PRETTY BRIGHT (15 page)

Slowly, depression began to consume her, and she felt like crying. Instead she tried to call Treasure, but her grandmother told her that she wasn't home. Desperately needing to hear that everything was going to be okay, Bright looked to her mother for comfort. “Mom, two babies,” was all she could manage to say.

Stopping at a red light, her mother turned to her and said, “Two babies that will have all the love in the world, Queen Bee,” she said, holding her daughter's hand. “Everything will be just fine,” she said, hoping for the best.

icole had ignored all of Treasure’s calls and had eventually changed her number to avoid her calls. Treasure felt bad for her part in the fight and

couldn't help feeling like she had lost a really good friend. Her spirits were down, and she was unable to shake the lingering depression that had set in on her. She had even begun to question her and Bright's relationship, and though Bright swore she never slept with Lil Boo, it just seemed funny to her that first Chrome accused her of trying to get with him, and now Nicole hearing from Lil Boo's homeboy that she kicked it with him the night of his all white, end-of the-summer pool party.

Thinking back to that night, Treasure did recall Lil Boo joining her in the bed way after she had fallen asleep. And when she asked him where he had come from, he told her he had smoked a blunt with Bright and then given her towels to bathe with and blankets to sleep with. Treasure didn't think anything of it at the time, but now it was suspicious to her because Bright never mentioned them smoking a blunt at all. When she spoke to Lil Boo, he denied it and then started ignoring her calls. A sly smile appeared across Treasure's face. She had a trick up her sleeve, and if she found out that Bright slept with Lil Boo, she was going to kick her ass and end their friendship for good.

**********
“Yeah, whatever, Larry!” Bright complained, walking up the stairs of her apartment with Larry. They had just come from the movies and were having another argument about Larry never having enough time to spend with her. The only reason he had taken her to the movies was to celebrate them having twins. “Every time I ask to come over, I can't. If I ask you to take me out somewhere on the weekend, you’re too busy or tired. So what the fuck, Larry, are you cheating on me?” Bright asked, stopping in her tracks.

Larry wanted to tell her he had a job, but the other night when he joked about working at Mc Donald's, Bright burst into laughter. She told him that she'd rather see him sell drugs before he worked at such a low-paying job. It didn't bother him that Bright was a materialistic girl; he actually thought it was cute that she set standards high. His problem was with gold-digging type of females that were only out to get money, but in their case, he knew that Bright would give him her last. She practically provided him with a whole new wardrobe, bought him every new pair of tennis shoes that came out, and kept money in his pockets just to keep him from working.

“Don't worry about a job, boo, I got plenty of money for the both of us until you get drafted to the NBA,” she would always tell him. And for that, all Larry wanted to do was, marry Bright, spoil her and make her happy. But her thinking of him as a loser for working at Mc Donald was just something he couldn't accept or handle, so he'd just have to continue to lie to her until he got his big break.

“Do you think I'm cheating on you, Bright?” Larry asked her in a disbelieving tone. “Because I’m not.” He looked deep into her beautiful green eyes. He was head over heels in love with her and just wanted to do the right thing.

“You said it, not me!” Bright spat , holding back the tears in her eyes. She felt that because she was pregnant and had gained a little weight that Larry had lost interest in her. It was always the babies this, the babies that...it was never about her anymore.

Larry kissed her on her lips then hugged her tight. “I keep telling you, baby, that you mean the world to me, Mama Lane, and that everything that I do is for us. And one day, the only thing you gone have to worry about is what Prada and Gucci is coming out with next,” he laughed. “Spend money, take care of our children, and live the fucking fabulous life!”

Bright wiped her eyes then smiled, money always made her happy. “Don’t forget my mansion and all my fancy cars,” she added.

“Oh shit, how could I have forgotten that?” he teased, kissing Bright on her lips once more. “But I have to do what I have to do right now, to assure that Pretty Bright get what she wants,” he smiled.

Bright laughed. “Pretty my ass, I'm drop dead gorgeous,” she snapped playfully.
“Yeah baby, you are all that...But you'll always be my Pretty Bright.” He wrapped his arms around her waist then winked at her.
“Pretty Bright” she sighed. Bright believed her looks were above Pretty, but since he was always calling her the name, she wanted to know why. “How you figure?” “From the first time I laid eyes on your pretty face I thought, damn, she has the prettiest face I have ever seen in my entire life, so I call you my Pretty Bright,” Larry said truthfully.
“Well, Pretty Bright it is,” she smiled, rubbing her index finger softly down the side of his smooth chocolate skin. It was one of the most heart-filled things a guy had ever sincerely said to her.
Getting back to their original conversation, Larry said, “So you gone quit being so hard on a brotha then, right?” he held her face with his hands. He had a lot of stress and needed her to be there for him instead of adding to it.
“I promise,” Bright said, wrapping her pinky finger around his, then she grabbed his hand to lead him into her house. Being pregnant and in love with Larry was changing Bright. She'd avoid Terrence as much as possible or until her pockets got low. And even then, her performance wouldn't be so great and Terrence would complain that the pregnancy was bringing the worst out of her. She dreaded climbing in bed with him and was turned off by everything that he did. It had gotten so bad that Terrence had backed off to give her space, he had grown tired of Bright's nagging and complaining. But when he dropped money off to her, he requested that she drop to her knees and at least give him head.
“Hey Moms,” Larry said, giving his future mother-in- law a tight hug.
“Hey son, how’s my UCLA M.V.P. Doing?” she teased. During basketball season, the media would blow Larry's name up on the news and in the newspaper as being one of the best in the league. They were practically having a bidding war over Larry Lane in the NBA, so it was now only a matter of time.
Larry laughed as he rubbed through the sea of waves in his head. “I'm a'ight Moms, you on your way to work?” he blushed, flashing his million dollar smile.
“Yeah, I'm on my way out for work,” she said, grabbing her lunch out of the refrigerator. Noticing his big smile, she said, “What you smiling so hard for, M.V.P.? You and Queen Bee ain't ran off and got married or anything like that now?” she teased. “We made an agreement that we weren’t keeping anymore secrets from Moms,” she said, placing her hand on her hip.
“No more secrets, Moms,” Larry smiled. “You be making me blush, calling me M.V.P. and everything,” he replied truthfully.
“You have a lot to be proud of, and I'm very proud and happy for you,” she smiled looking at Larry.
Larry nodded his head. “I guess I do, I just wish your brother would cut me some slack,” he said, looking back at Bright.
“My brother?” Rosette snapped with a puzzled look upon her face.
“Yeah, Bright's uncle that she's scared to death of,” he teased.
Bright quickly changed the subject, while her mother eyed them both suspiciously. “Uncle!” she said. She had sisters, but they both lived in Cincinnati, and her brother's life had been claimed by cancer before Bright was born.
“Yes mom, uncle,” Bright said, whisking Larry into the hallway. “Give me a second to speak to Larry alone, Ma,” Bright said, hoping she wouldn't be busted.
In the hallway, Bright whispered to Larry. “Please don't mention my uncle to, or around my mother. They got into a real bad argument, then they disowned each other, and haven't spoken to each other in years. But if she finds out he's been around here, it'll upset her and then she'll get angry with me because I keep in contact with him,” she lied persuasively.
Covering his mouth, Larry said, “Oh, my bad, I'm sorry, baby, I didn't know,” he said regretfully. “I see ole Unc like running around like he the big bad wolf or something,” he said, getting serious. “But I told you though, he ain't gone run us,” Larry said like he had a bad taste in his mouth. And he meant that.
Hearing her mother's footsteps coming closer to their direction, Bright said, “Okay baby, but please don't mention him to Mama, it will only upset her,” she warned. Larry hurriedly nodded his head in agreement. “Got you baby.”
Joining them in the hallway, Rosette said, “Now what's going on with all this you’re afraid of your Uncle stuff that Larry is talking about?” she said, looking in between the two of them.
“Ma, Larry was talking about his uncle,” Bright said, looking at the time. “Aren't you gonna be late for work?” she asked.
Rosette looked at her wristwatch. “What, he bothering you or somethin’?”
“No, Moms, everything is alright, Bright's just afraid to meet my uncle because I told her how mean and grumpy he was,” Larry said, covering up for Bright. “Everything’s all good though,” he assured her.
Changing the confused expression on her face, Rosette grabbed her work and lunch bag then proceeded to the door. “Y'all had me going for a minute there, because my brother is dead and has been even before Bright was born,” she affirmed, then opened the door to leave. “I'm gone, Queen Bee; take care of my babies,” she said, proceeding to exit the apartment. Then before closing the door behind herself, she remembered what she wanted to tell Bright earlier. “I don't know what’s going on with Deja and Cordell, but they both done turned into street runners. When they get home, tell 'em I want them to stay in. I don't want them getting into any trouble.”
However, what Rosette didn't know was that the trouble had already begun. Cordell and Deja were officially out experiencing street life.
Though Bright had noticed how they had both begin to spend more time outside of the house then they did in, she figured they were probably hanging with friends. “Got you, Ma,” she said, then she closed the door behind her mother.
“Isn't that wild?” Bright said, directing her attention back to Larry. “She swears she's never talking to her brother ever again in life,” Bright said with a sad face, nodding her head in disbelief.
“Wow,” Larry said, “if you hadn't warned me, I would of believed Moms didn't even have a living brother.”
“Yeah, I told you,” Bright said, leading Larry to the kitchen to make him a plate of her mother’s dinner: smother chicken, rice, and fried corn.
After dinner, Larry helped Bright straighten up the apartment, rubbed her sore feet for a while, then left to go to work. But he told her he was going home to study.
“I love you Larry Lane,” Bright yelled out her front door as Larry made his way down to his Mustang.
“I love you more, Pretty Bright,” Larry yelled back up to her, then he got in his car and sped off before he was late for work.

At five months pregnant, Bright laid on her back in Terrence bed with him on top of her pumping away. Disgusted, Bright wished he would hurry up and bust a nut so that he could give her some money and take her back home. Being pregnant made her hate having sex with Terrence; she felt degraded. The only man she wanted inside of her was Larry, but it was the money that kept her in and out Terrence’s bed and on her knees in his truck when she was too lazy to fuck. Bright wanted to cry; his every stroke, kiss, touch, and moan made her skin want to jump off of her and crawl away. But how else would she buy the things that her babies and Larry needed? Or keep fresh clothes on her back and money in her pockets? She had outgrown being broke and had become
accustomed to having lots of money in her possession. She didn't want her babies to lack anything, and she certainly didn't want her future husband working a low-paying job that would demand his time from her, school or basketball practice and end up losing his chances at getting drafted into the NBA. She couldn't let that happen, so instead of dumping Terrence, Bright decided to hang in there just a little bit longer.
Hurry up!
she cried to herself.
“What the fuck is up with you?” Terrence climbed

“I told you since I've been pregnant that it hurts me to have sex and you don't care, all you wanna do is bust a nut,” Bright whined. The truth was that her pregnancy made her see the ugly truth that was called her reality, and it hurt her deeply to lay in bed and let Terrence nut on her and Larry's babies’ heads. She wished she could just suck his dick and get it over with, but he just had to have the pussy, no matter how much she complained it hurt her. She even went as far as telling him that she had a high risk pregnancy, and that the doctor told her to abstain from having sex to avoid having a miscarriage, but Terrence didn't care. All he wanted was pussy, pussy, and more pussy.

“A'ight beautiful,” Terrence sighed, seeing that Bright was really being affected by having sex. “If the dick is too much for you to handle right now, a nigga can jack off until we have the babies,” he said disappointedly. “Nigga still like his dick sucked though,” he smiled, stroking himself. It turned him on knowing that he was tearing the pussy up.

Bright nodded her head in agreement. “This shit ain't no joke, Ice.” She called him his street name to stroke his ego. “I love making love to you and everything baby, but I don't wanna lose the babies over it either. So we gone have to take it easy.” She acted as if she was in pain.

“You alright, baby?” Terre nce asked, then tossed two bundles of money to her on the bed. “I bet that'll make you smile,” he said, holding his dick in his hand, ready to get it sucked. He knew that money would shut her up.

As usual, Bright lit up like a Christmas tree and smiled. “I can suck it, but the coochie needs a break baby,” Bright climbed across the bed to let her mouth meet Terrence’s rod. Bobbing her head up and down his penis, she devoured him until he yelled, moaned in ecstasy, and came inside her mouth. After she spit it out, she took a shower, then Terrence drove her back home.