Old Friends

Part 2

It's been a few days since I found out I was pregnant. Prince was busy working with his band and I just wanted to be left alone. It was toxic to do, but it was the best way I could process everything. Prince would come to his room where I was and give me food, and I was thankful for that since I wasn't really leaving his bedroom. I woke up this morning and realized that I needed to call my mother and tell her everything. I picked up the phone on Prince's bedside table and dialed her number. To my dismay, my father answered. "Hello?" "Hi dad, can I please talk to mom?" I heard shuffling on the end before hearing my mother's voice. "Hi honey, is everything okay?" Right then I just wanted to cry all over again. But I decided to stay strong. "Mom...I'm at Prince's apartment." She gasped and I heard a door shut. "What? Why? Where's Jake?" I looked up to see Prince just walking in. He looked like he was about to head out somewhere. He came and sat on the bed watching me. "Jake...he um...he was-" "Sweetie, what's going on..." I sighed and Prince grabbed my hand as I started to cry. "He hit me, mom. Jake hit me..." She was quiet. "....I'm coming over. Give me Prince's address." I wasn't hesitant at all and told her where I was before hanging up. "My mom is coming over...were you going anywhere?" I asked Prince. "I was thinking about going to get your stuff, and I wanted to ask if you wanted to come with. We're all gonna help." His band mates Wendy and Lisa were standing there in the doorway. Along with Dez and Bobby behind them. I gave a small smile. "Why don't you guys go and get some pizza and let me talk to my mother. I know she'll wanna come with us. Besides I really want black olives and marinara sauce. Prince smiled. "Alright but we probably won't be gone long. I'll bring back some." Prince kissed my cheek before leaving with his band. It wasn't long before my mother arrived and I let her in. She was looking around. "Where's Prince?" She asked. I told her that he went out for pizza and would be back soon. I invited her to sit down on the sofa and I sat next to her. I was wearing one of Prince's t shirts and some sweat pants and probably looked a complete mess. She doesn't even know all of what's going on. My cheek was still sore. She stared at my cheek and I tensed. "How's dad?" I asked. Jake never let me visit my mother, but we always had to see his. "He's good...worried about you....I told him where you are. I didn't tell him about-" "Yeah...thanks. I don't want him to go on a manhunt." She nodded. I bit my lip trying to find the courage to tell her. "So...how do you feel about grandkids?" I saw a spark of happiness in her eyes which I WAS NOT expecting. "Are you pregnant?!" She nearly yelled. "It's not Prince's if that's what you're excited about." Her excitement immediately faded. "Oh no...oh sweetie." She hugged me and I started crying again. "Mom I don't wanna do this. This is all my fault. I'm scared." She rubbed my back to soothe me. "I know sweetie. But you know how this family is about abortions." I felt some anger brewing up. "What if the baby is like Jake?! Always angry?!" She was taken aback by my shouting, and honestly so was I. I was never this angry ever. "Sorry mom...I just-" At that moment Prince came in with the pizza. I was never so happy in my life to see him. I smiled and my mom was so happy to see Prince again. They hugged as Prince sat between us. It was obvious that Prince and I were getting closer so when I draped my legs over his he didn't mind it. I just needed to comfortably eat my pizza. I listened to Prince and my mother talk and catch up while I ate because honestly this was the best marinara and black olive cheddar cheese pizza I've ever had. "So what are we going to do?" Prince asked he had his hand on my shin. I swallowed the last bite of my third slice and put the box on the table. "I want to get my stuff. Whatever's left. And I wanna make sure everything's okay there. I need to get my license and social security and my birth certificate. Because I want a job to be able-" "Oh hell no. You aren't getting a job." Prince said. My mother was as shocked as I was. "Why?" I asked. Prince looked at me. "You aren't getting a job while you're pregnant. I'm gonna take care of everything around here." Jake ALWAYS tried to get me to work and I tried to get a job, but I was never hired due to lack of experience. Even grocery stores wouldn't hire me because I didn't know much about produce and all the cashier spots were taken. "Prince..." "No. I'm taking care of everything around here. I'm gonna get a house and everything. I'm not gonna leave you like...well..." He glanced at my mother. I bit my lip. My mother spoke, "I'm very sorry about what my husband did the last time you were there, Prince. I know once he knows about what you've done for our daughter that you'll be in his good graces." I smiled laying my head on his shoulder. "But, we do need to get her stuff. And we're leaving now. We can go-" "Don't worry. My band is going to help us out. They're cleaning out the old tour van and we're gonna pile stuff in the back." Prince was so smart and being so sweet I just wanted to cry. Why was I so emotional today? Jesus. I cleaned up the pizza box and went to Prince's bathroom to put on those old shoes he gave me. Prince came to the bathroom. "Hey, I hope I got everything on your pizza." Suddenly this rush came through my body. You know that rush that happens when you're alone with someone you really care about and you get the sudden urge to kiss them. That rush. I took his hand bringing him into the bathroom and shut the door. I held his cheeks gently and kissed him. It was obviously unexpected, but I didn't know what else to do at that moment. He's done so much for me in the last few days and I've been shutting him away. We kissed for a solid minute before I pulled away and kissed the tip of his nose smiling. He wiped his lower lip and his cheeks were a little red. "Tastes like marinara." I giggled giving him a little peck. We went downstairs and through the lobby and I saw the van outside. My mother was right beside me as we all got in. Fink was driving and Bobby was in the passenger seat. Prince and I got in the back with my mother and Wendy and Lisa. I told Fink the address's The ride was rough because we weren't really sitting on anything. Just carpet. But when we got there, I saw the worst out the back window: Jake's bike was right outside. "Do you wanna go in?" Prince asked. "I have to. All of my stuff is there. Our letters and clothes...I don't have a choice." We parked outside and I started shaking. My mother was worried. "Maybe we should call the pol-" "No!" I yelled. "I just want to get my stuff and go. If we're lucky he's already started getting everything together." We got out of the back and it was Bobby, Fink, Prince, and myself going in. My mother was going to wait outside. I went to where our bedroom was and looked through the window. Jake was asleep. I was partially relieved because that'd make this so much easier. I went to the front of the house getting the spare key and opened the door. It was dark so I turned the light on in the living room. It smelled heavily of cigarette smoke. The place was a mess. I looked around to see if I saw anything of mine but all I could find was a jacket. I grabbed it stuffing it into a bag while the boys went and found some more stuff being super quiet. Prince was right behind me. Jake had been smoking weed and cigarettes in our rent house which was against the rules. I went to the sugar jar that was on the counter by the fridge and dig inside. There was a small container of money in there. I handed it to Prince. The worst part was that my birth certificate was in our bedroom. And in the lockbox under the bed. Bobby found my wallet with my license which was a relief because it still had the spare $20 in it. Guess Jake was stupider than I thought. I had my clothes in the laundry room that had just been washed the day of the fight. I handed the whole basket to Fink who took it to the van. We were being so quiet I knew this was going to be a success. The hardest part was sneaking around with Prince since his heels made so much noise. "Stay here." I whispered. "If I scream, come to my rescue." I gave him a kiss before walking down the hallway. Pictures of us were hanging up on the walls of the hallway which made things hard. Jake was a good man that got caught in the moment of not wanting a family. I walked up to the open bedroom door and saw him still sleeping in the same position. I tip toed in going around to my side of the bed. I was praying that this wasn't as heavy as I remembered it being. I kneeled down feeling around for the key that should be in it already and it wasn't there. I started to panic. Maybe it was on the bottom, I thought. I tried to pick it up but when I did it made a little rattling noise. I knew this couldn't have gone so good. There was no way I was going to get my things from here. My most important things. I stood up and Jake was looking right at me. He was awake. I froze. "H-Hey..." I said to him. I swallowed hard. "What do you think you're doing?" I held my arm. "I just...I just came to get my social security card...and some more stuff. Then I'll be out of your hair." I took this as an opportunity to get the lock box. Jake sat up in bed. "So do I gotta pay child support? Like what do I do..." I opened the lock box getting my things from it. "I don't care what you do. But I don't want you around my baby if you're just going to hurt it like you hurt me. I'm sure Prince will be a good uncle to them." I slammed it shut. That REALLY made him angry. "I didn't mean to hit you!" "Don't yell at me! If you loved me you never would have hit me in the first place no matter how mad you were! I'm moving in with Prince and I'm taking my stuff. You can be in the baby's life if you want to I don't care. But just know I'm not going to lie to them when they're older and they ask what happened between us. I'm leaving." I grabbed my stuff quickly heading out the door accidentally bumping into Prince. "I'm ready to go. I don't need anything else." Prince put his arm around me leading me out as Jake was screaming at me. We all left in the Van and I looked at my birth certificate. I realized that soon my baby would have one of these, but I'd have to leave the father space blank. I frowned and curled my face into Prince's neck. "I'm glad we know the truth about who he was." My mother said. Prince held me the whole way home.

It's been a couple of days since all that happened and my mother was back at home with my father. I knew by now that my father knew the truth. I was still mentally destroyed by what had happened since Jake hit me, but I was so happy to be with Prince. Even though he was busy with his band, he always called every night after a show to tell me how it went and to check on me. Tonight, I decided to thank Prince for everything by making our favorite food: spaghetti. I was just finishing it up when I heard the front door of our apartment open. Yes, our apartment. Since we were now permanently living together. "Something smells good in here." He sat down his guitar case and amp. I smiled. "Go shower or do something for 15 minutes. I'm doing something." He grinned. "C'mon. I wanna see." Prince walked in and I turned around putting my hands on his shoulders. "No. It's a surprise. You won't see anything until it's all plated and everything." "Oh? So it's food? You know I'm-" "Yes, yes, yes vegetarian. Now go." I grinned. Prince kissed my cheek before walking off. I timed it perfect to where everything would be laid out. I was filling up a glass of orange juice when he walked into the kitchen. "Oh man...spaghetti." He smiled. "You didn't have to do this..." "I wanted to. You deserve it you've been working so hard all week now you can eat and sleep." I sat down with him at the small table and started eating. We were quiet as we ate, and I was enjoying our time together. I could tell Prince was tired from staying up for a couple of days at a time to write music. I knew his record label would pull through with this new album he's been working on. After dinner I set the dishes in the sink to wash later and we sat on the couch. "I rented a movie too...if that's okay. I went to the video store and got one of the newer horror movies." He was rubbing his eyes. "Yeah, that sounds fun." Honestly, if it was a science fiction movie he'd be wide awake watching it, but I knew horror wasn't really his thing at all. I put the tape in the VCR and shut the lights out. I knew he'd be asleep any minute if I just got him to sit still. About 20 minutes in I was shocked he was still wide awake when he made little noises throughout the movie, which wasn't anything new. He always had his little disturbed Mmm's and little comments here and there. It's how he thought. Even if we were alone together and he needed to think he'd talk aloud even if it was never to me. I slid closer to him holding his arm and he was slowly slouching more and more towards the arm of the chair. This was it, he was going to be out soon. I stroked his forearm leaning my head against his bicep and slowly turned the volume down on the tv. When I knew he was asleep I went ahead and turned on the radio really loud just like he liked it while he slept. I covered him up putting a pillow under his head and I smiled, giving him a kiss before laying at the opposite end. I got used to having loud music always on when Prince was asleep. It's how he slept. And as soon as the radio would shut off he was wide awake. It took me awhile, but I laid there too just watching what was going on in the movie with the music over it, and eventually I drifted off, too.