A Necessary Struggle: Spring Semester

Chapter 22: Connect the Dots

Safiya stood in the kitchen leaning against the island pulling on a straw. She let the refreshing iced tea hit the back of her throat as she split her sight between the people dancing in the living room and the baby monitor that showed Ameera asleep in her crib with noise-canceling headphones on.

Safiya quickly jumped aboard when Samuel came to her with his idea. She hadn't been to a party since she found out she was pregnant but she just didn't feel the same anymore. Usually, she'd be in the middle of the floor swaying her hips like Lela or garnishing all the attention with the latest move like Samuel but she couldn't turn it off. Ameera was even on her mind when she picked out her outfit for tonight. She shimmied into her colorful tribal mini skirt but decided to pair it with a blue chambray button-down shirt because it provided easy access and Ameera's feeding time was around the corner.

"Sexy and beautiful!" The statement prompted her to turn around.

Safiya glared at him quizzically, "Hey." A half-smile tugged up her lips. "I thought you had to work."

"I talked Tony into letting me off early because who's buying textbooks at..." Nick looked down at his watch. "Seven."

"Not me." She stole a glance at the baby monitor—her girl was still out.

Nick set his hands on her waist and drew her near, "I like the balloons." He peered up at the coral helium-filled balloons overhead. "It's better than colored light but how did ya'll get people here at seven."

"I didn't do jack." Safiya leaned back against the counter with her back to the gyrating brood. A simple smile eased on her face. She missed him all day even though he texted her constantly and that wasn't a fact she was going to tell him just yet. "This is all Sam but it's Sunday. What else is there to do?"

"Right." He agreed, stepping closer to her—sandwiching his orange sneakered feet around her bare feet. "Where are your shoes?"

"I'm at home." She gestured around her.

"The California girl is becoming country," Nick smiled as he started to lower his head.

"Nick!" Lela shouted his name as she strutted towards the kitchen.

Safiya's flawlessly arched eyebrows drew together. She knew whose voice that was even if the music was pounding and she was taken aback.

Lela stood at their sides with arms folded as Nick drew back from her.

Safiya stood erect holding her waist firmly reading her friend's rigid eyes and her guy friend that she liked peered at Lela like a kid that stole a treat from the cookie jar.

"You two know each other?" Safiya inquired gesturing between the two of Lela and Nick.

"Yeah." Lela gave Nick a curt nod and then shifted her eyes to Safiya. "We need to talk."

"Lee..." Nick playfully swatted Lela's arm with a goofy chuckle. "You know my girlfriend." He gesticulated to Safiya. "Small world."

"Too damn small." Lela wrapped her hand around Safiya's wrist. "I'm going to steal her for a sec." Lela gave Nick a tight-lipped smile.

****

Safiya yanked her wrist out of Lela's grasp after her friend dragged her upstairs and into her room. Lela quietly closed the door so as not to wake Ameera sleeping in her crib a couple of feet away.

Safiya peeked over her shoulder at her baby and then back to Lela who had her hands clasped together and planted in front of her chin.

"Don't tell me." Safiya rolled her eyes to the side. "You dated him, too."

"No." Lela grimaced—a look of mystification painted on her face. "God no."

Safiya slapped her hips, "Alyssa." She shivered with angst. One thing was sure she didn't want to go through what Lela went through last year with Alyssa. "How does she always find these hot dudes when she camps out at the library?"

"He hasn't dated any of us." Lela took a heavy breath. "That's not the problem."

"Then what is?" Safiya asked looking at the damp stop growing around the tip of her boob. Her finger undid the white buttons of her shirt.

"He didn't tell you his last name...." Lela gazed at her sideways.

Safiya shrugged, "Patel."

"His mother's maiden name." Lela shook her head.

Safiya's finger froze over the buttons, "How do you know his mother's maiden name?" She narrowed her eyes at her friend. "Stop cake walking around it, Lee. How do you know Nick?" She folded her arms her chest—her beige bra showing more.

"He's my therapist's son." Lela wrung her hands. "Which makes him...."

"Your therapist's son?" Safiya's mind started to connect the dots and remember the things Lela told her just before giving birth to Ameera. "You're lying. You've got to be lying."

Lela shook her head combing her hand through her ponytail, "I'm not."

"They don't look alike." Safiya fisted her hands as confusion stormed her henna eyes. "He's three shades darker than Carter."

"His mother is Indian," Lela added with a half-shrug. "I'm sorry."

"Why are you apologizing?" Safiya roughly pulled off her shirt. "It's a shock but—"

"You can't keep seeing him." Lela pointed to the crib, "Ameera is his half-sister."

Safiya glanced over her shoulder, "But I like him...a lot."

"I suppose you do." Lela scrapped her teeth over her bottom lip, "But I love him like a brother so...break his heart now instead of shattering his life later."

"Are you telling me to break up with him?" Safiya sneered at her.

Lela held up her palms, "I'm telling you to do the right thing..." She moved to the door and pulled it open... "And you know what it is." 

Once her friend left, Safiya groaned studying her shell-shocked appearance in the mirror, "Damn you, Carter. Damn you." 

What do you think is the right thing for Safiya to do?