Chapter 9: The Lies
I Woke Up The Next Morning Still Worried About The Message Jennifer Left Me The Other Night. What Is It That She Had To Tell Me That Was Complicated? I Went To Work As I Normally Did But When I Entered The Office I Got These Odd Looks, I Shrugged It Off & Went To My Corridor. I Was Filing My Papers Till I Got An Announcement To Come To My Father's Office. I've Never Been Inside Of Father's Office Since I Was 12 He Always Told Me That, His Office Was NOT The Place To Be If You Worked For Him. I Walked Down The Hall & Everyone Still Gave Me Odd Looks, I Took A Deep Breath & Entered His Room. He Glanced At Me "Terrence, Sit Down." I Sat Down Immediately And He Looked Up At Me. "I've Heard You've Been Seeing Someone." I Swallowed Hard "Yes I Have Been Seeing Someone." "Did You Know He Was A Convicted Felon?" "What Are You Talking About?" "Don't You Play Dumb With Me Terrence...You Know Exactly What I Mean?! "I've Heard That You Have Been Romantically Involved With A Certain Young Man For A Couple Of Months... Without My Acknowledgement."
"Yes, I Have Been Seeing Him." "Did You Know He Was A Convicted Felon?" I Paused Hard "Umm, What Do You Mean Dad?" "Terrance Don't Play Dumb With Me Young Lady... You Know Exactly What I'm Talking About!" I Froze In Silence. "He Was Charged & Convicted With Assaulting His Ex-Girlfriend 7 Years Ago. Then I Saw This On One Of The Staff Members Computers Today." He Turned His Computer Monitor Facing Me & I Saw A Tabloid Picture Of Me & Chris With My Bloody Gown On Leaving The Hospital." I Looked At My Father As If I Was Calm But On The Inside I Was Terrified As Fuck. "You Know He's A Convicted Felon Right?" "No I Didn't..." He Looked At Me Sternly "Well, Since You Don't Know Let Me Tell You..." "He Was Accused & Convicted Of Hurting His Ex-Girlfriend Seven Years Ago..." I Gulped Hard. "Is That The Type Of Person You Want To Be With Terrence?" "He's A Good Guy, You Would Really Like Him If You Giv-" He Slams His Hands On The Table Startling Me.
"I Love You TOO Much To Let You Be With A Punk Like That... You Must Terminate The Relationship NOW!!!" I Sheepishly Start To Speak "But Dad I-" "Did He Ever Hit You?" "What?!" He Walked Over Towards Me "Has He Ever Hit You?" "What The Hell Dad? NO!!! I Love Him & He Loves Me... Plus I'm Not Leaving Him." "Why Not?" "Because I Can't..." "What Do Mean You Can't?! Of Course You Can... You Can Leave If He Won't I'll Call The Police I'll-" "I'm Pregnant!!!" I Belted Out, He Stopped In Mid-Sentence. "You're What?!" I Took A Deep Breath & Repeated "I'm Pregnant Dad, So I'm Not Leaving Him , He Stopped In Mid-Sentence. "You're What?!" I Took A Deep Breath & Repeated "I'm Pregnant Dad, So I'm Not Leaving Him Even If I Wasn't Pregnant..."
He Sat Back In His Seat Trying To Process What I Just Admitted To Him. "You're Getting An Abortion..." "WHAT?!" I Stood Up In Protest. "This Is My Child & I'll Decide Weather Or Not I Want To Keep It & Decided I Want To Keep It So Enough." I Was Heading Out the Door But He Got Up & Blocked Me. "You're Barely Out Of College & Barely Had A Career, What are You Going To Do With A Child? Especially When You Are Not Married To The Man Who Fathered It? If He Truly Loves You He Would Do The Right Thing & Provide A Stable Environment For The Baby..." "We're Moving In Together Today, So You Don't Have To Worry About That..." I Motioned To Leave But He Still Stood In The Way. "That's Not What I Mean Terrence, I Mean He Should Marry You If He Is The Father Of Your Child... It's Only Right." I Gave Him A Blank Stare.
"I'm Not Trying To Pressure Him Into Marrying Me... It's Bad Enough Women Want To Use Him For His Fame & Money..." "But You're The Mother Of His Unborn CHILD!!! My God Terrence You Need To Use Your Brain Sometimes... Because If You Did I Highly Doubt You Would Be In This Predicament If You Did." I Scoffed "I Have a Doctor's Appointment I Have To Go. I Pushed Him Aside & Stormed Out Of His Office, I Turned Around For One Last Time & He Had A Worried Look On His Face. I Was Angry At The Fact He Wanted Me To Have An Abortion... Are You SHITTING Me?! Why Would I Do That? I Was Pissed Off But I tried To Calm Down For The Baby's Sake. I Drove Over To Dr. Steinberg's Office To See What She Had To Tell Me. I Was Worried, I Didn't Want Anything Bad To Happen To Me & Chris' Baby. I Walked In Her Office, Her Assistant Greeted Me With a Smile. "Hello Terrence, Jennifer Has Been Expecting You, Please Have A Seat." I Sat Down On The Comfy Couch In The Waiting Room.
"Do You Need Anything Terry? Some Water?" "No I'm Fine, Thank You Though." "Alright." I Was Sitting Out There For 10 Minutes, It Felt Like Hours. Then Jennifer Came Out Of Her Office To Greet Me. "Hey Terry, You Can Come In Now." "Oh Alright." I Said With A Monotone. I Was Too Nervous To Be Happy About Anything. "What Is It That You Called Me In For Jenny... Is The Baby Okay?" I Looked At Her Nervously. "Everything With The Baby Is Fine, I Just Wanna Talk To You About The Father Of Your Child..." Before She Finished Her Sentence I Got Up Rapidly "You Know What Jenny I'm Done Listening To This Bullshit... Everybody Has Something To Say About My Love Life Dammit!!! First Karina, Strangers, My Dad & Now You?! I'm Tired Of It... When Will You Just Leave Us-" "He's Cheating On You Ter..." She Said In A Subtle But Firm Tone. "What?! Where'd You Read That One Off Of TMZ Or Some Shit Jenny..." "No, He Got Another Woman Pregnant... I'm Legally Not Supposed To Say Anything But A Woman Came Into My Office & We Found Out She Was Pregnant. Then She Showed Me A Photo Of Her & Chris Together Kissing & It Was A Week Ago. I Felt I Had To Tell You... She Didn't Know I Was Your Doctor Too, I'm Sorry Terrence."
She Frowned I Just Sat Down Slowly. "D-Do You Know Her Name?" Jennifer Lowered Her Head. I Looked At Her Angrily "Jenny, What Is Her Name." I Said With My Voice Slightly Breaking. She Took A Deep Breath & Sighed. "Her Name Is Catalina Ramirez..." I Face Grew Cold As I Got Up From My Seat. Jenny Got Worried & Approached Me Before I Left Her Office. "Terrence, You Don't Need Chris In Your Life To Take Care Of This Baby... You Have A Good Head On Your Shoulders & A Solid Career To Fall Back On, I'm Sure You'll Be Okay." "But You Don't Understand Jenny... I'm Not Gonna Let This Go." I Walked Out Of Her Office Steaming Mad & Then I Remembered I Was Moving In With Chris Today I Will Have To See Him Anyways & Just Grew Angrier & Angrier At The Thought Of Him Fucking Catalina Behind My Back After Everything We've Been Through. I Pulled Up To The House Chris Gave Directions To Earlier. It Was A Beautiful, White House With Emerald Paneling & Really Long Drive Way, 4-Car Garage, 2-Story House. I Was Amazed But I Was Not Gonna Let That Keep Me From Confronting Chris.
"Do You Like It Babe?" He Came Outside Smiling Like Everything Is Peachy, So I Faked A Smile Right Back At Him. "Yea, I Love It... Is Anybody Else Gonna Move In With Us Or Something?" He Looked Puzzled "Naw, What Do You Mean?" "Oh... How About Catalina & The Fact She's Pregnant With Your Baby?!" "Oh Terrence, Don't Sta-" I Cut Him Off Immediately "No, Chris I'm Tired Of Letting You Have Your DAMN Way!!! Now I'm Gonna Speak & You're Gonna Listen..." He Rolled His Eyes At Me. "I've Been A Good Woman To You Chris... I've Never Asked You To Spend Money On Me, I've Never Put Our Business Out There & I Never Forced Or Seduced You Into Having Sex With Me. I'm Tired Of Trying To Get Explanation Out Of You Either You Fuck Me Or Change The Whole Subject, Now You Can't Do Either One. Why Were You With Catalina Behind My Back?" "Are You Done?" Chris Said Sarcastically Said That Just Pissed Me Off Even More."CHRIS, I'm Not Fucking Playing With You!!! You got Another Woman Pregnant & You're Not Taking This Shit Seriously..."
"Why Should I? Catalina Fucks Everybody So It Could Be Any Nigga's Baby." "Where Did You Find Out Shit Anyways?" "Don't Worry About All That Breezy. Just Know That I Don't Tolerate That Bullshit." "Well Damn Terrence, We Weren't Official During This Whole Thing It Was Just Sex...That's It." "No, You Told Me You Loved Me..." "No, I Loved Having Sex With You & I Didn't Even Want The Damn Baby I Just Wanted To Make You Happy & Do The Right Thing. It's Not About What Either Of Us Want Cause It's Obvious I Didn't Want This Shit!!!" He Started To Walk Away From Me I Ran up Grabbed His Shoulder & Forced Him To Turn Around & He Grew Angry.
"You Are NOT Gonna Walk Away From Me & This Situation Chris You Gonna Talk To Me..." "I Don't Wanna Fucking Talk To Your Ass, Yea I Fucked Catalina Behind Your Back & Yea I Might've Gotten Her Pregnant But I'm Doing This All For You & I'm Tired Of You Putting Me Through Hell Over It." "Putting You Through Hell?! You Have The NERVE To Say I'M Putting You Through Hell?" He Crossed His Arms. "How About Me Fighting Off People Telling Me Why I Should NOT Be With You? How About Me Having To Fight Catalina's Ass In A Restaurant... Dammit Chris I Fought Her Ass In A Damn Restaurant!!! And The Fact That I'm Gonna Be Labeled A 'Baby Mama' & A Whore For The Rest Of My Life... Yea, I'm Sorry That It's Been Hell For You Christopher." "Listen, I'm Sorry I've Been A Jerk To You & Us Arguing Is Not Gonna Solve & Plus It's Not Healthy For The Baby, We Attract Unwanted Attention Out Here..."
"I Don't Give A Fuck!!! We Need To Talk About This Shit!!!" "TALK ABOUT WHAT?!? I TOLD YOU WASSUP & WHAT'S REAL, WHAT THE FUCK ELSE YOU WANT FROM ME?!?" He Screamed At Me, I Started To Tear Up & He Just Realized That He Screamed At Me. "Terry I'm Sorry." I Started To Cry, He Motioned Towards Me & I Cringed A Little He Held On To Me Tight." "Terry, We Screwed Up & All We Can Do It Set It Right For Us In The Future..." He Kissed Me On My Forehead & Rubbed My Back. All I Could Do Was Cry, He Never Yelled At Me Before, Yea He Raised His Voice To Me But He Yelled At Me. My Thoughts Were All Scrambled I Couldn't Think Straight At All. I Just Want This All To Be Over Or Just Be A Bad Dream, But It's Far From That...
Tracey LaCroix © 2010, Copyright Freak Nasty In the City