From Infinite to Kamikaze: A Novel

APRIL 1995 - EM (Part 5)

"Sixteen?! Goddamn man, are you fucking serious?! That girl got the body of at least a 20 year old!" Proof was just as shocked as I was when I told him.

"Yea, you're tellin' me," I mumbled as I continued to wash my shoelaces in the kitchen sink.

"So what you gon' do?" he asked, taking a bite out of the only apple in the sad little fruit basket that sat on my counter.

"What you mean? What can I do? Not a goddamn thing. Except maybe, stay friends with her, y'naw what I mean? Cuz she is cool as shit, I'll give you that."

"Told you. You sure you can just be friends after y'all got hot and heavy the other night," he said, pretending to make out with the air. I chuckled before replying, "I mean, I don't really have a choice. I don't feel like I can just cut her off, ya know? Its weird as fuck but like...I feel like....I don't know, like we just connected on a whole 'nother level, y'naw what I'm sayin'?" I asked him, as I struggled to put into words what was going on in my head.

He nodded slowly. "Man, that's some deep shit right there Doody. Ay, she know about Kim and the baby?"

"Naw," I answered. "It never really came up in conversation."

Proof nodded again and took another bite of his apple. The silence made me start questioning myself if I should have said something to her that night about Kim. I mean, who does that though? Who talks about their ex on a date? If that's even what it was...

Just then Kim's car pulled into the driveway.

"Shit, don't talk about her with Kim here," I warned Proof. He nodded and continued to eat his apple.

Kim walked in the door with a bunch of shopping bags.

"Ay ay lil' mama! What's good?!" Proof hollered.

"What's up DeShaun?" she asked, putting the bags on the kitchen table. She hung her coat up on the back of a chair and walked over to where I was standing. "Hi," she smiled. She could still be cute....when she wasn't being fucking crazy.

"What's up?" I asked, looking at her briefly before returning to the task at hand.

"I got some baby stuff. Do you wanna see?" I looked at her again. Was this excitement on her face? Was she actually being pleasant? "Uh...yea. Gimme a minute. I'm almost done," I answered. She nodded and took the bags into the bedroom. I looked over at Proof who shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe it's the hormones," he joked. "I'ma get outta here and let y'all do your thang. I'll see you at the Shop at quarter to 4?"

"Yea man, I'll be there." We dapped up and I finished my shoelaces so I could go see what was up with Kim.

"And this is for when it's teething or whatever," Kim said, pulling rings and bibs and all types of shit out of one of the bags. We went through every single item, most of it seemed like a total waste of money.

"How much was everything?" I asked, studying a pair of baby socks and wondering how someone's feet could be so small.

"Why?" she asked. I could hear the annoyance in her voice and just like that, I knew this was about to be an argument.

"It's just a question. You know I'm trying to save money right now."

"Yea, for this," she waved to all the shit she had emptied onto the bed. "This is what you're saving money for. So we can buy shit for our baby," she said forcefully.

I sighed. "Okay Kim. I gotta go," I looked in my drawers for a shirt and sweatshirt to wear.

"Go? Go where? We need to go get the big stuff. A stroller, a high chair, a carseat...We don't even have a crib!" she yelled.