Page 46 of The Hood's Finest: Jersey & Mylani
“Let me know how much it’s gone cost to fix the door. I got you on it.” My voice must’ve startled her because she jumped when she realized she wasn’t alone.
“What do you want, Jersey?” she asked.
“I’on want nothing. I just thought I would come by and personally tell you that you still have one baby daddy. I don’t know what you were doing with that clown, anyway.”
“Is this your way of apologizing?”
“For what?” I asked.
“For everything. Jersey, you treat me like shit, and you expect me to be okay with it. I have your son, yet you wife up the next bitch. How is that fair to me?”
“Shan, let me ask you something. What have you done to make me want to wife you up? Granted, you’re Jerz’s mother, but what have you really done? When you weren’t sucking my dick, it was the next nigga’s. You didn’t give a fuck as long as a muthafucka was breaking bread. Then this clown ass nigga came along, and you figured you would use him to get next to me, but the shitbackfired. You were his pawn all along, and where did that leave you?” I looked her dead in the face, and she had tears streaming down. They said the truth hurt, and I guess she couldn’t handle it.
“Just leave. Thanks for giving me an update. After I’m done with my procedure, you can bring Jerz home. You played house with him long enough.” I didn’t give her the satisfaction of arguing. I left her sitting at the table in her own misery. I hit up the guy that was replacing the door, giving him my information to send me the invoice for the door. She would figure it out sooner or later that she was standing in her own damn way.
36
Tasha
I stayed back at the hotel room while Shanna went to the house and got the door fixed. I needed this time to reflect on my life. My family didn’t want to be bothered with me. Shanna only put up with me when it was necessary or convenient for her. My mom let her boyfriend dictate her relationship with her children, so turning to her was out of the question. Any time I had a boyfriend, they ended up being no good, and we eventually broke up. Eric was different, though. He actually seemed genuine in the way he cared for me. That was until drugs and abuse came into play. It was like I couldn’t win for losing, and I was tired. I was tired of living like this. I only saw one way out, and I was taking it. I called my mom, and she didn’t answer the phone, so I hung up. Next, I called Shanna, and of course she didn’t answer either. I took everyone ignoring me as a sign. I got up from the bed and got my medication from my purse and went into the bathroom. I stared at myself in the mirror and didn’teven recognize myself. How did I get here? What did I do to end up here?
I tried my best to treat people the way I wanted to be treated, yet I was treated as a nuisance. It was so bad that my nephew didn’t even want to be bothered with me. As the tears trailed down my cheeks, I peeled out of my clothes. Walking over to the tub, I ran the water until it was full. I looked at the pill bottle in my hand, and for a second, I was reconsidering my plan, but then I quickly realized that I was better off this way. I slipped inside the tub and leaned my head back against the shower wall. I was having an eternal battle within myself. I knew I shouldn’t be doing this, but what other options did I have? The way I saw it, this was the only way. I picked the bottle back up and emptied the remaining pills into my hand. Staring at the pills, I tossed half in my mouth and grabbed the water bottle and swallowed to help them go down. Taking a deep breath, I tossed the remaining in my mouth and chased them with the water. Because of the amount I consumed, it didn’t take long for the effects to take place. I was at peace with my decision. Taking solace in that, I slid down into the water, and before I knew it, all my troubles were over.
37
Mylani
It was a shame what happened to Shanna’s sister. I wouldn’t know what to do if I lost Trinity, especially to suicide. Shanna was hysterical when she walked into the hotel room and discovered her sister unresponsive in the bathtub. From my understanding, she called their mom first, and she didn’t respond, neither did Shanna, so they both were walking around with that guilt. Her boyfriend was a mess at the funeral. He put that girl through so much. I guess it was guilt eating him up, too. Things between Jersey and me were still great. I still hadn’t gone back to work; instead, he was helping me open up my own dance studio. I was excited to be able to do something I loved without feeling degraded at the same time.
“What you in here doing?” Jersey asked, sauntering his fine self into our bedroom. I had officially moved in with him, and we both were enjoying the advantages of it.
“Nothing much. Just looking at furniture for the studio.”
“Word? What kind of furniture would a dance studio need? Y’all ’pose to be dancing, not sitting around,” he joked.
“You still need furniture, crazy. You think I’m supposed to talk to potential clients standing up?”
“Nah. I was just fucking with you, bae. Get whatever you want. You know your nigga got it.” He kissed me.
“Oh, shit. I gotta go meet Trinity at her doctor’s appointment. I almost forgot.”
“What you going for? Where that nigga Dantè at?”
“He’s gonna be there. She finds out what she’s having today and wanted me to be there. I can’t wait to see what we’re having.” I gushed. I was just as excited as my sister about this baby like it was mine. Hell, it would be. Trinity was mine, and I would love her baby the same way that I did her.
“Oh, aight. You need me to go with you?” he asked.
“No. I’ll be fine. I’ll keep you posted though.” I kissed my man and gathered my purse and keys and hit the door.
***
“It’s a girl,” the doctor announced, causing me and Trinity to cheer in excitement.
“Aww, hell nah,” Dantè groaned.
“Don’t worry, Dad. Everything will be okay. Just think about the precious baby girl you get to spoil,” the doctor said, trying to console Dantè.
“Yeah, aight. You ready?” he asked Trinity.
