No Ordinary Love (2 page)

“Won’t you go with them,” Tyree nudged his girlfriend Nyimah. She frowned, shook her head, and tightened her grip on his arm. Tyree sighed when she let out a disgusted breath. He didn’t need a clue to figure out that she didn’t like Catrina or Casey. It was only because she figured they were young girls grabbing all the eligible guys in her age bracket preventing her from getting her own friends hooked-up.

“Naw, I’m cool with you,” she told him.

Tyree didn’t press the issue because he knew she would get an attitude. It made no sense to him that she couldn’t be friends with them. Tyree smiled when he noticed Briannah, the third member of their girl group get up to go with them. Briannah grabbed his hand as she passed by and whispered something comforting into his ear. He nodded and then she walked away. That didn’t go over too well with Nyimah who almost broke her neck trying to stare after Briannah.

“What she say to you?” she demanded.

“Nothin’.”
As Nyimah rolled her eyes and mumbled something under her breath, Tyree’s mind went to what Casey was experiencing below.

There were mumbles coming from Casey as her friends surrounded her in a tight group in the small bathroom beneath the sanctuary. Both Briannah and Catrina attempted to ease her heart with soothing words.

“Case, we know,” Catrina consoled her. Briannah held the sobbing Casey in her arms. Casey shook her head; surely no one else had ever felt the burning she felt in her heart. No one else had known Tommy as she had; as a brother, an uncle, and the only male in her family who’d cared for her when there was no one else.

Daemon, she thought and was positive that he felt it. Tommy had been his best friend since childhood. But he was being consoled already by some hot bodied tramp.

Damn it,
Casey thought,
now is not the time for jealousy.
She needed to stand. Casey got to her feet and began to pace.

She was a pretty girl. Her long brown hair was styled in a wrap with bangs that covered her forehead and framed her oval shaped face. Her mocha colored skin had earned her the affectionate nickname; Co-Co when she was a child. She wore both her height and weight well. She would never be referred to as skinny. She had too many curves for that but she didn’t quite make it into the thick category either. Her lean shoulders shook as she sobbed unabashedly in the mist of her friends; the only family she had left.

The black dress she wore was sleeveless showing off a pair of well-toned arms. It clung to a pair of breasts she’d finally developed, hugged her slim waist and stretched across her full hips and an even fuller behind before falling just below her knee.

The stress from this week’s events showed in the darkened circles around her tired eyes. They were red with tears and heavy with sadness. The usual spark in them had been consumed by heartache and now seemed blank.

The anguish she felt was seemingly mirrored in the action of her two closest friends as they maintained their stance as her stronghold.

Briannah eased Casey into a fold-up chair and murmured words to her while Catrina fought the sick feeling rising in her throat.

“Not now,” Catrina prayed when her mouth began to water. Instantly, her hand went to her mouth as she jerked forward to race to one of the stalls.

Alarmed, both Casey and Briannah followed her. They stood huddled together in the small doorway as they watched their friend throw her guts up. Despite tears, Casey and Briannah managed to smile at one another.

When Catrina found the strength to unfold her medium five foot six inch frame from the bathroom floor, she found them staring at her as if neither one of them had ever seen a girl throw up before. Catrina’s heart-shaped face normally the color of honey had turned a light shade of rose. Her long black wavy hair started to curl at the temples as sweat beads began to form there. She pushed back the tendrils of hair behind her ears to display a pair of 1-carat diamond stud earrings.

Her arms were long and lean to match her height and build, her hands were a collection of long, lean delicate fingers. She made a daily practice to perform as much physical activity as she could to slim out the preteen weight she’d gained between the ages of ten and twelve.

The exercise had done her well. At sixteen she’d the developed body of a woman. She’d decided that being one hundred and fifty pounds suited her well regardless of what the BMI charts said.

She’d chosen a gray vest to go over the snug black V-neck T-shirt. The black skirt she wore was nipped at her small waist but flared out to flatter her large hips and behind inherited from her father’s side of the family.

Catrina swiped at the front of her skirt to find something to do with her hands. The always perfectly arched eyebrows seemed to highlight a pair of distressed and sad hazel eyes. Above her left eyebrow she had a birthmark the size of the pad of her pinkie finger. Even when her full lips turned up in a sad smile to form a single dimple on her left cheek, she eyed her friends and braced herself for their questions and barrage of comments.

“So, is this a regular thing for you?” Briannah quizzed.

Casey gasped. “God, Trina, why didn’t you tell me? I’m your best friend.”

Catrina sucked her teeth. “Please, I have the flu,” she explained. Well, she hoped it was the flu.

“So it’s called the flu now?” Briannah asked sarcastically while Catrina rinsed her mouth with water at the sink.

“Shut up,” Catrina told her, taking a seat.

Casey wiped her eyes and stood over her friend. “Are you?” she asked.

Catrina shrugged her shoulders. “I’on know. I’ve been nauseous for a couple days,” she confessed, leaving out the important factor of her period being three weeks late. “I didn’t tell you guys, ‘cause so much is going on. And, I just can’t be pregnant.”

“How late are you?” Briannah asked.

“Three weeks.”

“Three weeks!” Casey exploded. “That’s way before any of this even started.”

Always the protector, Briannah interrupted, “Does Dave know?” She’d be damned if her friend would be the only one afraid.

Catrina shook her head as tears began to stream down her face. “I wanna be sure. I’ve been irregular since I started taking birth control. And it was making me fat as hell, so I stopped taking it. We’ve never been unprotected.”

“Oh, Lord,” Casey said when all this hit her. She knew that Catrina was pregnant, just had a feeling. “What you gon’ do?”

Catrina put her hand to her face. “My parents are going to kill me. I don’t even wanna think about it right now. Let’s just go back upstairs.”

“You sure?” both her friends asked in unison.

At Catrina’s nod, Briannah looked at Casey. “You ready?” she asked.

She laughed pitifully. “No. I can’t believe that he’s gone. He’s all the family I had in this world, y’all,” She sniffed. Her friends rushed to take her in their arms.

“No, Case baby, you’ll always have us. All of us,” Catrina assured her.

Though they differed in personalities, build, coloring, and family upbringing, they were as close as any sisters could be, Casey thought. At this point in her life, their bond was one of the most important things to her.

“I will, won’t I?” she agreed.

“Yeah,” Briannah said.

After they fixed their make-up, they all proceeded to go back to the sanctuary where they were having the final viewing of the body. Casey seemed to be holding it together emotionally until she reached the coffin. She broke down right there and Daemon was there to hold her and try to convince her that everything would be okay.

Catrina

The mosquitos are out
, Catrina thought as she slapped at her calves. The sound of crickets could be heard, when it was quiet enough to listen. The occasional passing of cars added to what she liked to think of as her background music. She figured the darkness of the night and absence of street lights in combination of the low glow of the candles they’d packed had the insects thinking it was party time. Their blood was the liquor of the bug’s choice.

As David pulled her closer into his body, Catrina closed her eyes tight to ward off the demons she felt had begun to plague her. The light September breeze made the air cool enough for them to come equip with spring jackets and blankets. David reached down with one hand to pull the blanket over their legs.

Catrina opened her eyes and let her head fall to David’s shoulder. She was in her favorite place, with her favorite person. The combination of the two was always able to make her fears go away.

The place didn’t seem to be much to look at. The only reminder of the deteriorated mansion was the long strip of hallway that still stood. The unpaved and broken section of street across from the historical concert hall; The Robin Hood Dell usually served as a parking lot for concert goers but served as her everyday sanctuary. She’d spent countless hours here, imaging her life making plans for her future. Reflecting on her past, indulging in her present. Most recently the loss of her virginity here this very summer would keep the place close to her heart and forever in her mind. Many of her evenings were spent snuggled with David in the dim light of his car’s headlights shining from the parking lot into the large holes she’d decided must have been windows at some point. On some hot summer nights they’d been treated to free concerts from performing music artists. David was the only person she’d shared the space with. It was their spot.

The arms draped protectively around her shoulders provided her with the security she yearned for during an uncertain time. The fact that her period had elected not to make an appearance this month had her on edge. It was news she’d yet to share with David. That mixed with Tommy’s death had rocked her world.

David’s as well, she considered as he’d been one of Tommy’s best friends.

“You okay?” David questioned as he squeezed her to him.

She had no idea where to begin. The fear of telling him that she may be pregnant kept her mind busy and her mouth closed. The poor and irresponsible choice to stop taking her birth control pills was also something she’d failed to share with him.

She’d made an appointment to see her doctor at Health Center #5. She was dreading visiting there. Everyone in their neighborhood went to 20
^th
and Berks and on any given day she was bound to see someone she knew, someone her mother knew or worse; she could be seen by someone David knew.

Catrina bit her bottom lip to fight the urge to ask him to accompany her on the visit. She shook her head and cleared her throat. “I’m worried about you,” she whispered, her throat so raw that it hurt to swallow.

David tilted her face up to his.

“Bey, don’t worry. We gonna work something out. What happened to Tommy is not gonna happen to us.”

He’s being so naïve
, she thought. It was so very easy for him to make promises that death would not take him. She figured it was very foolish of him to think that the same fate could happen upon him.

The love she felt for him rushed into her. Catrina moved inches away from him and took the opportunity to stare at his face. She loved that face.

David linked their finger together as she eyed him. She tilted her head to the side to study him. His skin was a shade darker than her own honey complexion. It was what she considered light caramel. His eyes were the same hazel as her own.

“What?” he laughed.

“I’m serious, Dave. You too smart for this drug shit. I’m scared. It’s real when a crack-head can murder his dealer in broad daylight,” she pressed.

David sucked his pearly white teeth. “Nigga won’t be doing anything else.”

Afraid to inquire the meaning of that statement, Catrina nervously looked away.

He squeezed her hand, brought it to his lips. “It’s cool, Bey. We gon’ be alright and I’m always gonna protect you.”

She didn’t let the hand peck sway her into agreement. “It’s not. You’re so much more than this.”

“I am. We don’t have to talk about it ‘cause, it make you sad. I’ma show you. I got something for you.”

Her eyebrows creased at his attempt to distract her. “Don’t change the subject.”

“I’m not,” he said. He pressed play on the portable stereo they’d brought with them. The chorus to Ray Charles’s version of
Unchain My Heart
began to play.

Catrina smirked. “Really though?” she giggled despite her mood. She absolutely loved this song. “What you got for me?”

Then she saw it, a blue bracelet box. The fact that it wasn’t just any blue, but Tiffany’s blue had her losing her breath and her heart skipping a beat.

She could now add the sense of dryness to the rawness feeling in her throat. When she opened the box Catrina saw the Tiffany’s charm bracelet that she’d been eyeing for months encased in the velvet shelter of the box. He removed the bracelet from the box and revealed a silver heart locket charm and a key charm.

Touched beyond measure, Catrina let him place the bracelet on her wrist while taking time to admire it.

When she looked up at him she had tears in her eyes. “You bought the charms I wanted.”

He nodded in response. “You’ve been sad the last week. I thought you could use a ray of happiness.”

He was her ray of happiness.

“But it’s so expensive,” she murmured. She’d been trying to maneuver her father into buying it for her upcoming Christmas gift. She’d began dropping subtle hints around her birthday. If her father hadn’t picked up on the hints, David sure had.

“You like nice things. I wanna do what I can to get you those things.”

There it was. The excuse for him to continue to do what he did. It made her feel uneasy. She felt turning in her stomach and prayed that it didn’t result in her vomiting.

She frowned waging a war with herself to give the bracelet back. If she were pregnant, they would need the money. “I know you have your reasons but a man’s environment does not ultimately have to determine his future.”

“Trina, I know. Trust me, Bey. This not gonna be us forever,” She did trust him. It was the outside world that she couldn’t.

One week after Tommy’s funeral, a visit to her doctor’s office confirmed her fear of being pregnant. The hours she’d spent in the neighborhood clinic waiting to be seen were the most agonizing hours of her life. Even with the paperwork for prenatal care and prescription for vitamins tucked securely inside her notebook in her shoulder bag, Catrina couldn’t get past the fact that she was carrying a baby. The doctor’s voice echoed in her mind, “
You’re Pregnant
!”