Page 88 of Crash: Love in Scrubs
“Tell his ass that in order to get that old thing back, literally, he needs to hand Davinci Bryns over to your friend Halo Sampson.”
“Hoe, please, ain’t nothing old over here.”
“What about me?” Winnie asked, pretending to pout, although she was very married.
“What about you, Winnie?” Halo asked with a laugh.
Halo had not stopped going on and on about the man since I came from that damn game. I’d never seen her have such an obvious crush. I knew she was a fan, but Halo did not like men; she felt most were worthless or pretending to be more than what they were. She boned and bailed.
“Y’all gotta relax. That man is not thinking about dating. He just signed that big contract, and I heard he’s got a whole situation. One on the tip that won’t slip, and she ain’t wrapped too tight.”
“Neither am I,” Halo shrugged. And I snorted. She was so damn crazy. “Anyway, back to you. When are you going to break the news to your parents?”
“Honestly? I just want to text them and then go back to bed. I’m back at school tomorrow, and I’m already tired thinking about it. I’m scared.”
“About the baby?”
“Yeah. I’m thirty-seven, I was almost done raising one kid, and what if this interferes with school? I just felt like I was starting to accomplish something for myself.”
“Do you have a decision to make, sis? You finna hit a fetus deletus? I’m always down for a trip.”
“Girl, that man would kill me, and no, never. I feel blessed to be pregnant. I’m going to get over myself and stop being dramatic at some point. Just not today. Give me love,” I said as they came around the table and smothered me with hugs and laughs.
“You’re going to be fine, mama,” Winnie whispered in my ear. “And so is that baby. And so is your relationship with Malik once y’all stop being stubborn.”
“I love y’all so much,” I said, feeling lighter for the first time since yesterday. “Thank you for coming over, feeding me, and talking sense into me.”
“That’s what we’re here for,” Halo said, squeezing me tighter. “Now, let’s figure out how you’re going to tell your daddy he’s about to be a granddaddy again.”
“I kinda want to do one of those cute announcements. You know they weren’t doing that back in the day.”
“Ouu, do the cute little onsie. Mr. Three Names himself is going to flip and expect a proposal soon after. Yeah, you’d better keep this a secret for a while.”
“Girl, I’m telling him you made fun of him having three first names. I hope he bans your ass from Sheena’s. And I go back in four weeks. I’ll tell him then.”
“Call him,” Halo urged, nodding toward my phone.
Halo and Winnie hugged me again, and we started to clean up so they could go. I was feeling better, clearer about what I needed to do.
After they left, I sat on my couch staring at my phone for a long time before finally typing out a message.
Me: My next appointment is August 21st at 11:30 AM
The response came back almost immediately.
Rommy: Damn, I’m in the doghouse for four weeks?
Me: Just didn’t want you out of the loop.
Rommy: Can I pick you up and then take you for food after?
I stared at the message, my finger hovering over the keyboard. Part of me wanted to say yes immediately, wanted to feel his arms around me, and pretend yesterday never happened. But the other part knew we needed to have some hard conversations first.
Me: We’ll see how I’m feeling that day.
Rommy: Fair enough. Thank you for including me.
Me: It’s your baby, too.
