Chapter Thirty: Party 'Til
Houston, Texas
May 13th
Beyoncé G. Knowles:
As soon as Onika got back in the bed, I grabbed her by the ass, resting my face in the crook of her neck. She was gonna learn to stay where she was when we slept. Immediately, she had her fingers tangled in my hair, massaging me.
"I have a feeling your mom doesn't yell like that regularly," She giggled.
"Your loud ass got us caught."
"It's not my fault."
"Yes it is girl, you didn't even try to be quiet."
"I'm scared to move. They're gonna separate us."
"Don't move."
I kept my face buried in the crook of her neck, the feeling of sleep immediately coming over me. There was something about sleeping beside her or up under her that always knocked me out quick. I felt so much peace when I was with her.
When I woke up, she wasn't in the bed with me anymore, but I could hear her loud cackle even though the door was shut. I wanted to be annoyed that she wasn't in bed with me, but I couldn't. I was happy her and my mother were getting along.
I searched around the bed for my shorts but couldn't find them anywhere. Instead of wracking my brain, I went inside the drawers to find some new ones then walked outside the room. The smell of my mom's cooking and Onika's cooking mixed together had my entire body tingling and my stomach growling.
I started to walk down the hallway, but Solange jumped on my back.
"Bitch! Get off me!"
"Your baby mama is so cute pregnant," She said. "Carry me down."
"Solange you're heavy."
"No I'm not. I just wanna see Mommy get on your ass for having sex in her house."
I sighed. I already knew I was getting chewed out. Obviously my mother liked Onika too much to talk to her about it.
When we got down to the kitchen, their laughing stopped and my mom stared at me. She stayed the way she was without moving before she broke out into a smile.
"Your girlfriend can cook," They both turned back to the stove and I let Solange down off of my back.
I wrapped my arms around Onika's waist, watching what they were making on the stove. I didn't even get a chance to kiss her before I was yanked off. I knew who it was immediately.
"Listen to your mother," He sat me down, holding his hand on my shoulder to keep me still. "Separate. For the rest of the time that you're here."
I just nodded my head. I knew I could sneak in time with my baby when the rest of my family and friends came over. My mom decided since I was home and my girlfriend was with me, she would invite everybody to come give me the loving I'd missed so much while away at college.
❦
"She's so damn pretty," My cousin Angie draped her arm around my neck.
My mother loved Onika, like I knew she would. The two of them were with the rest of my family, conversing with them and creating the love I knew would form. The sooner, the better.
"She is."
"Y'all babies are gonna be so cute."
I nodded my head. I could only imagine what our twins were gonna come out looking like. I'd seen a few pictures of Onika's mother and their genes were stronger than ever. Mine were strong too though, so it was really a battle of the DNA. Either way, they would be beautiful.
Emilio walked up to me and stood beside me. He just didn't know how to relax. Even in his regular clothes, he just wouldn't slouch, he was always on guard. I wanted to let him know he didn't have to do that, and that my family could be a safe space for him.
"Megan hasn't calmed you down yet?" I whispered.
He smiled. "I don't know these people, but they seem like good people."
"These are my people, you can let your guard down. Nobody's gonna hurt you Em."
"You have a beautiful family," He changed the subject.
"Thank you."
"Your father reminds me a lot of my father. If they ever met, it would either be World War III or the start of something huge," He said, and he wasn't lying. When I met Mr. Brooks, the only thing that separated the two for me was Mr. Brooks' Sudanese heritage and culture.
"They share a lot of the same values."
"They both raised us the same, I can tell," He started. "But I can see your mother's influence on you."
I nodded my head, but I didn't say what I was thinking. Emilio couldn't show his love outwardly simply because there wasn't a woman showing him how. It was all very obvious.
"When we get back to Manhattan, I want to extend an invite to you, and a separate one to Ms. Maraj to my annual summer party."
"Y'all throw way too many damn parties."
"My sister wants to talk to you," He said and my heart started speeding up. I wished I could stop this shit. "I don't know what about, so don't ask." He turned to me. "So you'll come?"
"I have to talk about it with this one."
Onika was coming my way. I walked toward her, leaving both Angie and Emilio behind me. Without my parents seeing or saying anything, I snuck inside the house, into the only empty room, the guest room. I shut the door behind me, but I couldn't even move. She was glued to me, her arms wrapped around my waist and her head rested against me.
"I'm so tired baby," She murmured. "Your mom is really a host. I love her."
"She loves you too."
Manhattan, New York
May 21st
Onika T. Maraj:
"So you are or you aren't coming?" Beyoncé asked me, I could hear the loud music in her background.
"Are you enjoying yourself?"
"Onika, please. Are you coming?"
"Maybe. I don't know if I feel too good."
I hung up the phone. Truth be told, I didn't even want Beyoncé to be there, but I realized I couldn't hold her hostage. I had to let her have her fun and be the 19-year-old that she was.
I didn't want her to see Aditi, because I knew she was going to be there. I should be there to stop the two of them from speaking. I just didn't know what I'd do. I wasn't in the position to say anything to anyone anyway.
My phone rang again. Knowing it was Beyoncé, I picked up. "What?"
"What do you have a damn attitude for? I'm just trying to see if you're coming or not."
"Why? So you can speak to those bitches without me getting in your way?"
"Shut the fuck up, you don't even know what you talking about. Either you come or you don't, I'm done fighting with you," She hung up.
I tossed my phone onto my bed then sat down on the floor with my knees to my chest. I didn't know what was going on with me. Maybe it was the twins that had me so tripped up and 'insecure' as Beyoncé would call it. I felt like I was right though. I didn't trust Aditi and I didn't trust Beyoncé around her. I needed them to be as far away from one another as humanly possible.
Knowing I could stop them from speaking if I was there was the only reason I was deciding to go.
When I got there, memories of the associates party came back to me. I remembered being so close to Beyoncé's body that my husband was weary of my actions even though she hadn't even touched my body yet. I remembered her trapping me in the bathroom, telling me we shouldn't be alone together again. After that, it was history. I couldn't stop myself. I felt like she had challenged me. Whether it was on purpose or not was beyond me, but obviously it worked. I was carrying her twins.
I didn't go searching for her. I wasn't pressed for her attention right now. I couldn't care less what she had going on at this very moment. Every word she said just made me mad all of a sudden.
I saw her see me. She didn't hesitate to walk over to me. She walked so smoothly, snagging a flute of what I assumed was champagne from a worker. He didn't even give her a second look.
Standing in front of me, she handed me the flute and eyed my dress.
"You know I can't drink this," I whispered and tried to hand it back to her, but she wouldn't take it.
"Drink it."
"It's al—"
"It's not alcohol. Emilio's looking after you like crazy. No one is drinking unless they go to the after party. It's all pregnant woman friendly."
I smiled. That made me wonder why Megan had cheated on him even more. He seemed more perfect than he should've been, looking out for women that were of no relation to him, that he had no concern for, and that he really didn't even know. I could only imagine it was the trip to Beyoncé's parent's home that pushed him to it.
She rolled her eyes and took it from me, drinking it. "Your turn."
"Beyoncé what you been doing? You been here for like two hours."
"Are you being for real? I'm tryna make sure you good and you wanna question me on what I been doing? Damn, I can't just enjoy myself without being quizzed? Let that shit go, you being childish."
She walked away from me. I sighed, trying to get my crazy back in check. Beyoncé kept on acting out like I wouldn't staple her mouth shut and tape that dick to her forehead. She'll be talking around like a unicorn in this bitch.
I wasn't in the position to do so though. I walked around the party, and I couldn't help but feel like I didn't belong there. It was filled with college kids, having fun and celebrating the summer to come. Summer for me would be filled with throwing up and arguing.
I frowned.
"Why the face?" Emilio walked beside me. "You aren't enjoying yourself? That's never happened at one of my parties before."
"There's no alcohol here."
"You're pregnant," He took a sip from the flute without looking at me.
"You don't know me or my children."
"Children," He repeated. "Twins?"
"Yes."
"Like Beyoncé. I know she's ecstatic."
"Why?"
"Because somebody cares about you, believe it or not. I feel like you don't think you deserve that."
I sucked my teeth. "I'm not about to let a 21-year-old read me."
"I'm 22."
I knew he was trying to cheer me up, and he succeeded. Megan really didn't know what she had. The man was a catch. She was lucky that he loved her to the depth that he did.
I walked down the spiral stairs. As soon as I got to the bottom, I saw Beyoncé and Aditi at the other end of the room. Of course. Beyoncé had her hand on Aditi's back, smiling like she didn't have no damn sense. I kept watching.
Beyoncé wrapped her arms around Aditi, pulling her into a hug. Aditi rolled her eyes playfully, but wrapped her arms around Beyoncé's neck anyway.
I turned right back around, fighting the tears that were coming anyway.
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