You're My Little Secret 3 (16 page)

BROOKLYN

After
putting DJ to
bed,
I sat in the living
room talking on the phone with Tiana about her boyfriend. Her and Taylor walked
up on him at the movies with another girl. After Tiana
had beaten
the girl up, she threw a brick through the windshield of
his car and left. Her feelings are
hurt,
and I’m trying my best to make her feel better. We’ve been on the phone for
over two
hours,
and he’s been knocking at
her door the entire time, begging her to let him in. I’ve also been texting
back and forth with Dominic. He’s out shooting pool with David and two of my
brothers.

“So what
are you going to do?” I asked my friend.

Tiana and
her boyfriend Travis have been together since she was a freshman in high
school. They were each other’s first everything. I really couldn’t see them
being with anyone else besides each other.

“Nothing,
it’s over,” she replied nonchalantly.

“Now you
know I have to call you out when you’re wrong. You did the same thing to him
twice
before,
and he didn’t break up with
you.”

“So, he only
knew about the one time, but that’s not the point. He lied to
me,
and I’m done with him,” she fumed.

I was just
about to tell her how selfish she was when I heard Dominic fumbling with his
keys at the front door. I ended my call with Tiana and got up to greet him with
a huge smile on my face. That was quickly replaced with a look of shock when I
saw him.

“What
happened to your hand?” I yelled frantically when Dominic walked through the
door. He had a white towel wrapped around his hand, but I could tell that it
was bleeding.

“I’m good,
but I finally ran into that nigga Kevin,” he replied calmly.

“What
happened? I hope you didn’t get yourself into any trouble,” I said as I
followed him down the hall to our bedroom.

“I told
you I’m straight, but your friend is all fucked up.”

“That is
not my friend and I’m not worried about him. As long as you’re alright that’s
all that matters,” I went to the bathroom and got some peroxide and Neosporin.
I gasped when I removed the towel and saw how bruised and swollen Dominic’s
hand was. He had a few cuts and scratches that caused the blood that I saw on
the towel.

“Don’t
trip it looks worse than it is,” he said when he saw my reaction.

“Are you
sure you didn’t kill the boy? If your hand looks like
this,
I
would
hate to see his
face.”

“His punk
ass will live, but Jaden bashed him
over
the head with a beer bottle,” he said laughing.

“Why am I
not surprised?” I replied sarcastically. Jaden is as crazy as they come. Any
time there’s drama he was never too far away.

 
After cleaning and bandaging Dominic’s wounds,
I cleaned up my mess while he prepared to take a shower.

“Oh yeah
baby, I forgot to tell you the best part about tonight,” Dominic said right
before he went into the bathroom.

“Better
than the fight?” I asked with a smile.

“Yep, much
better than the fight. When I walked down
on
ole
boy,
he didn’t see me because he was
all hugged up with a woman.”

“It was
probably his girlfriend Shannon,” I replied with a shrug.

“No, it
wasn’t his girlfriend. He was in there with Nadia,” he revealed.

“Are you
serious?” I asked while sitting up in the bed to see his facial expression.

“I’m dead
ass serious. She jumped out of bed with one brother and climbed right in with
the other one. I never even knew her to be so shady,” he said before
disappearing into the bathroom.

Candace
had already filled us in about Nadia’s relationship with Kyle, but this was my
first time hearing about her and Kevin. Bryce had also told us about seeing
Kyle with Tiffany not too long ago, but this is just too much to take in. Kyle
seems to change women like he changes
underwear,
and nobody is off limits to him. Even though he and Bryce are no longer
friends, Tiffany should have never been on his radar. And Nadia is just proving
herself to be an untrustworthy
hoe
that’s
capable of doing anything.

 
I waited until I heard the shower turn on to
grab my phone and called Candace. I’m sure David probably already filled her
in, but I wanted to talk to her about it as well. I’m so happy that she found
out about Nadia before it was too late.

****

Three
weeks later, we were celebrating DJ’s second birthday. I had to damn near beg
Dominic to do something small for him. He wanted something big like his first
one, but I just wasn’t in the mood. We agreed to give him a party at the bounce
house instead. All of the food was
included,
and we only had to buy a cake and party favors for his guests. Mrs. Liz and my
mama went a few hours earlier and decorated the place for us. I’m eight months
pregnant,
so I was happy to let them do it.
Aside from that, we’re also preparing to move into our new home. A few days ago
Dominic finally got the call that he’s been waiting for. The bank accepted his
offer for the house. He already signed all of the necessary paperwork and picked
up the keys. I’m so excited that we got the house that I really want. I won’t
be able to really decorate until after I have my baby, but I’m looking forward
to doing it. I fell in love with the huge red and stainless steel kitchen the
first time I laid eyes on it. Not to mention the six bedrooms and three and a
half bathrooms that came along with it. The lighted pool and deck in the rear
sealed the deal. I can’t wait to have my first
poolside
gathering.

Dominic is
happier about the price. The property was
owned
by the bank due to
foreclosure,
and it
was almost fifty percent cheaper than the original price. It’s newly
built,
and the previous owners only lived in it
for three months before they went to prison for drug trafficking.

So much is
going on right
now,
and I’m beginning to
feel overwhelmed. I had my baby shower last
weekend,
and our apartment is a mess. They told me that it was going to be something
small, but it was almost as big as the one I had with DJ. I have so much stuff
for my baby that Dominic and my brothers had to take most of it to the new
house. We weren’t officially moving for another week because Dominic had
someone to come in and paint DJ and our daughters’ rooms. We went there almost every
day to drop something off or just look around.

“These
damn children are wearing me out,” Taylor complained as she sat down next to
me. Her, Tiana, and Nyla were playing more than the kids.

“Don’t
blame it on these children. You’ve been running around here like a big ass kid,”
I said laughing. I got in the
spacewalk
for all of
five
minutes before Dominic
had a fit. He’s in the back playing with DJ on the inflatable slide, but he’s
keeping a close eye on me to make sure I don’t do it again.

“You’re
just mad because Dominic made your fat ass sit down. Poor Dominique is probably
all shook up in there,” she said while rubbing my belly.

“I hate
that damn name,” I frowned. I listened to Tiana and Taylor and let the guests
at my baby shower vote on the two names that Dominic and I chose. They didn’t
know which one was our favorite, but everybody picked the name that he liked.
Knowing
him,
he probably cheated and told
them which one he wanted.

“Girl,
that’s cute. Did
y’all
ever find out what
Kennedi is having?” Taylor asked.

“She still
won’t tell him. She still calls all day begging for money though. We saw her
daddy the other
day,
and he said she
wouldn’t tell him either. He didn’t even know that
her
and Dominic were about to be divorced.”

“She didn’t
tell the man?”

“Nope, he
said that she’s still mad at him about that wedding stuff.”

“That
heifer is really crazy. She’s gon’ be a headache for
y’all
once she have that baby.”

“Her daddy
said that her mama is in her ear. He’s giving up on trying to get through to
her. I feel bad for him because that’s his first grandchild. I’m not worried
about her being a problem for us. I won’t be pregnant forever,” I replied.

“Somebody
needs to whip her mama’s ugly ass. Kennedi is gon’ be a lonely old maid just
like her,” Taylor said before she walked away.

As soon as
she left, Dominic made his way over to where I sat. I looked at him and rolled
my eyes, letting him know that I’m still pissed about him ruining my fun.

“You can
roll your eyes all you want to. You know you ain’t have no business in that damn
spacewalk,” he fussed.

“I can’t
wait to have this baby,” I complained. “You gon’ be looking for me with a
flashlight in the
daytime
.”

“Yeah
alright, play crazy if you want to. I might have to put another one
in
you just to make sure you chill out,” he
laughed while pulling me onto his lap.

“You must
be crazy. I already gave you a
son,
and I’m
giving you a daughter next month. Not to mention whatever Kennedi is having.
You should be good
on
kids for a while,”
I replied.

“Yeah, you
right when you say whatever she’s having. I guess I’ll find out when the baby
gets here.”

“She might
tell you if you buy what she’s asking for. You have to at least buy something
before the baby gets here.”

“I already
told you that she’s not calling the shots. You know I don’t have a problem
providing for my kids, but I’m not about to play these games with her. Her
stupid ass must be listening to somebody else. She
wouldn’t have done anything
like this on her own. I can’t wait
until this divorce is final next month.”

“She’ll
come around when she sees that you’re not playing with her. You already know
that she’s going to use that baby as a weapon. I just hope she
does
n’t try to keep it away from you. I really
want all of the kids to know each other,” I replied. Dominic nodded his head in
agreement.

I was
about to get up and check on DJ when I heard Co-Co and Taylor yelling at
somebody. Everybody turned their attention to the front door to see what all
the commotion was about.

“Girl, I
know you didn’t come to my nephew’s party with your bullshit,” Taylor yelled
angrily.

“She must
be trying to go into premature labor coming around here. You already know how this
family gives it up,” Co-Co said.

Mrs. Liz blocked
the door, preventing anyone from going outside. Dominic and I jumped up trying
to see who was trying to ruin our son’s party. I got heated when I peeked
outside and saw Kennedi standing there frowning.

“Sit down
baby, let me go see what she wants,” Dominic said.

“I’m good
right where I am. I’m not trying to do nothing to her scary ass,” I replied.

“Brook,
please don’t wild out
up in here,” Dominic begged.

“I told
you I’m good. She just better not say anything to me.”

“David
come here,” Dominic yelled to his brother. David walked over with DJ in his
arms. “Don’t let her ass come out there.”

“I don’t
need no damn babysitter. I told you that
I’m
not coming out there,” I yelled with my hand on my hips. He’s really doing too
much right now acting like I’m his child or something.

“Come on
and sit down
slugger
,” David said
laughing. He grabbed my hand and led me over to the seating area right as
Dominic went outside. My mama went to the door and grabbed Taylor and Co-Co. I’m
happy that she did before things got worse than they already were.
 

KENNEDI

Showing up
to DJ’s party wasn’t the best idea, but I wasn’t thinking clearly at the time.
Dominic has been avoiding me for weeks and I’m sick of it. The final straw was
when Tiffany showed me some pictures on Instagram that David posted a few days
ago. My heart stopped when I saw Brooklyn and Dominic’s smiling faces standing
next to the sign that said “SOLD” in front of their brand new house. She was
holding up the keys while he had his hands secured around her very pregnant
belly. Then, if that wasn’t bad enough, he got that bitch a house in the exact
same location that I wanted us to live in. He denied me everything that I’ve
ever wanted only to turn around and give it all to his side bitch. My daughter
and I are going to be living in a two bedroom condo while Brooklyn and his
other kids live it up in a six bedroom home with a pool.

I ignored the
remarks being made by Taylor and Brookly
n’s
cousin and turned my attention to Mrs. Liz instead.

“Can you
call Dominic for
me,
please?” I asked
her. Before she could leave to go get
him,
I saw him making his way over to where I stood. I could tell that he’s upset,
but I really didn’t care.

“I’m
trying to be civil and handle this like an adult, but you’re really trying to
make me go there with you,” Dominic said as he walked up on me.

“I don’t
give a damn about none of what you’re saying right now. You out here buying
cars and houses and shit, but I can’t even get a bag of diapers for our baby.
This is your son’s second party, but I haven’t seen a dime for this baby yet,”
I yelled.

“Don’t
worry about what I do for my son. I don’t have a problem supporting this baby,
but I’m buying what I want to buy. You don’t run shit over this
way,
and you should know that by now.”

“I don’t
want your bitch picking out nothing for my baby. Just give me the
money,
and I can do it myself. I’ll get my mama
to help me,” I replied.

“I’m not
putting one dollar in your hand. And since you and your mama always want to run
the show
y’all
can do that shit on
y’all
own,” he said as he started to walk away.

I lost it
after that. I walked up behind him and slapped him
on
the back of his head.

“I hate
you!” I screamed trying to hit him again.

He spun
around with fire in his
eyes,
and that
scared the hell out of me. Mrs. Liz rushed over to us just in time. Dominic
looked as if he was about to knock me on my ass. I saw Brooklyn trying to break
away from David to come outside, but his hold on her was too strong. I didn’t
need her wild ass coming out here too.

“You
better keep your fucking hands to yourself,” Dominic fumed.

“Go back
inside Dominic. Let me talk to Kennedi for a minute,” his mother requested.

“Yeah, go
back to your hood monkey,” I yelled
at
his departing back.

“That hood
monkey got what you want though, huh,” he smirked right before disappearing
into the building.

As much as
I still love my husband, I’m starting to hate him even more. I
would never
have thought that we would be in
the place that we’re in right now.

“Now
Kennedi, you know that I try to mind my business and let you and Dominic handle
things on your own, but you have crossed the line this time. This is my
grandson’s
party,
and you shouldn’t have
come here with all this mess,” Mrs. Liz said.

“I know
that,
and I apologize, but he left me no other
choice. I’m tired of him ignoring my calls and texts. Brooklyn is not the only
one that’s having his baby. I have three more months before my baby gets
here,
and Dominic hasn’t done anything to help
me. I don’t have anything for when my baby arrives,” I said as I fought back
the volcano of tears that threatened to erupt.

“Kennedi
you know my son and you know how he feels about kids. Dominic is going to take
care of his baby and my
husband,
and I
are going to help just like we do with DJ. It’s hard for us to even start
shopping when you’re refusing to tell us the sex of the baby.”

“It’s a
girl okay? I don’t know why that’s even important, but I’m having a girl,” I
snapped.

“You can
lose the attitude honey. I’m only trying to help you.”

“I’m sorry
Mrs. Liz. I’m just stressed
out,
and that
can’t be good for her,” I replied while rubbing my small baby bump.

“No, it’s
not good for
her,
so you need to relax.
There’s no need to stress over something that you can’t change. I’ll talk to
Dominic. Maybe you and I can go shopping for her next weekend if you’re free,”
she suggested.

“Thank you
so
much,
Mrs. Liz,” I said giving her a
tight hug. “I’ll let you know if I’m free or not.”

“Okay, you
know my number if you need anything,” she replied right before walking away.

I felt a
little better after talking to her. I would have rather it be Dominic saying
those things instead of her, but at least it’s a start. As soon as I got in my
car my phone rang, displaying my father’s number. He’d
been
calling me non-stop for the past few
weeks,
and I’m over it.

“Yes,” I
yelled once I connected the call.

“Hey
sweetheart, how are you”? He asked sounding happy. It sickened me that he and
everybody else could be so happy while
I am
feeling like I’m living in hell on earth.

“I’m fine,”
I answered with ice dripping from my voice.

“I was
calling to see if we could meet up for lunch or dinner one day this week.”

“No, we
can’t. I have too much on my plate right now.”

“Kennedi
we really need to sit down and talk. It’s time for us to put the past behind us
and move forward. You’re about to give me my first
grandchild,
and I want to be in his or her life. I truly apologize
for whatever I did to make you angry,” he said.

“Don’t try
to downplay what you did. You told Dominic things that he should have never known
about,” I yelled.

“I’m not
downplaying anything. I’m trying to apologize if you’ll just let me.”

“No, I won’t
let you. Because of
you, my
husband
almost called off our wedding.”

“Why does
that even matter now?
Y’all
are about to
be divorced in a few weeks anyway,” he bellowed.

I sat
there staring at my phone in stunned silence, wondering how he knew about my
impending divorce. The last thing I wanted him to do was gloat about how right
he was.

“Who told
you that?” I asked angrily.

“It doesn’t
matter who told me Kennedi. I just want you to know that I’m here for you. Whatever
you and the baby need I’ll be happy to provide. Please don’t shut me out. I
want to help you as much as I can,” he replied almost begging.

“I’m fine
and I don’t need your help. My mama will help me just like she’s been doing
since you abandoned me to go play house with your new wife and kids,” I
snapped.

“I don’t
know what Karen has been telling you, but I never abandoned you. I’ve always
wanted to be a part of your life, but she wouldn’t let me. Everything had to be
done on her terms or not at all. My money was always good enough, but I never
was. I damn near had to wait until you were an adult to have a relationship
with you thanks to your mother,” he
ranted
.

“Well, it’s
a little too late for all of that now don’t you think?”

“You’re
absolutely right and I’m done trying. I’m tired of kissing your ass and begging
you to let me be a part of your life. I feel bad that your mother has turned
you into a younger version of herself. God knows I never wanted that for you.”

“Are you
done?” I asked impatiently.

“More than
you know,” he said before hanging up. It really didn’t matter to me how he feels
at the moment. I tried to let him into my
world,
and he almost had it crashing down around me. I’m good
on
him and anybody else who has a problem with what I do.

****

Three
weeks later, Tiffany and I were coming from my doctor’s office before going
into
work. Today marks the seventh month of my
pregnancy,
and everything is perfect. Since I’m
considered a
high-risk
patient, I have to
start seeing the doctor twice every week until my princess is born. Mrs. Liz
called me to go shopping with her a few times, but I always turned her down.
Although I appreciate the gesture, it’s not her job. She’s doing everything
that her son should have been doing. I hadn’t seen or heard from him since DJ’s
party. I did find out through Tiffany and her social media stalking that he and
Brooklyn had moved into their new house. They posted pictures of how each room was
decorated,
and it’s absolutely beautiful.
It’s also how I found out that she too is having a girl. I don’t know her exact
date, but she should be due to
have
her
baby any day now. I just can’t win for losing with her. It wasn’t enough that
she gave Dominic his first and only
son
now she’s giving him his first daughter as well.

“You want
to get something to eat before we go to the office?” Tiffany asked me.

“Yeah, and
I need to go check my P.O. Box. I know it’s piled high with junk mail,” I
replied. I looked down and smiled at the text message that I’d just received
from Scott. I’m so happy that he didn’t blame me for causing him to lose his
job. I helped him put together a resume for a few jobs that he expressed
interest in. He’d just informed me that he was offered a job as a driver for
Budweiser. It doesn’t pay as much as he made when he worked for Dominic, but it’s
enough to get him back on his feet. He’s been collecting
unemployment,
and that’s barely enough to pay
his rent.

“What are
you smiling so hard for?” Tiffany asked when she pulled up to the post office.

“None of
your business nosey,” I replied while getting out of her car and responding to
Scott’s message. I opened my P.O. Box and instantly started throwing away most
of the junk that was stuffed in there. While shifting through everything, a
bright green card caught my attention. It informed me that I needed to go into
the office and sign for a package. Being seven months pregnant made me lazier
than I’ve ever been, but curiosity got the best of me. Since
I’m not having
an actual baby shower, a few of
my mother’s friends had started sending me gifts for my daughter. I got excited
about the thought of getting something else and hurried to see just what it was.
I told Dominic and Mrs. Liz that I didn’t have anything, but that’s none of
their business anyway. If I have to lie to get my baby girl everything that she
needs then so be it.

“Can I
help you?” The clerk asked me. I handed her the card and watched her walk to
the back to get my package. She was only gone for a few minutes before she came
back with a big brown envelope and handed it to me.

“Is this
all?” I asked with an obvious attitude.

“Yes, that’s
all we have for you,” she replied matching my tone. I snatched the envelope
from her hand and walked away.

“Let’s go
get something to eat,” I told Tiffany went I got back in the car.

“Okay, I
want some chicken,” she replied.
 
As soon
as she pulled off, I tore open the envelope and pulled out the contents. My
heart skipped a beat when I read
“Dissolution of Marriage” in big bold letters at the top of the page. Tears
immediately started to fill my eyes.

“Kennedi
did you hear me?” Tiffany asked.

I had
completely zoned out as I read over the paperwork that confirmed the end of my
marriage. Tiffany pulled her car to the side of the road when my hands started
shaking,
and my breathing became irregular. She
jumped out of the car and rushed over to me.

“Kennedi
are you alright?” She asked in a panic filled voice. I handed her the papers to
read as silent tears crept from my eyes.

“I can’t
believe it’s really over,” I mumbled sadly.

“Oh
Kennedi, I’m so sorry about all of this,” my cousin said while embracing me. I
welcomed her hug and held on to her as tightly as I could.

“I
should have been celebrating my one year anniversary
around
this time, but I’m not even married anymore,” I cried
harder.

Tiffany
held me and rubbed my back while I cried until I didn’t have any more tears
left. I thought back to all the drama that I took Nadia through to get Dominic
and I ended up losing him the exact same way.

“We don’t
have to go to work if you don’t want to. I’m sure your mama will understand,”
Tiffany said.

“No, I
need to do something to get my mind off of all of this. I’ll go crazy if I sit
inside and think about it all day.”