His Woman, His Wife, His Widow Read online

  When I arrived at Shyanne’s house, Mama T—That is what I call Shyanne’s mother, Tonya. Shayanne calls my mother Mommy S for Sherrie. —answered the door, surprised to see me on her doorstop early for a change.

  “Well look who’s here already. I can’t remember the last time you showed up this early on your way to school. I hope you at least took the time to pray before you left the house. I don’t ever want you girls to be too anxious to talk and forget God first thing in the morning.”

  “Yes, Mama T. I never leave the house in the morning without asking God for His covering for the day.”

  Mama T and Shyanne attended the same church as my family. Mr. Kennedy, Shyanne’s father, was also a member, but he only attended on days that the service didn’t interfere with some sporting event he was watching on television. He was a good Christian leader for his family. He would often remind Shyanne and me about holding on to the values and lessons we learned in church.

  I took the stairs to Shyanne’s room two at a time and burst into her bedroom, neglecting to first knock on her door. Between my sprint over to the house and my Olympic run up the stairs, I was worn out. I flopped down on Shyanne’s bed the moment I entered the room.

  “Girl, what’s up? It’s hardly like you to make it someplace on time. This early thing has totally thrown me for a loop. What happened? Did your mama win the lottery or something? What the heck has got you so excited?” Shyanne asked all at once.

  “If you stop coming at me with twenty questions, I can tell you what’s up?” That is the way Shyanne talked; very fast. She sometimes spoke as if there were a time limit, and she wanted to make sure she got all of her words out before her deadline.

  “No, Mama didn’t hit the lottery, but I feel like I did. I met this cute guy at the grocery store yesterday. His name is Shaun, he drives a red convertible Trans Am, and he’s nineteen years old. Ooh Wee! Baby boy is beautiful,” I blurted in her normal vernacular.

  “Did you say he was nineteen? He is hardly a baby. That man is grown. Did you tell him how old you were?” Shy asked a little confused.

  “I was straight up with him. After we talked for a while, Shaun said he thought I was mature.” I gave her the rundown on my and Shaun’s entire conversation while she finished getting dressed. By the time I was done filling her in, we were heading out the door on our way to school. “So what do you think about him having a baby and a potentially crazy baby mama?” I asked as we walked.

  “Come on, Nay-Nay. I thought we both agreed we wouldn’t get involved with guys that had kids. The drama that comes with it is always negative. We shouldn’t have to deal with that at our age. Leave that stuff to the old folks over twenty-one.”

  “I know what we said, Shy, but there was something about him that made me want to break all the rules. Without even thinking about it, I broke three or four of them between the time he first spoke to me and the time he dropped me off at home.”

  “Girl, what’s happened to you? I don’t remember you acting this dizzy over any guy; not even that dude, Byron. And I know he had your nose wide open because he was the guy you let take your virginity. You didn’t have sex with this Shaun guy yesterday, did you?” she asked jokingly.

  “Maybe it’s because he’s older, but Shaun is really something else. I mean, forget the fact that he is prettier than most women, he really has his game tight too,” I said, trying to defend my insanity.

  “I don’t know about his game being all that tight since he has a baby and an ignorant baby mama. If his stuff was so together, brotha would have avoided that whole scene,” Shyanne said doubtfully.

  Shy had a way of making me pause. Whenever I get too excited about a situation, she always makes me stop and seriously think about it. The only time she is not so level headed is when we are about to get involved in a physical confrontation. For a few moments, as we walked, I thought about what my girl said. A guy with a child was some serious stuff. Baby Mama drama is something I wouldn’t wish on one of my enemies.

  Shyanne noticed I was somberly searching inside my mind, so she tried to ease the tension in my thoughts. “Listen, Nay. I am not trying to make you feel stupid or anything like that. You know that, right?” Before I could answer she kept talking. “I just have never seen you this excited over a dude. I guess my protective instincts are naturally kicking in. You know I love you like a sister, and I just want to make sure you’re always all right.

  “But if you think this guy is all that, then I’m sure he is. You don’t usually have bad judgment when it comes to boys, so I guess that makes you pretty smart. Just remember to pray and ask God to guide your decisions.” Shy also always reminded me to keep my relationship with God tight.

  I stopped walking and turned to give my best friend in the whole world a big hug. Shyanne hugged me back, then we hurriedly let go and started laughing. We didn’t want anybody to think we were lesbians.

  Shyanne and I were not lucky enough to have any classes together, so the only time we saw each other during the school day was at lunch and between classes because we shared a locker. During our entire lunch period and between every class, I talked her ear off about Shaun. I’m sure she wanted to tell me to shut my face, but she’s my girl so she patiently listened to me go on and on.

  At the end of the school day, Shyanne and I met outside at our usual spot on the corner of Evergreen and Trojan. Being that this was our first day back to school since the expulsion, Shyanne started talking about all the homework she had to catch up on before we went to our Youth Bible Study class this evening.

  “Girl do you have two million pages of make-up work also, or do my teachers simply hate me?” I barely heard her question because my mind was on a certain green-eyed someone. “Nay-Nay, are you listening to me?”

  “I’m sorry, Shy. You know where my mind is. I can’t help it. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about him since ...” My throat suddenly locked and my speech came to a complete standstill. Just as we started to cross the intersection, a red Trans Am made a hard left from Evergreen and halted our procession.

  “Girl, what’s wrong with you?” Shyanne asked before she noticed the car.

  Shaun put the car in park, got out and came around to us on the sidewalk.

  “Hello, Lindsay,” he said, smiling that breathtaking smile.

  Shyanne looked at him for a few awkward seconds. Then she came to the realization that the gentleman in front of us must be Shaun. It is a good thing she spoke first because my brain was stuck on straight stupid. I couldn’t believe he was standing in front of me. If my life depended on it that very moment, I would not have been able to utter a word.

  “So you must be Shaun. I’ve heard a lot about you these past seven hours,” Shyanne said, embarrassing the heck out of me.

  “And you must be Shyanne. While I have yet to spend seven hours in Lindsay’s company, she did tell me a lot about you during our short conversation. I don’t know how the men in this school can handle being around young ladies as beautiful as you two all day.” I could tell Shyanne was impressed with Shaun.

  “Thank you Shaun. Whenever Nay-Nay, or should I say Lindsay, can speak again, I’m sure she would like to say hi.”

  I was seriously hating her for the way she exaggerated my name. I neglected to tell her about that part of my and Shaun’s conversation.

  “Hello, Shaun. Please excuse my friend. She sometimes has a problem controlling the things that come out of her mouth,” I said to Shaun after I finally found my voice. “So do you make a habit of just popping up on people, or are you here to see someone who is expecting you?” I asked Shaun with a little attitude.

  “And you say Shyanne has a problem controlling her mouth. Why is it you always have something flip to say?”

  Flip was a word I had only heard Granny use to describe my smart mouth. This guy was old even for his age.

  “I’m not trying to be flip. I just don’t like people sneaking up on me. I wasn’t expecting to hear from you again u
ntil Sunday.” I was doing my best to make him believe I was irritated. I stood there with my hand on my hip, patting my foot.

  “You sound as if you’re disappointed to see me,” Shaun said apologetically. “Look, please don’t be mad. I’ve been thinking about you a lot since yesterday. I figured it might be a good idea to meet you after school so I could see you for a little while. I hoped you wouldn’t mind. I planned to be here tomorrow as well and perhaps give you a ride home. This way we could spend some time together and get to know each other better by Sunday. If it’s a problem, I promise I won’t be here again.” He sounded rejected.

  Shyanne stood listening to our conversation as if she’d never heard a male and female talk before. Her look said it all. ‘Yes, Shaun is the man!’ I could tell her earlier doubts about him were disappearing as quickly as mine had.

  “Shaun, I told you yesterday how my mama felt about me riding with people I don’t know. Regardless of what we’ve told each other, I still don’t know you from Adam.”

  “Nay, please. What your mother doesn’t know won’t hurt her. Besides, she don’t even get home from work until after five. I’m sure Shaun will have us home before then. Right, Shaun?” Shyanne walked toward the car as if the deal had already been sealed.

  “Looks like you’re out voted, Lindsay. Baby, I promise I won’t bite, and I’ll drive very carefully. If you see anyone you know, you can duck in the seat and hide.”

  I gave them both the crazy look as I walked over to get in the car. It was all an act though. After Shaun called me baby, I would have done anything he wanted me to.

  “Shaun, what kind of job do you have that lets you afford to drive a smooth ride like this? This baby is pretty,” Shyanne said, admiring the interior of Shaun’s car.

  Shaun looked at me kind of sideways before he answered the question. It was as if he thought I put her up to asking it. In all honesty, I never thought about how he could afford his car. I felt silly now for not at least wondering.

  “I work for my uncle doing odd jobs at his collision shop and run errands. Because we are family, I get paid in cash, no taxes taken out of my earnings. Since I still live with mom, I don’t have any bills other than the car and my insurance. My son lives with us too, but he doesn’t require much financially since he’s only a year old.”

  Whoa! That last piece of information shook me. Shaun didn’t tell me his shorty lived with him. In most cases the baby mama always ends up stuck with the kid. I made a mental note to definitely find out more about it. Shyanne was also surprised, but she didn’t bother waiting until later to voice her opinion on the subject.

  “Dang, Shaun, you’re a full time daddy? That’s not something you hear about too often. Most dudes get the chick pregnant, and then the girl hardly hears from him again. I guess it’s cool that you always have your son.”

  After hearing my girl give him such props, I felt pretty good that a guy like this was digging me. Shyanne made Shaun sound like a candidate for the Father of the Year Award. I sat there beaming as if he were my baby’s daddy. I still had a few questions though.

  Shaun got directions from Shyanne to her house, and we dropped her off. I told her I would try to sneak and call her before my mama got home, and then she got out. As soon as we pulled away from Shyanne’s house, I began my interrogation.

  “Shaun, you didn’t tell me your son lived with you and your mom. How did you end up with custody of the baby instead of his mother?”

  Shaun fumbled with the radio until he found a station worth listening to. I interpreted his actions as a stall tactic. When he did begin speaking, his stalling continued.

  “Well, it’s a long story, Lindsay, and I don’t think I’ll have time to tell it all before we reach your house. Why don’t we hold—”

  “Oh, it’s cool. My mama does not usually get home from work until after five, so we can talk for a little while.” His hesitation only served to make me more anxious. At this point, I was so curious, I was willing to risk bodily harm from my mama to get the details of this story.

  Shaun continued to take his time about answering my question. As a matter of fact, he didn’t utter another sound until we parked in front of my house. “You’re sure it’s okay for us to sit out here and talk? I would not want any nosey neighbors to tell your mom.”

  I thought about it for a moment because Ms. Trina across the street might just peek her big nose out the window. It wouldn’t have been the first time she told on my brother or me. My curiosity got the best of me though, so I told him it was cool.

  His stall tactics were really getting on my nerves. First he acts like he couldn’t wait to spend time with me, so he shows up at my school out of nowhere. Now he wants to act like he can’t wait to get away from me. This story must be a real doozie.

  “All right, Ms. Lindsay; here goes. But again I must be honest. This story does not paint a very flattering picture of what our relationship was like at the end.” He took a deep breath and proceeded to spill his guts. “When Rhonda told her mom she was pregnant, she put her out. She was really pissed at Rhonda for getting pregnant at seventeen, but I think she was more upset that I was the father. Rhonda’s mother didn’t like me at all. Given the fact that the mother of my child was virtually homeless, I figured I had to do something to fix the situation. I spoke with my mother, told her our predicament and asked if Rhonda could come and stay with us. My mother agreed, and we became an instant family; no benefit of marriage, just the bond of impending parenthood sealing our commitment.”

  Shoot! I knew this was going to be a heck of a story and Shaun had just gotten started. A live-in girlfriend at his age? I sat in my seat with my eyes bulging so far from the sockets that Shaun probably assumed they would fall out of my head. He chuckled a bit and continued with his story.

  “During the pregnancy, things were cool between Rhonda and me. I went with her to the doctors’ visits, those pre-birthing classes, and the whole nine. She and I were behaving like an old married couple going about the whole situation like it was the most normal thing in the world. In reality, I was really scared. I kept my fears to myself though, determined to be there for my child no matter what. I refused to be a punk like my old man and run out on my responsibilities.”

  I could see the mention of his dad kind of upset him. At first I thought he would stop talking, but he took a few deep breaths and continued.

  “My dad left my mom when she was still pregnant with me. She was only fifteen years old. Then she met my sister’s father. As soon as she got pregnant with her, that bum was out like a light too. My youngest sister’s pop stuck around for a little while, but he used to hit my mom. I was glad to see him leave when he finally did. The father figures in my life didn’t offer the best examples of parenthood, and because of them, I put my heart and soul into doing it differently and vowed to always be around for my child no matter what.”

  I grew to admire this guy more and more every time we talked. He looked my way to see how I was absorbing all that he told me. I reached over to hold his hand, hopefully conveying that I understood the betrayal of his father-figures. “I can relate to your resentment. My brother and I have the same dad, but he didn’t stay around long after my brother was born. We haven’t seen or heard from him since he left. I can’t imagine ever doing anything like that to my own child either.”

  “Yeah, that’s some pretty messed up stuff.” I could tell this was a delicate topic for Shaun, but he continued to tell me what happened. “Around the time Sha’Ron was six or seven months old, I realized my relationship with Rhonda was changing. She got too comfortable being there with my mom taking care of the baby. Rhonda barely lifted a finger to do anything for him. When I would suggest that she needed to change the baby or that the baby needed feeding, she would get an attitude and tell me to do it. It was starting to piss me off royally.

  “Rhonda also gained a lot of weight during the pregnancy and seemed content with her new size. She just lay around the house talking on the
phone to her girlfriends, telling them how cool it was to live with her man. She even quit going to school after the baby was born. I told her she needed to get a job and at least help take care of the baby financially. Then the crazy ho—”

  I stopped Shaun’s vile attack on Rhonda with a look before it got out of hand. I hated when guys called females out of their names like that. He noticed my disapproval of his language.

  “I’m sorry, baby. I shouldn’t have disrespected you or her like that. But I’m telling you honestly, I was very upset with her.” I acknowledged his apology and the story rolled on. “Like I was saying, Rhonda said she didn’t think she needed a job because we weren’t paying any bills at the house. She said that if I were a man, I would handle my responsibility to take care of her and the baby.”

  His baby’s mama seemed trifling to me. In listening to Shaun’s side of the story, Rhonda believed that Shaun got her pregnant all by himself, and she held no responsibility whatsoever for their son’s conception. I didn’t voice my opinion, and he continued with the tale.

  “One evening, when Sha’Ron was eight months old, I lost my temper with Rhonda. I told her it was time for her to go. I called her a bunch of ugly names, told her to take her fat, lazy butt back to her mother’s house and to leave my son right where he was. I packed her stuff, took her home and told her mother that I would be going to court to get full legal custody of our baby first thing in the morning. Neither of them gave me an argument. Rhonda wasn’t much of a mother, and her own mother had not bothered to contact Rhonda or see the baby since he was born. I don’t think being a grandmother was high on her list of things she was anxious to do.”