Side Chick Life Read online

  In fact, Vega paid off my student loans and suggested I become a stay at home mom. What he didn’t know was that I was on the three month shot and had no intention on getting pregnant. At least I didn’t plan for it to happen anytime soon and especially not while we were going through problems. Besides, my attention was somewhere else.

  Vega

  “Aye, bro. Where you been? You missed that cold ass three pointer Derrick Rose hit boi.” I took a sip from my Bud Light before smacking it back down on the table.

  “Aw, shit man. I had to hit the bathroom. That cheesy ass dip Angel made got a nigga straight running. Ya feel me?” Jay plopped down on the sofa next to me taking a look at the time on the Comcast cable box, 4:45pm. “It’s too late in the afternoon for me to be going through that kind of shit man. Real talk.”

  “Right, right. I don’t know what she puts in that shit bro. But that’s why I steer clear from her cooking. We eat take out every night.”

  We chuckled. My old college buddies Adrial and Joseph were chilling on the other sofa chatting it up. Everybody felt the awkwardness in the room. My brother and I were on speaking terms again but there was still that uncomfortable moment when it felt weird to be in his presence. He was an ex convict, usually in and out of jail every four to five months. My parents often joked that he was only out visiting when he did get out. But his reasons for going back in were beyond stupid given his more than favorable upbringing.

  Jay and I weren’t born with silver spoons in our mouths but we came pretty damn close. Our dad was a construction worker who built his company from the ground up. He was the type of man that wanted to provide for his family so that we could grow up and be as hardworking as he was. I took some of my dad’s good attributes and applied those in my everyday life, becoming a successful Obstetrician and marrying the woman of my dreams, doing it all by the time I was twenty nine.

  Jay, on the other hand, focused on getting quick and fast money. If it didn’t come easy then it didn’t come quick enough for him. He was always the kind of dude that looked for handouts, wanting something for nothing. He was just too damn lazy to get up off his ass and work for it. But what he did the last time he got locked up had my entire family disowning him. Now two years later, we’re just not coming around and warming back up to him since he appeared to be getting his life on the right track. I just hope it stuck.

  “Man, Vega, you know you could’ve brought some more beers man. We’re all out cause glut mouth here just guzzled the last one,” Adrial sneered pointing to Joseph, muffing him in his forehead.

  “Yo, there was no sign on the door that said I couldn’t have the last one motherfucka,” Joseph’s African accent was so thick that when he spoke he spit half of the beer in his mouth across the room.

  “Aye man, if you’re going be speaking and drinking then at least wear a spit bag first. Damn.” I rose to grab a towel from the kitchen to clean up the mess, mad as hell that Joseph did that shit every single weekend.

  Mika, Angel’s sister, passed me on my way in the kitchen. My eyes focused in on the beautiful body leaned against the counter like she was purposely sticking her ass out for me. Making my way over to her, I pressed my body against hers. She obliged me as my piece grew desiring her even more. It had been months since we tasted each other but I had been putting in so many hours at the hospital I couldn’t even think straight. All I was trying to do was focus on providing her with any and everything she could possibly ask for. I wanted to prove to her that I was more than capable of taking care of her and our future babies, that I so desperately wanted.

  “I can’t wait to have loud mouth babies with you,” I whispered in her ear as I licked behind it.

  “Is that right baby?” She asked as she turned to wrap her arms around my neck. “Oh, Vega. Shit, I didn’t know that was you. You play too much.”

  My facial expression quickly turned from happy to sour confusion in a split second, “Well, who did you think it was babe? Who did you want it to be?”

  “Huh? Uh, nobody. What are you talking about?” Angel slapped the dishtowel against my chest before turning back around to finish the dishes.

  She had been acting really oddly lately but I paid it no mind. I knew she was probably just in a funk because I hadn’t been spending enough time with her. We hadn’t been doing good but I promised myself that it would get better as soon as I lightened my workload. I couldn’t wait to get back into the office so I could sort out a schedule and time for her. I just hope she understood why I was working so hard for our family.

  “So, um, you wanna go to dinner tonight? I can get rid of these idiots early, you can send your sister home and we can go to some place nice if you want. Any place you want my love.” Even if she was annoyed at me I would still remain cool, calm, and collected so as not to start an unnecessary fight with her.

  “Dinner? Well, I’m not really hungry. But thanks though.”

  “Not hungry huh?”

  “Nope. Hell, I’ve had so much of these nachos that I’m maxed out,” she laughed before turning back to wink at me.

  “Well I could still get rid of these dudes and we could sit and have a movie night or something, Angel. I want to spend a little time with you,” I said as I slapped her playfully on her salacious ass.

  “Awe baby, you do this almost every weekend and I know basketball is your thing. Besides, my sister likes coming over to watch the game on the sixty-inch screen. I wouldn’t dare take that away from you and the boys. No, you go on in there and enjoy yourself, Vega. I’ll be in there in a minute.” She didn’t even bother to look at me or bounce her ass when I slapped it like she used to.

  “Angel, you don’t even like basketball baby.” I stood back crossing my arms.

  “I like whatever you like, honey.” Angel sauntered over kissing me on my cheek before heading out of the kitchen.

  I had fucked up and I knew it. She was already distancing herself from me to protect her feelings. It was understandable and I’d be lying if I said it really didn’t bother me how she was acting. But I wasn’t worried though since I knew just what to do to get back in her good graces and make her happy again. I lived to make her happy. Once I get her belly filled with a token of our love, she’ll have more than enough to do and plenty of reasons to smile.

  Friday, April 20 th, 2012

  Mika

  After a long drawn out workweek, I was beyond glad that I had the next two days off. It was very rare that I had a weekend off from the hospital so I had the perfect plan for the next few days. First, I wanted David and I to take the baby to the zoo for a family day out of fun.

  After that, all I wanted to do was spend the weekend curled up with a nice book and my son, Keylan. David had been working overtime at the dealership and I was hoping he had time to spend with us while I had the time. All I had to do was get through this strenuous workday.

  “Mika, can you check on Neo Natal for me please? Then after that you can clock out and go home,” my boss, Laurie, said as she whipped past me headed around the corner.

  "Can’t you send someone else home today, Laurie?"

  "Why should I send someone else home when I've found you?" Laurie darted past me headed down the adjacent hallway.

  “Wait, wait Laurie. Why am I going home early again? I need all the hours I can get up in here.” Before she could dip out of sight I followed her. "That's the fifth day in a row you've sent me home six hours early. I need my twelve hour shifts."

  “Because, honey, there hasn’t been anything going on all day. It’s noon and you’ve been here since 6 am. Go on and get out of here. Enjoy your weekend, girly. Worry about a twelve hour shift another day,” Laurie chuckled but I was shitting bricks. "Hun, the next two weeks should be better weeks for you since Erica and Ivy go on vacation."

  Those extra hours made my check a certain amount every other week and without that money it drove my bills into the hole. David and I were barely making ends meet as I was not to mention paying, Bridgette, o
ur neighbor in the apartment next door to us, to babysit Keylan every week. Even though it was only a few hours off each day this week, it would be a big deal once I told David that it would be missing from my paycheck.

  The ride home in my green 1997 Honda Accord pissed me off every time it sputtered at a stoplight. But I could hardly focus on it since my palms were sweaty and my knees began to buckle from the thought of David’s reaction once I told him. David didn’t get off of work until five so that left me plenty of time to clean the house how he liked and cook his favorite meal. It was just the buttering up I needed in order to ease the sting of knowing that we’re out of some money for the bills next week.

  David and I were high school sweethearts but got back in touch when I saw him at the car dealership two years ago. I went in to get my brakes fixed and we began to reminisce about old times. We’ve been together ever since. Back in high school, all of my friends kept trying to tell me that he was no good for me. They said he was too controlling. But at seventeen, I didn't see anything past my love for him. But people change and I didn’t want to hold the past against him since we were grown now. We are the same age and had a lot in common. We both agreed on everything even when we wanted to start a family. Our love appeared to be blissful especially after I got a decent job at the hospital. But that soon changed when I started asking for a ring when I got pregnant. It was my fault. I should've never pressured him knowing he didn't like that at all.

  Making a left on 64th and Calumet then turning into the Parkway Gardens parking lot, my heart began to sink into my stomach. The garbage flying all over the place made me cringe every time I saw it. I wanted to leave that place and provide a better life for my son but it was so difficult especially since I was only a CNA at the hospital. I didn’t make as much money as the real nurses did. Going to school to further my career though was not an option for me at this point. David said we had no time for school because we were too busy getting money and trying to come up. But every time I looked at the low-income complex we lived in, it didn’t remind me of home. It only reminded me of the poverty I grew up in.

  Reluctantly, I made my way inside the building past the piss infested hallway and the steel graffiti ridden door. Two flights of stairs later, I turned the key to my door to be greeted with the sounds of Keylan crying in the distance. I looked around unable to find Bridgette and angrily charged to the back bedroom to find my son in his crib crying hysterically.

  “What’s wrong Booka? What’s wrong?” I comforted my baby, picking him up as he quickly calmed and stopped flailing.

  As I held him, I looked over noticing that he was almost out of Pampers. It took everything in my soul not to call Angel and beg her for the money get some. For one, I knew she wouldn’t give it to me. She hated lending out money since she felt no one ever paid anyone back in life.

  She also had a way of making me feel cheap, inadequate, and just plain low when I borrowed money from her. It was like I was a homeless person begging for change. She already looked down on me for the way I was struggling and I didn’t want to add one more reason for her to do it to the plate.

  Secondly, I was the oldest. My little sister was supposed to come to me for financial help, not the other way around. Fuck that, I was determined to stay on my own two feet and form a decent life for my son. I bounced gently rubbing Keylan's chest soothingly, thinking about his life. As God was my witness, I was not about to let him grow up in poverty the way Angel and I did.

  “Hey babe. What’chu doing here so early?” David emerged from what seemed like out of nowhere.

  He was shirtless exposing his broad light skinned chest and wide shoulders. His jeans were unbuttoned but his belt was buckled completely and he was still wearing his jumpers. Scratching at the stubble on his chest, it appeared as if he had just awakened from a much-needed nap. The more I examined him, the more suspicious I became. David’s long shoulder length dreads were pinned back in a ponytail. He never liked them pinned unless it was for work or if he was eating pussy. Otherwise, he always wore them down.

  David had cheated on me in the past but for the last six months we had been trying to get past that. We were trying to move forward and act like a real family rather than a couple who was just shacking up with one another. I couldn’t accuse him without any real proof. Instead I decided to log the information and move on with our day. I had some bad news for him anyway and I didn’t want to complicate the day any further with my accusations.

  “Where’s Bridgette?” I asked, headed towards the kitchen to warm Keylan up a bottle.

  “I sent her ass back across the hall. Shit, ain’t no sense in paying her for a whole day when she could get half a day.” He followed behind me. “But what’chu doing here so early though?”

  “I…got off early.”

  “Again? Man that's too many times this week, Mika. Are they still gonna pay you for that time though?”

  "You know they won't, David.” I rushed past him to lay the baby down propping the bottle up with his receiving blanket.

  I quickly left the room closing the door behind me so the yelling didn’t disturb Keylan. Heading into the bedroom, confusion hit my face noticing that the sheets and blankets were ripped off the bed and scattered on the floor. David didn’t sleep that hard so I know he couldn’t have done that by accident. Nothing made sense but my heart was beating too fast for me to bring it up.

  “I don't know shit, Mika?” David crept up behind me folding his arms and shooting me a stern gaze. "I'm sick of this shit man. Last time your boss hooked up a few hours."

  Taking a deep breath, I let the words flow, “Babe, we've been a bit slow at the hospital lately so they tell me that they don't need me. She only gave me those hours last time because she never fixed my lunch clock-ins from before. It's not an everyday thing. But you know the CNA's always go first. I tried to ask to stay but you know Laurie, she just wouldn’t let up about it.”

  “You didn’t try hard enough and I know it,” David roared from the top of his lungs.

  “I did. I really did babe.” My hands rubbed his arms lovingly trying to get him to empathize with me. “There just was nothing I could do.”

  “I have to pay bills next week. What am I gonna do without that full check, huh?” He paced the floor pushing my arms off of him. "All these bills are in my name, not yours."

  “Baby, we will be fine. We’ll figure something out. It will be okay, David.”

  Before I could blink, one of his long muscular hands had knocked me back sending me into the wall. I landed on the small brown dresser sitting next to the door before I rushed out the room down the hall past Keylan’s room. My legs forced me to collapse on the couch dreading the sound of his footsteps nearing me.

  I put my hands up in hopes that he wouldn’t strike again but those hopes soon flew out the door. He pounded on me again and again. Over and over, his hands wailed on my face, arms, and legs. He chanted that I should have known better and that I needed to get the money one way or the other since it was my fault that we would be four hundred dollars short on the bills.

  “You gon’ get that money. You fucking hear me?” David growled into my face.

  “You promised you wouldn’t hit me again,” I whispered to myself, remembering the first and what I thought would be the last time he beat me two months ago when I was short. I also remembered what I had to do to get that money up and I wasn’t looking forward to that shit either.

  “What the fuck you just say to me?”

  “Nothing baby. Nothing. I’ll do it. I’ll get the money.” No sooner than the words leave my mouth did he hit me again in the jaw for insurance. "I'll do anything you want me to."

  "I'm the only man who will always love you, Mika. No other man will have your ass cause you too stupid to be anything more to them other than pussy. But that's why I love you though. You'll only be good enough for me. You know that right?" He leaned over pressing his forehead firmly against mine.

  "Yes baby. Thank y
ou. You're so good to me. I love you...I love you so much." Inside, I died a little.

  Vega

  “Not one single delivery all day huh?” Joseph chuckled as he knocked on my office door.

  “Aye, it’s a first right. But I fear they’ll call me later on tonight with one. I’m sure of it.” His African accent startled me as I stacked some paperwork I had just finished to the side and took a deep breath. “Man, I’ve been working so hard I haven’t even had time to make a baby my damn self.”

  “Woo, that’s tragic. You might wanna go home and make love to that pretty little wife of yours,” Joseph joked as he performed some sort of African ritual dance in front of my desk. “It sounds like it’s long overdue.”

  His words slapped me in the face just as my attention bolted out the window knowing he was right. It was hard balancing work and a personal life but I knew that if I neglected Angel for too long, she would undoubtedly begin to resent me and I couldn’t have that. I loved her more than anything in the world that money could buy.

  She wasn’t for sale and I needed to quit treating her like my money would keep her around. Angel was a better woman than that. As Joseph continued to juke, I looked at him wondering how he could be one of the top cardiologists in the state and still keep his hot wife happy. Rather than ask him though, I stood removing my white coat from my arms.

  “You know what buddy, you are absolutely right. That’s just what I’m about to do, too.” Heading over to my closet, I snatched my cross bag and shoved him towards the door. “Thanks for the idea.”

  “Hey thank me later when we’re watching the game at your house this weekend. Beers on you this time, bro,” Joseph griped but I paid him no mind as I headed to the elevator.

  The elevator took forever to get to the parking garage, checking my phone to see if by chance Angel had called to check up on me like she used to. She hadn't. When the doors finally opened, I raced to my almond colored Benz, jumped in and revved up the engine. I couldn't wait to get home and fuck my wife so well she would think it was the first time. Just thinking about her tight wet pussy made my hand travel down grabbing my dick cuffing it as it slowly became erect.