URBAN: Chosen By A Kingpin (68 page)

I laughed. Pops had a good run for sure. I clicked the television off and drank a glass of water, then I headed back to the bedroom and fell back to sleep.

The next time I woke up Brenton wasn’t there, but I did smell food cooking so I got up to see what it was.

“Ah! There goes my sleeping beauty! You had better hurry and get dressed. Your flight to Florida leaves in two hours.”

“What?! I don’t even have clothes packed!”

“Done,” he pointed to a duffel bag that I didn’t recognize with his spatula.

“What about a hotel?”

“Reserved,” he flipped his pancakes.

“Transportation while I’m there? Money?”

“Baby doll I’ve already done almost everything. What I haven’t done is told that baby’s daddy that he’s that baby’s daddy.”

“So I guess that means you’re not coming with me then, huh?” I sighed.

“Did I help make the baby?” he didn’t wait for a response, “Exactly, now stop wasting time.”

I grinned and headed to the bathroom. I washed up, pulled my hair up into a pineapple, and did my makeup. I pulled on some black leggings and an orange oversized sweater. I slid into my combat boots and let Brenton drive me to the airport.

Stepping off of the plane at the Miami International Airport was riveting. I took in everything that was Miami, Florida. I was glad to be off of that plane. It was the first time I had ever been on a plane and to be on it alone was kind of scary. I followed signs to grab my suitcase and then called Brenton, because I had no idea where to go.

“You made it!” He yelped.

I giggled, “Yea, I’m here,” I replied with uncertainty.

“Aw cheer up baby doll. Three days and you’ll be back here with me. Now, go outside there’s a guy waiting for you, he’ll be driving you around. He’s also gonna be your bodyguard just in case something happens,” I began to walk toward the door.

“Got it, what does he look like?”

“Hell, a body guard? Shit I don’t know.”

We both laughed.

“I’ll call you when I get to my room.”

“Okay girl, love you.”

“Yea, Love you too Brent. Thanks.”

“No problem baby doll.”

I reached for the door and felt a hand on my arm. I quickly turned around and punched at the face of the man who had grabbed my arm.

“Fuck Chantel!” A familiar voice screeched as he held his face.

I gasped into my hands, “Mr. DeVito, I’m so sorry.”

He laughed and checked his face for blood, “I’ll be okay. What brings you down here?”

“Actually, I came looking to talk to you.”

There was a short pause, “well here I am.”

“I was actually thinking we could sit down somewhere. I’ll be here for three days,” I scribbled my number on a receipt, “Call me.”

“Well, okay then.”

“I’ll see you soon.”

I continued out the door and quickly found my ride. I couldn’t believe I punched him in the face. I guess he kind of deserved it after not calling me back, and then pretending like we never had a thing. I guess that’s how booty calls work though, right? I melted into the back seat of the cooled town car and dozed off as the driver took me to my hotel.

“Hello?” I questioned. I had just gotten in from the airport and there was a call from a blocked number.

There was no answer.

“Hello?” I let the ‘o’ linger this time.

The other line clicked off and I got the sound of a dial tone in reply.

I was a little shaken up by the whole thing, so I called Brenton.

“What’s up baby doll? You settled?” he answered.

“Nah, I actually just got in.”

“You okay? You sound a little off beat.”

“Yea, it’s just, I got a call from a blocked number just now.”

“What did they say?”

“Nothing.”

He sighed, “I wouldn’t worry about it too much baby doll. You have a big day tomorrow. Get you some sleep and some food. I believe that you are just stressed.”

“Yea,” I replied with uncertainty.

“Really baby doll, it will be okay, I promise,” he assured me.

“Yea Brent, Thanks.”

I heard a woman’s voice call his name.

“Who is that?” I asked. A hint of jealousy fell over me. He was my friend and I should be happy for him.

“Mama came home from the hospital last night.”

I was relieved, “Let her know that I said hey and that I am glad she is feeling better.”

“Yep, I will make it happen sweets. I’m gonna go do that now. You get some rest and eat. Please make sure you eat. I’ll see you soon.”

Then he hung up.

I didn’t eat that much. I wasn’t really feeling it. I drank some juice, showered, and slept the night away. The next morning I woke up and there were no missed calls from Mr. DeVito. I knew there was no other options except to head to his office.

I went to the lobby of the hotel and ate some breakfast. I was starving and it was delicious. I showered and laid in the bed wrapped in a towel for an hour before my peace was interrupted by a phone call.

“Hello?” I answered.

“Yes. Mrs. Wilson?” A woman questioned.

“I’m not married,” I corrected her, “but yes, this is she, who am I speaking with?”

“”Excuse me, Miss. Wilson, my name is Henrietta Jones. I am Andrew DeVito’s secretary. I just wanted to confirm your appointment with him today.”

I hadn’t scheduled any appointments, but it didn’t seem like I was getting in touch with him any other way.

“Oh, yes! What time was that again?” I faked it.

“In about four hours at two o clock.”

“Well okay then, thanks for that reminder.”

“No problem, I will see you soon.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Jones.”

“Thank you, bye now.”

I didn’t know how I had gotten that meeting, but I was not about to screw it up again. I called Brenton.

“Good Morning Beautiful!”

“Did you set up a meeting with Mr. DeVito and not tell me?”

“… GOOD MORNING BEAUTIFUL!”

“Brenton!”

“Okay, Okay,” he laughed.

“What am I supposed to do?”

“Maybe you could start by telling him that you’re pregnant with his kid. Just a thought. I gotta go though. Mama has been real needy all damn night.”

I laughed, “Okay then. Text me!”

I quickly got ready. I wore a champagne colored maxi dress that framed my body well and some khaki sandals. I didn’t have a baby bump yet, but my boobs were perkier and my ass was bigger. I was loving what this baby was doing for my figure. I was ready to confront him. Not necessarily to make him want to communicate with me more, but to make him aware of his kid.

The entire ride there I thought of our kid growing into a beautiful one. I didn’t know the gender yet, but that would come with time. Reality was what I was going to name him. I would name the child reality because he awakened me. Reality hit, when Reality came into this world. He could spend the school year with me and spend summers with his dad. I could even move closer to Florida to make the transition easier. I had cousins who lived in Georgia that I could make arrangements with.

As soon as my thoughts took off, we pulled up to a tall glass building. The headquarters for Divine Design was even better than I could have imagined. I was greeted with a warm welcome at the door and the lady who I had talked to on the phone led me to the conference room. She asked if I wanted a glass of water, but I respectfully declined. I didn’t want to have to excuse myself from the meeting.

At two o clock exactly Mr. DeVito walked into the room and sat at the other end of the long table. His secretary stood behind him.

“Well hello Chantel. I didn’t expect to see you today.” He looked up at his secretary and she looked nervously into the distance.

“So what brings you here exactly?”

“Well,” I conjured up every ounce of courage I had, “I have some papers for you.”

I held up the papers that confirmed that I was pregnant and his secretary came to grab them, then dropped them off in front of him. He looked over them silently and then looked up at me.

“What is this?”

Before his calm demeanor aroused me, but that day it frustrated me.

“What the hell does it look like?”

He shot a glance up to me and I stared back into his eyes.

“Henrietta!”

“Yes Sir?” she jumped.

“Leave.”

“Yes Sir.” She scurried away.

***

That day was probably one of the worst days of my life. That is also the day I lost all respect for Andrew. When Henrietta left, he wasted no time coming to my side of the table and throwing the papers in my face. I didn’t budge.

“Chantel, you were on the pill when I fucked you. It’s not mine.”

“I was not on the pill and it is yours.”

“Then why did you lie to me?”

“I didn’t”

“Okay fine, you weren’t on the pill, but if you throw it back like every other Jersey hoe on the first night, then I am positive that it is not mine.”

I stood up from my chair.

“Call me what you please, Andrew, but you weren’t saying that when you were screeching at the top of your lungs.”

His face was flushed.

“Listen, how much do you want?” He reached into his pocket.

“I don’t want your money.”

“Damn it Woman! Get out of my building. I’ll have a check sent to you. I just don’t want to see you or that kid again. You are only another number to the other hoes I don’t give a fuck about. Get over yourself. You were a hook up. A good time. You are useless to my company, and you aren’t going to make my life any easier with this bull shit!”

I knew fueling his anger would do nothing to help my situation, so I got up and walked out of the door. I thanked Henrietta for her hospitality. The evils within a person really do come to the light. My heart was heavier than when my mom died. I went to the hotel room and packed my bags. I tried calling Brenton, but there was no answer so I took an early flight home.

When I got to Brenton’s house no one was there. So I got into the bed and fell asleep. When I woke up I decided to search for a place to work and live. There was still no sign of Brenton or his mother, and he wasn’t answering his phone. After finding a few places and contacting the managers, I got in my car and drove to the park. I loved going to the park. It helped me clear my mind.

I sat on the park bench and relaxed. I took deep breaths of the air around me and watched the little children play on the swing sets and slides. I patted my stomach and smiled.

“One day Reality. One day.” I said out loud.

“You’re naming the kid Reality?” A woman’s voice said.

I snapped out of my thoughts and looked up. There stood a tall pale one with skinny legs. She had on a knee length blue skirt, a cardigan, a scarf that draped over her head, and dark shades.

“I am actually.”

“Is it really my husband’s kid?” The woman took off her shades. It was Andrew’s wife.

My eyes widened.

“Unfortunately, yes ma’am it is.”

She looked like she would bust out into tears at any moment. I patted the bench beside me.

“Have a seat.”

She sat down and we had a long conversation. She mostly talked about how she had always known he was cheating on her and she would let it slide and pretend like it was nothing. She also admitted that the blocked number was hers. She had found my number in Andrew’s jacket pocket and decided to give it a call. She was going to threaten me, to keep me away from him, but she couldn’t seem to bring herself to formulate the words. She rambled on and on about how she had wanted so badly to kill someone and how she had made a plan for that someone to be me, but when she heard that I was pregnant, she couldn’t carry it out. She had two kids of her own with Andrew. Two boys. He often played in the yard with them, but never seemed to offer much time for her since the last one.

We sat on the bench and talked for a good hour and a half before she forgave me, and gave me numbers for some good companies to call for a job. I thanked her and sent her on her way. Within the next thirty minutes I was back at Brenton’s house. This time he was home, but his mother wasn’t.

“What’s up baby doll? You aren’t supposed to be here for another hour or so.”

“Yea, I came in last night. Andrew didn’t take it so well.”

“Aw, that’s okay. At least you gave him a chance to be in the kid’s life.”

“Yea, where’s mama ‘Gomery?”

“Oh,” his face flushed, “Bingo.”

I looked directly into his eyes and took a step closer.

“Brenton Theodore Montgomery. Are you lying to me?”

He held his breath and in one heap of air he admitted, “Mama moved to Tennessee about a year ago to be with her new boyfriend, I’m down here recovering all the stuff from the apartment that will be thrown away otherwise, and I have been watching over you this entire time, because Rasheed called me one day and told me that he was going to turn himself in and he needed someone to look after you.”

He closed his eyes as I held on to every word.

“So, you lied to me?”

“Tel, don’t say it like that. I didn’t lie because I wanted to, I lied to protect you.”

“Not a damn way that’s true either. Who the hell was the girl that called your name that night when you said it was your mom? Why the hell didn’t you answer your phone all night and day? What the fuck is going on Brenton?”

He looked as if he had seen a ghost.

“I’m going to need you to chill the hell out, and sit ya ass down.” He pointed to the couch.

I did as I was told.

He went into a detailed story about how when my mom died she left two notes. One for him and one for Rasheed. They had been communicating back and forth this entire time about how much to pay me in order to keep the apartment and maintain my lifestyle. They talked about everything I did and who I was visiting. When Brenton stopped trying to get in contact with me, it was because Rasheed knew it would make me come to the bar and look for work and it was the best way for him to look after me. When Rasheed decided to turn himself in, it was so that I could be with Brenton. The girl was the apartment manager who needed Brenton for final paperwork, and he hadn’t answered his phone because he was taking care of last minute plans with Rasheed.