to the only person she had left, the person who was there when she had nothing. She only hoped that he would take her back again. She felt like that Jasmine Sullivan song, “I need you bad.” She played out what she would do and say to get him to forgive her.

When she arrived at the apartment, Kevin wasn’t there. Joy used the key hidden on top of the doorframe to get in. She went straight to the kitchen to get something to eat. When she turned on the light, she saw roses and a card in the trash. She reached in and took them out.

Opening the card, she smiled at the cover that read “Thinking of you.” The inside was blank except for what Kevin wrote, “Joy I’m sorry for the way I’ve been treating you. I love you.” Joy read this, tears dropped from her eyes onto the card. She searched for something to put the roses in. She found a pitcher in the cabinet. The longer she stared at the roses and the card, the harder she would cry.

She went into the bedroom when she lost her appetite. She wanted to rest. The money sat on the bed where Joy left it, but Kevin had placed a towel over it. Joy pushed everything over and climbed under the covers. She closed her eyes and cried herself to sleep.

Chapter Fifteen

Hunger woke Joy up hours later. Her eyes hurt from all the crying. She went and peed for what felt like two hours. When she came out the bathroom, she noticed that clock read 2am and Kevin was nowhere to be found. Joy got up and looked outside to see if Kevin was sleeping in his car again. No sign of Kevin’s car. Joy went back into the kitchen. She put on a pack of Ramen Noodles and ate Cheez-Its until they were ready. After her meal, she debated about calling Kevin and decided against it. Her phone had died anyway and she just placed it on the charger.

She figured he was still mad. She got back in the bed and fell back into a deep sleep. When she awoke again it was 8:30am. Joy was upset that Kevin never came home. “He didn’t even know that she was here, so where is he?”

Joy turned on the TV and flipped through channels. She stopped on The CW channel and watched the guy do the weather. She was lost in thought about what she wanted to say to Kevin, when she heard the news lady say something about a massacre at a wedding reception last night. She turned the volume up.

“Police tell us last night in the Northeast section of Philadelphia, a man believed to be in his thirties, crashed a wedding reception, killing seven people. The names of the victims haven’t been released. The shooter is still at large and police are asking that anyone with any information please contact them. They want to review the videotape and talk to witnesses before they released a suspect description. We will have more on this later today.”

Joy ran in the kitchen and looked for the calendar Kevin kept in the drawer. She looked at yesterday’s date and read where Kevin worked. He had an 11am in Springfield, and then 5pm in Byberry. Joy dropped the calendar. There was a sharp ringing in her ears and she felt like she was under water.

She panicked as she searched for her phone. First she checked in the bedroom, she remembered that she had the phone in the kitchen on the charger. The phone was still dead because she forgot to connect the charger to the socket. She plugged it in and each second that it took for it to come on felt like hours. Finally, it came on. The phone beeped, she had a voicemail message and her hands shook as she waited for the message to come on.

“Joy,”
she heard Kevin’s voice and covered her mouth to keep from screaming. Tears flowed from her eyes. He sounded so far away. She heard him cough and he continued.
“I love you. I know that you’re carrying my little girl. Don’t worry…”

Joy heard him gasp a deep breath.
“Joy I…”
She listened to see if she could hear him but he didn’t say anything else. People shouted in the background. She kept the phone pressed to her ear until the message cut off.

After saving the message, she pressed the button to retrieve the time and date. The call came in at 8:03 last night. Joy went back to the bedroom and sat on the bed. She tried to slow her breathing. “No.” she screamed. She curled up into a ball in the middle of the bed. “This can’t be happening.” She said out loud. She tried to think of what she could do. Her mind was blank and her own loud crying blocked out her thoughts.

She jumped up.
Maybe it was a mistake.
Kevin is okay; he is just injured and couldn’t call yet
. She reached for her phone. She couldn’t remember what the number was on the news so she dialed 911. She told the dispatcher that she was trying to find out if her husband was one of the people killed in the shooting. She was transferred to a Philadelphia number. She repeated the same thing to the person who answered the phone.

“Ma’am, what is your name?”

“Joy Jacobs. My husband’s name is Kevin Jacobs.”

“Okay, hold on one moment please.”

Five seconds later, a man picked up the phone. “Mrs. Jacobs? Do you have someone there with you?”

“No.”

“Is there anyway you can come down to the station?”

“Um I don’t know.”

“If you need a ride we can send someone to come get you.”

Joy didn’t answer. She already knew. Kevin was gone. Her chest hurt. It felt like her heart had shattered. She was on her knees. She clutched the phone, no longer listening to what the man was saying. She closed the phone.

The room felt like it was spinning, Joy closed her eyes. She tried to take a step and before she knew it, she fell to the floor.

Chapter Sixteen

Joy opened her eyes to a blinding pain. She looked around and realized that she was on the floor. Her head throbbed and she had no idea how long she was out. She climbed to her feet. A sharp pain shot from her stomach down to her vagina. She felt wetness travel down her leg. “Shit!” she screamed.

She needed to get to the hospital. She didn’t want to call an ambulance. She called a cab, but the wait was too long. She had no choice but to call Simone but Simone didn’t answer. Ronnie answered and hung up before Joy could say anything. Joy waited for the cab.

Joy sat on the bed bent over, holding her stomach. She felt the baby moving. All she could do was cry. This was too much for her to handle. She laid back and rocked. An hour passed and the pain subsided. She closed her eyes and went to sleep.

When she opened her eyes, a man was staring over her. He frowned at her but he didn’t say anything when he realized that she was awake.

“What are you doing here?”

“I’m Mr. Jacobs’ landlord. I don’t think you’re on the lease.”

“You’re not supposed to be in here….”

“You know what Miss, you have to leave. I heard the awful news. Kevin’s uncle called me this morning and said that he would pay me if I packed up all this stuff by the time he came later today.”

“So soon?”

“Yep.”

“Do you have his uncle’s number?”

“No. You have to go. If not I’m going to have to call the police.”

Joy lifted herself on her elbows. Her entire body hurt and she didn’t want to move. She swung her legs over the side and got out the bed. She was glad that she was still fully dress because the man never took his eyes off her. He watched as she gathered her stuff.

“Can I at least use the bathroom?”

“Go ahead.”

As soon as she closed the door behind her, she broke down crying. She didn’t care if the man heard her. She couldn’t believe that Kevin was gone. It was so much he didn’t know. He didn’t know that she came back. She had nothing to even remember him by. What would she tell her daughter when she asked about her daddy? As she finished using the bathroom and washing her face, the man banged on the door.

“Alight I’m coming.” She wanted to punch the man in his mouth.

She walked out the bathroom passed him. He followed her into the living room. She stopped dead in her tracks and turned, “You don’t have to follow me. I’m leaving asshole.” When she stepped down the first step, she felt a sharp pain run through her stomach. She continued to walk. She doubted that if she called a cab it would arrive in time. She felt like the inside of her vagina was on fire. She sat on the steps, but that made it worst. She dialed 911 and told them operator she needed an ambulance. She managed to give the address before the pain became too bad. She couldn’t stop moaning and gritting her teeth.

Chapter Seventeen

When the paramedics arrived, Joy was at the bottom of the step clutching the rail. On the way to the hospital, Joy felt a strong sensation and then wetness run down her legs. The pain got worst and she couldn’t take it, she screamed. After the paramedic noticed that Joy’s water broke, he removed her pants. When he looked to see how much she was dilated, he yelled to the driver, “You have to go faster, I can see the head.”

Joy freaked out. “What am I going to do? It’s too early,” she shouted. The paramedic tried to calm her down. He told her to hold her breath and push. She leaned back screaming, refusing to push. Joy paused her breath though. That worked for a few seconds. It was like her body worked against her, she pushed. She pushed again and the baby came right out. Joy felt such a relief until she realized that she didn’t hear the baby crying like in the movies.

She opened her eyes to see what was going on. She watched as the paramedic, cleared the baby’s airways. He performed the CPR as tears ran down Joy’s face. “I can’t lose you too,” she whispered. She said it over like five times in a row, like a prayer. Seconds passed and finally she heard her baby’s yell of life.

They arrived at the hospital. The baby was rushed to intensive care and Joy rushed to Labor and Delivery. After making sure that everything came out, she was taken to her room. The baby was so small that Joy didn’t need any stitches.

“When can I see my baby?” Joy asked the nurse.

“I have to call down there. The doctor may want to come talk to you first but I’ll let you know. The bracelet on your arm matches your daughter. You have to keep on until the baby leaves. That is the only way you can visit her in intensive care. As soon as I find out I’ll let you know.”

The nurse left and Joy laid back against the bed and closed her eyes. She couldn’t believe everything happened so fast. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up. Her legs were shaking. She held on the end of the bed to get her balance. She wrapped another gown over her, to cover the back and headed towards the nurses station.

She didn’t see her nurse, but there were two nurses sitting there talking.

“Can I help?” one nurse asked.

“Can you tell me where the intensive care for babies is?”

“It’s the floor below us. The elevators are straight and to the right.”

Joy walked in the direction the nurse told her. When she reached the floor, she became nervous and her heart sped up. When she walked to the hallway outside the intensive care, there were other people standing there. She saw that they all had on yellow gowns. She went to the cabinet and took out a gown and put it on. She stood there, unsure about what to do next. The door opened and some people walked out and the people in the hall went in next, Joy followed them. They checked her wristband and asked her last name. She had to wash her hands and arms up to the elbow. The nurse then led her to “Baby girl Williams.”

Joy looked at the baby’s face and broke down. She was so tiny. The paper on the crib read 1lbs 7oz. The nurse asked the baby’s name but Joy ignored her. Joy’s bottom lip trembled, as the tears fell. She couldn’t tell which daddy the baby looked like. She knew that the baby was beautiful.

The tears made everything blurry. She backed up, slowly. She went to the door and went out. Once she got back to her room, she found her clothes and put them on. She checked in her bag to make sure her money was there, it was. She stuck her head out the door. The nurses’ station was empty, except for one person. Keeping her head down, she walked to the other side of the hospital to get to the front door.

When she got to the corner, there were people everywhere. Joy knew she looked crazy, her hair was all over her head. She tried to smooth it down with her hand. She just wanted to go to a hotel. She didn’t want to go back to the apartment because she didn’t want to explain what happened if she saw Simone.

The bus came headed towards Frankford Terminal. Joy remembered the time she was there, after Josh tried to kidnap her. He was her first love. Even though he constantly mistreated her, Joy still loved him with all her heart. The day she accidently shot him, the love she had for him seem to die with him. She paid and went straight to the back to sit by the window.

At the terminal, she got on the 14 towards Neshaminy Mall. She thought that she would find a place to stay on Roosevelt Blvd. She went straight to the back and leaned her head against the window. In seconds she dozed off. She opened her eyes just in time to see that she was almost at the last stop. She signaled to get off. She only had to walk a little ways up the street where she found a motel.

“Can I help you?” the man behind the window asked.

“Yea, I need a room.”

“$5 an hour or $50 for the night.”

Joy gave him enough for the week. He gave her the key and a remote. She walked passed the vendor machines. They were almost empty. She was glad that there were stores in the area.

The smell of dust hit Joy as she stepped through the door of her room. She plunged down on the bed. She kept seeing the baby’s tiny face. She knew that she wouldn’t be a good mother. She wished that her mother would have did the same. The baby would be better without her. Her heart ached and she needed something to take her mind off everything.