What's His Is Mine (18 page)

I
was watching
The Young and the Restless
when I heard a loud diesel engine. I looked out the window and saw a UPS truck was in front of the house. I opened the door and a man dressed in all brown said, “I have a delivery for Tanisha Butler.”

“Tanisha Butler—you sure?” I asked. “What is it?”

He looked at the side of the box. “I think it is a treadmill.”

“A treadmill?” I repeated as the driver began unloading it off the truck. It was a nice big gym-size one. I looked around the living room. I had no idea where I was going to place it. There was hardly any room, I thought as I moved everything out of the way.

I dialed Kevin. “Thank you, that was really sweet.”

“I wanted to thank you for watching Jarell.”

“No problem. He is my son. I miss him. I wish I could spend every day with him.”

“I'll try to bring him over more often. My flight gets in after midnight. I'll pick him up.”

“It's no rush. I can just keep him over the weekend. He can stay until after your game.”

 

 

The first thing Tyrone noticed when he came home was the treadmill.

“Where did you get that thing from?” he asked.

“Kevin bought it.”

He twisted lips and said, “I'll try to set it up for you.” I could tell he was angry. “So he's buying you gifts now?”

“It's a gift for watching Jarell.”

“I knew he was going to want you back sooner or later.”

“Tyrone, it is not like that. Trust me, he has girlfriends and my only concern is being a good mom and putting my life together.” I thought I convinced him. I was really trying to convince myself. I wondered if there was any hope for me and Kevin. I didn't want to read into anything.

J
abril was in town and I went to visit him at his house in New Jersey. He introduced me to his mother, Claudette. She was really pretty with big bright chestnut eyes like Jabril. She was thirty-eight and looked like her midtwenties. I would have easily thought she was Jabril's sister. She was wearing Gucci high heels with a Baby Phat sweat suit. I'm not really into fashion, but I don't think Baby Phat and Gucci are two designers that should be worn together. I don't know. She had a bunch of expensive things on, but she didn't really look real cute like Adrienne and her girlfriends. She didn't really have too much to say. She asked Jabril for his car keys and for money. He happily gave her both.

When she left, Jabril's jeweler came over. He had these black velvet displays with all these diamond chains and platinum bracelets. Jabril pointed to a bracelet chain and said, “I want that butterfly chain for my girl.”

“For me?” I said, shocked. “How much is this?” It was nice, but I didn't want him spending a bunch of money on me.

“Eight thousand.”

I looked at him and said, “Don't buy me nothing this expensive.”

He said, “Man, put that necklace on.”

The jeweler's assistant came over and put it around my neck.

I walked over to Jabril and said thank you. He smiled and said it was nothing.

“Do you have anything else? Not as flashy. My unc don't like flashy stuff, but I want to get him a nice ring.”

After the jeweler left Jabril said, “I want to show you something.” We walked into the garage where he had a red Lamborghini.

 

 

We went for a ride.

“Why would you buy this fast little car, Jabril? You are too tall for this car.”

“I saw one on television.”

“You don't want to listen to anyone, Jabril.”

We were going down the highway so fast. I looked at the gauge and it read 105 m.p.h.

“Jabril, slow down,” I yelled, but he didn't listen. We were weaving in and out of traffic until the red and blue lights were flashing behind us.

“Can I have your license and registration?” the tall police officer said as he approached the car and began looking in at us.

“Here is my license. I don't have my registration. I just bought this,” Jabril said.

“Okay, let me see your license.” Jabril handed it to him.

The officer looked at the license then back at him and said, “Nice car. Listen, man, take this car home and get your paperwork together. And make sure you make Camden proud.”

“I'm going to try.”

“That was nice. He didn't give you a ticket.”

“Yeah, it was,” Jabril said as the light turned green and he sped off in front of the cop.

 

 

We had done everything that we weren't supposed to do. It was like no one knew how to say no to Jabril except for his uncle Wendell. I was in Jersey with him the entire weekend and was about to head home, because Jabril had to go back to Oklahoma.

Just as we were leaving, Wendell came in. He looked mean. He had his Bluetooth in his ear. “Your accountant called me, Jabril.”

“And.”

“And do you know how much money you spent in the last week?”

“I don't care. It's my money. I buy what I want.”

Wendell wasn't half as tall as Jabril, but still walked over to him and said, “I know whose money it is. Just because you have it don't mean you have to blow it. Nobody is going back with you. LJ and Chris just be sitting here chilling. They need to go get their own jobs and to be in college somewhere, making their own way. And you can't be missing practice.

“People who have had millions have lost it all. It is easy. I didn't bring you all this way to get you here to let you fail. That's not going to happen. The party stops now. The girl can come back, but you're not bringing any of them hoodlums to Oklahoma with you. You have a job to do.”

Wendell left and I was scared to move, but what he was saying was right. “You should probably listen to your uncle.”

“I do, but he thinks he's my father. Let me get ready to get out of here. I'll have LJ take you home. You going to come and visit?”

I told him I would and gave him a kiss good-bye.

 

 

I came in the house and Adrienne's eyes widened as she looked down at my chain.

“This is nice. He bought you that?” she asked as she flipped the chain back and forth.

“Yeah, he had his jeweler come to his house.”

“Wow, this is beautiful. He bought you that. Oh, you are going to give him some.” She laughed.

“That's why I came home. I can't give him any, Adrienne. I'm a virgin.”

“You are? He will probably marry you. There aren't many of them left.”

H
ome sweet home, I thought as soon as I touched down again in Atlanta. I was getting tired of flying back and forth. I was going to have to somehow get DeCarious to get rid of his girlfriend and get back with me permanently. He'd been calling me nonstop, begging me to come back down and discuss what I was going to do about the baby. I somehow, some way had to get him to marry me. When he married me I would have my family and security, and then I could really get pregnant with his baby.

When DeCarious picked us up, he grabbed my bags from me and surprisingly gave me and Asia a kiss.

“You all right, babe?” he asked, concerned.

“Yes.”

“You hungry?” he asked as he opened my car door.

“No. You can stop and get Asia something, but I keep having morning sickness and I don't want to throw up again.”

Instead of going out, DeCarious was all about Asia and me. He took care of me and my pretend sickness all weekend. I sent him to the store to get me a bunch of things that I didn't need, like saltines and ginger ale.

“I just hope I feel good enough to go to church.” I sighed.

“So why don't you just have the baby? I will take care of you,” DeCarious asked.

“Decarious, there are no guarantees in life. I need security, I don't have a job, the lady got me fired, and I have Asia. It is just a lot on me right now. I don't know what I'm going to do.”

He came in the bed and made love to me. I didn't have to seduce him any longer.

 

 

Sunday, we all got dressed and went to church. DeCarious looked so nice in his suit. The preacher just coincidentally was talking about men being the head of the household and how men need to step up to the plate and stop leaving women out there. Oh, how perfect. The heavens were smiling down on me. I saw DeCarious shaking his head a few times. I caught him looking over at me. I watched the pastor attentively.

That evening, after dinner, I did the dishes. I gave Malaysia a bath and went into DeCarious's room. I knocked on the open door. DeCarious was sitting on the bed in deep thought.

“You okay. You have been acting strange since church.”

“I'm fine. I've just been doing a lot of thinking,” he said as he blew into his hands.

“What's wrong, baby? You okay?” I asked as I walked in the room and rubbed the center of his back. DeCarious looked up at me and took another deep breath. I had a seat next to him. “You look like something is bothering you,” I said as I touched his face.

He stood up and said, “Listen, Adrienne. I know we have been through a lot, and well, I just had a long talk with the pastor. I told him about our situation.”

“Why did you tell him our business?”

“Because you can go to God with anything. Anyway, he said what I already knew.”

“What's that, babe?”

“He told me not to abandon my family and whatever problems we had in the past, leave them there and start over new. And just to pray on every single thing. So long story short, I want you to have our baby and I want us to get married.”

“Married?” I repeated back to him like it was the most absurd thing I had ever heard. “DeCarious, you have a girlfriend and you think I'm going to marry you just because I'm pregnant?”

“I'm going to break up with her. Listen, we can plan it now,” he said as he got on his knees and put his head next to my stomach. “Adrienne. That's my baby in there. You could be having my son, and I don't want to get rid of him.” I didn't say anything at first. I acted as if I was at a loss for words.

“DeCarious, stop.” I tried my best to push out fake tears. I couldn't believe it. He was ready to marry me. Yes! Okay, things were moving way faster than I expected. I tried to gain my composure as I walked to the bathroom. What was I supposed to say to that?
Shit. Focus, Adrienne,
I thought. Okay, he wanted to marry me. I had to get him to do it now before someone or something changed his mind. I heard him coming toward the bathroom. I put my head down in my lap. He picked my head up off my lap.

“You okay, Adrienne?”

I stood and left the bathroom. “No, I'm not. I can't let you marry me because I'm pregnant.”

“I'm not marrying you because you are pregnant. I'm marrying you because I love you, my daughter, and my unborn child. Please, I want us to be a family. I know I haven't been the best, to you or Asia, but I'm willing to change.”

“I know, but what will everyone think? I don't want to be walking down the aisle with a big stomach and people thinking you married me just because I'm pregnant.”

“We can get married before you start showing.”

“Like a city hall or Vegas wedding?”

“Yeah, city hall, Vegas, whatever you want, Adrienne. Set it up. We can do it this weekend. I'm going to call my mom now and tell her,” he said as he went to reach for his cell phone. I stopped him by wrapping my arms around his waist and giving him a hug. I set his phone down. “No, um, babe, if we are going to do this, let's just surprise everyone. I'm going to go online now and find tickets.”

 

 

I convinced DeCarious that we couldn't wait for the weekend and that we had to get married now. I booked us a flight to Philly. I had already made plans for us to drop Asia off with my mom. I promised her money and a few days with her only grandchild, no questions asked. She was going to meet us at the airport. I couldn't risk waiting for Miss Anne to get home. I knew she would start inquiring about what we were doing and why we were going to Vegas, and I didn't have time for that. We flew from Atlanta, met my mom at security, and got our connecting flight to Vegas.

As soon as Asia was secure, it was time to finalize everything.

DeCarious wasn't saying too much. I could tell he was getting apprehensive.

“Babe, you look tense. Relax. Let's turn off our phones and just think about us.”

“You're right. I was just thinking about calling my parents, but I will call them afterwards.”

“Don't worry, babe. We are making the right decision.”

 

 

In the busy Vegas airport all I could see in front of me was a colorful rainbow of red, orange, yellow, and green. Irony is a motherfucker and I love her. I met DeCarious's ass in Vegas and now I was about to get married to him.

We checked into our room where I changed into an off-white, short cocktail dress. DeCarious put on a black suit. The Little Chapel house was across the street from the license bureau. I already had paid for our package, so we had our wedding all set up.

 

 

A cab pulled up. We were going to get our license first. The woman on the phone said it only took about twenty minutes. Then all we had to do was walk across the street and get married. There were only two couples ahead of us—a young Indian and Asian couple and an older white couple. We filled out our forms and then handed them in. Within a few moments we were ready to be married.

We went to the Little Chapel. It was empty. I guess most rushed weddings don't happen on Tuesday afternoons. I couldn't believe this was going to happen. I was about to be Mrs. DeCarious Simmons. In the room where our ceremony was taking place there was a fountain with water flowing, and green vines looped all around it. My feet could not get to that altar fast enough. DeCarious was all smiles. He touched my stomach once more and looked up in the air, I guess to say another prayer. We said our vows and the moment I said I do, I gave him a kiss. I was so ecstatic. All I was thinking about was that I had won. All my hard work and all my planning and plotting had worked. I was now Mrs. DeCarious Simmons. I realized I really did love DeCarious and though I wasn't pregnant yet, that could easily be fixed. Our baby would just be a few weeks late. DeCarious had a game, so we had just enough time to have dinner, gamble a little, consummate our marriage, and fly home.